Check out our most frequently asked questions below.
The units are Census Block Groups and Census Blocks. Census Block Groups are larger units composed of Census Blocks.
Yes, the website can be accessed on mobile devices including smartphones and tablets.
Yes! The site is currently translated into Spanish, Arabic, and Hmong, and we have plans to expand upon these translations. If there is a specific language that is vital to your usage of our tool, please let us know at [email protected].
Yes! Representable.org was created to be an accessible way to increase public input from all communities in the redistricting process. It will always be a free tool.
Before users draw their maps, we present guiding questions so that they can tell mapmakers the shared values and location of their community. This testimony can include demographic information. But after rounds of usability testing and interviews with mapmakers, the Representable team found that it was best to present this information as an analytical layer that is visible after people draw their maps.
The COI data collected from our tool is meant to be one-layer of information during the redistricting process. If you would like to see this COI data in conversation with demographic data, you can export the COI maps you collected as a GEOJson file and analyze this data in another mapping software.
Currently, Representable does not have the functionality to go back and edit the text of community maps. However, you can access your previously created communities at any time. If you’d like to make a change to your community map, you can delete your previously drawn community and re-draw it with the updated community information!
You can edit your community for 24 hours after submitting it to Representable. If you would like more time to edit your community, select “Save as Draft” when you finish mapping. This will allow you to go back and edit your community, as well as add collaborators. After you are done editing, you will need to submit your community.
Yes! When you start the mapping process, you have the ability to select the \“add collaborators\” button. After you finish drawing your portion of the community and save it, your collaborators will have access to the testimony and community portion that you drew.
You can browse all of the communities drawn in your state here. Also, if someone else has drawn a community on Representable with which you identify, you can contribute your own comments to that map. The original creator of the map will be notified of your submission.
Welcome to Representable! Please look over our organization toolkit for information about the tool, community mapping drives, hosting training sessions, and much more. Additionally, if you go to the resources tab of our website, you will find sample training slides, infographics, and educational materials to support you throughout the process. If you have any more questions, feel free to reach out to the team at [email protected].
Representable.org is a free tool which solely focuses on drawing communities of interest. Additionally, only Representable has mapping drives for organizing community maps and the structured questions before drawing the map (i.e. "Economic Interests", "Community Activities", etc). We also heavily prioritize a friendly user interface that works as both a tool for collecting public input and educating users.
Lastly, Representable is a very malleable tool, and we can add features for your state/organization specifically! Usually, this includes additional boundaries that you would like to see under the "data layers'' feature of our tool.
Our organization toolkit outlines several possibilities for how to most effective use COI data collected with our tool! If you would like to speak with a Representable team member about what would work best in your specific case, please reach out to us at [email protected].
You can upload a GEOJSON file of the COI data collected from Representable into several mapping systems! They include Maptitude, ESRI, and Dave's Redistricting App. Additionally, you can upload a CSV (or Block Equivalency file) from Representable to these platforms and DistrictBuilder for mapping and analysis.