[stylist] For Eve, RE: OT: FYI: braille device for smart phones

Thu Feb 23 06:48:17 UTC 2012

Thanks Donna. I might just do that. Eve

On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 5:28 PM, Donna Hill <penatwork at epix.net> wrote:

> Eve,
> The group has some very helpful folks including 2 who have a blog about
> knitting and crochet. Crystal did a series on learning to crochet. If you
> want to refresh your memory,  start with this which has links to specific
> tutorials:
> http://fingeringyarn.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/learn-to-crochet/
> Also, if you want to join the list, write to:
> Ana
> lot.of.yada at sbcglobal.net
>
> Donna
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Eve Sanchez
> Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 6:31 PM
> To: Writer's Division Mailing List
>  Subject: Re: [stylist] For Eve, RE: OT: FYI: braille device for smart
> phones
>
> Still sounds fun. I used to crochet and have thought about taking it back
> up, but am not sure I rmember how to make anything other than a long
> string. haha   I guess I really should try. Eve
>
> On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 1:16 PM, Donna Hill <penatwork at epix.net> wrote:
>
> > Eve,
> > Blind Stitchers is actually a knitting and crochet group. We have some
> > weavers and loom knitters as well.
> > Donna
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> > Behalf Of Eve Sanchez
> > Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 3:01 PM
> > To: Writer's Division Mailing List
> > Subject: Re: [stylist] OT: FYI: braille device for smart phones
> >
> > Cool news. Thanks for sharing. Oh and I take it that blind stitchers is a
> > sewing group? Sounds fun. Guess what Im doing today. I have to do it all
> by
> > hand though as I dont have a decent sewing machine.  Smile. Eve
> >
> > On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 10:10 AM, Donna Hill <penatwork at epix.net> wrote:
> >
> > > Saw this on another list. The source wasn't given.
> > > Donna
> > >
> > > Can Braille be faster than QWERTY? App developer thinks so
> > >
> > > By John D. Sutter, CNN
> > >
> > > (CNN) - If Mario Romero has his way, we'll all be learning Braille
> soon.
> > >
> > > The post-doc researcher at Georgia Institute of Technology has
> > co-developed
> > > an app, called BrailleTouch, that could help blind people send text
> > > messages
> > > and type e-mails on touch-screen smartphones without the need for
> > > expensive,
> > >
> > > extra equipment. To use the app, people hold their phones with the
> > screens
> > > facing away from them and punch combinations of six touch-screen
> buttons
> > to
> > > form characters. The app speaks a letter aloud after it's been
> > registered,
> > > so there's no need to see the screen.
> > >
> > > The system is designed for blind and visually impaired people, who
> > > otherwise
> > >
> > > have to purchase thousand-dollar machines or cumbersome "hover-over"
> > (more
> > > on that later) keyboards to be able to type on no-button smartphones.
> But
> > > Romero sees a spin-off for the technology: The touch-screen Braille
> > > keyboard
> > > is so fast that sighted people may start using it, too.
> > >
> > > "It may be a solution for everybody to get their eyes off their phone
> so
> > > they can walk and text or watch TV and make a comment on a blog," he
> said
> > > by
> > >
> > > phone.
> > > "It may free the sighted people's eyes" and help visually impaired
> people
> > > to
> > >
> > > type more easily.
> > >
> > > The free app, which is being developed for Apple iOS and Google Android
> > > devices, should be available in a matter of weeks, he said.
> > >
> > > You can watch a video of the app in action
> > >  on YouTube:
> > >
> > > iframe%3e%3c/span%3e
> > >
> > > So far, the app has only undergone limited tests, and Romero declined
> to
> > > make a pre-release version available to CNN. In an 11-person trial,
> > > however,
> > >
> > > he
> > > said, some Braille typists were able to go faster than they could on
> > > standard, QWERTY keyboards. One visually impaired person, who was
> already
> > > familiar
> > > with Braille (you punch the six keys in various combinations to make
> > > letters) typed at a rate of 32 words per minute, Romero said, with 92%
> > > accuracy. Romero
> > > himself, who never had used a Braille keyboard before, was able to type
> > at
> > > about 25 words per minute with 100% accuracy after a week of practice,
> he
> > > said.
> > >
> > > The app will undergo more rigorous testing before it's released, said
> > > Romero, who is a post-doctoral researcher at the university's School of
> > > Interactive
> > > Computing. It was developed with the help of  Brian Frey, Gregory
> Abowd,
> > > James Clawson and Kate Rosier.
> > >
> > > Smartphones are generally pretty good at reading material on their
> > screens
> > > to people who have vision problems, he said, but it's usually difficult
> > to
> > > enter
> > > text on the devices. To get a sense of what it's like for a blind
> person
> > to
> > > use an iPhone you can go to Settings >> General >> Accessibility, and
> > turn
> > > the "VoiceOver" feature on. When you touch a menu item, the iPhone
> reads
> > > the
> > >
> > > text aloud in a computerized voice. To select something on the screen,
> > you
> > > double-tap that item. To scroll, you use three fingers.
> > >
> > > All that works well, Romero said, but typing on an iPhone without
> buttons
> > > is
> > >
> > > a pain. Another alternative, he said, is attaching a hardware Braille
> > > keyboard
> > > to a smarpthone, but those are difficult to carry and are expensive:
> > >
> > > block quote
> > > "The options (blind people) have right now are either too expensive and
> > > cumbersome or too slow. Virtual keyboards and soft keyboards - like
> > Apple's
> > > voice-over
> > > keyboard - are too slow. Or they have options to get hardware that
> costs
> > > several thousand dollars."
> > >
> > > block quote end
> > >
> > > The new app may not alleviate all of those problems. On Android phones,
> > the
> > > BrailleTouch app can be programmed in as the phone's standard keyboard.
> > > Because
> > > of restrictions on iOS, he said, that can't happen on an iPhone, so
> > people
> > > who want to use the BrailleTouch keyboard have to open the app, type
> into
> > a
> > > text document and then copy-paste that into an e-mail or text message.
> > >
> > > Romero admits that this app isn't the end-all-be-all in typing. But
> it's
> > > helping create a future, as he said, when "one day we're not slaves to
> > the
> > > screens."
> > >
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