[Patch] Add armrest tag to the default preset for amenity=bench

[mjs116]

Recording whether a bench has any armrests provides useful information about benches for people with impaired mobility. Armrests on benches can be used by people with mobility issues to assist them in getting on and off the bench.

JOSM's amenity=bench preset does not currently include the armrest tag. Adding this will encourage more people to add armrest information for benches and make it easier for those that already do so.

See ​https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:amenity%3Dbench and ​https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:armrest.

There is also a related discussion at ​https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/recording-whether-benches-have-armrests.

[mjs116]

I have created a pull request to fix this at ​https://github.com/JOSM/josm/pull/139.

[skyper]

Thanks for the patch. I do not like the (s) in the name. Can we drop it or only use the plural?

Overall, I think we need some tags to define the numbers and positions of the armrests similar to handrail:left=* or with :lanes syntax, e.g. armrest=yes|yes|yes|no for a bench with an armrest on the left, two in the middle and none on the right side when sitting on the bench. But here is not the right place to discuss tagging and for a first shot I am fine with this simple tagging.

[mjs116]

I do not like the (s) in the name. Can we drop it or only use the plural?

I don't have strong feelings on this but would like to learn more. What is the objection to the "(s)" in the name? I included it as an attempt to clarify the fact that armrest=yes applies to a bench with one or more armrests. There are some benches designed to be usable by people in a wheelchair that only have one armrest - see the example at ​https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:armrest.

[skyper]

My main concern is the burden for translators. Much less important is that is does not look nice. If we want to emphasis that the value yes is used for "one or several" armrests we could use a <combo /> with display_values="" or even short_descriptions="" instead of the <check />.

[mjs116]

Okay, thanks. I have updated the ​PR to use a combo instead.

This does make the solitary Backrest checkbox look a bit odd. I did consider migrating this to a combo too but have left it as is for now.

[mjs116]

After experimentation I've decided that a simple checkbox is clearer, especially as it can be grouped with the exists Backrest checkbox. I think the "Armrest(s)" problem can be avoided by setting the text to "Armrests (one or more)".

I've updated the ​PR and have included screenshots of these two approaches in ​https://github.com/JOSM/josm/pull/139#issuecomment-2139274814.

[taylor.smock]

@skyper: Did you have any additional feedback for mjs116?

[skyper]

I think the current solution with the checkbox and the additional text in brackets is a good workaround.