Web page potpourri: a column devoted to informative alternative health resources on the internet

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Feb-March, 2004 by Marjorie Roswell

Tactile Access to Education for Visually Impaired Students (TAEVIS)

http://www.taevisonline.purdue.edu/

The sciences have traditionally been a challenge to make accessible to blind students. Illustrated college textbooks may contain more than a thousand diagrams and photographs. But now blind students can have access to university-level charts, diagrams, and illustrations. TAEVIS employs special paper which produces raised images when treated with heat. The website offers a $50 CD containing a wealth of diagrams including cell structures, atoms, human biology, math story problems, and statistical graphs. Simply print the PDF files on a standard printer, and then run them through a copier-like machine called a "thermal enhancer." (TAEVIS staff refer to this machine as "the toaster.") The website includes links to vendors of this special equipment, and information on how to create your own effective tactile diagrams. The TAEVIS program is located at Purdue University, but the CD is available to all.

Call to Readers

Do send me your favorite websites. Perhaps sometime I could profile a collection of sites submitted by readers. If I use a site that you submit in a column, I'll mention your name. One caveat: I don't always give all sites glowing reviews. Also, I can't promise to feature suggested sites in this column, but I will give them earnest consideration. What sites do you find to be most helpful to you in your work? Do you have a favorite online community? Have you found other great visual resources that could be included as a follow-up to this column? Write to me at mroswell@charm.net.

by Marjorie Roswell

3443 Guilford Terrace * Baltimore, Maryland 21218 USA * Phone: 410-467-3727 * Email: mroswell@charm.net

Marjorie Roswell is a web developer at a health policy organization in Baltimore.