Computer Braille in the Atlanta School System

The Computer Braille Project in the Atlanta Public School System, funded under Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was designed to develop a program to alleviate the problem of limited reading materials by providing braille materials for the visually impaired via the computer. The discrepancy between the amount, kind and availability of reading materials for sighted and blind students is one of the major weaknesses in the overall education program for visually impaired pupils. One of the chief goals for using an automated system such as Atlanta’s is the total elimination of the need to know braille by those persons within the system who must prepare the input. One of the chief problems is the rather vigorous standards set forth by the rules of Standard English Braille including the unique formatting of braille publications.