Re: Screen readers and how to develop them: A historical perspective
- From: Jackie McBride <abletec@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 23 Dec 2010 15:17:08 -0700
Inthane, I think he said he was gonna rethink his stance on this.
On 12/23/10, The Elf <inthaneelf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> and there sits a blind person who has an opinion that will block out other
> blind folk from a work environment. well GTH dude, your as bloody guilty of
> discrimination as the folks who fear us and will not hire us!
>
> no wonder blind unemployment is so high, even our Fracking own discriminate
> against us!
>
> have a F!I!N!E! day dude
> elf
> "I'll try to be NICER!
> If you, will try to be SMARTER!"
>
> "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and go good
> with bar-b-q sauce."
> - Draconis cerulean
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Alex Midence" <alex.midence@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2010 7:40 AM
> Subject: Re: Screen readers and how to develop them: A historical
> perspective
>
>
>> Hi.
>>
>> I ask people if they can read braille if they ask me if my company is
>> hiring. The reason is that the job involves fielding customer service
>> calls where you have a customer talking to you in your ear pretty
>> constantly. You have to be able to understand the layout of the
>> screens we have because a lot of the information you need for the
>> customer is in tabular form and it is written in web-based
>> applications that were not designed with accessibility in mind so,
>> navigating them with speech is iffy at best. Some of the stuff on
>> them is not picked up by the jaws find feature because it's images or,
>> because it's coded in some way that speech just doesn't grab it.
>> Braille does though, very reliably. So, when someone asks me if they
>> are hiring at my job, my first question to them is: "Can you read
>> braille quickly and listen to speech quickly? Can you read braille
>> while someone is talking in your ear and demanding instant answers at
>> the same time?"
>>
>> I have talked to other blind people who work in customer service and
>> most of the ones I have spoken with use refreshable braille in their
>> job and felt that their job would be nearly impossible to do without
>> it. They would end up having to place customers on hold repeatedly or
>> allow their attention to drift away from the conversation to listen to
>> speech output. With braille, they pan up and down and use cursor
>> routing to click on objects on the screen much the same way a mouse
>> user would and do this very very quickly. In all the years I did
>> customer service before I became a trainer, only a handful of my
>> callers even knew I was blind and that was because I told them. They
>> never heard speech in the background, they never got put on hold for
>> me to hear what Jaws was saying; it was very close to them having a
>> sighted person doing the job. So much so, that they didn't know the
>> difference. I was able to move up in my field because braille enabled
>> me to get a physical picture of the layout of screens in my head to
>> the point that I am able to accurately tell asighted person exactly
>> where to look on a screen to click on something or find some
>> information that is displayed by our system. I wouldn't be able to do
>> this with just speech because it's a bit like hearing about crossing a
>> street without vision and actually going out and doing it.
>>
>> My point is that some jobs do require braille to be done efficiently.
>> If you are working where you are interacting with just the PC and
>> don't have to listen to other conversations or, if you are in a quiet
>> area, you are OK with pure speech. If you have a loud work
>> environment and your ears are occupied with listening to a
>> conversation and your voice is occupied with responding, it is more
>> efficient for another part of your mind to be engaged in acquisition
>> of information. This is where your fingers come in.
>>
>> So, perhaps in programming, you are not asked if you can read braille
>> and it is not a prerequisite and, undoubtedly, few places in my field
>> would outright ask you if you can read it mostly because they don't
>> know to ask and might get in trouble. A lot of sighted people just
>> assume you can read braille so they don't ask. Many of the
>> restaurants where I live have braille menus, for instance, and the
>> waiters just ask me if I'd like a copy of it. I figure people who
>> hire do the same and have to be told otherwise. I ask because my
>> perspective is different. I am careful to ask when I am not the one
>> doing the hiring though. I know that I could not in good conscience
>> recommend another blind person to do a call center job at my company
>> or encourage them to apply for one if they can not use braille because
>> I would be contributing to bringing someone on board whose listening
>> skills are not 100% devoted to our customers and if they drop the
>> ball, it might close the door to other perspective blind people who
>> want to work here or, worse, make me look bad and make me unpopular
>> for putting a good word in for someone who wound up doing poorly. The
>> law probably states that I have to give them a chance if I am in a
>> position to make an official hiring decision but I would do so against
>> my better judgment. Of course, if they proved me wrong, I would be
>> ecstatic but I would find it most unlikely that they would do well.
>>
>> Alex M
>>
>>
>> On 12/22/10, Dale Leavens <dleavens@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>>> But surely that is the point.
