3. 2.1 Slate and stylus
• What is a slate and stylus?
• A slate and stylus is to a Braille reader, what a
pen or pencil is to a print reader. Just as the
pen or pencil is designed to place a visible
mark on a piece of paper, the slate and stylus
is designed to punch (emboss) raised, tactile
bumps or dots onto a page.
4. • Since Braille is a very exact system--the dots in
the Braille cell must be precisely spaced--it
would not do to attempt to punch dots free-
hand onto a page.
• In order to hand-Braille accurately, there must
be a puncher (the stylus) which, when pressed
into the paper, will raise a tactile Braille dot,
and a guide (the slate) which will allow the
user to punch the dots into precise positions.
5. • The typical slate is made either of metal or
plastic. The most common type of slate, called
the pocket slate, is about the width of an
average piece of paper (8 1/2 inches wide)
and may be four or six lines of Braille high
(about 2 inches). It is hinged and opens like a
book so that the paper is sandwiched
between the two parts of the slate. The top
piece of the slate has small, evenly spaced
openings the precise size and shape of the
Braille cell. These are called windows.
6. • The bottom piece is solid with small
indentations for each dot so that the Braille
dots will be consistent in shape and size.
Again, slates come in different models to suit
different writing needs. There is a slate, for
example, especially designed to be used as a
guide for three-by-five note cards. All slates
will have a top and bottom guide as described.
Together, a slate and stylus weigh about two
ounces. Both are easily carried in a pocket or
purse.
7. Braille slate
• What is a slate?
• A slate is a guide for writing Braille.
Slates come in many different sizes.
The most commonly used slate is
about as wide as an average piece of
paper and is about two inches high.
• A slate is metal or plastic. It is hinged
so that it opens like a book. The
topside has rows of evenly spaced
openings or windows.
• Each window is the size of a Braille
cell. The bottom side is solid with
small indentations for Braille dots.
• The slate holds the paper in place
while the writer punches Braille dots
onto the paper with a stylus.
8. Loading the slate with Braille
paper
• 1. Place the slate in front of you with the windows on
top and the hinge on the left.
• 2. Holding the bottom edge (nearest to you), lift the
slate on its top edge so that the window side is facing
away from you.
• 3. Open the slate and place a sheet of Braille paper
between the two parts so that the edge is resting on
the desk. Slide the paper all the way against the
hinge.
• Hint: Opening the slate too far, bending the top past
fully open, will bend or break the slate so it cannot
9. • 4. Close the slate and return it to flat on the
desk with the window side up facing you.
• 5.Now open the slate again as you would a
book. Note that the paper is held in place by
four small pins at the four corners of the
bottom part of the slate. Lift and replace the
card precisely, using the holes as a guide.
10. What is a stylus?
• You use a stylus to punch the dots in the paper using
the slate as a guide. A stylus is about two inches
long.
• It has a 1/2 inch metal point for punching the dots
into the paper, and a 1-1/2 inch wooden handle with
a rounded knob at the end so it may be firmly and
comfortably held.
• Writing with the slate and stylus is the same to
Braille readers as writing with a pencil or pen is to
print readers.
• Just like a pencil or pen, a slate and stylus is easy to
carry with you and use wherever you go.
• The stylus must always be held straight up and
11. How to hold a stylus?
• The stylus is held with the blunt end down
and the knob end up. You press straight down
on the paper in your slate like a needle in a
sewing machine to create a Braille dot.
The stylus must always be held straight up and
down.
• Place the top of the stylus (knob end) against
the first section of the index or pointer finger
nearest the palm.
• Curl the tip of your finger around the knob
end of the stylus and support the sides with
12. Why should blind children learn to
use the slate and stylus?
• For all the same reasons that sighted children
learn to write with a pencil and pen.
• Think about it!!!
• Sighted children have had access to
computers for years. Yet computers have not
replaced the need for pencils and pens or the
need for handwriting instruction.
13. • The ability to take quick, legible notes with a
cheap, simple, portable device is important for
both print readers and Braille readers.
• A slate does not use batteries or an electric
outlet. It can be carried in a pocket. It is cheap
to replace and inexpensive enough that
several may be purchased at one time--just
like pens.
