Don't write it, picture it!: Accessible Information by graphic signs

Signs and symbols surround us in everyday life, from traffic signs, accessibility pictograms to written text. The ability to read and understand these signs is important but also a cultural technique and not trivial. Graphic signs also play an important role in the field of alternative and augmentative communication, especially for illiterate people, people with learning disabilities or people from different language communities. For this reason, accessible communication concepts have to deal with linguistic, psychological and cultural aspects of graphic signs. In this paper advantages and disadvantages of graphic signs for accessible information are discussed to provide criteria for the readability of graphic signs.