The following material is based on six articles which were published in the
Raised Dot Computing Newsletter from 1991 through 1993. As long as it is
feasible, this material is kept current with new material. (last modified
3/93). Be aware that as new material is added, it may correct or update
some of the previous information.
 
The Raised Dot Computing Newsletter is published bimonthly, and is
available in audio, large print, and disk editions. Subscriptions are $20
for audio, $18 for print, and $24 for disk. The disk newsletters come in
either Apple II disk or PC disk formats, so be sure to specify. For more
information, contact:
 
Raised Dot Computing
408 S. Baldwin Street
Madison, WI 53703
(800) 347-9594
 
Raised Dot Computing does not sell any CD-ROM equipment or materials.
Raised Dot sells high quality braille translation software, screen access
software, screen enlargement software, voice synthesizers, and braille
embossers. Contact Raised Dot Computing for a price list and for free demo
disks.
 
Usually, this file comes on a 3.5 inch disk called the "CD-ROM Access
Disk". It contains Technical Notes, Batch files, and other software tools
for using the DAK CD-ROM package. If you only have this file, write to
Raised Dot Computing and send a mailing label so you can get a copy of this
free disk.
 
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                CD-ROM Technology is here -- David Holladay
 
In January, 1975, I attended a course at MIT on microcomputers. Besides
learning all about microprocessors and microcomputers, I got a peek at a
future technology. We discussed the Phillips/MCA project to put movies on
laser disks. We realized that these laser disks could hold enormous amounts
of text data (several billion characters each). We dreamed of getting a
massively indexed, encyclopedia on a single disk. We dreamed about a
service that would provide, on a monthly basis, full text of all general
interest magazines.
 
We realized the implications of packing billions of characters of data on a
single disk. What we could not have anticipated would be how useful this
technology would be for blind persons. For a sighted person, this
technology represents marginal improvements in search time, in cost, and in
storage space. To a blind person, this technology represents volumes of
text that can be read with a talking computer. The disks are small, easily
stored, and easily carried. Usually the data can be quickly searched
(because most disks also contain massive cross-indexes).
 
CD-ROM Technology
 
Over the last few years, many of these ideas are coming to pass. The
technology is called CD-ROM. CD-ROM stands for Compact Disk Read Only
Memory. The disks are almost identical to conventional CD-Audio disks. In
order to take advantage of the information on the CD-ROM, you must have a
CD-ROM disk drive connected to your personal computer.
 
Each CD-ROM disk has the capacity for holding about 640 million characters
(this is less than the capacity of the larger 12-inch laser disks used to
store movies).
 
One of the main differences between CD-ROM drives and home CD-Audio players
is that CD-ROM drives have additional error detection and correction
circuitry to minimize errors (slight errors would not make a noticeable
change to music, but would garble text data).
 
The disks themselves cannot be altered or erased by the user (just as an
individual cannot alter a CD-audio disk). A CD-ROM is not an alternative to
floppy disks or hard disks because it is read-only. As far as the general
market is concerned, CD-ROM is a publishing medium. It is an alternative to
inkprint publishing. CD-ROMs have been most successful for publishing large
documents which would be expensive to distribute in another format.
 
CD-ROMs also compete against on-line databases. Against the costs of a
CD-ROM and the disk drive, you can weigh the access charges and the
long-distance telephone charges. In general, people do quicker and more
thorough searches when they are using a CD-ROM based system. CD-ROMs cannot
compete against databases which change rapidly (like airline schedules). It
is too difficult to be constantly producing and distributing new disks.
 
CD-ROM Use Today
 
Right now, there are two basic families of CD-ROM disks; those designed to
work with the MS-DOS machines and those that are designed to work with the
Macintosh. Some disks have been issued for both formats. Because of the
difficulty blind people have in using the Macintosh, this newsletter will
focus on PC-based applications. If you want more information about CD-ROMs
and the Macintosh, get the catalogs from the CD-ROM vendors mentioned later
in this article.
 
Over the last five years, there have been very rosy predictions about the
potential of CD-ROMs. Many of these predictions did not come to pass. It
was a classic cars and roads problem. (At the turn of the century, no one
wanted to build many roads since there were few cars; few wanted to buy
cars since here were few roads.) Few general CD-ROM disks were produced
since there were not many people with CD-ROM drives ready to buy disks. Few
people bought CD-ROM drives since there were not many titles available to
make the purchase worthwhile.
 
CD-ROMs have been very successful in specialized applications. One example
is giving access to the enormous database of chemical substances and their
effects for use in a poison control center. In this situation, one vendor
provides a system with a computer, a CD-ROM disk drive and a CD-ROM disk.
While this is an interesting application, it is unlikely that anyone in the
general population will want a copy of "poison index" CD-ROM. It also is
unlikely that anyone in the poison control center would want to read any
CD-ROM except the one that contained their data. As long as CD-ROM systems
were used in specialized applications, it was unlikely that general
interest applications of CD-ROM technology would see the light of day.
 
Beginning in 1987, general interest titles on CD-ROM began to appear.
Microsoft Corporation lead the way. Microsoft produced several titles, and
sponsored several conferences to attract interest in this field.
 
To get a better idea about the current state of CD-ROMs, I called Judy
Dixon. Judy Dixon has been an involved consumer of sensory aids equipment
for many years. She is the consumer relations officer at the National
Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. She now collects
CD-ROMS as a hobby. As she told me, "I like to look things up". Her
favorite CD-ROM is called the Microsoft Bookshelf. This is a collection of
10 reference books (a dictionary, A thesaurus, a book of quotations, a Zip
Code directory, etc.). All these applications are available as easy-to-use
TSR applications. In other words, she can look something up in the
dictionary while using her word processor. The Microsoft Bookshelf CD-ROM
disk costs $199.
 
Another favorite is the CIA World Fact Book, a disk which costs $89. It
contains profiles of 248 different countries and territories with lots of
statistical data. According to Judy, Iraq has (or at least used to have) 68
AM Radio stations, 1 FM station, and 81 TV stations. Judy has recently
ordered the 1991 World Almanac for $65. All told, Judy has close to 20
different CD-ROM disks.
 
According to Judy, the National Library Services for the Blind plans to put
its complete catalog (over 100 megabytes) on CD-ROM. This project will be
completed in about 18 months. Using such a disk, a blind person could
quickly search the entire database in seconds for books they need.
 
Judy supplied me with several sources of CD-ROM disks. CD ROM, Inc. has a
catalog in print and on audio tape. Their number is (303) 231-9373. The
Bureau of Electronic Publishing has a catalog in print. Their number is
(201) 808-2700. We would appreciate learning about any other significant
sources of CD-ROM disks.
 
A good source of information is the CD-ROM forum on CompuServe. There is a
magazine called CD-ROM End User. It is free to qualified persons (i.e.
those with a CD-ROM system). Call (800) 688-3374 to get an application
form. The magazine has plans to start issuing a disk edition for the
visually impaired this spring.
 
Many CD-ROM disks are still quite expensive. It is my understanding that
the manufacturing cost of a single disk is about $3. Many CD-ROM disks cost
over $1,000. The high price tag is due to the enormous cost of preparing
the data, mastering the data, preparing the indexes, and linking in the
searching software. Some disks are priced high based on low sales
projections. I hope that once the general market for CD-ROMs picks up,
prices will move down to more reasonable levels.
 
