Coded data generation or conversion – Bodily actuated code generator – For handicapped user
Patent
1998-07-08
2000-12-19
Horabik, Michael
Coded data generation or conversion
Bodily actuated code generator
For handicapped user
341 20, 341 22, 34082519, 3404072, 345168, 434112, 434113, 434115, H03M 1100
Patent
active
061632805
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a workstation comprising a keyboard for inputting data, a braille reading line having a number of braille cells located side by side, and a first switch device comprising a number of switch elements located side by side, the first switch device being arranged in or parallel to the braille reading line.
A braille reading line is a strip-shaped configuration of feeler members, for instance pins, which are arranged in cells and can be moved up and down, and which can form braille signs.
Such braille reading lines are used for providing visually handicapped persons with information which is stored in a manner that is hardly accessible, if at all, to visually handicapped persons, such as for instance information displayed on a screen.
A workstation comprising a braille reading line can for instance be a computer terminal or a word processing device which is conventionally provided with a keyboard and a screen. It is observed that the presence of a screen is not strictly necessary if the workstation is exclusively used by visually handicapped persons. However, in practice, a screen is nevertheless present, normally, on which the information to be inputted or modified by means of the keyboard can be rendered visible, so that the workstation also remains suitable for persons who are not visually handicapped, who have no command of braille.
A workstation of the above-described type is known from practice. As an example, the workstation described in European patent application 0 284 113 can be mentioned.
During text processing, it regularly occurs that cursor movements are necessary for introducing changes in the text inputted. Normally, the control of the cursor takes place by means of operation of the keyboard or a mouse. The braille cells of the reading line are adapted to indicate the position of the cursor. A person who is not visually handicapped can see directly on the screen where the cursor is located and can also directly follow it visually when it is being relocated.
However, a visually handicapped person must relocate the cursor via the keyboard or the mouse, and must also move his or her hands from the keyboard to the braille reading line each time in order to check the cursor's exact position. This means that during the relocation of the cursor, the braille reading line should sometimes be scanned a large number of times, wholly or partly, which is relatively laborious and, at any rate, does not result in an optimum control convenience.
In European patent application 0 284 113, a solution to this problem is provided by additional cursor control means which are arranged adjacent the braille reading line and which can be operated by a visually handicapped person without the orientation of the hand relative to the braille line being lost.
Although the workstation as described in this European patent application meets the problems outlined hereinabove, the advancing technology has meanwhile given rise to new problems. The modern computers and in particular the programs run on these computers comprise a number of facilities and control possibilities that cannot be used, or only with great difficulty, by a visually handicapped person. In this connection, one may for instance think of programs wherein colors displayed on a color monitor have a specific meaning. In that case, information is transferred to a user by means of colors. For instance, a text block can be marked by giving the background of the text block a particular color. Likewise, it can be indicated that a specific portion of a text will be printed in bold type by giving the characters of this text passage a specific color. However, a visually handicapped person cannot read these colors from the braille reading line.
However, reading colors is not the only problem. The fact that many programs are run under Windows nowadays, so that many functions can be performed by means of the mouse, involves problems as well. An example is the so-called `dragging` of an icon by means of the mouse. For dragging, the cursor of the mouse
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Kieninger & Kuhn, Hyperbraille--A Hypertext System for the Blind, Annual Conference on Assistive Technologies, Los Angeles, Oct. 31, 1994, pp. 92-99.
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, Braille Terminal Window, vol. 36, No. 9B, Sep. 1, 1993, p. 503-504.
Alva B.V.
Horabik Michael
Wong Albert K.
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