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

  • From: "Lisle, Ted (CHFS DMS)" <Ted.Lisle@xxxxxx>
  • To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 07:53:31 -0400

The device was about the size of a large portable cassette recorder,
complete with carrying case.  It consisted of a platform, with user
controls, and a small slot where one hand rested.  The other hand
controlled a tethered camera, about the size and shape of the bar a
steel guitar player might use.  I believe there was a small button at
the top, but its use escapes me now.  The camera scanned a sheet of
paper, or book, or whatever, and translated the images into tactile
feedback, allowing the user to read print as he read Braille.

 

Ted

 

From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Harmony Neil
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 1:24 PM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: the Personal Computer was the greatest thing ever invented
for the Blind

 

It was used for reading print. I'm not entirely sure, but maybe someone
else might be able to explain how it worked. 

 

From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Yadiel Sotomayor
Sent: 20 October 2010 18:17
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: the Personal Computer was the greatest thing ever invented
for the Blind

 

I re-ask: what is the obticon or whatever it is spelled? How does it
worked, what it was used for and so forth.

 

From: Bissett, Tom <mailto:tom.bissett@xxxxxxx>  

Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 11:31 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 <mailto:cyselfridge@xxxxxxxxxxx>  

        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 <mailto:crismunoz54@xxxxxxxxx>  

                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.

                 

        
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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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