There is no doubt that CD-ROMs will play an important part in providing
information to blind persons. As with all technologies, CD-ROMs have their
problems.
 
As we will see in the next article, CD-ROM systems need lots of memory.
They use special drivers which may conflict with other pieces of equipment
in your system. Most CD-ROM disks want to load their searching software on
your hard disk. Each CD-ROM disk seems to have its own user interface (a
different set of window sizes and shapes, different ways of showing the
cursor, different commands, and different ways of approaching the problem
of searching massive amounts of data).
 
As each new technology comes out, it takes a period of time for the
technical kinks to be worked out. The easier things get, the more people
there are who can take advantage of the technology. If there is sufficient
interest, this newsletter can be a source of information to assist people
who want to get started on CD-ROM technology.
 
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                  CD-ROM Access without a CD-ROM Drive
 
There is a new product for those who would like to know what CD-ROM access
is like but cannot afford a CD-ROM drive for an MS-DOS computer. For $9
plus $4 for shipping and handling, DAK will send you a collection of 25
books and articles on floppy disk plus reading software which simulates
access to CD-ROM books. You get Hamlet, Julius Caesar, and MacBeth from
Shakespeare, several short stories from Poe and Conan Doyle, The Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn by Twain, Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne,
and many more.
 
To order, look up the DAK address in the vendor list in a separate file.
For 720k 3.5 inch disks, use order number 5972. For high density 5.25 inch
disks, use order number 5973. For low density (360k) 5.25 inch disks, use
order number 5974.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                          CD-ROM offering from DAK
 
A few month ago, Caryn and I took the plunge into the world of CD-ROM
computing. We bought DAK's CD-ROM package and installed it in our home
computer. Since then we have also acquired the DAK bonus CD-ROM package.
 
DAK Inc. is a large consumer electronics mail order firm. They are offering
a package deal of a BSR CD-ROM disk drive for MS-DOS computers and 6
CD-ROMS, all for $718. According to the DAK catalog, the 6 CD-ROM disks
cost $2,400 if purchased separately. From my inspection of different
catalogs, I believe this is accurate. The six disks are as follows:
 
     -- A World Atlas
 
     -- A U.S. Atlas
 
     -- The Grolier's Academic American Encyclopedia
 
     -- "The Library of the Future" (a collection of 450 short stories and
books which are out of copyright)
 
     -- An 8 volume Reference Library (dictionary, thesaurus, and other
reference books)
 
     -- "Languages of the World" (a collection of multilingual dictionaries)
 
Of these 6 disks, the World Atlas and the U.S. Atlas are graphically based
and cannot be used by a blind person. But the other four disks are almost
entirely text based. We had no trouble using Flipper and the Audapter to
access the non-atlas disks. These disks did contain some graphics, though.
The encyclopedia disk contains some images (mostly of different breeds of
dogs, cats, horses, dinosaurs, plus a selection of presidential portraits);
the "languages of the world" disk uses graphics to show Japanese and
Chinese characters on the screen.
 
News Flash  4/25/91
 
     DAK has just announced an additional series of 5 CD-ROM disks that can be
purchased for $149 (plus $8 for postage and handling). These additional 5 disks
are:
 
     -- Microsoft Small Business Consultant (a compendium of 220 government
publications designed to help you start and run your own small business)
 
     -- Magazine Rack (over 110,000 articles and abstracts from 342 different
general interest magazines, trade journals and newsletters; it covers December
1989 through December 1990)
 
     -- U.S. History of CD-ROM (the full text of 107 history books)
 
     -- The Bible Library (9 different versions of the bible plus 20 related
reference works)
 
     -- Time Compact Almanac 1990 (over 5,000 articles from Time Magazine plus the
full text of the year 1989)
 
With all these 5 CD-ROMs, you can search information, print it out, or
paste sections into a textfile. This means access through voice, braille,
or large print should be a snap.
 
     This additional offer is only available to those who buy the DAK package.
 
What you need
 
     In order to install the CD-ROM system, you need several items:
 
     -- The DAK CD-ROM package
 
     -- A computer system with at least 1 megabyte
 
     -- DOS version 3.1 or higher
 
     -- A memory manipulation program like Quarterdeck QEMM to hide device
drivers in high memory
 
     -- Some available hard disk space
 
     -- An EGA or VGA monitor if a sighted person is going to view the
screen
 
     -- A mouse for the use of a sighted person using the electronic atlases
 
     -- Some screwdrivers to remove the cover of the computer and install
the disk controller card
 
Installing the Drives
 
At home, we have a 386SX computer with 1 megabyte of RAM. Installing the
drive was easy. It was a matter of removing the cover, inserting a card,
connecting a cable from the card to the drive, and plugging the CD-ROM
drive to the wall outlet. There was no need to change any DIP switches. The
system comes with clear instructions from DAK designed to help a novice
computer user. About the only thing that had me concerned for a few moments
is the fact that there are two data jacks on the back of the CD-ROM drive,
but only one data cable to connect to the computer. It turns out that it
does not matter which jack you use (the other jack is there in case you
want to add an additional CD-ROM drive to your computer system).
 
Installing the Software
 
Installing the software to run the system was another matter. DAK includes
its own installation program. In order to use DAK's installation program,
you have to use your cursor keys to move a pointer around the screen to
simulate a mouse. As long as you are sighted, running the installation
program is very easy. It is impossible to use if you are blind.
 
I have prepared a disk containing all the instructions and software you
need to install the DAK package on your computer. Contact me for details.
 
After running the installation program, there were two things I did not
like about the software that was loaded. The first problem was that in
order to get into the CD-ROM software and in order to select applications,
you had to use a sighted-type menu just like the installation program. The
second problem is that the system loaded quite a bit of software onto our
hard disk.
 
I soon discovered that the CD-ROM drive was treated as a disk drive with
the letter code S. I wrote a series of batch files to get access to the
different applications. For example, in order to get into the encyclopedia,
I just type ENCY <Enter> at the command line. After a bit more
experimentation, I found out that quite a bit of the software that was
loaded onto the hard disk is also available on the CD-ROM itself (but
hidden in a subdirectory).
 
I wiped out this duplicated software from our hard disk. I modified the
batch files so that when an application is used, the appropriate software
is copied from the CD-ROM to the hard disk before it is executed. When you
leave the CD-ROM application, the appropriate files get deleted from the
hard disk. This technique really cuts down on amount of hard disk space
permanently allocated to the CD-ROM system.
 
Memory Problems
 
The software drivers for the CD-ROM drive and the CD-ROM software use a
lot of memory. Caryn found out to her dismay that the the drivers on the
CD-ROM drive took up enough memory to prevent EasyScan (the simple front
end to the Arkenstone Reader written by Personal Data Systems) from
working. It was clear that we were out of memory.
 
Solving the memory problem was a two-step process. I needed to change the
configuration program on our computer so that the computer knew that there
was more than 640k in the system. Next I needed to purchase a copy of QEMM
from Quarterdeck. This is a program that uses high memory (the memory
between 640k and 1024k) for device drivers, DOS buffers, and other software
tools to support your equipment. This frees up over 100k in the lower 640k.
Once QEMM was installed, we had no more memory problems. We could use the
Fax software, the CD-ROMs, Flipper, and the Arkenstone without any
problems. Based on my experience, I would not want to use a CD-ROM drive on
a computer with less than 1 megabyte of RAM.
 
