Kilcullen Science and Engineering

Hard-to-Read Maps: Issues With Google Maps and OpenStreetMap

Map screenshot
Tailte Éireann map

Whenever I'm out and about, it's nearly impossible to make out L roads on maps on my phone in bright sunlight because of the low contrast. That's because the colour chosen to depict them is so similar to the background. Google Maps, Tailte Éireann's (OSI) MapGenie Standard map, and OpenStreetMap all suffer from this problem. The only map with good contrast is Tailte Éireann's Discovery Series. That's available as a paper map, on the Scoilnet and Tailte Éireann website and as a layer on the HiiKER app, but it's subscription-only in this app.

I suppose I could bring my paper Discovery Series Sheet 55 and Sheet 56 with me, covering parts of Kildare and Wicklow (or the old Sheet 16 that cost me 37p in John Joe Dowling's newsagent's in 1975, when my father appointed me navigator after I had noticed that we had taken a wrong turn on our way home from Avoca during a Sunday drive).

A story from the Kilcullen Diary about the closure of Dowlings newsagent, Kilcullen

Map screenshot
Google Map of the same region as the title image.

Map screenshot
OpenStreet Map of the same region as the title image.

Map screenshot
Tailte Éireann Discovery Series Map

Map screenshot
OSI paper map of Kildare and Wicklow from the mid '70s.

Images courtesy Google Maps, OpenStreetMap and Tailte Éireann. 

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