[bksvol-discuss] Re: Bookshare Daisy files maintain Bolding, Font point sizes, Italics, and more

  • From: "Mayrie ReNae" <mayrierenae@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sun, 8 Nov 2009 20:39:13 -0800

Hi Monica,

        I think I can accurately answer your wondering as to why bookshare
has chosen its standardized font as Ariel.  Ariel is a very, very simple
font, It is most similar to the letters we learned in preschool as print
letters.  They have few, if any flourishes to complicate the shape of the
letters.  Let me give you an example.

A letter A (that is a capital letter A in print) in a very simple font looks
like this: If you draw a line downward at a 30-ish angle from the point of
origin down to the left, then put your pencil at the top of the same line
and draw a line downward at a 30-ish degree angle to the right, then draw a
horizontal line across the center of these two lines not going further left
or right of these lines.  That is a capital letter A in a very simple font.
In a more complicated font, at the bottom of each of the  two diagonal
lines, there are lines drawn horizontally which excede the width of each
line on both sides by a tiny bit.  This makes the letter look fancier.
These fancier fonts are more difficult for partially sighted and learning
disabled people to interpret accurately.  So, bookshare has chosen the
simplest option possible to leave as little room for confusion as possible.

I'm sorry if my description of letters leaves a lot to be desired.  Am I
making any sense?

Anyway, that's why bookshare chose the font that they did, I think, to make
things as easy as possible to read for anyone reading them who has  a visual
difficulty of any kind.

Sorry if I've just muddied the waters.

Mayrie

 

-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Monica Willyard
Sent: Sunday, November 08, 2009 8:19 PM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Bookshare Daisy files maintain Bolding, Font
point sizes, Italics, and more

Thanks Judy. It's helpful to know where to focus. I thought the font face
was retained from our rtf files and have been trying rather frantically to
make sure the chapter font face stays consistent. In my current book, some
scanned as Arial and others scanned as Times New Roman. The glossary is a
table in an entirely different font, and I was about to type it in to make
it behave.

I remember the staff discussing the issue with us last year because they
wanted sighted users to be able to adjust fonts to a size and type that
works best for them. I never looked at the style sheet to see what they had
done with that. I assumed they used the font face from the book. I wonder
why they chose Arial as the default. I know you probably don't know the
answer. My mind is just wandering. I'm also somewhat amused at how I have
talked for so long about something I will never understand. 

Oh how I wish they still sold Opticons. I'd buy one in an instant so I could
physically touch/see books and the shapes of the letters. I'd tackle the
book I have here just to see the difference between a normal letter and the
version in italics. We had an itinerant teacher during second grade who had
an Opticon. She taught me to use it for an hour each day and then left at
the end of the year. I never got to spend time alone with it exploring the
books I wanted to read... Hardy Boys adventures! :D I wish whoever owned the
patent to the machine would sell it to someone who would make a new model.


Monica Willyard
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." -- Peter Drucker

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