The report describes a 1-month summer program at the Alberta College Music Centre (Edmonton) in which six visually impaired students (11-25 years old) were taught music through braille. Daily lessons covered such aspects as braille music signs, sight singing, music dictation, and basic conducting techniques. Extracurricular activities included…

World-wide in scope, this directory lists organizations producing braille or Talking Books, maintaining braille libraries, and exchanging resources with organizations serving blind or handicapped people. The directory is arranged in seven geographical sections: Africa, Asia, Australia (including Oceania), Europe (including U.S.S.R.), Middle East…

An evaluation and research program was designed to determine user satisfaction and the practicality, reliability, and maintainability of the Digicassette (or Portable Braille Recorder--PBR) and to study the braille reading and writing functions. Ten PBRs were placed with 14 students and 14 adults. Products of the research program included training…

The results of a nationwide questionnaire survey of over 1,700 braille readers are reported in this document. The objective of the study was to provide new and current information on the characteristics and readership preferences of braille readers served by the Library of Congress's Division for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (DBPH). The…

Presented are 11 papers given at a conference on the evaluation of sensory aids for the visually handicapped which emphasized mobility and reading aids beginning to be tested and distributed widely. Many of the presentations are by the principal developers or advocates of the aids. Introductory readings compare the role of evaluation in the…

The Automated Braille System (Autobraille) is a tactile communication mode that uses the computer and other mechanical devices to enable visually handicapped children or adults to read from a tabletop instrument. Five problems associated with standard braille books which may be circumvented with Autobraille are storage space requirements, weight…

Described is a project which produced the book, In Darkness, to explore the use of DOTSYS III (a braille computer translation program) and to demonstrate the use of BRAILLEMBOSS (a braille page printer designed to emboss braille at similar or faster rates than teletypes) as a means of producing Grade II braille output. Explained are successive…

The extent to which a developmental program of tactile perception and braille letter recognition would affect errors in these abilities and reduce scrubbing and backtracking behaviors of 30 legally blind braille users (5-15 years old) was studied. (Author/BD)

Braille printouts create textbooks and help train blind programmers at the University of Manitoba. (Author)

Three experiments were carried out to explore the influence of orthographic codes in the comprehension of auditorially presented words by blind and sighted adolescents (N=24). Results of the first experiment suggested that a braille-derived orthographic code, as well as a print-derived code, affects auditory word processing. (Author)

The article reviews augmentative and alternative communication symbol classifications reported in the literature over the past decade. The "aided/unaided" dichotomy (based on user production of the symbol) is proposed as the superordinate level of classification, rather than the "static/dynamic" (based on transmission of…

Introduces new technologies that provide instant translation of print materials in three general categories: optical to tactile conversion of print, optical to braille conversion, and optical to speech. Talking books, voice indexing, new braille technologies, print to braille, and optical print enlargement are highlighted. A list of sources is…