The introduction of multilingual software that supports other European languages has opened the door for the visually impaired in terms of making learning or communicating in another language much easier than it was before.

I have just completed the New South Wales HSC French continuers and extension courses and have used the multi-lingual French software since its introduction.

From my perspective, reading and writing another language in Braille is a lot easier than relying on synthesised speech because peoples’ ears will never be as fully attuned to languages other than their own and their different accents. Braille is simply more precise when checking spelling or looking for errors which is an essential element in learning another language, especially in a stressful exam situation.

Before the BrailleNote I relied heavily on the Perkins brailler, as well as a pc with JAWS. This made it difficult for my teachers to correct my mistakes and expand my vocab, for they couldn’t read the Braille work which I did for them. When I tried the pc, I could not read over my own work effectively because of the speech. It was also extremely tedious and time consuming for me to go through my corrected work word by word, or in some cases character by character on the pc, reading their corrections and suggestions.

The multilingual software allows me to type French quickly in Braille which I can then read on the Braille display, print or email to my teachers for correction without the hassle of transcribing Braille to print or Vis versa.

I can also read other French documents on the BrailleNote, something which I was never able to do unless they had been scanned and embossed as a hard copy, again a very time consuming process.

I honestly don’t think I could have done as well as I have with French if it hadn’t been for the multi lingual software. It exceeded all my expectations and I am extremely grateful to all the HumanWare team. You’re on the ball guys!

Regards, Henry