As I read this article, I was struck by the author's misunderstanding of
technology for the blind, and what it can do for us.  Blind people have, of
late, become dependent upon the technological solutions to blindness, and
have lost sight of the larger picture.  It seems to me that the NFB was
attempting to present this larger picture.  Many of us have been finding
solutions to problems for years, sometimes using high tech solutions, but
often using simple common sense.

As a college student in the early 1970s, I got a double major in physics
and math, not by using any great technological solutions, but by simply
using my Braille skills, and, yes, by using readers.  The author made
reference to Mr. Maurer's statement that a human interface, a reader, is
still the best way to get reading done.  This was certainly true for me,
and would still be true today.  All the technology we have still can't
describe the diagrams I often encountered in my studies, nor could it have
rendered the complex mathematical formulas I had to deal with.  I went
through college using readers, and a slate and stylus.  Today I use a
Braille Lite to take notes, but I used to get along fine with my slate when
that was what I had, and I could still do that today.

As a further example, it is known that, even with the Kurzweil or Open Book
software, it is often necessary to play around with the scanner settings
before you can get a usable scan.  Wouldn't it often be simpler to simply
get a reader and do the job?  It is just not practical for me to use
scanning software to, for example, pay my bills that come by mail.  I've
found it far more efficient to get a reader for a couple of hours and go
right through the mail.

I wonder just what technology he expected.  The NFB's technology center has
screen readers, Braille printers, note takers, scanners, and all that.  But
the important thing is for the blind user to believe in himself or herself,
and all the technology in the world won't change that.  It seems to me from
reading the article that that was what the NFB was trying to
demonstrate.  Experiences such as cooking and using power tools while
wearing a blind fold were designed to do just that.  Even the author
admitted that the students did better than he expected under the blind
fold.  If they went home with an increased sense of their abilities as
blind people, then the NFB accomplished far more than it could have ever
done by simply demonstrating technological solutions to a few problems
blind people face.

--
Jim Shaffer
home phone:  (512)989-5701
work phone:  (512)989-5537
e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
url:  www.jjshaffer.net


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