One footnote: installing QEMM was not easy. When I started using QEMM, I
had problems with the Arkenstone. I quickly discovered that the Arkenstone
was using high memory $DC00 through $DFFF. I had to tell QEMM to leave this
block of memory alone. I tell this story to remind people that sometimes
the fixes need fixing.
 
QEMM only works on a 386 or a 386SX. You need a piece of software that can
store your device drives and DOS buffers in the area of memory between 640k
and 1 megabyte. If you have a 286, use another product, like AMS Hicard2.
Contact your computer dealer for details.
 
Access Technology
 
For access technology on our home computer, we use the Flipper screen
access program with the Audapter speech synthesizer. By sheer coincidence,
both of these items are available from Raised Dot Computing. The new
edition of Flipper (version 3.06) has a "continuous read" feature which is
especially useful with CD-ROM titles. It automatically advances to the next
line by forcing a down-arrow into the keyboard buffer. Using this feature,
it would take 3 1/2 days to read the Bible from one of our CD-ROMs using a
combination of Flipper and the Audapter.
 
We have not done any experimentation on how well CD-ROM drives work with
any other screen access program other than Flipper. We have heard some
reports that some access programs have difficulty working with CD-ROM
drives. We are in no position to confirm or deny this. We are happy to
provide Flipper demonstration disks to anyone who wants to compare
programs.
 
The Environmental Variable Space
 
If you look at your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you will probably find several lines
starting with SET. These lines create environmental variables. MS-DOS only
allows a limited number of characters to be used for environmental
variables. While we had no problem with our system, we understand this can
be a problem area for some CD-ROM systems. Some CD-ROM systems have so many
variables that they fill up the environment area. When this happens,
different program modules do not know what they are supposed to do.
 
If you run out of environment space, you need to make more room, either by
enlarging the space or by deleting unnecessary variables. There is probably
a line in your CONFIG.SYS file that looks like this: C:\COMMAND.COM /E:350.
In this example, there is a limit of 350 characters for environmental
variables. In general, you want to keep the maximum size as small as
possible. Because of the structure of DOS, the environmental space is
duplicated many times when most programs execute. Thus any wasted space is
multiplied many times.
 
You may have to write some batch files to clear out the environment space
to make room for your CD-ROM software. If you issue a command like
C:\COMMAND.COM /E:750, you make room for more variables, but you also clear
out all the existing variables. Since I have not had any problems with
this, I am reluctant to offer step-by-step advice. You may have to consult
an expert computer user for help.
 
The Caddy Problem
 
One aspect of the CD-ROM drive that I did not anticipate is how the CD-ROM
disks are loaded into the drive. You need to take the compact disk out of
its plastic holder to put it into a different holder called a "caddy". The
caddy protects the CD-ROM disk the same way the casing of a 3.5 inch disk
protects the magnetic media. There is a window that only opens up when the
caddy is inserted into the drive. The DAK package contains a second spare
caddy in case you lose one. A blind user may feel more secure if additional
caddies are purchased so that each CD-ROM disk can live in its own caddy
permanently.
 
I found a mail order company that sells the kind of caddy I needed. There
are three kinds of CD-ROM caddies: Phillips, Sony, and NEC CDR-77/80. The
DAK drive uses Sony caddies. I bought a set of 5 at $10 each so that each
of the CD-ROM disks from DAK can live in its own braille-labeled caddy. The
source I found was Educorp (a supplier of Macintosh software and the
largest supplier of Macintosh CD-ROMs); their number is (800) 843-9497.
Caddies for the DAK BSR disk drive are item #1593 in their catalog.
 
     News Flash: 8/09/91: CD-ROM Inc. now sells the Sony Caddies for the low
price of $6 each. Contact them for details (see address and phone number at the
end of this file).
 
Summary of Installation
 
Within an hour of opening the crate from DAK, we were reading data from
CD-ROMs. Installing the CD-ROM system was easy. The hard part was making
sure that the installation of the CD-ROMs did not disrupt any program that
was already there. Make sure you have enough memory, and that you can hide
your device drivers in otherwise unused portions of memory.
 
Using The DAK CD-ROMs
 
Once the software is installed, using the CD-ROMs is easy. You turn on the
drive. You insert the caddy containing the CD-ROM disk. You type the name
of the batch file to start up that application.
 
The Atlases: Fun for Sighted People
 
In the collection of six disks from DAK, two cannot be used by blind
persons. These are the two Atlases. One contains maps of the United States,
the other contains maps of the World. The program is totally driven by the
mouse. You click on a portion of the World Map to indicate a region you are
interested in. Once the regional map pops up, you click on the individual
nation that you want. The maps are clear and sharp. My major complaint is
that I want to be able to continue to magnify any portion of the world
indefinitely. I like having a map of Iraq or Kuwait, but I want to also
have a street map of Baghdad.
 
The Encyclopedia
 
The Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia is the best of the lot. It is an
enormous work of over 400 megabytes. We have been pleased with the text. We
looked up subjects that we were very familiar with, like Guide Dogs, and
found the text to be a very accurate description of the training and use of
guide dogs.
 
The user interface is very easy to learn. You press enter to get past the
opening screen. You get to a screen which offers a choice between three
selection methods: word search, browse titles, and browse word index.
Usually word search is preferred, so just press enter again since this is
the default.
 
Word search allows up to four words or phrases that must be present in an
article. If you wanted to find all articles containing the words "Roman"
and "army", just type in each word followed by enter. Press enter an
additional time to start the search. If a few seconds, the program tells
you how many times this combination appears in the entire encyclopedia.
Press enter again to get a list of the article titles that contain this
combination.
 
Each title appears on a separate line, along with the number of times the
words appeared in the article. Move through this list with the up or down
arrow keys. When you want to make a selection, just press enter.
 
The text of the article appears in a text window that takes up about half
the screen (from the 6th line to the 18th line of the screen). Press Alt-Z
to enlarge the window so the text fills the screen (except for a few status
lines). When you want more text, press the page down key (or use the page
up key to move back).
 
If there is a mention of something with its own article in the
encyclopedia, it is in all caps. If you get the cursor on that name and
press return, you open a new text window with another article. Reading
cross-references has never been easier!
 
It is very easy to copy an article to a textfile. Press Alt-K, then the
down arrow key followed by enter to select "all" (i.e. the entire article).
Then press the up arrow key followed by enter to begin saving. You are
prompted for a file name. The system uses the extension "ART". Once you
have a textfile, you can turn it into braille using Hot Dots. Or you can
merge the text into your term paper.
 
The Library of the Future
 
The Library of the Future is a collection of over 450 short stories, plays,
novels, and historical documents. It contains most of Shakespeare, the
Bible, War and Peace, lots of Sherlock Holmes, and much more.
 
The hardest thing about it is understanding the interface to select a
document. You end up looping through the selection process twice. First you
give some selection criteria (author, country, time period, subject matter,
etc.); then you are offered a list of titles which meet these criteria. It
takes some use of the disk to learn when to use the enter key and when to
use the spacebar to select an item.
 
Once you get into a document, reading is a matter of using the cursor keys
(or Page Up or Page Down).
 
In the fall of 1991, the Second Edition of the Library of the Future was
released. It can be purchased as an upgrade for the copy you got from DAK
for $129 directly from World Library. Using the program PRN2FILE, you can
copy an entire work to hard disk. A second program MSLCLP can reformat the
file to eliminate extra material which would foul up braille output. See
the file REFCARD.TXT for details.
 
