updated 2003-02-26
Suggestions for this page are welcome (needed!). d.cary@ieee.org
The only alphabets I know about that can be read by touch are Braille and Ogham #ogham . (Is there a way to write down Morse Code so it can be read by touch?)
contents:
1 4
2 5
3 6
7 8
The speakup project is basically a bunch of blind people who like messing around with Linux and writing cool, and hopefully useful, software.http://www.linux-speakup.org/
Is BLINUX related to Project: Voiceop Linux http://sourceforge.net/projects/voiceop/ ``Voiceop Linux is a new version of linux orientated around complete automation via voice.'' ?
...the experimental side of amateur radio. Hams who are blind must go about the experimentation and construction process a bit differently.
random related links
...
The equipment now used is a thin plastic board of two layers stuck together. The bottom layer is a base and the top layer is perforated with a grid of 9x9 holes. Each hole is a little under 3 cm in diameter, with about 4 mm between holes. The depth of the holes is about 1.5 mm. The border is about 3 cm wide, so that the entire board is about 32 cm square. The centre hole is also marked with small 4 mm perforations at the four "corners" of the centre hole.
I have seen two versions of this board. In one there are no markings connecting the holes (the equivalent of the intersections on a real go board), and in the other they are marked. In the latter case small 5 mm holes are added to the border, at the four corners and at the four mid-side points. ...
The pieces are plastic discs that fit snugly in the holes, but without being a push fit. They are about 3 mm high, so stand slightly proud when placed in a hole. They are coloured black or white, but the white pieces also have a centre perforation of about 5 mm diameter. ...
from article "Issues and Aids for Teaching Mathematics to the Blind" article by Thomas Dick <tpdick@math.orst.edu> and Evelyn Kubiak in _The Mathematics Teacher_ 1997 May p. 344.
BANA: Braille Authority of North America
"Nemeth-code braille was developed by Abraham Nemeth to facilitate his own learning of mathematics and includes some special conventions for mathematical notation."
Talking calculators (with hearing-aid adapter for privacy) exist.
"many mathematics textbooks are not available in braille ... not enough volunteers are available who can read mathematics ! Any reader who is interested in volunteering should contact RFB ... Recordings for the Blind (RFB) 800.221.4792"
ftp://handicap.afd.olivetti.org/pub/braille/
Internet Braille Wizard http://www.access2020.com/access-cgi/braille.bin
National Braille Press (NBP) http://www.nbp.org/
Braille Planet http://www.brailleplanet.org/ has lots of information on computer translation of Braille. /* was Raised Dot computing http://www.rdcbraille.com/ */
the Science Access Project group (http://dots.physics.orst.edu/) at Oregon State University. The purpose of this group is to develop methods for making science, math, and engineering information accessible to people with print disabilities.
better explainations of braille contractions: http://www.cb1.com/cb1/John/public/misc/braille.html
also has many links to ``Other Resources for the Blind'' (computer printers that print in Braille ...)If someone wishes to receive a braille Bible, we ask that they contact us themselves, either by telephone, in print or in braille and tell us of their need.
...
If a person or organization wishes to sponsor a Bible for a blind person, our current printing cost is $364.84 per Bible. We are an organization that operates by faith and all sponsorships are appreciated.
The organization needs volunteers with "smiley" voices who are adept in science, finance, and other technical areas, and who can devote two or more hours a week to read and record educational materials.
How does a dog know when to cross the street?
Dogs are color-blind and can't read traffic lights. The dog's owner learns to judge the movement of traffic by its sounds. At the appropriate time, he or she will command the dog, "forward." The dog will not carry out the command until it is safe to do so. This is called "intelligent disobedience."
are useful in situations where ink-on-paper just won't work at all.
You might think, given the large variety of medium of communication, there would be an equally large number of alphabets. Apparently not. I've found 2 that can be read by touch (Braille and Ogham), and 1 that is traditionally audio (Morse Code).
All the other alphabets I've found idea_space.html#alphabet are read visually, and nearly all of them can be printed with black ink on white paper.
the Ogham ``alphabet'' is much, much easier to carve on stone or wood than most other alphabets. Also, you can cut out a message with knife notches on a thin branch. Each letter is a pattern of straight or slanted lines.
