Hello Jonathan, Thank you for your thought-provoking post in answer to Joe's question regarding Braille output and IOS. I currently have a BrailleNote Apex notetaker, and I have also been thinking about purchasing one of the tiny displays that will work in conjunction with i devices such as the Focus 14 and the Braille pen. i am looking forward to the upcoming NFB convention in Orlando to do some exploring. I work quite a bit out in the field, and it would be great to send tweets or Facebook posts without having to first use my blue tooth headset or ear buds. However, I am concerned that I won't be able to be as productive as I would like by simply using the Braille display in conjunction with my iPhone and iPad because of the less than stellar input. However the thought of having such a small display that I can use absolutely anywhere is intriguing to me. So, I agree that we need to make our concerns known to Apple,and I wonder if there will be opportunities to do so during the upcoming NFB and ACB conventions?
On Saturday, June 20, 2015 at 12:31:43 AM UTC-5, Jonathan Mosen wrote: > > Hi Joe, I want to address your question about Braille input in iOS. In my > view it is not fit for purpose. I don't know what it is about Braille input > Apple doesn't get, whether the blind people they consult with about these > things aren't Braille users, or what the deal is. They have the financial > and technical resources to fix the issues if they were of a mind to, but > sadly it appears we are going to see another major release of iOS without > appropriately robust Braille input being available. > As you know, some manufacturers have chosen to do Apple's work for them, > and work around the woeful Braille input in iOS by keeping text in a > buffer, then sending it to iOS all at once. I guess this is a pragmatic > response, but it also let's Apple off the hook. Apple is a mainstream > technology company, but they have also made the choice to be a screen > reader company, and I don't believe they should be held to any lesser > standard than any other screen reader company. > They are receiving awards and praise and I don't begrudge them any of it. > It is well deserved. But those of us who are passionate about not just the > spread of Braille, but the very survival of Braille, need to stand up and > be counted. > There's no doubt that notetaker products can no longer keep up with the > phrenetic pace of technology, if they ever really could. So just in terms > of the range of things that can be done, getting an iThing is probably a > better bet than a notetaker. And some adults may well be confident enough > in their Braille skills to work around the shortcomings in Apple's Braille > input. > What really concerns me though is the kids, and in this case I believe > notetakers will have a place unless and until Apple get it together when it > comes to Braille input. > I am pasting below a blog post I wrote a couple of years ago called "The > Apple Braille Crisis, it's got to be fixed for the kids". While some minor > changes were made in iOS 8, it is mostly still relevant. Here it is. > > People from all walks of life, not just blind people, can get extremely > partisan about their technology preferences. Anything their team does is > unquestionably wonderful, while anything another company does is rubbish, > simply by virtue of the fact that it’s the other guys who did it. If you > criticise the company such people support, you’ve committed heresy. > > As blind people, I don’t believe we have the luxury of being so childish. > Unemployment is high. Misconceptions abound regarding how capable we can be > in the workplace, and in society as a whole. We need to be open to all > solutions, and where possible, use the best mix of technology we can to be > as productive, functional and self-reliant as we can. > > To be clear, I have enormous admiration for the way Apple has changed the > game in assistive technology. When they released VoiceOver in 2009, I was > concerned that Apple might do just enough to get people off its back > regarding the inaccessibility of the iPhone. But that has not been the > case. With every release, Apple has added tangible enhancements such as > alternative forms of input, innovative ways for us to use the camera, and > so much more. So Apple’s commitment to accessibility is real, its ongoing, > and it has earned enormous praise and respect. > > Is there a “but” coming? Yes, there is, actually., because being grateful > for a product doesn’t mean we don’t have rights as paying consumers to > point out where a product falls short. But more than that, if Apple’s > innovations risk killing off a category of product, and the literacy of our > kids is threatened, we have a moral obligation to speak up constructively > and ask Apple to engage with us as a community about fixing the issue. > > The Internet is buzzing with reports of bugs in iOS 7. I’m not unduly > concerned about most of these, because I believe the majority of them will > come out in the wash. iOS 7 was a massive refactoring of the OS. I hope > that there’ll be fixes released steadily across the coming year. > > However, I am deeply