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

  • From: "jerry martin" <jandymartin@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:36:40 -0500

Ed:  You made reference to having gong to law school.  Can you tell me if there 
is any type of "family law" software programs that work with JAWS?  I am 
wanting to do a living will at home, as I cannot afford a lawyer to do it for 
me.  Jerry
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Marquette, Ed 
  To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
  Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 10:41 AM
  Subject: RE: the Personal Computer was the greatest thing ever invented for 
the Blind


  I've tried to resist chiming in here, but I couldn't resist.  My hat is off 
to those of you who had success with the Opticon.  Shortly after I finished law 
school (in 1976), I gave the Opticon a try.  I actually spent half a day with 
it.  The state agency (now out of existence) that outfitted blind people for 
jobs concluded that an Opticon for me was a huge waste of money.
  I was never, ever able to make out anything.
  So, for those of you who could actually read handwriting.  I stand in awe!!!





----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf 
Of Bissett, Tom
    Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 10:32 AM
    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 

      To: 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] On 
Behalf Of Dave Durber
      Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 6:32 PM
      To: 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 

        To: 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] On 
Behalf Of Adrian Spratt
        Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 2:33 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.

         


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

        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] 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.

         

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

         

        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.

         

        __________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus 
signature database 5545 (20101019) __________

         

        The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

         

        http://www.eset.com


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

  ANY FEDERAL TAX ADVICE CONTAINED IN THIS MESSAGE SHOULD NOT BE USED OR 
REFERRED TO IN THE PROMOTING, MARKETING OR RECOMMENDING OF ANY ENTITY, 
INVESTMENT PLAN OR ARRANGEMENT, AND SUCH ADVICE IS NOT INTENDED OR WRITTEN TO 
BE USED, AND CANNOT BE USED, BY A TAXPAYER FOR THE PURPOSE OF AVOIDING 
PENALTIES UNDER THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE. 

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

  This E-mail message is confidential, is intended only for the named 
recipient(s) above and may contain information 
  that is privileged, attorney work product or otherwise protected by 
applicable law. If you have received this 
  message in error, please notify the sender at 402-346-6000 and delete this 
E-mail message. 
  Thank you.

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

Other related posts: