2014.1.1

Brailink refreshable braille display

Clarke, John; Bellis, Fred

Black faux leather plastic carrying case with brushed and chrome-plated aluminum trim, chrome trimmed black plastic handle; pair of lockable slide-release latches flank the handle; case is lined with charcoal plasticized linen; lid of case has three stacked accordion-fold pockets secured by a leather strap above a black plastic hinged compartment for six micro-cassettes; three prong power jack on back of case; in recess on left side of case are DIP switches, and jacks marked "TANDEM TERMINAL," "EXT.," and "DATA LINE"; brushed aluminum deck of notetaker has raised trapezoidal bar in middle; above the bar are two black plastic micro-cassette decks flanking three black rocker switches and a larger white plastic rocker switch (power); label near the power switch, "SER No. U83932/Model 1196/C.S.I. Ltd. WALLINGTON ENGLAND"; on the bar is a 48 cell refreshable braille display, flanked by four square buttons on each side of the display; below the bar is a qwerty keyboard, gray plastic except for the S-D-F-J-K-L keys in red; two black plastic rocker switches on each side of the keyboard; clear adhesive braille labels adjacent to all the rocker switches except the white power switch.

H-5.75 W-19.25 D-15 inches

ca. 1982

Clarke & Smith

Wallington, England

The Brailink was an early computerized notetaker and solonoid-based refreshable braille display that stored data on mini-cassette tapes. It could also be connected to other digital devices to provide braille output. It was conceived by John Clarke at Clarke and Smith in Wallington, England as early as 1971, but did not appear on the market until 1982. At more than $8,000.00 USD, it was too expensive for most consumers and by the time it was discontinued in 1996, only sixty had been sold worldwide. A business card taped inside this example reads, "David L. Glass/Data Processing Educational Specialist/Boston Mass."

Gift of the Carroll Center, 2014.1.