FireTower
ChanceyFleetCricut cutting machines, ubiquitous in schools, libraries and makerspaces, can be used to make embossed or stenciled #TactileGraphics. A Braille embosser costs at least $1500 — Cricuts cost a fifth of that or less. Today I learned that I can handle the hardware and make great stencils: all that holds a Blind #maker back is a set of unlabeled controls in the software. Does anyone know somebody at #Cricut I could talk to about improving #accessibility? Boosters beloved on this one!
As background, I'm a Blind technologist and educator. Five years ago I founded the Dimensions Lab at New York Public Library — we believe it may be the world's only free and open lab for DIY creation of tactile graphics. We offer graphics and Braille embossing, swellform, thermoform, 3d printing and analog drawing tools, + Cricut now. It's mission-critical for us to find a way to use cricut that doesn't involve a sighted interpreter, so that in good conscience we can teach and recommend it.
Sighted people tend to think that images are inherently difficult for Blind people to handle but nope — tactile graphics have been around in some form for centuries. Our actual barriers are avoidable image poverty, not getting enough exposure to get good; tough times getting training; expensive equipment; and inaccessible processes/interfaces. Cricut is just a couple of software button labels away from becoming a powerful lever to lift every one of those barriers.
Let me acknowledge colleagues who inspired me to try this — tactile artists Ann Cunningham and Nicole Johnson, and the incomparable John and MaFe who use Cricut to power a mail-and-Zoom tactile art club in Colombia. If you want to learn from the champions, here's their tutorial: https://btactile.com/drawingclub
jakob.pxi@ChanceyFleet I have recently ordered an xtool M1 to experiment with tactile printing among other things. It is a multi-purpose laser-engraving machine that can also cut w CriCut blades. It is slightly more expensive but maybe has better affordances in the software. Is there something I could test for you?
@ChanceyFleet This is so exciting!
IAintShootinMis@ChanceyFleet
Silhouette is compatible with almost all Cricut accessories, appears to have the buttons labeled, and doesnt have the same harmful paywalled/walled garden problems that Cricut introduced around custom artwork etc...
Here's a link describing the issues:
https://www.craftingspree.com/blog/cricut-image-upload-limit
While they grandfathered in older accounts, we personally got rid of our machines and switched to Silhouette to avoid any feature locking or other nonsense now that Cricut have shown their intent
Jedediah Strong Smith@iaintshootinmis @ChanceyFleet There is also an opensource package to run some Silhouette projects. https://www.codelv.com/projects/inkcut/
It might be easier to get something from FOSS than try to get a corporation to let down their paywall.
@iaintshootinmis @ChanceyFleet I was curious to how far I could make it with just FOSS software and my Silhouette Portrait® based on your idea.
Stack: Inkscape, Text -> Braille Inkscape Plugin, Inkcut.
I only tested it with the knife and card stock since I don't have embossing material or embossing ball.
https://inkscape.org/
https://github.com/mondeja/inkscape-braille-l18n-ext
https://www.codelv.com/projects/inkcut/
RM@ChanceyFleet very cool!
Update: someone from #Cricut says feedback is what makes them great but have declined a 30-minute meeting, at their convenience, with someone on their accessibility team where i could walk them through inaccessible interface elements in realtime. They want me to write up and submit my "feedback", with no expectation of dialog or mutual support. Being a #Blind #maker brings me such joy but being refused access to a design tool is a heartbreak.
BiteMyShinyMetalAss@ChanceyFleet Aside from the terrible customer service here, I'm sure you have already thought of it but just in case not, could a friend help you by videoing it? #cricut
Cricut, never underestimate the wallets of those who need a little accessibility help! It would also be great PR. Answer might be as simple as a couple of attachments rather than a full redesign!
@ChanceyFleet https://cricut.com/en-gb/legal#accessibility
Website says "creativity is for everyone ' mmmm 🤔
Website says "creativity is for everyone ' mmmm 🤔
Ricki Yasha Tarr@ChanceyFleet This is a genius idea.
Evelyn
@pineywoozle ‘s #3WordNote@ChanceyFleet This #thread needs to be sewn throughout the #Fediverse . It’s a brilliant idea and the more minds that encounter it the closer it comes to functionality. I’m going to screenshot your thread & post it directly to Cricut’s official account. The pretty glass cricket just makes more people look at the text lol the hashtags get more eyes on it to begin with.🥰 #Cricut #Braille #Software #Libraries
carthik@ChanceyFleet I’ve messaged a couple of cricut engineers/ product designers (found via LinkedIn) about this toot. Hope it works out. 👍
Nathan Lowell (he/him) 📎@nlowell Is this confirmer as an address? I couldn't find any accessibility tips, statement or contact on their page but perhaps i missed it!
Stephanie☑️For Real@ChanceyFleet
I like the way you think!!
I like the way you think!!
Arachtober@ChanceyFleet I hope you can reach someone who can help. I suggest adding some hashtags to help your post get noticed.
@Arachtober Yep, you're right. Fortunately someone jumped into the thread with a few and the post is going on quite the little journey! #Blind #TactileGraphics #Makers FTW
@ChanceyFleet I am new to Mastodon, didn't know that would help. #Cricut
Carly Kocurek@ChanceyFleet I think Silhouette could be used this way, too. Mentioning in case one company is easier to get a hold of than another!
