enkidu wrote:Karl, I think you misunderstand what a screen reader is. This isn't just a program that can display a PDF document, it is usually a program that provides a text-to-speech reading of a text.
Thanks, I didn’t realize that.
No wonder the teacher insists on entering the points, because without them the screen reader is in the same place as are Biblical Hebrew scholars, not knowing how to pronounce what’s written.
enkidu wrote:Textedit now provides an innovative "split cursor" for entering and editing RTL text within a predominantly LTR document, but it really isn't any use for academic writing at all.
The latest version of TextEdit I have came with Mac OS X.7 and outputs the same RTF files that any other word processor outputs. Is there any reason that TextEdit can’t be used for academic writing where minimal formatting is needed?
I don’t know what is a “split curser”. In my experience it’s the same one found also in LibreOffice or in a browser as I respond to messages in B-Hebrew. If the document is primarily right to left, the curser stays on the left of the line of text. In fact, it depends on the line of text, not the primary language of the document. Just make sure that TextEdit is set up to make a RTF document.
enkidu wrote:Finally, I have very little trouble with the placement of any niqqud/vowel point in Mellel or Pages using most unicode fonts. If they are not displaying in Eloquent then I would suspect Eloquent has the problem!
I checked Eloquent because that is the quickest way to check several fonts. The same problem appears on line in a browser. That’s why I suspect the OS or the fonts that came with the OS. I’ve heard that the proper placement of medieval Hebrew dots were a problem in older Mac OS, and my computers may have pre-corrected Mac OS. The problem is not whether or not the dots are present, rather the proper placement for display.
I have hesitated updating the OS on my computers. Well, on my little Dell, it can’t go beyond Mac OS X.6. I use it almost every day, as it’s so handy and easy to carry around, so that, like right now when I have to wait with wifi available, I can do work. My MacBook Air 11" is big and clumsy in comparison. I wish there were updates to netbooks that stayed true to the netbook philosophy—small, light, 9" screen, can easily fit into a carry bag or purse, yet is a full-fledged computer, not crippled like iOS, Android or some of the newest Windows™ computers.
As a result, my experience may be different from yours.
As long as I stay with Biblical Hebrew without the clutter of the untrustworthy medieval dots, I have no problem.
Karl W. Randolph.