Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-30 Thread Eric Oyen
they have. however, thermoform paper is actually more expensive than standard paper stock. also, the thermo brailler (embosser) isn't cheap either. now, there are small form factor varieties that will work on 3x5 sized sheets. those run about $500 and are good for labeling prescription bottles,

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-30 Thread Jack Woehr
Eric Oyen wrote: they have. however, thermoform paper is actually more expensive than standard paper stock. Ah. Real-world economics scotches another clever techno solution :( -- Jack Woehr # We commonly say we have no time when, Box 51, Golden CO 80402 # of course, we

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-29 Thread ropers
On 29 July 2012 02:48, Eric Oyen eric.o...@gmail.com wrote: the old steel perkiness brailler For the record: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perkins_Brailler

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-29 Thread Wojciech Puchar
oh yeah. thermoform paper. the problem is that any heat tended to permanently deform it. it did produce some nice sharp braille. I am not material expert but i think it is possible to make thermoform paper that could be thermoformed multiple times. once when printing then ironing out. Even if

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-29 Thread Wojciech Puchar
commands. It should probably be an TERM=thumb then in an ideal world.. :)

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-29 Thread Wojciech Puchar
such a device, possibly redesigned in modern way+electronic that would automatically control it and you get braille tty. On Sun, 29 Jul 2012, ropers wrote: On 29 July 2012 02:48, Eric Oyen eric.o...@gmail.com wrote: the old steel perkiness brailler For the record:

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-29 Thread Eric Oyen
ok. considering the design, I had originally thought it was from the late 19th century. my bad!. still, the thing was definitely over engineered. I can't honestly say the same thing about the newer, lighter plastic models. what I find disturbing is this: the newer plastic manual brailler is

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-29 Thread Kevin Chadwick
I have a BrailleX ELBA-40 here (40 column braille display). unfortunately, it does not work because of a battery failure. Considering you have found out how cheap the electronics are I expect I cannot help for some undisclosed reason or that it's actually some sort of hard to find power

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-29 Thread Jack Woehr
Eric Oyen wrote: btw, an actual braille embosser (a monster braille printer) costs about $10K. Hmm, sounds like an entrepreneurial opportunity making a cheaper unit. What's the input? Unicode? -- Jack Woehr # We commonly say we have no time when, Box 51, Golden CO 80402 #

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-29 Thread Eric Oyen
that I am not sure of. these embossers are used at places like the American Printing House for the Blind. considering how much material is printed in braille monthly, their maintenance is a bit expensive. these are not your small printer for home use. they are industrial sized units that print

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-29 Thread Jack Woehr
Eric Oyen wrote: 120 pound bond paper is rather hard on the print heads they use (and its the only stuff that will reasonably hold braille). Bond paper is traditional. Haven't they figured out a way to emboss thin sheets of polymer yet? -- Jack Woehr # We commonly say we have

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-28 Thread Wojciech Puchar
give me a year and I should also know braille sufficiently to make reading man pages a bit easier (although I would still prefer a more usable format for editing, etc. I fortunately have working eyes, but i fully understand blind people, and completely don't understand why there is still no

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-28 Thread Eric Oyen
braille display devices are available. unfortunately, they often cost well into the mid thousands and most of us blind folks cannot afford that essential technology. as for driver support, that is still entirely up to the hardware vendor to provide either the API or communications protocols for

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-28 Thread Amit Kulkarni
I fortunately have working eyes, but i fully understand blind people, and completely don't understand why there is still no braile terminal available. This (with classic unix software) would be IMHO golden solution for blind people. I mean no full screen but just a braile printer as

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-28 Thread Jack Woehr
Amit Kulkarni wrote: completely don't understand why there is still no braile terminal available. Especially since they were invented back in the 1980's (at the latest). I played with a prototype at a meeting of the Forth Interest Group circa 1987. -- Jack Woehr # We commonly

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-28 Thread Eric Oyen
the problem is that they are so expensive. in fact, anything that is marketed to the blind gets some cost boost because the manufacturers claim its a niche market (I don't call 26 million people a niche market). there is also the problem that these same manufacturers use government contracting as

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-28 Thread Wojciech Puchar
This (with classic unix software) would be IMHO golden solution for blind people. I mean no full screen but just a braile printer as terminal. no money there... yes. the problem with small market. Such device should not be expensive if produced in noticable amount

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-28 Thread Wojciech Puchar
braille display devices are available. unfortunately, they often cost well into the mid thousands and most of us blind folks cannot afford that essential technology. i don't mean full screen braile display, but braile printer. With special paper i think it could be made from dotmatrix printer

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-28 Thread Wojciech Puchar
Especially since they were invented back in the 1980's (at the latest). I played with a prototype at a meeting improvement could be done to be able to print on some special plastic paper that could be then at other end ironed out and recycled. I really feel sad that blind people, in XXI

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-28 Thread Janjaap van Velthooven
On Sat, Jul 28, 2012 at 11:41:03PM +0200, Wojciech Puchar wrote: Especially since they were invented back in the 1980's (at the latest). I played with a prototype at a meeting improvement could be done to be able to print on some special plastic paper that could be then at other end

Re: [www.openbsd.org] Re: man pages with screen reader

2012-07-28 Thread Eric Oyen
oh yeah. thermoform paper. the problem is that any heat tended to permanently deform it. it did produce some nice sharp braille. the other thing which works well for storing long term braille (like an index card) is the plastic backing out of bacon packages. that stuff is heavy enough that