[accessibleimage] Re: SVG maps

Hello all, well as Dave has pointed out, SVG is at the heart of ViewPlus' new IVEO technology. So let me give a very brief overview to answer the questions that have been posed in this thread.

SVG files are indeed readable in source form with a screen reader, but don't even think about getting access that way. They make HTML source code look like child's play. Sighted users can use the Adobe SVG Viewer or others that are available free. One of these is the ViewPlus IVEO Viewer. If the SVG file has been made using the IVEO Creator, text labels will be spoken when mouse-clicked. Creator groups text intelligently so that small bits of text separated from other text will be spoken as a single label - which is what is desired most of the time. An author can regroup text if desired. But the most powerful feature is ability easily to provide labels to graphic objects. The author just clicks open an object, types in the desired label in the Title field, then can optionally type in a longer description in the object's description field. All are accessible by mouse.

Blind users need to have a tactile copy, best made by printing to a Viewplus embosser of course. Putting that tactile copy on a touch pad lets a blind user's fingers explore text and objects and press to hear them. We are encouraging libraries and universities to have an embosser on a network accessible to blind users. That gives the blind user enormous freedom of exploration. One can zoom (using the keyboard in several ways) portions of the image, print, and explore. We believe that the new ViewPlus Emprint haptic color printer will provide excellent access to severely dyslexic and other severely print disabled people too. Less disabled people, including those without any serious disability, may use audio if desired by just mouse clicking. A Tablet PC is really cool for viewing and hearing - if you can see the screen.

We strongly advise IVEO authors to use the IVEO Converter utility that is part of Creator to import files from other applications. Converter does a really good job of preserving the object structure that an author would normally create in good graphics applications. All SVG exports that we have examined are just garbage, and an author would need to define objects by carefully outlining each one with a mouse, since the only objects in these exports are line segments. The IVEO Creator and Viewer have lots of other neat features too, but I don't want to go on for many pages.

Hope this helps.  Be happy to answer questions either on or off list.

John







At 03:20 AM 1/25/2006, you wrote: 
Hi all,
A Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG) is essentially still an image, but with
text tags attached to objects. But the image itself is stored in vector
format, so rather than record the colour of every dot which makes up the
image (bitmap - Jpg, gif, bmp) it uses equations to define lines,
shapes, objects, colour etc.

In theory an SVG viewer could generate a list of text tags, and possibly
allow you to tab through the image to its various objects, but because
it is still an image it is unlikely to be fully accessible with just a
screen reader.

Whilst SVG is still a fairly new technology, it can be created by most
of the common vector graphic design applications (Corel, Illustrator
etc), as well as specialist software like IVEO Converter from ViewPlus.

ViewPlus have been working with this format for several years now, and
it's at the core of the IVEO touchpad which can quickly produce and
rescale tactile audio images.

When the sun rises on their part of the world, I'm sure they will be
able to provide a bit more information for those interested.

Lisa - depending what you are doing you may not need to record WAV
files, but instead have the text labels in the image voiced.

Dave Gunn

Technical Manager
RNIB National Centre for Tactile Diagrams
Web: http://www.nctd.org.uk

-----Original Message-----
From: accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Lisa Yayla
Sent: 25 January 2006 10:39
To: accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [accessibleimage] Re: SVG maps

Hi,
That I don't know. SVGs are text files so would have thought it would
work.
Perhaps Chris could answer that?
Best,
Lisa

accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx skriver:
>I'd heard that smart vector graphics are not currently accessible to
>screen readers.


Lisa Yayla
Huseby Kompetansesenter
Oslo Norway
lisa.yayla@xxxxxxxxxx



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