Tactiles are an essential component for providing education relating to photographs, charts, graphs, maps, and so much more found in print books today.
The Guidelines and Standards for Tactile Graphics, 2010 outlines standard provisions in Twelve Units & Nine Appendices.
Why are tactiles important?
- They provide essential components of braille materials used in educational and professional fields.
- Tactiles can teach a blind student in kindergarten how to count with simple shapes, teach a high school student how to navigate world maps for a Social Studies exam, and teach a college student how to design a blueprint for her/his career path
Keep Tactiles Simple
Tactile graphics have a clearer understanding when they are created in a simplistic manner. This even means omitting some things seen in print when the print serves no educational purpose to understanding the graphic.
- Example, if the purpose is to study all fifty states of the United States from the printed maps outline, as the transcriber creating the map, I would not include mountains, rivers, cities, etc., because doing so would clutter the graphic and hinder the students purpose in studying only the states.
Tactile graphics can take years to master. The best method for learning how to prepare a tactile graphic comes from hands-on training and experience. The Instructional Materials Center staff are always here to answer your questions however small they may be. Just remember, developing these types of skills is a marathon and not a sprint. “
