Terri,
Sorry, but I think you are barking at the wrong tree and making wrong
assumptions. I did not post the corrected version of Lisa's quiz to show that
my method works. If I needed proof for that, the best way to provide it was to
have Lisa check it out herself. If you have seen her reply, she has followed
the steps and proven to herself that it works.
So to clarify, I put the readable version of the text not to show off that
the method works or that I can fix her problem, but to assure her that the
problem was only with the BrailleNote reading her answers as computer Braille
that can be corrected using the "Change grade of block" command, and nothing is
wrong with her professor's computer. I do not know where you got the wrong
idea about my intentions. But I have been lurking on this list for quite some
time now and have seen your posts, and know that you have this type of attitude
so I am not surprised. Now It's my turn to comment on your post, and if you
can be a sport, I expect you would not mind that.
I read your post where you hailed the advantage of using a BrailleNote QT
to avoid the problems Lisa has had. I have seen you done this before, and I
wonder what you are trying to say. It definitely does not help Lisa with her
problem to tell her that using a QT is better. Obviously, she has a
BrailleNote BT and cannot switch to a QT out of a whim.
Aside from the money she will spend for the keyboard switch, you must take
into consideration her typing skills. I think I saw a post from Lisa about
storing books where she wrote that she does not have a computer for storage. I
may be wrong but it's possible that Lisa types better on a Perkins-style
Braille keyboard than on a qwerty-style keyboard. I will not be surprised if
this is true because she got a BT anyway.
Like I said, I only used the "Change grade of block" command to fix the
gibberish text in Lisa's email to her professor. I did not add anything. The
extra numbers you saw were part of her quiz, put in by her professor maybe.
Also, I did not delete anything except for the string of underscores in the
text because I found them unnecessary and annoying with speech or the display.
The incomplete sentence was Lisa's sentence. I am not her professor, and
neither are you, so let's leave it to the prof if she thinks an incomplete
sentence should be marked wrong.
I disagree that writing the answers next to the question, without putting a
hard return to separate them, is the right way to type in your answers with the
questions. Some questions in tests consist of sentences that end with a period
instead of a question mark. Not all questions start with who, what, when,
where, why and how. Others give instructions like "describe" or "give", or end
with a blank for you to fill in with your answer.
For this reason, it looks better for a sighted person to see the question
and the answer separated into different lines. The professor will not have to
read the question she herself wrote, but will only check the start of the next
line to see where Lisa's answer started. If the answer is typed right after
the question, chances are it will be in the middle of the text so the prof has
to read through her question first.
Also, I disagree that putting in only your answers is a better idea than
typing it in after the question. Let's say the question was incomplete or
there was a typographical error that caused ambiguity. With the question
included with her answer, if the professor finds Lisa's answer to be totally
missing the point of the question, she can check if the question was typed
correctly or not. If the problem is with the question itself, then Lisa's
answer will not be marked wrong and will be reconsidered by the professor.
Besides Terri, from the very beginning, Lisa wanted to type in her answers
with the questions emailed to her. Lisa is asking this list for help on how to
do that, not a lecture on why or why not her answers should be written with the
questions. For all we know, her prof may have asked her to put in her answers
after the questions. If you disagree with that, go complain to Lisa or her
professor.
What this all boils down to is that I think you need to focus on what the
problem is all about, and make suggestions on solving that problem
specifically, but take into consideration what the user has and wants to do.
Sorry to be frank with you.
Cheers,
Kirstyn
