[blindlaw] Bluebook

Thu Sep 8 19:08:51 UTC 2016

Christopher,

A few thoughts. I don't use an Apex anymore, since I got a
BrailleSense. I have actually found it to be less helpful in terms of
formatting, though; I use UEB which has much more formatting
capabilities, but the format characters disappear from the file as
soon as you type them. This makes formatting almost impossible.

To be honest, I don't think you can effectively write legal documents
by exclusively using a notetaker. There's just too much you have to do
that a notetaker can't, or can't do easily.

As far as small caps, I would recommend asking your journal if you can
use a substitute; the entire law review at my school uses bold in
place of small caps, which later gets converted after pulling.

On 9/8/16, Angie Matney via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Jameyanne,
>
> As Jim, Kelby and others have said, using JAWS sound schemes is very
> helpful. You can choose specific schemes for different applications.
> You might try one of the schemes that will indicate attributes, or
> attributes and font info. (There are also schemes that indicate color.
> This is very helpful when reviewing documents such as redlines created
> by document management software, which differ somewhat from
> track-changes in Word.) I haven't used different sound schemes with
> the online version of the Bluebook, but I have used the online
> version, and I found it to be accessible.
>
> I need to play around a bit with attributes on my braille display with
> JAWS. I currently use a Braille Edge for work, and I think it may
> handle attributes differently than the Focus I used previously, but I
> need to spend some time testing this out. Even when the display
> doesn't show me attribute information, I find it elhpful to be able to
> quickly verify spelling, read a number, or perform other editing
> tasks.
>
> Best of luck,
>
> Angie
>
>
>
>
> On 9/8/16, Jim McCarthy via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> JameyAnne,
>> I think you said that you are using an Apex notetaker. It is possible to
>> connect that by USB to your computer to have a braille display and get
>> formatting (bold italic and so forth)in braille. You may also make a case
>> to
>> your vocational  rehabilitation  councilor that you would benefit from a
>> dedicated braille display for this purpose. That would take some time,
>> most
>> likely, even if successful but you may wish to try it. The speech and
>> sound
>> schemes in JAWS also give one auditory ability to edit. I am a long time
>> user of braille displays but never have connected one to my computer. For
>> me
>> auditory editing works quite well. I did not have access to either method
>> in
>> my law school days so many years ago so I am not sure which I would find
>> works best. Precision certainly counts in legal research and writing and
>> has
>> been suggested, it counts even more in journal, law review or whatever it
>> is
>> called these days. I think these probably are the best methods available
>> so
>> give one or both a try. Success to you!
>> Jim McCarthy.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: BlindLaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of kelby
>> carlson via BlindLaw
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 07, 2016 6:58 PM
>> To: Blind Law Mailing List
>> Cc: kelby carlson
>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Bluebook
>>
>> Jameyanne,
>>
>> A couple of things:
>>
>> 1. You should see if your school will get you a membership to the online
>> Bluebook. All of the law students here have access to the online version,
>> and requesting that as an accommodation is entirely reasonable.
>>
>> 2. As above, insert-f will indicate text formatting on the line of the
>> cursor; you can also press insert-alt-s and select various schemes for
>> different applications. Doing this will let you change what JAWS tells you
>> in terms of formatting and other document attributes.
>>
>> I have found that, though it can be time consuming, using MS Word and JAWS
>> to read/edit a paper is definitely doable. I have a notetaker, but rarely
>> use it for much of anything at this point unless I need braille. I should
>> perhaps become more familiar with using it as a Braille display with JAWS.
>>
>>
>>
>> On 9/7/16, Derek Manners via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>> Hey Jamyanne, others may know better, but I'm not aware of any setting.
>>>
>>> However, you can use insert F to get JAWS to read stuff like bold,
>>> italics etc.
>>>
>>> However, I would honestly use a Braille display if you can get one
>>> from Voc Rehab. Using blue book without one is somewhat difficult,
>>> editing a paper without one I think would be extremely difficult!
>>>
>>> Best regards
>>> Derek Manners
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>>> On Sep 7, 2016, at 6:08 PM, Jameyanne Fuller via BlindLaw
>>>> <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Thank you all for the advice. I'm going to try the online version,
>>>> since there's a thirty day free trial.
>>>> Will JAWS recognize italics/underlining/bold? It usually doesn't tell
>>>> me that stuff. Is there a setting I should turn on so it does?
>>>> Thanks again,
>>>> Jameyanne
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: BlindLaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
>>>> kelby carlson via BlindLaw
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, September 7, 2016 1:30 PM
>>>> To: Blind Law Mailing List <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
>>>> Cc: kelby carlson <kelbycarlson at gmail.com>
>>>> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Bluebook
>>>>
>>>> A preemptive tip for journal: my journal substitutes bold for small
>>>> caps, so perhaps ask your editors if you can do the same, assuming
>>>> you make it on.
>>>>
>>>>> On 9/7/16, Michal Nowicki via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>>>>> Hi Jameyanne,
>>>>>
>>>>> The online version is easy to navigate with a screen reader. I don’t
>>>>> know about other screen readers, but JAWS does a good job
>>>>> identifying formatting attributes in the online version with the
>>>>> exception of small caps, which you will need to use during your
>>>>> second and/or third year of law school if you are on a law journal.
>>>>> If you need to figure out what needs to be in small caps and what
>>>>> doesn’t, I’m afraid the only nonvisual way to do so independently
>>>>> using JAWS is to copy and paste the example(s) into a Word document
>>>>> and check that way, as JAWS cannot identify small caps on a web page
>>>>> or in a PDF document.
>>>>>
>>>>> I hope this helps. Good luck with your studies.
>>>>>
>>>>> Michal
>>>>>
>>>>> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
>>>>>
>>>>> From: Derek Manners via BlindLaw
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>
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