The Netherlands Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency (Kadaster) has launched a pioneering initiative to make geospatial data accessible for blind and visually impaired communities through tactile mapping. Traditional maps are visually oriented, limiting access for millions of people with impaired vision across Europe. Kadaster addressed this gap by developing tactile maps where raised ink and Braille enable navigation by touch. The first map of The Netherlands was designed using official geospatial datasets, featuring tactile symbols (airplanes for airports, stars for stadiums) and Braille labels. To accommodate tactile readability, information density was carefully managed, with feature names abbreviated and linked to a numbered legend for clarity.

Following successful user trials with the Bartimeus Institute, Kadaster confirmed both demand and usability. With co-financing from the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility, the project scaled beyond national borders by leveraging the EuroRegionalMap dataset. This allowed Kadaster’s production process to be applied automatically to multiple European countries, ensuring consistency, efficiency, and pan-European coverage. The initiative now extends to all countries included in EuroRegionalMap, creating for the first time a tactile map of Europe accessible to visually impaired users.