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Hey there! Welcome to Accessibility Minute, your weekly look at Assistive Technology, those clever tools and devices designed to help people who have difficulties with vision, mobility, hearing, or other special needs!
The TouchPad Pro Foundation is excited to announce the launch of the Kickstarter campaign for their BrailleDoodle device, which is an affordable, innovative device aimed to revolutionize how children with visual impairments learn.
The BrailleDoodle is an “inexpensive, refreshable, two-sided tablet for learning Braille and creating tactile images. With Etch-a-Sketch-like technology, the BrailleDoodle brings Braille literacy and tactile science, math, and art to blind people worldwide.” It was created by a 25-year veteran special education and art teacher for students with visual impairments.
The BrailleDoodle features an array of hundreds of holes, each containing a smooth metal ball that can be pulled to the surface by a magnetic stylus. A tiny spring under each ball holds it up with just the right amount of force, and a user can simply push the balls back down to erase.
It features two different sides:
- Braille side: features examples of letters, numbers, and words, and plenty of space to practice
- Doodle side: reveals plenty of space to enjoy what some call the “Etch-a-Sketch for the blind”; it’s a place for tactile drawing, and unlike other products, graphs can be made and manipulated
Visit TouchpadProFoundation.org to learn more!
For more information, to read our blog, or to drop us a line, visit EasterSealsTech.com.
I’d like to take a moment to thank InTRAC, the Indiana Telephone Relay Access Corporation for sponsoring our transcript today. You can find out more about InTRAC at relayindiana.com.
That was your Accessibility Minute for this week! I’m Laura Medcalf with the INDATA Project at Easterseals Crossroads, in Indiana.