🚀 go-pugleaf

                            THE BLIND NEWS DIGEST

                                 Issue # 1058

                            Friday, July 08, 1994

Today's Topics:


                                ******


                               Award Presented
                             speech for the mac
                 Internet resources for outreach libraries?
                            Re: Special Keyboards
                Re: Braille output devices for PC compatibles
                               Info for friend
                      Congressional Alert--Please Help


                                ******


To subscribe to the Blind News Digest mailing list or have your
thoughts in the next issue, please send electronic mail to
Bill McGarry at any of the following addresses:


UUCP:       uunet!bunker!wtm
INTERNET:   wtm@bunker.afd.olivetti.com
BITNET:     blindnws@ndsuvm1.bitnet
Fidonet:    The Handicap News BBS (141/420)   1-203-926-6168
            (300 - 14,400 baud, 24 hours)

                              Bill McGarry (Moderator)
                              (203) 926-6187



------



Subject: Award Presented
From: 73443.1351@COMPUSERVE.COM (Curtis Chong)

[This is from the BLIND-L mailing list]

                NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
                       IN COMPUTER SCIENCE
_________________________________________________________________
Curtis Chong, President                  3530 Dupont Avenue North
Telephone: (612) 521-3202           Minneapolis, Minnesota  55412



July 5, 1994

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:  Curtis Chong, President
          National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science
          (612) 521-3202

              DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD PRESENTED

     The National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science
(NFBCS) today announced the presentation of an Award for
Distinguished Service to Dr. James Thatcher of IBM.  The award was
presented during the organization's annual meeting on Sunday, July
3, held in conjunction with the National Federation of the Blind
convention.

     Curtis Chong, NFBCS president, said that Dr. Thatcher's work
on the Screen Reader project has "enabled blind people to have
independent access to OS/2 Presentation Manager," one of a growing
number of platforms that present information using the graphical
user interface (GUI).

     Chong said that in his view, "Dr. Thatcher has done more than
anyone else to keep the Screen Reader project alive."

     Chong added, "without Dr. Thatcher's drive and personal
commitment, we would not have Screen Reader today, and our ability
to access OS/2 independently would be nonexistent."

     OS/2 is an operating system developed by IBM.  Unlike the Disk
Operating System (DOS), which displays information using text, OS/2
Presentation Manager (PM) displays information on the screen using
graphics.  OS/2 allows the computer user to run applications
designed to run under DOS. Microsoft Windows, or native OS/2.
Blind computer users can use Screen Reader/2 to access all of these
applications.  Although there are other screen access programs that
blind people can use to run DOS and Windows applications, there is
no screen access program other than Screen Reader/2 that allows
access to all three platforms: DOS, Windows, and OS/2.

     The National Federation of the Blind in Computer Science is a
division of the National Federation of the Blind, an organization
of blind persons numbering over fifty-thousand.  The Federation is
holding its national convention this week at the Westin Hotel in
the Detroit Renaissance Center.  The convention represents the
largest gathering of blind people ever to be held this year
anywhere in the world.  Under the motto "We are changing what it
means to be blind," the Federation works energetically to improve
society's image of the blind and the ability of blind people to
live and work on terms of absolute equality with the sighted.

                              -30-

Cordially,

Curtis Chong
Internet: 73443.1351@compuserve.com (personal)
               or
          usids002@ibmmail.com (work)




------



Subject: speech for the mac
From: dashiell@nadc.navy.mil (Jude DaShiell)


the program you want is called outspoken and
is supplied by berkeley systems inc.
I have the software running on a quadra 650 but it
works on all mac's.
The package does work and the speech sounds closer to
human than what's on the ibm platforms with
the possible exception of dectalk synthesizers.
Linda, be prepared to work with your mother on the system
when it arrives to get her used to the lay of the land.
If there's any way possible get a modem for the machine and
modem software and you'll probably want to get your
mother either a genie or compuserve account.  This way she can keep up with
the news.  Maybe there are other resources, I can't say now since I don't
know what interest categories your mother has.
Here's the contact info for berkeley systems inc.


