[gui-talk] Article: Tablet app brings new touch to Braille, technology News from CNET, October 12, 2011

[Humberto Avila]

thought this might be of interest to some.
 
link:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20118728-1/tablet-app-brings-new-touch-t
o-braille/?part=rss
<http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20118728-1/tablet-app-brings-new-touch-
to-braille/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20>
&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
 
Text: A new way for the blind to type on a tablet could change everything.
 
(Credit: Stanford University) Software developed during a summer course at
Stanford University could one day radically shift the way the visually
impaired use modern tablets, potentially removing the need for a wireless
Braille display. 
 
Adam Duran, a senior at New Mexico State University, has developed a
stunning way for blind people to type on tablets. Duran created the
touch-screen Braille writer software with Adrian Lew, a Stanford assistant
professor of mechanical engineering, and Sohan Dharmaraja, a doctoral
candidate. 
 
It's all in the fingertips. The eight keys (similar to a standard Braille
keyboard) in the software do not have a predefined position, but rather work
with the location of the fingers. A user simply presses eight fingers
anywhere on the screen, and voila, the keys are automatically oriented to
that location. 
 
If there's a problem, users simply lift their fingers and put them down
again. As shown in the video below, typing is a breeze. Curiously missing is
the mention of haptic feedback (vibration), or voice support, but for a
first version this software is very encouraging. 
 

Traditional wireless Braille displays are often limited in design.
Dharmaraja noted that the software out of Stanford is much more adaptable to
a variety of situations, and "can accommodate users whose fingers are small
or large, those who type with fingers close together or far apart, even to
allow a user to type on a tablet hanging around the neck with hands opposed
as if playing a clarinet." 
 
 
This Android tablet for the blind costs a fortune, but is actually on the
low end of the pricing spectrum.
 
(Credit: LevelStar) We've covered a vibrating touch-screen Braille concept
previously, but an app like this could greatly shake up the ultra-expensive
Braille input device market. If inexpensive software allowing the visually
impaired to write on an iPad or an Android tablet matures, it could blow
away devices that cost thousands of dollars more. 
 
An upcoming Android-based Braille display device, for example, is projected
to cost "under $4,000." 
 
Currently, Apple's iOS offers much greater accessibility options than
Android. Apple's mobile OS (and OS X) natively offer VoiceOver, a highly
advanced screen reader that works with any app, and support double-tap,
drag, and flick gestures. iOS4 also supports 30 Bluetooth Braille displays
in more than 25 languages. 
 
Accessibility support in the regular builds of Android is surprisingly weak
(and unsurprisingly fragmented), especially for those who are visually
impaired. 
 
A better option for Android users is the $99 Mobile Accessibility app, which
offers a suite of apps and a web browser, and includes a screen reader
powered by Nuance. Motorola includes a screen reader named Voice Readouts
with its newer Android devices that does work well (and supports third-party
apps).
 
Further reading can be found at Accessible Android and AppleVis. 

 
 
 
                  --
Humberto Avila
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