[macvoiceover] OT: Bringing Back an Apple Past Experiment--Relevant to Today's Braille Literacy

From: Keith Reedy <wa9dro@xxxxxxxxx>
To: macvoiceover@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 2010 13:19:42 -0500
Richie,

I am so, so, glad that you wrote this and that you sent me a copy! You have 
made my month! I have been after Apple for quite some time to help us to find a 
way to print braille with the MAC.  If you know of some one els who would be 
willing to write to Apple about this it would be wonderful! We really need this!

I am going to send this to the list, I hope you don't mind.

Thank you my friend.

Keith Reedy
On Jan 5, 2010, at 11:40 AM, Richie Gardenhire wrote:

> Hi Keith, I'm forwarding this message to you, although it's not necessarily 
> VoiceOver related, but it may affect how we could utilize VoiceOver.  I wrote 
> to accessibility@xxxxxxxxx, with a suggestion that coincides with Braille 
> Literacy Week.  The text is as follows:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Richie Gardenhire <rhire1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: January 5, 2010 7:33:49 AM AKST
> To: Accessibility <accessibility@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Bringing Back an Apple Past Experiment--Relevant to Today's Braille 
> Literacy
> 
> To Whom This May Concern:  My name is Richie, a long-time user of Mac and 
> Apple products.  In the 1980's, Apple tried an experiment, where a dot matrix 
> printer was used, in conjunction with Apple software, to emboss braille, 
> using an ordinary printer, which could be purchased off the shelf by any 
> consumer, blind or sighted.  Unfortunately, at the time of the experiment, 
> the idea didn't catch on and Apple discontinued the production of this 
> software and printers for it.  I bring this up because, this week is National 
> Braille Literacy Week, in commemoration of Louis Braille, for whom this 
> medium for the blind was named.  As a fan of Apple products, it is my hope 
> that Apple's marketing team will look to its past and resurrect this software 
> and hardware and reconsider marketing it for use by blind and 
> visually-impaired Mac users.  Even though the quality of braille was of 
> average quality, it helped to bring braille reading back into the homes of 
> Mac users, such as myself.  I had one of these printers, and was disappointed 
> when Apple discontinued production of these printers.  With the high cost of 
> braille embossers, it is my hope that Apple, and the market strategists, will 
> bring back this revolutionary product and with VoiceOver's ability to 
> translate braille from printed text on the screen to braille displays, take 
> it a step further and design a printer that can produce fairly good-quality 
> braille, on a printer that can be purchased off the shelf at local Mac stores 
> throughout the United States and around the world.  There are many of us who 
> still read braille, despite the decline of braille education in our schools.  
> This is one way we can bring braille literacy into the forefront.  Thanks for 
> your time and patience.   Sincerely, Richard (Richie) Gardenhire, Anchorage, 
> Alaska.
> 

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[macvoiceover] OT: Bringing Back an Apple Past Experiment--Relevant to Today's Braille Literacy

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