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Electronic Brailler LLC Manufacturers of the Cosmo Braille Writer and "BERT" Braille Education Remote Tool  Now as never before a blind student using a Braille Writer in the classroom can be as quiet as a sighted student writing with a pencil on paper. The non disruptive patent pending Cosmo Braille Writer is a classroom-friendly Braille writer and quiet embosser. The Cosmo Braille Writer is easy for children and adults to use, economical to run and easily maintained. For the first time in the history of Braille; Braille can be taught over the internet. BERT is a revolutionary new tool that enables both the teacher and student to communicate by voice and keyboard in real time during a remote teaching session. Any keys depressed by the student on the BERT Braille keyboard will be immediately recognized by the teacher either on their Braille display or for sighted teachers on their computer screen. BERT enables real time interactive communication between teacher and student, creating a "side by side" mode of working together.

Electronic Brailler LLC Manufacturers of the Cosmo Braille Writer and "BERT" Braille Education Remote Tool  Now as never before a blind student using a Braille Writer in the classroom can be as quiet as a sighted student writing with a pencil on paper. The non disruptive patent pending Cosmo Braille Writer is a classroom-friendly Braille writer and quiet embosser. The Cosmo Braille Writer is easy for children and adults to use, economical to run and easily maintained. For the first time in the history of Braille; Braille can be taught over the internet. BERT is a revolutionary new tool that enables both the teacher and student to communicate by voice and keyboard in real time during a remote teaching session. Any keys depressed by the student on the BERT Braille keyboard will be immediately recognized by the teacher either on their Braille display or for sighted teachers on their computer screen. BERT enables real time interactive communication between teacher and student, creating a "side by side" mode of working together.

Click here to download the registration form for this event (DOC) Untangling the Dots  September 23-24, 2010 MSDB campus - Great Falls Topics this year include: Direct observations of braille students reading and writing braille at MSDB Pre-braille for the young learner Pre-braille for the adventitiously blind or MIVI student Formatting using Literary braille and the Perkins braille writer Transcribing and the use of Technology Functional Braille Creating Efficient braille readers Complex braille issues Review of the Braille Bill Concept Development The Use of Braille Curricula Please return form by September 13, 2010 to: Kerri Norick 145 N. Pheasant Dr. Bozeman, MT 59718 or knorick@msdb.mt.gov

Sponsored by Onkyo Corporation and The Braille Mainichi The submission deadline for this contest is April 30, 2010.  The Onkyo Braille essay contest is being administered by the National Federation of the Blind on behalf of the North America-Caribbean Region of the World Blind Union. Essays must be written by contest participants, in English or their native language, in Braille, and must be completely original in nature. Entries should be no fewer than 800 words and no more than 1,000 words in length. There will be two groups of competitors—one Junior group, aged 25 and under; and one Senior group, aged 26 and up and prizes range from $500-$2,000.

Click here to register for this webinar -- $39 What: This session is a thorough examination of the current technology used by people who are blind or visually impaired to access electronic information. Most of these individuals can use their computers effectively by using screen magnification software. Those with very low or no vision can use screen reading software. Braille literate folks use Braille translation software, Braille displays, Braille embossers, and Braille graphics products. We will trace the recent evolution of this technology and the implications for today’s young students, college students, working adults, and seniors. When: Wednesday, September 22, 2011 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Mountain Time Presenter: William J. Bielawski III, Life Enhancement / Job Coach, The Chicago Lighthouse for People who are Blind or Visually Impaired Full Abstract – Including speaker biography and learning points

Click here to register for this webinar -- $39 What: This session is a thorough examination of the current technology used by people who are blind or visually impaired to access electronic information. Most of these individuals can use their computers effectively by using screen magnification software. Those with very low or no vision can use screen reading software. Braille literate folks use Braille translation software, Braille displays, Braille embossers, and Braille graphics products. We will trace the recent evolution of this technology and the implications for today’s young students, college students, working adults, and seniors. When: Wednesday, August 24, 2011 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Mountain Time Presenter: William J. Bielawski III, Life Enhancement / Job Coach, The Chicago Lighthouse for People who are Blind or Visually Impaired Full Abstract – Including speaker biography and learning points

