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