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New Technology Take Braille Into The New Century

July 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment
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.

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Different Assistive Technologies for the Visually Impaired People

May 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Assistive technologies are the useful tool for the impaired people and they can use it to improve their functionality. This technology is very useful for students especially in their classroom as if offers freedom for them. These assistive tools often have electronic devices, physical equipment, and computer software. There are different types of devices available to help the visually impaired people such as Braille technology, magnifiers, optical character recognition, and speech systems.

Imprimante-braille

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Braille technology is implemented in different equipment so that visually impaired people can use it in their routine work. This Braille technology can show more than 80 characters on the screen and it refreshes automatically. There are also Braille printers that transfer the information from system to paper. Another useful Braille device is the Braille note taker that comes with keyboard. The information from the note taker can be retrieved using speech synthesizer or transferred to laptop.

Magnifying technology includes all programs that are specially designed for computers and also video magnifiers. This magnifier can be used along with computer screen, television, and even with the video monitor. The programs for magnifier are loaded in the computer using specific software. Optical character recognition is one of the popular technologies used by the blind people. This technology scans words and characters from the document and saves in the PC or OCR’s memory. The stored information can be accessed using magnifiers or Braille technology.

Speech system is another technology that converts the words from the document into spoken language. This technology comes along with screen reader.

 

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MS and Blindness

March 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

MS (multiple sclerosis) can cause blindness and other vision problems.

What is MS?

MS is a disease that effects the spinal cord and brain functions.   MS patients can experience muscles issues, urinary problems, pain and fatigue.  Vision problems can also occur as a side effect of MS.  There is currently no cure for MS.  In addition to sight problems, other early warning signs of MS include tingling or numbness in the limbs, trouble with balance, intense feeling of weakness and the unintentional slurring of words.

Temporary Blindness

Some MS patients experience temporary blindness.  During an MS pain flare, some patients can go blind for a day or a few weeks and then have their vision suddenly return.  This is often caused by inflammation of the optic nerve.

Optic Neuritis

55% of people with MS will have some form of optic problems.  Due to chronic inflammation, MS patients with optic neuritis can experience blindness in one eye or blurry vision in both eyes.  Steroids can be used to help with the chronic inflammation and reduce the chance of optic neuritis.

Other Eye Problems

Some MS patients will never have issues with blindness, but may be effected by other vision issues.  Uncontrollable eye movement can be a symptom of MS.  There are medications available to control this symptom.  Double vision can both an MS patient when their eye muscles become too weak.  Double vision is usually a temporary problem during a bad MS pain flare and is not a permanent issue.  Doctors usually will let the double vision issue resolve itself.

Filed Under: Blindness, Technology Tagged With: , ,

From Braille to Electronic Cigs

November 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment

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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Web-Braille Important Tool for the Blind

October 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Reading Braille
Image via Wikipedia

Web-Braille Important Tool for the Blind

Web-Braille is an innovative web-based resource that gives the blind vital access to many thousands of magazines, books and even musical scores as produced by the NLS (National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped) division of the Library of Congress. It also includes an ever-expanding collection of locally transcribed titles produced by cooperating partner libraries. One must have a password in order to access the Web-Braille website, and the files offered are in an electronic form of contracted braille that requires that the user have special equipment in order to make it functional.

Web-Braille Content Provides Blind With New Vistas

Since 1992, close to 10,000 titles have been produced by the NLS for downloading from their website. These can also be read online at the Web-Braille library. These titles are added to the collection at the same time that printed braille-books are shipped to libraries serving the blind. Magazines are also available in the Web-Braille format. Generally they can found on the website within a week or less of when the printed-braille version is made available. For the blind who are musicians or composers, there’s also great news. Several thousand braille scores are currently found on the Web-Braille website, with new ones being added each month by the NLS. These scores cover the gamut of musical instruments and styles. Both instrumental and voice compositions are included. This is one of the most popular features on the NLS website. Piano compositions in particular are one of the more prevalent resources.

Access to Web-Braille Website Secure and Blind-friendly

In order to use the website, a user must work with their local coordinating library to set up their account. This includes an email address and user-created password. The library then finalizes the process of activating the blind person’s account. An email is sent once this process is completed. Upon admission to the website, the user will discover that the site is designed with their unique needs in mind. With access, the user can now request items to either be mailed or downloaded at no charge.

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Filed Under: Advancements, Braille, Support, Technology Tagged With: , , , ,

Digital Talking Books Opening New Worlds to the Blind

October 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment
An assortment of early boomboxes.

