From: Kelly Pierce
Subject: computer user network news #16
The following is the sixteenth newsletter of Digit-Eyes: the
Chicago Blind computer Users' Network. The initiative is built on
the principles of self-development, mutual aid, cooperative
learning and peer mentoring. For back issues and to learn more
about us, check out our home page at
http://www.city-net.com/vipace/friends/chicago. to join us online,
subscribe to the visually Impaired computer User group List at
listserv@maelstrom.stjohns.edu. In the body of the message, simply
type "subscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
Kelly
COMPUTER USERS NETWORK NEWS
Adaptive Technology
for the Blind and Visually-Impaired
Vol. III, no. 6 November-December, 1997
Published bimonthly by
Digit-Eyes
Blind Service Association
22 West Monroe Street
Chicago, Illinois 60603
voice-mail: 312-458-9006
Copyright 1997
Editor: Cindy Brown
MISSION STATEMENT
Our mission is to provide a vehicle for our consumers to share
information with each other. This is accomplished by stimulating
the pro-active involvement of our readers.
CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK: STUFF HAPPENS
by Cindy Brown ................................. 3
SUBSCRIPTION/MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION ................. 3
CHECK US OUT! ....................................... 3
NETWORK NEWS ........................................ 3
CLOSING THE GAP, 1997
by David Porter ................................ 4
PERSONAL PROFILE: DAN TEVELDE
by Nate Branson ................................ 7
CASTING THE INTERNET
by David Porter ................................ 8
TEAMWORK
by Nate Branson ................................ 8
SHARING YOUR TALENTS ................................ 9
KUDOS ............................................... 9
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND? ............................. 10
FYI ................................................. 10
TREASURES ........................................... 11
DATES TO REMEMBER! .................................. 12
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK:
STUFF HAPPENS
by Cindy Brown
You may have noticed--we're late!
Your editor had every intention of getting this newsletter out
in December before the holidays. But there was no wiggle room for
anything to go wrong. My deadline for having the newsletter
printed and ready to record on tape was the 17th of December. I
had out-of-town guests coming in for the holidays on the 18th.
Well, my computer decided to go on holiday before it was
scheduled for the rest of us, so everything came to a halt. If it's
any consolation, my holiday cards did not get sent either.
Anyway, it looks like the computer has returned to work, and
we hope it's for good.
But this makes it a very tight squeeze between the time you
get this and the time we will be working on the next issue. So
please waste no time in getting articles or other items in for
publication. (See instructions below.)
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SUBSCRIPTION/MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
A subscription for the Computer Users Network News is
included in the Digit-Eyes annual membership donation of fifteen
dollars or more. The newsletter is available on cassette tape or in
print. It is also accessible on-line. Each annual membership
entitles you to all six issues for that particular calendar year.
To begin or renew your membership in our network, please send
your contribution, along with your name and address, to Blind
Service Association, indicating your intention to join Digit-Eyes,
and specifying in which of the above formats you wish to receive
your newsletters.
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CHECK US OUT
You can check us out on the web page made available to us
through Vipace. You'll find current and back issues of this
newsletter. That's at
http://www.city-net.com/vipace/friends/chicago.
You can also check out our upcoming events by phoning 312-458-
9006.
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NETWORK NEWS
At the December 10th meeting of the Cognoscentae, it was
unanimously agreed that Larry Bickhem would be the facilitator,
replacing Dan Neuwelt who did a terrific job in the year that he
held the post.
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CLOSING THE GAP
by Dave Porter
Closing the Gap is a consortium of researchers,
administrators, company service providers, teachers,
counselors, consumers, curiosity seekers, and service implementers,
all brought together in the third week of October in Minnesota.
I attended this, their fifteenth and my fourth, conference.
People gathered to share a wide variety of different
approaches meant to close the gap between the particular dynamics
and challenges faced by people with a host of disabilities; and the
resources, strategies, techniques, ideas, information, and
proposals intended to alleviate those barriers. The intended hope
is that by bringing people together to see what others are doing,
these techniques can be either implemented or improved.
This year's technology was a labyrinth of tools, programs,
machines, gizmos, and gadgets elaborately displayed by a variety of
vendors. These technologies and the expectations that we have
placed on them, have come to simulate and often dictate the rhythm
of our daily tasks.
In a future article I'll talk about the seminars, my
observations about them, and reactions to them.
In this article let me focus on the technology, its
relevance to us, and the implications it and its marketplace will
have on us.
The Scene. During my earlier trips to the Gap it was easy to
navigate my way around the exhibit halls. Everything was
relatively orderly. Everybody knew who the big players were and we
looked to them for information, guidance, and the newest and best
products. Their displays were larger, their sales promotions were
slicker, and they were where the action was.
Not any more. Chaos, racket, and glitz were the order of
things these days. The exhibit hall was a mad frenzy of people
dashing from exhibit to exhibit, clamoring to see impromptu
demonstrations and staged events at
different booths. Technology was everywhere. Each vendor had to
volley for the attention of thundering herds of jaded people, most
of whom became over-amped by the blizzard around them--everything
from sophisticated reading of technical data on icons to ringing
and banging of toys in school-related booths. Every sense was
stressed--sight, sound, smell, touch.
Every age group and disability subgroup was addressed, classified,
categorized.
The Impact. First--some generalizations. The term end-user
has become a buzz word in the field. I credit our network for
playing a big part in that. As all network people know, and most
companies have now discovered, you can't make something work if you
don't have end-users using it.
Because of companies banging on each other, there appear to be
more job opportunities opening up for blind people in the field.
At almost every booth was at least one end-user. Some were tokens;
some were the real deal. I'd ask if they were being paid to be
here? I pleaded with them not to do it for free.
