Launching and Scaling Digital Map Accessibility for the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Caroline Rose, Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey Brandon Biggs, XR Navigation The ground-breaking visual, auditory, and interactive text map of the Quaternary Geology of Wisconsin, which we presented in draft form at NACIS 2025, showed it is possible to make complex maps accessible. Now that the map has been released, users can “hear” shapes, understand topological relationships, and access over 3000 features in 16 layers. Users can navigate the map via keyboard, can access the geographic features using a screen reader, and can tailor the settings to suit their own access needs. This talk will cover the process and roll-out of this highly complex, accessible map and our ideas for how the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey will scale this work from one accessible map to other publications.
Translating WCAG as Cartographers - A Framework for Visual Map Accessibility Jakob Ruffner, Esri The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is the baseline for the US' Title II/III amendment to the ADA. It requires that all State, Federal, and Private organizations provide accessible content. However, it is unclear as to what exactly counts as adequate compliance, especially true for map design, whose cartography involves complicated visualization choices that don't fit into simple binaries. In this session, we attempt to turn the often-vague language of WCAG into a relatable framework for us cartographers. Based on projects across many industries, this interpretation allows us to make user-driven maps without over-simplifying them, hinging on leveraging application UIs, clear symbology, and alternative access formats.
Lights, Camera, Action: Putting Cartographic Accessibility on Film Jack Swab, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Laura Zierer, American Printing House for the Blind Cartographic accessibility for individuals with low vision or blindness is an important facet of cartographic design but can remain abstract in the cartography classroom. This talk explores the motivation behind and the production of a short film about cartographic accessibility. Made in collaboration with the American Printing House for the Blind and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, we explore how we created this film and its impacts in a 100-level, general education cartography class.
Cartographic Accessibility at the American Printing House for the Blind Laura Zierer, American Printing House for the Blind Jack Swab, The University of Tennessee--Knoxville In this presentation, we will screen a short film made in conjunction with the American Printing House for the Blind and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The video highlights the American Printing House for the Blind’s cartographic efforts and the positive impact that their products have on increasing geographic and cartographic literacy for individuals with low vision or blindness.
Thursday October 22, 2026 9:00am - 10:20am CDT Room 3
See What We See: Community Co Produced Spatial Meaning in Lindsay Heights, Milwaukee Dulmini Nadeesha Jayawardana This talk explores how residents of Lindsay Heights generated spatial knowledge through photovoice, revealing layers of meaning not typically visible in conventional mapping. Through community led photography and storytelling, participants articulated a spatial logic grounded in memory, environmental care, and collective resilience. These insights formed a layered, conceptual map that visualizes lived experience as spatial data. The talk demonstrates how qualitative, community generated meaning can be structured, interpreted, and integrated into cartographic practice, expanding what mapping can hold. It offers a model for co produced spatial representation that deepens understanding of place in Milwaukee and beyond.
Resurrecting Historical Geodata: A Vision-Language Model Approach to Integrating Property Assessment Records and Census Geographies Elizaveta (Liz) Lepikhova (She/They) Historical census records are essential for studying neighborhood change, yet key housing-market indicators are largely unavailable before 1930. This presentation introduces a GeoAI workflow for transforming historical property assessment records into structured geospatial data using vision-language models (VLMs) and automated record linkage in R. Using Milwaukee tax assessment rolls, we demonstrate how prompt engineering, iterative refinement, human validation, and scripted matching improve the reliability of extracting, linking, and mapping historical property data. We then integrate these data with an existing archive of racially restrictive covenants to produce neighborhood-level cartographic visualizations for historical and social justice research.
Using Maps To Expand Your Horizons And Identify Injustices H. Jiahong Pan (They/them) Maps influence my work. Growing up in San Francisco, maps — particularly the ones at San Francisco Muni bus shelters — helped me discover that a world existed beyond my community and that there were stories that existed in those maps. Maps also helped me explain stories to people when I freelanced as a journalist, including access to food in the Minneapolis neighborhood I live in.
Participatory Mapping Beyond Representation Joy Ihuka Participatory mapping serves to incorporate local knowledge into environmental planning and climate adaptation. It involves translating lived experiences and environmental observations into formal cartographic and GIS systems, impacting institutional decision-making. This talk reviews literature on participatory GIS, critical cartography, and community geography, focusing on how technical standards and planning requirements affect the recognition of local knowledge. It examines how participatory mapping both supports and constrains community engagement, addressing issues of representation and institutional incorporation. Examples from climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction illustrate tensions between local spatial knowledge and standardized mapping systems, highlighting the negotiation of environmental knowledge in planning contexts.
Thursday October 22, 2026 10:40am - 12:00pm CDT Room 3
This year’s DEI-sponsored series centers on experiences of people engaging with communities and neighborhoods and working across diverse identities. Through their work, our speakers use cartography in various ways to reveal meanings, uncover memories, illuminate injustices, and envision different futures.
Panelists: Dulmini Nadeesha Jayawardana Elizaveta (Liz) Lepikhova H. Jiahong Pan (They/them) Joy Ihuka
Thursday October 22, 2026 2:00pm - 3:40pm CDT Room 3
Creating a personal geospatial data history map Guthrie Alexander Most of us are sitting on a surprising amount of personal geospatial data: tracks from GPS watches and handhelds, hiking, biking, and running routes, the location history our phones collect (with and without our knowledge), and every geotagged photo we've ever taken. It all lives in different places, in different services, and in different formats. I'll walk through building a centralized repository for my own spatial data, one that's accessible from anywhere, takes minimal upkeep (hopefully), and serves as both a spatial memory and a motivator to get out and explore more.
Sonoran Desert Journeys Joanne Coutts, Independent Travel is a way of life in the Sonoran Desert. For centuries O’odham, Piipaash, and Quechan people have been guided through the desert by the locations of water sources and the shapes of the mountains. Today, people immigrating to the U.S. also use mountains and water sources to guide their journeys through the desert. Sonoran Desert Journeys explores the connections between Indigenous routes of travel with migrant journeys and humanitarian aid stations, and how O’odham song maps and place names support search and rescue and recovery for migrants who are disappeared in the desert.
Cartography of "Our Neighborhood Walk": what can storymaps tell us about human-canine-environment interactions? Jonathan Nelson, University of Wisconsin-Madison Alton L. Hipps, University of Wisconsin-Madison Makinnley Tomberlin, University of Wisconsin-Madison The “Our Neighborhood Walk” project explores how using personal geo-enabled tracking devices and interactive storymaps can advance understanding of the shared experiences and emotional connections between pet guardians and their companion dogs while walking together. We employ personal visual storytelling design techniques to unlock new insights into how humans and canines collectively and individually perceive elements of the built and natural environment. By cartographically recreating the dynamic, co-constructed sense-of-place that evolves during a routine walk, we aim to facilitate greater awareness of human-canine-environment interactions and prompt critical reflection on how to enhance those interactions in the future.
Personal Mapping: Hand-drawn life stories David Nuttall This talk will dive into the details of a large commissioned map and how the customer homework (source data) leads to research and then hand-drawing a detailed map that includes so many aspects of their life yet feels like a cohesive real place. Stepping through the entire process including concept, discussions, planning, layered feature drawing, procrastination, late additional feature adding, and the nervousness of shipping a finished map. David will show progress images and demonstrate how personal details and non-map aspects can indeed be included in the landscape while getting a glimpse into his mind and thought process.
Thursday October 22, 2026 4:00pm - 5:20pm CDT Room 3
