[accessibleimage] Re: Topographical maps and student who is blind

I can well believe that embossed topographical maps are difficult to read
unless you do a whale of a lot of human labor to enhance them with braille
labels and various tactile simplifications.  There is an easier and better
way.  You can use IVEO to enhance the information so that your student can
not only feel them but hear information you put in.  If the maps are made
from an electronic copy in vector format, it could be fairly easy to add
such information.  For example you could select a topographic line, click
open its properties, and add its label.  Once you know how to do this, it
should take only a few minutes to enhance the full map.  If you are using a
scanned bit map image, it is gonna be quite a bit more difficult, because
you have to define those lines as objects with the mouse.  The difficulty of
adding enhancements depends on the complexity of the maps.  Of course.  Go
to www.viewplus.com and look at the videos about IVEO Hands-on Learning.
 
Full disclosure:  Viewplus is my company.
 
I'll give you one more good suggestion.  You can enhance the tactile
contrast on the embossed copy by changing the contrast setting in the
embosser printer driver properties.  It's in the Tiger tab.  [Several things
in that TAB are not documented. It would be a good MS thesis project to
measure and document the effects of the contrast and brightness controls,
and that thesis hasn't been done yet.]  If there isn't enough tactile
contrast in those maps now, you can certainly improve the copy by
experimenting with the contrast control.
  _____  

From: accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Phillip M Minyard
(pminyard)
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 1:23 PM
To: 'accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'
Subject: [accessibleimage] Topographical maps and student who is blind



We have a student enrolled in a environmental geology class. We have tried
enlarging some of the topographical maps and embossing them on the Tiger
Embosser, but the student is unable to use the embossed maps. The course
also uses aerial photographs and the only thing we have been able to do is
describe them. Has anybody had any experience with this type of
presentation, and if so, would you please contact me? I would be happy to
receive detailed information on my university email.

Thanks, Phil

 

Phillip Minyard
Disability Services Coordinator

 <http://saweb.memphis.edu/sds/> Student Disability Services

University of Memphis
110 Wilder Tower
Memphis, TN  38152-3520
Voice 678-2880 - fax 678-3070

 

"Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten."

B. F. Skinner

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