>>>
>>> I too came to braille somewhat late and never was a really good braille
>>> reader nevertheless Janet and I have three braillers around here, I
>>> always
>>> had one on the corner of my desk at work for banging down notes or
>>> telephone
>>> numbers, getting correct spellings for patient names and organizing lists
>>> for placing orders or any number of other things. Nothing like the random
>>> access to bits of information offered by written notes. We label things
>>> with
>>> braille dymo tape, so convenient though we don't do it enough.
>>>
>>> Computer voice has certainly sped some things up and much recreational
>>> reading I would never do without talking books.
>>>
>>> Certainly one can get along without being able to read or write braille.
>>> remarkably large numbers of sighted people cannot read or write print
>>> adequately either and many function so well that people don't know they
>>> cannot. all that notwithstanding those who do not read braille adequately
>>> for function really cannot appreciate the value and benefit of braille
>>> literacy and those of us who do don't like to think of getting along
>>> without
>>> it.
>>>
>>> Interestingly, neither has anyone ever asked me if I use braille when
>>> applying for work. Many make assumptions that I would use a dog guide or
>>> that a spouse drives me about or that I would be counting steps, I don't
>>> think those questions have much to do with what is required.
>>>
>>> What computers have done for us more than anything else is add another
>>> channel of literacy of a sort for us. As with braille they give us a
>>> better
>>> random access to what we read than we had with tape and a currency we
>>> could
>>> never have with tape or braille and in some situations more instantly.
>>>
>>> I don't know why this debate always seems to get defensive. It is like
>>> the
>>> dog/cane thing somehow there doesn't seem to be any neutral ground.
>>>
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Jamal Mazrui" <empower@xxxxxxxxx>
>>> To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>> Cc: "Bob Kennedy" <intheshop@xxxxxxx>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2010 7:55 AM
>>> Subject: Re: Screen readers and how to develop them: A historical
>>> perspective
>>>
>>>
>>>>I agree that braille is generally a valuable skill for a blind person to
>>>>have. I think all rehab programs should include braille instruction, and
>>>>all blind kids should be taught braille at an early age. Unfortunately, I
>>>>have also concluded that it is extremely difficult for someone to become
>>>>efficient in reading braille if he or she did not learn it as a young
>>>>child -- perhaps similar to the way that languages are much harder to
>>>>reach
>>>>
>>>>fluency level when learned later in life.
>>>>
>>>> So, I read braille, but despite much practice during my late teens and
>>>> early 20s, (I lost my sight as a junior in high school), I never
>>>> achieved
>>>> a speed that made it practical to use braille except for things like
>>>> menus
>>>>
>>>> and labels. I have met many blind adults who are similarly situated.
>>>> We
>>>> have to make the best of speech or other techniques besides braille.
>>>>
>>>> Jamal
>>>>
>>>> On 12/22/2010 4:18 AM, Bob Kennedy wrote:
>>>>> Wow I didn't know there was so much passion for Braille. Having gone
>>>>> blind
>>>>> at age 12, I had to learn Braille, just later than most. Never could
>>>>> read
>>>>> fast and the careers I've had have left me with a small spot that is
>>>>> smaller
>>>>> than a full Braille cell of sensitivity on one finger.
>>>>>
>>>>> I've never had a problem finding work though, and no one has ever asked
>>>>> me
>>>>> if I can read Braille as a part of a job interview.
>>>>>
>>>>> No need for that when I built transmissions I guess. I have been asked
>>>>> many
>>>>> times about my computer skills since I've left the garage business but
>>>>> still
>>>>> no concern for Braille.
>>>>>
>>>>> I better hope it stays that way or I'll have to get the Think Green
>>>>> people
>>>>> involved. What is the ratio now? Four pages of Braille to one of
>>>>> print?
>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>> From: "Sina Bahram"<sbahram@xxxxxxxxx>
>>>>> To:<programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2010 10:40 PM
>>>>> Subject: RE: Screen readers and how to develop them: A historical
>>>>> perspective
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> What Ken said.
