[nfbcs] new open source Braille translation software for the blind

[Joe Orozco]

I think people are investing in netbooks, which obviously do not come
equipped to do embossing.  I think you'll generate a lot of interest, and I
myself will be among the first to try it out.

Joe Orozco

"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the
crowd."--Max Lucado 

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org 
[mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Joseph C. Lininger
Sent: Sunday, October 11, 2009 5:45 AM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org; nfbcs at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nfbcs] new open source Braille translation software 
for the blind

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Hash: SHA256

Hi all,
Please forgive the cross-post, but I wanted to reach the 
students since it's the group of the NFB that I know the 
largest number of, as well as the computer science people in 
hopes of eliciting a response from them.
I will warn you now that this message is a little long, but I'd 
appreciate if as many of you as possible read it and provide me 
with your feedback. Whether or not I attempt this project will 
be directly influenced by how much feedback I get on the idea.

I've been kicking an idea around in my head for a while and I 
want to know if there would be a large enough group that would 
find it of use.
I'm thinking of possibly writing a completely extensable, 
flexable, and open source Braille translation package. I know 
about the nfbtrans software already, and it's a good peace of 
software, all be it a little dated at this stage of the game. 
What I'm thinking is a translation package that takes a 
different aproach. The major features would be as follows.

* Modular design, allowing for Braille formats to be easily supported.
Grade 1, grade 2, Nemith, and even foreign language Braille 
should not require complete rewrites of the software. All that 
need happen for a new format to be supported is for someone to 
write a module for it.
Depending on what my research reveals, I might even be able to 
provide a generic module that allows for simple one to one 
print to braille mappings for some of the simpler Braille codes.

* Modular design allows for a wide variety of Braille printers 
to be supported. At first, all that will be supported is to 
print a document directly to the serial or parallel port, but 
in the future support for the advanced features found on 
individual printers will be supported.

* Command line interface at first, with the eventual goal of 
having a fully featured editor with Braille translation such as 
that which you find in commertial translation packages.

* Software is able to be used directly, such as by a student or 
professional wanting to translate a document into Braille, or 
as a back end solution, being called by some other program to 
perform translation.

* Licensed under the GPL or similar license. This allows people 
to use the software, free of charge, as well as to modify it. 
It is insane that translation software is so expensive.

* High quality. Performance, features, etc. should be as good 
or better than that available in the commertial products.

So, here are my questions to you all.

1. Is there still a need for such software, or have devices 
like the braille note made it something that is no longer 
strictly necessary?

2. If such software existed, would you use it personally or do 
you know anyone who would?

I'll look forward to hearing back from all of you!
- --
Those of you who think they know everything are very annoying 
to those of us who actually do.
Joseph C. Lininger, <jbahm at pcdesk.net>
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