Languages of the World
 
The Languages of the World disk is a series of multilingual dictionaries.
The program is a TSR (terminate and stay ready, it hides in memory until
you call it up). The program is designed to be used inside your word
processor. The "hot key" combination to call it up is Alt-space.
 
The first time you press Alt-space, you get to set up the program. You
declare your source language and your target language (it supports 13
different languages), you specify which dictionary to use, and how detailed
you want the searches to be. To specify these options, you only use the
four arrow keys. If you press the enter key, it really fouls things up.
 
After a little experimentation, I used the program to write some sentences
in Norwegian. I know that there are software packages that act as automatic
translators. The "Languages of the World" disk has no such software. If you
are going to use it to write in another language, you need to know
something about the grammar, word order, verb conjugation, etc. of the
other language.
 
Reference Library
 
The Reference Library is a collection of 10 reference books. This
collection is different from the Microsoft Bookshelf, another collection of
reference books on CD-ROM.
 
It is my understanding the Microsoft Bookshelf is fairly easy to use. In
contrast, the Reference Library in the DAK collection is more difficult.
Despite my grumbling, it is a useful disk. Using the dictionary, I was able
to understand the origin of Scud as a name for a missile (a Scud is a cloud
formation which indicates bad weather is coming; a very bad joke when you
remember that the first Scuds contained nuclear weapons).
 
The Reference Library has three separate screen areas. The right column
selects which reference book you are using. The top line selects the menu
option (i.e. Search, Browse, Quit, etc.). The bulk of the screen is called
the View Window, where you actually read the text in each book. When you
want to switch between giving a menu command and selecting a reference
book, press the tab key. To select browse, use Alt-W. To select search, use
Alt-A. To exit the program, press Alt-X.
 
Magazine Rack (part of bonus collection)
 
Magazine Rack (over 110,000 articles and abstracts from 342 different
general interest magazines, trade journals and newsletters; it covers
December 1989 through December 1990). The user interface takes a while to
get used to, but its worth it. This one disk alone is an incredibly
valuable resource.
 
Time Compact Almanac
 
Time Compact Almanac (over 5,000 articles from Time Magazine plus the full
text of the year 1989). If you want to recall current events (especially
from 1989) this is the disk for you. The user interface is very easy. There
are no tricks or traps with this disk.
 
CD Bible Library (part of bonus disk collection)
 
A collection of 9 bibles and over 20 other related reference books. The
software is designed to display the same verses of the bible from different
bibles all on the same screen.
 
Microsoft Small Business Consultant
 
A collection of over 220 Government (mostly Small Business Administration)
and private sources about running a small business.
 
U.S History on CD-ROM
 
The full text of 107 books relating to U.S. history. Includes three volumes
on the Iran-Contra affair and the Nixon/Watergate transcripts. You can
search by word, event, book, picture, or article. The vendor is running a
contest: "In what context was George Bush mentioned in the Watergate
transcripts?"
 
Summary
 
If you can afford it, and if your computer has at least 1 megabyte of
memory and some free hard disk space, give CD-ROMs a try. The Grolier
Encyclopedia and the Magazine Rack are the two disks which makes the DAK
package really attractive.
 
When you buy from DAK, you have a 30 day free trial period. If you are not
satisfied for any reason (within the first 30 days), you can return it for
a full refund. The order number for DAK is (800) 325-0800. The BSR External
CD ROM Drive with 6 CD ROM disks costs $699 plus $19 for shipping for a
grand total of $718. This is item number #5719 from their catalog. The
additional package of 5 CD-ROM disks is $149 plus $8 for shipping and
handling. This is item #5877 in their catalog. The DAK catalog says that
the only way to get the bonus package is to buy it all the same time you
buy a CD-ROM drive from DAK.
 
------------------------------------------------------------------
 
           Library of the Future Second Edition: Making Braille
                Copies of Entire Books -- David Holladay
 
The Second Edition
 
Recently, World Library Inc. released the Library of the Future, Second
Edition. Those who have purchased the first edition (and have registered
their purchase) can upgrade to the Second Edition for $129.
 
The Second Edition contains numerous additional titles. The First Edition
has more than 450 titles, the second edition has more than 900 titles.
 
Many things have been improved in the Second Edition. World Library, Inc.
made some of the changes in response to input from blind users. With the
improved user interface, it is much easier to navigate through the program.
The way that the text of a work is displayed on the screen was changed to
accommodate voice output users; the presence of a cursor in the text allows
for continuous reading through voice output with a number of screen access
programs. In the First Edition, you could save or print out only one screen
at a time. In the Second Edition, you can print out an entire work. You can
save 5 screens to disk at a time.
 
To make a braille copy, you need a way of saving an entire book as a single
disk file. There exist a number of utility programs which redirect printer
output and save the material to a disk file. Since the Second Edition
allows you to print an entire book, such a utility program would allow you
to save an entire book in one operation. I tried this with two printer
redirection utilities that I had access to. Both failed. But we have since
located one utility program, PRN2FILE, which is compatible with the Library
of the Future Second Edition. We would like to thank B. T. Kimborough, who
kindly Next Day Aired the software to us so we could write about it for
this Newsletter.
 
By running PRN2FILE before you go into the Library of the Future
application, you can save any output meant for the printer as a disk file.
This process takes about 2 seconds per screen. The book Peter Pan with 240
screens was saved to disk in under 8 minutes.
 
I have written a program which takes a print image file from the Library of
the Future and removes all the non-text material from the file. This makes
it a snap to turn any book in the Second Edition into braille.
 
Actually Making Braille
 
Making a braille copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn required just a
few commands. First I typed LOF C:\TEXT\HUCK.TX0 C:\TEXT\HUCK.TXT <enter>
This command starts up Library of the Future. Automatically the PRN2FILE
program is called to save any print output into HUCK.TX0.
 
Once inside the Library Program, I load on the screen the title page from
Huckleberry Finn. Then I type the 4 keys F9 P 0 <enter> This command prints
the entire book. In about 15 minutes the "printing" (actually saving to
disk) is done. Then I type <esc> <esc> <esc> Y to leave the Library
Software. Automatically, my file reformatting software reads the file
HUCK.TX0 and writes HUCK.TXT which is clean of all ornamentation and
formatting marks. In case you are curious, HUCK.TX0 is about 716,000
characters, and HUCK.TXT is about 576,000 characters.
 
At this point I run Hot Dots 3.0. I type in the single command DOTS1234
HUCK.TXT ASCD LPT1 to produce braille on an embosser hooked up to the
parallel port. That is all there is to it. This method works well only with
prose text. Poems or plays based on verse (e.g., Shakespeare) get scrambled
in the Hot Dots importation process. I am in the process of writing
additional software for Hot Dots to properly braille verse material. In one
experiment with Hamlet, it took 8 minutes to locate it on CD-ROM, save the
entire work to disk, clean out extra characters, import it into Hot Dots,
translate into grade two braille, format for hardcopy braille output, and
initiate braille output.
 
You can do the same trick of diverting print output to a file on the
Library of the Future First Edition, but it takes more work. You can save
only the current screen in the First Edition. Once you start at the title
screen, you have to keep pressing three keys over and over again: F3 P
PgDn. This prints the current screen and advances to the next screen.
 
