[nabs-l] Braille Printer and Dux Bury Program

Fri May 3 05:42:13 UTC 2013

Hi all,

On a more general academic note, it is also better for most people
most of the time to use the braille display simply because it is more
convenient then shlepping around volumes upon volumes of braille
books.  Sophie brought up an excellent point; the world is quickly
moving away from paper, (even sighted people too, that's why the post
offices are in so much trouble as of recent years).  I can also say
from experience that carrying a sub five pound notetaker around along
with a few flashdrives or sd cards is a lot more feasible than
carrying around a backpack stuffed with braille.  I don't miss the
days from high school when I had multiple volumes of math books, a
Genetics book that we loaned from APH for my Genetics class,
Psychology textbooks also in hardcopy braille from APH, and music
theory textbooks from NLS.  Granted, all those subjects except for
psychology warrant the use of hardcopy braille, but I don't know what
I would have done if I had embossed history and English textbooks on
top of the ones I already had.  I, and my back, really appreciate the
lighter backpack I have now that my college ds office just makes
electronic files for me which I can read from my computer with Jaws or
on my BrailleSense.  I'm also a huge stickler about actually reading
braille as opposed to listening to someone else read it all the time
too, (with the exception of textbooks since it's convenient to read
and fill out homework or notes as you go on a laptop), but I can say
at least from my experiences that there isn't a major difference other
than size and weight in using a refreshable display instead of
embossed braille.

Hope this helps.

On 5/2/13, Dan Burke <dburke at cocenter.org> wrote:
> Mr. Biggs thank you for your comment about poetry in Braille.  I confess
> that is one of my personal passions, and the only effective way to read
> poetry for a blind person is in Braille.  Certainly not a recording from
> Learning Ally or a PDF with JAWS.  Again an excellent argument in favor of
> a
> more flexible format that can be converted to Braille or read with a
> Braille
> display.
>
> While there are great advantages to reading poetry with paper Braille, I
> have read the vast majority of it as blind person on a refreshable Braille
> display.
>
> There are a couple of advantages of doing so, I think, as a student.
> First,
> I used rich text files and brf files.  These are fairly generic and work on
> any note taker or in any platform or word processor.  But you can also make
> notes or annotations in the text if you are so inclined.
>
> Best,
> Dan
> 	
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Brandon Keith
> Biggs
> Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2013 3:06 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Braille Printer and Dux Bury Program
>
> Hello,
> Poetry is probably the only class you will want to consider reading the
> words in a hard copy. The refreshable Braille display is perfectly built
> for
> continuous reading. If you are a musician, in particular a vocalist, I
> would
> say you would really want to use an embosser, but that is only because in
> order to read one line of music, one needs to read 3 lines or more at the
> same time. But even still there are people who manage to use a Braille
> display for that.
> I have been rash and bought pieces of expensive equipment I have not used,
> so if I were you, I'd be very cautious and even manage to try out the
> equipment for a week or so to see how you like it. If you are going to be
> reading the book once, then placing it on your bookshelf, embossed books
> will become very cumbersome very fast.
> Thanks,
>
> Brandon Keith Biggs
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Sophie Trist
> Sent: Thursday, May 02, 2013 1:27 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Braille Printer and Dux Bury Program
>
> 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! :)
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-- 
Kaiti