Tactiles are raised line drawings that can be felt and understood with the fingers. Imagine, for example, trying to understand the chemical formula for methane without being able to see the diagram in your textbook. ABLE’s staff and volunteers create tactile diagrams to ensure that blind students have a level playing field and an equal chance at learning. Our tactile materials are embossed on standard braille paper or “swell” (microcapsule) paper to ensure ease of readability.
This video portrays an interview with Matt Scholtes, ABLE Tactile & Production Manager. As Matt talks, there are shots of him talking, interspersed with videos of hands reading our tactile graphics, a visual of our tactile map of the Northwestern University college campus, our butterfly tactile made for Braille Games and the Milwaukee Public Museum, a young child and an older gentleman reading tactiles, and a tactile of Native American art made for the Milwaukee Public Museum. There are also several shots of Matt working on tactiles at his computer or printing tactiles at the tactile embosser as he is talking. Cheryl Orgas makes a cameo in order to answer Matt’s instruction to ask her for tactile numbers. The video finishes with a visual of our donation screen on our website as well as more visuals of hands reading our tactiles. The concluding visual is a page showing our website address and a QR code one can use in order to donate to our organization.
*credit to Dreamstime for stock clips
ABLE saved me… Diagrams of molecular structures, the Pythagorean theorem, the digestive tract of a worm, tests and worksheets in Spanish—these are just a few of the things ABLE prepares for me. It means so much to me; because I know what it feels like not to have what I need. ABLE has supported me so much.
Xin Ju Hippe | student at Rufus King High School
