8 L1B NearSpace Education IN Blind and Visually Impaired Students
Channel: Stratospheric Ballooning Association
Date: 2024-02-06

Expanding Eclipse Research Accessibility to Blind & Visually Impaired Students
Abstract:
According to the CDC, Blind and visually impaired (B/VI) students make up approximately 3% of the total student population of the US. These students cannot participate in and benefit from many STEM experiences, including the total solar Eclipse passing through Indiana in 2024. However, recent technological innovations have begun to remove this barrier. In Spring 2023, NearSpace Education (NSE) partnered with Tactile Engineering, Inc., an Indiana tech startup, to increase the accessibility of the Eclipse to B/VI individuals. Tactile Engineering manufactures a device that allows B/VI students to view graphics, monitor data from experiments, and even experience live video of the eclipse in the same way sighted audiences do. NSE used these devices to display the atmospheric data collected by a high-altitude balloon in real time for the students to experience. Trials of this dual system with the students from the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired took place in October 2023 with great success, and plans are in place to expand the capabilities of this learning experience for the Total Solar Eclipse in April. During this presentation, we will share about this technology breakthrough, our experience with B/VI students as we prepared them for the October annular eclipse, the results from the October test, and our plans to increase the number of B/VI individuals that can “physically” experience the eclipse in ways that were previously not possible.