Triumph Technology

Why the Braille Activist?

The definition of the word activist according to the Oxford American Dictionary is:

The policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change”.

Aside from the obvious play on words, the name Braille Activist implies strength, determination and hence this blog may be used as a platform to express an unyielding resolve to keep braille alive in the schools and the work place. A strong name that express’s an utter intolerance for illiteracy in the name of convenience and economic stewardship at the expense of blind people. Learning to read is not a privilege but a fundamental right and the Braille Activist blog is here to promote braille literacy through positive and engaging discussions and promote braille learning opportunities that are interesting and fun.

Active Braille is simply the most inovative braille technology to come along in years; however, as is the case with higher technologies being developed in small markets, it isn’t cheep. Believe me when I tell you nobody is relaxing on the beach sipping little umbrella drinks with the money they are making on selling these devices.

With a retail price of $6,495.00 US for the 40 cell version, it is the most sincere wish of the manufacturer and the North America distributor to eventually bring down the cost and break down the financial bariers that keep braille readers of all reading skills from owning a braille display with the amazing Handy Tech Elektronik’s patented Active Tactile Control (ATC) technology.

ATC is at the heart of Active Braille and there is no substitute for this ingenious concept which may very well change the future of refreshable braille technology.

What is Active Tactile Control?

Active Tactile Control consists of braille cells with sensors under each and every braille dot making it possible to identify specific characteristics of the reading finger. It is also possible for the reader to have several fingers touching the braille display without adversely interrupting the reading flow. In fact, when connected to a computer, a sighted braille instructor can distinguish between the reading finger and other fingers on the braille display with the use of the ATC Monitor. This is a visual display that appears at the top of the computer monitor showing both the braille visible on the display as well as the location of the reader’s fingers. Blind braille instructors can determine the location of the student’s reading finger with the use of headphones with their screen reader of choice set to speak characters or words as they are being read out loud as the student moves his or her fingers across the braille display.

The braille instructor may set the screen reader to speak words immediately after the student’s finger has past the word being read, or set a delay so the student may speak the word out loud before it is spoken by the screen reader. Similar techniques may also be applied to the teaching of other languages.

The ATC Results Analyzer

The ATC results analyzer gives the braille instructor the ability to set-up individual user profiles making it possible to track a student’s braille reading progress on the session-by-session basis and gather quantitative, measurable data with respect to specific reading behaviors. Such information might include reading speed, number of times the reading was stopped and on what word or character or monitor the student’s tendency to read backwards. The Results Analyzer can also reveal unread text within a document. The braille instructor may then export results to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet directly from within the Results Analyzer.

Supporting and Strengthening of Braille Reading Skills

Putting all of the high tech data gathering features of ATC technology aside, intermediate and advanced braille readers enjoy the ability to read documents from beginning to end without the need to hardly ever press a button. There is much to be appreciated when one is able to read for the sheer joy of reading, to constantly improve one’s own braille reading skills and to interpret the printed page for one’s self.

ATC technology enhances the reading experience by doing away with the mechanics of reading electronic braille. That is, the need to continually push a button to advance the display. Using the example of a novel containing 600,000 braille characters, if using a 40 cell braille display, the reader will need to push the advance button about 20,000 times in order to read the work from beginning to end. This figure takes into account formatting, the hundreds if not thousands of line breaks and spaces not included in those 600,000 characters. Interestingly, the fewer number of braille cells on the display, the more ATC technology makes sense because in order to read that same 600,000 character novel, you will need to interrupt your natural reading flow 40,000 times with each press of the advance button on a 20 cell braille display.

ATC technology is designed to advance according to the reading speed of the user, and as is the case with most things in life, with practice comes improvements in speed and comprehension. This is not unlike the phenomenon that occurs with the frequent use of a screen reader using synthetic speech. At first, you are appreciative of the technology itself, the ability to do basic word processing, browse the web or read e-mail. Over time, you find yourself nudging the speaking rate to read faster and faster until eventually you are reading at a speed that has non screen reader users questioning if what you are reading is even in the same language. The difference however between using a screen reader and braille is the difference between reading the printed word for yourself and being read to.

