[Trainer-talk] Braille display, reading brf files, product advice

[David Goldfield]

Sarah,
First, I hope that people will choose to respond to your questions to 
the list as I, too, would be interested in other people's responses and 
feedback concerning your excellent questions.
Secondly, while I can't answer all of your questions I can address your 
questions regarding Bookshare and NLS.  First, Bookshare's books can be 
downloaded as Grade 2 Braille files with a .brf extension.  This means 
that, in theory, you don't need a dedicated blindness notetaker such as 
a Braillenote or Pacmate to read them. Because they are in Grade 2 
Braille they can be read on Braille displays.  However, I don't see 
options for formatting for 12 or 14-cell displays in Bookshare's 
preferences.  They can be formatted for 18, 20, 32, 40, 70 and 80-cell 
displays.
The BARD Web site from NLS has finally integrated the Braille 
collection, formerly known as Web Braille, into the service allowing you 
to download Braille books and magazines which are also Grade 2 files.  
However, as far as I know they are formatted for producing the actual 
files into books and are not formatted specifically for 14, 18 or for 
20-cell displays.  That isn't to say that you can't read these files on 
smaller displays; the files just aren't formatted to be specifically 
used for these models.  If anyone has information which can supplement 
or correct what I've posted I welcome any responses.
Sarah wrote:
> Good afternoon. I would like to buy a braille display I can use with I devices and my pc. I am a fast reader. If I buy a display with less cells, will that slow down my reading speed? Is there a way to read Braille files from bookshare and nls without using a notetaker? I have an iPhone 4s. If I no longer use a notetaker, would anyone recommend a mac laptop, a laptop running windows,  or an iPad for writing documents? If anyone would recommend an iPad, what size would be the best? Feel free to email me off list. Thank you.
>      Sarah
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