On 8/14/12, Phen Varghese <phenvargh...@gmail.com> wrote: > Why is this mail send with a different subjectline and a different content? > > > On 8/14/12, faiz hussain <faiz...@gmail.com> wrote: >> 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 >> >> > > > 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 > >
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