Blind Maryland High School Student Wins $4,000 BrailleNote

BALTIMORE, MD (February 17, 2004) - Angela Moran, a blind high school student at Gwynn Park Senior High School in Brandywine, Maryland, was the proud winner of the “Why I Want a BrailleNote” contest.  During the six-week contest entrants were asked to send in a short paragraph explaining how the BrailleNote would be important to them.  More than three hundred entries were submitted.  Angela wrote in part, “I hope I win because I plan to attend Colorado State University in September, and I believe this tool is essential to my future success.”
 

The BrailleNote is a portable Braille PDA with speech and Braille output incorporating a word processor, organizer, address list manager, email, electronic book reader, Internet browser, and more.  It is considered by many blind people to be a significant innovation in Braille access in the past decade. 

NFB President Marc Maurer stated that, “The Grand Opening Celebration Planning Committee appreciated the generous gift of a BrailleNote provided by Pulse Data HumanWare for the Celebration program.  Adaptive devices like the BrailleNote help blind people perform to their maximum potential and I wish every blind child could have one.”   The NFB provides low interest loans to students in need of adaptive technology.

Jim Halliday, President Emeritus of Pulse Data HumanWare (PDH) offered the BrailleNote as a Grand Opening Celebration contest prize, stating that, “We at Pulse Data HumanWare wanted to celebrate and honor the opening of the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute and specifically its youth education initiative, and what better way to do that than to give a BrailleNote to a blind student?  I only wish we could give a BrailleNote to every one of the entrants because they all presented compelling reasons for wanting one.” 

About the NFB

The National Federation of the Blind, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, with more than 50,000 members and 700 local and state affiliates and chapters, is the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people in the United States.  NFB members believe that with effective training and equal opportunity blind people can reduce the impact of this disability from tragedy to physical nuisance. The NFB improves blind people’s lives through advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging independence and self-confidence.  It is the leading force in the blindness field today and the voice of the nation’s blind.

About Pulse Data HumanWare

Pulse Data HumanWare is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pulse Data International of Christchurch, New Zealand. Established in 1988, Pulse Data has established a strong reputation for producing innovative low vision and blindness products that combine high quality and excellent performance with user-friendly features and outstanding reliability.

Pulse Data HumanWare specializes in assistive technology for persons who are print impaired due to blindness, low vision, or learning and reading disabilities.

 Media Contacts

  Patricia Maurer                            Jim Halliday
Community Relations Director       Pulse Data HumanWare
communityrelations@nfb.org         jhalliday@humanware.com
410-659-9314, ext. 272               800-722-3393, ext. 222