14. • The slate and stylus allows the Braille reader to write
down information he or she can immediately read
and review anywhere, anytime.
• A student may easily take a slate and stylus with him
or her on school or family trips, to summer camp,
Sunday school class, Scout meetings--anyplace a
pencil can go, a slate and stylus can go.
• Students may write classroom notes; take a
telephone message; take down names, addresses,
and telephone numbers;
• and write out all types of Braille labels and lists with
a slate and stylus.
15. How to write with slate and stylus
• Holding the stylus with your index finger and
thumb, lightly place the metal point into a
Braille cell window. Trace around the edges of
the window hole with the tip of the stylus.
• Feel the bumps as you trace the opening.
Can you feel six distinct positions in the cell?
• The six positions are numbered: Starting on
the first side 1, 2, 3; the second side 4, 5, 6.
•
16. • Holding the stylus as described, apply
pressure at dot 1--you will hear a little pop.
Continue making dots around the Braille cell
(2, 3, 4, 5, 6) to make a full Braille cell.
• Practice being precise while making the
following dots:
• 1. dot 1 6. dots 1, 3, 4, 5, 6
2. dot 2 6. dots 2, 4, 5, 6
3. dot 3
4. dots 1, 2
5. dots 1, 3, 5
17. • Writing in reverse. A person writing braille with a
slate and stylus must write from right to left and
must form the braille characters in reverse. The
raised dots appear on the back side of the paper.
When the paper is turned over, the dots face upward
and can be felt with the fingers.
• Using the stylus, make the letter a. Start with the last
window in the top row, punch a dot in the top right
corner of the cell, the number 4 position. This will
appear raised in the number 1 position when the
paper is turned over.
18. • Now move to the next window and make the
letter b by punching dots 4 and 5.
• The letter c is easy; it is the top two dots of
the cell.
• If you are writing words, skip a cell to leave a
space between the words.
• When you fill all rows in your slate, open the
slate, move the slate down the paper to
where there is no braille writing, close the
slate and begin writing again.
19.
20. How fast can a student write with
a slate and stylus?
• As fast as a sighted student can write notes
with a pen or pencil.
• Good instruction and daily practice are as
important for the Braille student as they are
for the sighted student.
• If the blind student is not keeping up and
complains that the slate is too slow, it is
probably due to inadequate instruction and/or
practice.
21. • Research says that, blind students able to
write a minimum of 15 to 20 words per
minute by the time they enter high school.
• This speed is based upon timed trials in which
the student writes out complete sentences
with correct spelling and punctuation.
• Obviously, as the author points out, much
faster speed can be obtained when using
note-taking shortcuts.
22. When should blind children learn
to use a slate and stylus?
• Many parents today have discovered that their blind
preschoolers can use the slate and stylus for the
same purpose that sighted preschoolers use a pencil
or other marker: to scribble.
• Just like a sighted child, a blind child may pretend
that his or her scribbles--the Braille dots--are words
or even pictures. This gives the child a positive
experience with the slate and stylus so that when
formal instruction begins she or he is comfortable
with the slate and eager to learn to write real words
with it.
24. • Experienced Braille readers read Braille at
speeds comparable to print readers--200 to
400 words per minute. Such Braille readers
say that the only limitation of Braille is that
there isnot enough material available.
25.
26. 2.2 Braille Writer
• Features
• Perkins Brailler comes in blue, grey
or green.
• Can emboss 25 lines with 42 cells on
11” x 8 ½ “ sheet of paper.
• Includes leather dust cover and
wooden eraser.
• Highly durable (known to last for
decades)
• Margin Guides can be moved right
and left to accommodate paper size
• Straightforward, easy to use, and
with fewer errors compared with
using a slate and stylus
28. PERKINS BRAILLER
The Parts of the Perkins Brailler
How to Load Paper Into the Perkins Brailler
Using the Perkins Brailler
29.
30.
31.
32. Inserting Paper
Turn paper feed knobs
all the way from you
until they will not turn
any more.
Pull paper release lever
toward you.
33. • Slide paper horizontally
over the top of the paper
support bar and stripper
plate, and under
embossing head and
grooved roller.
• Be sure left edge of paper
goes under paper guide
roller.
34. • Push paper release lever
away from you to clamp
paper into place.
