[Nfbf-l] NPR article: Braille Under Siege as Blind Turn toSmartphones

[Judith Hamilton]

Thanks, Lenora, for putting this out on the list.  Judy

> [Original Message]
> From: Lenora J. Marten <bluegolfshoes at aol.com>
> To: <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
> Date: 2/15/2012 1:18:49 PM
> Subject: [Nfbf-l] NPR article: Braille Under Siege as Blind Turn
toSmartphones
>
> 
The link to the web page is at the end of the article where you can listen
to the story. It takes about four minutes. The interviewer talks with
RolandoTerrazas, a student from the Colorado Center for the Blind and Chris
Danielson.
Braille Under Siege as Blind Turn to Smartphones:
Like a lot of smartphone users, Rolando Terrazas, 19, uses his iPhone for
email, text messages and finding a decent coffee shop. But Terrazas' phone
also sometimes serves as his eyes: When he waves a bill under its camera,
for instance, the phone tells him how much it's worth.
Terrazas is blind, and having an app to tell bills apart can be a big help.
For one thing, it means he doesn't have to trust clerks to give him correct
change. Terrazas' daily life is full of useful technology like this, but it
also has a downside: The more he uses technology, the less he uses Braille,
the alphabet of raised dots that the blind read with their fingers.
"All through elementary school I used Braille," Terrazas says. "But when I
got a laptop, I switched over and I went away from Braille. If you don't
use it, you lose it. And that's what happened to me."
Terrazas uses software that reads out loud what's on his computer screen.
These days, he's slowly re-learning Braille as a student at the Colorado
Center for the Blind, south of Denver.
The center puts a lot of effort into convincing students they still need
Braille to be independent and employable. Director Julie Deden says
technology is making the nearly 200-year-old writing system more accessible
than ever. She shows off an electronic reader that's about the size of a
paperback. Instead of having to lug around massive volumes of printed
braille, this reader allows Deden to just sweep her fingers over little
plastic nubs that rise and fall with each line of text.
Still, Deden worries that technologies like smartphones are also masking a
serious problem — Braille illiteracy.
"People will let it go and they'll say: 'Well, you know, they're not really
illiterate. They just don't really use Braille or print very much, but
that's just because they're blind,' " she says. "I think that it's kind of
an out, and technically they really are mostly illiterate."
Blind people choosing not to learn Braille is only one part of the
equation. Chris Danielsen with the National Federation of the Blind says
his group is increasingly butting heads with school districts trying to get
out of federal obligations to provide a Braille teacher.
"They will tend to say, 'Well we have screen magnification software, we
have all these tools available, and in light of that we don't think it's
necessary for a blind person to be taught Braille,' " Danielsen says.
The federation estimates that today only one in 10 blind people can read
Braille. That's down dramatically from the early 1900s. Jackie Owellet lost
her sight as an adult, after an operation. Standing in a cafe in a Denver
suburb, Owellet says learning to read Braille was the last thing on her
mind.
"When am I ever going to use Braille? I'm never going to sit down and read
a novel in Braille. You know, I'd rather download an audio book from
iTunes," she says.
But last year, while taking classes for her yoga instructor certification,
it became clear that having a mechanical voice reading off teaching notes
didn't make for a very soothing yoga experience.
"So I realized there is a use for Braille," Owellet says. "I think
everybody uses Braille in their own way. You know, I think that everybody
finds what they need to use Braille for."
Advocates for Braille are hoping blind people like Owellet will continue to
find enough reasons to keep their tactile system of writing alive, even
amidst the growing chorus of computer voices.


link to article:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/02/13/146812288/braille-unde
r-siege-as-blind-turn-to-smartphones



Lenora J. Marten
NFB-Florida Secretary 
FOPBC President
NFB-Jax Chapter Secretary 
bluegolfshoes at aol.com 
904-777-5976 / 904-229-9554


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