NEWSLETTER SPECIAL ISSUE NON-BRAILLE EDITION JULY 1970 FOR BLIND COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS ACM COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES OF THE BLIND ^ ROBERT A. J. GILDEA, Editor )wa Dr. CHARLES E. HALLENBECK, Associate Editor 05.1092 3468 Published with funds from SRS Research Grant No. RD-2689-S 969 1223 PRINT 510.78 AC ACM COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL „ ACTIVITIES OF THE BLIND The Blind m Computer Prograjnmmg Tntprnat^' 1 . Cnnf. Oct.. '69 PRINT 510.78 AC ACM COMMITTEE ON PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES OF THE BLIND The Blind in Computer Programming Internat'l. Conf. Oct. '69 PROPERTY OF iOWA STATE COMMISSION FOR THE BUND r 10.-] g ACM COMMITTEE ON ( Jj^fl PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES OF THE BLIND PROCEEDINGS of ''41 ^-"^^ THE BLIND IN COMPUTER PROGRAMMING ' AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE October 9-11, 1969 Sheraton-Cleveland Hotel 20 Public Square Cleveland, Ohio Sponsored by: Association for Computing Machinery Cleveland Society for the Blind and Social Rehabilitation Service of Department of Health, Education, and Welfare This investigation was supported, in part, by Research Grant No. RD2689-S from the Social Rehabilitation Ser- vice, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Washington, D.C„ 20201. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from National Federation of the Blind (NFB) http://www.archive.org/details/proceedingsofbliOOrobe . FOREWORD The Blind in Computer Programming—An International Conference, held in Cleveland, Ohio, October 9-11, 1969, was sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery, The Cleveland Society for the Blind, and the Social Rehabilitation Service of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The planning and implementation of this international conference was made possible through funds provided by the Committee on Professional Activities of the Blind, of the Association for Computing Machinery, and its chairman. Dr. T. Sterling. The production of these proceedings was supported also by a Public Health Service supplemental grant to the committee from the Social and Rehabilitation Service (supplement to Grant No. RD-2689-S) The organizers of this conference express their appreciation for this support and thank all those who have made this conference possible. The ACM Committee on Professional Activities of the Blind organized the conference to bring together blind programmers, employers and prospective employers of blind programmers, representatives from schools for the blind, rehabilitation counselors, members of agencies serving the blind, and colleagues. The conference provided a forum for presenting problems and solutions connected with selection, training, placement, and employment of blind persons as professional workers in computer programming. The number of attendees at the conference was 161, 80 of whom were blind prograiraners. Thirty-four states and two foreign countries were represented. General Electric Company was most prominent and generous in its publicity on the conference activities, and its direct support in providing computer time for the on-line demonstrations of parallel print and braille terminals. The G.E. Mark I Time-Sharing System, which is presently being marketed for educational applications, was employed to demonstrate not only the hardware, but the completely independent program developmental and operational capability afforded to a time-sharing terminal operator who is blind. With these terminals, a blind programmer has two outputs produced simultaneously: a regular printed copy for his supervisor and colleagues from the page printer on the teletypewriter, and a braille copy for himself. Four hardware displays were exhibited which enable a blind programmer to obtain braille output in a time-sharing environment. The following comment is taken from the ACM Newsletter for Blind Computer Programmers , Issue 4, Vol. 2, No. 1, April 1970, under the section entitled "Braille Terminals Exhibited in Cleveland". .While the conference itself was not primarily intended to place emphasis on hardware developments, nevertheless it does seem appropriate to provide some comment on the systems which were demonstrated. The first of these devices was the M.I.T. High-Speed Embosser, which has been under development for some time by the Sensory Aids Evaluation and Development Center of M.I.T. Mr. George Dalrymple of that organization operated and demonstrated the device, which produces high-quality braille in a page format at rates compatible with remote terminal data transmission. The paper is fan-folded and sprocket-fed, as is paper for a line printer, but is the same size and weight as standard braille paper. Lines of 38 characters each are printed 25 to a page. The device employs the ASCII code, and was operated at the conference