Copyright Issues
 
I have spoken to Larry Granis of World Library, Inc. He indicates that the
copyright for the Library of the Future CD-ROM allows an individual
purchaser to make braille copies of books for personal use. Do not abuse
the copyright. While I have made a braille copy of Peter Pan, I do not have
the right to sell braille copies of Peter Pan.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 
               Time Magazine CD-ROM has Hidden User
           Interface for Blind Users -- Michael Busboom
 
For the last several years, Time Magazine has issued a CD- ROM with the
complete text of the previous year's magazines. These CD-ROMs are very
useful research tools since they contain a comprehensive (and searchable)
database of world and national events with a cross-section of stories on
fads, movies, trivia, new products, scientific developments, social issues,
and political background.
 
It was quite a disapointment to learn that their latest disk (titled Time
Almanac 1992) was not accessible to blind users. Apparantly, all the text
was "painted" on the screen in a graphics mode, making it impossible to
track with screen access technology.
 
I called up the company that produced the CD-ROM and tried to tell them the
error of their ways. One woman there mentioned that they could not get the
graphical user interface to work on some computer networks. So they were
forced to put in a hidden text interface. After some experimentation I have
a batch file that works for screen access programs. Here is my batch file:
 
S:
CD \TIME\MNU\BIN\TIME92A.EXE
C:
 
I call the batchfile TIME92.BAT. To launch Time Almanac 1992, just type
TIME92. Wait about 10 seconds for a brief title screen to go away. There is
a simple menu bar. The only other trick I noticed is that when I am reading
an article, press the Alt key to make the menu bar active. You need to do
this to save an article to disk.
 
     The conclusion that I draw? Other CD-ROM disks that we think
are inaccessible may be accessible after all. We need to ask CD-
ROM vendors if there is a "text user interface for use on
networks". Asking if there is a "text user interface for blind
users" is asking the wrong question!
 
About the Author
 
     Michael Busboom is the intergalactic correspondant to the
Raised Dot Computing Newsletter. He also helps represent
Arkenstone in Europe. He has promised to write about accessible
CD-ROMs in Europe. Encourage him by sending him electronic mail
at his CompuServe address of 75775,60.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------
 
                        Some Selected CD-ROM Titles
 
Here are some additional selected items from the catalogs of The Bureau of
Electronic Publishing [BEP] and CD-ROM Inc. [CRI]. This listing focuses on
text-based disks for the PC. This listing focuses on the more inexpensive
see the catalogs for expensive or specialized listings. I have also omitted
the disks which are part of the DAK package, since buying them outside of
the package deal would cost a fortune. More information about each disk is
available in the catalogs from these vendors. For the address of the
vendors, see the VENDOR.TXT file.
 
The Bureau of Electronic Publishing offers an on-line CD-ROM library. If
you have a modem on your personal computer, you can take a CD-ROM on a
"test drive". First call (201) 808-2700 for a "CD-online password". Then
have your system dial (201) 808-0085. Set your communications parameters
for no parity, 8 data bits, 1 stop bit, full duplex, and echo off. The
software first asks for your terminal type (VT-100 or whatever). Then key
in the password you have obtained. You may use any of the listed CD-ROM
titles for up to 10 minutes at a time. Titles available are changed
periodically. This system is designed for demonstration and sales purposes
only.
 
About Cows
 
The full text of a book about Cows including many drawings. Available from
CRI for $29.
 
Aircraft Encyclopedia
 
A database that details the military aircraft of the world. Included are
country of origin, model number, name, manufacturer, service, crew,
mission, wingspan, length, airspeed, range, and ceiling. From CDI for $129.
 
Baseball Guide and Register
 
Contains: lengthy reviews of each season 1984-1989; complete Most Valuable
Players and Record Tables; Complete All-Star Game results and teams; total
season and lifetime records of active players; Hall of Fame Inductees and
Electees; Directory of Leagues and Clubs (major and minor leagues) and much
more. From CRI for $129.
 
C CD-ROM
 
This disk is an amazing resource for computer programmers. It contains a
huge collection of C programs (source code and public domain utilities).
Available from BEP for $88.
 
Career Opportunities
 
Information on job titles, job descriptions, education levels, chances for
advancement, average salaries, and working conditions. From CRI for $129
 
CD Music Guide
 
A listing of over 40,000 regular audio compact disks. The disk contains
audio samples you can hear through your CD-ROM player. The disk contains
the recording time of the disc, recording date, release data, and ratings
of performance and sound quality. Available form BEP for $99.
 
CIA World Fact Book
 
Contains 248 comprehensive country profiles with all kinds of details of
each nation's geography, politics, population, infrastructure, governmental
structure, and military strength. Available for $88 from BEP and CRI.
 
Computer Library
 
The complete text for the last 12 months of 29 different computer magazines
plus abstracts of computer-related articles from over 110 other
periodicals. A purchase includes an initial disk plus 12 monthly updates.
Each disk contains the full text or the summary of over 55,000 articles.
Cost is $785 from BEP.
 
Countries of the World
 
This disk contains the full text of 106 Country Series Handbooks prepared
by the US Army. Each handbook is 200 to 500 pages long in inkprint. The
disk contains comprehensive information about different countries of the
world. Topics include historical setting, society, environment, economy,
geography, population, religion, health & welfare, agriculture, foreign
relations, energy, natural resources, government, politics, and national
security. Plus up-to-the minute notes provided by US embassies from around
the world. From BEP for $495.
 
Facts on File News Digest
 
A comprehensive overview of national and international current events.
Contains the full text and maps of all issues in the last decade (12
million words and 500 maps) on a single disk. The search and retrieval
software allows for searches on topics, keywords, or time intervals. Cost
is $795 from BEP and CRI.
 
Front Page News - 1990
 
Contains over the full text of 200,000 from 10 wire services during 1990.
Includes: Business wire, Chinese news agency, Comtex, French/German news
agency, Journal Graphics, Latin American News Agency, Market Consensus
Surveys, Public Radio Newswire, and UPI.
 
Guiness Disc of World Records
 
Lots of stuff from the Guiness Book of World Records. From CRI for $149.
 
McGraw-Hill Science and Technical Reference Set
 
Combines the McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia and the McGraw-Hill
Dictionary and Technical Terms into a single disk. Contains over 7,300
article covering all aspects science and technology plus the definitions of
98,500 terms. Material can be easily exported to a text file for production
into braille. Cost is $264 from BEP and CRI.
 
Microsoft Bookshelf
 
Possibly the first general purpose CD-ROM disk. It consists of ten
reference books: the American Heritage Dictionary, Roget's II: Electronic
Thesaurus, World Almanac, Barlett's Familiar Quotations, The Chicago Manual
of Style, Houghton-Mifflin Spelling Verifier and Corrector, U.S. ZIP Code
Directory, plus several other items. Available from the BEP for $199.
 
Middle East Diary
 
Contains a lengthy review of Middle East history, personalities, and
conflict. From CRI for $179.
 
Movie Database and Software Potpourri
 
An interesting brew: the full text of the Bible, thousands of PC shareware
programs, and a searchable database on hundreds of movies. Available from
BEP for $69.
 
North American Indians
 
A text/image database on the history of Native Americans. Included are
leadership, tribal heritage, religion, family life, and customs. From CRI
for $129.
 
PC-Blue
 
A collection of 440 volumes of public domain PC software and shareware
collected by the New York Amateur Computer Club. Available from CRI for
$99.
 
