1. Incorporating Handheld, Refreshable Braille Into Portable, Mainstream Access By: Larry L. Lewis, Jr. President & Founder Flying Blind, LLC http://www.flying-blind.com

2. Objectives: To provide a quick tour of the history of notetaking as we know it. To distinguish the difference between functional and technological literacy. To demonstrate a more mainstream approach to portable information management. To brainstorm as to how this approach might be integrated into your students’ educational experience.

3. Introduction: Braille Input / Refreshable Braille Output = A catalyst for fueling functional literacy in education settings. This literacy-based foundation serves as a springboard to competitive employment. Such technologies should be undergirded by task-driven methodologies that promote efficiency and independence. Such solutions should be compatible with applications used by sighted peers. Consideration must be given to today’s economic climate when investing in these technologies.

4. History of Notetakers They have existed long before the emergence of PDAs for sighted individuals. Proprietary hardware platform with Braille or QWERTY input with synthetic speech and/or refreshable Braille output. Proprietary operating systems and applications designed to efficiently complete tasks. Instant on/off access Excellent battery life

5. The Rise of the Personal Computer and PDAs The 1990s gave rise to the mainstream use of personal computers. Microsoft and Apple operating systems became the standards on which mainstream task completion has shifted. Mainstream hardware connectivity enable these computers to connect to peripheral devices. Mainstream handheld PDAs were developed to serve as “companion” devices to computers.

6. The Rise of the Personal Computer and PDAs (Continued…) In more recent years, computers have gotten much smaller. PDAs have evolved into cellular phones that serve as PDAs. Devices that are not quite netbooks nor cell phones rely on touch screens for access to their applications. So a shift in note taking technologies for the vision impaired is imperative.

7. Functional Literacy vs. Technological Literacy Functional literacy is best defined as the use of literacy skills such as reading and writing to complete specific tasks. Examples of functional literacy might be word processing, reading a book, performing a calculation, and answering questions pertinent to information that has been read. Technological Literacy is defined as using today’s mainstream applications to perform specific tasks. Using an e-mail client to e-mail an assignment, research information via a web browser, or accessing a spreadsheet are all tasks which require a degree of technological literacy. Often, both functional and technological literacy need to work in conjunction for a student to effectively compete in a predominantly sighted classroom or workplace.

8. A Modern Approach to Notetaking Products like the BrailleNote Apex offer a modern operating system and mainstream connections to other hardware peripherals. They also lay the groundwork for independent task completion when other sighted students are reading, writing and sharing print materials amongst themselves. While products like the BrailleNote and other notetaking options develop excellent functional literacy skills, they are not designed to access devices with other applications. This becomes problematic when the expectation for vision impaired students are marginalized compared to those of their sighted peers.

9. BraillePen: A Modular Alternative For Task Completion BraillePen is a portable 12-Cell Braille Input / Output device. It has no onboard applications. It connects via wireless, Bluetooth technology. Six Braille keys for Braille input, a space bar, and a joystick for five-way navigation. A shift and a control key to perform additional commands Panning buttons on either end of the Braille display to effortlessly read information. No Braille display on the BraillePen Slim. BraillePen is not designed to replace a notetaker but to access mainstream personal and handheld devices with other applications.

10. Bluetooth Considerations Bluetooth connectivity allows devices to communicate wirelessly with one another over short distances. BraillePen is a peripheral for desktop, personal, and handheld computers. If a computer does not have built-in Bluetooth access, a Bluetooth dongle must be used to enable this communication with the computer. The computer must find BraillePen via its “Bluetooth Manager” BraillePen must be “paired” with the computer for seamless, subsequent connections. This wireless communication allows for refreshable Braille output and Braille keyboard input.

11. BraillePen and Computers BraillePen may be connected to desktop, laptop, and netbook computers. Window-Eyes, System access, and Hal/SuperNova support the use of BraillePen as a Braille input/output device. While BraillePen is not designed to serve as a desktop Braille terminal for a computer, it is a portable alternative to access smaller computers such as netbooks. Referring to, and editing documents, e-mails, Power Point slides, and even web pages on a handheld Braille device should be incorporated into a vision impaired student’s learning experience when sighted students are expected to perform these tasks on portable laptops using devices such as mouse pointers to review and edit information.

12. The BraillePen and Mobile Devices BraillePen is an excellent complement to access applications on a cellular phone. Read and write text messages. Read and write e-mail. Connect the phone to your computer to synchronize tasks, notes, calendar appointments, and contacts. Surf the web using a mobile phone. Access GPS information using a mobile phone. MobileSpeak, Voiceover, and Talks Screenreaders support the use of BraillePen on hundreds of Mobile devices.

13. BraillePen and Touch Screen Devices The Apple Operating system relies on the use of a touch screen for many of its devices. Apple has had a longstanding presence within education. Voiceover is a built-in screenreader present in Apple products. Voiceover costs nothing to activate and supports BraillePen as an input/output device. BraillePen offers a palatable alternative to accessing a touchscreen, especially for text input. Many traditional notetaking commands are present within the Voiceover/BraillePen user interface.

14. Web Browsing On An Apple Device Setting up a connection to the internet is very intuitive. Safari Web Browser = Web Browsing made easy! Toolbar allows for effortlessly opening websites, bookmarking them, and moving back and forward through open web pages. Research information in the same manner as sighted peers without the drawbacks of proprietary web browsers.

15. Book Reading On Apple Devices Learning Ally (formally RFB&D) www.learningally.org serves as a resource for textbooks.www.learningally.org This organization has a rich history of providing services to print- impaired students from pre-school to post-graduate levels. Recently released application for the iPad to download and read books in a variety of Daisy formats.

16. Book Reading On Apple Devices (Continued…)

17. www.bookshare.org = user influence over an ever-growing collection of online books.www.bookshare.org Eligible members scan and upload books which are prepared for public online distribution. Recently released Read2Go Application provides Bookshare.org access on Apple Devices. Eligible print impaired readers may pay an activation fee and yearly subscription to participate in this initiative.

18. Portable Information Management On Apple Devices Portable Information Management = Creating, editing, and sharing text using specific applications. Designed for notetaking, word processing, and file management activities. Plaintext = Free application designed to provide text-based notetaking capabilities. Pages = A USD$9.99 application providing access to Microsoft Office Excel, PowerPoint, E-mail, and Word files. DropBox (www.dropbox.com) = Cloud-based file storage capabilities whereby PlainText, Pages, and other files can be stored and shared between both Apple and Microsoft computers, as well as with other users.www.dropbox.com

19. App Store Apple’s App Store allows for the searching, purchasing (when applicable) and downloading of new applications for your Apple device. This can be achieved on the Apple device or through the iTunes application on a PC. Simply connect the Apple device to the PC if you elect to install applications to your Apple device. Installations are seamless using either method of acquiring new applications.

20. Deaf-Blind Considerations BraillePen provides portable access to devices otherwise difficult to impossible for deaf-blind users to access. BraillePen can serve as a low-cost face to face communicator with devices such as iPad. Once the BraillePen is paired with most Apple and handheld mobile devices, they can be set up to “auto connect” with each other.

21. Conclusion BraillePen is not a replacement for a traditional Braille display. BraillePen is also not a replacement for a notetaker. It is a low cost alternative for connecting to a number of devices with mainstream applications. Cost for BraillePen = US$995 and cost for BraillePen Slim = US$299. Brainstorm activity as to how BraillePen might be used within your student’s educational experience: functional literacy verses technological literacy.