<div dir="auto">Cornell has an old Blazie tech embosser that's open to everyone, including the public. It was abandoned for about 5 years before I was hired and worked to get it fixed and create documentation. Some students use it for zines, but its mostly staff making braille alts for programs and art exhibits. Student textbooks and tests are handled by a new embosser in student disability services, or big projects are sent to a local printer. <div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">I'd love to get a new one that supports image embossing for the public, but it won't be happening for a while due to budget cuts. I'm just happy the old beast is chugging along still.<br><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Thanks,</div><div dir="auto">D. </div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Oct 31, 2025, 2:47 PM John Gardner via athen-list <<a href="mailto:athen-list@u.washington.edu">athen-list@u.washington.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal">Mark, some interesting history about community embossers: The Oregon State University library bought one of the original Tiger Advantage embossers about 25 years ago. They made it available to pretty much anybody, but it was too far ahead
of its time. At that time there was no supporting infrastructure allowing one to send print jobs. Nor was there very much good content available. Ron Stewart and I made it more useful when we began developing a group doing “Access Technology”, a name that
Ron coined as far as I know. End of history lesson!<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am pleased to hear about the Canadian community embosser, and I would be delighted if US libraries would add a ViewPlus embosser to their computer rooms. The Inclusio project should soon be providing high quality content, graphics in
particular, so community embossers could become very valuable resources. I sure hope so.<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John<u></u><u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> athen-list <<a href="mailto:athen-list-bounces@mailman22.u.washington.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">athen-list-bounces@mailman22.u.washington.edu</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Mark Weiler via athen-list<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Friday, October 31, 2025 11:07 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Access Technology Higher Education Network <<a href="mailto:athen-list@u.washington.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">athen-list@u.washington.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [Athen] Community embossers<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA">I haven’t heard back from anyone about awareness of community embossers. I wanted to try one more time. See below for more details.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Mark Weiler
<br>
<b>Sent:</b> October 27, 2025 4:40 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Access Technology Higher Education Network <<a href="mailto:athen-list@u.washington.edu" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">athen-list@u.washington.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Community embossers<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA">I attended a talk by some librarians from Kwantlen Polytechnic University in BC, where they have
<a href="https://www.kpu.ca/library/braille-printing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">a community embosser</a>.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA">It can be used by anyone, whether from the university or the wider community. It’s set up like a regular self-serve printer and public workstation. People can send a print job to the embosser like they can send a job
to a laser printer. There are supports to learn how to print it.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA">What I find interesting was a how the community is using it. They told a story of how someone from the community learned about the embosser and came in to have a wedding invitation embossed.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA">Does anyone know of other examples of community embossers?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA">Mark<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt">Mark Weiler, PhD (he & him)<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt">JAWS certified and Web Accessibility Specialist
<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt">Web & User Experience Librarian<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt">Wilfrid Laurier University<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt">Waterloo, Ontario<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt">548-889-5056<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top:12.0pt;page-break-after:avoid"><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#2f5496">Notices
</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#2f5496"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt">Upcoming</span></b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:11.0pt">
<a href="https://library.wlu.ca/events" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"><span style="color:#0563c1">Laurier Library workshops & events</span></a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"><u></u> <u></u></span></p>
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