Berkeley Systems, Inc.
1700 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA  94709
(510) 540-5535


sender: Computer Use by and for the Blind <BLIND-L@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU>
from: KKASSIRER@UTOROISE.BITNET
subject:      Re: Job Announcement

Rick,

For our low vision users we found that using Closeview was very awkard and made
them motion sick.  What I have done for our users was give them OutSpoken by
Berkley to read the pull down windows and bars, then used the magnification
of the software packages.  For example, if you use Microsoft word, go to C
Characters (command D) under Format and put the size to whatever works for you
r user.  As for font, Helvetica works the best for this.  If you have any
futher questions, please contact me.

Kevin Kassirer
KKassirer@Oise.on.ca

sender: Computer Use by and for the Blind <BLIND-L@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU>
from: Kathy Blackburn <BLACKBURN860@DELPHI.COM>
subject:      Re: Graphical user interface/balloon help

The only way to read the information in the balloons using outSPOKEN is to
use its Say On feature (command-option-say).  This feature speaks everything
written to the screen, so you will hear a lot of other information in addition
to the balloon of interest, but you will get the information.

Hope this helps.

Kathy Blackburn
Austin, Texas
Internet" Blackburn860@delphi.com

sender: Computer Use by and for the Blind <BLIND-L@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU>
from: Igor Albornett UCV <ialbor@CONICIT.VE>
subject:      Re: burkley systems internet address

in response to a request from Zuhair T. Mah'd about the internet addres
of Berkeley sistems, here is one of them:

marc_sutton.eniac@inetlink.berksys.com

Mark is one of the people who are actually working on the Windows
version of Outspoken.e will anwer any question concerning outspoken.

They also have AOL, COMPUSERVE and APPLELInk addresses.bye.

sender: Computer Use by and for the Blind <BLIND-L@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU>
from: Kathy Blackburn <BLACKBURN860@DELPHI.COM>
subject:      Re: Macintosh Info

The Internet address for Berkeley Systems is
access@berksys.com

Hope this is some help.

Sincerely,
Kathy Blackburn
Austin, Texas
Internet:  Blackburn860@delphi.com

sender: Computer Use by and for the Blind <BLIND-L@UAFSYSB.UARK.EDU>
from: "BRIAN E. BLAIR" <BLAIRB@CEDARNET.CEDARVILLE.EDU>
subject:      Information about Macintosh Equipment -Reply

Inlarge is a Screen enlarging software package for the Macintosh
which is supposed to magnify the entire screen or a portion of text
or graphics from 2 to 16 times normal size.  Outspoken is a speech
software package for the Mac which uses the Mac's internal speech
hardware to provide speech output for text based applications.  These
packages are available from Berkeley Systems, Inc., 2095 Rose Street,
Berkeley, CA 94709 (510) 540--5535  Fax: (510) 540-5115       Also
available from Carolyn's P.O. Box 743 Brookfield, WI 53008
(800) 648-2266
The above information is from National Library Service's Reference
Circular 93-2, Assistive Devices.  This is available on-line via
Gopher from Library of Congress.  Gopher to: marvel.loc.gov in the
directory /loc/nls.



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




------



Subject: Internet resources for outreach libraries?
From: lbell@darkstar.rsa.lib.il.us (Lori Bell)

I am working on a brief guide to disability related resources on
the Internet for outreach librarians.  It would be helpful to me to
know what types of gophers and other sources you found most
helpful.  You can send email to me at:
lbell@darkstar.rsa.lib.il.us.  Thanks!  Lori Bell




------



Subject: Re: Special Keyboards
From: Joan.Masters@Eng.Sun.COM (Joan Masters)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.

My husband is legally blind and uses a computer at home.  He
has a catalog LS&S (I think) that carries LARGE LETTER key caps.
I believe that a set is about $30.

If you are interested, I can get the proper name, address and
phone number from home.

Joan
---
joan.masters@Eng.Sun.COM





------



Subject: Re: Braille output devices for PC compatibles
From: Lokowandt@informatik.uni-stuttgart.de (Georg Lokowandt)
Organization: IfI, Univ. Stuttgart, W-Germany

In article Jeff Janes writes:
>From: jejanes@mtu.edu (Jeff E. Janes)
>Message-ID: <32825@handicap.news>
>
>Index Number: 32825
>
>I came up with these ideas for braille displays.  Have they been tried
>before; and if not, do you think they would work?
>
>Have a single cell (2x3 + probably a "border" to make it 4x5) that can
>move in a 80-cell long line, which would know what location it was at
>and represent whatever character was at that location.  Instead of
>moving your finger across the braille, the cell would
>move with your finger.  This could possibly be done with a 2-D system
>that would be 80x25.
>
A 2-D system was build and had the disadvantage, that the finger got used
to the dots and couldn't read them anymore. The stimulation is totaly different
when you move a finger over dots or when the dots move under your finger.

