braille input

[Janina Sajka]

I think a template would be a piece of plastic, maybe metal, hardware that
would overlay the screen. You'd be able to feel the cells with your
stylus.

And, whether or not brailling is to be reversed or left as we've been
learning it in school -- namely writing retrograde -- right to left --
because we're embossing paper through a metal guide that grips the paper
-- heck, that's a user configuration setting. It would be trivial to
simply flip that for each cell.


				Janina Sajka, Director
				Information Systems Research & Development
				American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

janina at afb.net


On Fri, 10 Mar 2000 cpt.kirk at 1tree.net wrote:

> One thing that strikes me about this mode of input. It seems like it would
> be a compact method of inputing items and should have a much higher input
> rate then the scribbles that many PDAs use. I am inclined to think that
> the user should have a choice as to inputing either reverse like a typical
> slate and stylus or forward like it is read. I would hate to force
> something on someone that is used to reversing their braille writting. But
> hey, I am somewhat ignorant. I can read and write about grade 1.3 braille.
> I know some of the grade 2 stuff, but not all of it. And it has been
> awhile.
> 
> The other Kirk had brought up using a template with translation software
> to make use of the touch screen that is already on any PDa arround. While
> the idea is certainly sound and workable, I don't have a PDA. In fact all
> my blind friends are incapable of using any PDA today because they are all
> totals.
> 
> If there is interest here, I will start working on a braille input method.
> In fact, I probably will anyway because Buddy and I had decided that we
> wanted to see a PDA like device for cheper the a Braille and Speak. We had
> been looking for some sort of keyboard, but this seems like a way to keep
> the size small, but stay usable. Any feedback is welcome.
> 
> Also, please let me know if your interested in playing with such a device
> in intrest of advancing an idea. Formulating in my head, I think it
> reasonable to have some prototyping done within a month. But this would be
> a rough device to explore the method of input more then anything.
> 
> Kirk Wood
> Cpt.Kirk at 1tree.net
> ------------------
> 
> Your fly might be open (but don't check it just now).
> 
> 
> 
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