Project Description:
1. Need
Natural Lands provides maps to help visitors navigate and understand its preserves, trails, and natural settings. Current maps communicate important information, including terrain type, key features, trail routes and lengths, and general trail difficulty. However, visitors with disabilities and others may need more detailed information to determine whether a trail or site is appropriate for their individual abilities and needs.
Information such as trail surfaces, grades, elevation changes, bridges, stream crossings, benches, distances, and estimated travel times can help visitors make informed decisions before and during a visit. In addition, map design, including text, fonts, colors, contrast, symbols, narratives, and format, affects how easily information can be perceived and understood. An accessibility-focused review will help Natural Lands determine how available data can be incorporated effectively and identify improvements consistent with accessibility requirements and best practices.
2. Overall Goals and Objectives
The goal of the Map Assessment & Recommendations project is to improve the accessibility, usability, and inclusiveness of Natural Lands' visitor maps. Eppley/NCA will conduct a remote accessibility review of up to five downloadable and posted maps in collaboration with up to three Natural Lands employees.
The review will assess how effectively maps communicate terrain, amenities, trail characteristics, and difficulty; identify opportunities to incorporate additional accessibility information; and evaluate narratives, terminology, symbols, legends, fonts, colors, and contrast. The assessment will also consider map formats and materials and review current practices in relation to accessibility requirements and best practices.
Available information considered will include benches, bridges, primitive stream crossings, and trail surfaces, as well as AllTrails Public Lands Partner Program data such as total elevation gain, estimated completion time, and specific grades along trails. The project will result in practical recommendations for improving existing maps and informing future map development.
3. Unusual Features
A distinctive feature of this project is its emphasis on providing objective information that allows visitors to make their own decisions, rather than relying solely on generalized "easy," "moderate," or "difficult" trail classifications. A trail labeled "easy" may present different challenges depending on an individual's mobility, stamina, equipment, or other needs. More specific information about surfaces, grades, elevation, crossings, and resting opportunities enables visitors to assess suitability for themselves.
The project also integrates multiple sources of information and examines the complete map communication experience, not only trail data, but also narrative descriptions, terminology, visual design, map materials, and downloadable and posted formats.
4. Expected Benefits
The project will provide Natural Lands with an actionable framework for improving the accessibility and consistency of its visitor maps. Recommendations will help determine what accessibility-related information should be communicated and how it can be presented clearly and consistently.
Visitors will benefit from greater confidence and independence when planning visits and selecting trails. More detailed information can reduce uncertainty and enable people with a range of abilities to make choices based on their individual needs and preferences.
The assessment will also provide Natural Lands with guidance that extends beyond the maps reviewed, supporting future map development and related visitor communications.
