Braille-ready laptop hits federal market
By L. Scott Tillett
From: Federal Computer Week - August 16, 1999 - page 52

With the government renewing its efforts to accommodate employees with
physical disabilities, Advanced Access Devices, maker of laptops for the
visually impaired, is planning a push into the federal market. 

Its product, called SuperBraille, replaces the traditional laptop display
with a Braille display, which converts text into Braille. In response to
information from the computer, Braille text is produced on the display by
pins that are raised and lowered in combinations to form Braille characters.
The system also features a processor that can be used with software for
converting text into computer-generated speech. 

Instead of a mouse, the laptop uses "screen reader" software and a series of
buttons adjacent to the Braille display. The screen reader reads text on a
screen - for example, menu options such as File and Edit in Microsoft Corp.'s
Word - then displays those words on the Braille display. Users choose the
menu option they want and then press a corresponding button. SuperBraille
runs on standard C batteries, but users also can plug it into electrical
outlets. 

Jim Blacksten, a blind marketing entrepreneur in California who helps
Advanced Access Devices pitch its products, said he intends to pursue federal
business heavily and plans a series of trips to the Washington, DC, area to
market the products. "We ... are fully committed to getting the word out to
federal government agencies, departments, boards and commissions which employ
or would like to employ blind people," Blacksten said. 

Advanced Access Devices' push into the federal market comes as the Justice
Department assesses how well agencies are complying with Section 508 of the
Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which requires agencies to ensure that
federal employees who are visually impaired or otherwise disabled can access
information and data on a comparable level to workers without disabilities. 

Although the SuperBraille's steep price - about $10,000 - may deter some
private buyers, federal agencies may pay for the product if they are sure the
purchase will be worthwhile, said Don Barrett, a blind computer specialist on
the Education Department's Assistive Technology Team. "I'd sure want to make
sure before I got that for somebody," Barrett said. "Because of the expense,
you do want to make sure it's appropriately applied to the right person."  

Company officials say the product combines several components that, if bought
separately, would result in even higher costs. 

SuperBraille integrates a 40-character Braille display, speech-to-text
ability, a 233 MHz Pentium-class laptop and a "note-taker" function that
enables users to write personal memos without having to boot up the entire
computer. Instead, the note-taker function uses a separate processor built in
to the laptop. 

Crista Early, a resource specialist with the Technology Program at the
American Foundation for the Blind, said having such an integrated product
would help users avoid the hassles of having to transport and connect two
separate pieces of equipment, a laptop and a Braille display. But she also
said there may be a drawback to the all-in-one SuperBraille: If the Braille
display malfunctions, the laptop in effect would be rendered useless. 

However, SuperBraille does include several data ports with which users can
connect to other computers or into which users can plug peripherals, such as
additional Braille displays, according to David Mansoir, vice president of
sales and marketing for Advanced Access Devices. 

The laptop includes a Universal Serial Bus port, one VGA port, one parallel
port, three serial ports, two keyboard ports and four PC Card slots, he said.
Additionally, the product includes a built-in sound card, microphone, stereo
speakers and a MIDI port for multimedia-related peripherals. 

Education's Barrett suspects there will be a demand for the product. "The
need for portable computers is at least as great among the blind population,
probably greater," he said. "There is the issue of attending meetings, taking
notes, having material available - materials that others might have in print."  

For now, Advanced Access Devices will take the direct route in selling to the
federal market, according to Mansoir. He said attempts to talk with federal
resellers so far have not resulted in any deals that would give the company a
quicker entry into the federal market. "We've tried to contact some of those
people, but they've not been interested," he said.