[Blindmath] How important is tactile access to graphs (discuss) ; )

[Birkir R. Gunnarsson]

Hey gang

Last topic for discussion for awhile.
Since they have been so lively I want to weigh in on this topic, which
probably will not have any exact answers.
I certainly appreciate the increased possibilities for tactile
exploration that machines like the Iveo are offering, but I wonder how
important access to every graph in a book is to a blind student, one
that is not used to thinking visually and, perhaps, is better served
by other means.
I am not suggesting that graphs should be taken of the table
altogether, quite on the contrary, but I wonder whether intelligent
sifting of graphs in a text book might not be a better idea, at lesat
until technology has moved to a point where SVG is more commonly
accepted as part of HTML5 and graph production is less costly and
problematic.
Even then, to what extent have people here relied on tactile graphs.
Have you felt you needed access to every graph in the book. Has
exploring a graph tactilly helped you understand concepts, theories
and shapes, and made your life over-all easier?
I know there is an ever-increasing emphasis on visual clues and aides
in text books, starting pretty much in the first grade, but I wonder
to what extent tactile access will benefit blind kids.
Again, I want to stress that I am pleased to see this possibility
becoming more and more realistic with the work of ViewPlus mainly, I
am merely wondering if we can deploy this technique in a most
efficient manner by a better understanding of what graphs will be most
beneficial to reproduce, and thereby limiting the cost of graph
convertion and avoiding the production of graphs that do not really
add much to the student's ease of learning.
(appologies if there are typos in this email. Since my latest Windows
update yesterday, Jaws has stopped functioning in edit more in IE, I
am trying to figure out why this is and will submit as a bug if I find
no explanations).
-B