Millions of people nationwide are anticipating the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21. It will be a spectacle to behold, but some people can’t behold it: the blind. For this reason, College of Charleston geology professor Cassandra Runyon, along with fellow C of C geologist Cynthia Hall and a colleague in Pennsylvania, developed a braille guide to the eclipse for blind and visually impaired people who want to know more about the event and what it entails. They were aided by blind College of Charleston recent graduate Mariah Williams, who helped "field test" the book, which was printed by NASA. Five thousand copies have been printed and distributed to libraries, schools for the blind and other service organizations nationally.
On August 21, 2017, millions of people across the United States will see a total eclipse of the Sun. South Carolina will be a significant destination for the eclipse because it will be the nearest spot within the path of totality for at least 100 million Americans in the Atlantic Seaboard and Florida.Cell phone service and smartphone Internet are expected to be unavailable inside the path of totality due to the large concentration of people. Cell phone companies will reinforce their network capacity for emergency responders. However, this will not increase capacity for commercial use. Visitors to South Carolina for the eclipse are encouraged to print paper versions of directions, lodging and restaurant reservations, and tickets to local eclipse events they plan to attend.Reputable Vendors of Solar Filters & Viewers, according to the American Astronomical Society and the National Science Foundation.
Professor Develops Braille Guide to Aug. 21 Solar Eclipse
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Mariah Williams helped test a new Braille guide to the Aug. 21 eclipse written by educators from the College of Charleston.
Tut Underwood/SC Public Radio
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Raised images of different textures help the blind and visually impaired to understand the process of what happens during an eclipse, in the book "Getting a Feel for Eclipses."
Tut Underwood/SC Public Radio
