Audio Map Explorer

Explore real streets by sound. Choose a place and a vehicle, then press Start.

On a phone: travel with your location and a touch map, or explore by touch. Works with VoiceOver and TalkBack.

Where

Selected: Times Square, New York

Search a place or address

Or start from

Display (Control + comma opens settings) High contrast: white on black, larger text, wider roads Standard: regular map colours and sizes

Vehicle Walker (key 1) Bicycle (key 2) Car (key 3) Helicopter (key 4)

Sound profile (Shift + P to switch) Simple: fewer places and side streets as you go faster (a car hears landmarks and main roads, a walker hears most things) Full: every place and intersection, with beeps and compass ticks Minimal: landmarks and main roads only Custom: choose below

Places while moving Announce side-street intersections Intersection beeps and compass ticks

Sound theme (also in the command palette) Classic: the original cue sounds Soft: gentler timbres at lower levels Distinct: each kind of cue has a clearly different timbre and pitch

Walking routes (D twice to switch) Shortest: may use footpaths, alleys and paths through parks Streets only: along streets and their pavements

Speech My screen reader Built-in voice Voice speed

Announcements and sound Accessible walking routes: avoid steps and steep slopes (Shift A) Vibrate for turns, hazards and arrival (phones) Announce street names Announce places I pass Warn of crossings and steps ahead (walker and bicycle) Announce heading after turning Road assist: gently follow the road while not turning (key A) Turn-by-turn directions to the destination (key T) Destination beacon sound (key B) Beeps that quicken as an intersection approaches (Shift + B) Compass ticks while turning Rotate visual map with heading Volume Units

Place sounds Food and drink Shops Transport Culture Parks and nature Health Services Other

Your data

Import data (JSON file)

Keyboard commands

Keys and what they do
Key	Action
Up arrow (hold)	Accelerate
Down arrow (hold)	Slow down
Slash (hold)	Brake
Left / Right arrow	Turn 1 degree; hold to keep turning
Shift + Left / Right	Turn 10 degrees; hold to turn faster
Control + Left / Right	Turn onto the next road in that direction. At a roundabout: turn in, then take the exit you are at
R	Align with the road (following a bend), saying how far you turned and how much more the road bends
H	Heading
S	Speed
L	Location: street, nearest cross street, area
Shift + L	Toggle live GPS: your real location and phone compass move you; arrow keys work until the first location arrives, then are ignored
N	Next intersection along the road: full description the first time, then just the remaining distance (use it as a countdown). Mentions bends on the way. In a roundabout: the next exit
N twice	Move to the next intersection or bend along the road. At a bend you stop just before it; turn with Control + arrow, then carry on
Shift + N	The last intersection behind you
Shift + N twice	Move back to the previous intersection or bend, still facing the same way
Period / Comma	Step forward / back through the intersections down the road; N returns to the nearest
Shift + B	Toggle intersection proximity beeps
W	What's around: nearest places with clock directions
Shift+W	Conditions: temperature, weather, wind, daylight and sunset
Space	Sonar sweep: hear nearby places around you
F3	Grid mode: up is north. The arrow keys step north, south, west and east, a short sound plays for the kind of ground (road, building, park, water and more), and where you are is spoken after every step. Buildings and grounds are named from what is inside them and from OpenStreetMap's own names (these arrive a moment after you start grid mode); an unnamed building gives its house number and street when known, and Space says the neighbourhood an unnamed place is near ("commercial area near Kala Ghoda"), never a place's own name. Steps say the neighbourhood only on crossing into another ("Now near Fort."). You always face north, so the destination beacon works like a compass: higher pitch when it is to the north, lower to the south, left ear for west, right ear for east. Turn by turn pauses in grid mode: the beacon and G (how far north or south and east or west the destination is) guide you, and the route is planned again from where you are when you leave. Directions are given by compass, never left, right or clock, since in grid mode you face no particular way. N says the nearest intersection the way you last stepped (east after Right arrow) and how far each way it is, Shift N the nearest the other way; press either twice to step onto it. Before your first step, N gives the nearest in any direction. Space says where you are again, Shift + Space adds the nearest street. Minus and equals change the step: 1, 10, 100 or 1000 metres (yards with imperial units). F3 again leaves, staying where you are
Control + J	Jump to a place or address: you are moved there (keeping any destination), e.g. to learn a route from A to B
Shift + Q	Save this trip (where you are to your destination) as a named route
Q	Saved routes: choose one to jump to its start with the destination set, or remove it
Control + D	Search for a destination (place, address or area)
D	Distance to go along the route, estimated time, and straight-line distance
D twice	Switch walking routes between shortest (may use footpaths) and streets only
Shift + A	Toggle accessible walking routes that avoid steps and steep slopes
T	Toggle turn-by-turn directions (otherwise the beacon points straight at the destination)
I	Next turn-by-turn instruction; press twice quickly for the next three
B	Toggle the destination beacon sound
Tab / Shift + Tab	Browse nearby places
Enter	Set the browsed place as destination (beacon guides you)
G	Destination distance and direction
Backspace	Clear destination
C	Show only one kind of place (food, shops, transport, health, culture, parks, services) in W, Space and Tab; press again to cycle, back to all
V	Leave a spoken note at this spot; you hear it when you pass again. Shift + V deletes the note you are at
Control + V	Report a wrong or missing road or place to OpenStreetMap, after you confirm. The report is public
Z	Copy a link to this spot and your destination, to open on another device
U	Trip summary: distance, time and streets so far, or the last trip once you have arrived
E	Where am I: street, area, nearest landmark and nearest bus stop or station
O	Preview the whole route: length, time and the first turns
X	Set the nearest bus stop or station as destination; press again for the next nearest. Stops at the same intersection come one after another, each with its corner or side of the street (e.g. "north-west corner of Goodwin Avenue and Green Street"), its stop letter, and the lines that call there and where they go. A station takes you to its nearest entrance
Shift + X	Say the nearest entrances, exits, platforms and lifts with direction and distance
Shift + T	Next departures when you stand at a bus stop or station (open Transitous data: much of Europe, North America, Australia; needs a connection)
Y	Save the destination, or where you are, as a saved place. Control D and Control J list saved places before you type
1 to 4	Walker, bicycle, car, helicopter
A	Toggle road assist (lane keeping: follows bends and goes round roundabouts; you make the turns)
P	Toggle place announcements
Shift + P	Switch sound profile: full, simple, minimal or custom
M	Toggle map rotation
[ and ]	Review previous / next spoken messages
Control	Stop speech (built-in voice)
Page Up / Page Down	Volume
F	Search for a new location
Control + comma	Settings (display mode and more)
Control + Shift + P	Command palette: type to search every action, Up / Down to choose, Enter to run
Shift + F1	Learn the keys: guided practice on the map. Backslash skips a step, Delete exits
F1 or K	Spoken help
Escape	Menu

