More probably something which will work with a text to speech program. text based PDF's will, ones where the pdf is just a photograph or scanned image of a page turned into a pdf document won't.
3D and multi media are not a lot of use to people with no sight.
Sorry but I didn't know that was the case. I'm not sure that the original EE or PE mags would have been much use either would they ?. I did look thro ugh some copies or such mags I have here mostly from the 80s & 90s. Years a go one of my students was working on a braille computer 'display' nothoing came of it. I guess text to speech was more useful.
Braille has been in decline for some time. Using it is a skill which takes constant practice and with the decline of specialist schools for blind students most blind children are either not being taught Braille or don't regularly use it. Few people who lose their sight as adults ever did learn Braille.
Text to speech has certainly had a large part to play in this decline
- but if it was all that was needed why teach anyone to write? Many believe Braille is analogous to reading and writing and necessary for literacy.
Amongst blind people within the UK Braille is used by about 1%. As a medium for reading novels it is hard work, a paperback novel in Braille would be the size of half a dozen large heavy encyclopedias.
For labeling things it is far more useful. Having custard on your beans because someone moved tins around on a shelf ceases to be amusing quite quickly. I'm currently using a 3D printer to make re useable magnetic tin markers to help label tins by contents. The 3D printer is particularly useful as it is easy to make bespoke labels to suit anyone's needs.
;!.. Suppose a kindle reader does text to speech?..
Do you know it was only a week ago that I noticed that medicine packets had Braille on them!...
In the 80s we did have a student USING a one line Braille display. A couple of years ago we had a student using Windows, via NVDA (which is quite good, and free).
I remember it. I ran for ages in the 1970's Everyday Electonics. I remember it because it was the one bit of the magazine I wasn't interested in, and it never seemed to stop!
I probably still have them - I haven't ever thrown any of those magazines away, although some have probably got lost or fallen to bits over the decades.
I recall someone making one in the woodwork shop at school over quite a long period of time, but I don't recall if I ever saw it finished.
I built mine last year. OK I didn't build it totally from scratch but I got a beautiful £800 strat (copy) for £300..
Yes, I made it, still got it... The magazine and the guitar. 1972 it is. I would need to look in the loft, to get the month :)
Nobody have any money. It was pre-globalisation, we didn't have third world child slaves working for us.
The "Delta"
November, December 72 to January 73
I used to get (EE from isuue No. 1) and also Practical Electronics ... up until early 80's at that time they then swung to every project having an eprom Got a bit ridiculous.
My John Linley Hood tuner still going well. Used to be buying mail order components from Maplin or Watford Electronics.
That seems to be a lot of stuff in Elektor now.
I built (of my own design at ages 12-14) a kitchen timer, caravan water level meter, tacho for our car (hardest bit was isolation of spikes from contact breaker, and debouncing) and numerous magazine and Heathkit projects.
All of the things I built could be done with one AVR (or PIC if you prefer). Rather than the 2-14 CMOS logic chips I used.
However, I think mine were probably more interesting and educational in one sense rather than turning everything into a programming problem.
I built an electric guitar to my own design way back in the 70s. Great fun.
Including carving the wood?
Wow. Wondered what that was all about. Noticed some Braile on a lift panel in a posh hotel last week too.
Do you still have it, or a photo?
Yes and I made one.
That new eh? 2015, I'm surprised there were still any home constructors about then. Brian
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