troubled by Apple’s ongoing apparent failure to > understand what constitutes Braille support of an appropriate quality. > We’re not talking bugs in this case, we’re talking a fundamental user > interface failure – a feature not fully fit for purpose. > > Since Braille was introduced in iOS, it has supported contracted Braille > in English markets. This is a means by which space is saved, and speed > increased, by using a series of symbols and abbreviations. When one reads > contracted Braille in iOS, it works quite well. When one writes it, it is > the worst implementation of contracted input I’ve ever used on any device. > > Since its inception, if you input a letter in contracted Braille which > would be the abbreviation for a word if surrounded by spaces, iOS expands > the word it represents if you pause for a short time before inputting the > next character. For example, write “p” and it will quickly be expanded to > the word “people”. If you are proofing a document you’ve brailled and wish > to insert a letter in the middle of a word, you must preface the letter > with a letter sign, dots 5-6, to prevent it from being expanded. This is > not in accordance with the Braille code and is simply wrong. > > Apple must surely know about this poor implementation. It’s been talked > about in many forums, including an excellent presentation by Judy Dixon at > the CSUN Technology Conference on Persons with Disabilities. I, and I’m > sure others, have also raised it. > > It’s also evident that Apple knows about the issues, because to its > credit, it appears to at least have made an effort to try and fix the > problem in iOS 7. It now offers an “Automatic Braille Translation” toggle. > This feature is so below par compared with most of the design of all other > VoiceOver features, that it must surely be the case that Apple is getting > no advice, or poor advice, from anyone actually using Braille in their > daily life. > > When you toggle “Automatic Braille Translation” off, you can take as long > as you wish when inputting characters, and they’re not back-translated. > Isn’t that what we want? Well yes, it would appear to be a step in the > right direction. Except when you use it, you find that Braille is not > readable on the display until you either press the space bar, or dots > 4-5-cord. Why Apple believes this is acceptable, I have no idea. Can you > imagine a sighted person finding it acceptable in any other scenario other > than password entry, to not be able to look at what they’re entering until > they press “Space”? > > But it’s worse than that. If you backspace over what you’ve typed, you run > into back-translation issues similar to those experienced when automatic > translation is set to on. > > Additionally, having to press dots 4-5-cord after inserting a letter in > the middle of a word is counterintuitive, and again, an implementation far > more primitive than anything else that offers contracted input. Apple seems > to have implemented a pretty crude buffer, that is simply dumped when you > type one of two commands to empty it. That is not a solution. > > The Braille implementation in iOS does not meet the “it’s intuitive and it > just works” test that has been the hallmark of Apple products including > VoiceOver. > > Now if it were just about us as Braille reading adults, I wouldn’t bother > writing this post. It would get on my nerves, but I’d continue to work > around it and just put it down to a bizarre, less than optimal > implementation. I’m not writing this for me. I’m not asking blind people, > and the world’s consumer organisations, to come together on this for me or > people like me. I’m writing this for the kids. It’s the kids who matter. > > If you’re a Braille user, you’ll have seen the implementation of Nemeth in > iOS 7. It’s there because Apple’s going after the education market, > particularly in the US. Good for Apple. I can see enormous benefit in a kid > being given an iPad and a Braille display for use at home and in school. > Don’t underestimate how mainstream tech can be a great way to help blind > kids blend in with sighted kids. Parents feel more empowered, because the > iPad is technology they know and understand, so when the child gets in > trouble at home, they can help out. Classroom teachers in mainstream > schools know what an iPad is as well and feel similarly empowered. > > But all of these benefits have to be secondary considerations to the one > that matters above all else, – equipping our kids with good Braille > literacy skills. Braille is their ticket to higher education. Braille > offers a greater chance of gainful employment. Braille is absolutely > critical, and Braille is not to be trifled with. Half-baked Braille > solutions are not appropriate for our kids when there’s a crisis in getting > Braille instruction to them already. > > We should not expect our kids to have to learn to work-around Apple’s poor > implementation, we should expect Apple to fix its Braille. > > For the last 20 years or so, blind kids have increasingly used proprietary > notetaker technology. I’ve no problem whatsoever with technology moving on, > and a category of product becoming