[Blindmath] [Vision] honest assessment needed

[Ron Stewart]

Does it do SVG?

Ron

-----Original Message-----
From: Blindmath [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lucia
Hasty
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2014 1:52 PM
To: Discussion about issues related to blindness
Cc: cdtvi at googlegroups.com; duxuser at freelists.org; Blind Math list for those
interested in mathematics
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] [Vision] honest assessment needed

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
>
_______________________________________________
Blindmath mailing list
Blindmath at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
Blindmath:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindmath_nfbnet.org/ron%40ahead.org
BlindMath Gems can be found at
<http://www.blindscience.org/blindmath-gems-home>