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Digital Talking Books Opening New Worlds to the Blind

For many years, the only format of talking books available to the blind were those recorded onto cassette tapes. This analog recording process has been a proven and affordable technology, but also one with limitations. These include degradation of audio quality over time, a time-consuming process for recording and transferring the data, and limited length of recording time. The great news is that in recent years, digital recording onto media cards, CDs, DVDs, and the Internet have eliminated most if not all of these analog tape obstacles. Digital offers a wide variety of improvements versus analog, including the ability to use a recording in a wide variety of mediums, greatly improved audio quality, and the flexibility of rapidly sharing the information recorded to many more blind users.

New Machines and Tools Created to Help Blind Readers

With the rise of digital as the predominant medium for blind readers, there has also been improvements in the machines used by the blind to read these new and improved books. For many years, there was only one device available for users to choose from for reading books. There are now many exciting features for blind users to choose from, including such things as being able to jump back and forth in a book, bookmarking, being able to vary the speed of the playback, and even keyword searches within the text. These and other advances are making for exciting and untapped worlds to be opened to the blind.

Braille Still Vital to the Blind

One may wonder if these advances have rendered the learning and usage of Braille as unimportant. Just the opposite is in fact the case. Both the machines and the media used to use these technologies commonly use Braille to provide instructions for usage and customization. Braille is also still considered a superior technology for reading books, especially for the reader looking for a greater catalog of material to read from. Users of Braille can be confident that it will be a vital part of the landscape for years to come.

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Filed Under: Advancements, Blindness, Technology Tagged With: , , ,

Printing Technology Making Braille Books More Affordable

October 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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

October 17, 2010 by Leave a Comment
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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Technology Opening New Doors to the Blind

October 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Imprimante-braille

Image via Wikipedia

Technology Opening New Doors to the Blind

For those who are blind or who suffer from low vision, this is an exciting time to be alive. Advances in technology are rapidly and permanently opening new doors that have long been closed to these individuals. In some ways this can be overwhelming to someone who has had to live with some degree of imposed limitation for at least some portion of their life. Now that these limitations are disappearing, a blind person must begin to view the world in a new and at first unfamiliar way. People that haven’t had to face the everyday struggle of living in a sightless world may sometimes lack empathy for these individuals, which is understandable. It is ultimately up to each blind or sight-impaired person to determine how they will employ technology in their lives.

Assistive or Adaptive Technology: What is it?

One of the more exciting developments in recent years has been the emergence and incremental improvement of assistive or adaptive technology. There are many different types and categories of tools available, including such things as electronic braille readers, digital book players, computer software and computer scanners, large print calculators, and others. These items can range in cost from a few dollars to a thousand dollars and up. The most basic definition as to what one of these devices are is this: Any tool or device that provides greater ability and freedom to someone who otherwise would lack these things. it is important to note that with many of these tools, first having a basic understanding of braille makes them much more effective and helpful.

Is Braille Still Important?

For this and many other reasons, being “conversant” in braille is as vital a skill for the blind in today’s world as it has ever been. Although there are some both within and outside the blind community that have advocated for a decrease in the value placed upon learning and using braille, the evidence is clear that this is still a critical capability to have in the world today.

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Braille in the 21st Century

October 8, 2010 by Leave a Comment
chessboard for blind players

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Braille in the 21st Century

The world is an exciting place to live in at the dawn of the 21st century. Technology is making life more favorable but also more complex. This is also true for people in the blind community. Technology allows the sight-impaired to do things that they’ve never been able to do before, but at the same time it has also created new challenges and anxieties unknown in earlier, simpler times. In order to thrive in such an environment, it is essential that a person have on hand a map and instructions on how to use it to find one’s way to freedom and joy.

Reading the Key to Success

Many life skills are important in a person’s journey to personal fulfillment and meaning. But of these, perhaps none is of greater value than that of being able to read and comprehend what one has read. This is equally true both for those who are blind and those who can see. Just as a person who can read is considered to be literate, so someone who is blind but that can use braille or other means to read should also be considered intelligent and capable of thought. This is true whether one is reading books for employment, education or merely entertainment. In each case, being able to read gives the blind person a window to the world that would otherwise be shut. Everyone is benefited when someone has access to enlightenment.

Books and Braille Are Keys

Every effort should therefore be made to ensure that the blind have unfettered access to the full range of books available to anyone else. Technology is increasingly making this possible, but as of today there are still countless volumes that are sealed shut to the sight-impaired. For the benefit of all, tireless effort should be exerted to achieve this important objective. Books in braille are the most powerful way for the blind to have access to an exciting new world.

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