Exclusive speech users should not take offense where none is intended. It is understood that there are factors beyond blindness that inhibits a person’s ability to read braille such as mobility and lack of sensation. The point being made is that there is a place for both synthetic speech and braille; and for those who wish to use an electronic braille device to hone their braille reading skills there is simply no substitute for ATC technology.

Braille stimulates the same part of the brain, the visual cortex that is stimulated when people who are sighted read with their eyes. It is believed that there is a distinct correlation between the most successfully employed people and those with advanced braille reading skills.

About The Manufacturer

The Active Braille 40 is manufactured by Handy Tech Electronik GmbH of Horb Germany a company well known for their high quality ergonomic braille devices and whose products are used by thousands of consumers, educational institutions and in the work place around the world. U.S. based Organizations such as Orical, Delta Airlines, IBM, the social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service are just a few examples of companies that at one point or another, have selected Handy Tech Products as the best electronic braille solution of choice for their employees who are blind.

It is worth noting that over a third of Handy Tech Electronik’s 45 employees are blind or have low vision. They play an integral role in the development, testing, and support of Handy Tech products as well as administer day-to-day company operations.

As a person with severe dyslexia himself, , Owner and Managing Director Sigi Kipke understands firsthand the struggles, discrimination and perceptions too frequently attached to what mainstream society often considers to be an uncermountible disability. It is such misperceptions that stacked the odds against Kipke’s likelihood of earning his degree in Electrical Engineering from the prestigious University of Karlsruhe, at a time when dyslexia wasn’t even recognized as a disability. At the time, the inability to read was summarily equated to low intelligence, just like the inability to see means that you couldn’t possibly assist in the evacuation of an airplane if you were seated in the exit row. Both notions are simply obsolete and absurd.

Active Tactile Control (ATC) technology, is the newest and most exciting innovation to emerge from this company based in the heart of the Black Forrest and may well be the most significant advancement in braille technology since the invention of the world’s first electronic braille cell developed by Kipke’s predecessor Klaus-Peter Schoenherr over 35 years ago.

Signature Features of Handy Tech Braille Displays

Handy Tech Universal Braille driver works with all major screen readers such as JAWS,
Window-Eyes and Apple Voiceover regardless of the Handy Tech Braille device being used.

Also detects the type of device or interface being used and automatically connects wirelessly when the display is within range.

Included standard user replaceable rechargeable AA or AAA batteries eliminate the inconvenience and expense of ever having to ship your product away just to have the batteries changed.

Ergonomically designed Braille cells contour to the user’s finger tips making for a more comfortable reading experience and the ability to read for longer periods of time than is possible with flat Braille cells.

Perkins style Braille keyboard allows for command and control or Braille input.

AC power adaptor and charger that is interchangeable between all Handy Tech Portable Braille devices.

Rugged and sturdy reinforced construction.

Protect your investment with included carrying case with shoulder strap.

Handy Tech Warranty Information

Triumph Technology is a factory authorized service and repair center located in Columbia Heights Minnesota. All Handy Tech braille devices come with a two (2) year manufacturer warranty.

A Product Service Agreement (PSA) is also available that will extend the manufacturer warranty to 3 years and may be renewed to up to five (5) years from date of purchase. A PSA entitles the customer to free annual cleanings and inspection. PSA’s purchased beyond the 3rd year are subject to inspection prior to renewal for a fourth and fifth year.

Features Unique to Handy Tech Active Braille

Bookworm Mode

Active Braille’s Bookworm mode is an internal function that allows for the reading of entire bodies of text without the need to manually navigate because the display senses the location of the reading finger and simply advances through the text when it reaches the end of a Braille line.

