RE: the Personal Computer was the greatest thing ever invented for the Blind

I believe they have discontinued the opticon and i am not aware of any 
replacement.  Most unfortunate.


Tom Bissett



________________________________
From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of 
Harmony Neil
Sent: October 20, 2010 12:47 PM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: the Personal Computer was the greatest thing ever invented for the 
Blind

Do they still make the optigan? Or is it just old hardware/software now?

From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of 
Bissett, Tom
Sent: 20 October 2010 16:32
To: 'jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'
Subject: RE: the Personal Computer was the greatest thing ever invented for the 
Blind

I do think the personal computer is the best thing for blind people but the 
opticon was a marvelous tool because you could actually see what the print 
looked like.  With the opticon I could read diagrams and even hand writing 
although that was always a challenge because hand writing styles vary so 
greatly and you had to figure out how the person made their letters but it 
could be done.  The opticon did cover ground that the personal computer has not 
yet touched.


Tom Bissett


________________________________
From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of 
Harmony Neil
Sent: October 20, 2010 11:08 AM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: the Personal Computer was the greatest thing ever invented for the 
Blind
Agree with the last post. The optigan would probably be a very slow way of 
reading printed material, although I can read raised print, but I've always 
used some sort of computer and most of that time except when I was only 
learning to touch type has been with a screen reader. I do however do the thing 
of tapping the spacebar twice between sentences or enter twice between 
paragraphs sometimes.


From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of 
Alan Dicey
Sent: 20 October 2010 15:56
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: the Personal Computer was the greatest thing ever invented for the 
Blind

Dear Cy,
I respectfully disagree with you!
I am sure the Personal Computer was the greatest thing invented to assist the 
Blind so far!

It will read anything also!
And it allows Blind to perform work as fast if not faster than Sighted people.

With Best Regards,
Alan
Miami, Florida
Alan Dicey, President
United States Braille Chess Association - USBCA
"Yes, Blind or Visually Impaired People Can, and Do, Play Chess!!!"
United States Braille Chess Association Home Page:  
http://AmericanBlindChess.org
----- Original Message -----
From: Cy Selfridge<mailto:cyselfridge@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 10:37 AM
Subject: RE: One or two spaces

The Optacon was the single greatest invention of all times for a blind person.
It is the only device which would allow a blind person to read almost anything 
printed.
Cy, The anasazi

From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
[mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dave Durber
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 6:32 PM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: One or two spaces

As an Optacon user, (Remember that useful gadget), to read books, I notice that 
the amount of space between sentences still seems to be the equivalent of two 
spaces.

There is a feature in Word that will create the equivalent amount of space 
between sentences as if you had pressed the SPACE BAR twice.

You can have word do the same thing between paragraphs but with the equivalent 
amount of space between paragraphs as if you had pressed the ENTER key twice.

I have not used these functions personally, this is because I have no trust in 
a Microsoft product to do always what it claims to do.  Oh, dear me, untrusting 
cynic that I am.

So, being as I am becoming an old fuddy duddy,, I will go on tapping the SPACE 
BAR twice between sentences and tapping the ENTER key twice to put a blank line 
to insert a blank line between paragraphs and before and after headings.

HTH

Sincerely:

Dave Durber

----- Original Message -----
From: CrisMunoz54<mailto:crismunoz54@xxxxxxxxx>
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 5:36 PM
Subject: RE: One or two spaces

Two spaces are from the days of the typewriter. Go one space. It'll look better.



________________________________
From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
[mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Adrian Spratt
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 2:33 PM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto: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.

________________________________
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

________________________________
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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
[mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Richard P. Kelly
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 10:14 AM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto: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<mailto:rpkelly@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

rich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:rich@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

www.new-visions-network.com<http://www.new-visions-network.com>

From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto: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<mailto: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> 
[mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Adrian Spratt
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 6:37 PM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto: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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> 
[mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Hina
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 6:24 PM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto: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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