I think that it is really great to have tactile graphic images and print color images on the same page. It definitely increases the possibilities for collaboration between blind and sighted viewers, and it is definitely of benefit to those people who have enough residual vision to see the images while feeling them. However, since the embossed braille quality is not the best for braille users, it means that people who need to produce texts of any significant length along with the tactile graphic images will need to have an additional embosser for that purpose. And, that could be a bit expensive! I certainly hope that in the future the quality of braille produced by the ViewPlus will be improved enough so that braille users will find it more comfortable to read. And, I also hope that the price can come down, so that it can become more practical for more individuals and small organizations to purchase and less expensive to produce materials with this duel presentation. I am hoping for these things because I think that it could help to make braille materials more interesting, and make more kinds of texts fully accessible by touch, and maybe motivate more children and adults to use braille as a literacy tool. Best, Sylvie Sylvie Kashdan, M.A. Instructor/Curriculum Coordinator KAIZEN PROGRAM for New English Learners with Visual Limitations 810-A Hiawatha Place South Seattle, WA 98144, U.S.A. phone: (206) 784-5619 email: kaizen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx web: http://www.nwlincs.org/kaizen/ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Blackburn, Alan" <Alan.Blackburn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 4:34 PM Subject: [accessibleimage] Re: ViewPlus Introduces Emprint G'day all, Remember also that not all blind people are totally blind. I could see a great advantage for anyone with residual or deteriorating vision in having both touch and sight cues from a tactile image. Alan -----Original Message----- From: accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dan Comden Sent: Thursday, 18 May 2006 5:05 AM To: accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [accessibleimage] Re: ViewPlus Introduces Emprint I was able to view a protoype of this technology at the conference in Birmingham last December. Being able to easily combine print images and tactile output in a single document will significantly increase the collaboration possibilities between blind and sighted people. It's not that the Braille is colored -- it's the graphics that can be integrated with the Braille that's a cool idea, along with the variable height capability of the ViewPlus products. -*- Dan Comden danc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Access Technology Lab http://www.washington.edu/computing/atl/ University of Washington On Wed, 17 May 2006, Ike Presley wrote: > I think the idea is that you can get print and braille on the same page > and that it can display graphics in color. I don't think they intend for > it to print braille in color. I could be wrong, but that was the > impression I got when I saw it at CSUN a couple of months ago. > > -----Original Message----- > From: accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > [mailto:accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of JOHN PANARESE > Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2006 12:44 PM > To: accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [accessibleimage] Re: ViewPlus Introduces Emprint > > I'm sorry folks, but this is something I simply do not get from > a blind person's perspective. Color Braille. I know that the point > can be made from the standpoint of educators, but based on the > overall quality of > Braille I have experienced from the variety of embossers, I'd > always have and will recommend the Index or Enabling product lines > for Braille production. > > Take Care > ********************************************************************** This message is intended for the addressee named and may contain privileged information or confidential information or both. If you are not the intended recipient please delete it and notify the sender. **********************************************************************