Richard,

I have been using Apple products for about seven or so years. I do use an iPad and of course there will be some learning curve and I would encourage you to go play with one so you have an idea what the interface is like. I do use an APH Refreshabrille with the iPad and it works just fine. The Read2go app works well, but I normally use it with the Braille display. This is a pretty tricky topic to cover in one e-mail because there is a lot to discuss.
I would recommend you go take a look at http://www.apple.com/accessibility as a starting point. There is a lot of info there about the iPad/iOS devices, the Mac, and so forth. I think this will help answer some questions. Feel free to contact me at [log in to unmask] if you have other questions.