Hi, I can see another "tip of the iceberg" coming - a huge debate yet again like last year. In my defence, I prefer to keep up yet tend to emphasize accessibility design principles. Yes, notetakers are a viable solution for some people; but what if a user wants to have some added functionality that the manufacturer has provided and need it fast? If this user asks a programmer with design specifications (his or her problem and wishes), then he or she could come up with that "fix" literally in days - which is the true power of open-source platform. But this has a one classical drawback: design goals of a specific platform, which means a slightly longer planning phase to weigh different ways of doing things. However, with the possibilities of open-source development at hand, I can envision literally hundreds of external programs for sense coming out literally in weeks of each other - which is something that our "clasical friend" (BNS family) took advantage of. This, perhaps, is my chief "fire" behind continued petition for openness in Sense architecture. Please keep this in mind: a program does not appear magically out of thin air in seconds. In order for an interface of Sense kind (which Terri describes) via braille to be created, there should be extended planning phase, writing and debugging code and making sure that planned interface works as planned - which is something that I, Alex Hall and other engineers would possibly fill a book to explain our experiences. Sorry for the fancy language here... Cheers, Joseph
-----Original Message----- From: Terri Pannett [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, August 12, 2010 10:11 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [GWN] comments about future of braille Notetakers on Adelaide Radio I don't believe the notetakers will disappear because mainstream devices cannot replace them. Nothing can match a notetaker for reading, writing, editing, scheduling, calculating, and any other need for on-the-go communication. You can read and write braille, but you can't do that with a mainstream product without extra baggage and braille translation software. The notetaker environment is tailored for the blind, but mainstream products are not. Think of it this way: in the old days, before the notetakers and computers, would you take notes using a pencil and paper or typewriter or would you use a slate and stylus or brailler? It's obvious you would use the latter. Why? Because you can't read print! Why do I prefer editing with a notetaker to editing with a laptop? Because it's easier to operate because its environment is developed for the blind! Do I want to depend on the ever-changing cell phones and mainstream mobile devices? No! Why? Because you must use external screen reading software and manufacturers keep changing the software and screen readers will always be behind keeping up with the changes. Besides, I don't want to lug around a bunch of stuff to meet my needs when I can take one nice, little unit with me! Terri Amateur Radio call sign KF6CA. If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, visit: http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, visit: http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv
