[Blindmath] [Vision] honest assessment needed

[Lucia Hasty]

Maureen,

I still love the Phoenix and think its software Firebird is easy to learn
and use. It allows you to make lots of needed adjustments to a print
diagram you scanned and imported, plus it allows you to create your own
graphics from scratch.

To compare it to the Tiger and its software, Tiger Designer will create
very simple and uncomplicated graphics such as a two-circle Venn diagram,
and do a little cleanup on simple graphics you created in Word or Paint. It
will let you minimally clean up a complex graphic created in a more
complicated program such as CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop.
Tiger Designer is not designed to create a graphic from scratch but to
import one created in another program. Like Phoenix, an image can be
scanned and imported into the software, but images produced for sighted
learners are often much too complicated for a good tactile graphic.

The braille font used in the Phoenix is the standard Library of Congress
font, the same one as you see in braille from Romeo, Juliet, and other
Enabling embossers. Phoenix actually has two embossing heads- one for just
braille text and one for the high-resolution graphics (where dots are not
constrained by spacing requirements of standard braille text). And yes, it
embosses in only single sided braille, not interpoint. I think you can
include just so many features in one piece of equipment before it gets
pretty complicated and really expensive.

As far as readability goes, no one has done a study comparing embossed
graphics to any other production method (at least that I am aware of).
Before we wrote the Guidelines and Standards for Tactile Graphics, we did a
readability study for graphics using examples in the production methods
that were available at that time. Tiger was the only high resolution
graphics embosser on the market and was not studied. The purpose of the
study was to identify what characteristics make a graphic readable rather
than to determine which production method was easiest to read.

We also know that kids don't automatically learn to read graphics. It is a
very specific set of skills. That's why we wrote the curriculum to teach
braille readers to read graphics. It will be presented at AER in San
Antonio this summer.

Full disclosure:  I have and use both of these embossers as well as other
equipment, and have produced thousands of graphics. I am one of the authors
of BANA Guidelines and Standards for Tactile Graphics and a retired TVI.  I
contract to conduct trainings in all things tactile graphics, including
creating graphics with Phoenix and Tiger.

Lucia






*Lucia HastyRocky Mountain Braille Associates Colorado Springs, CO
80905Braille and Tactile GraphicsLucia at tactilegraphics.org
<Lucia at tactilegraphics.org> www.TactileGraphics.org
<http://www.TactileGraphics.org>*


On Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 6:49 AM, Lewicki, Maureen
<mlewicki at bcsd.neric.org>wrote:

> Hi, if anyone has opinions on the Pheonix software and embosser, good bad
> or indifferent, I would appreciate your input asap. If you work for the
> company, I appreciate your candid input. Feel free to contact me offline,
> if you work for the company and want to give some criticism.
>
> Value
> Ease of learning software
> Ease of use of software
> Quality of braille, and ease of reading the graphics
> Thanks,
> mlewicki at bcsd.neric.org
>
>
>
> Maureen Murphy Lewicki
> Maureen Murphy Lewicki
> Teacher of Visually Impaired
> Bethlehem Central School
> 332 Kenwood AvenueDelmar, NY 12054
> http://bethlehemschools.org<http://bethlehemschools.org/>
> (518) 439-7460
> Fax (518) 475-0092
> "The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight.  The
> real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that
> exists.  If a blind person has the proper training and
> opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a mere physical
> nuisance."Kenneth Jernigan
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Vision mailing list
> Vision at lists.pdx.edu
> https://www.lists.pdx.edu/lists/listinfo/vision
> Unsubscribe: https://www.lists.pdx.edu/lists/listinfo/vision#subscribers
>