I have had representation from some more visually-challenged (i.e. older!) members about the legibility of the course overprint in the WEE series. The course setup (circle size etc.) is a matter for the planners, but what I did for Grove Park was to add a white shadow to the overprint circles, numbers and lines. Did this make the course more legible? Did anybody notice?
I struggled with picking up the lines leaving controls at Grove – particularly coming out of 4 as the contour lines and paths etc all seemed to disguise the line, similarly at 10. As Daphne says the colours seem brighter these days.Having had a look back over the WEE maps so far the clearest for me are when the numbers are bigger and the lines between controls seem thicker like Ormeau and Barnetts ! It’s always tougher on urban because of the greater amount of dark grey black and olive.
Yes Alan, I noticed the small white shadow in the background of control circles and numbers and they were a help. The difficulty of reading the course was one of my reasons of going down to the short courses, less controls to read. The colours, especially the orange background for open land seems to have become deeper. I have old maps to compare and it is not just my eyes getting older.
The placing of the numbers is also something that planners should consider. Placing numbers on open land, rough open, paved or runnable forest is good. Placing on buildings or olive out of bounds is best avoided. Sometimes that is just not possible. If a number has to be placed on a building then it’s better that the full number is on the same background.
Yes Alan, as a full member of the visually challenged orienteering fraternity, I can say I found the legibility of Wednesday’s map very much improved. I didn’t realise why at the time but I did notice the white border when I looked at the map afterwards. It made a big difference for me and I would support adopting it as standard.