A Printer For Both Blind And Sighted

Here's an interesting product, and one that can be really useful: A company called ViewPlus Technologies has introduced a printer called Emprint, based on Hewlett-Packard inkjet technology, that allows Braille documents to be used by sighted people by printing the corresponding ink characters above or beside the Braille. It can also emboss raised characters underneath printed characters, so that people with poor vision who don't know Braille can both see and feel the letters.

In other words, the same document can be handed out to both blind and sighted people -- say, in a classroom, at a lecture, or at a play -- and both can have full access to the information there. You don't have to have two separate printers, or have two separate copies of the document printed.

This isn't an inexpensive printer -- it lists at $5,995. However, for institutions and companies that want to reach out to a wider audience, it can be well worth the price.