[blindLaw] Braille Displays

Shannon Dillon shannonldillon at gmail.com
Sat Jan 18 22:04:20 UTC 2020


Hi Nikki,
I use Braille regularly in my job. I don't do litigation in my current
job but did previously. At that time, I used a notetaker to keep
questions I asked during hearings and to keep track of responses or
whatever other notes I took. I found it easier to track questions and
responses in the notetaker because I never had to listen to it; I
could just read the Braille display. Sometimes my laptop speech and
Braille get disconnected from each other and I had a lag trying to get
them linked back together. It's not a long lag but a lag that is
longer than I'm comfortable with when I'm actively talking or asking
questions to another person or people.

 Now I find that in meetings I have figured out ways to use my laptop
and Braille display. They can still get disconnected from each other
if I read the Braille for too long. But I'm just aware of the problem
and make sure not to let it happen. I still like having a notetaker,
though. It's just smaller and quicker than having the laptop and the
Braille display. One piece rather than two. And you can turn the
notetaker on a lot more quickly than you can the laptop.

However, I do still use my laptop and Braille display if I'm going to
have to refer to documents too complicated for the notetaker, like an
Excel document, or a table. As to which display I use with the laptop
or phone, I use a 40-cell Focus Braille display with the laptop only.
I haven't tried connecting it to my iPhone.

I do connect my notetaker - a Braille Sense U2 - to my iPhone. I also
have an old 14-cell Focus that I connect to my iPhone. The Braille
Sense is 32 cells and the Focus is 14 cells so the U2 is better in
some ways. It takes a little work to switch bbetween the notetaker and
the 14-cell Focus on my iPhone. It doesn't always happen that
smoothly. My recollection is that if I'm working with the notetaker,
then want to connect to the Focus 14, I have to go into Settings and
reconnect the Focus 14. I don't think I can have the Braille Sense and
the Focus 14 connected at the same time such that I can turn the
notetaker off, and immediately turn the Focus 14 on, and smoothly
transition from one display to the other.

I have not tried reading work documents on my phone. Just email.

There is a book on National Braille Press comparing braille displays.
If you go with the Focus Braille display, I suggest considering the
fifth generation because it is some kind of metal rather than plastic.
If you are like me and end up with a laptop, notetaker and Braille
display in your bag, I have found the metal display to be a little
more hardy.

I tried the Brailliant displays from Humanware initially then from
Baum. I don't know where they come from now. I love the Brailliants
but  my warning about those is that I had difficulty connecting them
to Freedom Scientific products. The Focus is easy to plug in and then
you change a setting in JAWS and you are good to go. With the
Brailliant, you have to install Brailliant software. The second
generation is easier to install than the first, but it's an extra step
you have to go through every time you install JAWS or update JAWS.  Or
it used to be. I haven't used the Brailliant in about four years so it
could have changed.

Hope some of this helps. Let me know if there is anything else I can
try to answer.

Shannon
On 1/13/20, Singh, Nandini via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> All,
>
> My Braille Note Apex may be near to expiring.  Depending on the diagnostic
> report from Humanware, I may be in the market for a refreshable Braille
> device.  I am thinking of purchasing a display and not a note taker, but I
> have a few questions since I have not spent much time with a Braille
> display:
>
> First, I have not gotten around to learning UEB, so I am wondering how
> displays support, if at all, the legacy American English literary code.  Is
> there a setting in the display firmware I can adjust, or is there a special
> driver I would need in my PC or iPhone to enable the older literary code?
>
> Do people tend to have one display for the computer and a smaller, portable
> one for the iPhone/iPad?  Do you instead use the same one for multiple
> devices, and if so, I assume you cycle useages sequentially?  Can you tell
> me how you negotiate the transition from proofing a document on your PC to
> reading shortly thereafter an email on your phone's gmail app, as a for
> instance?
>
> Criminal defense attorneys and litigators, can you generally please describe
> how and where you use a Braile display.  Note taking, depositions/witness
> interviews, oral arguments, settlement meetings, etc.  Let me know also the
> model of the display, the number of cells, and how you like its
> performance.
>
> Many thanks,
> Nikki
>
> Nandini Singh
>
> Covington & Burling LLP
> One CityCenter, 850 Tenth Street, NW
> Washington, DC 20001-4956
> T +1 202 662 5113 | nsingh at cov.com
> www.cov.com
>
> [cid:image001.jpg at 01D5C9F0.3C3C81B0]
>
>
>


-- 
SHANNON L. DILLON
Secretary and Legislative Coordinator
National Federation of the Blind
of California
The National Federation of the Blind is a community of members and
friends who believe in the hopes and dreams of the nation’s blind.
Every day we work together to help blind people live the lives they
want.
www.nfbcal.org




More information about the BlindLaw mailing list