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Re: lynx-dev style (was: local_dired cleanup)
From: |
Rick Lewis |
Subject: |
Re: lynx-dev style (was: local_dired cleanup) |
Date: |
Mon, 24 May 1999 23:43:43 -0700 (MST) |
Chuck,
A Braille display translates what is on the screen into
Braille, using keys on the display which move the user line-by-line
through the text.
The key element here is that many (not all) Braille display users
have units that only display part of the screen. A portable 40-cell
unit, for example, will, using contracted Braille, display maybe 60
percent of the 80-cell line.
It's not that we don't use indentation; we do. It's a part of
paragraphing.
But, as you'd expect, we read from left to right.
Any white space beyond the margin is ignored, just as you'd look quickly
at it, realize it's blank, and move on to the next line.
But space on the left *isn't* ignored; it's encountered every time a
line is read, and in most cases in lynx, it's blank.
Indentation serves a useful purpose when it means something, like the
beginning of a paragraph. But encountering those extra blank spaces
just makes the Braille user take a tad longer to read each line--
maybe inconsequential on an individual-line basis, but it adds up.
Plus, of course, if I have forty available "cells" or spaces for
characters to work with, (which I do), that leaves me with only 37
(decreasing my available usable lines by 7.5% each, to no useful end.)
As for your comparison with man pages, you have a point, but I suspect
much more time is spent by users on the Web reading pages of interest
than is spent perusing man pages, no matter how useful they might be.
Also, regarding headers, I don't know about anybody else, but I *read*
text and occasionally *use* or *note* headers. Better to indent the
headers and leave the text alone, since most people spend more time
reading text, in my opinion.
And, of course, as has been pointed out, every time I want to excerpt
an item from a page, I always have to run it through an editor to
bring that margin back to the left.
By the way, another consideration involving Braille displays is that
they're mechanical and expensive. They cost six to ten grand, and the
more wear and tear you put on them (by changing from line to line, for
example), the less time they'll last ... and there are some of us who may
just have to do without if a breakdown occurs.
7.5% more use of the controls means more wear for the moving parts,
hence less usable life for the equipment.
That's why I'd support indentation of items used less, rather than for
each line.
No, I won't go away mad, sulking, if everyone disagrees with me.
But I've tried to make the most factual and reasonable description of the
equipment (and my argument) possible. Thanks for asking.
--Rick
- Re: lynx-dev [PATCH][pre2] local_dired cleanup, (continued)
Re: lynx-dev [PATCH][pre2] local_dired cleanup, dickey, 1999/05/12
- lynx-dev style (was: local_dired cleanup), Mike Castle, 1999/05/23
- Re: lynx-dev style (was: local_dired cleanup), Hiroyuki Senshu, 1999/05/23
- Re: lynx-dev style (was: local_dired cleanup), Lloyd G. Rasmussen, 1999/05/24
- Re: lynx-dev style (was: local_dired cleanup), Philip Webb, 1999/05/25
- Re: lynx-dev style (was: local_dired cleanup), Rick Lewis, 1999/05/25
- Re: lynx-dev style (was: local_dired cleanup), Chuck Martin, 1999/05/25
- Re: lynx-dev style (was: local_dired cleanup),
Rick Lewis <=
- lynx-dev indentation (again: was something), Philip Webb, 1999/05/25
Re: lynx-dev style (was: local_dired cleanup), Chuck Martin, 1999/05/25
lynx-dev indentation (again: was something), Philip Webb, 1999/05/25
Re: lynx-dev style (was: local_dired cleanup), Vlad Harchev, 1999/05/25