Session 7: An introduction to Tactile Graphics

Before we begin...

This series of readings focuses primarily on the production of tactile graphics, and requires limited "production" of any work to be submitted since many of you do not have access to tactile graphics production materials. Nor do we specifically discuss the rules for illustrations, captions, cartoons, print forms, genealogical and organizational charts, time lines, or graphs. We have, however, made available Rule 17 for these areas for your study. We have also included several examples of these areas for you to consider.

Introduction

There has been much discussion about the transcriber's responsibility for producing tactile illustrations. Many transcribers do not like to do tactile drawings and many agencies producing computer-assisted braille do not want to have to deal with interleaving drawings into the text. As a result, students often receive no illustrations at all or receive them in a separate volume, making it necessary to use two braille volumes at once.

Jane M. Corcoran, in an article entitled "Tactile Illustrations." in the NBA Bulletin, Fall 1990, contributes three points regarding the subject.

First, the students' needs have not changed just because we now braille on the computer. Just as sighted children benefit from being exposed from the very beginning of their schooling to a vast amount of visual displays, blind children will benefit from early exposure to tactile materials.

Next, she points out that when you receive permission to transcribe a book, you have not received permission to edit that book by leaving out portions that are inconvenient to you. The author has included the drawing for a purpose.

Finally, she reminds us that producing tactile illustrations is transcribing, that when a blind reader asks for a technical book in braille it is because he feels that it will be more useful to him than a recorded version. Such a reader wants the tactile illustrations.

The presentation of tactile materials must meet the requirements of the blind and visually impaired, not those of sighted persons. No techniques have as yet been devised to present accurately color, shading, or depth in a tactile form. Information in a tactile drawing is transmitted to the blind reader through height, weight and texture.

Translating visual information into a tactile form that blind and visually impaired persons can understand also requires an understanding of the difference between the way a sighted person approaches a visual presentation and the way one would approach a tactile graphic.

A visual presentation is perceived first as an overall impression then viewed in increasingly more detail. A tactile graphic is perceived by starting with a tiny area. The overall tactile impression comes later by analyzing the relationships of the parts that are analyzed.

Because this is the case, it is essential for tactual legibility that careful decisions are made regarding what information will be displayed. If too little information is provided, there will be gaps in comprehension. If too much information is provided, (this is referred to as tactile noise) confusion will result. When dealing with a complex illustration it is sometimes necessary for the transcriber to restructure the print presentation in order to provide a meaningful relief presentation.

There is no single right way to create an effective tactile drawing. The best tactile graphics are not produced by artists but rather by transcribers who have learned to eliminate irrelevant elements and to exaggerate those that are essential. What should be produced as a tactile graphic and in what form it will be most valuable to the reader is ultimately the transcriber's decision. There are few hard-and-fast rules and plenty of room for creativity.