A whole new world for the visually impaired
Digitised technical drawings are used in education as well as at work and at home. With the right software, sighted individuals can work with digitised images on standard PCs. Such images however were previously inaccessible for blind or partially sighted persons. The EU-funded TEDUB project worked to overcome this obstacle by transforming visual information in technical drawings into a format that can be used by the visually impaired. The information is extracted through image-processing followed by a close analysis of the function of the information. What is extracted can be verbally interpreted so that the user can tailor the functions according to individual needs thanks to an interface. Examples of domains which can be navigated include architectural floor plans, circuit diagrams and 'Unified modeling language' (UML) diagrams. The interface, in this case a joystick, provides a spatial interpretation of how the content is represented and interrelates. Applications for this technology are far-reaching as data is represented in many different formats. These include standard pointed (scatter) diagrams and box graphs. The system opens up independent access to graphic material for blind people. Grasping the spatial layout of content helps visually impaired users communicate with sighted people using the same diagrams levelling the playing field in employment, leisure and education.