MattWhy
aschmitz@ChanceyFleet I don't have a Mac (or a Cricut machine, really) handy to test this, but I thought the "Live Text" feature was supposed to be able to combine with VoiceOver to read even parts of the screen that aren't properly tagged as text, if the Cricut software isn't conventionally accessible. Maybe that could be worth a go? (Apologies if you've already tried this, I gather VoiceOver is supposed to be pretty good so maybe you already have.)
kellihazel@ChanceyFleet I love this idea, and so sad I didn’t think of it! Def going to boost this across channels.
But…good luck with #cricut. They notoriously ignore creator requests. Important updates to Design Space are ignored in favor of odd pet projects. You may also want to reach out to Siser and Glowforge to see what they can do.
Simon LucyThe Director of UX at Circut is someone called Tom Wailes he's on LinkedIn, I don't know him but he has a background in accessibility.
Hope that helps.
Dave@ChanceyFleet Cricuts are good but are horribly closed source, a similar but far more open option is the Silhouette products, they’re usually cheaper, have tons of open source tools made for them (making them easy to adapt) and are not locked down in ways the cricuts are. They also have carriages for additional tools and a mode that would be ideal for braille work too. They work easily with the manufacturers software but also work with Inkscape which is open source and accessible
Tim McCormack@Underestimated @ChanceyFleet Ooof, yeah, I just looked this up—apparently Cricut uses DRM and lawsuits to keep people from making alternative (potentially more accessible) software for their hardware. That sucks. :-(
susan_lanigan@ChanceyFleet there's a sewing blogger on instagram called @thelittlepomegranate, she's got an advertising setup with Cricut, so she definitely might be someone to talk to. I think she has a blog as well.
NYSLP@ChanceyFleet Fantastic idea with great potential utility. What would be on your accessibility wishlist that OS screen magnifier and text-to-speech can't manage?
@nyslp Accessibility of the GUI — consistently labeled controls.
Ashley@ChanceyFleet I find the silhouette ecosystem has a much better user experience. I also had not considered this potential use case and I love that I stumbled onto this post.
IfMatt@ChanceyFleet maybe @[email protected] over on the bird site?
bookish@ChanceyFleet I think you’d like this @GreatDismal
toybuilder@ChanceyFleet is the need primarily for sending data to the plotter, or to use the software to create drawings? If you could create the artwork elsewhere, there are plenty of existing code that talk to Graphtec plotters (Silhouette) which might end up being the easiest path to your goal?
http://jhnet.co.uk/projects/plotter :
"As such, 99% of the time plotting or cutting can be performed using no more than:
$ plottie path/to/drawing.svg"
@toybuilder Yep, we can use other software to create drawings (although we want to be able to use the Cricut GUI to work with layers etc. Alternatives are appreciated but the stock software experience should also be accessible!
Rachel Dickson@ChanceyFleet good luck! I hope cricut (or a competitor) gets your message!!
🦄 I Make Robots 🦄@ChanceyFleet Found a guy on LinkedIn who might be the right person to start with. DM’ed you.
Firefox59@ChanceyFleet I'm amazed there is not an accessible version yet.
Simon Walters@ChanceyFleet I would edit your toot and add #Cricut hashtag as that will make it more visible when boosted
@ChanceyFleet Is there some kind of API for it? We'd for sure want to talk to the software maker, but I'm wondering if it could be made to ingest already created stencils and then with a custom program, allow us to navigate around them. I'm speaking from a completely CryCut dumb perspective here, sorry.
Anonylysk@ChanceyFleet
Brilliant idea! When I read your message my first thought is "this is a great idea for a profit for purpose #startup ".
Perhaps you could contact the #ycombinator team or a local #makers / #makerspace organisation who can advocate and champion your idea.
I'm in Australia and I have some electronics contacts here if you are in this region?
It's a great idea and I think it is worth pursuing.
Brilliant idea! When I read your message my first thought is "this is a great idea for a profit for purpose #startup ".
Perhaps you could contact the #ycombinator team or a local #makers / #makerspace organisation who can advocate and champion your idea.
I'm in Australia and I have some electronics contacts here if you are in this region?
It's a great idea and I think it is worth pursuing.
Nathan Wray@ChanceyFleet I reached out to a distant LinkedIn connection who is in UI/UX at Cricut. No telling if they'll engage but I pointed them to your post. Good luck.
Jenn Kunz@ChanceyFleet i have a good friend at cricut, I’ve passed it along, I’ll let you know if I hear anything useful
@ChanceyFleet they said the correct address might be slightly different from what you sent to… double check that it was accessibilitysupport and not accessibility.support (though they’re gonna try to set it up so either address would work.)
They are interested in chatting, not sure if they’re on mastodon though.
They are interested in chatting, not sure if they’re on mastodon though.
@Jenn_kunz That's what i tried — no dot in the middle
@ChanceyFleet that’s what I thought, based on what you wrote previously. Was surprised at their response.
Todd Walker@ChanceyFleet I know multiple people at Cricut. DM me.
Chris@ChanceyFleet Can you use the Cricut to label the buttons? This would still involve a sighted interpreter for setup, but not for daily use
@50htz The tangible buttons are fine. The onscreen buttons are programmatically unlabeled :-(
@ChanceyFleet Well, dang. I'm not a huge fan of the software (my husband uses it), but you can't argue with the price of the hardware. It's low because they want to sell their consumables and monthly subscription
Best of luck with your communications with the company