[blindkid] [blkid] Notetker and Digital player questions

jjordan_pa at yahoo.com jjordan_pa at yahoo.com
Sun Dec 21 21:00:28 UTC 2008


Tell me more about the Braille Sense
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

-----Original Message-----
From: "Debra Baxley" <debrabaxley at bellsouth.net>

Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:12:46 
To: 'NFBnet Blind Kid Mailing List,\(for parents of blind children\)'<blindkid at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blindkid] [blkid] Notetker and Digital player questions


The Braille Sense is the envy of all totally blind people!!

Debra

-----Original Message-----
From: blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindkid-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Mike Freeman
Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2008 12:00 PM
To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [blindkid] [blkid] Notetker and Digital player questions

Carlton:

I will answer your second question first. Yes, the Victor Reader Stream can
be used to read books from BookShare. You just download the DAISY or .brf
file to the appropriate folder on the SD card that is used to store books
and audio content on the Stream. If Anna Catherine is used to Eloquence on
her computer using either WindowEyes or JAWS, she may get a shock when she
first hears the text-to-speech engine on the Stream; as it comes from the
box, the Stream uses ScanSoft's RealSpeak Samantha although the Tom and
Daniel (this last with a British accent) are also available. These voices
aren't as good as their equivalents on a PC. However, one gets used to the
voice quickly and it works quite well although it is not ideal.

Additionally, you should be aware that the current version of BookShare
isn't really fully DAISY-compliant so when a new version of the Stream
software comes out, Humanware and other makers of DAISY-READERS often have a
bit of tweaking to do to get the DAISY versions of the BookShare books to
read properly with all their navigation features enabled. The .brf versions
read fine, though.

The BrailleNote can read DAISY books such as those from BookShare purport to
be. However, it cannot repeat CANNOT be used to read audio books from the
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) and
Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D). Aside from the Stream, the
only devices that can read at least NLS books are the Icon and the Braille
Plus, the latter being an Icon-equivalent from the American Printing House
for the Blind (APH). Neither of these two devices has a braille display;
they are essentially a PDA with voice output. But the Stream is strictly
audio only also. But it's so useful that well over ten thousand have been
sold since it's introduction in 2007.

Now to the BrailleNote. It will not be able to read NLS books for the
foreseeable future as NLS is deathly afraid of allowing a software-based
reader that might enable clever code disassemblers to extract the audio
content for pirated distribution.

The BrailleNote can be used as a braille display. Frankly (and many will
quarrel with me on what I shall say next), I never found a braille display
hooked to a computer all that useful. Why? One must take one's hands off the
computer keyboard to read the braille. Having been taught touch-typing in
the 1950's, I am loath to take my hands off the keyboard for ANY reason. But
that's my eccentricity. The braille display is handy for checking spelling
but a good screen-reader operator gets good at this on-the-fly also. Let the
flame-throwers do their thing! (grin)

As for ease of use and similarity to a computer's menus, the PacMate is
probably closer to a computer or PDA than is the BrailleNote in that it runs
such applications as PocketWord, PocketInternetExplorer and other
Windows-based programs. And the PacMate runs JAWS as a screen-reader. The
drawbacks are two in my opinion: (1) if one wants a braille display, this is
a separate piece of hardware that mates more-or-less seamlessly with the
PacMate. Still, it's a separate piece of gear. (2) Although vast
improvements have been made with the PacMate Omni, the unit's software is
somewhat unstable; one must reset more often than I'm used to and although
one doesn't lose data as often as was the case with the early PacMates, it's
still a good idea to back up one's critical data often.

But then I've also heard that the BrailleNote isn't as stable as I'd like;
one must reset it several times per day which is inexcusable in my
estimation. But then I believe the software industry has forgotten what real
stability is! I program mainframes at work and work-stations that run the
VAX/VMS operating system and I have a work-station under my desk that has
been "up" for over a year continuously. Put that in your pipe and smoke it,
LINUX and Windows!

But I digress. The BrailleNote is a fine unit although, as I say, it also
isn't as stable as I'd truly like. It's advantage is that many school
systems know it. But to add wi-fi or wired LAN or other capabilities to the
device, you'll have to purchase separate cards.

