It was my great honour to have been asked to speak earlier today at the launch of “Braille On Display Third Edition”.
#Braille is the most priceless, life-changing gift blind people have ever been given. It was invented by one of us, for all of us. Despite some predictions when talking computers came on the scene that Braille would be rendered obsolete, technology has made Braille more relevant and abundant than ever.
There’s no getting away from it, hardcopy Braille books are bulky. But with a Braille display that connects to a smartphone or contains its own storage, we can have hundreds of volumes of Braille at our fingertips.
The cost of manufacture of Braille displays must be spread across a small number of units, so they are expensive, even though their price in real terms has declined significantly. During my time in the Braille product management field, the thing I am proudest of is delivering on two separate 40% reductions in the cost of refreshable Braille display technology.
If you’re going to buy a Braille display, or you have been allocated funding for one, naturally you want to make sure you’re getting the one that will best meet your needs. Finding objective information about all the choices out there is very difficult. Some agencies recommend what they know, and, understandably, distributors recommend what they distribute.
When I ran Mosen Consulting, I was proud and honoured to publish two editions of Jackie Brown’s book, “Braille On Display”. Now, it’s back for a third edition, and it is available free from the Braillists Foundation.
This book begins with the basic concepts and not only covers Braille displays, but Braille-only input devices as well. The Braille display market is vibrant, with plenty of competition and innovation occurring. The line between Braille displays that only function in terminal mode and the more fully-fledged notetaker is blurring, and that means there is more functionality available to the user at a lower price. Then there is the new category of multiline devices that can display tactile graphics.
With Jackie around to cover it all, we are in good hands to ensure that our hands are on the display that suits us best.
So, pick up your free copy of “Braille On Display” today, and read objective evaluations of a wide range of Braille devices.
braillists.org/brailleondispla…

Sincere thanks and appreciation to Jackie for the huge effort she has put into this, and to the Braillists Foundation for being such epic Braille champions.