Very good explanation, Steve. So, my favorite way to create the braille
training tools I use about 95% of the time, is directly in Duxbury using
either direct braille feature or six-key entry, with that perkins bell
set to ring about four spaces from the right margin. One thing that
might explain my preferences is my age--58. I grew up with the concrete
functioning of the Perkins, Hall and Silver Chief braille writers. And,
when our agency gets new laptops in June, my good old keyboard will be
hiding deep in a drawer so that I can be assured of having one that
allows six-key entry.
ANN FOXWORTH, BRAILLE CONSULTANT
DARS DIVISION FOR BLIND SERVICES
CRISS COLE REHABILITATION CENTER
4800 N LAMAR BLVD
AUSTIN, TX 78757
PH: 512-377-0471
-----Original Message-----
From: duxuser-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:duxuser-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Steve Dresser
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 9:50 PM
To: duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [duxuser] Re: Margin Bell in Word
Susan,
There's another issue that's been hinted at, but not explicitly stated.
If you're really looking at the screen, you're getting constant visual
feedback about how things line up. Those of us who don't actually see
the screen have two choices: stop typing long enough to interrogate the
screen reader (either through the controls provided for that purpose, or
through a braille display), or have some kind of audible feedback when
we approach the right edge of the screen. I'm quite lucky to have a
braille display, but I have also learned that I can do a lot with
formatting if I use the tools I have in Word. Unfortunately, though,
doing that involves a steep learning curve because most people don't
know much about Word, or word processors in general, mostly because they
can just buzz around the screen with a mouse and push the right buttons,
or maybe just use the brute force approach to get things to look the way
they want them to. I don't mean any of this as a complaint, but rather
as an attempt to analyze and explain differences between the methods
blind people use to get results from their computers and what their
sighted peers do to accomplish the same tasks.
Steve
----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Jolly" <easjolly@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <duxuser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 16:11
Subject: [duxuser] Re: Margin Bell in Word
OK, great. Thanks for answering. I don't consider this so much a can
of
worms but trying to communicate better so that we can help each other
out
better.
I understand about the table that looked "awful." I see now where I
was
having my conceptual problem. When I read things on the computer
screen,
whether in Word or on a webpage, I don't think in terms of pages but
more
in
terms of a fluid window or virtual page which is not fixed in size as
a
piece of paper is. So if I were looking at a table and it didn't fit
right
in the window, I would typically just resize the window. However, if
your
goal is to produce a print table that looks not awful on a real piece
of
paper of a certain size, rather than a virtual one, then of course you
have
to know how it is oriented and laid out.
If I were forced to produce tables in Word on a frequent basis, I'd
probably
spend the time to understand exactly what the AutoFit and AutoFormat
options
do.
Thanks again,
SusanJ
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