Apple, Microsoft, and Google team up to set new USB standard for Braille displays

Cerina Cruz
Cerina Cruz June 1, 2018
Updated 2022/04/14 at 10:59 AM

The USB Implementers Forum, a non-profit organization that promotes the Universal Serial Bus (or USB), has just announced that it has worked with leaders from some of the tech industry’s leading companies, that includes Microsoft, Google, and Apple. The purpose of the collaboration was to create a new Human Interface Device (HID) standard for Braille displays.

In a press release the organization says, “The standard will make it easier to use a braille display across operating systems and different types of hardware. It will also simplify development, removing the need for braille devices to have custom software and drivers created for a particular operating system or screen reader.” President and CEO of Helen Keller Services, Joseph Bruno says in the statement, “The new standard for braille displays will significantly narrow the gap in communication between people who are visually impaired, blind, or deaf-blind and their sighted and hearing counterparts,”

This means users will be able to use Braille readers as plug-and-play devices, and not have to go through looking for custom software to accommodate them.

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