Empowering students with Braille Technology
CENMAC supports a number of students with vision impairment, so it is important for our team to understand Braille Technology to help empower these students and gain more independence.
Monarch by Humanware Training
CENMAC Deputy Team Leader Mary Long is a qualified QTVI and this week she attended the initial training session (at the RSBC Life Without Limits Centre) on using the Monarch tactile graphic and ebraille device, which has been in development over the last few years by Humanware and American Printing House (APH), using DotInc technology.
Monarch will be launched in the UK in autumn this year and will be the first time that blind and low vision people will have access to tactile graphics and braille on a single device!
Mary said about her training session “It was tremendously exciting to experience a hands-on session using the Monarch and to see what a difference this will potentially make to any learners who can’t access visual diagrams for their learning”.
BrailleNote Touch Training
Advisory Teachers David Howard, Wayne McCullough-Dee and Ber Allee attended a Humanware BrailleNote Touch session on site here at Charlton Park Academy given by Alison Swert from HumanWare. The session was also attended by sensory service team members from Lambeth, Greenwich and Merton.
Monarch training took place at the RSBC Life Without Limits Centre in Central London.
Wayne said about the training “We learnt about how the device can be used to allow people with visual impairment to access a range of tools, from emailing friends and family, writing a letter and reading text aloud enabling them to increase their independence. The device also includes a Braille keyboard providing instant feedback when navigating different menu systems and words being recorded. I found the training session highly informative and helpful. The BrailleNote Touch really is a remarkable device.’
Ber said “I thoroughly enjoyed the BrailleNote training. Despite being entirely new to Braille, I found the session accessible and incredibly informative. Alison from Humanware, was able to communicate the profound impact and transformative potential of the Braillenote. Seeing the device in use was a testament to the rapid advancement of technology and made me think of how much progress we’ve made when it comes to supporting people with vision impairment. I left the training inspired and have been thinking of learning Braille myself ever since.”
The CENMAC Team are looking forward to using these technologies with some of the children and young people we support in the near future.
BrailleNote Touch training at Charlton Park Academy
Demo the technology for yourself!
If you are interested in demoing some of the remarkable technology available to support people with vision impairments Humanware is exhibiting at our annual event Communication Works South on Thursday 6th June at Charlton Athletic Football Club.
Find out more about the event, see who’s exhibiting and take a look at the programme of seminars. Don’t forget to reserve your free ticket!
