[nabs-l] ipad verses blindness products

Chris Nusbaum dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com
Tue Dec 6 01:13:18 UTC 2011 

Hi Ashley,

Yes, that's what I think too.  A lot of blind people have learned 
and are successful with the touch screen alone, even without a 
Braille display, but just using the VoiceOver gestures.  But it 
has always seemed a little tedious to me, especially typing on 
the touch screen.  By the way, I forwarded an email to all the 
lists last night with the link to an article which lists the 
Voiceover gestures and commands, for anyone interested.  To the 
best of my knowledge, you can hook any standard Braille display 
that has bluetooth capability to any IOS device.  But just to be 
sure, you might want to check out apple.com/accessibility to 
learn what Braille displays are supported.  Another cool feature 
of IOS and Braille displays is that you can hook up any notetaker 
with bluetooth capabilities to any IOS device.  You can then use 
the notetaker as a Braille display for the iDevice and as a 
keyboard for it.  In other words, you can do everything on your 
iDevice using the keyboard on your notetaker.  I don't know how 
to do it with the BrailleSense or PacMate, but there is a good 
podcast on pairing IOS devices with the BrailleNote and using the 
BrailleNote as a keyboard and Braille display for the IOS devices 
on braillenoteusers.info/media.  Hope this helps!

Chris

"The real problem of blindness is not the loss of eyesight.  The 
real problem is the misunderstanding and lack of education that 
exists.  If a blind person has the proper training and 
opportunity, blindness can be reduced to a mere physical 
nuisance."
-- Kenneth Jernigan (President, National Federation of the Blind, 
1968-1986

 The I C.A.N.  Foundation helps blind and visually impaired youth 
in Maryland say "I can," by empowering them through providing 
assistive technology and scholarships to camps and conventions 
which help them be equal with their sighted peers.  For more 
information about the Foundation and to support our work, visit 
us online at www.icanfoundation.info!

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sat, 26 Nov 2011 11:32:30 -0500
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] ipad verses blindness products

But I like the blindness notetaker because I can read and write 
braille on
it.  I think using a
touch screen would require a lot of memory and spatial awareness.  
I already
have to memorize where things like end, send and okay are on my 
basic cell
phone! But if an IOS devices works for someone go ahead; it’s a 
lot more
portable than a heavy braille notetaker.
I wonder what braille displays you can use with those IPhones and 
IOS
devices.
Its cool that we have smaller, portable braille displays and 
keyboards now.
How neat to have those options.  The only braille displays I saw 
were the
large 40 cell and 80 cell displays, although I am aware of 
smaller ones.

Ashley


-----Original Message-----
From: Humberto Avila
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2011 11:56 PM
To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] ipad verses blindness products

Yes, I think that is why some many blind people are using iPhones 
and iPads
as their personal note taking and at school too.  I think that 
these
mainstream IOS devices with voiceover will be the nearby future 
of the
accessibility for the blind.  Since those assistive technology 
products made
specifically for the blind are so expensive, blind people are 
going to shift
to those devices, since they come with screen reading 
accessibility out of
the box.  Plus, they are not as expensive.  Additionally, since 
Braille
displays are not as expensive as note takers, some might chose 
the option to
add a Braille display in combination to their IOS device instead 
of
purchasing those major products such as Pacmate and Braille Note.  
If the
trend continues like I mentioned, the Vocational Rehabilitation 
agencies
better take notice of this and see fit.  Besides, it would 
benefit their
programs and services as well, and with this economy (if it 
continues to be
bad), they will not have to suffer budget cuts by trying to help 
individuals
with their note takers because they are so expensive.
So, Humanware and freedom Scientific, I'm sorry if I offend you 
at all, I am
not trying to be mean.  Otherwise don't listen please!!!! (huge 
smile)

P.S.  wondering if this listserve is that much public?






-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org 
[mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Koby Cox
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2011 8:39 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] ipad verses blindness products

Yes.
Koby.

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 25, 2011, at 10:32 PM, "RJ Sandefur" 
<joltingjacksandefur at gmail.com
wrote:

 Thanks.  Is voice over easy to learn? RJ
 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Beth" 
<thebluesisloose at gmail.com
 To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
 <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
 Sent: Friday, November 25, 2011 11:11 PM
 Subject: Re: [nabs-l] ipad verses blindness products


 I'd justify that the iPad is a cheap option.  The BrailleNote is 
hard to
repair and neeeds thousands of dollars just to maintain.  I love 
my BNQT
Apex, but let' face it.  It's really expensive.
 Beth
 P.S.  does anyone know what happened to Bluetooth on the 
BrailleNote?

 ----- Original Message -----
 From: "RJ Sandefur" <joltingjacksandefur at gmail.com
 To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
 <nabs-l at nfbnet.org Date sent: Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:08:10 -0500
 Subject: [nabs-l] ipad verses blindness products

 Guys, I have a braille 'n speak, but I think it has bit the 
dust.  I was
thinking of getting a braille note, but some one suggested 
getting an iPad,
or a laptop.  I did some research on the iPad, and here's what 
I've found.
 http://www.apple.com/accessibility/ipad/vision.html
 Do any of you use iPad's, and if so, who purchased it for you? 
If VR
 purchased it, How do you justify need for an Ipad? Sincerely, RJ
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