2008 Volume 19 Pages 221-232
Transparent-resinous-ultraviolet-curing-type (TRUCT) Braille signs are becoming more and more popular in Japan, especially when they are printed together with visual characters. These signs are made by screen printing, a technique that can be applied to various base materials. TRUCT Braille signs have begun to be used in public facilities, such as on tactile maps and on handrails. However, there is one serious problem whereby Braille users find it difficult to discriminate TRUCT Braille signs printed on base materials on which their forefingers cannot slide easily. To solve this problem, we invented a soft and thin material finger cover to be used as a TRUCT Braille discriminating assistive tool to reduce friction during discriminating TRUCT Braille. In this study, for the purpose of proposing our finger cover as a TRUCT Braille discriminating assistive tool, we investigated the effect of using the finger cover when discriminating TRUCT Braille. We chose a polyester non-woven fabric as a finger cover as we thought that this material was adequate for our purpose because it has the characteristics of being soft, thin and smooth. We then made a polyester non-woven fabric finger cover. And also we conducted an experiment to compare the readability of TRUCT Braille both when using a polyester non-woven fabric finger cover and when not using it. The subjects were 12 Braille learners with acquired visual impairment, who were asked to read randomly selected characters with and without wearing the finger cover. The results showed that most participants could read TRUCT Braille significantly faster and more correctly with a finger cover than without it, regardless of the base material and dot height. This result suggests that wearing the finger cover enables the Braille learners to read TRUCT Braille more efficiently. The finger cover can therefore be considered as a TRUCT Braille discriminating assistance tool for Braille learners.
