Readability Analysis of Covid-19 Maps

ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 2020

A school world atlas is likely the first systematic cartographic product which students encounter in their lives. However, only a few empirical studies have analysed school atlases in the context of map reading and learning geographical curricula. The present paper describes an eye-tracking study conducted on 30 grammar school students and their geography teacher. The study explored ten tasks using thematic world maps contained in the Czech school world atlas. Three research questions were posed: (i) Are students able to learn using these particular types of maps? (ii) Have the cartographic visualization methods in the school atlas been adequately selected? (iii) Does the teacher read the maps in the same manner as students? The results proved that the students were sufficiently able to learn using thematic maps. The average correctness of their answers exceeded 70%. However, the results highlighted several types of cartographic visualization methods which students found difficult to read. Most of the difficulties arose from map symbols being poorly legible. The most problematic task was estimating the value of the phenomenon from the symbol size legend. Finally, the difference between the students' and teacher's manner of reading maps in each task was analysed qualitatively and then quantitatively by applying two different scanpath comparison methods. The study revealed that the geography teacher applied a different method than her students. She avoided looking at the map legend and solved the task using her knowledge.

Maps are commonly considered an effective way for transferring geoinformation to a wide variety of user groups. Most cartographic products are used by people who need to arrive at the target information as quickly as possible and with an appropriate level of accuracy and comprehensibility. Yet, cartographic products have not always been designed strictly according to their primary purpose and the needs of specific groups of users. It is therefore necessary to properly evaluate each new cartographic visualization and obtain feedback on its usability. This process requires the evaluator to consider all potentially relevant cognitive aspects influencing perception of cartographic information in a specific group of users for whom the map is intended. One has to be extremely careful about considering these factors especially when designing and evaluating applications used in emergency services. Cartographic visualizations and tools used in this field should also be designed with the pers...

2004

ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information, 2021

Recently, due to Web 2.0 and neocartography, heat maps have become a popular map type for quick reading. Heat maps are graphical representations of geographic data density in the form of raster maps, elaborated by applying kernel density estimation with a given radius on point- or linear-input data. The aim of this study was to compare the usability of heat maps with different levels of generalization (defined by radii of 10, 20, 30, and 40 pixels) for basic map user tasks. A user study with 412 participants (16–20 years old, high school students) was carried out in order to compare heat maps that showed the same input data. The study was conducted in schools during geography or IT lessons. Objective (the correctness of the answer, response times) and subjective (response time self-assessment, task difficulty, preferences) metrics were measured. The results show that the smaller radius resulted in the higher correctness of the answers. A larger radius did not result in faster respon...

2018

This paper presents the work of the Research Group on Experimental Cartography at Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary. Our goal is to create a quick and effective test method to categorize map readers according to their map reading skills. In the presented part of our study, we created an online user test with six multi-choice questions that tested various competences required for interpreting hypsography. During a pre-test questionnaire, we asked demographic information of the participants for a deeper analysis. We used two tailed t-tests to find significant differences among the participants, according to their traits. A total of 195 test subjects participated in the research. The results show that the relative height definition, interpretation of slope direction, recognition of landforms and mapterrain association is significantly more difficult for unexperienced participants. It was concluded that questions involving mental rotation and comparison of relative heights are more appr...

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014

The paper deals with analysing the symbology in school atlases of the world with the focus on the cognitive aspects of cartographic signs by atlas users-pupils-to answer How symbology in school atlases from different countries is perceived by pupils. The authors aimed to find out whether or not the samples presented are accurately interpreted by the respondents, and if they are able to gain required information from the samples. Elev en school atlases were subsequently analysed. T he perception itself was tested using an online web questionnaire distributed to various respondents. T he questionnaire focused not only on the main group of atlas users and also on other respondents who have used school atlases before. The results come from 441 responses. T he responses received were furthermore assessed using statistical methods. T he research proved that older respondents were more successful in reading of, and retrieval of information from, t he maps. T his confirmed the assumption that cartographic literacy increases with age and knowledge gained. T he survey also showed that the use of cartographic products during free-time activities is beneficial for deepening the ability to read maps in respondents across age groups. After comparing the number of methods used in a single atlas, the Swiss atlas appeared to be the richest one, while t he Ser bian one was the poorest. However, none of the selected atlases was entirely different in its approach in comparison with the remaining ones.

Research Square (Research Square), 2020

Background: The internet is now the rst line source of health information for many people worldwide. In the current Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic, health information is being produced, revised, updated and disseminated at an increasingly rapid rate. The general public are faced with a plethora of misinformation regarding COVID-19 and the readability of online information has an impact on their understanding of the disease. The accessibility of online healthcare information relating to COVID-19 is unknown. We sought to evaluate the readability of online information relating to COVID-19 in four English speaking regions: Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, and compare readability of website source provenance and regional origin. Methods: The Google® search engine was used to collate the rst twenty webpage URLs for three individual searches for 'COVID', 'COVID-19', and 'coronavirus' from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. The Gunning Fog Index (GFI), Flesch-Kincaid Grade (FKG) Score, Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) score were calculated to assess the readability. Results: There were poor levels of readability webpages reviewed, with only 17.2% of webpages at a universally readable level. There was a signi cant difference in readability between the different webpages based on their information source (p <0.01). Public Health organisations and Government organisations provided the most readable COVID-19 material, while digital media sources were signi cantly less readable. There were no signi cant differences in readability between regions. Conclusion: Much of the general public have relied on online information during the pandemic. Information on COVID-19 should be made more readable, and those writing webpages and information tools should ensure universal accessibility is considered in their production. Governments and healthcare practitioners should have an awareness of the online sources of information available, and ensure that readability of our own productions is at a universally readable level which will increase understanding and adherence to health guidelines.

2019

This paper will discuss the role of data visualizaon in the fi eld of medical science and the relaonships between health research and graphic sciences. Graphic representa on allows the survey and the visualiza on of intangible phenomena. For this reason, computer graphics and technologically innova ve imaging are now gaining a central role in all the disciplines based on the analysis of phenomena that occur in the territory and from which decision making depends. Thus, knowledge, techniques and tools of the graphic sciences are increasingly being asked to contribute to interdisciplinary research. Health data visualiza on can be a useful tool to reveal new insights on the spa al pa erns of disease spread, mainly in the study of risk factors for diseases considered "environmental" because a considerable part of their spread can be attributed to environmental factors so that their distribu on pa erns result strongly associated with the spa ally heterogeneous environment to which they are referred. The simultaneous visua-Keywords: maps; data visualisa on; geospa al visualisa on; graphic representa on; medical research Michele Valentino Graduated from IUAV University of Venice, he obtained his PhD in "Architecture and Planning" at the Department of Architecture of the University of Sassari. Since 2008 he is a contract professor of Drawing and Representation at the same Department, he was visiting research in 2012 at University of Edinburgh.

Journal of Content, Community and Communication, 2020

Visuals and words always create a narrative impact on the minds of the readers. Visual data or infographics enable readers to understand and comprehend complex information effortlessly. In an era of technological development, consumption of information is faster and quicker, and so the storytelling potential of data visualisation narratives is productive. During a global endemic like coronavirus, the mounting fear motivates people to seek accurate and credible information swifter and also change health behaviour accordingly. This paper tries to explore the representation of visualisation of data during the outbreak of global pandemic – COVID-19 for three months – from 1 January to 21 March 2020 in two leading national newspapers – The Hindu and The Times of India. The study identified the percentage of coverage, different levels and types of infographics and message characteristics of infographics. The study found that response and self-efficacy related infographics were primarily l...

2021

Visual communication has become a trend in health education during the COVID-19 pandemic specially the use of infographics. The purpose of this study is to determine the visual preference of the respondents on COVID-19 infographics with different language used among the residents of Ricarte Norte, Diffun, Quirino. Descriptivecorrelational study was conducted among selected residents at Purok 4, Ricarte Norte, Diffun, Quirino through non-probability convenience sampling technique. Questionnaire consist of 2 parts. The first part focused on the profile of the respondents. On the other hand, the second part concentrated on the respondents' perception regarding the visual preference of infographics on Covid-19 in terms of different designs and language used using the Likert scale. Data were gathered through face-to-face. The result revealed that the overall visual preference of the respondents on COVID-19 infographics was "Fairly Preferred" but specifically, each group of the respondents exhibit unique and different visual preference on the COVID-19 infographics. The study revealed further that there was no significant difference as to the perception made by the respondents on their visual preference on the COVID-19 infographics and there exists a significant relationship between the assessed visual preference of the respondents on COVID-19 infographics with the used of the different language domain with their profile variables.