Hi George, No, I am not a partner of Betsy's way out in the Pacific, although I would really like to be in a nice warm sunny place during the winter, when Seattle Washington is chilly and rainy, similar to London. But, I am in the heart of urban Seattle, which has its interesting aspects too. In any case, I want to let you and everyone else know that I didn't mean my remarks about the problems of automatic translation into braille to be a criticism of Duxbury. As far as I am concerned, Duxbury is a very good tool. I think it could be improved, and I hope that some of the problems I mentioned can be dealt with. I also hope that more easy-to-read and understand manuals and tutorials can be prepared. But, Duxbury is quite good already. And, the Duxbury technical support staff is the most responsive and the most helpful technical support staff of any software program I am familiar with. They respond quickly when we contact them, and they keep responding by e-mail and even by phone until they have succeeded in helping us learn what we need to know or solve whatever problems we are encountering. On top of that, this list is the best users' list I have encountered. Everyone shares their knowledge generously without too much tech talk, and everyone is pleasant and polite. I learn a little from it every week, even when I am not having problems. And it gives me courage to experiment with new things to get more refined results. My main gripe is with people who are not braille users who think that they can produce perfectly adequate braille texts just by using the automatic features of a braille translation program. It is not possible now, and I don't think that it will ever be possible, because the best braille translation program will be just that, a computer program, not a thinking person. Even when people use Microsoft Word the correct way, there are a number of things that work well in print but not in braille, like tables, or are different in print and braille, like the best ways to set off text or make it easier to read ... not to mention maps and other graphics. I think that producing good readable braille is truly an art, as is producing good readable print for that matter. The software can help, but it can't make all of the decisions. I think we need more braille users involved in producing braille for other braille users. I think that mainstream educational and other programs that have embossers and Duxbury should understand that they need some braille users involved in the production of the braille in order to get decent quality. No matter how many rules and cautions we give them, new incongruities are always popping up that are only noticed by braille users. Thanks for all your help, and thanks for reading this. Sylvie Kashdan Instructor/Curriculum Coordinator KAIZEN PROGRAM for New English Learners with Visual Limitations 810-A Hiawatha Place South Seattle, WA 98144 phone: (206) 784-5619 email: kaizen_esl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx * * * * This message is via list duxuser at freelists.org. * To unsubscribe, send a blank message with * unsubscribe * as the subject to <duxuser-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>. You may also * subscribe, unsubscribe, and set vacation mode and other subscription * options by visiting //www.freelists.org. The list archive * is also located there. * Duxbury Systems' web site is http://www.duxburysystems.com * * *