3

Quick Start 3

Graphics Editor and Graphic Navigator

1. Open the Editor

Open Editor

from the Insert menu

2. Items to display Press the 'settings button' and tick

the boxes of the items you want to

display

3. Drawing size Determine the size of the dra-wing by grabbing and pulling the dotted field in the lower right corner.

4. Drawing parameters Press the button indicated by the arrow

below

5. Tool panel After determining the drawing para-meters, press the button indicated by the arrow to open the tool panel and the drawing description form.

Enter the title and description of the drawing on this form. These texts

will be read in synthetic speech when opening the Navigator and while

navigating the document.

7. Draw geometrical figures After describing the drawing, select, for example, a circle in the tool panel marked with an arrow. The button will be mar-ked in yellow. Enter parameters and, if applicable, a de-scription of the circle and save.

After entering the title and de-scription of the drawing, press Save

With this button you can edit the title and description of the drawing

Drawing de-scription form

Button to delete the entire drawing

A Pointer to select a drawing element

to describe, edit, delete

Button for opening the title anddescription

form

The button opens the label editing form

and its location. Note: the labels are

printed, their descriptions are read by

the reader. For a blind student, you can

enter read labels or other texts using

the audio comment button.

Audio comment button

The other tool panel buttons open the forms for

descriptions and parameters of geometric figures,

linear and square functions, and functions defined

by expression. They will be discussed later in the

guide.

The mathematical Graphics Editor and Graphic Navigator are modules of the EuroMath application. The Editor allows the teacher and students, including blind students, to edit simple geometric drawings and generate graphs of the function given by the expression. The main advantage of the Editor is the ability to describe the drawing and its selected elements, so that a blind student can familiarize him-self with the drawing by aural-touch method using the Graphic Navigator. Geometric drawings made in the popular GeoGebra system saved in SVG format, after being imported into the Editor can be de-scribed and become accessible for blind students. A blind student who wants to work with the Editor and Navigator must have a touch screen and NVDA or JAWS screen reader enabled.

After pressing the Save button you will receive a drawing of the circle

in the coordinate system

Visualization

of audio com-

ments

Visualize and

print the

triangle to

help you posi-

tion the prin-

ted drawing

correctly on

the desk

With this button you enter text read in synthetic spe-ech while navigating the

drawing

Tool panel

6. Manually describing the drawing as a whole

Here you describe a

drawing ele-ment, the

description is read when navigating

You can draw with the mouse without filling

out the form. The editor will automatically

generate a description of the figure parame-

ters for the audio reading. When you enter

your own description in the Description

field, the editor will not generate an auto-

matic description. Differences in these de-

scriptions are explained on page 3.

Quick Start 3 Read Dokumentacja Funkcjonalna dla potrzeb użytkowników niewidomych Read Functional Documentation The EuroMath YouTube channel

A function given by an expression can be a

trigonometric, linear, quadratic, cubic function

or a combination of their expressions connec-

ted by operators

eg. y=x^3+2*sin(2*x), Fig.5.

Figure 1

8. Elements of geometric drawing You can insert a drawing into a document with the Insert button and you can return to editing by open the context menu, and then select the Graphic Editor item.

Select the Graphic

Editor from the con-

text menu

Quick Start 3

Now you can add new elements in the drawing e.g. the point

being the center of the circle followed by its label and audio

comment. To do this, select the button marked yellow in the

screenshot, enter the coordinates of the point (-3.7) and the

description read by the reader. Then, click Save

As a result, you will get a point in the middle of the

circle

Then insert the S label for the center point. To do this, se-

lect the T button and enter the coordinates and description

in the form, or drop the letter A in the place where you

want to put the label, then press the Pointer button, select

the label A and change it to the S in the form.

Since the S label will be read by the rea-

der while navigating the graphic as its

automatically generated description

("Text: S at x = 3.9 and y = 6.73"), the

audio comment button can be used to

insert comment text in the semantic

form, e.g. "center S of the circle" and

enter in the form the coordinates of the

comment equal to the coordinate of the

circle center (-3, 7) or at the point with

the label S coordinates insert a com-

ment, eg "the label S of the circle cen-

ter". Figure 1 shows the completed form

of the comment "center S of the circle"

and a visualisation of the comment.

We now have 4 drawing elements that we

have introduced: circle, center point, S label

and audio comment.

9. Modification of the dra-wing All applied drawing elements are in the drop-down list dis-played in the form area. The list is displayed after pressing the Indicator button (marked with an arrow), Fig. 2. Expan-ding the list, you can select the element to be deleted (Delete button) or to be edited (Edit button) and start editing it on the form that is displayed(parameters and description), Fig. 3.

