March 2011 – Blind Access Journal

CSUN: Braille 2000 and Accidental Accessibility

March 28, 2011 • Darrell Shandrow Hilliker

I had an enlightening conversation with Dr. Robert Stepp, where I learned that the Braille 2000 translation software for transcribers is accidentally accessible but not marketed for use by blind people. I think we ended on a positive note, and I hope many of you will find this an interesting look at how some small companies in our own field employ many of the same arguments as the mainstream technology industry to explain why they are not fully accessible.

Listen or Pause – Braille 2000

Download – Braille 2000

Categories: accessibility, Braille, CSUN, podcast

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CSUN: Zoom In and Read on the iPhone

March 25, 2011 • Darrell Shandrow Hilliker

Derek Bove from AI Squared described and demonstrated the company’s new ZoomReader app that can use the camera in the iPhone or iPod Touch 4 to magnify and read text using optical character recognition. While some totally-blind people with excellent camera skills may find this $20 app useful, it is marketed to those who have partial sight.

Download, Play or Pause – ZoomReader

Categories: CSUN, iPhone, podcast

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CSUN: Index Modernizes the Basic and Everest Braille Embossers

March 25, 2011 • Darrell Shandrow Hilliker

Index Braille CEO BjÃ¶rn LÃ¶fstedt told me all about the refresh of the company’s popular Basic and Everest Braille embossers. The updated features in the new hardware include front-panel status LEDs, multi-lingual speech for the user interface, network printing and USB connectivity.

Download, Play or Pause – Index Basic and Everest Modernized

Categories: Braille, CSUN, podcast

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CSUN: Braille and Print on the Same Page and Tactile Graphics

March 25, 2011 • Darrell Shandrow Hilliker

I spoke with Jason Castaneda from American Thermoform Corporation, who discussed and demonstrated the Braille and Print embosser and the Swell-Form tactile graphics machine.

Download, Play or Pause – Braille and Print and Tactile Graphics

Categories: Braille, CSUN, podcast

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CSUN: Churning Out the Dots at 800 Pages Per Hour on the Index Braille Box!

March 24, 2011 • Darrell Shandrow Hilliker

Just in case you’re thinking there’s nothing new and innovative in the field of hardcopy Braille production, Index Braille is here to turn heads with the new 800-pages-per-hour Braille Box! I spoke with BjÃ¶rn LÃ¶fstedt, Index Braille’s CEO, about this fast, quiet $13,000 Braille embosser that should find a home in many Braille production houses around the world.

Download, Play or Pause – Braille Box

Categories: Braille, CSUN, podcast

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