Help for low-vision bridge player?
Laurie
due to severe macular degeneration which has made it
impossible for him to see the dummy's cards. He is an
expert bridge player (has several thousand master points)
and the game has been one of his true passions in life.
Although he is probably capable of memorizing the dummy's
cards if they were read to him, he doesn't want to impose
this upon his partner and opponents. If anyone knows of
a method or device or *anything* which would enable him to
continue to play, I would greatly appreciate hearing your
suggestions. Thank-you.
Laurie
Mark Brader
> My 84 year old father had to give up bridge last month
> due to severe macular degeneration which has made it
> impossible for him to see the dummy's cards.
Very sorry to hear it.
> Although he is probably capable of memorizing the dummy's
> cards if they were read to him, he doesn't want to impose
> this upon his partner and opponents.
As an opponent, I would find it no imposition at all. My suggestion
is to try it and see.
As to devices, two things come to mind. First, playing by computer
rather than face to face. I've never looked to see if there's bridge
software capable of displaying the cards super-large, but it might be
worth a look if he's willing to give up on face-to-face play.
Second is the use of "jumbo index" cards, where the numbers, pips, etc.
in the corners are about 3 times the normal size. But maybe he can't
see those either; and in duplicate, of course, it would mean that
everyone would have to use them (or he would have to have a separate,
specially duplicated set of boards).
--
Mark Brader "It is hard to be brave," said Piglet, sniffing
Toronto slightly, when you're only a Very Small Animal".
m...@vex.net -- A. A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
My text in this article is in the public domain.
Giovanni Bobbio
I have sometimes played against blind (totally) opponents, who used
Braille decks. They had dummy's hand and all played cards told them.
In your father's case he doesn't apparently need the Braille deck so
it would be very easy to implement the rest of it.
I would be shocked to find someone who objects to this. I'd be shocked
to find someone who isn't _happy_ to do such a favour to your father.
Online options are bad, IMHO. OKBridge, for example, lets you make the
fonts, the cards and the pips very big, but the overall interface is
very confusing with many windows popping up in strange places.
All the other online games I know are much less customizable, although
usually tidier.
You can try them all freely for a short period, so your father can
judge for himself.
Otherwise a good option is GIB, a software package that has a
reasonably readable interface and a deck with very big pips. It also
plays better than the average online partner. Other software packages
may have similar facilities but I don't know them.
Giovanni
David desJardins
> Although he is probably capable of memorizing the dummy's
> cards if they were read to him, he doesn't want to impose
> this upon his partner and opponents.
From time to time, I have played against blind players. The dummy (or
his partner) calls out the dummy's cards as they are put down, and each
player calls out their cards as they are played. I find it hard to
believe that many people would find this a burden.
David desJardins
Henk Uijterwaal (RIPE-NCC)
1. There are cards for vision impaired players, with the symbols about
3 times as big as usual and green clubs and orange diamonds. This
worked well for a player with a vision problem in a club where I
played years ago and none of the other players seemed to mind.
2. At the same club, nobody had a problem reading out cards and
bids. The player in question had been playing there for years,
with his vision slowly degenerating. When this became the only
option to play, people felt sorry for him but also tried to help
him.
3. Try OKBridge in a low resolution mode (640x480 pixels) on a large
21 inch monitor. That will result in huge letters. (OK, this assumes
that he knows how to use a computer).
Henk
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As long as you don't tell your friends how I played the hand,
then I won't tell my friends how you defended it. (Anonymous)
Vladimir Atanassov
I gather that your father still sees his own hand? If so,
try to design a simple pivoting stand for dummy's cards
that could be fixed to his edge of the table and be
rotatable about the same edge, to lift dummy's cards to
his eyes before he makes a move. An H shape, cards in the upper
half, legs straddling the center of the table so that the
interference with the played cards is minimal.
I could send you a sketch, if you wish.
Vlado, Engineer and Patent Attorney
Julian Lighton
Giovanni Bobbio <giov...@netvalley.it> wrote:
>On 29 Aug 2001 10:21:24 -0700, lau...@yahoo.com (Laurie) wrote:
>
>>My 84 year old father had to give up bridge last month
>>due to severe macular degeneration which has made it
>>impossible for him to see the dummy's cards. He is an
>>expert bridge player (has several thousand master points)
>>and the game has been one of his true passions in life.
>>Although he is probably capable of memorizing the dummy's
>>cards if they were read to him, he doesn't want to impose
>>this upon his partner and opponents. If anyone knows of
>>a method or device or *anything* which would enable him to
>>continue to play, I would greatly appreciate hearing your
>>suggestions. Thank-you.
>
>fonts, the cards and the pips very big, but the overall interface is
>very confusing with many windows popping up in strange places.
The OKbridge telnet interface might be easier to use for this purpose,
since it's all plain text.
I have no idea how either the telnet interface or the normal client
might interact with screen-reading software, but it's something to
look into.
--
Julian Lighton jl...@fragment.com
"Oh, stop it. You can't commit seppuku with a pretzel stick."
-- _Buck Godot_
Barry Margolin
David desJardins <de...@math.berkeley.edu> wrote:
> From time to time, I have played against blind players. The dummy (or
> his partner) calls out the dummy's cards as they are put down, and each
> player calls out their cards as they are played. I find it hard to
> believe that many people would find this a burden.
