[blindkid] Question: Braille Displays or Paper Braille for Increased Reading Speed?

[Arielle Silverman]

Excellent question. It would be an interesting and timely question for
Braille researchers to tackle. I don't know the answer. I grew up
reading tons of hard-copy Braille and started using refreshable
Braille notetakers for writing in seventh grade, but still did most of
my textbook and pleasure reading in hard copy until I was in grad
school. I can read about 300 words per minute in contracted Braille on
paper (about 200 wpm in uncontracted Braille). My hunch is that I
would be slower on a refreshable device, at least with my
RefreshaBraille since I have to take a moment to move my right hand up
and press the advance button after each line. I suppose a key factor
is whether the device auto-scrolls and how easy it is to control the
scroll rate. I never liked auto-scrolling much because sometimes my
reading rate varies as I go through a piece of reading material. I
would think manual scrolling would slow people down a little bit. But
if you're auto-scrolling at an appropriate rate, then the advantages
Richard mentioned might promote faster speed. I definitely think the
Braille display is better practice than none at all, and would
definitely build fluency even if it doesn't build speed per se as much
as hard copy would. In the end, fluency is really the main goal to be
achieved and speed is just one aspect of fluency. I also think Braille
notetakers are great for building Braille writing skills since they
are much more convenient and portable than manual Brailling devices
that require lots of paper and such.

Arielle

On 7/16/13, Anjelina Cruz <anjelinac26 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Allison,
> Thanks for posting this question! This is something I have also
> pondered. Since I grew up reading mostly hard-copy Braille until
> receiving a Braille Lite in junior High, making the transition to
> primarily reading with a display has taken some effort. While it may
> be psychological, I believe I can read faster reading paper Braille.
> This has prompted me to challenge myself to read books only with my
> BrailleNote's display.
> This may be a silly question: Do students still receive their books in
> hard copy Braille? Or is there a trend toward reading books on
> Notetakers?
> I have enjoyed reading and learning more about how Braille, no matter
> its format,  is positively impacting childrens lives.
>
> On 7/16/13, Richard Holloway <rholloway at gopbc.org> wrote:
>> I would suspect the opposite is true. A braille display has the same
>> "spacing" between every line. (no space, you just return left) so you
>> never
>> loose track of the next line and you don't have to really find it with
>> your
>> left hand. Some readers like the shorter travel of a 20 character
>> display,
>> so much so that some wider displays will let you limit the width of the
>> display to reduce the area you have to travel.
>>
>> I know some readers who prefer the narrow displays. Our daughter much
>> prefer
>> the wider one. Books are however they are; no control.
>>
>> Also, there are no pages to turn, no additional volumes to access to
>> change
>> parts of book or even whole books. Some displays allow you to change the
>> dot
>> height, and there are never issues with ghosted text from old compressed
>> pages. Pages don't get torn and the comb binding never lets pages fall
>> out
>> and get lost or reassembled incorrectly.
>>
>> I can't speak for others, but I'm certain my daughter, a fast braille
>> reader
>> herself, is much faster with a braille display than with braille on
>> paper.
>> Surely speed on either medium would increase with use over time however.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Jul 16, 2013, at 3:29 PM, Allison Hilliker wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I had a question that came to my mind due in part to the fascinating
>>> Braille discussion we've had on this list lately. Do you know if Braille
>>> format has any impact on Braille reading speeds and fluency? In other
>>> words, is one more likely to increase their reading speed by using
>>> hardcopy Braille as opposed to a Braille display? Or does Braille
>>> reading
>>> speed simply increase with practice regardless of how one gets their
>>> Braille? Are your kids/students increasing reading speeds through their
>>> displays or do they still use hardcopy a lot when learning?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I ask because an NFB member who is also a Braille instructor once told
>>> me
>>> that It is harder to increase reading speed using a Braille display than
>>> it is using paper Braille. Does anyone know if this is true?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Allison
>>>
>>>
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>>
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>
>
> --
> Anjelina
>
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