Talking Tactiles …. A justification

Pressbox (Press Release) - There are some 450 million people in the EU. Depending on the source, the % of people who are recorded as blind or visually impaired varies from around 1.5% to 4% of the population depending on age grouping. Taking a conservative 2% as a reasonable average on this basis there would be some 9 million people who at some stage of their life cycle could benefit by assistance from the RNC’s new ‘Talking Tactile’ system, in education, in vocational training, or for recreational purposes.

‘Talking Tactile Technology’ [ T3 ] has the potential to be a foundational system for an entire new teaching and assimilation process for people who are blind, partially sighted or have other difficulties in assimilating visual graphics.

It is based on the concept of delivering visual graphical images in a non visual format that is an association of sound and touch.

A tactile format is an image reproduced on the surface of a solid but mouldable base having raised lines, dots and other shapes with textural surfaces that can be felt by touch, the innovative ‘talking tactile’ has the additional benefit of a merged and integrated sound file to permit autonomy of use at all times and locations.

This system is suitable for all persons who have visual assimilation difficulties at any stage of education from primary level through to further education, higher education or vocational training.

The identification of these needs has been made apparent by many years of our own experiences and those of our associates across Europe in the difficulties involved in providing education to learners who have assimilation problems where graphic images are an essential part of the curriculum materials.

Loss of sight is one of the most feared disabilities to cope with, the T3 process is not age, subject, level or industry specific but is targeted to improve accessibility to life long education across an entire disability sector.

T3 will benefit a wide spectrum of schools, colleges, Universities and VET training providers, anywhere where visual images are used as part of a conventional or e-learning teaching or training programme.

The report “Why accessible e-learning makes business sense” issued by the UK CIPD [Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development] in January 2005 records that a recent survey by CEDEFOP revealed that 80% of trainers believed that e-learning should be provided to learners with disabilities to improve access to learning.

Margaret Bordogna-Crane a Researcher with The British Council of Disabled People comments as part of this report:

‘Lots of disabled people have been excluded from education – if you have a problem lots of people think, - “It’s my fault” “I’m stupid” “I don’t want to draw attention to myself” – so you perpetuate the problems by excluding yourself’.

The report goes on to state “Unlike classroom based learning e-learning offers a new option untainted by previous experience that might be more appealing to disabled learners than traditional educational methods”.

Most e-training courses still however require access to diagrammatic, graphic or cartographic imagery, either screen or paper based. For the sighted this presents no problem for the unsighted this is simply not achievable. Braille will only cope with alpha/numeric formats, and is progressively less used by newly blind and young people. Screen readers will offer only limited descriptions of on screen images that cannot be seen or experienced in any suitable format for the target user group.

Most known e-learning based programmes for the blind or visually impaired tend to use screen reader technology, with the inherent limitations these have. Talking tactiles will supplement existing e-learning content.

T3 for the first time provides a format familiar to blind or visually impaired people in the way of tactile diagrams but to bring these to life with integrated sound files to provide audio supplemented informative content. People who are blind or visually impaired have no access to graphical images and as such can be at a severe disadvantage in assimilating educational course content material containing such visual images.

The conversion of these visual images into tactile formats opens the door to accessibility and inclusion but has in the past always needed the assistance, usually on a 'one to one' basis, of a trainer or complex Braille annotation to explain the tactile diagram. The innovative e-learning 'talking tactile' by use of a merged or integrated sound file [containing the spoken word, music and/or sound effects] allows the learner to work on their own, allowing independence and the ability to work at their own pace.

Talking tactiles are highly relevant to people who cannot see. The T3 process will permit not only classroom learning enhancement but the potential to make even more significant improvements to distance learning packages. As people with a visual impairment often experience difficulties in travel the possibility of home learning can be very important to this group. Talking tactiles have the potential to improve both quality and accessibility for home study courses.

The innovative and conceptual nature of this system is both a new approach to the use of existing methods and course content material so as to apply them to the target group, in the way that it will convert existing graphical visual content into a non visual 'talking tactile' format. It will also create a new process in response to the existing problem of how to communicate visual images to people who are blind or visually impaired.

