Dear AccessWorld Readers,
We at AccessWorld are excited to help Research in Motion announce the release of the BlackBerry® Screen Reader, a free software application that helps BlackBerry customers who are blind or visually impaired operate their BlackBerry® smartphones. Read more about this new, free software in this month's AccessWorld News.
I'm sure many AccessWorld readers have heard about the BrailleTouch app through both mainstream and blindness-centered media. The tech blogs have also been abuzz with questions and speculation about the app, and there has been confusion as to why BrailleTouch is not yet available. In his article, Can't BrailleTouch This …or Can You? A Review of the BrailleTouch Prototype, John Rempel cuts through the confusion to give AccessWorld readers the real scoop.
On a less tech-related note, as cold days have now given way to sunshine and warmer weather, I thought it was the perfect time to turn some attention to getting outdoors and becoming more active. Statistics tell us that people with vision loss tend to be less physically active than people with sight, so I invited Lacey Markle from the United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) to tell AccessWorld readers about the role of the AABA and how it's working to improve the lives of people with vision loss through recreation and sports. The AccessWorld team encourages you to share the information in her article with others, especially students, teachers, and athletics coaches, because research and experience show that students who participate in sporting activities are more independent and attend and graduate from college at a dramatically higher rate than their less active peers.
The AccessWorld team hopes you find useful information in these and all articles in this issue.
With best regards,
Lee Huffman
AccessWorld Editor-in-Chief