>Another idea: have a mouse with a cell built into it (again probably
>4X5), which would represent whatever is under the mouse pointer.
>
the same problem

>I also have some questions about braille reading.
>
>How do you read with more than one finger at a time?  Do you read
>a group of 3 letters, then skip over to read the next group? Or do you
>scan smoothly across all the letters, reading each letter once with each
>finger, so every letter is read 3 different times?
I don't know

>
>Would a braille-type cell be usefull at all in trying to read
>graphical information?  I have heard of tactile paper that turns
>lines in to raised ridges, but could a braille display also be used?
We use a braille printer to produce taktile graphics, it works well.


Georg
--
Georg Lokowandt at lokowand@dia.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de
mail: Universitaet Stuttgart
      Breitwiesenstr. 20-22
      70565 Stuttgart





------



Subject: Info for friend
From: rear@ritz.mordor.com (Robert Rea)
Organization: Mordor International BBS

Hi, I have a friend whose lifeline has been email. Now he is becoming
blind. What solutions are available to him? He has soem friends who might
come and read his mail to him, but that is a stopgap. I just need basic
information for him about the possibilites for computer use by the blind.
Just email me if you have info or to point me to info.

Bob                             Freedom is only privilege extended
rear@mordor.com                         Unless enjoyed by one and all
                                                --Billy Bragg




------



Subject: Congressional Alert--Please Help
From: WIDNET@DELPHI.COM (World Institute on Disability)

                                   World Institute on Disability
                                   July 7, 1994

Congressional Alert
By Janina Sajka

Summary

If you haven't yet contacted Sen. Hollings about putting disability
provisions into S.1822, please do so today.

The House of Representatives has passed telecommunications
legislation by landslide vote margins.  The House legislation
includes provisions to make telecommunication equipment and services
accessible to people with disabilities--including provisions for
captioning and for descriptive video.  But there is still no such
language in S.1822, the Senate's bill for building the "Information
Superhighway."

The good news is that there is a good chance that disability language
will be added to S. 1822.  But members of the Senate Commerce
Committee need to hear from enough disabled people and their friends
asking for it in order to believe that disabled people really care.
Now, more than ever, it is vital that people call or fax Committee
Chairman Sen. Hollings at 1-202-224-6121 voice, or
1-202-224-4293 fax.  Tell him you'd like captioning for deaf people,
descriptive video for blind people, and requirments for accessible
equipment and services in S. 1822, just like the House of
Representatives has done in H.R. 3626 by a vote of 423 to 5, and in
H.R. 3636 by a vote of 422 to 4.

What's Happening?

Everything you know about telephones, television, and computers is
about to change forever.  Congress is busy writing a law designed to
build an "Information Superhighway."  We need your help to convince
Sen. Hollings and the Senate Commerce Committee to include access for
people with disabilities in this law.

We need YOUR help even if you know nothing about technology, because
the Information Superhighway will be everywhere--in your home, at
your job, at your school, on the street corner, at the hospital, in
the library, and in the shopping mall.

The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), an informal
confederation of national disability organizations originally
organized to promote passage of the ADA, negotiated the disability
language in the House bills and has been negotiating with members of
the Senate Commerce Committee for similar language in S.1822.  We
need your help to get it there, so that it will be there for
President Clinton to sign into law.  The Senate Commerce Committee is
now expected to act on these issues after its current break--in mid-
July.

If you want strong disability language regarding access to the
Information Superhighway--if you want video programming to be
captioned and described--contact Senators on the Commerce Committee.
A list of Committee members with addresses and phone numbers, some
suggestions of what to say, and a sample letter, follow.

What You Can Do

Call, fax, or write today.  Remember, you don't need to be an expert
on technology to use a telephone, so you don't need to be an expert
to tell Congress to include YOU in the Information Superhighway.

Call, or send or fax a letter to Chairman Ernest Hollings,
Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee, Room 508,
Dirksen Building, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510.  Call
1-202-224-6121 voice, or 1-202-224-4293 fax.  There's a sample letter
below.

