[nfb-talk] Fwd: [duxnews] NEW Perky Duck for Mac and Windows

[Steve Jacobson]

Yes, Perky Duck  does allow multiple keys to be pressed at one time like a
Perkins Brailler.  However, my understanding is that there are some
keyboards that don't support this kind of operation, although apparently
most still do.  I would guess that Duxbury would know which category of
keyboards doesn't work.  I believe Braille Blaster may have a similar input
option if one wants to try this without buying a program but am not certain
of that.

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-talk [mailto:nfb-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jack Heim
via nfb-talk
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2018 9:55 AM
To: NFB Talk Mailing List <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Jack Heim <john at johnheim.com>
Subject: Re: [nfb-talk] Fwd: [duxnews] NEW Perky Duck for Mac and Windows

How does Perky Duck work? Does it allow you to press several keys at once
like a Perkins Brailler? Do you need a special keyboard?

I was thinking of writing something for linux but I couldn't get past the
keyboard issue. Somebody sent me some code that allowed you to type
characters by pressing a key for each dot in the braille cell in sequence.
So to write the letter g, for example, you pressed the f key for dot 1, d
for dot 2, j for dot 4, k for dot 5, and finally the space bar to say that's
the character. I don't think you had to type them in order but you still had
to press 5 5 keys just to make a g. At the time, I thought that was
unacceptable. But at the time, I thought there was probably some way to
press several keys at once. Turns out the hardware itself doesn't allow
that. Keyboards won't send a f and a d and a j and a k all at once to the
operating system. So I gave up on the whole idea but now I am thinking that
was a mistake. It might be slow to have to press 5 keys in sequence to
insert a g but it's better than nothing.
I was thinking of trying to see if you can use the bottom row of keys like a
Perkins Brailler. For example, it might be possible to press the left alt,
left windows, right alt, and right windows keys all at once to represent a
g.

On 04/17/2018 07:47 PM, David Andrews via nfb-talk wrote:
> 
>>
>> Duxbury Systems ANNOUNCING NEW Perky Duck for MAC and Perky Duck for 
>> Windows!
>>
>> Perky Duck is a free simple braille editor.
>> Perky is a computer-based Perkins brailler emulator.
>> It is used in distance education to demonstrate your understanding of 
>> braille.
>> There is one download for Windows, and one download for the Mac.
>>
>> You can find Perky Duck by going to our web site (link below) and 
>> clicking on All Products to get to the Product page. Then scroll down!
>> <http://www.DuxburySystems.com>www.DuxburySystems.com
>>
>> Sincerely,
>> Neal For the Info Desk
>> <mailto:info at duxsys.com>info at duxsys.com
>> +1-978-692-3000
>> Duxbury Systems, Inc.
>> Braille Solutions for the world since 1976!
>> <http://www.DuxburySystems.com>www.DuxburySystems.com
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