IBrailler Notes, an app to help visually impaired type quickly on iPad

This new app can help blind people type quickly and efficiently on an iPad. Created by Stanford engineer Sohan Dharmaraja, the app – named IBrailler Notes – uses eight keys. What’s different about it is that the keys form around the fingertips when they’re placed on the screen. Which means that if a user loses his way, he simply lifts his fingers from the screen and places them down again. “It’s a great feeling to think our work has the potential to connect and empower people, something their sighted counterparts may take for granted,” Dharmaraja was quoted as saying by NotImpossibleNow. The iBrailler also has an easy undo/redo function that requires a simple clockwise or counter-clockwise twist of a single fingertip across that glass. Google is one click. A blind user can cut, copy and paste on the device. Traditional Braille writers come in a variety of models but are very costly. But for an iBrailler all that is required is an iPad and an app. Since January, a free test version of the iBrailler app has been available on the app store. However, the free version doesn’t allow for sharing what’s written and limits the numbers of notes and characters in each note. But for something around $40, users are allowed unlimited writing and sharing through Dropbox, email, clipboard or opening the note in another app. “We want to continuously improve the typing experience on touchscreen devices for the blind so we want to develop relationships with our users and testers,” Dharmaraja was quoted as saying. IANS