Increasing Braille Literacy: Voice-Assisted Electronic Braille Books (eBraille eBook) for the Visually Impaired

摘要

There is a problem of low literacy level amongst the visually impaired. Too many children are unexposed to Braille, and hence are not able to read or write. This causes some of the visually impaired to be missing out on a lot of knowledge that can be gained from reading. This project aims to create a voice-assisted electronic Braille Book (eBook) for the visually impaired by means of a refreshable electronic Braille panel (eBraille Panel) and data storage media which enables them to read and gain more insight on certain subjects with more ease. The panel functions similarly for the visually impaired to how a monitor would for those who are sighted. They will feel the Braille codes that are displayed which are transferred from a data storage media in the form of a data stick. The data stick stores the digital form of the Braille book, and act as a Braille Book. It also holds the corresponding audio of the contents of the book. Thus, this project aims to provide the visually impaired with an audio assisted electronic Braille book.