>>>>>
>>>>> Take care,
>>>>> Sina
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Ken Perry
>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2010 12:44 PM
>>>>> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>> Subject: RE: Screen readers and how to develop them: A historical
>>>>> perspective
>>>>>
>>>>> You said ,
>>>>> "Take away your tech, your electricity, your computer, your gadgets,
>>>>> your
>>>>> willing friends to read to you, hand you a greeting card
>>>>> from a friend, a recipe, a medicine bottle with a braille label on it,
>>>>> and
>>>>> what happens? Go to a nice restaurant with a sighted
>>>>> friend, have the waiter hand you a braille menu which they have gone to
>>>>> the
>>>>> trouble and expense of providing you, have that friend
>>>>> step away to go to the restroom, the waiter approach you and ask:
>>>>> "What
>>>>> will you have today?" What happens? "Sorry, can you read
>>>>> me your menu? I can't read this." Litterate or illiterate? You tell
>>>>> me."
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> You assume a lot of things in the above. I have been blind 20 years
>>>>> and
>>>>> got
>>>>> one Braille Christmas card, I have only recently
>>>>> started seeing any Braille menus. If you took the tech from most
>>>>> sighted
>>>>> people they would be lost as well. I have never got one
>>>>> bottle of pills with a Braille label. Most of the Pill bottles I get
>>>>> come
>>>>> with barcodes though and read fine. As for Cards my son
>>>>> and daughter have given me audible ones. Hell I got one this year with
>>>>> actual letters I could feel true this is like brailed so
>>>>> don't really count. The point is Tech is here to stay and if it went
>>>>> away
>>>>> then maybe it would be worth me gaining speed with
>>>>> Braille. It is like saying you don't know how to ride a horse so you
>>>>> won't
>>>>> be able to travel more than 20 to 40 miles a day
>>>>> because you will have to walk if you don't have a car. . When I want
>>>>> to
>>>>> read a menu I download one and I do that on my Braille
>>>>> plus and or Iphone both. I actually take pictures of menu on my
>>>>> IPhone
>>>>> and
>>>>> read it that way many times. I am sorry but my brother
>>>>> has started going to restaurants in Atlanta only if they have online
>>>>> menus
>>>>> does that make him illiterate? Kids in college now
>>>>> couldn't do Calculus if you took their calculator away but I could does
>>>>> that
>>>>> make them lost in the world of business because they
>>>>> use a tool?
>>>>>
>>>>> I never said that my way I s the best way. What I said is to call them
>>>>> illiterate is asinine. If they can write and read and spell
>>>>> they are literate. You might not call them fully self sufficient but I
>>>>> would argue that until every written word is in Braille then
>>>>> no blind person is self sufficient when it comes to reading but then it
>>>>> looks like Google will fix access to text long before paper
>>>>> Braille ever catches up.
>>>>>
>>>>> Ken
>>>>>
>>>>> The funny thing is you say take your tech away and yet what you were
>>>>> talking
>>>>> about originally is reading with a Braille display.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Find yourself in a place with no new batteries for your machines, no
>>>>> power,
>>>>> access to a PC ETC. Hand you a slate and stylus or,
>>>>> heck, just a sharp pin and some paper. Instruct you to leave a note
>>>>> for
>>>>> a
>>>>> friend that you stepped out for an hour and will be back,
>>>>> and what happens?
>>>>>
>>>>> Take pride in your abilities, do. Even boast about how well your
>>>>> memory
>>>>> works, your accomplishments in programming, your
>>>>> mathematical prowess, whatever you like but, don't tell me there is no
>>>>> value
>>>>> in reading and that implying that if some can't
>>>>> actually interact directly with text for themselves, know that letters
>>>>> on
>>>>> that page are forming themselves into words and so forth,
>>>>> that this is an assinine thing to say. For one thing, it's rude,
>>>>> discourteous, ETC. for another, it's not true. Do as many studies
>>>>> as you like, ask as many people as you like, whatever. You are not
>>>>> illiterate because you learned to read and write as a child.
>>>>> You used print. You have some knowledge of braille. If you can't do
>>>>> grade
>>>>> II, it is probably because you chose to deny yourself
>>>>> this skill. If you can learn computer code, you can learn braille code
>>>>> be
>>>>> it Nemeth, computer braille, musical notation, whatever
>>>>> you like. If you can learn alternate keyboards, you can train your
>>>>> mind
>>>>> to
>>>>> learn the feel of different symbols. The only reason
>>>>> you couldn't is if your sense of touch is not working for some reason.
