Tactile graphics, or graphics you can feel, can really help people with a vision impairment understand graphical information. Graphics can be copied onto special paper using an embosser that creates raised line graphics.
How
do I produce tactile graphics?
Figure 1: The picture to the right shows the PIAF machine, with an example of a tactile graphic. This picture is used with permission of Quantum Technology Australia.
The PIAF uses heat sensitive paper to produce raised areas where there are lines or marks on a photocopy.
The VET Disability Support Service (VDSS) has a Pictures in a Flash (PIAF) machine that can produce tactile graphics.
& Go to the section on VDSS for contact details.
Creating Tactile Graphics
High Tech Center Training Unit
http://www.htctu.net/trainings/manuals/alt/Tactile_Graphics.pdf
This manual covers:
Basic Principles
A Good Tactile Graphic
Planning Process
Guidelines for Design of Tactile Graphics
Resources to Create Graphics
Tips
For more information:
Tactile Graphics and Strategies for non-visual seeing
Steven Landau, 1999
http://www.touchgraphics.com/thresholds.htm
This article shows a good example of Tactile Map Reading and production. The example uses a series of maps of the same site, with each map more complex than the previous, to provide a clear, detailed map for a person who is blind.
Graphics and Three-Dimensional Models
http://www.rit.edu/%7Eeasi/graphics.htm
People with a vision impairment can find it difficult to access graphs, charts, drawings and three-dimensional models that are prevalent in the science, engineering and mathematics fields. This web page links to several state-of-the-art resources which are being used to transcend these barriers, including:
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Tactile Graphics, An Overview and Resource Guide
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Graphical Calculus Course for Blind students
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Technology and hands-on strategies for teaching science and mathematics
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Tangible Graphic Displays
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Adding Audio Description to Television Science Programs
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Tactile Pictures and Graphics
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Teaching Blind Students to Use Tactile Displays
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Audiotactile Approach to Tactile Images
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Displaying Laterally Moving Tactile Information
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Uses of Polymer in Tactile Graphics
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Three-Dimensional Models
Web-based teaching: Communicating Technical Drawings with the Vision Impaired
Swinburne University of Technology
http://opax.swin.edu.au/~303207/OZeWAI20031.html
This article looks at alternatives for communicating important technical information to people with a vision impairment. The article looks at diagrams produced using Unified Modelling Language (UML). The diagrams are used widely in the information technology industry. The researchers compare a wide range of options for communicating graphical information to people with a vision impairment.