Re: One or two spaces
- From: "jerry martin" <jandymartin@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 08:22:02 -0500
Adrian and All:
One thing that I have noticed in the computer age is that as we go along, we
are becoming more like the Jetsons, where the computers are set up to do
everything for us. And in many ways, that is a good thing. However, on the
other side of the coin, if asked how to do simple functions such as how many
spaces are to be between a period and a new sentence opens a myriad of
discussion and debate. So: Two spaces or one, coffee or tea, paper or
plastic, we will never run out of ideas and opinions. Just babbling, I guess.
Jerry
----- Original Message -----
From: Adrian Spratt
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 7:16 AM
Subject: RE: One or two spaces
Hi, Richard.
Your points are well taken. I begin to think the discussion in this thread
breaks along two lines. One side uses MS Word and other application standard
formatting and the other side, where I am, avoids it. I've stayed with
WordPerfect partly for that reason. I also shun right justification and other
formatting techniques that call for the word processor to make proportional
adjustments.
That said, I feel confident that all sentences should end with a single
space. I hated making the change from two spaces a few years ago, but it has
served me well and resulted in not a single critical reaction. It's nice to
have one area in life where criticism doesn't rain down like hailstones!
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From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Richard P. Kelly
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 6:30 PM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: One or two spaces
Adrian,
With all due respect. I do understand the visual of double spaced vs. mono
spacing and mono spaced typeset vs. proportional spaced typeset. Prior to loss
of usable vision, I was doing desktop publishing camera ready layouts with the
PC, soft fonts and a laser printer.
Having said that, knowing what auto spacing your word processor applies
following insertion of punctuation is important and understanding the effect
justification, left, center, right, or full, will also impact the amount of
spacing.
If pressing the spacebar once following insertion of the punctuation mark is
going to automatically apply the appropriate spacing whether a period, semi
colon, full colon etcetera, then use the single space. If it is not
automatically applying the correct spacing, use the double spacebar where
appropriate. Bottom line, we need to be aware of how are documents print if we
wish to impart the desired visual impact.
Cordially, Richard P. Kelly rpkelly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
rich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.new-visions-network.com
From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Adrian Spratt
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 4:33 PM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: One or two spaces
Hi, John. Just to save anyone a duplication of effort, this Wikipedia link is
to the same article as the one given to us by G.W. Cox.
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From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
john R. Vaughn
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 4:57 PM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: One or two spaces
Adrian and list, interesting issue of whether to single or double space after
the terminal punctuation for a sentence and the beginning of the next sentence.
Believe it or not, the link below is from wicipedia on the matter and I found
this from doing a google search.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_spacing#History
As for me, always a double space bar between sentences, I am going to try the
one space bar and and have sighted folks tell me if the MS Word program does
infact do some sort of variable spacing to clearly indicate the end of one
sentence and another.
John
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From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Adrian Spratt
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 2:04 PM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: please help
Hi, Richard.
You couch your argument in terms of blind computer users making sure their
work looks as polished as our sighted colleagues. I agree with this concept,
but you do it a disservice by flatly asserting that double spaces meet that
objective. I was persuaded to switch to single spaces while using word
processors by several sighted people who observed too much space at the ends of
my sentences and by a man who has published the two standard texts on
typesetting and typeset conventions.
There may be special circumstances, such as the tab issue brought up by Ted
Lisle, but the Wikipedia entry to which G.W. Cox sent a link lays out the
history and current general preference.
This is one of those questions that is very hard for us to grasp because the
impact is purely visual. Unsupported, strongly worded assertions don't help.
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From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Richard P. Kelly
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 10:14 AM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: please help
Greetings all,
Proper formatting of a print document still calls for two spaces at the end
of a sentence, after a colon, and perhaps elsewhere. This remains true even
with mono spaced or proportionally spaced fonts. New word processors often
assure proper style is used if auto correct and grammar checking is on. Still,
we want what we print to look as polished as what our sighted colleagues
produce; if not better!
Cordially, Richard P. Kelly rpkelly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
rich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.new-visions-network.com
From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Lisle, Ted (CHFS DMS)
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 6:50 AM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: please help
Now that's interesting. I Have seen one space from time to time, but never
knew why. I sometimes long for the days of Pica and Elite, when laying out a
document. In the immortal words of Edith Bunker, "You knew where you were
then." However, I've managed to figure out which font-size combinations are
functional equivalents of the old Pica, 10-space-per-horozontal-inch, format,
and that's what I use. Vertical spacing will have to look after itself.
Ted
From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Adrian Spratt
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 6:37 PM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: please help
I preface this suggestion by acknowledging there's a debate about whether
there should be one or two spaces after the end of a sentence. Despite my
pre-computer typing training, I have been convinced that modern print fonts
mean that two spaces are no longer desirable. So the way I solve the problem
you describe is to search for two spaces and replace with one space. If you
think there might be an odd number of spaces, say three, then search for that
number first and replace with a single space. Then search for all instances of
a double space and replace with that single space.
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From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Hina
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 6:24 PM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: please help
hi,
i am writing a lots of reports and i did figure out formatting issues, but i
am not sure how will i know if there are extra spaces between words, sentenses
and paragraphs without reading word by word which is so time consuming? for
sighted people, microsoft word highlights but is there any way to know with
jaws? microsoft's spell checke option says that there is extra space and
suppose to change it to make corrections, but they still remain and is there a
way to deal with this issue with jaws?
i would be very thankful for your help.
hina.
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