However, interactive graphics with digital labels have been found to be just as effective, faster, preferred by blind users, and more functional than braille labels.

The current practice for labeling 3D maps and graphics is to use braille, either through sticky labels or by brailling on the graphic itself. These findings suggest that 3D models should be used whenever possible, especially for students with little to no experience with tactile graphics. Studies such as directly compared 3D models to tactile graphics and found that 3D models were preferred, were easier to remember, allowed for more variables to be represented, and allowed for easier to understand icons. In the last several years, studies such as have found 3D models, mostly created through 3D printing, do not pose as many issues to readers as raised line tactile graphics. Other problems included users not understanding the graphics, no standardization of symbolic content, low tactile graphic literacy among the readers, and the conflict between the need for simpler, more comprehendible graphics and the desire for more information about them. A survey conducted on 27 blind tactile graphic readers and tactile graphic transcribers highlighted a number of problems with tactile graphics, with the top problem being a lack of availability. As useful as they are, however, they have important limitations. Tactile graphics are an essential means of conveying spatial information to people with visual impairments, with standards detailing the best practices for how they should be designed. The lessons we learn from designing, developing and testing the map for this specific playground will also inform the development of interactive installations for other environments, such as museums, parks and other playgrounds. Cross-modal delivery of haptic, visual and auditory information will help visitors of all abilities learn about the playground and feel more comfortable exploring and playing in it. The purpose of the interactive 3D map, which is planned as a permanent installation at the playground site, is to help visitors acquaint themselves with the layout of the playground and its many play features. While this inclusive playground was specifically 'created to be highly accessible to all visitors and to remove the physical and social barriers of today's typical playgrounds and give everyone a place to play,' it is still challenging for visually impaired visitors to navigate independently.

In this study, we designed the interactive map to make an existing playground, the Magical Bridge playground in Palo Alto, California, more accessible to visually impaired visitors. This paper describes the design and evaluation of an interactive 3D map, which is a scale model of an environment with objects on it that play audio labels when a user points to them.

Non-visual maps have been primarily made as raised line graphics with braille, but recent research has suggested that 3D models and interactivity make maps more accessible and easier to understand for non-visual users.

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