[blindkid] [blkid] Notetker and Digital player questions

Sun Dec 21 18:00:07 UTC 2008

Carlton:

I will answer your second question first. Yes, the Victor Reader Stream can be used to read books from BookShare. You just download the DAISY or .brf file to the appropriate folder on the SD card that is used to store books and audio content on the Stream. If Anna Catherine is used to Eloquence on her computer using either WindowEyes or JAWS, she may get a shock when she first hears the text-to-speech engine on the Stream; as it comes from the box, the Stream uses ScanSoft's RealSpeak Samantha although the Tom and Daniel (this last with a British accent) are also available. These voices aren't as good as their equivalents on a PC. However, one gets used to the voice quickly and it works quite well although it is not ideal.

Additionally, you should be aware that the current version of BookShare isn't really fully DAISY-compliant so when a new version of the Stream software comes out, Humanware and other makers of DAISY-READERS often have a bit of tweaking to do to get the DAISY versions of the BookShare books to read properly with all their navigation features enabled. The .brf versions read fine, though.

The BrailleNote can read DAISY books such as those from BookShare purport to be. However, it cannot repeat CANNOT be used to read audio books from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) and Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D). Aside from the Stream, the only devices that can read at least NLS books are the Icon and the Braille Plus, the latter being an Icon-equivalent from the American Printing House for the Blind (APH). Neither of these two devices has a braille display; they are essentially a PDA with voice output. But the Stream is strictly audio only also. But it's so useful that well over ten thousand have been sold since it's introduction in 2007.

Now to the BrailleNote. It will not be able to read NLS books for the foreseeable future as NLS is deathly afraid of allowing a software-based reader that might enable clever code disassemblers to extract the audio content for pirated distribution.

The BrailleNote can be used as a braille display. Frankly (and many will quarrel with me on what I shall say next), I never found a braille display hooked to a computer all that useful. Why? One must take one's hands off the computer keyboard to read the braille. Having been taught touch-typing in the 1950's, I am loath to take my hands off the keyboard for ANY reason. But that's my eccentricity. The braille display is handy for checking spelling but a good screen-reader operator gets good at this on-the-fly also. Let the flame-throwers do their thing! (grin)

As for ease of use and similarity to a computer's menus, the PacMate is probably closer to a computer or PDA than is the BrailleNote in that it runs such applications as PocketWord, PocketInternetExplorer and other Windows-based programs. And the PacMate runs JAWS as a screen-reader. The drawbacks are two in my opinion: (1) if one wants a braille display, this is a separate piece of hardware that mates more-or-less seamlessly with the PacMate. Still, it's a separate piece of gear. (2) Although vast improvements have been made with the PacMate Omni, the unit's software is somewhat unstable; one must reset more often than I'm used to and although one doesn't lose data as often as was the case with the early PacMates, it's still a good idea to back up one's critical data often.

But then I've also heard that the BrailleNote isn't as stable as I'd like; one must reset it several times per day which is inexcusable in my estimation. But then I believe the software industry has forgotten what real stability is! I program mainframes at work and work-stations that run the VAX/VMS operating system and I have a work-station under my desk that has been "up" for over a year continuously. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, LINUX and Windows!

But I digress. The BrailleNote is a fine unit although, as I say, it also isn't as stable as I'd truly like. It's advantage is that many school systems know it. But to add wi-fi or wired LAN or other capabilities to the device, you'll have to purchase separate cards.

Not so with another device, available from www.gwmicro.com called the Braille Sense Plus B32. Yes, it has a braille keyboard but one can use a USB or blue tooth standard QWERTY keyboard. The voice is still Eloquence and the device has, like the BrailleNote, a 32 cell braille display. Unlike the BrailleNote, however, the Braille Sense Plus has built-in wi-fi, blue tooth and wired LAN connections. Like the BrailleNote, it has email and a web browser and a FM radio. the braille keyboard on the Braille Sense is MUCH quieter than that of the BrailleNote and has a great feel. It has a DAISY player so, I presume, can display BookShare books though I haven't tried this yet. One can stream audio from the Net as long as it's not Flash- or Real Audio-based. Generally, if you can play it on a PDA, you can play it on the Braille Sense. Like the BrailleNote, it records audio although I think the Stream does a better job.

Like Eric, I think you should seriously think about your QWERTY keyboard choice. When the Blazie "Type 'N Speak" note-taker came out (QWERTY input, voice output) Curtis Chong and I thought it was great as both of us typed faster than we could write braille with a braille keyboard. However, I have since changed my opinion. If Anna Catherine is going to use braille much, she should become fluent with a braille keyboard and I believe note-taking with a braille keyboard to be faster than with a QWERTY keyboard (and I can type 120 wpm or more). 
But my  braille-writing has gotten much better since I've used note-takers with a braille keyboard for braille-writing!

One final thing: both the BrailleNote and the Braille Sense Plus have GPS navigation available although it's an "extra" and this old-fashioned person truly isn't convinced that GPS is really all that useful although there was a rumor that one blind guy found his way out of New Orleans using a BrailleNote and GPS. But since I only heard this once, I've come to suspect that this story is apocryphal. To my mind, GPS maps aren't updated often enough to be truly useful. But that's my thing.

Oh yes: I realize you may be impecunious. But were I you, I'd try my darndest to buy the note-taker myself; forget the school district bureaucracy!

Hope this tome helps you.

Mike Freeman, President
National Federation of the Blind of Washington

P.S.. This was written in Grade 2 on the Braille Sense Plus. 

----- Original Message -----
From: "Carlton Anne Cook Walker" <attorneywalker at gmail.com>
To: Pibe-division at nfbnet.org, blindkid at nfbnet.org
Date: Sunday, Dec 21, 2008 5:34:59
Subject: [blkid] Notetker and Digital player questions

>
>
> Hi all,
> 
> DH and I are going to soon approach the school regarding a notetaker
> for Anna Catherine.  I have two major questions:
> 
> 
> 
> First, which notetaker should we request?
> We have already decided that a QWERTY keyboard would be better.  (Anna
> Catherine has some vision and uses a laptop with a QWERTY keyboard
> anyway.)
> >From what I understand from the teens to whom I've spoken, Braillenote
> is highly preferred over PacMate.  I understand that this is because
> it is easier to use and the keystrokes more directly correspond with
> computer-based commands.  Am I correct? Are there other reasons to
> choose the BrailleNote over the PacMate?
> Are there any other brands I should be looking at -- that have QWERTY
> entry?  I have not been able to find any.
> Also, can the notetaker be connected with a computer and serve as a
> refreshable braille display?  (If yes, it might make it easier to
> speed up the process of getting notetaker for Anna Catherine.  We're
> realy hoping to have one by the end of the school year -- yes, our
> District IS that slow -- so that she may explore it and become
> comfortable with its use over the summer.)
> 
> 
> 
> Second, I am also interested in the Victor Reader Stream for Anna Catherine.
> Can a notetaker be used as a Digital Reader?
> Can Bookshare files be easily uploaded onto the Victor?
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you so very much for your help on these matters.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wishing everyone a safe, joyful, and blessed holiday season,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Carlton
> 
> -- 
> Carlton Anne Cook Walker
> Anna's Mom
> 213 North First Street
> McConnellsburg, PA    17233
> Voice: 717-485-3383
> 
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