Computer Connectivity

When connected to a computer, the sighted Braille instructor can see the location of all of the student’s fingers using the ATC monitor with the various levels of pressure being indicated by different colors. Have your screen reader of choice speak words as they are being, or after they have been read, or speak the name of a letter on which the finger is stopped. Format attributes changes such as heading styles, italic or bold text can also be set to be spoken while reading. This functionality not only provides positive feedback and reinforcement to the Braille student, but is also useful to blind Braille instructors because they can hear exactly where a student is reading within a document. The ATC Monitor is also a wonderful tool for collaborating on documents with sighted classmates and co-workers.

The Results Analyzer

The results analyzer allows braille instructors to set individual user profiles and gather quantitative, measurable data with respect to specific reading behaviors, speed and over-all progress from session to session. The ability to export this data to an excel spreadsheet can be extremely useful when handed out at IEP and rehab team meetings.

Other Note-Worthy Features

Included 4 GB SD Micro card can hold hundreds if not thousands of documents.
Internal functionality includes a text editor, calculator, scheduler, count-down timer, stopwatch and braille character sets for multiple languages.
Mathematical expressions and results may be carried out and inserted within the body of a text document in real time without the need to copy and paste between the calculator and text editor.
The Handy Tech HTCom communications software allows for the ability to transfer files between a computer and Active Braille and specify contracted or uncontracted Braille. i.e. notes can be taken in grade 2 braille and then back translated to computer Braille when transferred to the computer
Bookmark and place-holder settings allow the user to return to a specific place upon opening a document.

iRead Version 2 Released

SPECIAL EDUCATION: Murray Leads Letter Calling on Secretary of Education to Ensure Access to Braille Literacy

From: Zupnick, Eli (Murray)
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2012 5:16 PM
To: Zupnick, Eli (Murray)
Subject: SPECIAL EDUCATION: Murray Leads Letter Calling on Secretary of Education to Ensure Access to Braille Literacy

cid:image001.jpg@01CD27AE.989CFB70

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Murray Press Office

Tuesday, May 1, 2012 (202) 224-2834

SPECIAL EDUCATION: Murray Leads Letter Calling on Secretary of Education to Ensure Access to Braille Literacy

Senators: Braille instruction is a ‘crucial literacy skill’ which should be provided to students with blindness or a visual impairment

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) led 26 Senators in sending a bipartisan letter to U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne
Duncan calling on the Department to ensure students with blindness or visual impairment are provided access to braille literacy. Current regulation does
not provide school districts adequate guidance in developing, reviewing and revising the individualized education program (IEP) for students with blindness
or visual impairment. The letter urges the Secretary to engage stakeholder groups to write new regulation for the IEP of students with blindness or visual
impairment, and give guidance to school districts on providing instruction in braille reading and writing.

The letter is supported by the American Council of the Blind, American Foundation for the Blind, American Printing House for the Blind, Association for
Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired, Helen Keller National Center, National Council of State Agencies for the Blind, and the
National Federation of the Blind.

“As we know from research, literacy gaps are difficult to close and result in other negative academic and social outcomes. Students with blindness or a
visual impairment who are inappropriately denied or delayed braille instruction find themselves struggling in middle and high school, falling further behind
their sighted peers,” the Senators wrote in the letter to Secretary Duncan. “As this achievement gap persists, the student’s ability to compete with sighted
peers for post-secondary opportunities and employment is significantly compromised. This literacy gap is both unnecessary and preventable.”

Fewer than 25% of children who meet the federal definition of blindness are braille readers. Compared to their sighted peers, fewer students with blindness
or a visual impairment attend college and those who do make it to college often find themselves underprepared for the challenges they face. Reading and
writing in braille is a crucial literacy skill, instruction in these should be provided to students with blindness or a visual impairment who will benefit.

“This is not just a problem for the blind community, this is a problem for our country as a whole,” said Senator Patty Murray. “If we allow this to continue,
it won’t just be one community that falls behind, we will all fall behind together. Making sure that we offer all our kids, regardless of disability, a
world-class education is not only a moral obligation, it is an economic imperative for the U.S. to succeed.”

