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New Technology Take Braille Into The New Century

Braille letter/symbol.

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Not since the birth of the Braille language has there been such an exciting time for those who have lost their ability to see. Today, technology is helping the blind take part in more activities than ever before. New technology is available to do everything from read a computer screen to help with the task of creating text messages. Anyone who diagnosed as blind should invest in these programs.

  • JAWS: the most robust text reader for a computer. The program reads written words on a computer screen and makes it possible for the user to navigate the Internet.
  • Kurzweil: This simply program allows a user to scan any written document into a computer. IT then translate the document into audible form.
  • GOODFEEL: Blind students and musicians can use this nifty use to translate music into a format that the blind can study and play.
  • Virgo 4: A text converter that is light years ahead of industry standards. It can also be used to create text to braille documents.

To make things even easier, there are new Braille keyboards. These keyboards make it exceptionally easy for students to use computers. By combining a Braille keyboard with a program like JAWS, the blind can use a computer as effectively as a seeing person.

While there is no doubt that being blind is a disability, today it does not mean living life in a world of darkness. Thanks to recent technological advances, the blind can now experience the world in a whole new way.

Filed Under: General, Technology Tagged With: , ,

Vitamin B and Blindness Prevention

While some people are born blind, others become blind through out their life due to various medical conditions a new study shows that vitamin B can help to prevent blindness.

What does Vitamin B do?

Taking  vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 supplements can lower the risk of macular degeneration in older adults.  Macular degeneration occurs when the retina is harmed or deteriorating and can be a leading cause of blindness.  Vitamin B keeps the retina strong and lowers the risk of serious complications. Vitamin B 6 can also help with dryness in the eyes.  Many older people may experience dry eyes due to illness, low estrogen or other illnesses.  Healthy eyes should sustain a certain level of moisture.

What foods contain vitamin B?

If you do not like taking supplements many healthy foods contain vitamin B.  Vitamin B6 can be found in bananas, avocados, salmon, peas and brown rice.  Vitamin B12  can be found in turkey meat, wild salmon and dairy products.

Catch Eye Problems Early

Your retina can be saved if your doctor catches the problem early on.  Always call your eye doctor if you are experiencing problems seeing up close or far away, blurry vision, haloes or other abnormal eye functions.

Signs that You Need More Vitamin B

If you are experiencing other odd symptoms along with your sight problems, it may be the sign of a vitamin B deficiency.  Anxiety and fatigue can be signs that you need more B12.  Many vegetarians are prone to B12 efficiency if they do not take supplements because most vegetables are not a good source of this vitamin.  It’s not as common to have a B6 deficiency since it is found in many more foods.  However, if you are having a lot of loose stool or weight loss along with your eye problems it may mean that your body is not absorbing all of the B6 vitamins in your food due to an interaction with another medication that you are taking.

Filed Under: Blindness, General Tagged With: , ,

Problems Associated With Blindness

There are a lot of problems that a person has to face in case he is blind. The person is at a disadvantage in the society. Other than this, the person may also have complications in case he is blind. It is very important that the blind person tries to overcome the problem by trying to develop the various other senses. Some of the common problems that are faced by the blind person are listed here.

Falls is one of the most common problems that are faced by blind people. If a survey of all the blind people is taken, it is sure that each and every blind person has had more than one fall. The reason behind this fact is that the person who is blind will not be able to see what is in front and is more prone to accidents.

Fractures are another complication that can occur in a person who is blind, because of the falls. A blind person may fall because of the barriers that are present. Other than this, the person may also move around which can cause the person to fall by tripping. Even people who are not completely blind and are only partially blind are prone to falls. This is because when the person walks in an area where there is limited lighting, it can cause the person to hit against barriers leading to falls.

The blind person also needs to be alert at all times and use other senses like the hearing sense to compensate for the lack of vision. If the person is not alert, then there can be problems like falls and injuries occurring. Many of the people who are blind develop their hearing sense to a higher level so that it helps them in preventing accidents and injuries that might occur otherwise.

Filed Under: General Tagged With:

The Importance of Appearances for Blind Teens

Parents of blind or partially sighted teens will be aware of a constant struggle for their offspring to be seen as one of the crowd. As parents, all that we want for our children is for them to feel confident and accepted. With the turmoil of the teenage years and the problems of popularity and peer pressure, this can be a hard enough task for teens who have it all going for them.

But for teens who are, in some way, different, the quest for confidence and acceptance can be one that is even harder. For this reason it is important that the parents of teens who are in some way vision impaired keep their finger on the pulse of teen culture and help their teens to integrate, if that is what their children want.

While we would all like to believe that appearances do not matter, it is an unfortunate truth that nevertheless is true  during those teen years. And, while parents should continue to be conscious of not placing too much importance on superficial qualities, it is important to maintain an awareness of the things that are important in the world of a teenager.

Buying for blind teens is an important part of helping them integrate into the world around them and parents should not fall into the trap of assuming that, because a teen cannot see the labels or logos attached to their clothes, that what they wear does not matter.

