<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div class="storytitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 15px 0px 11px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: normal; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For The Blind, Connected Devices Create A Novel Way To Read. </span></h1></div><div id="story-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><div id="storybyline" class=" linkLocation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.071em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="bucketwrap byline" id="res259442970" previewtitle="bylines" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; clear: left; "><p class="byline" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">by <span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">NPR STAFF. </span></span></p></div></div><div class="dateblock" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><time datetime="2014-01-03" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="date" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0.8em 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 10px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">January 03, 2014</span><span class="time" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 10px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "> 8:02 PM. </span></time></div></div><div id="primaryaudio" class="storylocation linkLocation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div id="res259533084" class="bucketwrap primary resaudio medium" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 25px auto 27px; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 88px; width: auto; clear: left; "><div class="listenicon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; position: absolute; left: 15px; "><a class="listen" href="http://www.npr.org/2014/01/03/259414937/for-the-blind-connected-devices-create-a-novel-way-to-read?ft=1&f=1001&utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign=nprnews&utm_source=npr&utm_medium=twitter" data-metrics="{"category":"Secondary Audio","action":"Play audio","label":"20140103_atc_braille_in_the_touchscreen_age.mp3"}" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -webkit-user-select: none; display: block; height: 88px; width: 88px; background-image: 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background-position: 0px -260px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "></a></div><div id="avcontent259533084" class="avcontent listen shorttitle" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 88px; padding: 17px 13px 11px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden; min-height: 60px; height: auto; position: relative; "><span id="mediaTimeTotal259533084" class="media-time-total" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; position: absolute; height: 88px; width: 202px; top: 0px; left: 0px; "><span id="mediaTimeCurrent259533084" class="media-time-current" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; height: 88px; width: 0px; "></span></span><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; overflow: hidden; float: none; "><a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/01/03/259414937/for-the-blind-connected-devices-create-a-novel-way-to-read?ft=1&f=1001&utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign=nprnews&utm_source=npr&utm_medium=twitter" data-metrics="{"category":"Secondary Audio","action":"Play audio","label":"20140103_atc_braille_in_the_touchscreen_age.mp3"}" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 31px 0px 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -webkit-user-select: none; font-weight: bold; float: left; background-position: 100% 4px; "><font color="#000000"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Listen to the Story</span></font></a></h3><div class="inner" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; z-index: 1; "><p class="byline" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 2px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: left; "><a class="program" href="http://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -webkit-user-select: none; font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">All Things Considered</font></a></p><div class="duration" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: right; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span id="durationCurrent259533084" class="current" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; "></span><span class="total" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; ">5 min 46 sec</span></span></div></div></div></div></div><div id="storytext" class="storytext storylocation linkLocation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: left; overflow: hidden; "><div id="res259439130" class="bucketwrap image large" previewtitle="This Braille reader connects to a smartphone." style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 25px; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; clear: left; overflow: hidden; "><div class="imagewrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; "><img src="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/01/03/braille-e3aa20785a52d85b01258286976a065989b55807-s4-c85.jpg" class="img" title="This Braille reader connects to a smartphone." alt="This Braille reader connects to a smartphone." style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: auto; max-width: none; display: block; width: 290px; "><a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/01/03/259414937/for-the-blind-connected-devices-create-a-novel-way-to-read?ft=1&f=1001&utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign=nprnews&utm_source=npr&utm_medium=twitter#" class="enlargebtn enlarge-smallscreen" title="Enlarge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -webkit-user-select: none; display: block; position: absolute; right: 0px; bottom: 0px; height: 27px; width: 27px; font-style: italic; overflow: hidden; text-align: center; font-weight: bold; "><font color="#000000"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">i</span></font></a></div><div class="captionwrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "></div><span class="creditwrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 8px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; min-height: 22px; font-style: italic; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="credit" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 10px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">John Suchocki</span>/<span class="rightsnotice" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 10px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; ">The Republican/Landov</span></span></span></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Saturday is World Braille Day, commemorating the birth of Frenchman Louis Braille, who was blinded in an accident when he was a toddler. Undeterred, he became a brilliant student but was frustrated that he couldn't read or write.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In school, he learned about a system of dots used by soldiers to communicate at night. Braille adapted that system into something that would transform the lives of the blind and visually impaired.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Almost 200 years later, Braille hasn't changed so much. But with the advent of computer screens, tablets, smartphones and e-readers, the way we read things has. Judy Dixon, with the Library of Congress' National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, speaks with NPR's Audie Cornish about the ways technology has changed Braille reading over the past few decades.