Karen Arcos, a UCI alumna who received accommodations from the Disability Services Center (DSC), mentioned having used braille daily to complete her Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience with an emphasis in Chicano/Latino Studies as someone who is totally blind. Arcos said she used braille in all aspects of her education at UCI, including meeting presentations, collecting and analyzing data, daily emails and drafting her dissertation.
“Braille on paper is especially useful when creating or interpreting tactile charts, tables and graphs. Reading braille digitally comes in handy for pleasure, like texting and when revising papers. I also enjoy writing braille, especially when thinking deeply or editing text,” Arcos said.
Personal preferences for the use of assistive technology ultimately complement braille reader’s individual accessibility. In the end, each person must decide for themselves which tools increase their personal access.
DSC Assistive Technology Manager Somphone Eno explained that there are many factors that determine someone’s preference to consume braille in a physical or digital mode.
“One page of text can turn into three pages of braille. You can have volumes and volumes of braille paper that just represents one book, for example. Some people might prefer to have the hard copy and some people might like the refreshable braille from some applications. Or in some cases, [refreshable braille displays] could be devices that are smaller and make information more portable,” Eno said.