Why is this system important? Why should this system be introduced into the European learning process? It will create one form of enactment for the EU policy confirmed by The Lisbon Strategy:

“To make Europe the most innovative and knowledge based society in the world”

An abridged extract form this agenda includes:

“The new knowledge-based society offers great possibilities for reducing social exclusion, both by creating the economic conditions for greater prosperity and by opening up new ways of participating in society.

The emergence of new information and communication technologies constitutes an exceptional opportunity, provided that the risk of creating an ever-widening gap between those who have access to the new knowledge and those who do not is avoided”.

The Lisbon Council directed that exclusion from the information society should be prevented and that it was necessary to pay special attention to the needs of people with disabilities.

T3 will stop this accessibility gap from becoming an irreversible rift.

T3 supports the Malaga Ministerial Declaration on people with disabilities

“Progressing towards full participation as citizens”

"Improving the quality of life of people with disabilities; enhancing a coherent policy for and through full participation".

”It is vital to understand the social nature of technology and to make the best use of the potential of new technologies, with the aim of increasing autonomy and interactions of people with disabilities in all areas of life”

T3 supports the “UN enable” target areas for equal participation applicable to all member states, abridged extracts include:
Rule 5. Accessibility
Persons with disabilities and, where appropriate, their families and advocates should have access to full information on diagnosis, rights and available services and programmes, at all stages.
“Such information should be presented in forms accessible to persons with disabilities”.
“States should ensure that new computerized information and service systems offered to the general public are either made initially accessible or are adapted to be made accessible to persons with disabilities”.
Rule 6. Education
“Adequate accessibility and support services, designed to meet the needs of persons with different disabilities, should be provided”.
“Allow for curriculum flexibility, addition and adaptation”.
The portability of 'talking tactiles' will permit use in any school or college classroom, a VET organisation, at home, in a public access government office, a tourist venue or at a specialist disability training institute. They are fully universal in use.

The development of the ‘talking tactile’ programme will for the first time allow mainstream schools to provide accessible information in a manner that can be assimilated by blind or partially sighted learners whilst studying alongside their peers in the same classroom at the same time and to permit the blind or partially sighted learner a degree of autonomy and independence not previously available.

Independent accessibility and equality of e-inclusion may improve the confidence levels of the learner which has the likely potential to lead to a better achievement level throughout the entire learning process from early years through to maturity.

The expected impact of T3 in the short term is an awareness across European educational organisations and sectoral organisations representing the blind or visually impaired that new and innovative training systems can make a real change to the lives of people who are blind or visually impaired.

The system is easily integrated into existing education and training systems and practices. With appropriate training, existing graphical images can be transferred to talking tactiles by self authoring within schools and training establishments thus making existing programmes more accessible to the target group.

The talking tactile process has application potential across many disciplines. It is a process not limited by anything other than “e-magination”.

Operation is simplicity itself, the T3 touch sensitive device is connected to a standard computer via a USB connection and the programme CD is inserted. To activate the system all that is needed is the talking tactile diagram to be placed on the surface of the device and touched by the operator’s finger. Depending on the CD programme content, the operator now has access to an appropriate volume of information on any pre-selected subject, by moving around the surface area and applying touch pressure. From a building or office plan to a map of the world, from the bones of a skeleton, to the structure of a flower, from a cross section of a volcano, to the parts of a piano. The linked and merged audio file then recites the relevant information or tutorial corresponding to the selected point or area.

Once the tactile diagram/drawing is complete, any language content can be ‘cut and pasted’ into the programme making it universally accessible in all states.

Although conceived for the visually impaired, early signs are that the T3 system may have beneficial use with other disability groups, future studies will be carried out with dyslexia and autism.

The T3 ‘Talking Tactile’ system has the potential to make a real and sustainable difference to the lives of all people who have visual graphic recognition or assimilation difficulties.

More information from

Chris Stevenson
Royal National College for the Blind
College Road
Hereford
HR1 1EB

Telephone +44 (0)1432 265725
Email css@rncb.ac.uk