[laptop-accessibility] keyboard for the blind

Rakesh Chand chand at connect.com.fj
Tue Oct 23 01:47:50 EDT 2007


Dear friends,

Aaron, many thanks for the info below which is a true description of Braille 
etc.

I'm also a totally blind person & I like Aaron & my few other colleagues 
just use a normal key-board whether its a laptop or a desk-top. Some of us 
prefer putting guide dots as to be able to easily locate keys. Many of us 
use a screen-reader mainly JAWS a product of Freedomscientific.

Its probably too much too spend time and resources on Braille keyboards. I 
agree with Aaron our main desire is to be able to access print materials.

Keep up the good work, we need to hear from other blind & visually-impaird 
colleagues. If we all put our thoughts and ideas, we will certainly have 
great laptops for future generation.

Rakesh Chand

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Aaron Cannon" <cannona at fireantproductions.com>
To: "Manusheel Gupta" <manu at laptop.org>; <bigone at qon.lao.net>; "Peter Korn" 
<Peter.Korn at sun.com>
Cc: "Samuel Klein" <sj at laptop.org>; "Discussion of accessibility on the 
OLPC" <accessibility at lists.laptop.org>; "Walter Bender" <walter at laptop.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 6:45 AM
Subject: Re: [laptop-accessibility] keyboard for the blind


> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: RIPEMD160
>
> 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:
>>>
>>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>>> Hash: RIPEMD160
>>>
>>> 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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>>
>
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