Not a fan.

First of all, they start off their video in an inaccessible way- like would it really be that hard to read out whatever text they were showing on the screen? I know its a minor detail but it immediately indicates that this is intended for a sighted audience, not a blind one.

My next issue with this is their "evidence" that most blind people can't read braille. Yes, braille literacy is low, but that's mostly because 1. A large portion of the visually impaired population has some remaining sight and 2. the massive increase in screen-reading technology. Yeah, braille is really difficult to learn at a later age, and admittedly i read braille about as fast as a kindergartener reads any text, but attributing the low braille literacy to difficulty alone is just plain wrong.

My next issue is practicality- when the heck could this ever be used? It seems like it would be much more difficult to learn to differentiate between at least 26 complex different symbols than it would be to remember the combinations of 6 dots. I can't imagine anyone reading this with speed and accuracy.

And i know he mentioned that sizing is adjustable, but even at a small "font," the symbols would probably take up just as much space or more than good ole braille. And we all know how bulky braille books can be. So an average book can still take up several large volumes.

Speaking anecdotally here- most people i know don't use paper all that often anyone. Most of my braille reading friends use braille displays to do their work. Can this company produce an elia equivalent? Or can elia ONLY be read on paper- thus making it mostly useless to tech-loving people

And what would people do if their printer broke down? They'd be out of a writing system (at least temporarily), unless this company can design and produce its own type of slate.

I know this got ranty, but this really does seem like a silly idea through snd through

Nope. The simple 6 dot Braille system is much easier. I attribute low braille literacy to older-newly blind not learning it, not the difficulty of the system. I learned braille at age 40 in about a week.

I [previously commented on an article about ELIA,]
(https://www.reddit.com/r/Blind/comments/731suy/the_complicated_quest_to_redesign_braille/dnn7gde/) and I don't think my feelings are substantially changed by the presence of a kickstarter, although I haven't kept up with the project.

I feel like this is a money grab with no real future, mass produced, mass accepted product. I am a \(multi\-system\) Braille user, and have been since I was 4 years old, I would never seek to adopt this for everyday use. The video really bothers me with the bullshit statistics and no real facts following said statistics, and the claims of the ease in which their system is adopted sounds bullshit too. Are they going to use this shit for Braille Music, or Nemeth, as well? These symbols are bigger than an average braille cell, which is going to make reading a slower and longer process , and the production of ELIA books and materials more expensive to produce, and they aren't going to absorb that expense, we would. Too, the pricing for the pledges seems absolutely ridiculous. Why would anyone pay $1000 for a plaque, or I'm sorry, a "steel plate" with this nonsense on it? The other thing that really bothers me about this is that the kickstarter shows no implementation at all. Are these people going to create a slate and stylus type of deal for these symbols? Are they going to sell us a custom made printer for an exorbitant price, are they going to mod our notetakers for a price? Finally, what will they do for someone like me who not only reads UEB, but also Tenji and kantenji \(which is the Japanese Braille that uses 70\+ standard symbols, as well as an 8 dot cell system as well as a 6 dot cell system, not unlike UEB\), got to say, that's not very inclusive or universal.

I'm glad that I'm not alone with my feelings about this project. I totally agree with everything you said blindjo. I'm so tired of hearing about things like this that seem like they are directed at sighted people's ignorance, sympathy, and wallets, instead of actually making a valuable product. I really wonder if these kind of Kick Starter projects have any knowledge about the blind community what so ever.