Shareware Gold
 
Solid collection of PC software. Designed to be used by bulletin boards (to
provide a bulletin board with a huge variety of software for people to
download). The disk is covered with real gold for longer life and better
reliability. Available for $79 from BEP and CRI.
 
Sporting News Baseball CD
 
A sports fan's dream. Available from BEP for $149.
 
Terrorist Group Profiles
 
Details on some of today's most dangerous organizations. Included are group
name, date formed, membership, headquarters, area of operation, leadership,
sponsors, objectives, targets and incidents. From CRI for $129.
 
U.S. Civics/Citizenship Disk
 
Designed for persons seeking U.S. citizenship and/or students of American
history. Contains the text of the U.S. Justice, Immigration and
Naturalization Service's Federal Citizenship texts. Includes many images of
historical figures and monuments. Available from CRI for $99.
 
The World Almanac & Book of Facts; 1990 Edition
 
A collection of 1 million facts which, if mastered, will make you a trivia
champion. Also contains summaries of events in the last decade. Available
from CRI for $59.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 
           CD-ROM Library Service for the Visually Impaired --
                             Barbara Mates
 
                   On Demand Braille and Large Print
 
At the Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in Cleveland we
have a service providing individual articles in braille or large print from
CD-ROM sources. Any of the 11,000 blind patrons of our library can call up
and request encyclopedia and other information on a timely basis. We are
able to print up the material within minutes. If the requester is on-site,
they get the material immediately. Otherwise we put the braille or large
print in the mail.
 
The secret is CD-ROMs. These disks, available on a PC, hold millions of
characters of data. I or my para-professional locates the appropriate
article on the CD-ROM disk and then captures the material in a PC textfile.
Then we use our braille translator (yes, we do use Hot Dots) to turn the
textfile into braille. Or we use our word processor to send the text to a
laser printer in a large type size.
 
I got the idea at a library conference. I was with some colleagues
discussing CD-ROM technology over some drinks (a session not on the
agenda). I realized that I had most of the necessary materials already. Our
library had a computer, an embosser, and a laser printer. What we needed
was a braille translator, a CD-ROM drive, and a variety of CD-ROM disks.
These additional items cost our library about $1,500. With the help of a
consultant (Nick Dotson of Dots-On Enterprises), we were up and running.
 
We do about 20 CD-ROM printouts a month. The heaviest users, in a small
core group of students, use our service to get the background material for
all their term papers. When these students get their assignments, we get a
lot of requests.
 
                           Consumer Education
 
One of the biggest parts of this project has been consumer education. What
is the point of having this capability if you do not advertise it? I admit
that I was naive about this. In the library newsletter, I just announced
that "reference material was available." Many people were not aware of what
that meant. After all, very little reference material has been made
accessible to the blind and visually impaired in the last 25 years. And
most of that material has not been widely distributed. The last
encyclopedia produced in braille was the World Book Encyclopedia in 1959.
 
I found out that I needed to be more explicit and to offer examples of the
kinds of materials available. I got a very good response when I announced
that we could produce a patron's favorite bible passages in braille or
large print.
 
At the start of the Gulf War, I produced the Grolier Encyclopedia articles
on Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait in large print and sent them to a
visually impaired/blind class at a public school. The articles were posted
on the wall. These were very well received, even by those without any
visual impairments. I got a lot of letters thanking me for the material.
 
I remember once giving a tour of the library to one patron. When I
described the computer system, he wanted a braille copy of the article on
Hawaii. He explained that the only braille encyclopedia he had looked at
was prepared before Hawaii became a state. He was very impressed with the
amount of material that can be produced quickly in braille.
 
Another patron who called us up was alarmed about her health. Her dentist
had told her that she had periodontal disease. She had never heard of it
before and did not like the sound of it. We mailed an article about
periodontal disease from the McGraw-Hill Science Encyclopedia in braille so
she would have more background before her next visit to the dentist.
 
                           Selecting CD-ROMs
 
Based on my experience, I am careful before buying a new CD-ROM disk.
Before I buy, I look it over during a demonstration at a conference. (I go
to library conferences where many CD-ROM vendors exhibit their products.)
If the screen is filled with all kinds of fancy decorations and glitz
(i.e., graphics), I pass the product by. If the screen has just plain
ordinary text, then I am interested. A text-only program has several
advantages. It is easier to learn. It is usually easier to capture sections
of text into a textfile (and the captured file usually is relatively free
of extra material that messes up a braille printout). Finally, a text-only
program can be operated by a blind person who may be using our facilities.
 
In addition, the program should have a straightforward way of selecting and
saving text into a file on a hard disk. The file should appear as one
column (as opposed to multiple columns of text). The files should have just
text, without extra punctuation marks like multiple asterisks, dashes, and
highlighted bars.
 
                           My Favorite Disks
 
The very best CD-ROM source we have is the Grolier's Electronic
Encyclopedia. Anyone who is considering setting up a similar service should
obtain a copy of this CD-ROM. Most of the requests for information can be
answered from the encyclopedia. Getting plain textfiles out of individual
articles is very easy. The searching and sorting is fast and
straightforward.
 
Since many of our requests come from elementary school students, I also
wanted a more junior encyclopedia that would be more appropriate for their
level. The only other encyclopedia available is the Compton's Multimedia
Encyclopedia. It is expensive and very frustrating. It lets you capture
only about five screens of information at a time. For many articles, you
have to log in and out of the CD-ROM software many times.
 
Another disk we have is the Physician's Desk Reference. This contains
detailed information about each prescription drug. Though I would much
prefer a reference book written for the consumer rather than the physician,
the PDR gives information that otherwise would have to come from the
package inserts in tiny print. But be warned: It is harder to capture
material into a textfile with the PDR than it is with the Grolier's
Encyclopedia.
 
The Microsoft Bookshelf contains a collection of reference books (the World
Almanac, the Chicago Manual of Style, the American Heritage Dictionary, and
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations). While it is rarer for someone to call us
up to get a braille copy of a dictionary entry, it is nice to have it all
on one disk. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations was brailled by NLS in 1988 and
it came out to 105 braille volumes. Now we can print out selected portions
with all the cross-references very easily.
 
Another very useful disk is called "Wordcruncher." It contains The New
International Bible, The King James Bible, the works of Shakespeare, the
classic works of American literature (Twain, Thoreau, Melville, Hawthorne,
Faulkner, etc.), a collection of government regulatory data, and the
manuals for WordPerfect (4.2 and 5.0), and some other products of
WordPerfect Corporation. I believe that one of the people who helped
prepare "Wordcruncher" is blind. The searching software generates
interesting tones to tell you if a search is successful. This may be the
only CD-ROM disk expressly designed to be easy for a blind computer user to
use.
 
We also have a disk called "U.S. History" on CD-ROM. We once ran a search
through this disk to explain what "the Trilateral Commission" is.
 
[Editor's note: Many of these disks were mentioned in our last Newsletter.
Several of them were not. The PDR costs $595, the Wordcruncher costs $239,
and Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia-PC costs $895. All are available from
The Bureau of Electronic Publishing.]
 
                       The Frustration of CD-ROMs
 
I find it frustrating that virtually every disk has its own searching
software and its own set of commands. Each disk has its own procedures for
how to load its software onto your hard disk. I am not a computer
programmer (or even an expert computer user). So I am not skilled at
rearranging the software or improving it.
 
