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Domain: alvabraille.com

Stories and comments across the archive that link to alvabraille.com.

Comments · 3

  1. Re:Nethack has support for blind users by WildFire42 · · Score: 3, Informative · on On The Overlooked World Of 'Accessible Gaming'

    I don't even know if it's some sort of joke. Can you buy a braille screen?

    Blind users tend to use one of two devices, either a screen reader (which will read the contents of the screen out loud and assist with navigation), or an RBD (Refreshable Braille Display), depending on personal preference.

    The most popular screen reader is called JAWS, by the company Freedom Scientific.There is a Linux screen reader, which is open source, known as EmacSpeak

    Here's a company that makes good Refreshable Braille Displays, for those who are interested.

    Interestingly enough, Freedom Scientific, and others also make Audio-based and RBD-based PDA's.

    Since Nethack is text-based, it's easy to make this game work with Assistive Technology (which is what all of these different technologies are known as), as text is extremely easy to present to someone in alternative formats (spoken, Brailled, enlarged, etc.). Highly visual games, however, require an extra level of accessibility.

    Just a little FYI.

  2. Re:Wrong, imprecise blurb by gmhowell · · Score: 1 · on Seeing-Eye Computer Guides Blind

    Not sure what the 70's era machines looked like, but as always, Google is your friend. Alva makes tons of them, but they are hella expensive. The ABT320 in the middle is one of the cheapest, and I think it cost voc rehab about $3000 to buy it for my wife. The Bookworm is another product we'd like. It only has 8 cells, but is a nice size. Unfortunately, $1400, IIRC.

    What I've been doing is grabbing some bookwarez. If the publisher won't comply, I'm not averse to a little self-help. Since my wife and I share some similar tastes in reading, I buy the dead tree for myself, so I figure her reading bookwarez isn't any different than utilizing fair use rights. I tried contacting Stephen King, for example, through his home page, with no response. So, screw him. (and others)

  3. Phone/PDA for the blind... by TMLink · · Score: 5, Informative · on Programming Accessible Software on Java Phones?

    While I don't have an answer for your exact question, I do have an alternative that might be an option. The Alva MPO is a phone/pda for the blind. You can navigate through it by either audio (JAWS like application) or through it's braille display. Takes input through an 8-key braille keyboard. I believe it is a WinCE device, though I'm not sure what version it is running.

    Again, this is just a tad bit overkill if all she needs is a phone. However, if she's looking for something more than a phone, this might be an option.