>>>>> In
>>>>> spite of this, the fact that you were taught your letters
>>>>> and how to read and write them as a child and learned them makes you
>>>>> literate. You just haven't fully transferred those skills to
>>>>> another medium because you chose to rely on tech instead of putting
>>>>> forth
>>>>> the time and effort it took to master them. There are
>>>>> those who never really truly learn their letters unless they are the
>>>>> ones
>>>>> doing the writing, output, not input. Their knowledge of
>>>>> letters is more akin to their ability to put words together in a spoken
>>>>> sentence. They know how to type out letters on a computer
>>>>> keyboard to get the computer to say what they want. A lot of them
>>>>> write
>>>>> ate
>>>>> when they mean eight, break when they mean brake,
>>>>> speach when they mean speech and so forth because the computer speaks
>>>>> them
>>>>> out just the same and their mind never skips a beat when
>>>>> they hear it spoken and when their friends hear them spoken from a
>>>>> screen
>>>>> reader. They can write, they can not read. ugly?
>>>>> Unyielding? Yes, the world often is. Yes. Uncomfortable? You tell
>>>>> me.
>>>>> Fact?
>>>>> Absolutely. It is immutable, uncontradictable, inarguable.
>>>>>
>>>>> Sorry about the rant. I will stop since this has gotten off topic.
>>>>> It was never my intent to offend anyone.
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>> Alex M
>>>>>
>>>>> On 12/21/10, Ken Perry<whistler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Well I agree that Braille should be taught and is good to know. I
>>>>>> have to put my 3 cents in. I went blind at 20 and in my now 20 years
>>>>>> of being blind, I have only been able to learn to read Braille to the
>>>>>> see dick run levels. That means I read enough to be able to code
>>>>>> Braille output
>>>>> methods
>>>>>> (i.e. My unique way of Braille scrolling on the Braille+ and Icon) and
>>>>>> I
>>>>> can
>>>>>> code games like Sudoku for the same devices. I can also read labels
>>>>>> but
>>>>> if
>>>>>> you give me a Braille book be ready to age before I finish a
>>>>>> paragraph.
>>>>> Now
>>>>>> I realize if I would have learned Braille when I was young it would be
>>>>> much
>>>>>> faster but I have said all this to say this.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The idea that someone is illiterate because they don't read Braille
>>>>>> and
>>>>> are
>>>>>> totally blind is just stupid and asinine. I have Taken High level
>>>>>> math classes with no Knowledge of nemeth, True I would not have had
>>>>>> to use a reader if I knew nemeth then but I also could have done it
>>>>>> alone if they would have let me use the tools I can use for example I
>>>>>> could do all my calculus by hand with my Calculator/ worksheet called
>>>>>> xplore. It of
>>>>> course
>>>>>> is not really that accessible now that it's a windows app but when it
>>>>>> was
>>>>> a
>>>>>> dos app it was awesome for doing math by hand on the computer. Yes
>>>>>> the computer did some of the work when I wanted it to but hell seen a
>>>>>> sighted person take calculus without an hp48 in hand lately? Now I
>>>>>> will say when
>>>>> I
>>>>>> took Calculus I could and did do five page problems in my head. My
>>>>> teacher
>>>>>> actually insisted I do this for him once because he thought my reader
>>>>>> was doing the math. Little did he know I did the stuff better than he
>>>>>> could
>>>>> do
>>>>>> on paper in my head. I definitely couldn't do that now but back then
>>>>>> I could. Ask Sina I am sure he has that same ability.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Now you say there is a difference from reading something by hand to
>>>>>> listening to it? Hell yeah the thing don't always pronounce things
>>>>>> right and you can read a hell of a lot faster and retain more when
>>>>>> listening.
