From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from localhost.localdomain (int-mx1.corp.redhat.com [172.16.52.254]) by listman.redhat.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id E5C133EA6A for ; Sat, 9 Mar 2002 08:07:50 -0500 (EST) Received: from lacrosse.corp.redhat.com (IDENT:root@lacrosse.corp.redhat.com [172.16.52.154]) by localhost.localdomain (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g29D7o522725 for ; Sat, 9 Mar 2002 08:07:50 -0500 Received: (from mail@localhost) by lacrosse.corp.redhat.com (8.11.6/8.9.3) id g29D7oD21223 for blinux-list@listman.redhat.com; Sat, 9 Mar 2002 08:07:50 -0500 Received: from localhost.localdomain (int-mx1.corp.redhat.com [172.16.52.254]) by lacrosse.corp.redhat.com (8.11.6/8.9.3) with ESMTP id g29D7oR21219 for ; Sat, 9 Mar 2002 08:07:50 -0500 Received: from mx1.redhat.com (mx1.redhat.com [172.16.48.31]) by localhost.localdomain (8.11.6/8.11.6) with SMTP id g29D7o522721 for ; Sat, 9 Mar 2002 08:07:50 -0500 Received: from mielke.cc (IDENT:root@CPE00608c86a77d.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com [24.157.76.7]) by mx1.redhat.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with SMTP id g29D6ab15949 for ; Sat, 9 Mar 2002 08:06:36 -0500 Received: from dave.private.mielke.cc (root@dave.private.mielke.cc [192.168.0.2]) by mielke.cc (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g29D7ll01048 for ; Sat, 9 Mar 2002 08:07:47 -0500 Received: from localhost (dave@localhost) by dave.private.mielke.cc (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id IAA12271 for ; Sat, 9 Mar 2002 08:06:17 -0500 X-Authentication-Warning: dave.private.mielke.cc: dave owned process doing -bs Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2002 08:06:15 -0500 (EST) From: Dave Mielke To: Subject: Re: braille output hardware (jf)(long post) In-Reply-To: <3C89EDF9.87FA6AF2@dynolink.org> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII X-Loop: blinux-list@redhat.com Sender: blinux-list-admin@redhat.com Errors-To: blinux-list-admin@redhat.com X-BeenThere: blinux-list@redhat.com X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.1 Precedence: bulk Reply-To: blinux-list@redhat.com List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Linux for blind general discussion List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: [quoted lines by emc.er on March 9, 2002, at 05:11] Here are answers to some of your questions. >1. Is a keyboard with scrolling braille 'home' keys available anywhere >today? Not that I'm aware of. >2. Will speech output displace the braille tty completely? No. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Deaf-blind people cannot use speech. Braille provides random access whereas speech provides sequential access. >2a. Is braille reading speed faster than listening to audio? Yes for some, and no for some. The one big advantage of braille insofar as speed is concerned is the ability to jump to any place on the screen at will. >3. Do all braille tty's cost many many thousands of dollars? Yes (almost). There's an eight-cell display made by Handy Tech Elektronik (Germany), brand-named the Bookworm, which isn't too expensive. There's also a prototype display made by NIST (National Institute for Standards in Technology), a division of the US government, which, if manufactured, should be fairly cheap; you can check it out at: http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/isis/projects/brailleproject.html >3a. If they were one tenth the cost would they become more prolific? Yes, if sufficiently functional. >5b. Is it easier or necessary to use 2 or more fingers to read??? Braille can be read with one finger, but it's more reliably read with two. Each can spare the other during moments of fatigue, the extra redundancy increases error correction, and no time is wasted when ending one line and starting the next. >6. Do the graphic output grids work? There is a 64 by 64? grid for sale. They're useful when non-text is encountered, but braille is much easier to read than print. A graphic display would be most useful if it were able to automatically (with an override) switch to braille when on text. >7. Is there any braille tty that even scrolls the characters past your >fingers? See above regarding the NIST prototype. It uses a rotating wheel with several braille cells around its perimeter. The top half (roughly) is exposed for reading, and there's a single pin-repositioning mechanism at the bottom. -- Dave Mielke | 2213 Fox Crescent | I believe that the Bible is the Phone: 1-613-726-0014 | Ottawa, Ontario | Word of God. Please contact me EMail: dave@mielke.cc | Canada K2A 1H7 | if you're concerned about Hell. http://familyradio.com