Skip to main content Skip to main menu

Everyday Braille with BrailleBlaster, Mantis Q40, and Chameleon 20

a mantis q40 sitting on a desk in front of a desktop monitor

In the 21st century, braille literacy is more important than ever. While screen readers have opened up a technological revolution that has made the world more accessible than ever before, audio is no replacement for the written word. Braille means deeper learning, better spelling and grammar, a better sense of how documents are formatted and what expectations the world has for a professional document. It means resumes, cover letters, and independence. It cannot be ignored.

Studies indicate that while students are actually doing a pretty good job of learning braille, they’re struggling in a key area: reading. They can learn to read braille, but they’re not learning to be good readers. This means comprehending what you’re reading and have appropriate strategies to handle it when you’re not understanding something. Some key skills that can help here are being able to take mental notes, to summarize as you go, and to retain your focus while reading.

One way that we can make better braille readers is by making braille available every day! Now, more than ever before, this is possible with BrailleBlaster and APH braille displays. One way to utilize BrailleBlaster is to transcribe web pages. It’s easy, and anyone can do it in minutes. First, you’ll need to download BrailleBlaster from brailleblaster.org. It’s available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Next, open your favorite browser, go to any web page, right-click and go to Save As, and then pick a location for the file. Now, open BrailleBlaster and open that HTML file. It will automatically translate and format the document. With some minor cleanup from you, maybe delete all of the unnecessary links and advertisements, and then go to File > Save BRF to create a BRF file that you can put on a thumb drive and plug into your braille display for quick daily reading.

By saving the web page and making a BRF, you remove some of the challenges of the web. The reader won’t have to fight their screen reader or worry about any of the other distractions that come with a computer and can instead just focus on the text. Before saving, you could even type some questions after the main body to test their understanding. If you know the student has a special interest like video games, space travel, or a particular TV show or book, maybe find articles that fit that topic. If you don’t have a Mantis Q40™ or Chameleon 20™, you could instead emboss the BRF file on either of the APH embossers, PixBlaster™ or PageBlaster™. This is a great solution because then the files will retain the spatial formatting.

Braille is special, but it shouldn’t be rare. The more braille we can put in front of students, the better equipped they will be to be professionally fulfilled and independent.

Share this article.

Related articles

A stack of presents wrapped in red, white, brown, and polka-dotted paper. Many of the packages have festive bows tied around them.

Holiday Traditions for All

The holidays are a great time for fun, family, and food. This time of year also includes many learning and...

A young boy with glasses and light-colored hair smiles as he poses for a photo.

A Student’s Experience Winning a Polly

Fourth grader Russell Dorn put all three of his entries into an access technology raffle at the National Federation of...

The Braille Brain logo features a multicolored brain stacked above the words “Braille Brain” in all caps. “Braille” is stacked above “Brain,” with both words sharing and beginning with a large B that is as tall as both words stacked. The brain is divided into four sections. The Occipital lobe is red. The Parietal lobe is yellow. The Frontal lobe is blue, and the Temporal lobe is purple.

Introducing Braille Brain!

We are excited to announce the release of Braille Brain! This is a free website-based, self-paced curriculum to help people...