You Probably Don’t Need an ElBraille
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2024
- In this video, Caitlyn reviews the ElBraille from Freedom Scientific and tells you who should and should not buy one.
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I’m so glad I got the brailliant when my old braille note crashed and not this. Thank you.
personally, I would not recommend this product. You're better off just using windows with a braille display because at least you'll be getting the full experience. Or if you want an all in one solution, just use one of the newer notetakers that have android support. it'll be basically the same experience, like using a Chromebook or an android base braille laptop
Hi and thank you for making the video. I couldn’t agree more that, while this is a lovely idea, it is outrageously marketed as a laptop replacement. In the UK, the Wi-Fi version of £1850 without the license for Jaws. What I have just done however is to plug both the focus and the mantis into a GPD micro PC. Same result really, obviously it’s not built into the one unit, but it’s tiny, tiny, tiny. I am having difficulties emulating windows shortcut keys with the focus at the moment so I need to research more. Thanks again for this.
Thank you Caitlyn for doing this review.
and about this product I must say, well god bless them for paying attention to the needs of blind persons and building this product, but I think it is very expensive for its functionality. they are selling this for $2,695 on their website!
the play station 5 with all those powerful hardware's is just only about $500. the power of mass production.
I always knew this thing was kind of a sham when it first came out but tried to hold my tongue for the most part. When I can buy a focus 40 and do virtually everything the same but just paired with another device it’s kind of a waste of development in my opinion.
if you’re looking for a braille display with actual windows modifier and function keys, get a Q-Braille from hymns and call it a day. if I was in the market for a standalone display that would frankly be the only device I would get, unless I really wanted a full keyboard which would warant a Mantis. at the end of the day though, I’m a firm believer that a perkins keyboard really is the thing that makes or breaks a display.
I held my tongue for a long time as well until I was handed one and given permission to honestly review it on the internet. :) I have tested the QBraille, and it is quite good. I don’t particularly care about having function keys on a display that I’m just going to connect to other things though, so the Focus 40 is still my go-to display because of its smaller and lighter form factor.
Yeah for sure. I recently got a QBraille and I like it a lot. I also don't really care for all the extra function keys and find it a little on the big side, but one thing I do like about the QBraille, and I chose it for this very reason, is being able to read and write brf files. Aside from another super expensive display, the QBraille was the only one that met my brf needs (except for some cheaper 20 cell displays which had other issues) so I chose it, and I'm really happy with my decision. I'm happy to just ignore the function keys and pretend they don't exist. I also seriously considered the new Brailliant X series but it can only save in .txt format so that was a no, but the smaller size is a plus. I did use a Focus before and liked it, but the fact that it has less notetaking functionality than the QBraille means it's not a great choice for me, but if I just wanna display braille, Focus (and other displays) is great. If I didn't have brf functionality in a braille display I would have to get a notetaker. I enjoy my BrailleNote Touch Plus but find it difficult to justify getting one despite the convenience because mainstream does everything better except brfs.
@@irisgirl86music14 I would make use of the function keys as a means to totally replace the regular keyboard on my computer. One of the things that annoys me about Jaws in particular is that most braille displays don’t have very good mapping to simulate even simple things like Alt F4. In some cases, that functionality is nonexistent and you have to either get really good with the keyboard manager or just use your regular qwerty keyboard which defeats the purpose in my opinion. At that rate, I might as well just get a mantis. ironically, other screen readers don’t have this problem even on Mac.With that being said I am a stickler about portability and if you’re using it more for notetaking those inevitably become pretty pointless.
I understand. Everyone's needs are different. The function keys are useful if you control your computer from the braille display but that's not personally what I do. I've always preferred just using the computer keyboard and that's just been what I've been used to. Some of the function keys are somewhat useful for my needs like control n for new document in notepad, but yeah.
@@irisgirl86music14 One thing I forgot to mention is that in a lot of cases you can still effectively close something by just going into the menu bar and hitting exit are close. A few more steps yes but still achieves the same goal. I’m a firm believer that everyone’s needs are different hence why I tried looking at it from both sides of the coin.