Research has shown literacy is critical for success is school, life, and the workforce. For more than 490,000 school age children with a visual disability
in the United States, alternative approaches to literacy may be necessary. Without providing these students access to specialized instruction, the grade-level
curriculum will soon exceed the student’s reading proficiency therefore creating a literacy gap. As we know from research, these gaps are difficult to
close and result in other negative academic and social outcomes. As this gap persists, the student’s ability to compete with sighted peers for post-secondary
opportunities and employment is significantly compromised. Instruction in braille offers students with blindness or a visual impairment a path to college
and career readiness, independence, and a productive future. Yet, these outcomes hinge on special educators and parents planning for a lifetime of literacy
for the student, whatever the prognosis might be for their vision.

The following Senators signed on to Murray’s letter: Senator John Boozman (R-AR), Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), Senator John
Kerry (D-MA), Senator John Rockefeller IV (D-WV), Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME), Senator
Ron Wyden (D-OR), Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Senator Frank
Lautenberg (D-NJ), Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR), Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-PA), Senator
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senator Mark Begich (D-AK), Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Senator
Al Franken (D-MN), Senator Christopher Coons (D-DE).

The full text of the letter follows:

Dear Secretary Duncan:

We are writing in reference to the Department of Education’s regulation concerning the development, review, and revision of the individualized education
program (IEP) for a student with blindness or a visual impairment. We strongly urge the U.S. Department of Education to develop new regulations and provide
additional guidance to school districts to ensure students with blindness or a visual impairment are provided braille instruction when the student will
benefit.

In reauthorizing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2004, the intent of Congress was for braille instruction to be presumed appropriate
for all students with blindness or a visual impairment. However, current regulation does not provide school districts adequate guidance in developing,
reviewing and revising the IEP. It has come to our attention that in some circumstances, parents and advocates request braille instruction for their child
with blindness or low vision but meet resistance from a school-based IEP team member. We believe this is due, in part, to a misunderstanding of the needs
of some students with low vision. Regardless of the reason, braille instruction is a crucial literacy skill which should be provided to students with blindness
or a visual impairment who would benefit from learning braille.

In statute, Congress acknowledges braille instruction is not appropriate for some students with blindness or a visual impairment. For example, students
with blindness or a visual impairment who also have a significant cognitive or developmental disability delaying language acquisition may require alternative
literacy approaches, but not necessarily braille. However, we are concerned there are some students who would benefit from braille instruction but are
not receiving it.

Instruction in braille closely parallels instruction in print reading. Beginning in kindergarten, instruction focuses on fundamentals such as phonemic awareness,
and in later grades continues into higher order skills such as comprehension. For students with blindness entering kindergarten, braille instruction is
begun immediately. However, as you know, many students with a visual impairment have a degenerative condition resulting in low vision or blindness during
later childhood or adolescence. For many of these students, braille instruction is begun much later, once the student’s visual acuity significantly decreases.
Often, the result is that the student is unable to access the grade-level curriculum because he or she lacks proficiency in braille.

As we know from research, literacy gaps are difficult to close and result in other negative academic and social outcomes. Students with blindness or a visual
impairment who are inappropriately denied or delayed braille instruction find themselves struggling in middle and high school, falling further behind their
sighted peers. As this achievement gap persists, the student’s ability to compete with sighted peers for post-secondary opportunities and employment is
significantly compromised. This literacy gap is both unnecessary and preventable.

We strongly urge the U.S. Department of Education to engage stakeholder groups to develop new IDEA regulations related to the development of an IEP for
a student with blindness or a visual impairment. New regulations should carry out the intent of Congress that students with blindness or a visual impairment
must receive braille instruction, unless the results of a data based learning media assessment and other appropriate assessments indicate the student will
not benefit from braille. The burden should be placed on the IEP team to use evidence from individual student assessment (i.e., data based learning media
assessment, functional vision assessment, and other appropriate assessment tools) to negate the presumption created by Congress, that the IEP team “in
the case of a child who is blind or visually impaired, provide for instruction in braille and the use of braille unless the IEP team determines, after
an evaluation of the child’s reading and writing skills, needs, and appropriate reading and writing media (including an evaluation of the child’s future
needs for instruction in braille or the use of braille), that instruction in braille or the use of braille is not appropriate for the child.” This evaluation
must include a data based learning media assessment, which would provide data of learning modalities including auditory, visual, and tactual such as braille.
Additionally, this data is to be used by the IEP team in determining the appropriate approach to literacy for the student.

