[Ohio-talk] Refreshable Braille NFB Resolution

[Marianne Denning]

Okay, maybe. I remember I attended another national convention in 1998 and
NLS was talking about digital Talking Books. I don't know how long before
that they began the conversation but I know digital recordings had been
available for well over 10 years at that point and the digital Talking Book
players didn't become available until 2006 or 2007. I think it will
definitely be longer than 5 or 6 years unless you know more than I do. And,
that is most likely true.

On Wed, Sep 13, 2017 at 10:11 PM, David B Andrews via Ohio-Talk <
ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> I think you are overly pessimistic.  I could be wrong, but I think five or
> six years.
>
>
> Dave
>
>
>
>
> On 9/13/2017 10:30 AM, Marianne Denning via Ohio-Talk wrote:
>
>> I definitely think it is a great proposal. Sadly, it will probably be
>> another 15 or 20 years before NLS provides Braille displays. Sadly, that
>> is
>> our government at work.
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 13, 2017 at 11:05 AM, Paul Dressell via Ohio-Talk <
>> ohio-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>
>> This is a good resolution; what do you think?
>>> Paul
>>> Regarding the Distribution of Refreshable Braille Displays to Patrons of
>>> the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
>>>
>>> WHEREAS, there are currently 119,487 libraries of all types operating in
>>> the United States, and of these only the National Library Service for the
>>> Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) is specifically tasked with
>>> distributing Braille books across the nation; and
>>>
>>> WHEREAS, the distribution of these Braille books by the NLS and a network
>>> of cooperating regional libraries primarily occurs through the mailing of
>>> hard-copy offerings, but new, low-cost devices (known as refreshable
>>> Braille displays) can produce electronic Braille, saving money, saving
>>> paper, and using a small electronic device instead of multiple and large
>>> volumes for just one book; and
>>>
>>> WHEREAS, in April of 2016 the Government Accountability Office (GAO)
>>> recognized the potential that refreshable Braille displays offer to
>>> increase the availability of Braille materials to NLS patrons, while
>>> simultaneously saving the NLS approximately ten million dollars annually;
>>> and
>>>
>>> WHEREAS, in July of 2016 Congress affirmed the GAO’s findings by amending
>>> the Pratt-Smoot Act, (2 U.S.C § 135a), to allow the NLS to “provide books
>>> published either in raised characters, on sound-reproduction recordings,
>>> or
>>> in any other form,” thereby opening the door for the NLS to distribute
>>> refreshable Braille displays: Now, therefore,
>>>
>>> BE IT RESOLVED by the National Federation of the Blind in Convention
>>> assembled this fourteenth day of July, 2017, in the city of Orlando,
>>> Florida, that this organization call upon the United States Congress to
>>> authorize a one-time appropriation of five million dollars to the
>>> National
>>> Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, which will
>>> enable
>>> the NLS, through the bidding process, to purchase a minimum of ten
>>> thousand
>>> low-cost refreshable Braille displays, jumpstarting the distribution of
>>> these devices to the 11 percent of NLS patrons who are already accessing
>>> the library’s electronic Braille files and increasing access to
>>> refreshable
>>> Braille.
>>>
>>
>
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-- 
Marianne Denning, TVI, MA
Teacher of students who are blind or visually impaired
(513) 607-6053