[blindkid] apple netbooks

[Jaquiss, Robert]

Hello Holly:

     One very good reason for having a braille display is that it helps with formatting and spelling. For example, pair, pare and pear all sound alike as do to, too and two. In the past, braille displays were not as common not because they didn't work, but rather because speech was cheaper. The same argument was made for using lots of recorded books instead of braille books. The recorded books were cheaper and teaching a person to read with a talking book was easier than teaching a person to read with braille. The result is that the literacy rate for the blind has fallen. Dr. Ryles did a study, and 90 percent of the employed blind were literate. Hope this makes sense.

Regards,

Robert


Robert Jaquiss
Access Technology Specialist
National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute
200 E. Wells Street at Jernigan Place
Baltimore, MD 21230
Phone: (410) 659-9314, Ext.2422
Email: rjaquiss at nfb.org