Figure 2

Figure 3

The element selected from the list for editing

(audio comment) is marked in red (Fig.3).

The list of drawing elements was created

especially for the needs of blind students, so

that they can modify drawings using forms

and lists. Forms and lists are supported using

keyboard shortcuts.

11. Vision-free navigation The blind student moves around the elements of the Editor interface with the Tab and Shift Tab keys. A detailed description is pro-vided in the "Functional documentation of the Eu-roMath application for the needs of blind users", p. 6/7.

10. Function graphs The tool panel has 3 buttons (Fig. 4) to generate a linear, qua- dratic function and given by the expression. Similar to the method of creating a geometric drawing, after pressing the selected func-tion type button, the form with parameters and with function de-scription must be completed.

Figure 4

Figure 5

If we have graphs of several functions in the dra-

wing, then their list is displayed after pressing the

Indicator button, to remove or modify the func-

tion we select from the list or select with the mo-

use in the drawing, Fig. 6 and press

Figure 6

Read Dokumentacja Funkcjonalna dla potrzeb użytkowników niewidomych

12. Increasing the accessi-bility of graphics from GeoGebra A drawing created in Geo-Gebra, saved as SVG gra-phics, can be described to make it accessible to the blind student, Figure 7

Rysunek 7

Read Functional Documentation The EuroMath YouTube channel

Visualisation of audio comment

Note: if you decide to use a manual description entered in the Description field, only from this description the student

will learn about this element, because there will be no automatically generated information about the parameters of

the element. When you decide to use the automatic description, parameter descriptions will be generated, but there

will be no textual description. If you care about the exact description of the element, including the parameters, then

use the automatically generated description and add one or several audio comments on the element, with information

about it. There is no limit to the number of comments

Quick Start 3

13. Manual and automatic description of a drawing element In the Editor, there are two ways to describe the elements that make up a drawing, manually by the user using the form (see page 1), and automatically by the Editor it-self. Automatic generation is faster and more convenient, especially for students with visual impairments who create their own drawing. The manual description may contain more details and tips. Compare in Fig.8 the manual and automatically generated de-

scriptions for the same types of figures.

Rysunek 8

Note: if we place several elements at a place with the same coordinates, e.g. a point and then a label, the description

of the last introduced element will be read when exploring the drawing. If an audio comment is included among these

elements, the comment will be read regardless of the order in which it was entered.

14. Graphic management Graphics created in the editor or imported and described in the Editor can be inserted into

the document, printed or exported in SVG format as a .svg file to disk.

The editor's main menu is used for these operations, Figure 9

The geometric drawing or function graph created in the Editor can be printed on a regular „black and white” printer (graphics can

be colored) or in a convex manner on a Tiger ViewPlus Braille printer or on swell paper on a regular printer, which is then subjected

to heating. It is worth noting that the labels contained in the drawing are printed on the swell paper. The labels are printed in Braille

fonts sized to be read by touch. After selecting the Print menu item, the print screen is displayed, Figure 10 shows part of the print

screen.

Figure 9

The drawing can be inserted into the document. And from a document, it can be reopened in the Editor to make corrections or addi-

tions. The drawing should be adjusted to the correct size in the Editor, since it is not possible to scale the drawing in the EuroMath

application. There are two ways to get the drawing size you need.

1. Way

Grab the handle in the lower right corner of the drawing area and pull in the right direction. This was shown on the first page of the

guide.

2. Way

Specifying sizes in the configuration form shown on the first page.

The graphics created in the Editor can be exported to disk for further use. It is not possible in the EuroMath application to export

only the graphics contained in the document content in any format. A further use of the exported SVG graphics is to incorporate it

into other content (.epub documents) created in the EuroMath application. If you want to use the SVG graphics exported to disk

again, you can only do it in the Editor by importing it and then inserting it into the document.

Enlarged Braille label

Figure 8 presents a list of three square descriptions resulting from the way the form is filled out: 1. the description was

generated as a result of filling form 1. the coordinates of the lower left corner and the side size (without entering a de-

scription in the Description field); 2. the description was generated as a result of drawing the square, without entering

the parameter values and description on the form (without Save bautton pressing); 3. the description was generated as

a result of entering the text "Square with coordinates of the lower left corner ..." into the Description field, without or

with entering the parameter values. To sum up: creating a description in the Description field disables generating de-

scriptions containing information about the parameters. Note: 1.Color parameters are not included in the descriptions

because they are not relevant for blind students; 2. an arrow marked with the button enables adjustment of the De-

scription field size.

