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Information from Symbols and Illustrations: how to get it without vision

Objective

In everyday life individuals are bombarded with symbols and illustrations: ‘poisonous’, ‘flammable’, ‘fire evacuation route’ etc.; however this life-saving information is not accessible to all of us.

One in 30 Europeans experiences sight loss, including one in three individuals over 65 years of age. These individuals cannot recognise a face, or read a symbol or an illustration: they rely on their sense of touch.

Those who use touch mix up angles and curves over 50% of the time which makes interpreting tactile symbols and illustrations problematic: the Euro symbol (€) may be mistaken for the capital E; the Pythagorean triangle may have no right angle. This mix-up has serious consequences:
– Lack of awareness of important, sometimes life-saving information. This is a particular problem for individuals with low tactile sensibility (often caused by age, diabetes or stroke). Marie Sklodowska-Curie herself experienced this double disability (blindness and low tactile sensibility);
– Shortcomings in school, e.g. in science, where teaching relies on symbols and illustrations

The objective of the InSIght project is to investigate in what configuration(s) of shape features angles are perceived as angles, curves as curves and straight lines as straight lines – and if misperceived, why. These results will be the basis for a visionary project to develop a checklist and teaching guide on tactile symbols and illustrations. Through this strategy InSIght will improve awareness of important, potentially life-saving, information and reduce shortcomings in school, e.g. in science; thus the environment’s costs for special needs education. Finally, InSIght will reduce the environment’s costs by leading to development of universal design standards for tactile symbols and illustrations.

InSIght will produce four academic and non-academic articles, and develop a non-academic booklet with the checklist and teaching guide. It will set up a European conference and an interactive webpage.

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MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2014

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Coordinator

THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 183 454,80
Address
WELLINGTON SQUARE UNIVERSITY OFFICES
OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom

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Region
South East (England) Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Oxfordshire
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 183 454,80
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