>>>>>> Doubt me? Test me against anyone who can read Braille at what would
>>>>>> be considered 100% give us 10 books to read in the same amount of time
>>>>>> and
>>>>> test
>>>>>> us on it. True this would really need to be done in a large group to
>>>>>> make sure the people involved just were not stupid but I will
>>>>>> guarantee the person listening to the text will retain more.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> You say yes but what about graphics and table. Um sorry but getting
>>>>>> graphics and tables into Braille still takes translation of
>>>>>> information
>>>>> and
>>>>>> you will lose something there as well. I actually found my Calculus
>>>>>> books on tape from RFBD very well read and well described in fact the
>>>>>> guy
>>>>> correct
>>>>>> the text book like 3 times that I remember while describing the
>>>>>> graphics.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Note I have lived in both worlds a world where I had to read and do
>>>>>> math
>>>>> on
>>>>>> paper and now one I do everything in my head or on a computer. I find
>>>>> using
>>>>>> my brain a much better exercise than writing everything down. I call
>>>>> paper
>>>>>> whether it be sighted paper or Braille a disability in itself. I
>>>>>> don't
>>>>> whip
>>>>>> out a book to take down a phone number I either remember it or poke it
>>>>> into
>>>>>> my phone. Most of the time I remember it just because that works for
>>>>>> me.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Now am I saying people don't need to learn Braille no. As I started
>>>>>> out I think people should learn Braille from the beginning and even
>>>>>> if they
>>>>> lose
>>>>>> their site it's a useful tool but I fully disagree that a person is
>>>>>> illiterate just because he or she cannot read Braille well.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I want to end by saying my wife who has a Kendil, and and IPad still
>>>>>> loves to listen to Audible books and find she gets more out of the
>>>>>> books when
>>>>> she
>>>>>> listens because her mind can both listen to what she is reading and
>>>>>> assimilate the information without having to do the work of actually
>>>>> reading
>>>>>> the text and if you think that doesn't make a difference again I think
>>>>> some
>>>>>> studies should be done.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ken
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Alex
>>>>>> Midence
>>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2010 9:14 AM
>>>>>> To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>> Subject: Re: Screen readers and how to develop them: A historical
>>>>>> perspective
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi, Don,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For someone like you, braille isn't a viable solution. Your case is
>>>>>> special and understandable. You can't read braille unless you can
>>>>>> feel your way across a line. About the most sensitive organ remaining
>>>>>> to you short of your tongue for this purpose is probably the tip of
>>>>>> your nose and, that would be ... well ... Let's just say that audio
>>>>>> tech is a wonderful thing. We can't have folks giggling at us when we
>>>>>> read, you know. =) I'm talking about kids who grew up blind and have
>>>>>> two perfectly functioning index fingers (never could read with my
>>>>>> pinky, can anyone?) and a mind to go with them. They should be able
>>>>>> to use both braille and audio to good effect.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> alex M
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 12/20/10, Don Marang<donald.marang@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>>>> My older sister was upset at me because I was unable to learn
>>>>>>> braille!
>>>>> My
>>>>>>> remaining fingers are just too insensitive now from nerve damage and
>>>>>> endless
>>>>>>> blood tests. She has been a teacher at a blind school for at least
>>>>>>> 20
>>>>>> years
>>>>>>> and is a huge advocate for braille litercy. She even reads braille
>>>>>>> while she is driving!
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Don Marang
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> There is just so much stuff in the world that, to me, is devoid of
>>>>>>> any
>>>>>> real
>>>>>>> substance, value, and content that I just try to make sure that I am
>>>>>> working
>>>>>>> on things that matter.
>>>>>>> Dean Kamen
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> --------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>> From: "Alex Midence"<alex.midence@xxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>>> Sent: Monday, December 20, 2010 6:03 PM
>>>>>>> To:<programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>>>>>>> Subject: Re: Screen readers and how to develop them: A historical
>>>>>>> perspective
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Glad you liked it. I was hoping someone on this list would have
>>>>>>>> personal recollections of this time and the tech available. Neat
>>>>>>>> how there was braille output as far back as the 50's. It's a shame
>>>>>>>> that that stuff is stil as expensive as it is. Perhaps, some day,
>>>>>>>> as happened with speech technology, blind people will see the price
>>>>>>>> of a braille display drop to something affordable as in, under a
>>>>>>>> thousand dollars? Same for a braille printer/embosser. I am
>>>>>>>> enormously concerned at how many of the blind kids I have met
>>>>>>>> recently have poor braille reading skils and don't really seem to
>>>>>>>> care that they are bordering on illiteracy. Having something or
>>>>>>>> someone read to you is not the same as direct input from a written
>>>>>>>> document to your mind without an intermediary. In this age of
>>>>>>>> electronic texts, you would think that braille would explode in
>>>>>>>> popularity since you no longer have to fill a room with tomes of the
>>>>>>>> stuff.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Alex M
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 12/20/10, Rasmussen, Lloyd<lras@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>>>>>>>>> That was fascinating. Dr. Stoffel worked at NIH for a period after
>>>>>>>>> he wrote that article. I could go on and on about this ancient
>>>>>>>>> technology, but had better do it off-list.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> People had produced braille from computers since the 50's. The
>>>>>>>>> first speech for a blind computer user was for Jim Willows, an
>>>>>>>>> engineer at the Lawrence-Livermore Laboratories in 1968 (letters
>>>>>>>>> and numbers played out through a digital-to-analog converter).
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> The context of this article ... Votrax devices had been on the
>>>>>>>>> market for several years, but the SC-01 chip was put into the Type
>>>>>>>>> 'n Talk in
>>>>> 1981.
