Paige Connect builds on a great tradition of adaptations for the Perkins braille writer.

The most widely used mechanical braille writer in the world since its invention in 1951. It has been hailed as "the best machine ever invented to teach students braille".

The first adaptation for the Perkins was invented by Norman Wilson and introduced by Quantum in 1984. The US distributor was Humanware. It allowed users to produce both a braille copy and a print copy of the embossed paper using a dot matrix printer.

In 1984, John Spragg developed a means of transcribing grade 2 braille written on a Perkins to text automatically using a BBC Micro. This was then released by Newtech as the MicroBrailler. The addition of a speech synthesiser facilitated the self-teaching of braille.

In 1986, the company Sensotec launched their first ever product The Braildec, which decoded braille and converted it into print using a dot matrix printer. It was used by mainstream blind children in primary education until the end of the 1990s.

Gareth Evans, Stephen Pettitt, and Paul Blenkhorn developed a PCB that was mounted immediately below the base of the Perkins. This had nine optical sensors, one for each key, which recorded information that could be sent to a PC's serial port.

Paige Connect builds on a great a tradition of adaptations for the Perkins Brailler to enable instant collaboration with sighted teachers, family, and friends.