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From: MAINT@UQAM.BITNET>Peter Jones)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: Questions on technology
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Date: 3 Sep 90 04:45:26 GMT
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Reply-To: MAINT@UQAM.BITNET>Peter Jones)
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[This is from the BLIND-L mailing list]

On Fri, 17 Aug 90 17:08:04 +0200 Jan Engelen said:

>- A low-vision person has to work with a UNIX machine (Siemens version
>   Sinix). Is there any character enlarging software available that works
>   with the standard terminal (not a PC as terminal)?

I don't see how that can be done, unless you use a driver that changes
a string like "TEXT" to:

TTTTT     EEEEE     X   X     TTTTT
  T       E          X X        T
  T       EEE         X         T
  T       E          X X        T
  T       EEEEE     X   X       T

(Maybe the person could see the text better if one used a solid square
to draw the characters, instead of repetitions of the character as
above).

Note that I have spaced the characters wide apart. That's because I
know of a person who could read text 21 characters wide, but not 40
characters wide, produced on an NTSC TV screen by a Commodore micro
which is no longer manufactured. I've forgotten the model number, but it
seemed to be the one below the Commodore 64. Maybe it was called a C20
or a C40. I've never seen any other terminal device that would produce 21
characters; most start at 40. This Commodore had an RS232 interface in a
5-pin DIN plug, so it would require an external modem.

In enlarging text, it would also be necessary to have software capable
of going back over the virtual screen, enlarging the part the user wants
to see. That's a lot of overhead to inflict on a mainframe.

It may be possible to use the video output of a terminal and use a large
TV screen with video input. Some people hook Macintoshes with 27-inch
TV's for example.

>- Does anyone know what type of hardware is used by Stevie Wonder for writing
>   his music?

I'd love to know too. I seem to remember seeing a photo of him with a
Versabraille from TSI in California, some years ago. I wonder if he
uses a micro that sends/receives MIDI code to the keyboard/synthesizer.

I hope this info is helpful.

"A Kleenex in the the hand is worth two in the box"
Peter Jones                    (514)-987-3542
Internet:Peter Jones <MAINT%UQAM.bitnet@ugw.utcs.utoronto.ca>
UUCP: ...psuvax1!uqam.bitnet!maint