We also strongly urge the U.S. Department of Education to provide additional guidance to school districts as to the circumstances in which braille instruction
is beneficial to a student who is blind or has a visual impairment. Assistive technology, including text-to-speech, is an important and necessary means
to literacy for many students with print disabilities. However, for students with blindness or a visual impairment, providing instruction in assistive
technology alone may not be used as the only reason for denying braille instruction.

Instruction in braille offers students with blindness or a visual impairment the best path to college and career readiness, independence, and a productive
future. Thank you for your partnership in ensuring the statutory provisions in IDEA are implemented consistent with the intent of Congress.

###

–

Eli Zupnick

Press Secretary

U.S. Senator Patty Murray

202-224-2834

eli_zupnick@murray.senate.gov

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Our Cash Manager Story

2011 was a financially challenging year for many of us in the adaptive technology industry. As one of the companies that enjoyed a great deal of success bundling screen reading technology such as Code Factory’s
MobileSpeak screen reader with mobile phones and PDA’s, in 2009, it became very clear to us with the advent of the VoiceOver screen reader included with the iPhone and other iOS devices, that this market would
soon be coming to an end. Since Google has joined the accessible mobile party with its Android operating system, it is safe to say that the days of $299 screen readers are coming to an end. We at Triumph Technology welcome and embrace this level of universal access and we applaud Apple, Google, or any mainstream company that demonstrates a similar commitment in this area. The obvious paradox however is that many of the apps being developed for just a fraction of the cost of those dedicated adaptive technology solutions seriously lack the features one time developed by companies that either have, ore are in the process of meeting there demise at the hands of the corporate cooky cutter model. Is it possible that in order to develop great software with the features that improve and enhance productivity and quality of life that it simply costs money and that the people who develop such software deserve to be compensated? Apple certainly thinks so because they help them selves to a staggering 30 percent of the efforts of any and all apps uploaded to the App store.

Recognizing the impending demise of the accessible mobile computing market as we knew it, my company realized that we needed to live up to our founding slogan “IT’s all About Adapting” and change the way we do
business. We have since shifted our focus to more profitable products such as DAISY book readers, braille displays and embossers, and we keep quite busy in the area of adaptive technology training and consulting
services. The past seven years has been a veritable roller coaster ride, and I can’t help but wonder as the owner of a company who just happens to be blind, if the ride would have been more smooth had I had
more direct access to my own books for 6 of the past 7 years. After all in the end, it is the owner of the company who, in good times and in bad times, is ultimately responsible for the company’s finances.

In late 2010, I was approached by Accomplish Global, the makers of the CashManager financial software, a popular mainstream software product in
New Zealand and Australia. The company had by this point already developed a U.S. version two years earlier and asked me if my company might be interested in distributing the product. After a few meetings
with Sales Manager Raewyn Whisker and President and Owner Grant Hewson,
and having spent sometime with the software, I thought that although it is a relatively low margin product, I would carry it because there was really nothing like it in the business world and it appeared to be more robust than some of the existing accessible personal finance management software on the market at the time.

The thing that impressed me more than anything is the training I received from Accomplish Global’s Training Manager Penny Gardiner. Penny is a fully sighted person who prefers the keyboard over the mouse for controlling her computer, but
what blew me away is her advanced and seemingly intuitive knowledge of screen reader technology. As I worked with her to learn the program, she identified accessibility issues and immediately took note
committing ”that will be fixed in the next version.”