That's a nice shirt. :)
Terrific! Many thanks for this it has helped me make a decision to buy a laptop.
I've just purchased a Focus 40 for my daughter, Eilidh, who wants to write about her autism. For the first part I am getting the keyboard working with her Android tablet. So far all working well with BrailleBack but I can't find how to move between screens using the Focus 40. I'm sure it must be possible, are you able to help?
Another great video.
I recently helped a lady who is blind fundraise for a focus 14 blue which she now uses with an iPhone. I was wondering if you could tell me, what can a pc do better than an iPhone in everyday use? She has a Windows laptop with jaws but she can't see what the ox can do better.
I look forward to hearing your opinion on this.
Personally, my iPhone is the device I grab whenever I need to get directions to a new place, order groceries or other things online, scan barcodes to identify things or get cooking directions, read my mail with OCR apps, take quick notes, etc. It’s what I use when I need to get things done around my house or travel to a new destination. My laptop is what I use for writing lengthy documents, sending longer emails, editing these videos, filling out forms, and so on. You can do most things with an iPhone and a Braille display that you would do on a computer, but certain things like editing documents, proof reading things, and navigating certain websites are easier on a computer. Also, you need to know how to use a computer with JAWS or another screen reader if you are seeking employment. It all comes down to personal preference for the most part.
@@challengesolutions5236 hi Steve, I fully endorse the reply you received here. I think iOS devices are brilliant, but I really don’t like those, or indeed Mac OS for editing long documents. If you are using Windows, you can use jaws for windows, which I personally think is the most responsive screen reader you can get. NVDA is also good.
Personally, I like doing advanced tasks like wordprocessing with my windows machine, but that is mainly because that's what I grew up learning and using. Softwarewise, you can get similar computer results on iOS by downloading the apps you need like the ones from the iWork suite, though I wouldn't recomend working on lengthy or advanced projects with a touchscreen without a Braille display or bluetooth keyboard. That being said, even though you can use your iOS device as a computer, you should learn to use standard computers and screen readers so you won't be lost when you gain employment and they sit you down in front of a standard Windows (or mac) workstation.
nice work caitlyn i would like to come in contact my skype is walterjfw
I’ve seen this device at my local lighthouse for the blind and thought it was pretty cool. My biggest concern is the fact that it doesn’t have a screen, so what would I do, For example, if I needed sighted assistance to navigate an Inaccessible website?I guess an external monitor could be connected if it has USB ports, but that would be another thing I would have to carry around, which defeats the purpose of having a two in one device. If you’re looking to combine braille sells with a qwerty keyboard, I would recommend the mantis Q 40 from APH. It doesn’t run windows 10 like a computer, but it does have notetaking capabilities. If Freedom Scientific wants to make this device more marketable, I think they should partner with Apple or Dell or another company that makes computers and design laptops that are just like standard computers but with 40 cells of refreshable braille in front of the keys.
Yes, the lack of a screen is another concern. I personally find myself needing sighted assistance on a semi-regular basis with Windows because JAWS has a tendency to lag or stop talking suddenly even if everything is accessible. I don’t necessarily want a full keyboard on a note taker as long as it isn’t running an operating system that needs all the function keys; I quite like the Perkins keyboard on my Focus 40 and Braille Sense Polaris. It would be interesting to see Braille displays built into regular computers, and I’d be a lot more likely to use that than the ElBraille. Personally, though, I still think the combination of a Braille display and a laptop is optimal because you can use one or the other, or both as needed, and it’s easy to get sighted assistance when necessary.
@@challengesolutions5236 And I'll admit that this is just a thing with Windows as a whole. I have had a number of cases where I messed something up and needed sighted assistance to get myself out of trouble and I would say this is not fully related to what screen reader I use. Programs do sometimes freeze for seemingly no reason and that's kinda unfortunate but it's life, and sometimes my system may just get overloaded and lag because I have a lot of resource intensive activities running at once.