It is probable that Ogham (Old Irish Ogam) was widely written in wood in early times. ... The main flowering of the use of "classical" Ogham in stone seems to be 5th-6th century. ... The more ancient examples are standing stones, script being carved into the edge (droim or faobhar ) of the stone, which forms a stemline against which individual characters are cut. Text is read beginning from the bottom left-hand side of a stone, continuing upward, across the top and down the right-hand side in the case of long inscriptions. ... Ogham should therefore be rendered on computers from left-to-right or from bottom-to-top (never starting from top-to-bottom).
represents all letters with 3 symbols: dots, dashes, and the quiet space between them. (On a lower level, there's only 2 symbols: ``sound'' and ``no sound'' -- a binary 1D channel). This attempts to optimize speed on a noisy channel while still being relatively easy to learn.
.- a-BOUT
-... BOIS-ter-ous-ly
-.-. CARE-less CHILD-ren
-.. DAN-ger-ous
. eh?
..-. fe-ne-STRA-tion
--. GOOD GRA-vy!
.... hee hee hee hee
.. aye aye
.--- ju-LY'S JANE JONES!
-.- KET-tle KORN
.-.. li-NO-le-um
-- MORE MILK!
-. NA-vy
--- OH! MY! GOD!
.--. pa-RADE PAN-el
--.- QUEEN'S WED-ding DAY
.-. ro-TA-tion
... si si si
- THRUST
..- un-der WHERE?!
...- va-va-va-VOOM!
.-- with WHITE WHALE
-..- X-tra ex-PENSE
-.-- YEL-low YO-YO
--.. ZINC ZOO-keep-er
----- 0
.---- 1
..--- 2
...-- 3
....- 4
..... 5
-.... 6
--... 7
---.. 8
----. 9
.-.-.- period .
--..-- comma ,
..--.. question mark ?
.----. apostrophe '
-.-.-- exclamation mark !
-..-. slash / ( fraction bar )
-.--.- parentheses ()
. ... ampersand & ( e s )
---... colon :
-.-.-. semicolon ;
-...- equals sign = or emdash
-....- hyphen -
..-- .- underscore _ ( ü a )
.-..-. quotation mark "
...-..- dollar sign $ ( vu )( sx )
.--.-. at sign @ ( ac )
.-.- ä
---- ch
--.-- ñ
---. ö
.--.. Þ
..-- ü
dichotomous search table:
h
s
v
i
f
u
ü
e
l
r
ä
a
p
w
j
b
d
x
n
c
k
y
t
z
g
q
m
ö
o
ch
the Braille alphabet itself
Braille dot numbering convention:
1 4
2 5
3 6
-- Standard 6-dot Braille cell
1 4
2 5
3 6
7 8
-- Nonstandard 8-dot Braille cell ("popular in refreshable Braille displays because computers often need to display more than 64 symbols. Dots 6 and 7 can be used to indicate ... control characters, ... case, .... cursor location ...")
Standard Braille dimensions (in inches):
dot base diameter: 0.059 dot height: 0.021 horizontal dot spacing (center-center):0.090 vertical dot spacing (center-center):0.090 horizontal cell spacing (center-center): 0.241 vertical line spacing (center-center):0.395
In ASCII art format, that looks like:
>| |< 0.241 >| |< 0.090 v -* * * * * * - ^* * * * * * -.... * * * * * * ^ 0.090 v 0.395 -* * * * * * * * * * * * .... * * * * * *
There also appears to be a Large Braille format (http://members.tripod.com/~braille/), but I've been unable to discover its dimensions.
8-dot Braille layout: http://dots.physics.orst.edu/gs_layout.html
DotsPlus extends Braille http://dots.physics.orst.edu/dotsplus.html
According to the Braille ASCII Chart http://www.tusc.net/~lizgray/ascii.html , it *is* possible to distinguish between characters with dots only in the left column vs. characters with dots only in the right column.
The following is a picture (in ASCII art) of the complete list of all possible braille symbols, excluding only those with no dots on in left column -- all (2^6)-(2^3) = 64-8 = 56 patterns.
* * ** ** * ** ** * * *
* * * * ** ** * **
a b c d e f g h i j
* * ** ** * ** ** * * *
* * * * ** ** * **
* * * * * * * * * *
k l m n o p q r s t
* * ** ** * ** ** * * *
* * * * ** ** * **
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
u v x y z and for of the with
* * ** ** * ** ** * * *
* * * * ** ** * **
* * * * * * * * * *
ch gh sh th wh ed er ou ow w
*
*
** *
number capital
*
* * * * *
* * * ** * **
(?)
* *
* * ** ** ** **
* ** * ** * * **
(?)
Started: 1997 Sept 08.
Original Author: David Cary.
Current maintainer: David Cary.
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Send comments, suggestions, bug reports to
David Cary
d.cary@ieee.org.