Dear Erika,
Thanks for your interest to read than exaggerated bionic eye.
Read below plus URL at the end, happy reading. Peter
Health & Wellness
Can braille survive in a smartphone world?
by Mary Alex Bernard, Posted: August 30, 2018
Can braille survive in a smartphone world?
SCARLETT KUANG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
On a recent morning, six visually impaired people gathered in a building on
Walnut Street, huddled over their iPhones, waiting for Andrew Godwin's
intermediate technology class to begin. The day's lesson? Creating and
finding contacts in your cell phone.
At the Associated Services for the Blind (ASB) in Center City, people who
are blind and visually impaired can learn the skills they need to survive
and thrive in today's digital-first society.
The nonprofit also offers classes to teach people with low vision how to
read braille. For decades, ASB has been one of the largest producers of
braille in the United States, creating versions of everything from books for
the Library of Congress, to manuals for Comcast products such as your cable
box or wireless internet router.
But the number of braille readers has decreased significantly in the last 50
years.
In 1960, half of all legally blind children in the U.S. were able to read
braille, according to a report by the American Foundation for the Blind.
Today, fewer than one in 10 blind people possesses the skill.
The number of fluent readers has plummeted for a variety of reasons: a
shortage of teachers, decreased emphasis on teaching braille to low-vision
individuals, and the rise of assistive technology.
"Technology offers the opportunity for those that are blind or visually
impaired to live independently," said Godwin, 46.
To demonstrate, Godwin opened an app, SeeingAI, on his iPhone 5S and turned
the camera to face himself.
The phone described aloud what it saw: "56-year-old male with dark hair,
looking happy."
Godwin laughed. "56?!" he said.
The app isn't perfect - but it is helpful. Users can program it to recognize
faces - simply by holding up the camera, they can find out who is in the
room without having to ask.
Godwin, who is blind due to a rare inherited eye disease that affects the
retinas, began teaching at ASB two years ago. He hosts group classes on cell
phone usage as well as one-on-one computer lessons. He tailors the courses
to the specific needs of his students, such as a recently blinded author who
wishes to continue his career using assistive technology.
Audiobooks and screen readers - programs that convert on-screen text into
audible speech - make reading more rapid for individuals such as Godwin, who
are used to relying on hearing and can understand speech at a speed that far
exceeds a normal speaking pace.
But the new technology is not embraced by all.
For Lavera Diggins, 87, who lost her sight at 18 and says the loss was "like
death," reading braille allowed her to find independence. After learning to
read braille at ASB, she became a volunteer teacher.
She creates braille labels for her clothing, cans, and cassettes at home to
be able to identify the products on her own.
Diggins doesn't expect to pick up the newest technology because of her age,
but with braille, "once you have it, you can use it."
Without the ability to read braille, visually impaired people must take in
all information by listening. But with the raised-dot braille system felt by
the fingertips, they can process data at their own pace.
"It's one thing to receive information passively as you're listening, but
when you're bringing it in and interpreting it, it's much more of an active
way of engagement," said Tony Stephens, director of advocacy and
governmental affairs of the American Council of the Blind.
Stephens was born with low vision and became completely blind at age 15. It
took him two years to learn to read braille. In recent years, he's been
using braille more. Technology, apart from offering an alternative to
braille, also makes access to braille easier.
Refreshable braille displays, tablets that can be programmed with different
braille texts, are becoming more affordable and widespread. People who shied
away from braille in the past because of inconvenience - a Harry Potter
novel in braille would fill an entire bookshelf - can now carry a novel in
one hand.
"Technology has made huge achievement in access to information, but at the
core there is still the fundamental need for literacy," Stephens said.
Monica Heap, a sighted braille instructor who retired a few months ago,
taught hundreds of students over her 34 years at ASB and believes the skill
is crucial for visually impaired people.
"Braille is like a paper and a pencil," said Heap, 65, of Lindenwold. "What
do you do when all of a sudden you don't have access to the internet?"
Godwin doesn't read braille other than on short labels and notes around his
house and, as a result, he "can't spell for beans."
But his son, Andrew, who was born with the same eye disease, is an avid
braille reader and would be devastated if braille books were no longer
produced. As an aspiring engineer, the 9-year-old finds it important to be
able to read design plans and diagrams independently.
"Braille will never go away," Godwin said. "It will forever be relevant, I
believe, just for literary purposes."
Still, in Godwin's classes, a future without braille doesn't seem
impossible.
On that particular July morning, cell phones spoke quiet commands to their
users as they navigated them easily. Godwin sent a text to his wife using
Apple's talk-to-text feature, listened as his emails were dictated, and used
an app to read aloud a printed document in front of him.
Together, Godwin and his students worked through the technological hang-ups
the class encountered since they last saw each other.
"I love learning with you guys," Godwin said. "There's never a class of
students that doesn't make my brain work hard."
Posted: August 30, 2018 - 5:00 AM
Mary Alex Bernard | mbernard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
URL:
http://www2.philly.com/philly/health/can-braille-survive-in-a-smartphone-wor
ld-20180830.html
-----Original Message-----
From: dbaust-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:dbaust-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Erika Webb (Redacted sender "erikaweb" for DMARC)
Sent: Sunday, 2 September 2018 11:22 AM
To: dbaust@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [dbaust] Re: Can braille survive in a smartphone world?
Peter, this message was Blank.
Sent from Erika's iPhone
On 2 Sep 2018, at 9:19 am, Peter Tarrant <tarrp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:the GO button.
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