🚀 go-pugleaf

                            THE BLIND NEWS DIGEST

                                 Issue # 945

                            Friday, June 18, 1993

Today's Topics:


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                          Re: braille code changes.
            Re: Dictionary for a PC (useful for visually impared)
                          kitchen sink programming
                   Experiences With Math In Public Schools
                     program for auditory data analysis
                         Re: speech for unix systems
           Need information on tactile displays (braille readers?)
                               Arkenstone SSIL


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Subject: Re: braille code changes.
From: shandrow@enuxva.eas.asu.edu (Darrell Shandrow)
Organization: Arizona State University

There is an article in the June issue of the Braille Monitor by Tim Cranmer
concerning the braille code.  From what I understand he is saying that part
of the reason for changing the code is so that more information like that
required for Physics and Chemestry can be represented.





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Subject: Re: Dictionary for a PC (useful for visually impared)
From: TPKim@uci.edu (Thomas Kim)

[This is from the EASI mailing list]

There is also a portable dictionary/thesaurus from Franklin
Learning Resourses call Language Master 6000 Special Edition. This
model features speech output.

Here are some other features:
1. Pronunciation
2. Spelling Correction
3. Complete Thesaurus
4. Dictionary
5. Grammar Help
6. Speaks every word and definition that appears on the screen and
each letter as it is entered.
7. Highlights each word as it reads that word outloud.

I'm not sure as to the exact size of the dictionary. The drawback
of this dictionary is that you can't cut and paste words to your
computer. The suggested retail price is $625. The Educator/School
price is $450.

I've listed the Franklin's address and phone below.

Tom Kim
University of California, Irvine
Disabled Student Services
(714) 856-7494
tpkim@uci.edu

================

Franklin Learning Resourses
122 Burrs Road
Mt. Holly, NJ 08060

1-800-525-9673





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Subject: kitchen sink programming
From: dashiell@nadc.nadc.navy.mil (Jude DaShiell)


I'm somewhat flexible in editors so long as they talk well.  Two
i've used well actually three are sedt which is difficult to figure
how to make talk, jove which is no problem, and emacs (daniel
lawrence's version).  For readers i use a program called less123x
whenever possible since it talks well and can allow me to edit a
file i'm reading and start editing at the line that's being read.
it also can read in multiple files and has no limits on number of
lines it can read.

For file management there are two possible choices that talk well.
The first is nswp1020 which is shareware and the other is cweep
2.30.  A third program that needs a little patching is called
vfiler but it's not widely available though it does talk nicely.
nswp doesn't support anything over 32 meg partitions.

<dashiell@nadc.nadc.navy.mil>
j. DaShiell
Naval Air Warfare Center
Aircraft Division Warminster
Street and Jacksonville Roads
Warminster, PA   18974-5000
(215)-441-2229




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Subject: Experiences With Math In Public Schools
From: lburns@moria.nfbcal.org (Len Burns)

I am gathering information for a couple of local school districts with
the goal of improving the way math is taught to blind students.  As a
blind person I certainly have my own history with this subject in the public
schools,
but I would find it extremely valuable to hear how it went for others.
I would be interested in what worked and did not work in such areas as
graphing, geometry and other aspects of mathematics that are often
presented in a highly visual manner.

This arose from our local school districts adopting a curriculum for
teaching high school level math that is by their own
description highly visual.  I pointed out to them that under the ADA
they do not have to make each and every class accessible, but the math
program as a whole must be accessible to all including blind students.
Currently it is not.  So a resource specialist and I have joined forces
to find a constructive approach to the problem.  First, I am gathering
information and from that we will approach the districts involved with
recommendations.  If they choose to ignore the situation then I will
consider other options such as filing a complaint with the department of
education.

I would prefer people responding to this directly to me through email.
I do read this list, but I would rather compile the responses I receive
and post a synopsis if that is desired.  Thanks in
advance for any and all help.  You can email me at:
lburns@moria.nfbcal.org.

--

Len Burns
Internet: lburns@moria.nfbcal.org




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Subject: program for auditory data analysis
From: CHLUNNEY@ECUVM1.BITNET (David Lunney)

              A Data Analysis Program for Visually
               Impaired Science and Math Students

                Rosa M. McMillan and David Lunney
               Science Institute for the Disabled
                    East Carolina University
                      Greenville, NC 27858



     One  of  the  major  impediments  facing  visually  impaired
students  who wish to pursue technical careers is the lack of  an
effective  substitute for visual graphs.  One viable  alternative
is  the  use  of audible pitches to represent  the  values  of  a
variable.  This is a very old method, but in the early 1980's our
group  at  ECU added a new twist by having a  speech  synthesizer
speak  the numerical  values of the variables upon command.   The
rising and falling pitches enabled a visually impaired student to
locate  extrema and other interesting qualitative features  in  a
one-dimensional   data   array,  and  the  speech   output   gave
quantitative  data.   We have incorporated the  features  of  the
original data analysis program in a revised program that runs  on
an  IBM-compatible PC and displays large text and a visual  graph
in  addition  to  tones  and speech.  The  new  program  uses  an
inexpensive  external speech synthesizer (the Echo), and runs  in
conjunction with a screen magnification program which can enlarge
graphs and text.
     The updated data analysis program includes all the  features
of the original and adds many important new capabilities.  As  in
the original program, the user can locate extrema easily  because
maxima and minima in the independent variable produce maxima  and
minima in the pitch.  The user can scan or step through the  data
in  either direction, and can control the scan rate over  a  wide
range.   Any subrange of the data array can be examined.  When  a
scan  reaches  the top or bottom ends of the  array  the  machine
warbles with a high pitch at the top end, and a low pitch at  the
bottom end.
     At  any time, typing "x" on the keyboard causes the  machine
to   speak  the  current  value  of  the  independent   variable.
Similarly,  typing "y" produces a spoken value for the  dependent
variable;  typing "z" produces spoken values of  both  variables;
and typing "s" gives a spoken value for the first derivative.  To
improve  auditory resolution, the user can jump the frequency  up
and  down  over three octaves to find the frequency  range  where
pitch discrimination is best.
     We  included visual output in the form of color  graphs  and
large  text  to accommodate visually impaired students  who  have
some usable vision; the progress of the data scan is indicated on
the  graph by a heavy vertical cursor line.  We are  now  running
the  program  in  conjunction with  a  moderately  priced  screen
magnification  program  (MAGIC) that can double the size  of  the
graph  and text; more expensive screen enlargement  programs  can
produce  larger magnifications. The user can select  the  display
colors  to  obtain color combinations that give the  best  visual
contrast.
     Data  for the program can consist of tables of  values  read
from a disk file, or user can examine any of a library of  common
mathematical  functions.  The library functions now  include  the
six  trigonometric  functions,  common  and  natural  logarithms,
exponential  functions,  and  polynomials up to  degree  4  (with
coefficients  provided by the user).  The purpose of the  library
is  to give visually impaired students the opportunity to  become
familiar  with the properties of functions that  are  encountered
frequently in science and engineering.
     Other features of the program include a help menu, a menu of
operations that can be performed on the data, and a toolbox.  The
toolbox  includes a simple statistical package and tools for  the
pre-treatment  of the data, i.e., sorting, data  smoothing,  etc.
The  operations that can be performed on the data include  taking
the  first  and second derivatives, the  integral,  the  absolute
value,  the  reciprocal,  and  natural  or  common  logs;   these
operations will enable visually impaired students to examine, for
example, semilog or log-log plots of data.
     Although  the primary audience for this program is  visually
impaired  students at the high school level and above, we  expect
that other students will use it, too, because it's fun.
     The  original version of the program was written in  FORTRAN
by  Margaret Cetera Gemperline for auditory analysis  of  spectra
and   chromatograms.    We  translated  the  functions   of   Ms.
Gemperline's  program into Turbo Pascal, adapted it to run on  an
IBM-compatible PC, and added large text, magnified graphics,  and
other features.   The original program was called the Data Review
Program;  we  call  its offspring (naturally)  Daughter  of  Data
Review.
     We are now looking for visually impaired computer users  who
would  be willing to try the program and give us feedback on  it.
So far, it has been tested by a blind engineer, Ed Kozloski,  and
he  says it is okay.  There are undoubtedly  additional  features
that we could add to the program that would make it more  useful,
and there are probably some bugs that we haven't found.  We think
the  program is pretty much bullet-proof, and even Ed's  teen-age
sons  (who  are sighted) have not been able to make  the  program
bomb.  Please note that the program drives the speech synthesizer
directly and does not need a screen reader program.  Our  current
version looks for an Echo (or other serial text-to-speech device)
on serial ports 1 or 2, and reads the port number, the baud rate,
number of data and stop bits, and parity from a short data  file.
The  data file must be edited to set up the program.
     If you would like a zipped copy of the program, please  send
a    request   by   e-mail   to   David   Lunney    at    address
CHLUNNEY@ECUVM1.BITNET.   If you are on an IBM mainframe, we  can
send  you the file directly using the SENDFILE function.  If  you
are  not  on an IBM mainframe, we can send you a disk  by  snail-
mail.   Another possibility is that we can upload the program  to
Bill McGarry's famous Handicap News ftp archives.




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Subject: Re: speech for unix systems
From: person@plains.NoDak.edu (Brett Person)
Organization: North Dakota Higher Education Computing Network

In article <29605@handicap.news> dlawlor@morgan.ucs.mun.ca (Doug Lawlor) writes:
>Index Number: 29605
>
>shandrow@enuxva.eas.asu.edu (Darrell Shandrow) writes:
>
>>Index Number: 29437
>
>>I think that it is great that IBM is providing direct screen access
>>to the rs6000 Unix workstations.  Does anyone know if this will be
>>demonstrated at the NFB convention?  73
>On the subject of unix, has anyone managed to get linux talking?  I
>thought I heard that someone was writing a speech device driver for it.
>
>Doug


I have. Linux does talk.  I'm sprucing up the program a little this month.
I plan a release in Mid-July.

I just dumped OS/2 off the hard drive so I can finish the Linux speech
driver.  I'm desperately short on time, money, euipment and disk space.


I didn't make my beta drop date of June.1 because I had a few other projects
sneak problems into themselves. Look for a release sometime in the next two
weeks before I put the thing out the door in July.

Things still need to  be heavily tested.

The big problem now is X.  Some X software works with speech in the GUI, and
some doesn't.  I'm working out the problems.

Linux seems to grow exponentially, It seems I'm constantly updating the
kernel, and the X softwere.  I've got a friend who is real good about
keeping track of the updates, I'm not quite up to date with official Linux,
but I am with SLS. By the time this is released, i hope to be completely
up-to-date with everything.

How important is support for X windowing system?  Can I drop it from the
initial release or should I keep it and delay the release by.. oh, a month?
--
Brett Person
Guest Account
North Dakota State University
person@plains.nodak.edu || person@plains.bitnet




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Subject: Need information on tactile displays (braille readers?)
From: ajr@eng.cam.ac.uk (Tony Robinson)

I'm searching for information on tactile displays and hoping that someone
can help me out.

What I need is a set of stimulators for the skin arranged on a grid (with
resolution of about seven by seven).  These could be electromechanical or
piezoelectric, just something that gives a pattern of tactile stimulation.

I'm told that such devices are used to display braille characters.  I need
one for a project that displays basic speech sounds in a long term project
to provide an alternative means of listening to speech.

I'm no expert in this area, I'd be greatful for any pointers to more
information.

Thanks

Tony Robinson



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Dr AJ Robinson Phone +44 223 332815 Fax +44 223 332662 Email ajr@eng.cam.ac.uk
Cambridge University Engineering Department, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, UK


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Subject: Arkenstone SSIL
From: CFBJ33@MGVAX.ULSTER.AC.UK (Eric Cameron)

I have recently reveived a report on the Closing the Gap Conference
in Minneapolis, October 1992, which makes reference to the release
of the Speech Synthesiser Interface Library (SSIL) from Arkenstone.

Has anyone experience of using these specifications?  Are the
specifications in the public domain?  If not, can anyone give us a
pointer as to how they may be obtained from Britain or Ireland?

Eric



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| Eric Cameron, Visiting Professor   | Telephone : +44 504 265621 x5384        |
| Dept. of Applied Computing         | Fax       : +44 504 370040              |
| Magee College, Univ. of Ulster     | Internet : cameron.e@mgvax.ulster.ac.uk |
| Derry, N. Ireland, UK, BT48 7JL    | Janet    : cameron.e@uk.ac.ulster.mgvax |


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                 End of Issue # 945 of the Blind News Digest

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