When Olivia, a law student with the Nebraska Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NCBVI), first started using the Monarch tactile tablet, she wasn’t expecting it to reshape how she learns. But that’s exactly what happened.
“As a law student using Monarch, I would say the experience has been lifechanging,” she shared. “Yes, it has changed the way I read cases, but more so, it has allowed me to create slightly formatted charts in a way that helps me better understand the material.”
Law school is famously demanding. It’s not just about reading, it’s about organizing, interpreting, and referencing dense legal texts efficiently. Monarch, designed to display digital tactile graphics and braille, has become a key part of Olivia’s study routine.
“There’s a learning curve for sure,” she says, “but the interface is intuitive. Touch navigation and editing is also a game-changer.”
From outline to understanding
For now, Olivia uses Monarch mainly to write course outlines and occasionally read cases. While transferring materials from her PC to Monarch takes a few steps, she’s optimistic about upcoming improvements, especially now that the device supports email.
And she has ideas.
“I’d love the ability to create charts and tables more easily in the word processor,” she suggests. “And it would be a huge benefit if Monarch could connect as a braille display, especially for my workflow.”
She also floated another idea: flowcharts. “Creating flowcharts would be amazing,” Olivia adds, noting how helpful they can be for mapping legal logic and case structures.
What she can’t go without
The feature she values most: skimming.
“That’s what I missed most with hardcopy braille,” she explains. “With Monarch, the ability to skim a case or look through something quickly in braille is absolutely something I could not do without.”
For Olivia, Monarch has helped restore a key element of how students absorb material: quickly navigating, rereading, and organizing information on the fly.
Built for Olivia
While Monarch continues to evolve, it’s already making a difference in academic environments that demand precision, independence, and adaptability. And that evolution wouldn’t be possible without the insight and experiences shared by users like Olivia.
It’s for students like her, and because of students like her, that we build technologies like Monarch.
About Monarch
Developed in collaboration with the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), HumanWare, and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), Monarch is a dynamic tactile display device built to provide equitable access to braille and tactile graphics at scale.