Blind teens may be more keen than their seeing counterparts to appear as one of the crowd, so don’t discount the idea of investing in big brand clothes or Philip Stein watches on their behalf. Asking a trusted friend along on shopping trips can help offer a contemporary perspective and determine peer acceptability of purchases.

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Filed Under: Advancements, General Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

From Braille to Electronic Cigs

The Braille system of writing is very fascinating. Born from a need for soldiers to communicate silently and in the dark during Napoleon’s campaign, and perfected by a blind child, Louis Braille, the system has provided a means for the blind to read using touch rather than sight. It may be long before our time of cell phones, PDAs, and electronic cigs, but this technological advancement was amazing for its time, when blind reading was basically running your hands across large embossed letters on a copper sheet.

Each character in Braille is separated into a group of six dots, called a cell. By rubbing your finger from left to right across these cells, you are able to ‘read’ the characters by feeling which dots are raised up into bumps and which ones are smooth. However, it can be considered not a perfect system because there are not very many combinations of six dots, and some of those combinations are not use-able because they feel very similar to other dots. For example, two dots in the left column could mean the letter ‘B’, the number ’2′, and the word ‘but’. A single dot can mean a capital letter is next, and A backwards L of dots means that the next set of cells is a number, and etc.

What’s also amazing about Braille is that it also uses sounds to communicate in the same way it uses letters. Just like texting today, you can make illegible sets of characters that don’t make any sense unless sounded out. Like ‘ur’ for texting, meaning ‘your’, you can spell out ‘cd’ in Braille to mean ‘could. Or ‘abv’ to mean ‘above’. While Braille was never meant to be a secret code of sorts, it helps the blind read quicker, as Braille sentences and paragraphs are much larger than ones in traditional text.

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Filed Under: Blindness, General, Support, Technology Tagged With: , ,

Printing Technology Making Braille Books More Affordable

Braille notice board

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Exciting New Developments in Braille Technology

For blind readers and writers of Braille, these are very exciting times. Improvements in modern technology are making unprecedented advances and opening new doors to the blind that have long been closed. This is true both with computer hardware as well as with new software. In the past, blind Braille users had to rely on a limited number of printing houses determining what was and what wasn’t worthy of being converted to braille. But with the explosion in computer technology, especially as it relates to braille, users are now blessed with a wide variety of options. It is true that some personal printers and Braille print programs are still expensive, there are now several low-cost options as well. If a blind user has a personal computer, a Braille printer, and conversion software, they are well-positioned to control the type of content they want to consume.

Printing Technology Making Braille Books More Affordable

For example, there are now several personal Braille printers that are narrower than previous versions, which leads to lower paper and printing costs. Another development is something called “paperless” Braille. This fascinating technology involves the use of a handheld device attached to a computer. This unit has a board with small pins on its face, and allows the blind person using it to feel Braille dots as the pins raise while they’re reading a text. There is also a process that prints Braille using a glue-like substance onto a glossy paper surface. These and other advances are all part of the new wave of improvements making life ever better for the blind.

New Advances in Braille Publishing

These improvements are not limited to the tools used to read and to write Braille. Even the language itself is being improved. For example, a blind physicist by the name of John Gardner has been working on a Braille system for writing math equations. It’s called Dots Plus, and uses existing Braille for numbers and letters but also employs math symbols in the same way that the sighted see them, but raised and magnified.

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Filed Under: Braille, General, Technology Tagged With: , , ,

Braille Books Require Unique Process to Create

POTSDAM, GERMANY - AUGUST 07: Ballot papers f...
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Braille Books Require Unique Process to Create

Once a book has been translated into Braille, whether that has been done by a transcriber or through computer technology, the next step is proofreading. If the book was transcribed, no additional steps are required before proofing is done. However, if the translation was done with a computer, then the text must first be printed out. This printout is then reviewed by someone trained in the editing and proofing process. They are looking for grammatical and other errors in order to correct them before the final printing process begins. Interestingly, both a blind and a sighted reader work together as proofreaders, allowing them to compare the original text with the version printed in Braille.

Next Step is to Create a Print Master

After the proofing process is completed, a master version is then produced. This is the version that will be used to cast the print version onto a zinc metal plate. A separate machine is employed in the stamping of the text onto the zinc plates. Each page of the text has a separate master plate, which is bowed in the center in order to fit onto the printing press’s rotating barrel.

Braille Book Printing Process

The zinc plates are then fitted onto the printing press and the press worker then runs the special paper used for Braille books into the press. Unlike a traditional printing press, there is no ink used on a Braille printing press. The letters are also embossed, allowing the impressions of each raised dot to transfer onto the special Braille paper. Once this is completed, the paper is removed from the press and moved to the finishing station before being bound into binders. This is another unique aspect of books printed for the blind. Traditional books are bound in some form of book cover, either hard or soft-back. But because books in Braille are on heavier paper and are often larger than traditional books, the pages must instead be placed in a binder of some kind. Books for the blind are truly unique in many ways.