For each CD-ROM title, I need to sit down and work with it. I have to learn
how to look up information, and how to capture material into a textfile for
production in braille or large print. Perhaps at some time there will be a
central source of tips and hints for how to use CD-ROMs for this purpose.
 
                          Getting Things Going
 
The most important resources are human resources. In our situation, we had
a staff that was willing to work together to install and master the new
system. Our administration was willing to take a chance on setting up a new
program. I took the advice of Lloyd Rasmussen at NLS who advised me in the
early stages of PC purchases to keep adaptive technology in mind.
 
In terms of equipment, you need a computer with at least one megabyte of
RAM and a 40-megabyte hard disk drive. You need a CD-ROM drive, a braille
printer, a braille translation program, and a laser printer capable of
printing boldface material in a point size between 14 and 18. If you also
want the computer to be used by the visually impaired, you need a screen
enlarging program, a screen access program and a voice synthesizer.
[Editor's note: These products are available from many sensory aids
companies, including Raised Dot Computing.]
 
                               Conclusion
 
Being a pioneer has its pluses and minuses. I am glad I have the
opportunity to demonstrate the promise of existing technology by providing
a clearly needed service. I hope other libraries and institutions make use
of CD-ROM technology to assist their clients and patrons. Working with
CD-ROMs has been a struggle for me since I am not a technical expert. But I
do enjoy challenges, and CD-ROMs have kept my job interesting! And don't
forget to devote a lot of energy to consumer education. No one will use
your new service if they do not understand what it can do for them.
 
Since our CD-ROM information service has been written up, we have gotten
many requests for more information. We have sent descriptions of our
service to Singapore, Ireland, and South Africa (as well as to a number of
domestic locations). What started out as a crazy idea over drinks two years
ago is now taking root around the world.
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
                  More on CD-ROM Technology -- David Holladay
 
 
There is a flip side. All is not well in CD-ROM land. The selection of
titles is somewhat limited. Many titles are graphically based and are thus
not accessible to the blind user relying on access technology. The list
price for most CD-ROM titles is fairly steep. If you shop carefully, you
can get quite a few bargains. The first rule is to buy your CD-ROM disk
drive very carefully.
 
Most vendors offer "bundles" which combine a number of titles and a CD-ROM
drive for your PC for one package price. When you work it out, each title
in a bundle costs about $30, instead of $300 to $1000 when bought
individually.
 
                            Selecting a CD-ROM Drive
 
Compared with lots of other kinds of equipment (stereos, cars, camcorders),
there is little variation between different CD-ROM drives. One
distinguishing characteristic between CD-ROM drives is average access time.
Make sure the CD-ROM drive you buy has a reasonable average access time. An
access time of 300 milliseconds is good; 600 milliseconds is slow.
Remember, even the fastest CD-ROM drive sometimes seems sluggish). CD-ROM
drives can be installed inside or outside your computer. I prefer the
external kind since that means you can shift your CD-ROM access to another
computer if you have to.
 
CD-ROM drives come in "caddy" or "caddyless" configuration. A CD-ROM caddy
is a cartridge that protects the CD-ROM. The caddies are expensive, about
$7 each. In general, caddy systems have a better performance than non-caddy
systems (including faster access time). It seems that some people object to
the extra handling required to load the CD-ROMs from shipping container to
caddy and back again. My own preference is to use a caddy system and to buy
a caddy for each CD-ROM title I own. Then the CD-ROM titles are protected
from drops and accidental handling by wayward two-year-olds. Each caddy can
have a braille label giving the name of the batch file used to call it.
This approach costs a little more, but it makes CD-ROM use more convenient.
 
                         Available CD-ROM Package Deals
 
Right now, there are many companies offering very enticing packages. I
bought my package from DAK Inc., an electronics distributor in Canoga Park,
California. One nice aspect about DAK is that once you buy a CD-ROM drive
from them, they keep on offering you cut rate deals. For example, when I
bought my drive, it was offered with only one package of 6 CD-ROM disks.
Since then, DAK has offered many more package deals for those buying new
drives. Each time a new package is put together, DAK sends me a mailing to
offer me the same package with the same terms. Effectively, you become a
permanent member of the "DAK CD-ROM buyer's club." With other companies,
once you have bought the package including the CD-ROM drive, you lose the
ability to buy titles cheaply.
 
Right now, a number of electronics companies offer attractive CD-ROM
titles. For example, I get a catalog called Power Up! which offers a 340ms
caddy drive (340 millisecond access time), a set of speakers, and 12 titles
(half of them accessible) for $799. If you want additional caddies, Power
Up! wants $17.95 instead of the usual cost of $6 to $9. The phone number
for Power Up! is (800) 851-2917.
 
I still think that DAK offers the very best deal. They are fairly good on
technical support. If you have difficulty, you can call their 800 number.
Be warned, though, that this line is often busy. To cut down on the tech
calls, DAK includes their own supplemental manuals with the products they
sell.
 
DAK offers a 380ms CD-ROM external CD-ROM caddy drive for $399 (plus $19
for postage and handling). This is DAK order number 3231A. With the drive,
DAK throws in 3 titles: the 1991 Microsoft Bookshelf, the Family Doctor,
and Battle Chess. Microsoft Bookshelf is a collection of reference books
(dictionary, thesaurus, quotations, concise encyclopedia, etc.). The Family
Doctor is a collection of brief answers to common medical questions. Battle
Chess is a graphically based (inaccessible) chess game. However, DAK offers
a vast array of software bundles, and you can buy as many as you want at
the time you buy the drive. Be careful: If you decline to buy a package and
want it later, you cannot get it. These bundles are available only when you
buy a drive or when the bundle is first introduced in the catalog.
 
DAK CD-ROM title package #1 costs $299 (plus $6 for shipping and handling).
It is DAK order number 3101 and includes the 1991 Grolier Encyclopedia, the
Library of the Future First Edition, the Toolworks Reference Library, the
complete Monarch Notes, the Toolworks World Atlas, and the Toolworks U.S.
Atlas. All titles except the two atlases are accessible.
 
If you want to, you can upgrade from Library of the Future First Edition to
the Second Edition. Contact DAK for the details. As we noted last year,
using software supplied by Raised Dot Computing, you can convert entire
titles from Library of the Future into cleaned up textfiles on your hard
disk. This gives you the ability to produce entire books in braille very
quickly. The Library of the Future First Edition contains over 450 plays,
poems, novels, and historical documents. The Second Edition contains over
900 works.
 
DAK CD-ROM title package #2 costs $149 (plus $8 for shipping and handling).
It is DAK order number 3102 and contains the Microsoft Small Business
Consultant, the Magazine Rack, U.S. History on CD-ROM, the Bible Library,
and the Time Magazine Almanac. All of these CD-ROM titles are accessible.
Of these, the one Caryn and I find most interesting is the Magazine Rack.
It contains 110,000 articles or abstracts from 340 general interest
magazines covering a one-year span about 2 years ago.
 
DAK package #3 is a disappointment. It contains three titles called Time
Tables of History. The text is displayed in a graphical font so that the
information is not accessible. I returned it for a refund.
 