In March of 2011, I migrated my book keeping software from Intuit’s Quickbooks to CashManager and I have never regretted it. For the first time in my then six years of running a business, and on occasion to my trepidation, I finally had complete and independent access to all aspects of my company’s books. Since I started using CashManager 3
months into the new financial calendar year, I needed to export data from Quickbooks into a CSV (Comma Separated Values) file, and import it
into Cash Manager, all in all a seamless process with the guidance of Accomplish Globals technical support staff.

We completed the switch to CashManager on March first, 2011 and while I still faced what would turn out to be a steep learning curve, the good news was that at least I finally had the tools I needed that would allow
me to identify and focus on areas of the company’s finances that needed the most attention.

Being more technically minded than I am a business person, I would still on occasion find myself slipping into that bad habit of letting the sighted people in my
company take care of the finances, but business’s harsh realities continued to shower down on me and once again, the difficult decisions were mine alone to make. CashManager was then, and continues to be a tremendously helpful tool to this end.

Long gone are the days of monitoring my bank accounts over the phone and deciding that I can make a purchase, take a trip or make that impulse buy based on the balance the automated system reported earlier in the day. Sadly, this is how I managed my personal finances for most of my adult life. Now my days are filled with profit and loss reports, balance sheets, payables, receivables, payroll, sales tax, budgets and forecasting and CashManager lets me do it all.

Quickbooks has far and away been the front runner in business financing here in the United States, but in all the time I used the desktop or the online version of this product, I have never experienced the
independence that I now enjoy with CashManager.

While I know blind tech savvy folks who pride themselves in their ability to use Quickbooks to
a degree, they do so by using a series of work-arounds and tricks that most average users have no desire to learn. Even the most advanced
blind Quickbooks users are invariably faced with features that they simply can’t access. Wouldn’t it be nice if a discount were available based on the number of accessible features a person is able to use. In
the real world, blind people pay the same amount of money for this software as our sighted counter parts, yet can only use a small fraction
of the features. Some sighted people jokingly say that they also only use a small fraction of the features available in Quickbooks, but of
course the main difference is they have the option of accessing all of the features should they wish to do so.

I am aware of some discussion about scripts that are being developed by
a popular screen reader manufacturer for use with Quickbooks, but in my estimation, this falls under the heading of too little, too late. Why
after all these years and perhaps the more important question is, what happens when the next version comes out with the totally revamped user interface?

CashManager just works. Is it perfect? no, what is? However, I can tell you based on personal experience, that the developers at CashManager are driven toward the goal of making their product the most accessible mainstream financial management software in the world.

CashManager is available in home, non-profit and business versions and
all can be installed using the same trial software download found at:

http://www.accomplishglobal.com

Pricing is as follows:

Business, $250, Add $250 for 12 months of support when purchased at the
same time as the software, $300 when support is purchased
separately.
Non-profit: $200, add $200 for 12 months of support when purchased at
the same time as the software, $250 when purchased separately.
Home: $50, add $30 for 90 days of support regardless of when you
purchase the support plan.

Triumph Technology is the U.S. distributor of CashManager and can
be reached at:

651-636-5184

or by sending e-mail to:

info@attriumph.com

Don’t trust your finances with other people just because they can see unless you pay them a lot of money to do it right and it would be their
job anyway if you could see.

Accomplish Global has demonstrated their commitment to universal access and such a commitment does not come without a cost. They have
commissioned accessibility audits by several organizations and are happy
to continue in their efforts so long as the people for whom they are doing it respond by purchasing the product.

Active Braille has something for everybody

Why the Braille Activist?

What is Active Tactile Control?

The ATC Results Analyzer

Supporting and Strengthening of Braille Reading Skills

About The Manufacturer

Handy Tech Warranty Information

Features Unique to Handy Tech Active Braille

Bookworm Mode

Computer Connectivity

The Results Analyzer

Other Note-Worthy Features

iRead Version 2 Released

LISTEN TO A DEMONSTRATION

SPECIAL EDUCATION: Murray Leads Letter Calling on Secretary of Education to Ensure Access to Braille Literacy

Our Cash Manager Story

Perkins Mini Packs a big punch!

We're Sorry