As a former assistive technology consultant for students with visual impairments, TactileView was a program on my list to play with, but I never got very far because I wasn’t regularly producing graphics for students. In returning to the world of itinerant teaching, I have found this software invaluable to my ability to provide materials for my braille-using students, particularly at the last minute. TactileView is very intuitive, and I find that rather than using the manual, cheatsheet, or tech support, it’s pretty easy to play and experiment to find what works. One of my FAVORITE features is the ability to copy and paste a black lined/clip art type of drawing from an internet search (such as the Texas outline featured below) and add labels and additional graphics to it. Furthermore, the program features a line relaxing feature, where one can also import a more complicated picture and adjust the lines–this takes a little more effort and finesse than using black lined images, but is also a great option!
Disclaimer: I am not in the position of creating textbooks or materials for pay- I’m just an itinerant TVI trying to find ways to make quick graphics for assignments received at the last minute (ie, I may not always perfectly follow BANA’s standards for tactile graphics #confessions).
Our Little Corner of the World 