Here's a great article from NYT on the current state of braille use.
Many blind users seem to be forsaking standard tactile braille use for audio applications. Surprisingly only 10% of blind people make use of tactile braille. A stronger point is made by Laura Slote, blind from age six, “It’s an arcane means of communication, which for the most part should be abolished.” Apparently, tactile braille reading is slow, cumbersome (a Harry Potter book has over 1000 pages), and isolating.
The only arguments I've heard in support of widespread tactile braille use are from developmental advocates, who say that its use recruits needed areas from the visual cortex for normal brain functioning, as the article reports. But similar reports have been made about auditory stimulation activating the visual cortex.
In sum, the thought that people without sensory deficits are prescribing clunky devices for people with sensory deficits, when more user-friendly devices are in the offing, seems a bit ridiculous.
Hmm... This makes me think of the talk that Gabe gave last semester, where he mentioned the difficulties of translating written text to sign language. He mentioned that there were several aspects of written/spoken language that were very difficult to understand if you lacked hearing.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if there is some sort of spatial sense of a written text that might be gained from using braille or a braille-like technology that a simple auditory interface would lack.
I would expect that audition could NOT capture text as well as sight or touch, but this article suggests otherwise. I suspect that communication is not the same for everyone, some with better auditory reception, other better with touch or sight. I wonder what the basis for this difference is.
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