The National Braille Press has released iOS Success: Making the iPad Accessible to help students who are blind to maximize their use of the popular Apple tablet that's playing an increasing role in education The book, NBP's sixth guide to iOS devices, provides step-by-step instructions for iPad setup (including all accessibility features), using VoiceOver and Zoom, connecting to external devices such as braille displays, find and download apps, and use services such as Dropbox. NBP has done a remarkable job enabling persons who are blind or visually impaired to orient themselves on and learn to use iOS devices -- keeping them current and on the same page as their sighted classmates.

Soniya Patel's 3-year-old daughter loves getting a book in the mail each month. It comes from the Dollywood Foundation's Imagination Library, which sends free books each month to hundreds of thousands of children. But Patel is blind, so reading new books to her daughter isn't so simple. Patel has the book read aloud to her, and she transcribes the text on her Braille typewriter — and then she can read the new book to her daughter.

For most blind computer users, surfing the internet or catching up on e-mail means reading just one line at a time, because commercially available braille displays can’t show full pages of text. Researchers from North Carolina State University now say they have devised a display that would allow visually challenged users to read a full page at a time — and at a much lower cost than existing displays.

Braille Institute is proud to introduce ViA (Visually Impaired Apps), a fully accessible app for iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad.  ViA has been designed to help identify apps that are useful for adults and children who are blind or have low vision, including those with additional disabilities.  Users can easily sort through the 500,000+ apps in the App Store and locate those that were built specifically for, or provide functionality to, the user with a visual impairment.

Lime Lighter, which produces a readable digital score for people with low vision, and Goodfeel, a music notes-to-Braille translator, are being used in music schools across the world after being tested at Filomen M. D’Agostino Greenberg Music School in Manhattan.

A storied institution for the blind is promoting and expanding its online resources for educators across the country who teach students who have visual impairments—a move that coincides with a U.S. Department of Education directive that Braille instruction should be the default literacy medium for blind students. The 184-year-old Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass., which educated both deaf-blind activist and author Helen Keller and her instructor Anne Sullivan, is looking to increase use of Perkins eLearning, a collection of nearly 100 webinars, tutorials, and seminars.

Library of Congress Braille and Talking-Book Program Releases Book Download App through Apple People who are blind, visually impaired or have a physical disability may now download audio and braille books to their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, if they are registered with the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) in the Library of Congress.

Even as a youngster, Anthony Vasquez exhibited a probing curiosity and a pulsing energy to seek out new experiences. That drive continued when he entered Cal State Long Beach and decided that learning Chinese would be a worthy challenge. On Thursday, he will be honored as the outstanding graduate in the College of Liberal Arts, a recognition of a cumulative grade point average of 3.895 while earning bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Chinese studies. But for his family, friends and teachers, the honor and academic achievements have special meaning because Vasquez is blind. He used Braille and specialized computer software to learn Chinese and now speaks Mandarin as well as Spanish and English.

What: The print, bound book is an educational barrier for many students with print disabilities. Because these students cannot read a print book, they require books in alternative formats such as DAISY and BRF (digital Braille). Books in accessible digital formats can remove the barriers and provide access to the general curriculum. In this webinar, you will learn about digital accessible books and how to get digital textbooks from the NIMAC (National Instructional Materials Accessibility Center). You'll also learn the services and benefits Bookshare offers to educators and qualified students.

As the Technology Coach for Educational Vision Services, the program in the NYC Department of Education that serves students in our school system with visual impairments, I have been looking for a way to provide students with low-vision access to large print using the iPad. Our students are registered with Bookshare.org but it has been a stumbling block converting the DAISY formatted books into the epub format that can be read on the iPad. While there are numerous options for our students who are auditory or Braille readers, there has been a large disconnect in taking advantage of technology for our students who require large print and alternate contrast for visual reading.