That's what amazes me. You'd have thought that in 30 years some or other company would have thought of a way to do it cheaper, or at least to do it. Seika so far has the cheapest braille displays, but nowhere near that unfortunately. I suppose the companies might try or bother more if more blind people could read braille and buy it, they could produce cheaper? On 5/21/14, martin wilsher <martinwilsher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > But getting a page of braille in a reffreshable form would be so bloody > expencive it would never be done. > > -----Original Message----- > From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of > Ari Damoulakis > Sent: 21 May 2014 13:53 > To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: [access-uk] Re: Does the digital age spell the end of Braille? - > News - Gadgets and Tech - The Independent > > Sighted people love paper so much that they're working on ink that can > re-write to the paper, i.e finished using something, just remove the ink and > reuse the paper. There is also some research that suggested that sighted > people who hand-write things remember and recall more of what they wrote > than if they did it on a computer or tablet. Braille is beautiful and > wonderful and it would be the most awful thing if paper braille disappeared. > To get braille into the digital age we need multi-line braille displays, one > tiny line when you are trying to find something in a huge document just > doesn't cut the mustard and is awful because you can't skim read downwards > and look for things fast. > Besides, if braille disappeared, I think a child growing up totally blind > from birth would never then really be able to really picture words or > imagine letters effectively in their heads like what a braille user can. Bet > their reading and spelling skills wouldn't be as good as a braille user. > Ari > > On 5/21/14, Clive.Lever@xxxxxxxxxxx <Clive.Lever@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> Hello Angel, >> >> So no homer, John Milton or Aldous Huxley either...and before the form >> becomes extinct, I'm going to use a subjunctive: Would that I were >> joking about some blind people beginning to sound like their >> synthesisers! >> >> Best, >> Clive >> >> >> >> Clive Lever >> Diversity and Equality Officer >> Kent County Council >> >> Office: 01622 221163 >> Email: clive.lever@xxxxxxxxxxx >> >> >> Kent County Council >> Room G37 >> Sessions House >> Maidstone, Kent. >> ME14 1XQ >> >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On >> Behalf Of Angel >> Sent: 21 May 2014 13:04 >> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Does the digital age spell the end of >> Braille? - News - Gadgets and Tech - The Independent >> >> You are joking surely? Blind people sounding like synthesizers? How >> sad a >> >> situation is it if blind people are so isolated. When I read about >> the possibility of Braille being replaced with electronic media, I >> remember in the 80's when there was talk of a paperless office. Did >> that occur? It did >> >> not. Why was this I ask? It was because sighted people wouldn't >> stand for >> >> it, and some 30 or so years later we still have paper documents. If >> we blind people allow Braille to be replaced, we will be a sadder and >> a sorrier >> >> lot for it. Because our children will be considerably less well >> educated than we blind students were in past generations. When we >> could physically read. I think a lot of this talk about Braille being >> replaced is done by sighted people who feel the code is too hard to >> learn, and are trying to make things easier for teachers of the blind >> and other sighted professionals. Especially with the idea we should >> be integrated with sighted students from the moment we begin our >> careers as students. Not having to worry over teaching or learning >> the code would make our education >> >> a good deal easier for the sighted folk who teach us blind students. >> Who depend on Braille translating programs to write Braille. In the >> 1940's and >> >> 50's sighted teachers of the blind learned to read Braille with their >> fingers. As did we. I was taught by such. The idea being, they >> would be better teachers of us if they immersed themselves entirely in >> the experience. This total emersion is not experienced by today's >> modern teachers of the blind . Sighted people generally, expect us >> blind people to >> >> be less capable in so many ways. So, if our education and literacy >> suffers >> >> should Braille be replaced by electronic medium they won't even >> understand >> >> we lack. A condition similar to the deterioration by sighted children >> in the use of the language. They lack the understanding of its depth >> and its richness. In future, there will be no Shaws, or Shakespeares. >> Not because >> >> they lack the life experiences of either; but, because, blind and >> sighted children alike, won't have vocabularies exceeding 50 words. >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: <Clive.Lever@xxxxxxxxxxx> >> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> >> Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2014 6:19 AM >> Subject: [access-uk] Re: Does the digital age spell the end of >> Braille? - News - Gadgets and Tech - The Independent >> >> >>> Hello all, >>> >>> I believe that if you were born with no useful reading vision, or >>> have had >>> >>> no useful reading vision since early childhood, it is dangerous to >>> assume >>> >>> that Braille can ever be properly replaced by other media. Screen >>> enlargement is of no early use to someone with no sight at all; >>> audiobooks >>> >>> and computer speech technology allow a blind person to be read to by >>> a machine. They don't allow a blind person to read, so the point >>> about the importance of acquiring literacy skills is well made. You >>> can read all the >>> >>> audio books you like on daisy players, Kindles and the like, without >>> learning how to write, spell, punctuate, capitalise and so on. You >>> can do >>> >>> some of this with computer technology, but the process is rather like >>> travelling from Land's End to John o' Groats at the speed of a snail >>> - it's logically possible to do it but life's too short to make the >>> attempt >>> >>> worthwhile. There are other dangers inherent in expecting blind >>> people do >>> >>> be educated entirely through computer speech outp ut. I've heard >>> reports that some young blind people are beginning to sound >>> >>> like their synthesisers, because they are the voices they hear more >>> than any other. >>> >>> Best regards, >>> Clive >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Clive Lever >>> Diversity and Equality Officer >>> Kent County Council >>> >>> Office: 01622 221163 >>> Email: clive.lever@xxxxxxxxxxx >>> >>> >>> Kent County Council >>> Room G37 >>> Sessions House >>> Maidstone, Kent. >>> ME14 1XQ >>> >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On >>> Behalf Of Gordon Keen >>> Sent: 21 May 2014 10:52 >>> To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >>> Subject: [access-uk] Does the digital age spell the end of Braille? - >>> News - Gadgets and Tech - The Independent >>> >>> >>> http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/does-th >>> e-digital-age-spell-the-end-of-braille-9405836.html >>> >>> Does the digital age spell the end of Braille? >>> >>> It took more than a