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                            THE BLIND NEWS DIGEST

                                 Issue # 1106

                         Thursday, January 05, 1995

Today's Topics:


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                               Tandem Biking!
                               Education idea?
                             Retinal detachment
              Wired mag rant: real Braille == Get Wired! (fwd)
                  WWW> American Radio Relay League Web Page
                          source for talking clocks
                          BrailleMate fot the blind
                          Information on Recognita?
                       Re: Speaking Terminal Emulators
                             Re: Braille Printer


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                              Bill McGarry (Moderator)
                              (203) 926-6187



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Subject: Tandem Biking!
From: elbert@sparky.med.ecu.edu (Elbert Kennard)


Tandem Biking for the Visually Challenged

Bicycles built for two, tandems, have come a long way in the past decade.
Today many people young and old alike are enjoying the physical exercise
of riding tandem bicycles.  The new tandems are made of lightweight alloys
that reduce weight and thus the effort required to maneuver the bike.
They have extended gear ranges and index shifting which enable novice
riders to ride comfortably and efficiently.

Challenges Inc.  is a non-profit corporation, that raises funds for the
purpose of providing the visually impaired and other physically challenged
individuals innovative recreational opportunities.  Challenges Inc. in
cooperation with Two for The Road, a tandem bicycle tour company, will
be offering one day events for the  visually challenged beginning in the
spring of 1995.  Sighted captains have been trained for our tandem teems.
This is the initial phase of our tandem project and, as we progress,
we will be offering weekend vacation tours.  Challenges Inc. is proud
to be offering the visually impaired the opportunity to participate in
the exciting sport of tandem cycling.  To get your name on the list
of participants just call Challenges Inc. at 1-800-641-0814




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Subject: Education idea?
From: briang@bgserv.demon.co.uk (briang@bgserv.demon.co.uk)

Hello there,

            This may be an idea already implemented somewhere, but here goes...

It seems to me that there is a lack of awareness of the visually impaired in the
public at large. (Here in the UK there certainly is) I had an idea that what
might be quite a good thing would be a program, in game form, that emulated some
of the commonest forms of vision loss where the sighted user had to navigate a
route in a world peopled by the usual sort of folk, some very considerate,
others who walk into you and leave things in the way. You could have a similated
long cane with a display of when it touched things etc. You could even use a
sound card for audio cues.

Now I can hear the activists amongst you screaming from here about making a game
out of a disability. However, it can be a clever way to educate. You simply
cannot grab people off the street and force them to look at their actions and
how they affect us, but if its fun to do it, they might just retain enough to
not lay bicycles down, flash headlights to signal us to cross, or grab your arm
without warning etc!

If anyone wants to do something like this, it would need input from those with
certain conditions so the visible world could be tailored to look as we see it.
I would willingly ask around in the UK, and even sell the game if it were good
enough. Thoughts anyone?

                        Brian


--
briang@bgserv.demon.co.uk  - Email for Speccy membranes
Brian Gaff is B G Services - UK support for 'Z80'
                             The Spectrum Emulator



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Subject: Retinal detachment
From: fsandb@aol.com


I hope you don't mind me posting here as my son does not have DS.
He is , however, diagnosed with mild to moderate mental
retardation.  He is extremely near-sighted (-15.00 diopters in both
eyes) and suffered a retinal detachment of the left eye in July.
He has needed four surgeries since then.  I know that many children
with DS are quite nearsighted and may be at risk for detachments,
although a detachment in a child (my son is 8) is extremely rare.
I have been unable to find another family whose child has a
detachment.  I've had a tough time dealing with the frequent
hospitalizations, loss of vision in the left eye (and he is a VERY
visual learner), and just feeling alone.  Anyone else have a
similar experience?

 Thanks in advance.  Bev



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Subject: Wired mag rant: real Braille == Get Wired! (fwd)
From: senkmj@ptbma.usbm.gov (Mark J. Senk WB3CAI)



Mark Senk       (412) 892-6513  senkmj@ptbma.usbm.gov
U.S. Bureau of Mines
Pittsburgh, PA  15236


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 1994 13:40:58 -0500 (EST)
from: Matt Klevemann <klevemmc@miner.usbm.gov>



=============================================================================
Matt Klevemann, Branch Of Information Services (ADP), U.S. Bureau Of Mines
email: klevemmc@miner.usbm.gov  voice: 412-892-6499   fax: 412-892-4205

The opinions expressed are mine, not USBM's or my wife's...

