In fall 2023, CSDB was chosen as a test site for the new Monarch refreshable braille display. Students at the School for the Blind were excited to try out this new device being developed by the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) and Humanware. They loved the instant access to graphics. A braille version of a textbook containing text and graphics could fill more than 20 volumes and range from $500-$1500 per copy from a vendor; in contrast, with the Monarch, textbooks can be downloaded directly with instant access to the text and the graphics. CSDB now has full-time access to a Monarch and the students can’t wait to test it further.
The Monarch is about the size of a 15-inch gaming laptop and weighs about 4.5 pounds. It features a braille keyboard and a 10-line, 32-cell refreshable braille display that gives students instant access to text and tactile graphics. One of the included apps is the Tactile Viewer, which enables users to quickly look at graphics on the device, on a USB thumb drive, or access them through APH’s free online Tactile Graphics Image Library.
Another exciting feature is math access. Students will be able to work on multiple-line spatial math problems and access the Desmos graphing calculator. They can also increase their braille reading fluency as they download Bookshare books in the Victor Reader app and read multiple lines of braille before panning to the next section. In addition, teachers, parents, and peers can see what the student is doing on the Monarch via a connected visual display monitor.
Planned future updates include a tactile chess game, a braille terminal app for pairing the Monarch with computers, tablets, and phones, and a new drawing app that will enable teachers to draw a graphic and produce it on the Monarch for the student to reference.
You can read more about the Monarch in this article. You check out the following videos to learn more about the Monarch:
