[NFB-Science] Accessing Figures in Scientific Papers

[rjaquiss at earthlink.net]

Hello Campbell:

     If the figures are black and white line art, it should be fairly easy
to print them on Swelltouch capsule paper. A sighted person will likely need
to enlarge the figures. SwellTouch paper is available from American
Thermoform Corp. SwellTouch paper comes in three sizes; 8.5X11, 11X11.5 and
11X17. It can be printed on using a copier or laser printer. The paper is
then processed with a machine such as a SwellForm machine.
Note, only black lines will raise on either SwellTouch paper or PIAF paper.
If you have more questions, call me at 909-593-6711, Ext.102.

Regards,
Robert



-----Original Message-----
From: NFB-Science <nfb-science-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Campbell
Rutherford via NFB-Science
Sent: Saturday, June 1, 2024 1:07 PM
To: nfb-science at nfbnet.org
Cc: campbell.rutherford15 at gmail.com
Subject: [NFB-Science] Accessing Figures in Scientific Papers

Hello all,

I am about to begin my first summer research experience, which will mostly
involve computation and data analysis. One unanticipated problem that I
encountered was that of figures without alt text in scientific papers. Note
that these figures appear in PDFs that are otherwise accessible. I've been a
bit spoiled so far in college; if figures in the papers that I had to read
were not already accessible, one of my accommodations was for someone to
write descriptions for me that would include the necessary data. However, in
this research position, the resources to make this happen are not already in
place, and the scientists with whom I will be working and I are trying to
figure out how to best make figures in scientific papers accessible to me.

Has anyone had any luck with using gen AI or other technology to describe
figures? If so, what is your app/program of choice? Also, what is the best
way to produce figures from your own data? I have used Desmos for graphs of
functions and Excel for simple statistical graphs (line charts,
scatterplots, bar graphs, etc.). I also played with SAS Graphics Accelerator
a few years ago, and one of the scientists with whom I'll be working says
that he typically creates his figures using Python. What do you all think
works the best? Are there other methods for creating figures of which I
should be aware?

Thank you,

Campbell Rutherford

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