• Roll paper feed knobs
toward you until all paper
is inside Perkins Brailler
and knobs will no longer
turn.
• Press line spacer key
once to set paper in
place.
35. The Perkins Brailler is now ready.
• Braille letters are made by
pressing the appropriate
keys for each letter.
• Example: The letter ‘d’ is
made of the dots 1, 4 & 5
so all three of those keys
need to be pressed
simultaneously.
36. Specifications
• Weight: 10.6 lb (4.8 kg)
• Paper size maximum: 11.5 x 14 in (29.2 x 35.6 cm)
• Bell: Audible bell sounds 7 spaces before end of line
• Braille produced by the Perkins Brailler conforms to the
American National Library Service for the Blind Size and
Spacing Standard.
38. Types of Braille Writers • 1. This four-line, twenty-eight-cell aluminum
slate is nice and compact, which means it
can easily fit into a purse or backpack so you
can take down notes or memos anywhere
you go. But you'll use it most often for
writing letters, reports, or anything else
you'd want to Braille on a regular 8.5" by
11" sheet of paper.
• 2. Made of lightweight, durable plastic.
Pins: On Bottom.
Writing Area: 4 lines, 28 cells.
Writes on standard letter-size paper.
Comes with a durable Classic Stylus.
• This is definitely the fastest way to use a slate to write
lots of Braille! Here is a 25-line, 28-cell full-page slate,
which means you simply snap your sheet of paper in -
and write to your heart's content until it's full ... No
more moving the slate down every few lines.
1
2
3
4
40. Screen Access Software
• In order to gain full and independent access to the
PC, a blind student must have a screen access
program installed on the PC.
• The screen access program provides spoken,
synthesized speech output, using the PC’s
soundboard and loudspeakers or headphones.
• As the individual enters data on the keyboard or
navigates the Windows operating system or a
program, the screen access program announces the
text, which is displayed on the screen. In addition to
reading the literal text, the program provides
important contextual information, which is necessary
to navigate.
41. • For example, pressing the “Start” key will
result in “Start, Menu” spoken by the screen
access program. This tells the user that the
word “start” is highlighted and that the
computer has displayed a menu. A menu is
navigated with the up and down arrow keys
only. Pressing other keys will result in either
nothing being announced, or performing an
unintentional function.
• (JAWS from Freedom Scientific and Window-Eyes from GW
Micro are both well-established programs. It is safe to say
that the screen access program is the most fundamentally
important access technology that a blind student is likely to
use.)
42. Braille Embosser
• A Braille embosser, also referred to as a
Braille printer, is a piece of very specialized
computer hardware. The embosser allows
Braille files that have been created on the PC
to be produced in hard copy for child to read.
• Embossers in this price and performance class
are either single-sided or interpoint.
Interpoint embossers create Braille on both
sides of a sheet of Braille paper while single-
sided models produce Braille on just one face
of the page, as the name suggests.
43. Braille Translation Software
• The fastest Braille embosser available cannot
produce even one dot of material unless a
Braille translation program is installed on the
computer. Three titles are most prevalent
today: the Duxbury Braille Translator,
Braille2000, and MegaDots.
44. Duxbury Braille Translator
• The Duxbury Braille Translator, or DBT, is a Windows program.
As such, it will remind you of a word processor or the
WordPad feature of Windows. As with a word processor, you
can enter text directly from the keyboard, creating your own
documents for Braille production as you would create a new
document for print reproduction.
• We can also import files from existing sources, again as with a
word processor. The range of files that can be imported is
quite wide and includes common formats such as Microsoft
Word, ASCII text, WordPerfect, and HTML (Web pages). Some
important file formats are not supported directly, most
significantly PDF files.
45. Braille2000
• Braille2000 is a Braille translation package
which is fully compatible with ED-IT PC, the
transcriber tool which preceded Braille2000,
and is able to read and write .abt files. It is
also XML aware: you can read and write Braille
XML files as well as translate XML print text
into Braille. Braille2000 works with Windows
95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows
2000, Windows XP, and Windows VISTA.