>>>>>>>>> This device had built-in letter-to-sound rules, so you didn't have
>>>>>>>>> to send phonemes to it as you did the earlier V S A and VSB boards.
>>>>>>>>> These
>>>>> three
>>>>>>>>> devices took RS-232 data and either acted like terminals or
>>>>>>>>> interpreted terminal sequences and sent the data along through
>>>>>>>>> another serial port
>>>>>> to
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> be
>>>>>>>>> displayed. They were not screen readers running on the computer
>>>>>>>>> whose screen was being read. It was revolutionary to think that
>>>>>>>>> you could
>>>>> buy
>>>>>>>>> a
>>>>>>>>> $300 Type 'n Talk instead of a $5,000 talking terminal to speak the
>>>>> data
>>>>>>>>> coming from an RS-232 device. The Echo II synthesizer (using the T
>>>>>>>>> I
>>>>>>>>> technology) was added to the Apple II at about this time. By the
>>>>>>>>> end
>>>>> of
>>>>>>>>> 1983 there were screen readers for the Apple II and for the IBM PC.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I worked a little bit with the FSST-3 and the VERT terminal, and
>>>>>>>>> heard Deane Blazie demonstrate the TotalTalk at various
>>>>>>>>> conventions.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Lloyd Rasmussen, Senior Project Engineer National Library Service
>>>>>>>>> for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
>>>>>>>>> Library of Congress 202-707-0535
>>>>>>>>> http://www.loc.gov/nls
>>>>>>>>> The preceding opinions are my own and do not necessarily reflect
>>>>>>>>> those
>>>>>> of
>>>>>>>>> the Library of Congress, NLS.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>>>>> From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>>>>> [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Alex
>>>>> Midence
>>>>>>>>> Sent: Monday, December 20, 2010 3:24 PM
>>>>>>>>> To: programmingblind
>>>>>>>>> Subject: Screen readers and how to develop them: A historical
>>>>>> perspective
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Hi, all..
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I thought this was rather interesting. It is an article written in
>>>>>>>>> 1982 about some of the techniques used back then to write screne
>>>>> readers
>>>>>>>>> or
>>>>>>>>> "talking terminals" as they called them. I was struck by some of
>>>>>>>>> the predictions the author made with regard to the future, some of
>>>>>>>>> wich
>>>>> came
>>>>>>>>> true and others which did not. There was also a very interesting
>>>>>> section
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> on
>>>>>>>>> speech synthesis and how to get the hardware and software to do
>>>>>>>>> many of the things we take for granted nowadays like starting and
>>>>>>>>> stopping speech, repeating previously spoken text, deciding what to
>>>>>>>>> say as an acronym
>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>> what to speak as a word, punctuation levels and so forth. It was
>>>>>>>>> fascinating stuff.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> http://web.archive.org/web/20060625225004/http://www.edstoffel.com/david/tal
>>>>>> kingterminals.html
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Oh yeah, and get a load of the prices for that stuff! Keep in mind
>>>>> that
>>>>>>>>> was
>>>>>>>>> in 1980's money too. Put like a 33% markup on it and you might
>>>>>>>>> approximate what it would cost in today's money.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Alex M
>>>>>>>>> __________
>>>>>>>>> View the list's information and change your settings at
>>>>>>>>> //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> __________
>>>>>>>> View the list's information and change your settings at
>>>>>>>> //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> __________
>>>>>>> View the list's information and change your settings at
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> __________
>>>>>> View the list's information and change your settings at
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>>>>>>
>>>>>> __________
>>>>>> View the list's information and change your settings at
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>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> __________
>>>>> View the list's information and change your settings at
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>>>>>
>>>>> __________
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>>>>>
>>>>> __________
>>>>> View the list's information and change your settings at
>>>>> //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
>>>>>
>>>>> __________
>>>>> View the list's information and change your settings at
>>>>> //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
>>>>>
>>>> __________
>>>> View the list's information and change your settings at
>>>> //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> __________
>>> View the list's information and change your settings at
>>> //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
>>>
>>>
>> __________
>> View the list's information and change your settings at
>> //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
>>
>
> __________
> View the list's information and change your settings at
> //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind
>
>
--
Change the world--1 deed at a time
Jackie McBride
Scripting Classes: http://jawsscripting.lonsdalemedia.org
homePage: www.abletec.serverheaven.net
For technophobes: www.technophoeb.com
__________
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