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Filed Under: Braille, General, Technology Tagged With: , ,

How Braille Books Are Made

A Braille writer with similar functionality to...

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How Braille Books Are Made

The process of creating a book printed in Braille is a fascinating one. Because each Braille character is slightly different, great care must be taken in the printing process to achieve accuracy and precision so that words and phrases are printed properly. The sizes of a Braille books can vary, but the standard version is generally around 11 x11.5″. The paper used is also different than standard books. It must be thicker and heavier than standard paper is, since the blind user will be touching each page as they read. One paper often used is something called “swell paper.” This is a heat-sensitive paper that actually swells when it is printed on. Zinc is also an important component for printing books in Braille, since the text is first printed onto a plate made of zinc before being embossed onto the paper. Braille books are also bound differently than is a traditional book. Instead of a hard or soft-cover, they are instead bound in plastic three-ring binders.

Translation Process for Braille Books

With the exception of books written in Braille, the first step in publishing a book is to have it translated into Braille. There are typically one of three possible ways for this to be done. First, a typist may use a special six-key typing machine to convert a manuscript into Braille. Although more laborious and time-consuming than other options, Braille typists bring a high degree of professionalism and training to the translation process, leading in most cases to more accurate outcome. The other methods for translation both involve some form of technology. One is to feed English text into a computer scanner, which then translates it into Braille and outputs it accordingly. The other is to have the text which was originally stored or created on a computer in English then printed out in both Braille and other languages. The most significant and obvious advantage of these two methods is speed. Entire books can literally be converted into Braille in mere seconds. These are exciting times for readers of Braille.

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Filed Under: Braille, General Tagged With: ,

Many Benefits to the Blind From Learning Literary Braille

Braille on a box of tablets

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Literary Braille and Reading for Pleasure

One of the important considerations that should be made when deciding whether or not to learn Braille is to determine if you only need to read and write basic information like grocery lists, telephone numbers, and other simple lists. If this is the case, then alphabetic Braille or as it used to be called, Grade One Braille, will be adequate for your needs. This is the version of Braille that requires you to write out an entire word, letter by letter. For example, the word “dog” would need to have the separate letters “D-O-G” written out.

However, if you desire to read books, magazines, or newspapers in Braille, you’ll need to learn what is termed Literary or Grade Two Braille, also known as “contracted” braille. This is a form of braille that is condensed in order to allow more characters to be printed in less space. It uses only one cell to represent an entire word, unlike Alphabetic braille.

Many Benefits to the Blind From Learning Literary Braille

Most Braille users would opt for learning the alphabetic and literary versions of braille, for obvious reasons. Knowing only Alphabetic Braille would place a significant limit on a blind person’s ability to discover the world and to make their way through life. It’s important to remember, though, that learning the literary version will take significant time to study before one has achieved mastery. In many instances it may be a year or more before this is accomplished. It is also essential that the blind Braille reader have good sensitivity in their fingers, as the placement of dots on a page in a book, magazine, or newspaper will be much more condensed.

Decision to Learn Braille An Important One

Once you have determined which version of Braille you want to learn, the next step is to decide how you’ll go about learning it. It is recommended that a blind person first have an assessment done of their finger sensitivity to determine whether or not they’ll be able to discern the dot placement of the literary version.

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Filed Under: Advancements, Blindness, Braille, General, Support Tagged With: , , , ,

Supporting the Blind Starts Simply

A folded long cane. The long cane is the prima...

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The Blind Need Our Support First

For most people who don’t struggle with the everyday challenges associated with being either blind or sight-impaired, it is difficult if not impossible to fully empathize with those that are blind. As hard as one might attempt to imagine the challenges of living in a world of darkness, it is really not possible to fully imagine the struggles the blind face unless one is in fact blind himself. It is likely that if one were to ask the blind what they most want from people who can see, they would simply answer that they wish to be treated as people with the same goals, dreams and desires as anyone else. Rather than spending time feeling sorry for someone who can’t see, it is far better to discover how to become an advocate for them to achieve their full potential.

Supporting the Blind Starts Simply

There are a wide variety of ways to provide this support; they range from doing something as simple as getting educated about the challenges the blind face to petitioning government and business leaders to become more blind-aware and blind-friendly. One could also set aside concerns or anxieties about making connections with the blind and become friends with someone who deals with the challenges of being sight-impaired. Both parties would be better as a result of this kind of engagement. Blind people want most of all to be treated as equals to those who can see. They deserve the same treatment and respect that should be afforded to anyone, regardless of how they might be “different.” More particularly, the blind today need someone who believes in their causes, whether those causes involve learning and promoting the use of Braille, increasing access to employment and education, or advocating for changes in legislation. The best way to support the blind is do something. Getting started is often the best way to overcome fears or concerns about offending. It’s like learning Braille. You learn it one dot at a time. Eventually you’ll get it right. Everyone can begin somewhere to make a positive difference.

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Filed Under: Blindness, General, Support Tagged With: , ,
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