46. Notetaker
• Perhaps no single piece of specialized technology
intended for use by blind students attracts more
attention than notetakers, also called Braille
notetakers. First introduced by Blazie Engineering in
the mid-1980’s, these easy-to-use personal
organizers allow a person knowledgeable in Braille to
create documents, read text, keep addresses and
appointments, access a list of special utilities, and to
do so almost a decade before the sighted found
similar convenience in the Palm Pilot and Pocket PC.
47. • FEATURES OF NOTE TAKERS
• It has some distinguishing characteristics that set notetakers
apart from PCs.
• Notetakers offer immediate access to information without
boot-up time.
• Notetakers use the Windows Mobile or CE, or a related
mobile operating system rather than Windows XP or Vista,
which operates on the conventional PC.
• Notetakers offer at least some specialized programs and
functions that address the specific needs of the blind.
• Notetakers typically offer Braille functionality and, in the case
of those with a Braille keyboard, can be operated with Braille
input exclusively.
48. • FUCTIONS OF NOTE TAKERS
• The range of functions which a notetaker of today can support
the first generation of the Blazie products.
• In addition to full word processing (including MS Word
support) the devices will hold almost limitless contacts,
support e-mail, Web browsing, audio file playback (including
realtime streaming from the net), global positioning system
technology (GPS) for navigation and orientation as you travel,
and a host of other features.
• PacMate Omni also gives access to PDF and PowerPoint.
• Many notetakers can read DAISY books and RFB&D books with
proper authorization. All can read Audible books with proper
authorization, with the exception of the BrailleNote family.
• Notetakers can also print directly to a Braille embosser or be
connected to a conventional printer for text output.
49. Refreshable Braille Display
• There are also dedicated refreshable Braille hardware devices
which can be connected to a desktop or laptop computer to
provide Braille output for the print text on the computer
screen. Called refreshable Braille displays, these devices allow
the user to interact with his/her computer using Braille.
• They are called refreshable because the unit is made up of a
line of pins that move up and down to display the Braille dots.
Braille displays also have navigation keys so the user can move
around the computer screen without taking his/her hands
from the display to perform tasks. It is important to note that
screen access software such as JAWS, Window-Eyes, or similar
programs must be present in order for the Braille display to
function on a computer using the Windows operating system.
50. Scanner and Optical Character
Recognition (OCR)
• Flatbed scanners are common hardware devices that can be
found anyplace that sells computer equipment. They are
commonly used to scan photos into electronic files on a PC.
However, they can also be used to scan text material. When
used in conjunction with a specialized optical character
recognition (OCR) program for the blind, the scanned text can
be read aloud immediately in synthesized speech. This makes
virtually any typed print material accessible to the blind user.
• Many kinds of documents can be read, but not all.
Handwriting can not be recognized yet, and some formats are
difficult to render with speech, such as complex tables or
graphical information
51. • Scanning large books takes many hours, and for the
student this may be using valuable time which could
be spent learning the subject matter rather than
placing page after page on a scanner. Time can be
saved by scanning only the pages needed to
complete assignments instead of an entire book.
• Two popular OCR programs for blind users are Kurzweil 1000
and OpenBook. Both of these programs come with speech
output and can read documents aloud as they are scanned by
the scanner. The Kurzweil and OpenBook programs offer many
features including editing, book marking. and even adding
notes to documents. Other files may be opened and edited
including some PDF and HTM files. These programs also have
options to save files for future use and translation to Braille.
It’s also possible to create MP3 audio files, and to open DAISY
files.
52. • For those who want a portable solution for OCR,
ABIsee’s Eye-Pal and the knfbReader Mobile can be
a good solution. The knfbReader Mobile hosts the
OCR software on a Nokia N82 cell phone, making it
perfect for on the go use. Handouts at a meeting,
labels on products, menus, all of these are easily
accessed with the knfb Reader Mobile.
• The Eye-Pal, on the other hand, is more appropriate for book
scanning, and requires a laptop or PC, as well as the Eye-Pal
camera. The camera, which incorporates a folding stand, and
works with any computer that has the software installed. It
does not have the powerful editing features of Kurzweil 1000
or OpenBook, but has outstanding book scanning speeds.
53. Portable DAISY players
• Portable DAISY players provide access to
books with navigation, allowing the reader to
skip to page, chapter, or section headers.
Many of these players also provide other
features, such as music storage, voice
recording, and podcast support.
