[brailleblaster] Re: 8-dot Font

  • From: François Ouellette <braille@xxxxxxx>
  • To: brailleblaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2012 21:30:23 -0400

John: there are a few free font editors on sourceforge but they are
not worth the trouble. I bought Font Creator Home Edition which is the
simpler version of this commercial grade editor with all the features
we need. It is only $79 and it includes updates and support. The ttf
standard was originally an Apple design, it was later adopted by
Microsoft and it is supported on Mac of course, and on most Linux
distributions.This editing tool also supports Open Type which a later
development of the font standard and follows an ISO specification.

Since it is all about dots it should not be too complicated to put
together a set of characters. The specds are all on the unicode.org
web site. I don't know how a screen reader would see the 8-dot fonts.
I guess we will have to experiment a bit.

This stuff is a lot more fun than developing computer games!

François.

On Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 6:23 PM, John J. Boyer <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi Francois,
>
> Thanks for this. Are there free true-type editors? Incidentally, I think
> ttf works on Linux and Mac as well.
>
> How will a dot-pattern font read when viewed with a screenreader?
> Unicode Braille can be converted to the text version for a particular
> Braille code by using the dotsToChar method in the bindings and the
> table for that code.
>
> John
>
> On Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 03:53:27PM -0400, Fran�ois Ouellette wrote:
>> I could not find any 8-dot braille font in the open world so since
>> time is money and since I already spent too much time researching that
>> already I might just get a good true type font editor and build one
>> for brailleblaster instead.
>>
>> François.
>>
>> On Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 11:00 AM, François Ouellette <braille@xxxxxxx> wrote:
>> > John: the font files are indeed binary, they would need to be copied during
>> > installation. I still haven't found a 8-dot Braille font. If anyone has any
>> > source, please step in!
>> >
>> > Speaking of fonts, I haven't used a Linux system for a while, and don't 
>> > have
>> > access to a Mac. Can people who are knowledgeable on those platforms tell 
>> > me
>> > if there is a 'Courier' or 'Courier New' font available as a native font to
>> > their respective windowing interface?
>> >
>> > Thanks.
>> >
>> > François.
>> >
>> > On Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 10:29 AM, John J. Boyer
>> > <john.boyer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Hi Francois,
>> >>
>> >> This is a good idea. However, the fonts can't be in the repository,
>> >> since they are binary. The folder can be set up with a README file that
>> >> explains this. The fonts will be placed in this directory, just not
>> >> added to the repository.
>> >>
>> >> We need an 8-dot Braille font that shows the dot patterns for the
>> >> Unicode characters.
>> >>
>> >> John
>> >>
>> >> On Tue, Jul 10, 2012 at 09:49:21AM -0400, Fran�ois Ouellette wrote:
>> >> > John: we will likely need a folder to put font files with the improved
>> >> > GUI.
>> >> > We need to use braille fonts without having them installed on the
>> >> > system,
>> >> > and we can also have additional ASCII fonts that would help readability
>> >> > of
>> >> > the Daisy window. Therefore I propose that we we can keep the ttf files
>> >> > in
>> >> > programData/fonts.
>> >> > Thanks.
>> >> >
>> >> > François
>> >> >
>> >> > On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 2:35 PM, John J. Boyer
>> >> > <john.boyer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>> >> >
>> >> > > Hi Alex,
>> >> > >
>> >> > > That would be fine. Could you send the text files now and the actual
>> >> > > installer when we are ready for release?
>> >> > >
>> >> > > Thanks,
>> >> > > John
>> >> > >
>> >> > > On Mon, Jul 09, 2012 at 07:22:38AM -0700, Alex Jurgensen wrote:
>> >> > > > Hi John,
>> >> > > >
>> >> > > > As for a Mac installer, I can send you both the binary installer and
>> >> > > > the
>> >> > > shell script + package maker files I used to generate it.
>> >> > > >
>> >> > > > Does this sound sufficient?
>> >> > > >
>> >> > > > Regards,
>> >> > > > Alex,
>> >> > > >
>> >> > > >
>> >> > > > Alex Jurgensen,
>> >> > > > Community Coordinator,
>> >> > > > The Camp Bowen Society for the Visually Impaired,
>> >> > > >
>> >> > > > Explore Camp Bowen online at: http://www.campbowen.ca/
>> >> > > >
>> >> > > > Phone: 778-908-0521
>> >> > > > E-mail: ASquared21@xxxxxxxxx
>> >> > > >
>> >> > > >
>> >> > > >
>> >> > > >
>> >> > > > On 2012-07-09, at 4:52 AM, Lars Bjørndal wrote:
>> >> > > >
>> >> > > > > [John]
>> >> > > > >
>> >> > > > >> Before creating the new .iss files, we have to
>> >> > > > >> solve the problem of accessing the items on the help menu. As far
>> >> > > > >> as I
>> >> > > > >> can see, neither spaces not quotation marks are allowed in the
>> >> > > > >> file
>> >> > > > >> paths. It may be necessary to install BrailleBlaster in a
>> >> > > > >> directory
>> >> > > > >> other than Program files.
>> >> > > > >
>> >> > > > > No. All sophisticated Windows installers are capable of handling
>> >> > > > > Windows file- and path names. To get this correct on different
>> >> > > > > languages, you should use names like "%programfiles%",
>> >> > > > > %programdata%
>> >> > > > > etc.
>> >> > > > >
>> >> > > > > Lars
>> >> > > > >
>> >> > > >
>> >> > >
>> >> > > --
>> >> > > John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer
>> >> > > Abilitiessoft, Inc.
>> >> > > http://www.abilitiessoft.com
>> >> > > Madison, Wisconsin USA
>> >> > > Developing software for people with disabilities
>> >> > >
>> >> > >
>> >> > >
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> John J. Boyer; President, Chief Software Developer
>> >> Abilitiessoft, Inc.
>> >> http://www.abilitiessoft.com
>> >> Madison, Wisconsin USA
>> >> Developing software for people with disabilities
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>
> --
> John J. Boyer, Executive Director
> GodTouches Digital Ministry, Inc.
> http://www.godtouches.org
> Madison, Wisconsin, USA
> Peace, Love, Service
>
>

Other related posts: