[Blindmath] Updated version of my SVGDraw01 SWT/SVG based drawingprogram

Sun Sep 4 01:06:28 UTC 2011

The test csv files all work. If I haven't switched things around, they are a 
descending line and two rising lines in that order.

Amanda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Baldwin" <baldwin at dickbaldwin.com>
To: "BlindMath Mailing List" <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Chris von See" <chris at techadapt.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2011 6:41 PM
Subject: [Blindmath] Updated version of my SVGDraw01 SWT/SVG based 
drawingprogram

>I have posted an updated version of my SVGDraw01 drawing program at
> http://www.austincc.edu/<http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/SWT-SVG/SVGDraw01.jar>
> baldwin/SWT-SVG/SVGDraw01.jar<http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/SWT-SVG/SVGDraw01.jar>
>
> The new version contains many updates to improve the accessibility of the
> program. I will be interested in hearing your feedback on those updates.
>
> The new version also contains a new feature that makes it much easier to 
> use
> in some situations. When drawing a polyline or a polygon, you can now 
> import
> a csv file that contains the data, thereby eliminating the rather tedious
> process of entering the x and y coordinate values individually. This is by
> far the easiest and most reliable approach if your polyline or polygon has
> more than two or three vertices.
>
> More detailed instructions regarding this feature, along with general
> operational instructions and three sample csv files are contained in an
> attached file titled _Instructions.zip. Try drawing the csv files. Use
> Amanda's approach with vOICe to see if you can identify the mathematical
> function described by each graph. If you have access to a graphical
> embosser, try embossing them to see how well that works. They should be
> embossed in an 8.5x11 inch portrait format. I will also be interested in
> hearing your feedback on this new feature.
>
> Thank you.
> Dick Baldwin
>
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 9:02 PM, Richard Baldwin 
> <baldwin at dickbaldwin.com>wrote:
>
>> For those who may be interested, I have posted my first attempt at 
>> putting
>> an SWT GUI front end on my SVG graphics library and have posted the
>> resulting program in a file named SVGDraw01.jar at the following URL:
>>
>>  http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/SWT-SVG/SVGDraw01.jar
>>
>> I would appreciate it if some of you would download the program, try it,
>> and provide feedback in several different areas. You will need the Java
>> virtual machine installed on your computer to run the program. On 
>> Windows,
>> you can run the program either by double-clicking on the jar file, or by
>> opening a command prompt in the folder containing the jar file and 
>> entering
>> the following command at the command prompt:
>>
>> java -jar SVGDraw01.jar
>>
>> When the program starts running, you should find yourself in an SWT Combo
>> object with an item labeled "User Instructions" highlighted. Pressing the
>> Enter key at this point will take you to the beginning of a page 
>> containing
>> user instructions. A screen reader should tell you to press shift-tab to
>> return to the combo box or to press the tab key to continue.
>>
>> Pressing the tab key will cause the screen reader to begin reading the
>> instructions. At the end of the instructions, the screen reader should 
>> tell
>> you to "Press tab to return to the combo box." (Of course, you can press 
>> tab
>> at any time. You don't need to wait until the screen reader finishes 
>> reading
>> the instructions.)
>>
>> You can navigate up and down the list in the combo box using the arrow 
>> keys
>> and act on an item by pressing the Enter key when that item is selected. 
>> The
>> combo box currently contains the following items:
>>
>> User instructions (which is what you should do first)
>> Start a new drawing (which is what you should do next)
>> Draw a line
>> Draw a rectangle
>> Draw a circle
>> Draw an ellipse
>> Draw a polyline
>> Draw a polygon
>> Write drawing file (which is what you should do next to last)
>> Stop program (which is what you should do last)
>>
>> When you press the Enter key on the item labeled "Start a new drawing," 
>> an
>> empty SVG page of a specified size with optional title and description
>> attributes will be created in memory.
>>
>> When you press the Enter key on the item labeled "Write drawing file", 
>> that
>> SVG page will be written to an output SVG file with a name of your 
>> choosing
>> and an extension of .svg.
>>
>> Between starting a new drawing and writing the drawing file, you can add
>> elements for any number of any of the six shapes (which are the SVG basic
>> shapes) in any order to the SVG page.
>>
>> When you press the Enter key on a shape item, you will land on a form 
>> that
>> allows you to enter the most commonly used attributes for that shape. 
>> Fill
>> in the blanks, check the check boxes (if any), and finally push the 
>> button
>> labeled "Push to draw ---" to add the shape element to the SVG page. You 
>> can
>> navigate up and down the the form with the tab key and shift-tab.
>>
>> I would appreciate receiving feedback in at least the following areas.
>> Feedback in other areas not listed below will be appreciated also.
>>
>> 1. Will the program be accessible to a blind student? What could be done 
>> to
>> improve accessibility?
>>
>> 2. Will the navigation structure of the program be functionally useful to 
>> a
>> blind student? What could be done to improve the navigational 
>> functionality
>> and make the program easier to use?
>>
>> 3. Will the "fill-in-the-blanks" concept for creating technical diagrams
>> and drawings, such as vector diagrams and free-body diagrams, be useful 
>> to a
>> blind student? If so, which of the many additional capabilities of SVG, 
>> such
>> as arcs, paths, etc., would be appropriate as an upgrade to the program.
>> (I'm already planning on adding the ability to create text elements. I 
>> just
>> haven't resolved all the questions regarding fonts yet.)
>>
>> 4. To what extent is the output SVG file compatible with graphics 
>> embossers
>> that can work with SVG files as input? What could be done to improve that
>> compatibility?
>>
>> Thank you,
>>
>> Dick Baldwin
>>
>> --
>> Richard G. Baldwin (Dick Baldwin)
>> Home of Baldwin's on-line Java Tutorials
>> http://www.DickBaldwin.com
>>
>> Professor of Computer Information Technology
>> Austin Community College
>> (512) 223-4758
>> mailto:Baldwin at DickBaldwin.com
>> http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/
>>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Richard G. Baldwin (Dick Baldwin)
> Home of Baldwin's on-line Java Tutorials
> http://www.DickBaldwin.com
>
> Professor of Computer Information Technology
> Austin Community College
> (512) 223-4758
> mailto:Baldwin at DickBaldwin.com
> http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/
>

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