[Dtb-talk] NLS Digital Players

[Tim Gillett]

David wrote:

"NLS does not provide blank cartridges or thumb drives. 
They are in the business of providing books preloaded on cartridges
 - in the way that they have provided cassettes."


Yes it's easy to forget the whole purpose of the NLS larger cartridge housing
 is to make it easy for the Print handicapped to read books. 

One of the downsides of the miniaturisation of electronics has been its effect on the blind.

The compact cassette was still reasonably large enough for easy use by the blind.  Whereas
 on the modern flash card there is usually not enough room  for adequate braille or printed labelling
for example, let alone reliably inserting such small media into a player.
And what if the blind person drops a tiny memory card? How do they find it again?

Similarly players with tiny control buttons and tiny screens  make them almost impossible to use,
especially for the elderly blind.

I came across this many times with the blind here in WA when cassettes were the current format
 and here in WA. but clients had to find their own cassette player.
 The old "shoebox" cassette player with its large piano key operation was fairly easy for most blind to use.
But once it started to disappear from the market and was replaced by smaller, more fiddly Walkmans
the blind struggled to use these players.

I'm pleased to see the designers of the NLS player specified a largish cartridge 
even though it only contains a small memory stick inside. This is practical for the blind,
 however antiquated and "uncool" it might appear by sighted people's standards. 

Similarly it's pleasing in the NLS DTB to see other features carried over from the old TBC1 players
 such as internal speaker, rechargeable battery, variable speed control, automatic power down etc.

It's important we stay real and remember  the many blind people in their homes who have to use these devices.


Tim Gillett
Audio/Electronics Technician
Perth, Western Australia