For the moment though, I’d say that my impression is that things have improved over the last few years and will probably continue to do so. For instance, Mark Waid, who is set to take over writing duties with the volume three relaunch in July, made some interesting comments recently regarding Matt’s relationship to screens generally and I would expect that he would have done a certain amount of research on the topic. You’ll find the link to that interview in my most recent post.

It was great stumbling across your site about DD and your highlighting the lack of Matt’s use of up-to-date assistive technology in his titles.

While I no longer read Matt’s adventures due to my own sight loss some fifteen years ago, I’ve often argued that the title’s writer should have their scripts vetted by one of us blinkies.

I’ve even gone so far as to email the Q-Man himself (yep I’ve got his personal email) that the writing reins should be handed over to one of us.

For starters, a lawyer of Matt’s calibre would be more than familiar with screen reading technology, so I’d have him making use of what else but JAWS (Job Access With Speech) for Windows.

I’d retain the tactile watch, and actually have him explain to perhaps Natasha that using a talking one would give him away in battle when its hourly alarm goes off and gives away his position when he’s fighting a foe in the darkness.

I’d have him using TALKS on his mobile phone to text, a DAISY book player, and voicing his frustration at websites that are not W3C compliant when he is attempting to research cases, shop online, etc. Given the typical frustrations he’d experience in his employment, I’d subtly introduce a Personal Assistant in his law firm who transcribes his case research since so much legal documentation is still not available in accessible format (particularly the older cases). And in non-stereotypical fashion I would not have Matt sleep with his PA;)

I’d also stop referring to his ability as Radar Sense and actually start referring to it in its real-world terminology of Echolocation which plenty of us do through tongue-clicking. I’d upgrade his cane by having ultrasonic tech installed into it (such as that in the Batcane).

If we want to keep this sense as much more heightened than the typical blinkie, we’d need to start looking at the obvious moral questions these powers raise. I’d play with the idea of Matt Murdock being able to read how every word he, opposing council, the judge, or a witness spoke was received by each member of the jury. Obviously, Matt Murdock would rightly face legal sanctions or disbarment if word leaked that he was using his enhanced hearing to give him such an advantage in court. How would one create tension around this issue? I’d have Murdock become District Attorney of New York and upon taking up his new role use the resources at his disposal as DA to finally make good on his promise to hunt down the Punisher and end his career.

Upon capturing Castle, Matt launches prosecution against him.

But Castle has an ace up his sleeve.

DD and Punisher have fought so many times and Punisher studies all of his enemies so completely that we have to assume he at least suspected something was “different” about Daredevil.

Just as Matt thinks he has him nailed in court, I’d have Castle drop the bombshell, with indisputable evidence to back it up, thereby having Murdock’s plan backfire and he rightly faces legal sanctions and disbarment for using his radar sense to give him such an advantage in court.

The only thing Murdock has to return to after the decimation of his legal career is the costumed identity of Daredevil. And just as well too since the implications of this revelation means that every case he defended that lead to the incarceration of a super-villain is undermined and they all get released from prison onto the streets of New York to pick up where they left off. So he’d certainly have his hands full once again as the costumed vigilante.

I’d even have a go at updating his rogue’s gallery by making it up of antagonists who worked hard enough to make their other senses compensate for their disabilities and develop the innate potentials they always had. This might require creating some new characters, but how interesting would it be to study existing Marvel villains and looking for clues to disabilities they already have and revealing their powers as compensatory attributes!?

And given Matt is more than just the barriers he experiences, I’d focus back on the dichotomy of him being an officer of the court who chooses to work outside the law… and then start exploring whether he is driven by a desire for justice or retribution – of course moving away from the historically gritty arguments inculcated since Miller’s run and instead returning to Nocenti’s focus that sometimes the courts fail to offer true justice. I’d consequently have him start managing the pro-bono cases for his firm to start addressing this issue that is dear to his heart legally too.

Would be keen on your thoughts (and whether we should begin a lobbying campaign to get us on that title;)

Also, nice to see Playing to the Camera mentioned…I really enjoyed that story, personally. I’ve had my hopes up that Marvel might finally collect those issues to highlight some of Bob Gale’s previous work now that he’s one of the writers on Amazing Spider-Man, but I guess we’ll have to continue to wait on that one.

My favorite braille thing in the pages of DD was the card that Vanessa Fisk gave Matt during dinner. It supposedly had the name of the person who ratted him out to the tabloids. It clearly reads "danny dobbs"(none of the braille shown has ever used any capitalization, but no biggie there), even when seen from the back in another panel. However, when we see the late-night confrontation with DD and Mr. Dobbs, the panel tells us we are at the residence of HENRY Dobbs. Okay, so was this a gaff, or a very inside joke somewhere?

[Note to DD artists: need braille proofreading? Darediva at your service.]

Want to know about some other items readily available without calling Reed Richards? Handy stuff is shown on http://www.braillebookstore.com/ from a wonderful company out of Canada.

In this digital age, there are lots of gadgets that "talk". I'd bet the microwave in Matt's (and Milla's, when she was still around) would talk. Very common thing. The new iPhones have VoiceOver, and many other brands of phones already had verbal software, like my Sanyo phone that announces the number to me, and the name, if it's one I have in my phonebook.

As noisy as Matt's world would be, I'd imagine he'd stick with a classic braille watch, so he could sneak a "look" at the time under the desk without letting his clients know. Stealth does still have its advantage.

Again, Chris, great points, and I'm with you about seeing some stuff in the background that alludes to Matt being a tech-savvy guy.