Paul, Even regular computer keyboards have the single quote key (JAWS says "grov" I think, and when you press it with the SHIFT key, you get the tilde). It's usually located above the TAB key, to the left of the 1 key. Sadly though, many people, no matter how long they've used a computer, are not familiar or aware of the purpose of this key. This is definitely different from the APOSTROPHE key to the right of the SEMICOLON key which gives you the double quote when you press it with the SHIFT key.
Press the single quote key and the apostrophe key on your computer keyboard, then ask a sighted person to describe them to you. They look different. The apostrophe, but this is only true on the computer, appears like a short vertical line located on the upper part of a line of text. If you want to have a feel of how it looks, write dots 4-5 in Braille. The double quote looks like two of these, that is, short, parallel, vertical lines beside each other, like dots 4-5 in two consecutive Braille cells. On the other hand, the single quote looks like a short diagonal line, from the upper left to the lower right (which is the reverse of what Josh had described). THE backslash is like that, too, as you pointed out. However, the single quote is shorter. For a feel of how it looks, the single quote is like the letter e in Braille, meaning, like the apostrophe, it's in the upper part of a line of text. Meanwhile, the backslash is like a letter e (dots 1-5) followed by dot 3; in other words, it's longer and is as tall as the rest of the characters in a line of text. Therefore, you cannot say that the apostrophe is the same as the single quote, especially based on the way they look in computer Braille. As for the difference in use, you may find electronic text where instead of the opening and closing single quotes, the apostrophe is used. Let me tell you that this is wrong, and personally, I find that very irritating. The apostrophe is used in contractions like 'twas (for "it was"), don't (for "do not"), and d' (for "do"). It is likewise used to form possessives like in "Paul's BrailleNote" and "the students' BrailleNotes". It is not part of its function to enclose quoted text. Why? Because it can cause confusion. When you see an apostrophe before a word, you may start thinking that it's a contraction. For example, the contraction for "because" is 'cause (that's an apostrophe before the word "cause"). But there may be a quoted text that starts with the noun or verb "cause" which the writer wants to enclose in single quotes (sometimes, this is done to stress the text within single quotes, and it is not really something quoted so double quotes are not the appropriate punctuations to use). If an apostrophe was used in such a case, the reader will not automatically recognize that the word appearing as 'cause is not the contraction of "because" but the start of a text being highlighted. Similarly, seeing an apostrophe after a word, where a closing single quote is more appropriate, will also cause confusion. The reader may think, especially in cases where the last word in the text ends with s, that you are forming its possessive. Let's say the last word of the text within single quotes is "boys". Using an apostrophe rather than a closing single quote will make it seem that the word following it is something that the boys own/possess. If I were a QT user, I wouldn't want the single quote key to be missing on the keyboard for the reasons stated above about its purpose. I hope this clears things up. HTH, Roselle >----- QUOTED MESSAGE ----- >Sent by: Paul Henrichsen <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Hi, Terry. You were clear. The quote you are talking about next to the >space bar is the same as an apostrophe. That is what you use in text when >you want to quote what someone is saying but that quote falls inbetween >double quotes. My point is that there are not three different types of >quotes; only two, the apostrophe or single quote and the double quote. Both >can be done with that little key right next to the semicolon and colon key. >So, why the extra quote key on the bottom row? That was what my original >question was. Since there are only two types of quotes, a single or a >double quote and both are accommodated on the typewriter keyboard, why the >one on the bottom row? >Couldn't that key be used as a second read key or perhaps a control key so >it wouldn't e so difficult to do a control c or x or a read c, s, or x? >My point is still the same. There are only two quotes used in writing. When >I saw this extra quote key, my first question was why?
