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Even Grounds Posts

Even Grounds offers holistic accessibility consulting for travel and tourism: tactile maps, 3D replicas, museum consulting, training, and accessibility audits.

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Even Grounds is trusted by organizations of all sizes, from global corporations and government agencies to museums, cultural institutions, and nonprofits.

Dell
KPMG
Bank of Canada Currency Museum
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Allen Memorial Art Museum
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Accessible tactile 3D printed restroom maps for blind visitors

Published February 11, 2026 by Tom

If you are blind, when you visit a restroom by default you will end up touching many more things than sighted people to find the same facilities. Wouldn’t it be great to minimize contact with things you wouldn’t need to touch in the first place?

This is why I invented the accessible tactile 3D printed restroom maps.

A tactile restroom map is a 3D-printed miniature replica of a restroom’s layout, mounted beside the ADA sign, that blind visitors can feel before entering.

When a blind person visits a restroom, before they enter they can quickly examine a map of the exact layout of the restroom so they can go exactly where they want to without having to explore and accidentally touch more than necessary.

accessible tactile restroom map including a sink, toilets, urinals, paper holders, hand dryer and doors.

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Erich Manser on the Resilience and Logistics of Blind Running

Published January 25, 2026 by Tom

I would like to introduce you to my friend, and previous colleague from IBM, Erich Manser who is a competitive blind runner. Over the years I enjoyed hearing about his adventures, and when it comes to sports, I got much inspiration from him.

Erich runs in a 10k race guided by his adult daughter Ellie. Both smile big for the camera, Erich tips his hat and wears a bright yellow vest which reads Blind, while Ellie wears a similar vest that says Guide.

Erich is 53 and lives in Littleton, Massachusetts with his wife Lisa and their daughters Ellie and Grace. He currently works at Harvard University as part of their Digital Accessibility Services team, where he enjoys helping all Harvard schools & departments ensure their digital content and technologies are accessible and inclusive of all users. Erich enjoys running, and is proud to have run 25 marathons, including 15 Boston Marathons, as well as 3 Ironman triathlons.

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The Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati

Published November 8, 2025 by Tom

Last week when I attended the National Braille Association conference, I was able to find some time to visit the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati. I admit, last time when I was in Cincinnati, I didn’t know about it, otherwise I would have put it on my list, though maybe it was at the time when they were doing the renovations. But in anyway, everything has a reason, and this time there was one more reason to visit, they have a few building replicas we made for them in collaboration with Clovernook, but more about this later.

By the time I figured out my final schedule and matched it with the opening hours, there were exactly two hours left for me to visit. I can’t thank her enough, the executive director, Christina Hartlieb immediately responded to my email and at a one week notice she generously made her time available to personally give me a tour of the house.

This house is famous about Harriet Beecher Stowe, at the time, Harriet Beecher living there from 1832 until her marriage in 1836. After that she still lived in Cincinnati, and her experience in town contributed to her most famous novel, Uncle Tom’s cabin. The book was translated to at least 75 languages, and my personal connection to it was that when I was a kid, my mom read it to me in Hungarian.

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When 3D printing is preferrable to 2D tactile graphics

Published November 5, 2025 by Tom

When supplying visual materials with braille books for the most part the use of tactile graphics is sufficient. However, there are many instances when providing 3D printed objects can enhance the understanding of the material. Even the Tactile Graphics Guidelines Mention 3-dimensional objects in the first sentence of the document: “Tactile graphics, in combination with 3-dimensional models, need to be introduced early in the process of learning braille.” Throughout this document 3-dimensional models are mentioned many times.

However, when it comes to practical implementation, rare are the books which are supplied with 3D objects. When I talked with many teachers of the visually impaired and with braille transcribers, their response was that while they are aware of the possibility of using 3D objects, but there is very little information on how to source these and what it really takes to get it produced.

In this post I will talk about what makes a good candidate for 3D printing and what is better supplied in 2D, or not at all. I will also look at the production process to help make the decision if 3D representation is indeed the right option for a particular object.

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Touch tour at the Rijksmuseum

Published June 8, 2025 by Tom

Last week I was in Amsterdam attending the third Tactile Reading and Graphics Conference. As always when I travel, I try to squeeze in at least a museum visit. This time, it was the Rijksmuseum, for several reasons. One that it was already recommended to me as an accessible experience, but even more importantly because one of the keynote speakers, Cathelijne Denekamp, who is their accessibility manager wrote a book about their accessibility work, Accessibility without limits. I read the book before my trip and I was really impressed. I quickly bought a ticket for a Sunday morning to explore the museum on my own. I read in the book that it is set up so that a person without any vision and a phone could navigate the property and enjoy the exhibit.

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Braille vs. Audio: Which Communication Tool Works Best for the Blind?

Published May 5, 2025 by Tom

In person-centered learning, communication, alongside access to information, is important for education, employment, and day-to-day life activities, especially for people with visual impairment. Accessibility has been improved over the years with the development of technology, with the biggest focus being placed on Braille and audio aids. But which one is better? The effectiveness of these aids is discussed and analyzed in regard to their benefits, limitations, and best use cases.

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How Smart Technology is Transforming Communication for Blind People

Published May 5, 2025 by Tom

During the time of technological advancements, one main concern remains at the forefront: enabling ease of communication for the disabled, especially those who are visually impaired. With the rise of AI-integrated devices, voice-operated machines, and accessibility software, visually impaired people can now move around the world with much more ease.

This article talks about how automated devices are changing the way blind people communicate, enabling them to achieve higher degrees of independence.

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