Re: [UACCESS-L] FW: Disabled students can't work within demands ofFCAT

[Jason White <jasonw@ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au>]

Jennison Asuncion writes:
 > When I was n elementary and even high school, I
 > used a combination of Braille and a Taylor's Slate and type. Anyone else
 > out there use this? the Taylor's Slate was much like a pencil-paper,
 > because it was easily manipulated. It was great for venn
 > diagrams...Jennison

Did it consist of a board with a rubber surface on which plastic
sheets were placed? I had one such device at school and used it to
produce raised line diagrams of various kinds. There were set squares
provided also, with indentations to mark each centimetre. One side of
the board was also indented in this way, in centimetres as well if I
remember correctly.

I don't think superior technology will become available until an
engineer invents a full-page text and graphic tactile display.
Actually, I was informed (about five or six years ago in an e-mail
discussion) that the University of Stuttgart had such a display,
developed by Metec and Papenmeier and comprising a large pin array
driven by an electromagnetic mechanism. Apparently it was capable of
displaying braille text and graphics, the latter including animations.
The cost, needless to say, was enormous. There were also two so-called
mice that could be placed at any location on the display, the position
of which could be detected precisely to the nearest pin. The device was
connected to a computer via a serial interface. Let's admit it: I want
one. Let's also admit that the price is several orders of magnitude
greater than anything I could possibly afford.