Interactive maps such as Google Maps and OpenStreetMap are useful tools for organizing and conveying information spatially. However, creating an interactive map requires a high degree of technical knowledge to accomplish, which creates a barrier for people without this experience. Existing map making applications are highly technical, expensive, or can only produce static raster image maps. Toccare Interactive Map Maker is a free cartographic application that we have designed for users with little-to-no computer science skills. In particular, Toccare is focused on creating interactive maps of fictional spaces. Users can import static raster maps and build interactive features on top of them, or they can build interactive maps from scratch. A set of tools allows the user to manipulate the map project by adding landmarks, buildings, roads, and other map features. Map projects can store information about these features. Roads can be semi-automatically converted from raster images into interactive road data. Maps created in Toccare can be exported to a set of files that can be embedded into a webpage and navigated by visitors. The Toccare software and embeddable maps are built in HTML5 and JavaScript using the Electron framework. An embedded SQLite back-end stores map information. Toccare has a variety of applications for small businesses and organizations, cartography enthusiasts, the tabletop gaming community, and other demographics. Toccare’s accessibility was tested by volunteers from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds. They were given a series of tasks which led them through the process of replicating an example map. A survey delivered at the end of the test evaluated the volunteers’ experiences with the application.