"We don't know where we are going, but we are well on our way" - F.D.R.
=============================================================================

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 27 Dec 94 19:05:24 EST
from: Jeff Suttor <JSuttor@Library.UCLA.EDU>
To: Multiple recipients of list <html-wg@oclc.org>

Wired magazine's current issue is totally blank, white, except for a Braille
"Get Wired!"  embossed in the upper right hand corner.  In the magazine they
challenge users to decode it.

Here's a letter to the editor, rant in Wired speak.

P.S.  http://www.wired.com is not valid HTML and cannot be transformed to
Braille :(

Jeff Suttor     JSuttor@Library.UCLA.Edu

----------------------------- Note follows -----------------------------
Date: Tue, 27 Dec 94 15:25:56 PDT
from: JSuttor@Library.UCLA.edu

Wired magazine, Rants:

Thanks for putting a Braille "Get Wired!"  on the cover of your current issue.
For many people, this will be their first exposure to Braille encoded
information, for others, Braille is an essential part of accessing information.

The electronic information explosion that Wired covers represents an excellent
opportunity for true access to information by all, including print impaired
users.  Electronic information can be accessed in many ways by print impaired
individuals, but in order for it to be usable, it must retain the structure and
context that is often provided by visual formatting clues.  A heap 'o text
(ASCII) may be accessible, but is not as usable as structured text with markup
for headings, authors, title, quotes, links, etc.

The IETF HTML-WG, Internet Engineering Task Force HTML Working Group, has added
SDA, Software Document Access, attributes to HTML 2.0, an SGML application, to
support transformation of valid HTML to the ICADD, International Committee for
Document Design, DTD.  ICADD is designed to support Braille, large print and
voice synthesis.

Note that in order to transform from HTML to ICADD the HTML must be valid
according to the HTML 2.0 DTD.  In addition, creators of HTML that imbed
proprietary procedural formatting, eg make this font a bit bigger, this font a
bit smaller, etc., in their documents do a real disservice to information
reuse.  Not only is it counter productive in comparison to structure and
context in non-visual modes of access, it inhibits programmed reuse, eg build a
navigation map/summary based on document structure.

Information reuse is an example of the economics of doing good by doing good.
Using non-proprietary open standards to markup and add value to information
serves the *entire* user community as well as protects the investment of the
information originator from fickle market forces and the "cool" format du'jour.

For more information on:

HTML to ICADD to Braille:  http://www.ucla.edu/ICADD/html2icadd-form.html
HTML 2.0:                  http://www.hal.com/%7Econnolly/html-spec
HTML for accessability:    http://www.gsa.gov/coca/WWWcode.htm

P.S.  http://www.wired.com is not valid HTML and cannot be transformed to
Braille :(

Thanks,

Jeff Suttor
JSuttor@Library.UCLA.edu
<URL http://WWW.Library.UCLA.Edu/~jsuttor/jsuttor.html>





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Subject: WWW> American Radio Relay League Web Page
From: senkmj@ptbma.usbm.gov (Mark J. Senk WB3CAI)



Mark Senk       (412) 892-6513  senkmj@ptbma.usbm.gov
U.S. Bureau of Mines
Pittsburgh, PA  15236


---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 1994 23:29:40 -0600 (CST)
from: Gleason Sackman <sackman@plains.nodak.edu>
To: net-happenings <net-happenings@is.internic.net>
subject: WWW> American Radio Relay League Web Page (fwd)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
SENDER: scotte@ccs.neu.edu (Scott Ehrlich)
subject: WWW> American Radio Relay League Web Page
Date: 21 Dec 1994 02:21:20 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

16 December 1994

For further information, contact:
Scott Ehrlich
wy1z@neu.edu



        THE AMERICAN RADIO RELAY LEAGUE'S WORLD WIDE WEB PAGE


Thanks to the effort of Scott Ehrlich, WY1Z and the Boston Amateur Radio
Club, Scott has put together the ARRL's world wide web page.

Since the ARRL does not yet have web capabilities of their own, this page
is being offered on the same site as the Boston Amateur Radio Club's web
page.

