WinBraille has Tactile Graphics Support
The 2005 Index Braille catalog arrived in the mail today. I was flipping through it and read the following:
Tactile Graphics
WinBraille includes standard Windows image control and the unique feature to convert images to tactile graphic format on-line. Braille text can be pasted into any position utilizing the increased graphical resolution (0.5 mm). Supported image formats: BMP, TIF, WMF, PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF, and SIG.
I then wandered over to indexbraille.com and browsed through the WinBraille revision history where I learned that the addition of tactile graphics support was old news. Months old. Is it just me, or is it hard to keep up with all the goings on in assistive technology? (sigh) Anyway…
Because WinBraille is free, I installed it and did some brief experimenting. Compared to TGD Pro, the primary disadvantages seem to be:
- You have to have an Index embosser.
- The images you create have to be embossed as part of a WinBraille document. In other words, you cannot save the images you create and import them into a Duxbury document.
The primary advantage is, of course, the price. In addition, unlike QikTac and TraceMe (the components of TGD Pro), the braille tool gives you the option of translating text into contracted/grade 2 braille so there’s no need to deal with ASCII braille.
If you have an Index and the need to produce tactile graphics, give WinBraille a try. You can download it from the Index Braille Download page.
—jd