Not so with another device, available from www.gwmicro.com called the
Braille Sense Plus B32. Yes, it has a braille keyboard but one can use a USB
or blue tooth standard QWERTY keyboard. The voice is still Eloquence and the
device has, like the BrailleNote, a 32 cell braille display. Unlike the
BrailleNote, however, the Braille Sense Plus has built-in wi-fi, blue tooth
and wired LAN connections. Like the BrailleNote, it has email and a web
browser and a FM radio. the braille keyboard on the Braille Sense is MUCH
quieter than that of the BrailleNote and has a great feel. It has a DAISY
player so, I presume, can display BookShare books though I haven't tried
this yet. One can stream audio from the Net as long as it's not Flash- or
Real Audio-based. Generally, if you can play it on a PDA, you can play it on
the Braille Sense. Like the BrailleNote, it records audio although I think
the Stream does a better job.

Like Eric, I think you should seriously think about your QWERTY keyboard
choice. When the Blazie "Type 'N Speak" note-taker came out (QWERTY input,
voice output) Curtis Chong and I thought it was great as both of us typed
faster than we could write braille with a braille keyboard. However, I have
since changed my opinion. If Anna Catherine is going to use braille much,
she should become fluent with a braille keyboard and I believe note-taking
with a braille keyboard to be faster than with a QWERTY keyboard (and I can
type 120 wpm or more). 
But my  braille-writing has gotten much better since I've used note-takers
with a braille keyboard for braille-writing!

One final thing: both the BrailleNote and the Braille Sense Plus have GPS
navigation available although it's an "extra" and this old-fashioned person
truly isn't convinced that GPS is really all that useful although there was
a rumor that one blind guy found his way out of New Orleans using a
BrailleNote and GPS. But since I only heard this once, I've come to suspect
that this story is apocryphal. To my mind, GPS maps aren't updated often
enough to be truly useful. But that's my thing.

Oh yes: I realize you may be impecunious. But were I you, I'd try my
darndest to buy the note-taker myself; forget the school district
bureaucracy!

Hope this tome helps you.

Mike Freeman, President
National Federation of the Blind of Washington

P.S.. This was written in Grade 2 on the Braille Sense Plus. 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carlton Anne Cook Walker" <attorneywalker at gmail.com>
To: Pibe-division at nfbnet.org, blindkid at nfbnet.org
Date: Sunday, Dec 21, 2008 5:34:59
Subject: [blkid] Notetker and Digital player questions

>
>
> Hi all,
> 
> DH and I are going to soon approach the school regarding a notetaker
> for Anna Catherine.  I have two major questions:
> 
> 
> 
> First, which notetaker should we request?
> We have already decided that a QWERTY keyboard would be better.  (Anna
> Catherine has some vision and uses a laptop with a QWERTY keyboard
> anyway.)
> >From what I understand from the teens to whom I've spoken, Braillenote
> is highly preferred over PacMate.  I understand that this is because
> it is easier to use and the keystrokes more directly correspond with
> computer-based commands.  Am I correct? Are there other reasons to
> choose the BrailleNote over the PacMate?
> Are there any other brands I should be looking at -- that have QWERTY
> entry?  I have not been able to find any.
> Also, can the notetaker be connected with a computer and serve as a
> refreshable braille display?  (If yes, it might make it easier to
> speed up the process of getting notetaker for Anna Catherine.  We're
> realy hoping to have one by the end of the school year -- yes, our
> District IS that slow -- so that she may explore it and become
> comfortable with its use over the summer.)
> 
> 
> 
> Second, I am also interested in the Victor Reader Stream for Anna
Catherine.
> Can a notetaker be used as a Digital Reader?
> Can Bookshare files be easily uploaded onto the Victor?
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you so very much for your help on these matters.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wishing everyone a safe, joyful, and blessed holiday season,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Carlton
> 
> -- 
> Carlton Anne Cook Walker
> Anna's Mom
> 213 North First Street
> McConnellsburg, PA    17233
> Voice: 717-485-3383
> 
> _______________________________________________
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>
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