[access-uk] Re: how do you do braille displays?

Hi again Daman.

Forgot to add in my last message on this thread that another 
aproach to your problem might bve a slide-out tray attached 
underneath the desktop, if there is enough space.

And, yes, I enjoyed the Dr. Who too.  Some Pratt on Saga said he 
thought it wasn't 'American' enough to succeed.  Tank God, or 
whatever you belive in that there is still room for British 
execentricity or originalality or whatever you want to call it.
Ray

Personal emails:  Email me at
mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Damon" <damon.rose@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, March 27, 2005 10:36 AM
Subject: [access-uk] how do you do braille displays?


Hi.

This is a quick digital lifestyle question for all you braile 
display users
out there.

How do you use your braille display?  Where do you position it? 
Do you put
your keyboard on top of it or beside it or what?

For years I've positioned my keyboard on top of the braille 
display but
since yesterday I've been trying to change my habits.  I now have 
a new desk
and a new chair.  The desk, however, is perhaps an inch higher 
than the last
desk and I'm noticing definite shoulder strain issues trying to 
reach my
keyboard all the way up there atop of my display.  I'd always 
noticed a
level of strain but it's a little more apparent now.  The display 
makes the
keyboard an inch or two higher: I've got an old 40 cell 
PowerBraille here at
home.

The good people from Health&Safety at work tell me that your 
elbows and
wrists should be on a level horizontally in order to stop excess 
strain on
your arms, shoulders, back and neck.  Leaving the keyboard on top 
of my
braille display means that there is a definite 15 or 20 degree 
upward slant
of my forearms and more pressure on my shoulders.  In fact I've 
had to give
them the deep heat treatment aftrer a few hours at my desk.

Hence the desk alteration.

Am I kidding myself to think that I can use my braille display 
just as
effectively if the display is behind the keyboard?  It puts me in 
mind of
the old Versabraille or the old BrailleLink that we used to have 
in the
computer room at Worcester.

Using the keyboard like this means I am relying more on speech as 
the
braille isn't quite so close at hand.  This could result in more 
spelling
errors, I'm thinking.  It does seem that bit more comfortable to 
write,
however.

Are there any RSI suffering folk out there who are torturing 
themselves
because they feel they have to keep their keyboard on top of 
their braille
display purely because of the design of the thing? Or perhaps I 
am the last
in a long chain of people to realise that there are better ways 
of holding
yourself?

Any thoughts on matters ergonomic or health&safety relating to 
Braille
displays and the unnaturalness much appreciated.

And wow wasn't Doctor Who fantastic?

...Damon






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