[nabs-l] Braille Printer and Dux Bury Program

Fri May 3 10:59:26 UTC 2013

Kirt,

I agree with you in the area of math. In fact, I still use hardcopy
braille for my math work. However, everything else I do on a  braille
display.

Chris Nusbaum

Sent from my iPhone

On May 3, 2013, at 3:20 AM, Kirt Manwaring <kirt.crazydude at gmail.com> wrote:

> Sophie,
>  I disagree with you.  Slightly.  When working withlong devision,
> multivariable augmented matrices, tables with over fifteen collums
> and/or rows, synthetic substitution, synthetic devision, systems of
> equasions with more than three variables...paper braille is definitely
> not obsce+leete.  Try doing all that on a single-line refreshable
> braille display, and I think you'll probably find yourself agreeing
> with me.
>
> On 5/2/13, justin williams <justin.williams2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I'm getting a 40 sell. Is that what you have?
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Kaiti Shelton
>> Sent: Friday, May 03, 2013 1:42 AM
>> To: dburke at cocenter.org; National Association of Blind Students mailing
>> list
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Braille Printer and Dux Bury Program
>>
>> 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
>>
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>
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