Refreshable Braille and the Web

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Derek Featherstone interview at Webstock 2009

Derek Featherstone interview at webstock 2009

Forms: Dynamic Select Menu

Duration: 6 minutes and 42 seconds

Country: Australia

Language: English

License: CC - Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives

Genre: Documentary

Producer: Roger Hudson

Director: Roger Hudson

Views: 1,972 (1,774 embedded)

Posted by: webusability on May 22, 2009

Many people have not had the opportunity to see someone use a refreshable Braille device to access the web. I recently videoed Bruce Maguire describing how he uses the internet with a refreshable Braille display. He also demonstrates finding a book on the Amazon site. Transcript of video is available at http://www.dingoaccess.com/accessibility/refreshable-braille-and-the-web/

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TITLE: BRUCE TALKS ABOUT REFRESHABLE BRAILLE
BRUCE: I'm Bruce Maguire. I've been
using Braille all my life as
a blind person and
when I use the internet
and computers generally I prefer to work in Braille.
Mainly because it gives me a greater sense of engagement with the text
and the content, I can reflect on it, I can re-read it as much as I want
and I can put my own interpretation on what I am reading rather than having a synthetic
voice or even a human voice do it for me.
I also have a hearing impairment so it is easier for me to use
Braille rather than synthetic speech. In this little
demonstration today I will turn the synthetic speech
of my screen reader on so that you can hear what I am doing
as I navigate around the page. HANDS ON BRAILLE DEVICE
BRUCE: The refreshable Braille display, at the heart of it is
essentially a lot of pins that move up and down to form
the Braille characters in response to the impulses
that the computer sends them based on what's on the computer screen.
So under my fingers I can feel Australian Human Rights Commission,
and if I get the ... PRESSES KEYBOARD KEY
SCREEN READER: Heading level 1 link graphic, Australian
Human Rights Commission, heading level 1.
BRUCE: And the speech says effectively the same things.
The speech gives you a little more information in terms of;
it says it’s a heading. I can have my refreshable Braille
display give me the same information as well
Now as I use the arrow key I can move down the page to see what's there ...
SCREEN READER: Blank, same page link skip to content, alt plus 2.
Blank, search alt plus 5.
BRUCE: I can move quickly from one element of the page to another,
for example from one heading to another …
SCREEN READER: After 30 years PML finally in "colon" a great first step, heading level 3 link.
About the Australian Human Rights Commission, heading level 2.
KEY PRESS - SCREEN READER: General information, heading level 2,
BRUCE: And, in each case, I'm feeling under my fingers
the same text as what is being announced by the speech synthesizer,
so I can turn the synthesizer off which is what I normally do
and just use the Braille to navigate around.
Braille in some ways; in some areas is faster
and more efficient to use than synthetic speech for navigating web pages,
and in some cases it's a little slower particularly
if you want to read long documents,
because the Braille display gives you 32 characters at a time.
So that, when you've read the first
chunk of 32 characters you have to press one
of the keys on the Braille display to read the next
chunk of 32 characters. THUMB PRESS LINE REFRESH KEY
So, I am on a line here which says;
SCREEN READER: Working towards an Australian society where human rights
are for everyone, everywhere, every day. FINGERS ON BRAILLE DISPLAY
BRUCE: Now, so that's the text of this particular line
on the page. Under my fingers on the Braille Display I can read,
"Working towards an Australian …" And I have to then press
a key to go to the next chunk which is
"society where human rights are … THUMB PRESS REFRESH KEY
"for everyone, everywhere, every day."
BRUCE SITTING AT DESK. BRUCE: I use the internet
for many purposes including online grocery shopping,
browsing book and music stores. As a blind person
one of the things that I found most frustrating
over the years is that I can't just walk into a shop and browse the aisles
and as I am an avid book collector that's been a particularly
difficult thing to adjust to
but when the internet developed and we have online stores such as
Amazon and Barnes and Noble and in Australia Fishpond
being able to browse and buy online has been a great thing.
I also use the internet for work related purposes,
accessing government information, accessing disability related websites.
TITLE: SHOPPING ONLINE. - BRUCE (VOICE OVER) I've turned the speech off now.
BRUCE (VO): What I might do is demonstrate how I would buy a book.
(VO): So the Amazon site has just come up and I know that …
FINGERS ON BRAILLE DISPLAY ... because under my fingers on the Braille display I can read, "Amazon
online shopping for electronics, apparel, computers, books, DVDs and more."
FINGERS TO KEYBOARD. And, And having used this site before I know
I can just press a key on the keyboard to take me to the first field.
And under my fingers I read all departments. FINGERS TO KEYBOARD
So I want to arrow down to books.
And I want to look for books by an author called Anita Roddick
who founded the Body Shop. TYPES ON KEYBOARD - ENTERING NAME
BRUCE: And, has written some very interesting books about
the importance of advocacy. So I type Anita Roddick on the keyboard
and under my fingers I can verify that I have typed what
I think I've typed by feeling Anita Roddick. PRESS ENTER KEY
C.U. BRUCE FACE: Now we've got the search results, and the first book
that I notice here is "Business as Unusual,
My Entrepreneurial Journey, ...
FINGERS ON BRAILLE DISPLAY ... Profits with Principles" by Anita Roddick.
Paperback, May 30 2005. I can buy new for $12.65,
or, that's retail price, and the Amazon price is $10.36,
or there's 51 used from $1.59
and I can get it if I am in the US by Tuesday May 12
if you order in the next 22 hours and choose 1 click shipping.
BRUCE: So that's the kind of thing that I can do with the Braille
display quite efficiently and as I mentioned,
being able to do this sort of thing is still something that I find
a wonderful thing because being an avid book collector
I can now fuel that addiction to my heart's content. FADE OUT

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