Teaching · Special Education

Geometry diagrams described,
unknowns named, not solved

Enter the figure, what the student does with it and each labeled part with its measure, exactly as printed. The page writes a short text alternative and a long description, checks that the angles add up and that a right triangle’s sides fit, and keeps every unknown as an unknown.

Describe a diagramWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Special Education toolkit, $99 for 143 items.

Diagrams

The worked example is made up: a right triangle with one missing side, a quadrilateral whose angles add to 370 degrees (an error to catch), and a circle with a radius and an unknown diameter.

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What you get

Teaching · Special Education$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A saved record per diagram: the figure, its kind and the task, each labeled part with its kind, measure and label, where the parts are and six checks. The page writes a short text alternative and a long description by fixed rules, flags angle sums that do not match the figure, right triangles whose sides do not fit, more angles than corners and a missing layout, and reminds you that unknowns are named and never solved. Prints the description on its own.
Who it is for
Math teachers, special education teachers, teachers of students with visual impairments and accessibility staff preparing geometry materials.
Format
Browser tool with a saved record per diagram. Prints the short text and long description together, the full record, every diagram in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Special Education toolkit ($99) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Special Education space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Enter the figure, its kind and the task.
  2. Add each labeled part exactly as printed.
  3. Say where the parts are and any marks.
  4. Fix anything the checks flag.
  5. Place the description next to the diagram, with a tactile version if needed.

Describe a diagram

Describing without solving

What a geometry description includesPartSayExampleFigureIts name and kindTriangle ABC, a triangleTaskWhat the student doesFind a missing measureMeasuresEach label as printedSide BC measures 5 cmUnknownsNamed, never solvedSide AC is labeled xLayoutWhere parts sit, marksRight angle at C, small squareWhat a geometry description includesFigureSay: Its name and kindExample: Triangle ABC, a triangleTaskSay: What the student doesExample: Find a missing measureMeasuresSay: Each label as printedExample: Side BC measures 5 cmUnknownsSay: Named, never solvedExample: Side AC is labeled xLayoutSay: Where parts sit, marksExample: Right angle at C, small square
The rule that matters most: describe what the drawing shows and nothing it asks the student to work out.

Describe what is drawn, not what is asked

A geometry description must give the student the same information the drawing gives, and no more. Name every label and measure as printed, and name the unknown by its label. Saying that the missing side is 12 cm would answer the question for the student.

The checks

The angles of a polygon with n sides add to (n − 2) × 180 degrees: 180 for a triangle, 360 for a quadrilateral. In a right triangle the two shorter sides squared add up to the longest side squared. When the printed measures break these rules, the drawing has an error or is not to scale, and the description should say so.

Sources

  1. DIAGRAM Center. Image Description Guidelines: math and STEM images (diagramcenter.org).
  2. Braille Authority of North America. Guidelines and Standards for Tactile Graphics (brailleauthority.org).
  3. W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. Images Tutorial: Complex Images (w3.org/WAI/tutorials/images/complex).
  4. Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, 8.G.B (the Pythagorean theorem) and 8.G.A.5 (angle sum of triangles) (thecorestandards.org).

The worked example is made up. The description is assembled by fixed rules from what you enter; read it over against the printed diagram before use. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.