Development of Braille / Tactile Map Printing Machine and Its Evaluation

Abstract

Braille and tactile maps are common information support tools for the people with visual impairments. As one of the most popular Braille / tactile map printing technologies, the screen printing method is applied for printing TRUCT (Transparent resinous ultraviolet cured type) Braille and tactile map. However, it is pointed that TRUCT Braille and tactile map created by the screen printing method has poor quality. In this study, in order to improve the printing quality of TRUCT Braille and tactile map, we created a new printing machine. Additionally, we evaluated finish of Braille and tactile map created by new printing machine. As a results, we found that Braille and tactile map created by new printing machine has high quality.