On 2/23/12, Wahid Raza <wahid...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi all, > Folks: > hope all are doing fine > pasting below a intrusting article, which get from another list. > Regards > Wahid > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > Braille comes unbound from the book: how technology can stop > a literary crisis > > Apple is at the vanguard of a push behind technology that's > helping old-fashioned Braille replace text-to-speech audio > for the blind - and it couldn't have come at a more critical > time > > By Saabira Chaudhuri > guardian.co.uk > 14 February 2012 > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/feb/14/technology-brings-braille-back > -apple > > On a lazy Sunday afternoon, Chancey Fleet reads the menu of > Bombay Garden to four friends gathered at the back of the > Chelsea-based Indian restaurant in New York City. > > Although she is reading aloud, there are no menus on the > table. They aren't necessary, because Fleet is blind. > > Instead, she reads using a Braille display that sits > unobtrusively on her lap and connects to her iPhone via > Bluetooth, electronically converting the onscreen text into > different combinations of pins. She reads by gently but > firmly running her fingers over the pins with her left hand > while navigating the phone with her right. > > "The iPhone is the official phone of blindness," she told the > Guardian. > > Until recently, technology, especially that which converts > text to audio, has been hastening the demise of Braille, > which educators say is a bad thing. Students who can read > Braille tend on average to acquire higher literacy rates and > fare better professionally later on. But Apple's push into > the field - coupled with increasingly affordable Braille > displays - has the potential to bring Braille back in a big > way. > > Fleet's iPhone has a built-in screen reader called VoiceOver > that works with all native applications. It tells Fleet what > her finger is touching, allowing her to download the > restaurant menu and read it, access her email, and do > anything else she needs to with the phone, either by > converting text into Braille on the separate display or by > reading out loud to her. (Here's a video of the process at > work.) > > Fleet also uses her display to type, rather than navigate > with her iPhone or computer keyboard. It has a spacebar and > with eight thumb-sized keys - one that works as a backspace > key, another as an enter key, and the remainder that function > as the six dot positions that comprise a Braille character. > > When Apple released the first accessible iPhone in 2009, "it > took the blind community by storm," said Fleet. "We didn't > know, nobody knew, that Apple was planning an accessible > device. The device went from being an infuriating brick to a > fluid, usable, opportunity-levelling device in one > iteration." > > Apple has shown that "devices aren't inaccessible because > they have to be, but because companies made them with a lack > of imagination," said Fleet. "Apple proved that a blind > person could use an interface that didn't have physical > buttons." > > Anne Taylor, director of access technology for the National > Federation of the Blind, agrees. > > "Apple has set the bar very high," she said. "No other mobile > OS provider, such as Google or Microsoft, has made Braille > available on their mobile platform." > > Apple's iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and third generation iPod > Touch already support more than 30 Bluetooth wireless Braille > displays. And the company's recent push into digital > textbooks could greatly reduce the time it takes for Braille > textbooks to be available to students, not to mention reduce > their cost and size: a single print textbook must be > transformed into several volumes of Braille. > > "Ebooks can be a game changer if they're properly designed > because it would allow us to get access to the same books at > the same time at the same price as everyone else," said > Christopher Danielsen, spokesman for the NFB. "Publishers and > manufacturers have to ensure they are designed to be > accessible to work with braille displays. That's what Apple > has done. Apple is not perfect but they're way, way ahead of > everybody else in this area." > > The benefits of Braille Apple's accessibility efforts come at > a pivotal time. For decades now, the number of Braille users > has been on the decline. Data from the American Printing > House for the Blind's annual registry of legally blind > students shows that in 1963, 51% of legally blind children in > public and residential schools used Braille as their primary > reading medium. In 2007 this number fell to just 10%, while > in 2011 it stood at under 9%. > > While there are many reasons for the decline of Braille, > technology that converts text to speech has been identified > as a major factor. In a nationwide sample of 1,663 teachers > of visually impaired and blind students conducted in the > early 1990s, 40% chose reliance on technology as a reason > behind Braille's decline. > > "When we experienced the tech boom in the nineties, I was led > to believe speech was the way forward, that Braille was > becoming obsolete," said William O'Donnell, a Manhattan-based > student who has been blind since birth. > > But learning or reading using Braille - rather than audio - > has distinct advantages, say educators. > > "There's this tremendous importance to seeing the way print > looks on a page, what punctuation does and looks like in a > sentence," said Catherine Mendez, who works as a kindergarten > teacher at Public School 69 in the Bronx. "Braille in the > context of early literacy is huge. If we can get these > devices into the hands of kids early we can bolster their > understanding in a way speech can't do." > > There are professional benefits to learning Braille too. A > survey conducted by Louisiana Tech University's Professional > Development and Research Institute on Blindness found that > people with sight disabilities who learn to read through > Braille have a much higher chance of finding a job, even more > than those who read large print. > > And once you get that job Braille might help you keep it. "In > business meetings it's more unobtrusive to use Braille. If I > want to multitask, headphones are rude, but Braille is > acceptable," said Fleet. She uses Braille when writing formal > letters or papers, or preparing notes for a public speech or > presentation. > > A 'literacy crisis' Still, for now Braille displays can only > show one line of Braille at a time and can cost between > $3,000 and $15,000 - depending on the number of characters > they display at a time - which is prohibitively expensive for > some. "For me it was not practical to continue to use > Braille," said Mendez, who does not own a Braille display. > > How the cost will come down is a problem that scientists are > working to solve. Dr Peichun Yung, a postdoctoral research > associate at the electrical and computer engineering > department of North Carolina State University, who lost his > own eyesight in an accident, has been working on a device > that would raise dots that by using a hydraulic and latching > mechanism made of an electroactive polymer, which is both > cheaper and more resilient than the prevailing technology. > > "There is a Braille literacy crisis right now," said Yung. > "Literacy is the foundation for having a job and living an > independent life. For reading every day, you cannot just rely > on speech." Nihal Erkan. For those who own both an iPhone or > laptop and a Braille display, having to choose between audio > and Braille isn't necessary. Nowadays, the two go hand in > hand - literally. Many of the technologies that convert text > to speech also convert it into a form that can be read on a > refreshable Braille display, making Braille far more > accessible for those who own both devices. > > "Braille has a versatility and a fluidity that it has never > had before," said Fleet. While she recalls owning a pocket > dictionary in seventh grade that took up "eight huge > volumes," now "Braille has come unbound from the book". > > "Braille is portable, searchable, downloadable. You can > convert print to Braille yourself," she said. "You can go to > a library or use Bookshare, which is free for students, and > if you harness it, Braille is better than it's > > ___________________________________________ > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > >
Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
