[Nfb-science] access to plots and graphics

Sat Nov 24 20:07:22 UTC 2012

Amy,

I'll answer your question first, then let you read the welcome and all. 
/smile/

First, in short, the leader in assistive technology and software for the 
math/science/etc. crowd seems to be ViewPlus Technologies.

http://www.viewplus.com/

There are more tools of varying prices and usefulness, but the good 
stuff for high end professional needs seems to still be the ViewPlus 
stuff. I have yet to get my hands on the funds to begin to build my own 
toolkit there, but am working like fury on it. /smile/

Another good place to ask about tools for tactile graphics for the math 
part of your work would be the BlindMath list.

http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindmath_nfbnet.org

If you really want to go nuts, you can be on many more lists these days, 
thus having no time to do your job because of keeping up with the lists. 
/smile/ I'm learning about all the tools and how people use them and the 
development of them and all of that while I'm working at figuring out 
how to get the financing to get the full toolkit to do pretty much the 
same tasks you are describing, but in a different field. So while I 
could tell you all about my dream toolkit, you would get better and more 
detailed information from those who develop and improve and use all 
those wonderful things. /smile/

Okay, now the personal greet part:

Welcome, and best in continuing to find what you need to continue your 
career, which sounds super cool, BTW! /smile/ I've done the RP thing and 
traveled a similar road as a computer geek, finally losing the vision to 
use at all in my work and trying to find what I could use then get my 
hands on it. The wealth of accessible info and experts on the internet 
wasn't what it is now, so it was a real bummer for my career that our VR 
agency is a real bummer. But I've learned a lot by now, and love it!

On to your question. There are a growing number of solutions for math 
and science, including tactile graphics, and they are getting better all 
the time. They cost quite a lot per tool, since they're newly developed 
and there is such a limited market for them. So acquiring such things is 
easier with some assistance from a VR agency, unless you happen to have 
that much saved up for the high end tools. Having a good career with an 
employer who will purchase the tools for your work is best of all. Some 
do have one or both of those factors. Others, like me, dream a lot. 
/smile/ Well, I had the career/employer bit happening, but with fewer 
sources of info for us to work with... Well, bummer for me. We just 
couldn't get it worked out in time for us both to come to the conclusion 
that the work needed to be done by someone who could actually do the 
reading to do it.

Best, and do let us all know how it goes!

Tami Jarvis (formerly Kinney)

On 11/24/2012 08:49 AM, Amy Bower wrote:
> All- I'm new to this list and apologize if my questions have been covered
> previously.
>
>
>
> I've been  a research scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
> for 24 years. As a grad student, I was diagnosed with macular degeneration
> and RP. Since then, my vision has slowly declined. But with the aid of video
> magnifiers, screen magnifiers and screen readers, I've been able to continue
> with my career more or less as would anyone else, receiving tenure and a
> series of promotions.
>
>
>
> My research mainly involves the collection and analysis  of physical data
> from the oceans. I use several programming and plotting tools, but primarily
> Matlab. Of course I also read and write journal articles and other
> publications.
>
>
>
> My question is about access to graphics. Until recently, I could use my
> remaining vision and either a video magnifier or screen magnifier to access
> plots and graphics. That is getting more difficult, and I'm thinking about
> alternatives. One of course is a human reader to describe plots and
> graphics. But I'm wondering if anyone uses any more independent techniques.
> There are a couple of ideas I have but haven't used extensively. One is
> using the mouse echo feature of Magic/Jaws, which says the text under the
> pointer (sometimes). If I can see where the axes labels are, for example, I
> can move the mouse there and read what the label is. Another possibility is
> the Convenient OCR feature in Jaws, which will scan and OCR the content of
> any window. That method will probably read the text in an odd order though,
> making it difficult to synthesize the information.
>
>
>
> I've been keeping my eye on tactile graphics, but my impression so far is
> that this technology is not mature enough to use in a fast-paced research
> environment. I'm open to other opinions if there are professionals using
> tactile graphics for their research.
>
>
>
> Thanks and best regards,
>
>
>
> Amy Bower
>
>
>
>
>
> Dr. Amy S. Bower
>
> MS #21
>
> Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
>
> Woods Hole, MA  02543  USA
>
> Voice:  508-289-2781
>
> Fax: 508-457-2181
>
> Email:  abower at whoi.edu
>
> Skype:  amy.bower1
>
> www:   http://www.whoi.edu/scientist/abower
>
>
>
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