obsolete. I love the idea of investing > in a good Braille display that will last you for years, and upgrading the > technology that drives the display on a more regular basis. But that > technology has to do the Braille properly. > > There are cost savings to be made by cash-strapped agencies who purchase > equipment for blind children, and that’s also why I’m writing this post. I > can see bean-counters concluding that the combination of an iPad and a > Braille display is a good solution for kids now. Many of these purchasers > are not Braille users themselves, and I believe we have a duty of care to > our kids to spread the word that Apple is not there yet. It is trying, and > should be applauded for doing so, but still, it’s not there. > > You will remember the huge backlash caused by the initial release of Apple > Maps in iOS 6. In terms of fitness for purpose, Apple Maps was far superior > at release than Braille is now. The only difference is that Braille affects > a tiny fraction of Apple’s user-base, not hundreds of millions of people. > > Lest anyone think I’m whining without a solution, I actually know a lot > about this subject, having worked as a product manager with a range of > products that use contracted Braille. I have a good feel for where Apple > has got it wrong and what it might do to fix it, while not of course being > familiar with the VoiceOver code. But I am absolutely confident that it’s > fixable. Let’s not forget, Apple invented a way for blind people to make > effective use of touch screens. Apple gave us unimagined access to taking > photos. It is certainly not beyond Apple to look at best practice and > figure this one out, because unlike some of the other things it’s done, the > solutions already exist. > > If this poor-quality support had been offered to us by an assistive > technology company, we’d have jumped all over it long before now. But given > that Apple develops screen readers, that makes it both a mainstream > technology company, and an assistive technology company. We should hold it > to no less a standard. > > Having outlined the problem, here’s what I think needs to happen. > > Typically, I’d suggest that Apple needs to engage with the community with > a view to fixing these issues for the sake of our kids, but that’s not > really been its style. It is secretive by nature. In that case then, it > needs to buy the expertise to make Braille truly viable in the education > market. > > As Braille readers, we need to politely articulate the problems to Apple, > and let Apple know we consider it important that they are fixed. > > Consumer organisations should do what they’ve done so many times before, > and focus on their unity when it comes to Braille issues. A broad-coalition > of consumers, educators and parents needs to ensure this issue is not > allowed to drop. > > And finally, no one in charge of any purse strings should consider it an > appropriate solution to give a kid an iPad in the classroom if they’re a > Braille user. If purchasers want to move away from the blindness notetaker, > and I get that, a laptop and Braille display is a far better solution in > terms of Braille reliability and consistency. > > I’ll be the first to cheer loudly, and sing Apple’s praises, if it fixes > its Braille. And I’ll continue to praise all it has done right, which I > often do in media interviews and blindness tech forums. But please, for the > sake of the kids, lets do what we need to do to advocate for good quality > Braille on Apple devices. We have a duty to the next generation to do no > less. > > I’ve done what I can as an individual to make Apple aware of these > failings, but clearly, we need to do more to help it gain an appreciation > of why this is so important. > > Jonathan Mosen > Mosen Consulting > Blindness technology eBooks, tutorials and training > http://Mosen.org > > On 20/06/2015, at 9:24 am, Joe <jsor...@gmail.com <javascript:>> wrote: > > Hi, I'm curious to hear from people who have replaced their Braille > notetaker with an iDevice. I've been toying with the idea of investing in a > U2 for reading books, taking notes and performing similar quick tasks. > > Questions: > > 1. I've heard there are displays that let you type text and then send to > the > iDevice in one burst. I don't understand the mechanics of this, but what > are > the displays you know that do this? > > 2. Is Braille input in iOS as dreadful as some people have made it out to > be? I don't mind learning various keystrokes, but I do mind delays in > transmition. > > 3. Is there a means to read BRF in iOS? > > 4. What 32-cell display would you personally recommend? > > Thanks guys for any help. > > Joe > > -- > Musings of a Work in Progress: > www.JoeOrozco.com/ > > Twitter: @ScribblingJoe > > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the viphone > list. All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you > have any questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you > feel that a member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or > moderators directly rather than posting on the list itself. 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