century for Braille to be established as the >>> English reading system for the blind after an acrimonious and lengthy >>> dispute dubbed the "War of the Dots". >>> >>> Now it faces another battle as the rise of digital technology means >>> its importance to blind people is diminishing. It might even fall >>> into disuse >>> >>> altogether, according to the curator of a new exhibition. >>> >>> "Braille is embattled. The biggest threat is computer technology, >>> which makes it much easier not to have to learn it," said Matthew >>> Rubery, from Queen University of London. >>> >>> "A lot of people fear Braille won't survive because it will be read >>> by so >>> >>> few people. The use has declined and there are concerns about funding >>> to keep it going." >>> >>> Dr Rubery, with Birkbeck University's Heather Tilley, is curating the >>> exhibition How We Read: A Sensory History of Books for Blind People. >>> The exhibition, which opens in November in London, will introduce the >>> development of alternative ways of reading over the past two centuries. >>> >>> These include the development of Braille and its embossed-print >>> rivals, talking-book records, speech-synthesisers and systems that >>> magnify text on >>> >>> computer screens. >>> >>> Many of the devices have never been displayed. Dr Rubery said it was >>> an opportunity "to explore this significant but largely neglected >>> aspect of the nation's literacy heritage". >>> >>> A series of competing systems emerged in the 19th century to help >>> blind people read. Braille was a system published in 1829 by the >>> Frenchman Louis >>> >>> Braille. Among its rivals were the embossed pages published by >>> William Moon. >>> >>> About 30,000 people use braille in some form today. About 6,000 of >>> these are heavy users, according to the Royal National Institute of >>> Blind People >>> >>> (RNIB). >>> >>> But it faces threats from advances in low-vision technology, the >>> greater availability of recorded materials and reading machines. The >>> RNIB revealed >>> >>> fewer people are using its Braille library. Steve Tyler, head of >>> planning >>> >>> at the RNIB, said the body was worried about the decline of Braille, >>> but >>> >>> that it was putting more resources into teaching products and >>> electronic >>> >>> Braille. >>> >>> He said: "We do see threats to the system but it is still at the >>> heart of >>> >>> what we do because of its literacy and educational value." >>> >>> The exhibition will also chart the development of talking books for >>> the blind, first provided for veterans blinded in the First World War. >>> >>> Dr Rubery said: "Ever since Edison invented the phonograph in 1878, >>> people >>> >>> have been listening to spoken- word recordings. But the first >>> full-length >>> >>> recordings were made for blind people in the 1930s. Before, the >>> records only allowed a few minutes." >>> >>> Among the exhibits is what is believed to be the oldest surviving >>> talking-book record, from 1935 - the BBC announcer Anthony McDonald >>> reading Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. >>> >>> "Blind people started listening to long-playing records 15 years >>> before anyone else," Dr Rubery said. The first spoken-word records >>> released were >>> >>> the Bible and excerpts from Shakespeare. >>> >>> The first popular novels were The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha >>> Christie and Joseph Conrad's Typhoon. >>> >>> Three blind types: Rival systems >>> >>> Braille >>> >>> Louis Braille invented his system at the age of 15, taken from a code >>> invented to send military messages at night. He published it in 1829; >>> it was established as the English system of choice in 1932. >>> >>> Boston Line Type >>> >>> Devised by Samuel Gridley Howe, founder of the New England School for >>> the >>> >>> Blind, it was an embossed, simplified Roman alphabet. The first book >>> using >>> >>> the system was published in 1834. >>> >>> Moon >>> >>> After losing much of his sight from scarlet fever as a child, William >>> Moon >>> >>> developed a system of raised-print letters, which he published in >>> 1845. It >>> >>> is still available in the UK and can be generated with computer >>> software. >>> >>> >>> ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- >>> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] >>> ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: >>> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >>> ** and in the Subject line type >>> ** unsubscribe >>> ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the >>> ** immediately-following link:- >>> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] >>> ** or send a message, to >>> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq >>> >>> ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- >>> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] >>> ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: >>> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >>> ** and in the Subject line type >>> ** unsubscribe >>> ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the >>> ** immediately-following link:- >>> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] >>> ** or send a message, to >>> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq >>> >> >> ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- >> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] >> ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: >> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >> ** and in the Subject line type >> ** unsubscribe >> ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the >> ** immediately-following link:- >> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] >> ** or send a message, to >> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq >> >> ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- >> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] >> ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: >> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >> ** and in the Subject line type >> ** unsubscribe >> ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the >> ** immediately-following link:- >> ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] >> ** or send a message, to >> ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq >> >> > ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- > ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] > ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: > ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > ** and in the Subject line type > ** unsubscribe > ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the > ** immediately-following link:- > ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] > ** or send a message, to > ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq > > ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- > ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] > ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: > ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > ** and in the Subject line type > ** unsubscribe > ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the > ** immediately-following link:- > ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] > ** or send a message, to > ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq > > ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq