A Unique Resource For the Blind of the World

The National Federation of the Blind says it best when they call the International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind a “unique resource for the blind of the world.” This center, located at the National Center for the Blind in Baltimore, Maryland reviews technology, both products created specifically for the blind and products created for the mainstream market but which is accessible in one form or another, sometimes completely accessible, either through intentional universal design or by chance (such as the iPod Shuffle, a media mp3 player that is accessible because it has no screen, though the design was intended for people who are doing active exercise and cannot pause to look at a screen. The latest version of the iPod Shuffle, the iPod Shuffle 8.0 is even more accessible, as it has a Voiceover that tells the user the title and author of the song and has a folder feature.)

The staff at the International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind evaluates, demonstrate, and train people in the use of the products they have. If you are able to visit the center, as I did on May 17, they can demonstrate the products in person. While there, I learned about various note takers, testing weights and ease of use. Because of my quickness to fatigue and pain, a note taker that is easy on my body and not too heavy is very important for me. However, I had very little access to the variety of note takers that are available on the market today. Before visiting the technology center, I had only seen three: the BraillePlus, the PacMate, and the BrailleNote, and had not had the chance to test any of them, as they are essential parts of the owners’ lives. So, when I was given the opportunity to visit the National Center for the Blind with a group from my state, I was overjoyed, knowing I would get to see many different note takers and test them. I was in for a surprise!

The technology center tries to have one of every product available that is accessible to the blind in some fashion….that includes two long tables full of note takers and similar electronic interfaces, dozens of ways to print, type, and read Braille, and hundreds of products for reading, writing, and daily living. I had limited time, so I concentrated my time on the note takers there, and had no chance to see the rest.

However, I still have the chance to learn about the other products, as do the millions of blind people who cannot go to the center in person because of distance, finances, or any other reason. The staff can also consult with blind people, professionals, or family members via phone. Some of the questions they get asked often, according to the NFB’s website include:

What do I need to get a blind person on-line and connected to the Internet?
How can I make my website accessible to the blind?
What electronic note taker is “best” for a person who is blind?

The website says they welcome questions, and the staff I spoke to in person was very welcoming and friendly, as well as knowledgeable and helpful. The Center is located at 200 East Wells Street at the Jernigan Place in Baltimore, Maryland. Their phone number is (410) 659-9314, x5. Further, they can be reached via fax at (410) 685-565, or via e-mail at access@nfb.org. For more information about the International Braille and Technology Center for the Blind, visit the NFB's site for the Center.

An Alternative to Print Phone Books

Since the phone book is in such tiny print that most people with low vision can’t read it, let alon blind people, the only good alternative is 411 directories. Can you imagine a Braille phone book? Oh dear…that would be hundreds of volumes that would have to be reprinted every year…a blind person would come home to find a pile of Braille as tall as their door waiting for them! And sighted people thought they had it bad with the multiple copies of phone books they get constantly…

So, if phone directories are the best alternative to a phone book, you should expect to pay for each 411 call through your phone provider, right? Wrong! In this post, I will talk about free 411 phone directories, as well as the ones provided by such phone companies as AT&T and Verizon. Let’s first look at the 800 numbers you can call for phone directory services.

The first phone directory number I learned is called Free 411. It can be reached at 1-800-FREE-411. For those of us who can never remember what number stands for what letters (like myself), that’s 1-800-373-3411. This 411 service provides easy access to phone book directories at the touch of a finger. They provide directories for residential numbers (your famiy, friends, and neighbours), businesses (the local store or mall), and government (your public library, Social Security office, or Human Resources office). They also offer weather reports, movie listings by movie and theatre, humour and gossip, horoscopes, a contest for a $100 Wal-Mart gift card, and a free call option for a 5-minute phone call to anywhere in the world. The drawback of this service is all the advertisements. Between each step of the service, there is a approximately half-a-minute to one-minute advertisement for companies like Verizon, Time Warner Cable, Wal-Mart and other sponsors of the service. This is the company’s way of providing this free phone directory.

