Mapvoice: Computational Tool to Aid in Learning Cartography for the Visually Impaired

Abstract

In Brazil, the LDB - Law of Guidelines and Bases nº. 9394(Brazil, 1996) and the PCN - National Curricular Parameters, determines that the Geography discipline is recognized as autonomous and should not be understood as a complement to other disciplines. In this way, the improvement in Geography teaching passes through cartographic literacy. The focus is on offering the student the capacity to carry out the appropriation, analysis, reflection and criticism on geographical space. In this way, this paper presents a resource that consisted of the development of the application called MapVoice. The purpose of the software is to enable Blind or visually impaired students, from basic education, in the learning of Cartography in Geography classes. MapVoice provides the understanding and interpretation of physical environments transformed into thematic maps based on data from the 2010 Brazilian Demographic Census executed by IBGE. The software used sound and image resources developed for Windows environment. The research concludes that it is necessary to prepare the infrastructure of the schools for the reception of these students, but mainly the continuing training of teachers and teaching assistants. Mapvoice was tested at the Institute of the Blind for validation, achieving a satisfactory result and making enthusiasm for the development of new researches.