Hello Chris:
If you are an avid Braille reader, the Braille notetakers DO HAVE THEIR
place! I prefer reading books in Braille as opposed to listening to a
recorded book. This is what I do when I am on the bus to work, when at a
Bible study in Church, when flying in a plane for longer than halfway across
the globe.
The Humanware products I have are comatose presently, but I do have the
BrailleSensePlus which serves me well until I can figure out a way to
schedule more surgeries for them.
The BrailleSensePlus DOES SUPPORT PDF formatted documents if they are
correctly tagged and this is the same case for screen readers. The
BrailleSensePlus WILL NOT READ scanned PDF; screen readers won't do it
either unless such documents have been passed through an OCR program.
Would I like to see the Braille notetakers keep pace with today's
technology? Absolutely, particularly with respect to surfing the Internet.
With my BraillesensePlus, when I visit some sites, I get this message:
"Please upgrade your browser. Internet Explorer 6 is NO LONGER supported."
I'd like to see the browser upgraded to at least Internet Explorer 8 so I
can get work done on some of the websites that NO LONGER support IE6.
Whilst it is true that one could connect a STAND-ALONE Braille display to
the computer and thereby access Braille that way, such Braille displays DO
NOT truly perform the same functions as Braille notetakers which one can
carry around for all purpose usage.
No matter how careful one might be, accidents can and do occur. If I were
to lose my smartphone for example, paring a Braille display with it and
using it over the Internet does become impossible for a prolonged period.
This is NOT THE CASE with a Braille notetaker as Internet access of some
kind, even though limited, is already built in. Using a stand-alone Braille
display may tether an individual to the computer and or smartphone on a
regular basis, whereas Braille notetakers do provide quite a bit of freedom.
For me, I prefer lugging around one or two pieces of equipment, not three or
more and this is where a Braille notetaker outshines all other options
available to me.
Of course, we must never forget that Braille notetakers ARE NOT THE
EXCLUSIVE PRESERVE of the blind; how about individuals who are deaf-blind?
Braille notetakers serve a useful purpose for them just as they do for me.
Sincerely,
Olusegun
Denver, Colorado
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