Helen Keller reading braille, October 1965

Helen Keller reading braille at her home in Westport, Connecticut. October 1965.

I am delighted that the fifth in our series of posts focusing on the Helen Keller Digitization Project is from Mara Mills New York University Associate Professor of Media, Culture and Communication. Mara’s post - on the continued importance of human transcribers - is fascinating and I encourage everyone to read it. Many thanks, Mara!

Paul Schroeder, AFB Vice President, Programs and Policy Paul Schroeder, AFB Vice President, Programs and Policy

By William Reuschel and Aaron Preece

Aaron Preece stands with his guide dog Joel and a Pidgie Pokemon

Image: Aaron Preece stands with his guide dog Joel and a Pidgey Pokémon.

Susan Mazrui at the podium, accepting her Stephen Garff Marriott Award Susan Mazrui, her service dog, and presenter Deborah Marriott Harrison

Fitbit on the wearer's wrist. Woman is holding an iphone with which to check the Fitbit app.

Tracking health and fitness is all the rage. Should you jump on the bandwagon? Can you? That is, are these tracking devices accessible to users who are blind?

I've tried two such devices: the Fitbit Flex™ (usually just called Fitbit) and the Up24™ from Jawbone.