[aprssig] "Blind" APRS

[Steve Noskowicz]

Jan,
   We may be drifting OT, but one more comment.

  I use this example because this is the way modern radios 'display' frequencies - with the politically incorrect two decimal marks:
 
> > Then there's  14.253.55  

  Working with the blind (well, one at least) the more it is like naturally spoken, the better (though he has adapted, out of necessity, to the rather mechanical screen readers and equipment synthesizers).  That's why I made it speak as we do:
 "fourteen point two fifty three dot fifty five"  

  The adition of the second pseudo decimal, while a departure from the usual, is something that is fairly natural given that we can easily (and frequently, switch between MHz and kHZ.  It's "Ham Speak". However you should notice that we frequently omit it all together with no harm:
  "fourteen two fifty two"  ==  14.252
    or
  "fourteen two fifty two fifty five"  = 14.25255  
  Which is easier to read as  14.252.55  even though we know the reality.


 Certainly, different regions may have other customs, but for us, this works prety well.
  Another thing is that he had been sighted into adulthood.  This makes a difference, at times, in what works well compared to one blind from birth/early.
  It has been interesting working on some of his things, because of these new concepts.

>... MHz, or 14253,55 kHz. (the , being the european decimal
> separator).

   I'm aware of this.  What do folks and/or speech synthesizers *speak* for this?  "comma"?  "point"?



> When speech synthesised, I'd think the individual digit
> method would be better in order to suit users with different home
> languages, ...

  For truly universal speech, you may be correct.  In your native language do you naturally speak digits, or the equivalent of what I am talking about:  7150 "seventy one fifty " ??



> ...then probably also a standardisation to kHz.

  Over here, we don't do this.  It is almost completely "megaherts pause or point, then kHz.  Then MHz and kHz are almost always spoken split at double digits thus:

    146 = "one forty six"
    443 = "four forty three
   1296 - "twelve ninety six"


> "one four two five three decimal five five kilohertz"
> 
> just my 16 øre (i.e. 2 EU cents) worth...

   Cute.

73, Steve