[nabs-l] Reasonable technology requests from Rehab and someother college questions

Mon Apr 25 01:53:31 UTC 2011

I got the BrailleNote with braille output for the same reasons. One, its 
very portable. Two, it has a longer battery life than the laptop. Three,
you just open it and turn it on and take notes; it puts you right in your 
file.  Laptops take
time to  boot up.

A notetaker can act as a braille display though, so I doubt you can get 
both.
Anyone know the cost of the 40 cell displays?
I bet its in the thousands.  Of course the price is not  on the website.
I really want a display at work because I need to edit my corespondence and 
that is hard to do with jaws.

Ashley
-----Original Message----- 
From: David
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 9:38 PM
To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Reasonable technology requests from Rehab and 
someother college questions

Hi, Jordyn. Here are some things to keep in mind. Definitely try to get a
laptop with a screen reader. I know that some agencies may not purchase
computers, but rather the adaptive devices like screen readers, notetakers,
etc. But there are always exceptions, it seems. You'll want a powerful
computer with quite a bit of ram and processing speed, as well as a decently
sized hard drive. As for OCR, if you're reasonably good with computers, look
in to OmniPage, which is a mainstream OCR solution with excellent OCR
accuracy. I believe that it might be better than Kurzweil and OpenBook, and
you should be able to get it for less than $200. Be aware that OmniPage is
not quite as easy to learn as OpenBook and Kurzweil, but if you are a decent
computer user, you'll have little trouble with it. As for the Braille
display and notetaker, I would personally recommend a notetaker with Braille
output, since it's very portable, and you can just open it and take notes
immediately, rather than waiting for the laptop to boot up. I'd get the
notetaker before the Braille display, since most notetakers can act as
Braille displays. However, I don't think it's as convenient as a dedicated
Braille display. Maybe they'll get you both. A Braille embosser would be
nice, but they can be loud depending on the model, and that may be a problem
in a dorm setting. But if you really like using hard-copy Braille, then do
try getting one. It would be preferable than having to schedule time to use
the university's. Those are my thoughts.
David
-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Jordyn Castor
Sent: Sunday, April 24, 2011 7:09 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: [nabs-l] Reasonable technology requests from Rehab and some other
college questions

Hi again guys!
I'm going to college in the fall, as I already said yesterday. This is
why I have so many questions! I just want to be sure I'm doing
everything right, and what better way to do this then asking other blind
students? :) So, thanks for all your great advice on everything!
My other question is, what are reasonable things to ask Rehab for in the
way of technology?
I'm thinking a laptop, 40 cell braille display, Window Eyes, and a
printer scanner combo thinggy with software like OpenBook or Kurzweil. I
don't know if I'd get a notetaker though as these are super expensive.
lol Any suggestions or other things you'd ask for? What are you all
using as far as technology in college?
My college also has a place where I can, I think, borrow technology like
an embosser or Braille Display. Should I use that rather than asking
rehab for some of the things like the display and the printer? I think
it would be awesome to have a printer in my dorm though lol!
Oh, speaking of dorms, do most of you have a roommate or a single room?
A lot of my blind friends seem to have single rooms because of the
expensive technology, but, I want a roommate, I think. lol Thoughts?
Anyway, I'll stop rambling! :)
Thanks again,
Jordyn

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