Creating Tactile Graphics for Swell Form Machines and Swell Touch Paper

Creating Perfect Tactile Graphics with Swell Form Machines and Swell Touch Paper

The standards for creating tactile graphics are long and complex. The goal of this guide is to provide a high level overview on how to create tactile graphics using Swell Form paper to aid in teaching visually impaired students.

Swell Touch Markers:

• Thin marker produces approximately a 1 mm thin line
• Thick marker produces approximately a 3 mm thin line

Your mindset:

• Creating a tactile graphic does NOT mean creating a pretty looking picture.
• Creating a tactile graphic does NOT mean creating it exactly like the real world object
• Think about how your graphic will be meaningful – what are you trying to demonstrate?
• Will your graphic be understandable if it is only touched but not seen?
• Are all elements of the graphic understandable and distinguishable from the rest?
• Does the concept you’re trying to teach make sense via touch?

The Tactile Library’s goal is to produce accurate and readable graphics for the blind and visually impaired. We must ensure all students can easily understand the concept being taught through touch.

Keep It Simple

• Do not create overly-detailed line drawings. The more lines the more difficult it is to interpret by the blind reader.
• A game you can play is: draw your object, now ask yourself, how much can I take away from this drawing and still have something that represents the object? SIMPLIFY!
• For people, animals and creatures, do not use complicated angles or perspectives. A rolling cat will FEEL the same as a rolling lion to a reader. A side view of a full cat will FEEL different than a side view of a large lion with a mane.

Use of color:

• Only the black ink will swell when processed through the Swell Form machine.
• The thicker the line and level of black will determine how prominent the element will be swollen.
• A thick black line will rise higher than a thin dark gray line.
• Colored elements will not rise or swell, however they can still be used to aid sighted students and teachers.

General Model for outlining and detailing with lines:

• The outline of your object should have the thickest and blackest lines at least 4 pixels
• The interior of your object should use slightly thinner but just as black lines.
• Lines that go from thick to thin, like a hair is acceptable.
• Thin lines and or thin lines that are less dark than black will not swell as high as black lines. This can help demonstrate differences between elements in your graphic.

Filling Elements of Your Graphic:

Filling your entire graphic complete black rarely delivers an understandable tactile graphic.
Large elements (more than 2 inches x 2 inches) should not be filed completely black. Use dots, checks, marks (see below) to create textures, or you can use a light gray.

Creating textures to define elements of your graphic.
Textures are NOT required, however they can help with understanding the tactile graphic is used sparingly and with logic.

• Gradients – use infrequently as a gradient is often difficult to detect.
• Pattern of dots – excellent for identifying elements like: ground, dirt, sand or similar textural feel.
• Pattern of short lines – excellent for elements like grass.
• Pattern of drops – rain, tears.
• U Patterns – use for fish scales, alligator skin and similar.
• V Patterns – Use to signify a sharper texture as opposed to a U pattern which will be softer.
• Angled lines – Show direction or flow.
• Wave – use for water, ocean, sea, pond.

When to fill elements full black

• Distinctive features that need to be emphasized. For example the eyes of an animal or human.
• Breaking up similar elements. Say you have a square that is divided into 4 equal parts and you wish to distinguish one. Make that element all black.
  Graphs – bar charts may have the bars be all solid black or use a condensed texture