[laptop-accessibility] keyboard for the blind

Mon Oct 22 13:45:21 EDT 2007

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Hi Manu.

I just want to clarify some things.  First, when you say Braille keyboard,
do you mean a regular keyboard with Braille labels on the keys, or a
keyboard that will allow the user to type in Braille?

I assume the latter, but would just like to make sure.

There are two general types of Braille in use in the world, six-dot and
eight-dot.  Most languages use six-dot Braille.  This is the type of Braille
used in the English Braille Code, the new Unified English Braille code,
Braille music, the Nemeth Braille code for mathematics, Spanish Braille, and
many others.  An eight-dot code is also sometimes used for certain foreign
languages, as well as certain types of computer Braille.  Many manufacturers
of Braille keyboards simply make the 8-dot type, and the users just don't
use the lower two keys.

If those were the only differences, then there would be no problem.
However, making a computer understand Braille requires not just getting the
Braille into the computer, but also translating it to print.  This is much
more complex than it may seem at first glance.  Because Braille was not
designed to be read by computers, there are several ambiguities.  (There
were bound to be; you have only 63 dot combinations in 6-dot Braille, and
they have to represent close to a hundred different symbols.)  Fortunately,
these ambiguities are quite obvious to a human.  Unfortunately, they are
quite difficult for a computer.  If that weren't bad enough, many Braille
codes, including English and Spanish, employ contractions.  Braille is big,
and one way we reduce the size of Braille is to write in short hand.
Contracted Braille in English is very well defined, but unfortunately, it is
still often ambiguous to computers.

There is a publication available from the National Library Service for the
Blind and Physically Handicapped, a division of the Library of Congress,
which gives some details about each of the formalized Braille codes in the
world.  If you'd like I can dig up the title.

Are you considering making the Braille keyboard a separate USB device, or
replacing the existing keyboard with the Braille keyboard?  I would strongly
recommend keeping it separate.  Blind people have been typing on standard
keyboards for years with absolutely no problems, and many prefer doing so,
my self included.

However, if you are in fact planning on making a separate Braille input
device, then by all means, go for it.  Just know that getting the Braille
into the computer is the easy part.  Back-translation to print is what's
hard.

Finally, a third alternative is to simply use the standard keyboard for
Braille input.  Whether or not this will work will depend on the hardware,
but many blind people type Braille on a standard qwerty keyboard.  They
press the f, d, s, j, k, and l keys in various combinations to make the
different Braille symbols.  I've done it my self, and it seems to work ok.
I think I prefer a true Braille input device for typing Braille, but I could
probably get used to it.

Anyway, I hope that that helps.

Let me know if you have any further questions or need any clarifications.

Aaron

- --
Skype: cannona
MSN/Windows Messenger: cannona at hotmail.com (don't send email to the hotmail
address.)
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Manusheel Gupta" <manu at laptop.org>
To: "Aaron Cannon" <cannona at fireantproductions.com>; <bigone at qon.lao.net>;
"Peter Korn" <Peter.Korn at sun.com>
Cc: "Discussion of accessibility on the OLPC"
<accessibility at lists.laptop.org>; "Walter Bender" <walter at laptop.org>;
"Samuel Klein" <sj at laptop.org>
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2007 10:48 AM
Subject: Re: [laptop-accessibility] keyboard for the blind

> Thanks Aaron, Peter, and Big One(Sorry! I don't know your name) for the
> introduction and help.
>
> Me and Walter are currently working on the development of OLPC-Braille
> Keyboard.
>
>
> Aaron, you wrote:
>
>>What adaptations are you considering?
>
> We are at an initial stage, and are in the process of looking for a
> suitable
> layout.
>
> The first question we are searching about, at the moment is: Is Braille
> in US the same as Braille in India as Braille in China as Braille in Peru?
> If so, we can sum up with a separate keyboard mold for use
> everywhere--economies of scale.
>
> Any pointers/feedback about it will be highly appreciated.
>
> Regards,
> Manu
>
> Manusheel Gupta
> One Laptop Per Child Inc.
> http://laptop.org
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 10/22/07, Aaron Cannon <cannona at fireantproductions.com > wrote:
>>
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>> Hi Peter.
>>
>> I wrote to the person leading the effort as well as CCing the list as I
>> thought it would be of interest.
>>
>> I got the information from the weekly email update to the
>> community-news at laptop.org mailing list from Walter Bender:
>> "18. Keyboards: Manusheel, Sayamindu Dasgupta, Roshan Kamat, Tushar
>> Sayankar, Jens Peterson, and Walter Bender have finished the layout for a
>> Deva keyboard (See http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Devanagari_Keyboard ). We
>> hope
>> to finish the Nepali and Pashto keyboards in the coming weeks. Manu is
>> leading a discussion on an OLPC keyboard for the blind. Please send your
>> ideas/feedback to manu<at>laptop<dot>org)."
>>
>>
>> Aaron
>>
>> - --
>> Skype: cannona
>> MSN/Windows Messenger: cannona at hotmail.com (don't send email to the
>> hotmail
>> address.)
>> - ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Peter Korn" <Peter.Korn at Sun.COM>
>> To: "Discussion of accessibility on the OLPC"
>> <accessibility at lists.laptop.org>
>> Cc: <manu at laptop.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2007 11:09 PM
>> Subject: Re: [laptop-accessibility] keyboard for the blind
>>
>>
>> > Hi Aaron,
>> >
>> >> I have been informed that you are in the process of designing a
>> keyboard
>> >> for
>> >> the blind for the XO.  Being totally blind my self, and having learned
>> to
>> >> touch-type at age six, I am curious about the project.  First, why is
>> it
>> >> believed that a specialized keyboard is needed?  Is there something
>> >> unique
>> >> about the current XO laptop which makes it difficult to touch type
>> with?
>> >> What adaptations are you considering?
>> >
>> > You have reached an e-mail discussion list, where folks interested in
>> > accessibility for the OLPC/XO discuss these matters.
>> >
>> > I am not aware of any work going on around a specific "keyboard for the
>> > blind for the XO".  However, if someone is working on that, it is a
>> > reasonable guess that they might be on this e-mail list.
>> >
>> >
>> > From where did you hear this?
>> >
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> >
>> > Peter Korn
>> > Accessibility Architect,
>> > Sun Microsystems, Inc.
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > accessibility mailing list
>> > accessibility at lists.laptop.org
>> > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/accessibility
>>
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