Glossary

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Tactile Animation(also: Animated Tactile Graphics, Tactile Motion Graphics)

A sequence of tactile images displayed over time on a refreshable tactile display to convey motion, change, or dynamic processes through touch. Unlike static tactile graphics, tactile animations allow blind and low-vision users to perceive movement, temporal progression, and…

Tactile Contrast

The degree of perceptible difference between adjacent or co-occurring tactile elements, analogous to visual contrast in graphic design. In tactile graphics, sufficient contrast between neighboring regions is essential for readers to identify boundaries and distinguish different…

Tactile Graphics Assistant(also: TGA)

A software tool developed at the University of Washington that automates parts of the tactile graphics translation process to help specialists more efficiently convert printed images into tactile form for blind users. The TGA pipeline includes image classification (identifying…

Tactile Icon(also: Tactile Symbol, 3D Icon, Raised Icon)

A small raised or three-dimensional symbol placed on a tactile map or diagram that represents a real-world object, location, or concept through touch. Tactile icons can be abstract (geometric shapes requiring a legend) or representational (physically resembling the object they…

Tactile Image(also: Tactile Graphic, Tactile Picture, Touch Image)

A tactile image is a raised or textured representation of a visual image designed to be perceived through touch rather than sight. Tactile images can be produced through various methods including embossing, swell paper (microcapsule paper), Braille printers, thermoforming, and…

Tactile Image Exploration(also: Tactile Graphics Exploration, Haptic Image Exploration)

Tactile image exploration is the process by which blind or visually impaired users perceive and interpret graphical content through touch, typically by moving their fingers across raised-line drawings, embossed diagrams, or haptic displays. Unlike visual perception, which allows…

Tactile Legibility(also: Tactile Readability)

The ease with which tactile information—including tactile graphics, braille, and raised-line diagrams—can be accurately perceived and understood through touch. Tactile legibility depends on factors including the distinctiveness of textures used, appropriate spacing between…

Tactile Map(also: Raised Map, Touch Map)

A map designed to be read by touch, using raised lines, textures, braille labels, and other tactile elements to represent geographic or spatial information for blind and visually impaired users. Tactile maps can represent indoor spaces (floor plans), outdoor areas (campus maps,…

Tactile Maps(also: Tactile cartography, Raised-line maps)

Maps produced in physical, raised-relief form — typically on swell paper, vacuum-formed plastic, embossed paper, or 3D-printed substrate — so that blind and low-vision users can read geographic information by touch. Tactile maps use a constrained vocabulary of lines, textures,…

Tactile Semiotics

The study and theory of how meaning is communicated through touch, drawing on broader semiotic principles that every media channel has rules or encodings for conveying meaning. Tactile semiotics examines how physical properties of tactile objects—such as roughness, height,…

Tactile Texture(also: Haptic Texture)

The surface quality of a material or graphic element as perceived through touch, characterized by properties such as roughness, smoothness, density, height, pattern regularity, and directionality. In tactile graphics, different textures are used to represent different regions or…

Tactile graphic production(also: Tactile image creation, Accessible graphic transcription)

The process of converting visual images — such as textbook diagrams, charts, maps, and illustrations — into raised tactile representations that can be explored by touch. Production methods include swell paper (microcapsule paper heated to raise printed lines), embossing,…

Tactile relief(also: 2.5D relief, Tactile relief model)

A physical representation that preserves depth information and surface textures from a two-dimensional image, creating a raised surface that can be explored by touch. Unlike flat raised-line drawings or tactile diagrams, tactile reliefs convey spatial relationships, depth…

Tangram Workstation(also: Tangram)

A LibreOffice extension for creating tactile graphics collaboratively. Tangram enables sighted users to design graphics while providing real-time tactile feedback to blind reviewers through a connected pin-matrix display. The tool includes a palette of validated tactile fill…

Texture Differentiation(also: Tactile Discrimination)

The ability to perceive and distinguish between different textures through touch. In the context of tactile graphics, texture differentiation is the fundamental perceptual capacity that allows readers to identify different regions and understand the information encoded in a…

Thermoforming(also: Vacuum Forming, Thermoform)

A manufacturing process used to create tactile graphics by heating a plastic sheet and pressing it over a mould to form a raised surface. In accessibility contexts, thermoforming is one of several methods for producing tactile maps and diagrams for people who are blind or have…

Tiger Embosser(also: ViewPlus Tiger, Tiger Braille Printer)

A brand of Braille embosser manufactured by ViewPlus Technologies that produces both Braille text and tactile graphics by pressing raised dots onto thick paper. Unlike traditional Braille embossers that only produce text, Tiger embossers can render graphical images with multiple…

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