Same here, Diane. In God We Trust, Carolyn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dianne B. Phelps" <d.bphelps@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011 3:05 PM Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Extra Abilities Provided By The Optacon One of the things I had begun to run into when my optacon quit on me was that so much of the garbage I was getting in the mail was printed in odd colors, not just in reverse white on black, but reading bills was far easier because if you got used to the layout of the information, you knew where to look for what. When I worked as a medical transcriptionist, the optacon allowed me to check my formatting to see that it was correct and look up patient information along with terminology and medications. I would not have been able to stay in my job as long as I did without the optacon. Dianne Dianne -----Original Message----- From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Catherine Thomas Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011 5:43 AM To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [optacon-l] Extra Abilities Provided By The Optacon I work as a braille transcriber and I must tell you that the layouts of print pages are getting more and more complex as time goes by. Here is a story that will interest you because the Optacon emerges as the definite hero. Recently I received an electronic document to transcribe into braille. The document had been scanned but the scanned version had not been examined. I had to ask the customer for a print copy of the original document. Here are some of the things that the Optacon uncovered. 1. The electronic scan had missed all the major headings in the document because they were in inverse color (white on black). 2. The document contained bi-directional printing--words that ran from the top to the bottom of the page. The scanner missed those entirely also. 3. A very large table had headings across the top and also along the sides. The scanner picked up all the text but not nearly in the correct order. 4. Rather than using tables, some of the text had been represented graphically with lines and squares pointing to things and words and numbers that pointed to nothing at all. I could not interpret that mess with the Optacon, but I could determine when I got some sighted help that all the relevant information had been included. Many blind people merrily scan documents never even realizing that half the text could be missing, or as someone mentioned out of order. This is particularly damaging when for instance an answer key is involved, Unless it lines up exactly, the person receives totally wrong information. I often encounter pictures in my work. Some of them are labeled with important data and some are just decorative and unimportant. The Optacon can sometimes help to figure out which is which and, if nothing else, the Optacon can tell me when to ask for sighted interpretation. I use the Optacon every day, personally and professionally. I would have to say that my life would be very different without the Optacon. Catherine ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- -Catherine Thomas braille@xxxxxxxxx / ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- to view the list archives, go to: www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. to view the list archives, go to: www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. to view the list archives, go to: www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject.