Using a Magic Lens Handwriting can be very difficult to read.
When we digitize old letter or diaries (for example), we want
people to see or read the original, but we know that people may
not understand the handwriting. Transcripts can be effective,
but are not glamorous. Last week I was introduced to an
interesting way of overlaying a transcript onto handwritten
text. It's called the "magic lens." Here at the DoHistory web
site, you can see a magic lens applied to Martha Ballard's
diary. As you move the lens over the text, you can view the
transcription. This example from Memorial Hall Museum Online is
a bit different. Here you can expand the magic lens so that more
of the transcribed text can be seen at the same time. This magic
lens provides several benefits: - Users of the site can now
better understand the text because they can read it, while still
viewing the original handwriting. - It allows people who are
visually impaired to better view the text. (There is also an
implementation of the magic lens tha