tactileR: R package for creating tactile graphics for users with visual impairments.

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Description

Just surround any graphic object between two functions brl_begin() and brl_end(). The graph will be created in PDF format in your current directory, with all text being presented using a braille font. See more details in the example section below.

Installation

Development Version

You can install the latest development version as follows:

if(!require(devtools)) {
install.packages("devtools")
}

devtools::install_github('jooyoungseo/tactileR')

Stable Version

You can install the released version of tactileR from CRAN with:

install.packages("tactileR")

Arguments

Argument	Description
file	A character string giving the filename where the image is to be saved. The default file name is “tactile.pdf” if not given.
pt	Numeric value specifying braille font size for a created file. Default is 11.
paper	Character value setting paper size of output pdf file. Default is “special”.
font	Character value for font family. Available options include “BRL” for “BRAILLE1.ttf” (Braille Normal) and “SWL” for “Swell-Braille.ttf” (Swell Braille), and “TIMES” for “times.ttf” (Times New Roman). Default is set to “BRL”.

Details

Note: This function optimizes for both 1111 and 118.5 swell touch papers. When printing a generated braille pdf, just remember two things:

1. check “Fit” in the print dialog box (the shortcut key is ALT+F).
2. Check “Landscape” in the print dialog box as well.

• For boxplot, you do not need to check the “Landscape,” just leave it as a “Portray.” However, please check the “Fit” all the time.

Information

• If you are not familiar with what swell form machine is, please refer to this web site.
• A short YouTube video will help you to understand how this function can be employed in conjunction with Swell form machine.

Return

Nothing within the R session, but a pdf file will be created in the user’s working directory.

Examples

Histogram

# Loading tactile package:
library(tactileR)

# Create tactile graphic by surrounding between two functions like below. The arguments used in this example are all given by default:
brl_begin(file='tactile.pdf', pt=11, paper='special', font='BRL')
hist(airquality$Ozone)
brl_end()
# The braille ready-to-print pdf version will be created in your working directory. Print it out and run the swell touch paper through swell form heating machine.

Boxplot

library(tactileR)

x <- rnorm(100)
brl_begin('test.pdf')
boxplot(x)
brl_end()
# The braille ready-to-print pdf version will be created in your working directory. Print it out and run the swell touch paper through swell form heating machine.

Note: Histogram and boxplot are just examples. You can feed any graphic object through the functions. barplot, interaction plot, regression plot, network graph, wordcloud, etc.

Limitation

Currently this package does not support braille translation. This means you cannot embed any special symbols, math symbols, contracted braille, and non-roman alphabet characters. This issue will be addressed later by employing Liblouis translator.