</span></p><div class="hr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.688em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><hr style="box-sizing: border-box; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(235, 235, 235); "></div><h3 class="edTag" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 24px; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Interview Highlights<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "></strong></h3><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On learning Braille<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "></strong></p><div id="res259440182" class="bucketwrap internallink insettwocolumn inset2col " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 27px; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; clear: left; overflow: hidden; "><div class="bucket img" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: hidden; "><a id="featuredStackSquareImage146812288" href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/02/13/146812288/braille-under-siege-as-blind-turn-to-smartphones" data-metrics="{"category":"Story to Story","action":"Click Internal Link","label":"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/blogs\/alltechconsidered\/2012\/02\/13\/146812288\/braille-under-siege-as-blind-turn-to-smartphones"}" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -webkit-user-select: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000"><img src="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/02/13/braille_illiteracy%20_sq-759e558118be89b7bd2807c5ae342ed57d2cec9a-s11.jpg" class="img90" title="The National Federation of the Blind estimates that today only one in 10 blind people can read Braille. That's down dramatically from the 1900s." alt="The National Federation of the Blind estimates that today only one in 10 blind people can read Braille. That's down dramatically from the 1900s." style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: none; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: auto; max-width: 100%; display: block; float: left; width: 80px; "></font></a><div class="bucketblock" style="box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 80px; padding: 9px 11px 9px 17px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; min-height: 62px; "><h3 class="slug" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -webkit-user-select: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">All Tech Considered</font></a></h3><h3 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/02/13/146812288/braille-under-siege-as-blind-turn-to-smartphones" data-metrics="{"category":"Story to Story","action":"Click Internal Link","label":"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/blogs\/alltechconsidered\/2012\/02\/13\/146812288\/braille-under-siege-as-blind-turn-to-smartphones"}" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -webkit-user-select: none; font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">Braille Under Siege As Blind Turn To Smartphones</font></a></h3></div></div></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I started reading Braille when I was in the first grade at the school for the blind in Florida. When I first started reading Braille, all we had was Braille on paper. ... I read the typical schoolbooks that other kids in the class were reading. ...</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On "refreshable Braille displays"<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Braille technology really started taking off in the early '80s with the development of devices that we call refreshable Braille displays, and they're small boxes [of] different sizes. ...</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This device that's in front of me I have connected to an iPhone, and I have the app <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bard-mobile/id705229586?mt=8" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; -webkit-touch-callout: none; -webkit-user-select: none; ">BARD Mobile</a>, which is an app that was developed by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped to read our Braille and audio books.</span></p><div id="res259439250" class="bucketwrap pullquote" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 27px; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; clear: left; "><aside style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><div class="bucket" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; overflow: visible; position: relative; "><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 28px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; "><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: absolute; left: -1px; top: -14px; display: block; font-weight: bold; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I feel now that I can read almost anything that's published in one way or another.</span></p></div></aside></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And these devices have Braille cells. ... Braille is made of six dots; each dot of the Braille cell raises and lowers, so that if I wanted to read the letter A, which is Dot 1, the upper left of the Braille cell ... the pin for that dot would raise, and all the other pins would not raise. ...</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I feel now that I can read almost anything that's published, in one way or another, between my iPhone, my Kindle. The other kinds of Braille displays also can be connected to computers, so any book or document that can be read on a computer can be read with a Braille display.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On the accessibility of Braille devices<br style="box-sizing: border-box; "></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The major drawback of refreshable Braille devices is that they are expensive. These devices are in the thousands [of dollars]. So a smaller version like this 14-cell unit that I have here would be about $1,500. Larger units, a 40-cell, would be in the neighborhood of [$3,000] to $4,000, and the prices go up. So these prices are somewhat prohibitive for many people.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If a way of making Braille cells can be found that uses a mainstream technology that was in many, many devices and was pennies per unit, then Braille devices could be made for perhaps a few hundred dollars, and could be affordable by all Braille readers.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">On whether she thinks Braille could endure for another 200 years</strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It's hard to imagine what will come along that could replace Braille for us. Audio is a linear experience — the words come, they go. But with Braille, I can see the word, I can see how it's spelled, I can see how the punctuation is. I don't have to wonder if a word has one T or two T's. It just is something I observe when I read a Braille word under my fingers. ...</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I personally am kind of a visual learner — I don't take things in well [with] audio. If I see it in Braille, I remember it, because it goes into my visual memory.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 1.3em; padding: 0px 15px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; float: none; position: relative; min-height: 1px; width: auto; "><a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/01/03/259414937/for-the-blind-connected-devices-create-a-novel-way-to-read?ft=1&f=1001&utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign=nprnews&utm_source=npr&utm_medium=twitter">http://www.npr.org/2014/01/03/259414937/for-the-blind-connected-devices-create-a-novel-way-to-read?ft=1&f=1001&utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign=nprnews&utm_source=npr&utm_medium=twitter</a></p></div></body></html>