I say submit. You can supplement the diagrams with tactile ones provided by vendors. I have a book on Massage for dogs that will be the same way. I know where most of the muscles and bones are, because I have always been dog crazy, but... smile someone else. As I told one friend who is buying the book, she and her vet are making an appointment to go over her dog and discuss the required anatomy. But I say submit it, smile. And sounds like my Spanish book, did not like that thing at all! Shelley L. Rhodes and Judson, guiding golden juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx Guide Dogs For the Blind Inc. Graduate Advisory Council www.guidedogs.com The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs. -- Vance Havner ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kellie Hartmann" <kellhart@xxxxxxxxxx> To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, December 28, 2004 11:11 PM Subject: [bksvol-discuss] a submission dilemma Hi all, I have a dilemma here, and I'd like to get some opinions on it. One of my textbooks this last semester was a medical terminology text. I scanned it, and the Ocr isn't too bad, but there are some quirks. First of all, the book itself is not very blind-friendly. It uses something called programmed learning, which involves fill-in-the-blank questions arranged on the page in such a way that words in other questions point out the answers to later questions. You're supposed to put a piece of paper over part of it while working on the other part, then take the paper away to check your answers. Miraculously, this layout didn't wreak scanner havoc, but of course you can't use it to check your answers as intended. Also, there are diagrams which you're supposed to label and they're used to teach you, well, where certain pieces of anatomy are in relation to other pieces of anatomy. These things aren't always explained clearly outside the diagram. For example, in the chapter on the circulatory system you can learn the names of all the structures and what purposes they serve without the diagrams, but you won't know where the pulmonary arteries are in relation to the aorta, etc. Also, there is one scanning-related quirk. The book contains charts consisting of word parts and their meanings. In some cases the word parts are all together and they are followed by a list of the meanings which are all together. That may or may not be my fault because of the column setting I used, but it's not totally consistent so I suspect the layout was a bit unpredictable. So, what do you guys think? I can see arguments in favor of submitting or not submitting. Would anyone like to take this on as a project? I could do more work on it, but frankly now that the class is finished I'm sick of it and don't want to deal with it anymore. Despite the annoyingness of the book I got an A in the class, so it's not impossible for a blind person to learn using it, just kind of irritating, and it would be harder for a student who didn't already have some grasp of, not to mention interest in, the subject, as I had. I think I've used more than my monthly ration of commas in this message. <lol> Let me know what you think, Kellie