TACTILE-AUDIO DIAGRAMS
IVEO
Presenter(s)
Jeff Gardner
ViewPlus
Day Phone: 541.754.4002 x 202
Email: jeff.gardner@viewplus.com
The presentation features an accessible tactile—audio
system, called IVEO, from ViewPlus. Speaking—tactile
documents will be made new, from existing Windows files and from printed
materials. Tactile graphics can be a
useful tool for communicating diagrams and other visua1 material to blind
people. However, the usefulness of tactile diagrams by people who are blind is
limited by low levels of Braille literacy.
Labels to describe different parts of a tactile image,
much of its effectiveness is lost.
When tactile diagrams are combined with audio labels to describe elements of
the image, this greatly expands the utility of tactile graphics, creating
opportunities for blind people who don’t read Braille as well as for people
with certain learning disabilities. Tactile—audio technology has existed for
many years to address this need, starting with the Nomad tactile—audio system.
Since then, other commercial products have been created that are based on this
core technology.
While existing tactile—audio products may offer rich pre—made curriculum,
potential users are on the lookout for more advanced tools for creating their
own tactile- audio materials, rather than relying on others to anticipate their
varied needs. And blind users are seeking tactile-audio tools so well
integrated into the mainstream computer environment that they can access
graphic information independently.
This presentation will demonstrate the new IVEO tactile—audio system from ViewPlus, technology that is dedicated to ease and
versatility for creating one’s own tactile—audio materials. IVEO is
self—voicing and imports automatically from inaccessible formats so it is ideal
for use by blind and sighted people alike. While creation and detailed editing
of images can be difficult without the use of the computer’s mouse, many
hard-to-access documents can easily be converted to the IVEO interactive format
without assistance from sighted people. PDF, Powerpoint,
and files from virtually any other Windows program, for example, can be
imported into IVEO and explored with or without access to the computer’s visual
interface.
The presentation will show how images created or imported into the IVEO Creator
software, can be labeled with audio descriptions. There are two levels of audio
description so each element of an image can have a short and a long description
to ease in navigation while offering extended descriptions when appropriate.
Also demonstrated will be the IVEO Converter for bringing documents from any
Windows application into the accessible IVEO environment. This feature is
particularly useful when one is given files that contain images like charts and
graphs or when materials are distributed in an inaccessible format. Once
imported into the IVEO software, these files immediately become interactive.
When selected, text from the original document is read aloud and images can be
used with their original text labels and/or tagged with hidden speaking labels.
The IVEO Converter can be particularly valuable for blind students and
professionals who are receiving documents in formats like PDF’ and Powerpoint. It is not unusual for sighted instructors and
colleagues to distribute Powerpoint presentations or
PDF files that include visual information like charts and diagrams. In this
case a blind student or professional can instantly convert the file into IVEO
and print it out (with a Tiger or on swell paper) . Once the tactile printout is placed
on the IVEO Touchpad, it can be explored by touch, and any print text used to
label the chart or diagram in the original document will be spoken when it is
touched or otherwise selected.
A similar process will be demonstrated for instances in which such materials
are distributed in print. IVEO comes with ABBY FineReader
high-quality OCR integrated so printed documents can be converted quickly and
automatically to IVSO to include images and text in roughly the same format as
on paper. This feature is also accessible without sighted assistance.
• There will also be a demonstration of the scaling features in IVSO. Since
images and diagrams created for the mainstream are most often too small to be
properly interpreted by touch, the IVEO Creator application provides a means to
scale images to any size. Zoom in or out freely using the computer’s mouse or
the IVEO Touchpad.
The presentation
will include Lips for distributing IVEO documents. IVEO is ideal for trading
files via email or for posting on websites. IVEO is based on an SVG file format
so documents are compact in size and can be viewed with mainstream web
browsers, like Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator. For those desiring an
interactive format, the IVEO Viewer is available as a free download so files
can be distributed in much the same fashion as is done with Adobe Acrobat
documents.
The IVEO Viewer is also useful for people seeking to minimize costs in
distributing IVEO materials across their organization or network. A central
location can create all the materials so access points need only the free IVEO
Viewer software and IVEO Touchpad to read the materials and it is therefore not
necessary to purchase the complete IVEO package for all locations using the
technology.
The presentation has implications for professionals in the learning disabled
and blindness communities alike. Studies in neurophysiology tell us that
physical experience creates especially strong neural pathways in the brain.
Beyond vision alone, using the haptic (touch) sensory
modality engages the two hemispheres of the brain simultaneously assuring we
retain information in long-term memory.
The haptic modality is the most active and
interactive of all the senses and, unlike the visual or auditory modalities, it
is bi—directional. Everyone learns better through haptic
interaction with materials.
Details of equipment and software to be demonstrated:
IVEO Complete includes: 1) the IVEO Touchpad, a hardware device that connects
via USB to the Windows platform for reading tactile—audio images, 2) the IVEO
Creator
• software, a design studio for making new documents or editing images from
other Windows software, 3) the IVEO Converter, a powerful tool that converts
computer files and even printed materials to the interactive IVEO format
automatically, and 4) the IVEO Viewer, a
freeware program fcr reading IVEO documents.
References:
1. Parkes, D. (1988) Nomad: an Audio—Tactile Tool for
the Acquisition, Use and
Management of Spatially Distributed Information by Partially Sighted and Blind
Persons. eds Tatham AF and Dedds AG, Proceedings of the Second International
Symposium on Maps and Graphics for Visually Handicapped People, King’s College,
University of Londnn,.pp. 24—29
2. Treviranus, J, Adding Feeling, Sound and Equal
Access to Distance Education, Proceedings of the 1999 CSDN Conference, Los
Angeles,
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3. Tactile/Kinesthetic Learning
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