RE: the Personal Computer was the greatest thing ever invented for the Blind
- From: "Lisle, Ted (CHFS DMS)" <Ted.Lisle@xxxxxx>
- To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:40:10 -0400
Absolutely. I can glean loads of useful information from a PC screen,
but I'm literate. Being unable to read print is a great inconvenience,
being unable to read is a tragedy!
Ted
From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Tom Lange
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 12:28 PM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: the Personal Computer was the greatest thing ever invented
for the Blind
Hi,
I've used Optacons since 1978, when I was hired by IBM as a programmer
trainee. The Optacon was the only way that I could read my 3270 display
terminal at the time; the Talking Terminal wouldn't read the APL
characters that I used to write code. I agree with the statement that
the Optacon really helped me to see how things are laid out both on
paper and on screen, which is a huge help.
While screen readers have been a godsend, I have definitely noticed a
decline in blind people's ability to spell the written word, and I blame
this on the de-emphasis on Braille in our educational system. It
appalls me that only 10 percent of blind people in the U.S. read
Braille, and, if it were up to me, I would make Braille education
mandatory, unless it could be demonstrated that a student has a physical
limitation that prevents him/her from reading Braille. 90 percent
Braille illiteracy is, to my mind, nothing short of obscene. You can
talk about lack of manpower to properly teach it, lack of funding, et
cetera et cetera, but what that says to me is that there's a callous
disregard by the government for the literacy of blind people in this
country, and that makes me furious. Surely I can't be the only one who
feels this way.
Tom
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