Don't wait for these Senators to get E-Mail before you contact them.
They will vote on your telecommunications future long before they get
E-Mail accounts--so please just call, fax, or write.

Get two of your friends or family to contact Senator Hollings.

If your Senator is on the Senate Commerce Committee [See the list
below], be sure to call, fax, or write them.

What You Can Say

Tell them you want and deserve to be part of America's information
future.  Tell them to put the House language requiring accessible
equipment and services, as well as captioning and descriptive video,
into S. 1822.

SENATE COMMERCE SCIENCE & TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE

All addresses below end with:, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510

South Carolina      Ernest Hollings, Chairman, Dirksen Bldg., #508,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-6121         Fax: 1-202-224-4293
Hawaii              Daniel Inouye, Hart Bldg., Room 722,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-3934         Fax: 1-202-224-6747
Kentucky            Wendell Ford, Russell Bldg., Room 173A,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-4343         Fax: 1-202-224-0046
Nebraska            J. James Exon, Hart Bldg., Room 520,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-4224         Fax: 1-202-224-5213
West Virginia       Jay Rockefeller, Hart Bldg., Room 109,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-6472         Fax: 1-202-224-1689
Massachusetts       John Kerry, Russell Bldg., Room 421,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-2742         Fax: 1-202-224-8525
Louisiana           John Breaux, Hart Bldg., Room 516,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-4623         Fax: Unlisted
Nevada              Richard Bryan, Russell Bldg., Room 364,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-6244         Fax: Unlisted
Virginia            Charles Robb, Russell Bldg., Room 493,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-4024         Fax: 1-202-224-8689
North Dakota        Byron Dorgan, Hart Bldg., Room 425,
                    Voice: 1-202-225-2611         Fax: 1-202-225-9436
Texas               Kay Bailey Hutchison, Hart Bldg., Room 703,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-5922         Fax: 1-202-224-0776
Missouri            John Danforth,  Russell Bldg., Room 249,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-6154         Fax: Unlisted
Oregon              Bob Packwood, Russell Bldg., room 259,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-5244         Fax: 1-202-228-3576
South Dakota        Larry Pressler, Hart Bldg., Room 133,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-5842         Fax: 1-202-224-1630
Alaska              Ted Stevens, Hart Bldg., Room 522,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-3004         Fax: 1-202-224-1044
Arizona             John McCain, Russell Bldg., Room 111,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-2235         Fax: 1-202-228-2862
Montana             Conrad Burns, Dirksen Bldg., Room 183,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-2644         Fax: 1-202-224-8594
Washington          Slade Gorton, Hart Bldg., Room 730,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-3441         Fax: 1-202-224-9393
Mississippi         Trent Lott, Russell Bldg., Room 487,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-6253         Fax: 1-202-224-2262
New Hampshire       Judd Gregg, Hart Bldg., Room 513,
                    Voice: 1-202-224-3324         Fax: 1-202-224-4952

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

                                SAMPLE LETTER

                                   Date

Sen. Ernest Hollings, Chairman
Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee
Dirksen Building, Room 508
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Hollings:

RE: S. 1822, Telecommunications Infrastructure Legislation

I write to ask your support for provisions in telecommunications
infrastructure legislation.  In particular I ask your support for
provisions which:

*    require Bell telephone companies to address the access needs of
     individuals with disabilities in manufacturing of equipment and
     network services; and

*    require similar disability access requirements for all other
     providers of equipment and network services, not just Bell
     telephone companies;

Also I ask your support for measures which ensure closed captioning
and video description as a requirement so that individuals with
hearing and vision disabilities can have access to everything that
everyone else gets.

I am particularly interested because (I am a person with a
disability) (I am a family member of/advocate for a person with a
disability).

If these types of things are not included in telecommunications
infrastructure legislation, (I/we/my child) with a disability may end
up among the "have nots" in the information age.  Also, people with
disabilities are not going to go away and the extra cost of retro-
fitting "electronic curb cuts" in the future demands inclusion now.
Please write me back that you will support these kinds of
requirements.

                                   Sincerely,

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This Congressional Alert was prepared and broadcast by

                                   Janina Sajka, WIDnet Manager
                                   Technology Policy Division
                                   World Institute on Disability

widnet@delphi.com




------






                                ******

                 End of Issue # 1058 of the Blind News Digest

                                ******