The second phone directory that I use and enjoy is called Tell me! It can be reached at 1-800-555-TELL (1-800-555-8355). This phone directory does not have the advertisements that Free 411 has, but they do not have many options for phone number searches. This phone service only provides business phone numbers. The other services available at this phone number include traffic reports, stock quotes (which does have an advertisement), a news center that has a few articles each day with real people’s voices, not synthesized speech) provided by ABC News, sport updates (also has advertisements), entertainment (including a free Blackjack game with a Sean Connery-synthesized voice), travel (connections to airlines, hotels, taxi companies, and more), and a list of popular shortcuts. It even has a time function in case you forgot your talking watch at home. If you find a business you want, it will give you the phone number, address, and step-by-step directions from any address.

I love Tell Me! And its voice-activated menus, but I use Free 411 to access residential and government directories. Between the two, I can always find the phone number or address I need. Now if only they had a bus service directory of similar proportions in my area!

NFB-Newsline: News at the Touch of a Button

When I first became blind, I found it very hard to keep up with the news each day. At the time, I could use a handheld CCTV (closed-circuit Television that magnifies print) to read the newspaper, but because of formatting and the strain on my eyes, I rarely read the daily paper. In fact, the only time I can remember being really interested about something in the newspaper was when a friend wrote a Letter to the Editor and wanted my opinion on it.

These days, though, I read the Raleigh News & Observer nearly every day, along with a number of others...the Washington Post, New York Times, the Economist, Science News, and newspapers that I would never have access to otherwise, like the Anchorage Daily News and Lexington Herald Leader. Why would I read these, you might ask. Sometimes, the most fascinating news come from local newspapers. I have read articles about a huge variety of topics, from a man who is blind and paralyzed who got a new leash on life through the use of a foreheaad mouse to the problems that Alaskans have with bears wrecking the inside of their cars looking for food...who ever knew? I have never been so informed about the news and interests of people all over the United States and all over the world (the Economist writes news from all over the world, as does the New York Times and several other national magazines).

The NFB-Newsline, sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind, along with state sponsors that vary by state, is a news-by-phone service available to the print disabled (people who are blind, dyslexic, or otherwise unable to read regular print). To get access to the phone service, you must first register. You can call the NFB-Newsline office at 1-866-504-7300 or go to the website www.nfb.org/nfb/Newspapers_by_Phone.asp for more information. It is free to register. Once you are registered, you can access the service at 1-888-882-1629 (there are also local numbers that vary by state). The first time you access Newsline from a phone, you will be required to enter your user ID number and PIN. After that, however, you can simply press 1 on the number pad to login.

When you login, you can access any of the newspapers available. My suggestion is first to press 9 from the main menu, which will take you to the tutorial articles. This will give you a thorough tutorial of what numbers to press when, what features you can access, and how to change the voice type, pitch, volume, and speed. There is also a new feature that allows you to e-mail a single article to your inbox by pressing the pound sign and 9 in rapid succession. You have to have your e-mail address registered with NFB-Newsline, but you can do this when you register for the service.

There is also a way to access NFB-Newsline on the Net. The website is www.nfbnewslineonline.org. I have not tried this service yet, but I was told it is the same as the phone service, except that you don’t have to use the phone to access it (Duh!). So, if you try NFB-Newsline Online, be sure to let me know if you like it!

There are some downsides to NFB-Newsline, though. It's only available to people in the United States and Puerto Rico, and not all newspapers are available. Puerto Rico, for example, has no newspapers on NFB-Newsline, for lack of funding. Puerto Ricans have access to the newspapers from the states, as well as national magazines, but there are no local newspapers available.

NFB-Newsline is a great supplement to other methods of reading the news, such as listening to the news on TV, reading on-line articles, and listening to local reading services. in my area, Triangle Radio Reading Services reads articles from the newspaper and magazines, sales papers for grocery, department, and pharmacy stores, and reads from novels. Other resources for news include magazine subscriptions through the National Library Service or other organizations and word-of-mouth news from family and friends.

Check out the NFB-Newsline. It's free, easy, and informative!

Also look forward to these topics:
Magazines in Accessible Formats
News on the Web: What’s Accessible?
Local Reading Services: Who Has Them, and How Do They Work?