The Dot Pad device creates visual content in a digitally formatted Braille. Image: Dot Inc.
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Making Comics Available for the Sight-Impaired
As many in Europe prepare for the moment in June when the European Accessibility Act will go into force to promote accessible formats for readers across the European Union’s countries, the Seoul-based online comics company Webtoon has announced through its Los Angeles offices the advent of what it classifies as a first-of-its-kind collaboration with a company called Dot Inc., to produce tactile digital comics for readers who are sight-impaired.
Familiar to Publishing Perspectives readers, Naver’s Webtoon is the company that acquired Canada’s Wattpad in 2021 and in June launched its IPO on the Nasdaq in New York City. And in its news of a dual-release of its digital comics series means that those series’ content will be converted into Braille using Dot Inc’s “Dot Pad” product.
Dot Inc., also based in Seoul, offers products meant to lower barriers and offer services “to build inclusive public infrastructure for the visually impaired.”
Its tactile display, the Dot Pad, is touted by the company as “the first smart tactile graphics display for the visually impaired, converting any input from a connected device into a tactile graphic.” The Dot Pad technology is not inexpensive. Prices are listing for between some US$7,000 and $11,995. One factor in this, as cited by Devin Coldewey in an article at TechCrunch is that the device uses chips with highly inflated prices, though charitable funding programs are expected to help pay for many such units.
The Webtoon series Yumi’s Cells by Donggeon Lee and Hooky by Miriam Bonastre Tur are the series chosen for this pilot project, and will become internationally available on Dot’s Dot Pad device.
Promotional imagery for the Dot Pad device. Image: Dot Inc.
In a comment from David S. Lee, the head of Webtoon’s United States division, we read, “Part of our mission at Webtoon is to make Web comics more accessible for fans around the world. Dot Inc. shares Webtoon’s commitment to innovating for inclusivity.
“After making comics more accessible to people in a mobile digital format, we’re thrilled to work with Dot Inc. to create a new content experience for the visually impaired.”
Dot managing director Misook Go says, “The popularity of Web comics is at an all-time high and we thought it would be great if visually impaired individuals could enjoy them too.
“This is my first time exploring Web comics, listening to audio descriptions, and reading dialogue. It brought the imagined scenes vividly to life in my mind, and made the content even more engaging.
“I was especially curious about how the individual cells in Yumi’s Cells’looked, and being able to feel their shapes brought a new level of excitement.”
The Webtoon announcement says that the Dot Pad The Dot Pad “is compatible with mobile devices and laptops via Bluetooth. It displays charts, graphs, images, and visual data with 320 refreshable Braille cells. Users can run their fingers over the display and perceive the image with their fingertips.”
It’s unclear from the media messaging received by Publishing Perspectives when the Webtoon content will be available on the Dot Pad device. We are asking for this information and will update if it’s forthcoming.
More from Publishing Perspectives on comics is here, more on Webtoon is here, and more on the South Korean market is here. More from us on the European Accessibility Act is here.