DAK package #4 is a strange mixture. It combines the desktop publishing
program Publish-It! with two disks of information about different
countries. These are Countries of the World and the KGB-CIA World Factbook.
The KGB-CIA disk contains so little information that it is a
disappointment. On the other hand, I think the Countries of the World disk
is worth the price of the entire package. It is a dense and rich text-based
resource on all aspects of different nations. It is incredibly detailed,
fully indexed, and very easy to use. I found a minute by minute account of
the recent revolt in Romania, a detailed account of the anti-Nazi
resistance in Holland, and a discussion of Finnish baseball. This trio of
CD-ROM titles costs $130 (plus $9 for shipping and handling). The DAK order
number is 3213. I recommend purchasing this bundle and then selling the
other two titles to a sighted CD-ROM user.
 
DAK package #5 is a collection of "multi-media" animal disks. The titles
are National Geographic Mammals, Birds of America, and Audubon's Mammals.
This package costs $90 (plus $9 for shipping and handling). It is DAK order
number 3103.
 
DAK package #6 contains residential and business directories. Two disks
hold 72 million residential listings of names, addresses, and phone numbers
collected from 5,000 different phone books. I found out that there are at
least 25 other people named "David Holladay" in the United States, but I
married the only "Caryn Navy." Also included is a disk containing the names
and addresses of 7 million businesses in the U.S. The user interface is the
same as for the two residential disks, with some exciting additions. There
is an index of addresses and an index of phone numbers. Once you have
located a business, you can instantly find all the other businesses in the
same building, on the same block, etc.! You can type in a phone number and
find out what business has that number. Anyway, all three disks are
available for $139 (plus $7 for shipping and handling). It is DAK order
number 3247.
 
                           Crazy Bob's CD-ROM Mania!
 
No, this is not a joke. There really is an outfit that has a department
called "Crazy Bob's CD-ROM Mania." ERM Electronic Liquidators buys
overstocks from CD-ROM vendors and sells them for very low prices.
 
How low? They sell a text-only version of the 1991 Grolier's Encyclopedia
for $19. They sell the "Magazine Rack" for $29. The "Magazine Rack" has
been awarded the coveted "David and Caryn's Favorite CD-ROM Title Award."
It contains full text or substantial abstracts of 110,000 articles that
appeared in over 300 general interest magazines over a one-year period.
Because you can search for topics or words, it is a tremendous resource. It
is our hope that the developers of the "Magazine Rack" pull things together
to make newer editions.
 
Crazy Bob sells CD-ROM's made by Chestnut Software for $19 each. The
Chestnut disks are vast storehouses of shareware with moderate to low
organization. We purchased the "Dictionaries and Languages" disk. It is
described as containing "A giant compilation of dictionaries; thesauruses;
word processors; style/syntax checkers; glossaries; lessons in French,
German, Italian, Hebrew, Russian, Greek, Japanese, Spanish, Cantonese; and
MORE! It Includes many humorous glossaries, crossword solvers, cryptogram
solvers, and a variety of shareware word processors. Not bad for $19.
 
A word about the Chestnut disks. Unlike most other CD-ROM titles with a
uniform user interface, these disks require quite a bit of digging by the
purchaser. Basically, the disks are organized like one giant floppy disk.
You have to locate the list of files, copy each application into your hard
disk, and execute any required unpacking programs. You really need to be
experienced at manipulating DOS files and directories (and to have plenty
of hard disk space).
 
We also bought from Crazy Bob the Chestnut disk called the "Colossal
Cookbook" with over 4000 recipes. Most of the recipes are in the "Meal
Master format." After some playing around, I figured out how to search
through the main complex of recipes. I did a search for all recipes whose
title contains the word "lamb." Among the lamb recipes, it selected one
called "Banana Flambe." Ah computers!
 
Other Chestnut disks are Bibles & Religion, Shareware Overload, HAM Radio,
and XXX Extreme (600 megabytes of adult-only sleazy images).
 
Crazy Bob also sells random overstocks at affordable prices. Occasionally,
I have been known to go to the University Medical Library to run searches
on the MEDLINE CD-ROM system for various topics of interest to myself or
relatives. A subscription to MEDLINE on CD-ROM is out of reach for mere
mortals. But you can buy "Core MEDLINE" disks from Crazy Bob for $9 each;
the catch is that you cannot specify the date. You can also buy a Magazine
Abstracting Service for $9. I looked up the service in another catalog and
found a yearly subscription rate of $400. Again, you cannot specify the
date.
 
The most insane offer is for a grab bag of 4 CD-ROM rejects for a total of
$19. I don't recommend this. Of the 4 disks I received, two didn't work at
all (the ad said they were rejects and no refunds are allowed) and one is a
virtual duplicate of another title I bought. The fourth is an interesting
"CD-ROM magazine" designed for the general public. It does offer a
substantial database of existing CD-ROM titles sold for the general public.
Unfortunately, the text is displayed as remapped high bit characters and is
not accessible to screen access users. All in all, I recommend avoiding the
$19 grab bag unless you love a bizarre challenge.
 
     One way I judge the reasonableness of a CD-ROM vendor is how much they
charge for empty caddies. Crazy Bob passes the test. Crazy Bob sells one caddy
for $8, three for $21, and ten for $65.
 
     One final warning: If you buy from Crazy Bob, you are not allowed to call
the original vendor for technical support. You have to call Crazy Bob if you run
into any problems. Do not buy your first titles from Crazy Bob. Once you gain
experience in installing and using CD-ROMs, then call Crazy Bob for a catalog.
Their phone number is (617) 662-9363.
 
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            What Makes an Accessible CD-ROM Title -- David Holladay
 
Some CD-ROM titles are accessible to blind users, some are not.
Occasionally, I have been asked to define what makes an accessible CD-ROM
title. Since the field of CD-ROM is littered with every sort of list of
criteria for one thing or another, I might as well offer yet another.
 
1) The CD-ROM title should be a DOS title, not a Windows title [the
question about whether Mac titles are accessible is complex. The main tool
to make the Mac accessible is outSPOKEN by Berkeley Systems. outSPOKEN is
very difficult to use on "crowded directories", just the sort of structure
found on most CD-ROM titles]. "Dual boot" titles (DOS and Mac) are fine
since they can be used on DOS machines.
 
2) The CD-ROM title should be text based, with the text displayed in
ordinary text mode. For example, an electronic encyclopedia (Groliers for
sure) is accessible because the title contains lots of text. No effort is
expended trying to "pretty up" the application by forming the characters on
the screen in a graphics mode. For example, the three "Timetables of
History" titles are all not accessible because they paint the characters in
a graphics mode to simulate a Windows application. If you see 25 lines of
80 characters each, you are in standard text mode.
 
3) There should be no special obstacle to using the application. It is a
shame when I see a great text-based application, but to start it you need
to click the mouse on one portion of an image. To get past the opening
screen or screens, just require pressing the <Enter> key. In the
application itself, there should be keyboard equivalents of all mouse
commands. Programs which require a mouse with no keyboard equivalents are
not accessible.
 
4) The user should be able to save logical chunks of data from the CD-ROM
to an ASCII textfile. For example, in a CD-ROM encyclopedia, you should be
able to save an entire article as one disk file. Some applications have
tiresome restrictions (only one screen or 5 screens per file). Blind users
frequently prefer to read the text (especially a long segment) through
voice in their favorite word processor or through braille. Making it
difficult to save material interferes with these options.
 
5) The programmers should keep the computer's cursor informed of the point
on the screen where you are calling attention. Some applications "park the
system cursor in the corner". When a blind user works with their screen
reading software, the biggest clue as to which portion of the screen to
concentrate on is the position of the system cursor. Make sure that the
system cursor is updated with meaningful information.
 