[blindkid] Exploring the Apex & iPad

DrV icdx at earthlink.net
Thu Sep 20 06:11:31 UTC 2012


High Richard & All,
 
Petras is in 5th grade & they will be getting more into the iPads in a few
weeks.
Vejas is a high school sophomore & his inauguration with the iPad is in
Spanish class :-)
This year in our district all the middle school kids (grades 6-8) were
issued iPads which are being used to access various components of the
general education curriculum. An increasing number of school districts in
California & around the country are buying into this.
 
Yes, conceptually, it is as simple as adding the Apex or other braille
display to the iPad/iPhone/iPod as a bluetooth device. Practically, however,
the initial pairing process can be a bit tricky/finicky/frustrating, but
once the devices have been paired once, the subsequent pairings are pretty
easy.
 
A lot the VoiceOver handouts & YouTube videos focus on low vision interface
& applications, & aren’t real helpful for us since my kids have no vision.
None of the teachers here are proficient in even basic VoiceOver, so we’re
kind of just blazing ahead & we’re going through a learning curve now – the
learning curve is steep, but the kids are finding it exciting (I’m enjoying
it too). I am grateful that we have such a rich network of resources all
over the country.
 
For parents, my suggestion is to start by watching the Apple VoiceOver
Videos, then practice using VoiceOver hand gestures on an iPad, iPhone, or
iPod – it takes some getting used to. Once you have that down, you can try
pairing it with a braille display.
 
Best wishes,
EricV

On 9/18/12 9:01 AM, "Richard Holloway" <rholloway at gopbc.org> wrote:

> Hey, I have not messed with that at all so I'm no help to you (sorry), but
> your question makes me want to look into this combination as we have an Apex
> and an iPad.
> 
> To connect, are you simply adding the Apex to the iPad as a bluetooth device?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Richard
> 
> 
> On Sep 18, 2012, at 11:24 AM, DrV wrote:
> 
>>  Hi All
>>  I'm hoping one of your, or one of you kids, can help us with thisŠ
>>  Both my kids are using iPads in school this year ­ its a tool to help them
>>  access parts of their general ed curriculum.
>>  Petras is in 5th grade & Vejas in 10th.
>>  Can any of you explain to me how advance pages forward in iBooks using the
>>  Apex as a braille display? We can move backwards a page, but the "O" chord
>>  opens up the BrailleNote Options Menu.
>>  Suggestions?
>>  Sincerely,
>>  Eric
>>  
>>  
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> 
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