1 2

3

Figure10

1 2

The Euromath YouTube channel Quick Start 3 Read Dokumentacja Funkcjonalna dla potrzeb użytkowników niewidomych Read Functional Documentation The EuroMath YouTube channel

1 2 3

Braille label

3

15. Auditory-tactile graphics learning Geometric drawings and function graphs, created in the Editor or imported from the GeoGebra sys-tem, automatically described by the Editor or manually described by the teacher or student, are accessible for the blind student in the auditory-touch way using the Graphic Navigator module. The Navigator can work in two modes, normal and function. The mode is determined after the Navigator is opened. The Navigator can be opened after selecting the graphic in the document confirmed by the message "graphic" and reading the graphic title (if provided on the drawing description form): 1. from the Insert menu /Graphic Navigator (Fig.11a) or 2. from the popup menu (Fig.11b) or 3. with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + 2.

Figure 11a Figure 11b

After opening the Navigator, the drawing is displayed on the whole screen (Fig.13), unless it was reduced in the Editor. The drawing de-

scription is read if it was entered on the drawing description form. There are 3 ways to familiarize the student with graphics, hearing

and touch. In normal mode, after opening the Navigator, you can listen and touch 1. the geometric figure ans 2. the function graph. In

auditory function mode, with the help of gestures and keyboard shortcuts you can 3. to learn the function, zero points, axis range. The

function mode is switched on and off (normal mode) with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + f. Function mode provides more information

about the function flow with less necessary student interactivity.

15.1 Interactive recognition of geometrical figures (normal Navigator mode)

The displayed lines (figures and axes) are bold to help keep your finger within the line. You run your finger on the touch screen and when you come across an element of the drawing or an audio com-mentary you hear a sound, after which you will hear a description of the element created in accor-dance with the rules given in p. 13, see Fig.12. Then you can run your finger along the line so that the generated sound stays on all the time. When you hear the sound, you can repeat the tap gesture to hear the item description again. When you come across the axis lines, you hear the message "x axis" or "y axis". Leading your finger along the axis lines generates a different, higher, sound to di-stinguish from the lower sound of geometric elements. Movement outside the drawing area, which is possible with smaller drawings, generates a clicking sound.

15.2 Interactive recognition of the function (Navigator normal mode)

After opening the Navigator and reading the description of the drawing, just like in the ca-se a geometric drawing, you lead the square on the touch screen to hear a sound. From re-ading the description you know what kind of function you are looking for and where it is located. The user that created the function graph in the Editor can provide the location of the chart in the Description field of the drawing form, e.g. in the first and second qu-adrants, which will help you find the chart.(Note: not the function form, but the drawing form that is read when opening the navigator). It can also arrange audio comments scatte-red around the drawing area, guiding the user towards the function graph. When you come across a sound, tap your finger to get a description of the function or other item you came across, e.g. vertex labels, zero point labels. If it was generated automatically by the Edi-tor, you will have information about the drawing parameters. If, however, if was generated manually by inserting a description in the description field, then you will receive the infor-mation that was included in the description. Figure 13 shows the movement of a finger or stylus along the graph line and the places on the graph (marked with yellow circles) , where you can make tap gesture with finger / sty-lus to hear the information contained in the description of such a point eg.”y equals 5”.

Quick Start 3

The area outside the drawing is indi-cated by a clicking

sound

Figure 13

Move your finger or stylus along the

graph line in normal mode

15.3 Interactive learning of functions (Navigator function mode)

The most convenient mode for you to know the course of the function is the Navigator func-tion mode turned on and off with the Ctrl + f shortcut. When you are in this mode, you do not have to search for the sound (graph), just move your finger on the screen in a continuous movement horizontally, from left to right of the screen. You will hear a sound with variable monotonicity consistent with the course of the function. The higher it is, the higher the function value, the lower - the value decreases. The horizontal movement of the finger is in the direction of increasing x values. While listening to the waveform, you will hear the mes-sages "function zero point" (intersection with the X axis), "change in monotonicity" (vertex). By shortcuts Ctrl+x and Ctrl+y you can know the range of numbers on the X axis and Y axis.

To hear the de-scription you have

to tap on the points marked on the

graph and described

Prepared by: Jolanta Brzostek-Pawłowska

Figure12

Marked point with a description, eg "lower right corner of the first

square" read in the Navigator after taping on the point. Inste-ad of a point, you can insert an audio comment with this con-

tent.

Horizontal movement with the finger or stylus in function mode