The address to access the page is:
        http://www.acs.oakland.edu/barc/arrl.html


If you do not have command-line or graphical Web capabilities, and still
wish to visit the page, you can visit it via electronic mail:

1. Send a message to: listserv@info.cern.ch

2. Ignore the Subject line

3. In the body of the message, type:
        send http://www.acs.oakland.edu/barc/arrl.html

For help with the other commands available for webbing via email, in the
body of the message, type: help


It has pointers to the ARRL Letter, e-mail addresses of HQ staff,
official League bulletins, and much more!

--
Scott Ehrlich      Amateur Radio Callsign: wy1z     E-mail: wy1z@neu.edu
Boston ARC ftp archives: ftp oak.oakland.edu /pub/hamradio
Boston ARC Web page: http://www.acs.oakland.edu/barc.html
ARRL Web page: http://www.acs.oakland.edu/barc/arrl.html






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Subject: source for talking clocks
From: dashiell@nadc.nadc.navy.mil (J. Dashiell)

Well, what was purchased from radio shack was inappropriate.
Suggest you replace that clock with a time cube from radio shack.
These run about $30.00 and plug in to the wall.
It's a radio receiver in reality that will go on at the push of a button
and announce the time that's on the radio time services.
Those radio time services are hooked to the atomic clocks so
they've got accurate time.

jude <dashiell@nadc.nadc.navy.mil>




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Subject: BrailleMate fot the blind
From: anwrtbeer@aol.com (ANWRtbeer)
Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)

I have a brailleMate that I am trying to sell, being that it is not being
used and maybe someone else would want it  The braille mate has a 250 page
internal memory, Also coming with it, is a 128K Ram card, printer
interface cable(to hook up to a printer, via the BM), AC adapter, and the
manual in braille, cassette, print, and 5 1/4 floppy.  It also comes with
its own carrying case.  It is being sold for $1,000 or at best offer.  If
interested, please e-mail me at:
ANWRtbeer@aol.com  or e-mail to:   Michael.todd@cyberia.com for more
information on it.  Thank you.   Amanda Williams



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Subject: Information on Recognita?
From: landress@hal.fmhi.usf.edu (Landress)

would you please send me information on Recognita?  My father is 79,
has severe macular degeneration, and has gotten his first computer about
a year ago which has a large screen reader.  Although the computer is an
8088 (how's that for an ancient one?), my brother and I will be upgrading
his machine to a 286 or 386 shortly.  Any information on text reading
machines is desired.  Thanks.



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Subject: Re: Speaking Terminal Emulators
From: ebohlman@netcom.com (Eric Bohlman)
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)

Shelly Brisbin (brisbin@macuser.ziff.com) wrote:

: A friend of mine has a old IBM AT and an IRMA speech board. He would now
: like to use the computer to connect to the Internet. Does anyone know of
: shareware or freeware speech software which works well with terminal
: emulators? And while we're at it, can you recommend a good PC terminal
: emulator?

IRMA boards aren't speech synthesizers, they're communication adapters
for emulating 3270-type terminals.

If the Internet connection is going to be done through a shell account or
similar straight asynchronous connection (as opposed to an Ethernet or
SLIP/PPP connection), then the user can use terminal programs like
Procomm, Telix or Commo; the latter is particularly popular with speech
users.  All of them can emulate standard async terminals like VT100's.

Tinytalk is a shareware screen reader that works well with terminal
programs.  It's available for anonymous ftp from ftp.netcom.com in
pub/eb/ebohlman; files are TTDOC167.ZIP and TTEXE167.ZIP.  Registration
is $75.  In addition, you need a speech synthesizer; while Tinytalk can
use a Soundblaster for speech output in some applications,
telecommunications isn't one of them.

For more information about Tinytalk, contact OMS Development at
800-831-0272 (708-251-5787 outside the US and Canada).

The only freeware screen readers that I know of are quite old and quite
limited.  Tinytalk is a full-featured screen reader.



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Subject: Re: Braille Printer
From: campbdj@mail.auburn.edu (Dennis J Campbell)

I recently have been hired to coordinate the Individual & Support Service
Program for Alabama. I am looking for a braille printer that we can house
at a central location. It is therefore necessary that it can accept many
different word processing formats those mainly Word on IBM compatible
PCs. Any recommendations either pro or con would be very helpful. We are
trying to keep administative costs down so we can maximize our support
dollars so a mistake here could be costly.

Thanks
Dennis Campbell
State Coordinator Individual & Family Support
campbdj@mail.auburn.edu



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                 End of Issue # 1106 of the Blind News Digest

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