There was much international representation at the Gap. Many
companies looking for U.S. distribution were running into tariff
problems. When walking up to booths, I never new what language
lurked there.
As the adaptive technology itself gets smaller, it is
becoming easier to manipulate, cheaper to build, and more feature
laden. Tons of small companies have poured into the marketplace,
showing off very different products. Exhibit rooms looked like
Gizmo Row at Best-Buy.
Big companies that are not able to diversify are being eaten
alive by start-ups. The result is a glimpse at the second
generation of information management, and the articulation of
Windows by both oral and tactile means.
OTHER NEWS FROM THE GAP
Windows 95 (W95). In w95, you no longer need a separate DOS
screen reader. So if you procure a new machine, get W95 JFW3.0.
You can read or run DOS applications in the DOS window.
Braille Displays. Alva Access Group has a"new product." Alva
makes great Macintosh software called outSPOKEn. almost nobody in
the current Alva Access Group was in the previous one. Alva took
the name outSPOKEN by buying the company. Yap Reider, its current
owner, is suing almost everybody.
He claims to have patented cursor routing, and he wants royalties
from all other makers of Braille displays. His claim is being
disputed. OutSPOKEN for Windows has Braille as its primary display
output.
There is some interesting new thinking going into the way
Braille displays get instructions. There is talk of a Braille box
display with 30 cells down, 15 cells across--trying to depict a
window. This can be either from a cursor position or highlight
point. So far,displays can only show one line at a time--maybe 80
characters, but still only one line.
Braille graphics was a big hit. It is now possible to change
size of Braille dots with new displays, making it easier to
reproduce or simulate graphics (e.g., an icon shape). If we could
feel the shape of an icon, we could rename it from context, and
recognize it if seen again.
It is currently difficult to keep our place with W95. This change
might give us better markers. Maybe we need a new Braille
shorthand to complement it.
Many people who use the Braille Lite have already developed their
own shorthand.
What's not changing is the price of displays. They're still
around $5,000.00.
Liquid Braille is another interesting design idea. It's
unlike a liquid crystal display which takes place in a vacuum so
nothing touches air, or your fingers. Instead, with liquid
Braille, 6 tiny tubes emit a jell which, when charged, hardens. It
is then propelled by a little jet that cranks out jell which hits
a carbon filter, and becomes a hard dot onto a strip which can be
reshaped. When moved it releases another pad that emits zinc which
clears the display, and the process repeats.
But clogging in the tubes can be a big problem. The
anticharge zinc wears out quickly. If it ever gets straightened
out it will be quite cheap.
Revisiting the Braille Writer. When I was in school, aged
twelve, i dragged Braille books, a can, and a Braille writer (about
the size and weight of a portable typewriter).
Today's students can lighten their loads with the
availability of the Verdeigh Braille writer. It is ever so small
and light weight.
Scanning and Reading. You can now use Omnipage instead of
Open Book. Omni page supports scads of scanners. Load it into a
W95 environment, activate an omnipage button--voila! It's a
scanner that will read for you.
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PERSONAL PROFILE: DAN TEVELDE
by Nate Branson
Business Development Specialist Dan TeVelde has been with
McDonald's Corporation for seven years. His work consists of
preparing profit-sharing applications for the employees.
In his work he uses a PowerBraille display linked to his
desktop computer with a JAWS screenreader. At company meetings, he
employs a Braille Lite.
At thirty-seven, TeVelde, a 1989 graduate of Program Able, and
a Washington State native, likes his job and finds it satisfying.
Totally blind since birth, he came to Illinois in 1985 to
attend Northwestern University from which he has a Master's in
Music Performance. In addition to his day job at McDonald's, he
works as a church musician.
Commenting on adaptive technology on the job, TeVelde notes
that there are slight hurdles. "Computer operating systems are
changing so fast that it is hard to get guidelines so that
developers for the blind can keep up with them and make products
that will work with all the platforms ... all the different
applications that are out there."
At his workplace, there's a change going on from DOS to
Windows. It is causing some problems, but software for the
visually-impaired presents another hurdle. "The other problem for
blind people who use adaptive equipment is that if you've got
several software applications loaded on the same machine ... you're
going to eat up a lot of memory. I don't have much memory left,
and it's really hard to get all that software to run together."
During his nine-month stay at Program Able, an organization
that taught computer programming to physically-impaired
individuals, his days were intense. His school day consisted of
two hour-and-a-half lectures in the morning. After a break for
lunch, the afternoons from one to five were reserved for labs. But
if programs did not run, students would have to work out the bugs
after hours.
Program Able assisted the graduate with a business advisory
council which set up internships with prospective employers.
TeVelde was aided in this manner with his internship at McDonald's.
TeVelde, himself, found after graduation some potential employers
were hesitant about having a guide dog on their sites. One of the
first blind persons to go through the program, employers had not
encountered that situation in graduates before.
In addition to the enjoyment of music, TeVelde lists swimming
and sending/receiving e-mail as hobbies. He heads the Computer
Network's Preview crew which screens new products and reports on
them. Currently, he has no desktop computer at home, but hopes to
get one in the near future.
(A graduate of Roosevelt University, Nate Branson has worked
for The Chicago Tribune and for the Chicago Sun Times. He is a
freelance writer.)
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CASTING THE INTERNET
by David Porter
On Friday, October 17 at the DISCOVERY 97 Low Vision
conference, Members of Digit-Eyes presented an Internet
demonstration.
Presenters were David Porter (president of Comp-Unique
Incorporated, an adaptive technology research, consulting, sales,
and training firm), with Kelly Pierce (Digit-Eyes Lynx Squad
coordinator), and Anna Byrne (a senior systems analyst at ComEd)
serving as geek policeperson.
We at Digit-Eyes posed the daunting question: How about that
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