from a paper-tape reader. While it is intended for use on-line with a time-shared computer, it was not so used at the exhibit in Cleveland. The remaining three systems produced braille on paper tape rather than in a page format. The first of these was shown by Mr. Ray E. Morrison, a retired Pioneer of the Bell Telephone System. The electronics and embossing head were used to supplement an ASR 35 terminal which was supplied for the exhibit by the General Electric Company. GE also contributed computer time for the period of the conference, so that Mr. Morrison's device, as well as the remaining two tape braillers, were shown in realistic operation. The Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind of Little Rock, Arkansas, displayed a terminal braille embosser. It, like the University of Dayton one described below, is a Model 33 tele- typewriter with the normal tape-punching mechanism crippled so that embossing of braille on the paper tape occurs rather than perforation of tape. Inquiries should be directed to Mr. Elmo Knoch, Jr., Director of Training, Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind, Inc., 2811 Fair Park Boulevard, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204. Finally, a device designed and built at the University of Dayton was displayed in Cleveland. Mr. Chet Adair and Mr. Guy Carbonneau, under the direction of Dr. Martell J. Gee, were responsible for this device, which was completed only a few days before its unveiling in Cleveland. It employed an ASR 33 terminal, and produced a configuration of seven dots arranged in an expanded cell, with the addition of a seventh position below position six. Ihat permitted all 128 characters of the ASCII code to be printed, half of which would then require that the added seventh dot accompany the usual six of the standard cell. Mr. Adair distributed plastic copies of the character set implemented by this device, in braille, to conference partici- pants. Inquiries concerning this terminal should be addressed to Dr. Martell J. Gee, Manager, Science Systems Group, Office of Computing Activities, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio 45409. It is hoped that the above review will serve to provide information to those readers who were unable to attend the conference in Cleveland. We might all take some comfort from the fact that efforts such as those outlined here are providing an increasing variety of solutions to the problem of access to computers which operate in a time-sharing environment. Time- sharing services are expanding with explosive violence and opportunities for independent work for blind programmers are here today —not a dream of the future. In a recent discussion with one of the officials of the Teletype Corporation of Skokie, Illinois, the advantages of the Morrison configuration were presented to your Editor. If enough readers indicate their interest in braille embossing terminals by writing to the Editor, the official said that he would carry this interest to the administration to see if some positive steps could be taken to make such hardware more available for the blind. If you are a "ham" or an SWL, this kind of terminal can provide you with bulletins from the news services right from your commu- nications receiver. Two friends can send braille letters over the telephone. Such braille communication can also assist in the sorely needed information exchange with the deaf-blind. Remember, if you like the idea, write to the Editor. IV Press conferences were held with WKYC TV, the local NBC outlet, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer . Among the papers presented was a report of a conference sponsored by the American Council of the Blind in Charlotte, North Carolina in July 1969, during which a session was devoted to the blind computer programmer. The entire proceedings may be obtained by writing to Dr. S. Bradley Burson, Argonne National Laboratories, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439. Conference participants met on Friday evening in "birds-of-a-feather" groups. These groups were for those interested in VIDPI, Honeywell computers, a unified braille code for computers, and hardware aids for blind programmers. VIDPI is the acronym for the name of a new organi- zation for blind computer programmers —Visually Impaired Data Processors International. The following members of the Association for Computing Machinery Committee on Professional A.ctivities of the Blind were present at the conference: Committee Chairman Dr. George G. Mallinson Dr. Theodor D. Sterling Dean, School of Graduate Studies Department of Applied Mathematics Western Michigan University and Computer Science Kalamazoo, Michigan 49001 Washington University St. Louis, Missouri 63130 Mr. David E. Mick Air Force Weapons Laboratory Dr. Warren Germain Kirtland Air Force Base 3 Abernathy Way New Mexico 89117 Lexington, Massachusetts 02173 Mr. Seymour V. Pollack