Touch gestures

On the map, with a screen reader on, touch the map area and use these. Menus and buttons work as usual.

Touch gestures and what they do
Gesture	Action
Swipe up	Accelerate until you brake
Swipe down	Brake
Swipe left / right	Turn 10 degrees
Two-finger swipe left / right	Turn onto the next road in that direction
Tap	Where am I
Long press	Hear the previous spoken message again
Two-finger tap	Menu (pauses)

Voice commands (F4, or the button in the menu; needs a browser with speech recognition): say where am I, what is around, speed, heading, location, next intersection, next instruction, distance, repeat, faster, stop, turn left, turn right, next road left, next road right, help, menu or pause.

Sound guide

Two low falling notes: the road ends ahead (dead end).
Quickening beeps: an intersection is coming up; they speed up and rise as you get closer, then the bell plays when you are in it. Lower beeps mean a dead end.
Rising chime: intersection ahead, one note per road. Ticking after it: traffic signals.
Ding-dong bell: you are at the intersection now, the moment to turn. Short pings follow from the direction of each road you can take, left to right; the highest ping is straight ahead. A soft falling blip means you have left the intersection.
Rumble on one side: you are drifting toward that edge of the road. Off road, the rumble comes from where the road is.
Click while turning: every 10 degrees. Double chime: north, east, south or west.
Place sounds come from the direction of the place: cup clink for food, two-tone chime for transport, bell for culture, water drop for parks, plain tone for shops and services.
Beacon ping: your destination. Left or right in your headphones shows which side it is on; pitch shows ahead (high) or behind (low). A second, higher note means you are heading straight at it. It repeats faster as you get closer. With turn-by-turn on, the beacon points a little way along the route, so following it follows the streets.
Following a route: at the intersection where you turn, a bright rising chord plays from the side to turn to, and you hear "Here: turn left onto…". Intersections you go straight through get a single soft bell instead of the ding-dong. Earlier reminders count the intersections, e.g. "at the second intersection".
Low falling pair from behind you, with "Wrong way. Turn around.": you are travelling back along the route. When the route is behind you, I starts with "Turn around" and N ends with "Your route is behind you".
"Map data ends": the road goes on, but that part of the map has not loaded yet. It loads as you get closer; it is not a dead end.
Rising two notes on one side: a turn that is not at an intersection (or a bend, with road assist off) is starting now, toward that side.
Bends: the road's bends are announced ahead with their direction and size, e.g. "Road bends right in 40 metres". Walkers also hear the angle ("about 60 degrees"), as they do for each road at an intersection. With road assist off, the rising two notes play on that side as the bend begins.
Grid mode (F3) sounds for the ground you step onto: hard click for a road, light tap for a footpath, door knock for a building, drop for water, leaf rustle for parks and green space, whistle for sports grounds and playgrounds, doorbell for homes, till ding for shops and offices, metal clank for industry and railway land, soft chord for schools, hospitals and similar grounds, hollow thud for farmland, crunch for sand, rock or ice, and a faint breath for open ground.
Exact spots: bus and tram stops and station entrances always say which corner or side of the street they are on, worked out from the streets and corrected by the stop's own map details (stop letter, "far side"). Buses "probably" heading a way is a guess from the side of the street; without "probably" the map says so. A place that shares its name with another nearby says its street or address. Choosing a place mapped as a building guides you to its main entrance.
Crossings say the street they go over and which side of the intersection they are on, then what they offer: audible signal, push button, vibrating button, island in the middle, tactile paving.
Roundabouts: on the approach you hear every exit in order and where it leads ("second North Road, straight on"). Inside, each exit is called out as it comes up ("Exit 2, North Road, on your right") and the ding-dong bell plays at it, with a ping from the exit's direction: that is the moment to turn off.

Audio Map Explorer

Nearby

Audio Map Explorer

Where

Or start from

Your data

Keyboard commands

Touch gestures

Sound guide

Navigate to

Command palette

Change key bindings

Saved places and notes

Saved places

Spot notes

Note for this spot

Report a map error to OpenStreetMap

Saved routes