Transcript Striped Lands and Dotted Seas: Editing Tactile Graphics

Striped Lands and Dotted Seas:
Editing Tactile Graphics
Michael Sell, Accessible Test Editor
American Printing House for the Blind
AER International Conference: July 25, 2008
Why is it important to know how
tactile graphics (tg) are edited for
high-stakes tests?
• Universal Design considerations mean the
braille format is more likely to be
equivalent to print.
• Is the validity of the item kept?
• Expectation is for tactile readability, not
necessarily an embossed clone of the print
version.
• Science is now tested under NCLB, so
more tg’s are needed than before.
Terminology
• “Lines: paths for boundary lines, grid lines, etc.
e.g. solid, dotted, dashed, etc.
• Point symbols: typically used to represent
significant landmarks. e.g. circle outline, solid
large dot, square, etc.
• Areal / texture patterns: textured patterns used
to represent…water on a map, layers of soil, bars
on a graph, etc. e.g. dotted, striped, etc.
• Lead lines: lines that connect a feature on the
graphic with a braille label…use as a last resort.
• Labels: identify all important features on the
graphic.”
*from Tactile Graphic Terminology by Karen Poppe
Further Background
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Adaptations and terminology
Test Layout:
1. Braille pages are numbered consecutively in
the bottom right hand corner.
2. Print pages are numbered in the top right
hand corner. 1, a1, b1, c1, etc., if one print
page takes up multiple braille pages.
3. Multiple print pages may fit on one braille
page.
Theory & Perspective
1) Jerome Bruner’s 3 modes of
information processing:
• Enactive—direct, real objects
• Iconic—model, relief renderings
• Symbolic—coding, higher level of
abstraction
2) Christina Hvitfeldt’s work:
Does it correlate to blind or visually impaired
(BVI) children progressing through modes?
• “Adults from traditional preliterate societies often
perceive and interpret drawings, pictures, and
symbols differently from individuals socialized
into modern literate societies.”
• “Learning to interpret symbolic pictures
is…analogous to interpreting written language
and, in some cases, involves as high a degree of
abstraction.”
• “pictures can depict relational concepts such as
“above,” “below,” “inside,” and “outside,” but
cues of depth, including overlap, perspective, and
relative size, must often be provided.”
*from Picture Perception and Interpretation among Preliterate Adults,
“Passage” magazine, Vol. 1, Num. 1, Winter/Spring 1985
3) John M. Kennedy’s work:
What does drawing by BVI children tell
us?
• Drawing by congenitally blind children
may indicate how they would generally
read and discern tactile graphics.
• “Pictures are simply conventions, no more
related to what they represent than
alphabetic writing.”
• “Pictures are simply similar to what they
represent.”
*from A Psychology of Picture Perception
Means of tactile / haptic learning:
• Follow Bruner’s 3 modes.
• Let child choose object, make a model,
and then make an embossed picture.
• Products: Setting the Stage for Tactile
Instruction, Talking Tactile Tablet
(provides tg background for child who
doesn’t know braille), Squid magazine,
Stack-Ups (3-d cubes), etc.
Considerations & Caveats
Test Editor
• Grade level / Alternate-Assessment? /
Background
• Output type
• Less may be more / reduce “clutter”
• Role is not to reconstruct test
• Keep essential / relevant attributes
• Requests / substitution if problematic
More Test Editor
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Changed spatial language
Typical art concepts may be meaningless
Consideration of braille page size
Location of tg in relation to stem / q&a
Merely pictorial pictures
Work with test publisher in order to
maintain validity
Test Publisher & Dept. of Education
• Almost anything can be brailled, but will it
have value?
• Titles for graphs, tables, figures, etc.
• Back-to-back graphics and fatigue
• Rigorous content does not necessarily
require rigorously constructed test
• Components per item
• Orientation / contextual devices
More Test Publisher & Dept. of Education
• Graphic-related cues in stem / question
• Item bank for substitutions, etc.
Problem graphics for braille
• 3-d
• Cross-sections
• Rotations / flips
Editing Techniques & Strategies
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Additional key only if necessary
Avoid occlusion (overlap)
Item content ideally on one braille page
Braille boxes /arrows / etc. may be
options
• Description / labels rather than tg or just
retain labels
• Crop unessential portion for space
A few more techniques & strategies
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Enlarge / simplify picture
Omit / don’t use lead lines, if possible
Provide labels for clarification
Use different line textures
Changed directions
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Resources
• http://www.tactilegraphics.org/
• Accessible images mailing list (join through
tactilegraphics.org resource page)
• John M. Kennedy’s website:
www.scar.utoronto.ca/~kennedy/
• APH website (Tactile Graphic Image Library & tg
tutorials by Karen Poppe/Fred Otto):
http://www.aph.org/
• Tactile Graphics by Polly Edman
Please direct further observations and
comments to:
[email protected]