0.2 Phy1004: manual creation of tactile graphics

Table of contents

• Preface
  • General
  • Prerequisites
  • Viewing tip
    • Figures
  • Supplemental material
• Discussion
  • Scalable vector graphics
  • Download the svg file
  • The need for graphics in physics
  • A range of options
  • Manual embossing
• Resources
• Miscellaneous

Preface

General

This module is part of a collection of modules designed to make physics concepts accessible to blind students.

If you opened this page in the context of the book, a Table of Contents for the book (or collection) should be available above and to the left of thisparagraph. Otherwise, click here to open the book at the beginning.

This book is intended to supplement but not to replace the textbook in an introductory high school or college physics course.

This module describes one of the ways for creating tactile graphics for the modules in this collection.

Prerequisites

In addition to an Internet connection and a browser, you will need the following tools (as a minimum) to work through the exercises in these modules:

• A graph board for plotting graphs and vector diagrams ( (External Link) ).
• A protractor for measuring angles ( (External Link) ).
• An audio screen reader that is compatible with your operating system, such as the NonVisual Desktop Access program (NVDA), which is freelyavailable at (External Link) .
• A refreshable Braille display capable of providing a line by line tactile output of information displayed on the computer monitor ( (External Link) ).
• A device to create Braille labels. Will be used to label graphs constructed on the graph board.

As you will see in this module, there are some additional requirements for creating and exploring tactile graphics.

The minimum prerequisites for understanding the material in these modules include:

• A good understanding of algebra.
• An understanding of the use of a graph board for plotting graphs and vector diagrams ( (External Link) ).
• An understanding of the use of a protractor for measuring angles ( (External Link) ).
• A basic understanding of the use of sine, cosine, and tangent from trigonometry ( (External Link) ).
• An introductory understanding of JavaScript programming ( (External Link) and (External Link) ).
• An understanding of all of the material covered in the earlier modules in this collection.

Viewing tip

I recommend that you open another copy of this document in a separate browser window and use the following links to easily find and view the figureswhile you are reading about them.

Figures

• Figure 1 . Mirror image from file 1.svg.
• Figure 2 . Normal image from file 1.svg.
• Figure 3 . Text values for Braille keys in file 1.svg.

Supplemental material

I recommend that you also study the other lessons in my extensive collection of online programming tutorials. You will find a consolidated index at www.DickBaldwin.com .

Discussion

I will begin this discussion with a discussion of a type of graphics file known as Scalable Vector Graphics file.

Scalable vector graphics

There are a variety of different formats for storing graphics information in disk files. One of those formats, and the one that I have adopted for thiscollection of modules, is called Scalable Vector Graphics . Files containing Scalable Vector Graphics information typically have an extension of svg, and are often referred tosimply as svg files.