I was relieved to find the schedule for the airport shuttle on the company website.  I was only mildly dismayed to find it was an inaccessible PDF document.  One pass through KNFB Reader and I was good to go.

--

Wouldn’t you know—Summer storms delayed my flight.  So I decided to grab some lunch while I waited.  Not so long ago, I would have had to have someone read the menu to me. Now, I snap a few pictures with my phone and let KNFB Reader talk me through it at my own pace.  I’ll be sure to save a copy. I connect through here on the way home.

--

Not only could I read my lunch receipt independently, but I saved a copy for my accountant. I never knew how organized I would become, now that I have a way  of dealing with the swarm of unidentifiable documents always building up.

--

I bought this great external Bluetooth speaker in the exhibit hall.  Music sounds great through it, but I only know what half of the buttons do.  I broke out my portable stand and recognized the 30 page owner’s manual in under 5 minutes.  Even better, I read it with a connected Braille display without interrupting my tunes.

--

I decided to brush up on my Russian.  I wanted something more fun than just listening to an audio book of War and Peace.  When six new recognition languages were  added to KNFB Reader earlier this month, I picked up a print copy of the Russian translation of the first Harry Potter book. Sure, my suitcase is heavier, but my bookmark is nearly to the mid-point.

--

I planned to stay in Orlando for a few extra days.  Armed with 20 or so brochures from the concierge desk, I decided to explore my options from pool-side.  Making notes was a breeze.  I just grabbed the important text (like phone numbers and websites) and pasted them into one document for safe keeping.

My open-air demonstration drew some attention. One of the best parts of National Convention is meeting new people and sharing ideas. My new friends were impressed with how easy KNFB Reader was to use and how quickly it would start reading.  Even better, when I showed them how to purchase it, they were excited to see it was on sale for the entire week.

Header level 2: KNFB Reader is on sale for $64.99 USD, 35% off the regular price, from July 1-7, 2016. The KNFB Reader is a joint development effort of Sensotec nv and KNFB Reader, LLC

Excerpts from the journal of an anonymous attendee of the 2016 National Convention of the National Federation of the Blind, which met in Orlando, FL from Jun 30 – July 5.