[Nfb-science] Nfb-science Digest, Vol 76, Issue 7

Sat Nov 24 21:40:20 UTC 2012

Hello Amy,
Unfortunately, I can't give you any insight regarding your questions
because I am currently trying to figure out technology myself.
However, I was wondering If you could give me some insight of your
career. I am currently a nutrition student with a dietetics track. But
at one point I was a marine biology major and had the disire to go in
to oceanography as well. As a visually impaired person, what would you
say to a student who is completely blind in my place? I changed my
major because of the complications I new I'd have in such a major but
I've remained quite interested in it.
Adriana

On 11/24/12, nfb-science-request at nfbnet.org
<nfb-science-request at nfbnet.org> wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. access to plots and graphics (Amy Bower)
>    2. Re: access to plots and graphics (Peter Donahue)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2012 11:49:46 -0500
> From: "Amy Bower" <abower at whoi.edu>
> To: <nfb-science at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [Nfb-science] access to plots and graphics
> Message-ID: <004f01cdca63$b690fa20$23b2ee60$@whoi.edu>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"
>
> 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
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2012 11:48:53 -0600
> From: "Peter Donahue" <pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com>
> To: "NFB Science and Engineering Division List"
> 	<nfb-science at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Nfb-science] access to plots and graphics
> Message-ID: <000801cdca6b$f8f0e260$df1fbf48 at yourfsyly0jtwn>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Hello Amy and everyone,
>
>     For the benefit of other listers Amy has also worked with students at
> Perkins and was a commencement speaker at a recent graduation ceremony.
> She's the kind of blind mentor those students need someone I wish was around
>
> when I attended Perkins and several other schools for the blind. I think she
>
> would be a wonderful addition to the NFB Youth SLAM Team if she has the time
>
> to commit to it.
>
>     Since this list and the NFB are all about encouraging blind youth and
> adults to consider STEM careers you've come to the right place. As for
> tactile graphics let me suggest visiting: http://www.blindscience.org for
> starters. All the best for a wonderful holiday season and oh yes. Keep an
> eye on those sharks inhabiting the waters off of Cape Cod. I'm originally
> from Brockton but now live in San Antonio Texas.
>
> Peter Donahue
>
>
>
>  From: "Amy Bower" <abower at whoi.edu>
> To: <nfb-science at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2012 10:49 AM
> Subject: [Nfb-science] access to plots and graphics
>
>
> 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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> ------------------------------
>
> End of Nfb-science Digest, Vol 76, Issue 7
> ******************************************
>