We're doing this work because of my personal interest in Braille and sign language. I've been doing Braille since I was seven, and it's been a love affair that has gone on now for thirty-five years. The opportunity to try to incorporate the work I do as a scientist and technologist with my first academic love was just too good to be true. I'm disappointed that we weren't more careful about the wording, especially regarding accessibility. I am not personally convinced that blind people can learn Braille using audio output alone or, for that matter, any form of on-line, computerized instruction.
Braille is, after all, a tactual, hands-on means of reading and writing.
We're not sure where technology will take us, so all we can do is keep our fingers crossed that the technology will move us past the audio. Carrying this thinking a bit further, I hope that your instructional program will enable sighted participants actually to feel the Braille they are learning. Most of the folks locally here who helped us test the intro course this past semester prepared their assignments on Perkins Braillers. In short, I couldn't agree more. Even as a sighted reader, I use my fingers.