[nfbcs] Programming with a Braille display

Wed Nov 9 14:52:41 UTC 2011

Heavens! No one can accuse you of not being dedicated.

The more war stories I hear from those like you who did all the heavy 
duty ground breaking back in the day when assistive technology didn't 
really exist,, the more I realize how easy we have it now. The tech 
still lags, but it is there and gaining ground. The price of the really 
good stuff is still a barrier in the face of recalcitrant agencies and 
schools, but it is now possible for us non-print readers to compete much 
more fully with our sighted peers than even just a handful of years ago. 
There are more options available, too,. The cost barrier is still pretty 
daunting, but... Sooner or later that is going to have to change. The 
more students and professionals who push through those remaining 
barriers, the closer we come to freer access to those technical wonders 
we need to compete and excel and still have time left over to sleep now 
and then. /smile/ The dramatic increase in efficiency is a real 
difference-maker in the competitive arena. So, then, the greater 
competitiveness of every single individual who uses it in school and 
work and daily life will go a long way at chipping through those 
ridiculous low expectations people still insist on laying on us. Wider 
access to communications technology and social media will, I think, have 
a growing impact on the low expectations some accept from hearing them 
every time they attempt to get resources, too. Well, that is a hope of 
mine, anyway. /smile/

Tami

e

On 11/08/2011 12:54 PM, Doug Lee wrote:
> I have done programming via just speech for most of 20 years, but I
> find Braille displays very helpful for a few tasks. Mostly, they speed
> up the process of tracing indent levels, as has already been
> mentioned.
>
> To be fair, I should say that perhaps the reason I use speech almost
> to the exclusion of Braille is that, when I started out in
> programming, it was my only realistic choice. I used to braille
> program listings onto paper with Braille printers, but that's so much
> slower than a modern Braille display even now. I seem to recall
> spending a good afternoon Brailling out the entire TexTalker.blind
> speech program in Assembly language on an Apple once, to the tune of
> about 60 pages I think, using a Cranmer modified Perkins Brailler,
> which probably put out less than seven lines a minute and required
> manual loading of each page... but we're way past all that now.
>
> On Tue, Nov 08, 2011 at 12:35:38PM -0800, Tami Kinney wrote:
> Aaron,
>
> I've been dragging my feet getting back into programming because I
> haven't managed to get a braille display, and trying to get started
> again using speech only makes me crazy. Also, Hearing code read to me
> sounds like incomprehensible gibberish. I'm starting to just suck it
> up and set aside time regularly to practice listening to code and path
> names for linux config files or terminal commands, but... It's coming
> slowly for me.
>
> My own queries around and about indicate that most professional
> programmers find the 80-cell display to be their best option. My
> former employer was prepared to purchase one for me when I was losing
> the ability to read print, only we needed the VR agency to get someone
> out for an onsite evaluation and more information about the technical
> details, so... I hope they found someone good to do that job when I
> had to give it up because I couldn't read and the agency still
> couldn't get anyone out there. Sigh. The price of an 80-cell then, as
> now, is around $10k.
>
> A 40-cell is around $5k, although I guess the Focus is only $4k these
> days... There are rumors that prices will start to come down soon, so
> I'm waiting for that with bated breath.
>
> You're the third person I've ever heard of who does programming with
> speech only. /smile/ So I'm sure there must be others. You've bummed
> me out because if other people can program with speech only, then I
> don't have any excuse to put off learning to do that myself, do i?
> /grin/
>
> I would say you're dead on about efficiency. I can only guess for
> myself, but there do seem to be a lot of little tasks or bits of tasks
> that involve squirrelling around with the screen reader that people
> who use braille just read with their fingers... My assumptions on my
> expectations for improved efficiency are also based on the simple fact
> that even as a pretty new braille reader, I recall waht I read through
> my fingers much more accurately and clearly than I do what I hear read
> to me... I'm getting better due to experience but ... That's not
> saying much. /smile/ Proofing is also more time consuming and also
> fatiguing for me. That could be mostly just me and how I respond
> conceptually to the spoken word as opposed to the read word... My
> fingers do a much better job for me at replacing my eyeballs than do
> my ears.
>
> I don't know if that is helpful, but I thought I would throw it out
> since I'm in a similar place.
>
> I'm looking forward to hearing what everyone else has to say. /smile/
>
> Tami
>
> On 11/08/2011 06:46 AM, Aaron Cannon wrote:
>> Hi all.
>>
>> I'm wondering how many programmers use a braille display?  I have been
>> programming for the past several years, but I've never tried to use a
>> braille display.  Do you feel that it makes you more efficient?  If
>> so, how exactly?
>>
>> I assume the larger the display, the better?
>>
>> Any advice would be appreciated.  Anything I can do to make myself
>> more efficient is great.
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Aaron
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nfbcs mailing list
>> nfbcs at nfbnet.org
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbcs_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nfbcs:
>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbcs_nfbnet.org/tamara.8024%40comcast.net
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbcs mailing list
> nfbcs at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbcs_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nfbcs:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbcs_nfbnet.org/dgl%40dlee.org
>