Product Evaluations: Can’t BrailleTouch This…or Can You? A Review of the BrailleTouch Prototype
By Rempel, John; Access World, Volume 13, Number 5Publication Date: May 2012
Product review evaluates BrailleTouch, defined as an eyes-free computer application that enables entering text in Braille using a touchscreen smartphone. BrailleTouch is designed to closely emulate the finger placement of Braille writers such as the Perkins Brailler and portable Braille notetakers. When the app is loaded onto a touchscreen smartphone, the entire touchscreen becomes a virtual Braille cell. The screen actually faces away from the user entering text. BrailleTouch can integrate with the Android operating system and override its virtual keyboard to allow text entry. However, because Apple’s iOS is not open source, the app will only function as a stand-alone on iOS devices including the iPod touch or iPhone. Although the app will audibly announce the letters being Brailled using these smartphones, it will not allow integration with any of the apps or features within the operating system of Apple devices. Overall, the reviewer contends that the value of BrailleTouch is that it allows users to quickly and efficiently enter text from almost anywhere at a moment’s notice rather than relying on a secondary device that must be carried along and synchronized with the mobile device. At the time the article was published, BrailleTouch was still a prototype which its inventors expected to make available as a free download to users by the summer of 2012.
Assistive Products Discussed: STANDARD PERKINS BRAILLER (MODEL 22-0001-2)
Published by: AFB Press (Website:http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=46)
American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) (Web Site: http://www.afb.org )
Link to text: http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pub.asp?DocID=aw130502
