[nabs-l] Braille Printer and Dux Bury Program

Thu May 2 20:27:49 UTC 2013

Helga, in addition to agreeing with everything Kirt said, I also 
believe there's another extremely relevant reason why you should 
try reading with the braillenote's display. Paper braille is 
becoming obsolete. I may get some flack on the list for this, but 
it is true. I'm a sophomore in high school, and for the past two 
years or so, more and more of my assignments have either been 
emailed to me or put on a flash drive. The world is moving away 
from paper (well, the blind world, at least) and toward 
computers, and in your future place of employment, it would be 
very unrealistic to expect paper braille in anything. I'm not 
trying to be harsh or mean, I'm just making a point.

Cheers from your fellow future English major,
Sophie

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Kirt Manwaring <kirt.crazydude at gmail.com
To: dburke at cocenter.org, National Association of Blind Students 
mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Thu, 2 May 2013 10:42:41 -0600
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Braille Printer and Dux Bury Program

Helga,
  I'd personally try to read your books with the refreshable 
braille
display first.  There are two reasons for this.  First, you might
discover that the braille note refreshable braille display does, 
in
fact, work for you...in which case you won't need an embosser at 
all
for the vast majority of things; advanced math and some few 
science
classes being the exception, perhaps.  Second, and perhaps more
relivant to you, your rehab counselor will probably ask you why 
you
can't just use the braille note braille display for your braille
reading.  Having become familiar with the refreshable braille, 
you
will be more able to provide adequett justification for why you 
need
an embosser instead of just the braille note.
  Hope that helps,
Kirt

On 5/2/13, Dan Burke <dburke at cocenter.org> wrote:
 If I may offer some information even though I'm not a student 
..  I worked
 for a Ds office for many years, and for the last number of years 
I
 supervised the alternate formats aspect of the office.

 First, have you signed up for Bookshare? There are lots of text 
books
 available in electronic formats that your Braille note can read, 
or that
 can
 be read on your iPhone or with JAWS.

 Next Helga, if Bookshare doesn't have your texts your DS office 
may need to
 give you a better format.  They would need to do that f Braille 
is your
 preferred format and there is a compelling reason that PDF isn't 
good
 enough.  That English is your second language and that your 
major requires
 reading and comprehending complex literature (and what major 
doesn't?), is
 a
 compelling argument in my opinion.  You need to make that clear 
to the DS
 office, but you will very likely have to push it if you really 
want it.
 They can easily give you a MS Word format, for example, if the 
text is not
 available at Bookshare.  But you will have a good bit of work 
ahead of you
 turning a PDF into any kind of Braille document.

 Personally, I think that PDF is a terrible format for just about 
anything.

 With a Word file, you can do a couple of things.  Of course you 
could read
 it with your note taker's refreshable Braille display.  It is 
likely that
 the DS office will stand their ground on that and not offer 
paper Braille.
 With a Word file you could also use Duxbury and print your own 
paper
 Braille, which you have obviously thought about.  But you may 
need to press
 the DS office by looking at campus options for due process - in 
other
 words,
 a complaint - if they don't agree to provide you with a format 
other than
 PDF.

 And the other thing is that Voc Rehab's excuse that embossers 
are expensive
 just isn't good enough.  Your reasons for having one are pretty 
good.  If
 they are to deny this bit of technology, they need to do so on 
the basis
 that it isn't related to your vocational goal.  They can't say 
it's too
 expensive once you are already in an Individualized Plan for 
Employment.
 Again, you will likely have to push this.  You can start by 
asking your VR
 counselor for information on your rights to appeal. This is 
something they
 are required to provide.

 Good luck!

 Best,

 Dan

 -----Original Message-----
 From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of 
Helga
 Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 8:50 PM
 To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
 Subject: [nabs-l] Braille Printer and Dux Bury Program

 Hi all, this is Helga. I just
 would like to ask you guys, Do you know where can I get a Dux 
Bury program
 and a Braille printer that is compatible with the BrailleNote 
apex for a
 cheap price? The Reason I'm asking is because I like to read 
Braille
 because
 is my prefer way of reading especially when I'm reading stories 
that are
 hard to understand the wording. I'm actually doing an English 
major where I
 need to take Literature classes that involve a lot of reading. 
Actually,
 this semester I took American Literature before 1865, and it was 
very
 challenging for me because the only accessable format of the 
Book  that DSS
 provided me was PDF format, and and I got a audio cd from 
Learning Ally. It
 was helpful, but not enough to understand the stories since my 
first
 Language is not English, even though I speak it, I'm still 
working on my
 comprehension of words. I also talked to my DBS counceler about 
this and
 she
 told me that she would not buy me the Braille printer because is 
very
 expensive. I really Think a Braille paper copy of a reading will 
really
 help
 me a lot since I'm thinking in taking American Literature after 
1865 in the
 Fall semester.
 Thank you guys for listening to me. I really appreciate it. God 
bless! :)
 _______________________________________________
 nabs-l mailing list
 nabs-l at nfbnet.org
 http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
 To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account 
info for
 nabs-l:

http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/dburke%40coce
nter.org

 _______________________________________________
 nabs-l mailing list
 nabs-l at nfbnet.org
 http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
 To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account 
info for
 nabs-l:

http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/kirt.crazydud
e%40gmail.com

_______________________________________________
nabs-l mailing list
nabs-l at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
for nabs-l:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/sweetpeareade
r%40gmail.com