Louis Braille

Filed under: Themes, Blind Visionaries, Campaign Watch

Louisiana Tech University will use a 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar in the coin toss at its football game on November 6. The popular Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, a NCAA division I football team, will play the Boise State Broncos.

This unique and beautiful commemorative coin is the first U.S. currency to feature tactile, readable Braille—and only 400,000 coins were minted.

A portion of the proceeds from sales of the 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar will be used to support the National Federation of the Blind’s “Braille Readers are Leaders” campaign, a national initiative created to double the number of blind children learning Braille by 2015.

Those interested in ordering a 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar or the new Braille Education Set, which features the coin in a collectible folder designed to highlight the life and legacy of Louis Braille, should visit www.braille.org or www.usmint.gov or call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). The Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar and the Braille Education Set will only be available until December 11, 2009.

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Filed under: Themes, Blind Visionaries, Deaf Jam, Irked Videos

Last week, we told you about HumanWare’s very groovy Trekker Breeze handheld talking GPS for people who are blind and visually impaired. But the company makes MANY cutting-edge, disability-friendly products! Check out these two BBC videos about another one of HumanWare’s groundbreaking devices—The DeafBlind Communicator (DBC), conceived by Washington state’s Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, built by the Canadian company HumanWare and perfected with feedback from members of Seattle’s deaf-blind community, consists of a Braille note-taker linked by Bluetooth to a mobile phone:

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Filed under: Themes, Blind Visionaries, Irked Videos

The Trekker Breeze, designed and manufactured by the company HumanWare, is a handheld talking GPS for people who are blind/visually impaired that “can be controlled by one hand” and is ”as simple as your TV remote.” It costs $895USD, and here’s what it can do: It verbally announces names of streets, intersections and landmarks (including stores, public services, etc) as you walk. No need to stop passersby to know where you are… simply press a button and Breeze tells you your location on the spot. When you are in a vehicle, Breeze announces all intersections, allowing you to exit when you want. If you get lost, you can easily retrace your steps—simply push a button. You can record the routes when you learn them with sighted people so that you can use them later without assistance, and also save landmarks for later use (i.e. favourite restaurant, friend’s house, bank, park bench, etc).

Two awesome videos…after the jump!

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Filed under: Themes, Blind Visionaries, Irked Audio

A few weeks ago, IrkedMagazine.com published a series of features about Metro Transit’s decision to stop offering free bus passes to Nova Scotians who are blind or have minimum sight. To be deliberately cheeky and hyperbolic (but also to express our bona fide outrage) we dubbed the debacle “Halifaxgate.”

After reading our coverage, Canadian icon Terry Kelly has agreed to weigh in. For those of you who don’t know Terry, please allow us to introduce just a few of his many accomplishments:

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