Me too. I've played against such players at tournaments occasionally,
and I've never heard of anyone making a fuss.
Bridge players can sometimes be assholes when something goes wrong in
the playing, but in my experience they're mostly quite graceful
regarding disabilities. The fact that the majority of bridge players
(in the US, at least) are elderly, and therefore many of them have
infirmities, probably contributes to this.
--
Barry Margolin, bar...@alum.mit.edu
Genuity, Burlington, MA
Vladimir Atanassov
display (visor). If you can zoom the image on the visor,
the camera might be fixed at the shoulder beside the head.
Vlado
lau...@yahoo.com (Laurie) wrote in message news:<2900d10.01082...@posting.google.com>...
John Schuler
but I use:
1. the non-graphical version of Okbridge compiled for Linux
2. 21'' monitor
3. 640x480 resolution
4. LARGE fonts
I've rearranged the Okbridge screen a bit (with their permission). You
have to "pan" to the right with the mouse to see the vulnerability but
after that the stuff you need to bid and play is visible without further
panning.
Please let me know if I can help.
jrs on Okbridge
David Stevenson
It is not an imposition for players to make allowances for other
players with physical disabilities. No reasonable player would think
twice of being asked to readout dummy's cards, and also to read out
every card as played. In fact the EBU has put regulations in place for
this problem, which can be seen at
I also suggest that your father should get some braille cards and
being practising. It is not acceptable to me, and hopefully to others,
that poor sight should stop him playing.
--
David Stevenson Bridge RTFLB Cats Railways /\ /\
Liverpool, England, UK Fax: +44 870 055 7697 @ @
<bri...@blakjak.com> ICQ 20039682 bluejak on OKB =( + )=
Bridgepage: http://blakjak.com/brg_menu.htm ~
David Stevenson
>Laurie writes:
>> My 84 year old father had to give up bridge last month
>> due to severe macular degeneration which has made it
>> impossible for him to see the dummy's cards.
>
>Very sorry to hear it.
>
>> Although he is probably capable of memorizing the dummy's
>> cards if they were read to him, he doesn't want to impose
>> this upon his partner and opponents.
>
>As an opponent, I would find it no imposition at all. My suggestion
>is to try it and see.
>
>As to devices, two things come to mind. First, playing by computer
>rather than face to face. I've never looked to see if there's bridge
>software capable of displaying the cards super-large, but it might be
>worth a look if he's willing to give up on face-to-face play.
>
>Second is the use of "jumbo index" cards, where the numbers, pips, etc.
>in the corners are about 3 times the normal size. But maybe he can't
>see those either; and in duplicate, of course, it would mean that
>everyone would have to use them (or he would have to have a separate,
>specially duplicated set of boards).
That is quite normal, with braille cards. It is expected, however,
that the person with the poor eyesight owns the cards and provides them
where necessary.
Ian Payn
Vladimir Atanassov <vl...@012.net.il> wrote in message
news:ecea199b.01082...@posting.google.com...
What a splendid idea.
Ian Payn
David Stevenson <bri...@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote
>
> It is not an imposition for players to make allowances for other
> players with physical disabilities. No reasonable player would think
> twice of being asked to readout dummy's cards, and also to read out
> every card as played. In fact the EBU has put regulations in place for
> this problem, which can be seen at
>
> http://www.ebu.co.uk/landec
>
> I also suggest that your father should get some braille cards and
> being practising. It is not acceptable to me, and hopefully to others,
> that poor sight should stop him playing.
>
> --
found to help this gentleman play. I would imagine that there might be
practical difficulties with learning braille at the age of 84 (although I'm
sure it has been done) in order to play cards.
Laurie
your kindness, especially your comments encouraging my father to
continue to play despite his vision problems. I received a private
email from someone who told me about an assistive virtual reality
device called the "Jordy" which was designed at Emory University
in Atlanta and provides extreme magnification. I did some research on
the web and this device is suitable for people with macular degeneration.
My father lives in Atlanta and I faxed the information to my sister there
who will show it to his ophthamologist. Hopefully he is a suitable
candidate for the device. If not, I will take up Vlado's kind offer
of providing a sketch of the pivoting stand he suggested. My husband
is very adept at building things.
My father does play bridge on the acbl.com site. I have set up his
computer with the largest fonts and he is able to see it when sitting
very close. But as you know, this is no subsititute for the bridge
club, where he is a very popular player.
Thank-you again,
Laurie
A. L. Edwards
of players who would benefit from such a device.
Tony (aka ac342)
Laurie
> of players who would benefit from such a device.
> Tony (aka ac342)
Here are some of the links I found from a Google search:
http://www.emory.edu/WHSC/HSNEWS/releases/feb01/vision_enhancing_system.html
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/GMA/DrJohnson/GMA010620Miracle_glasses.html
http://webmd.lycos.com/content/article/1728.55494
On a related note, I downloaded the Opera web browser today at work
and discovered that an entire web page can be "magnified" up to 500%.
This yields fonts significantly larger than what Windows can provide,
and could really be a boon for web-based bridge. The browser is
free at http://www.opera.com.
Laurie
Stefan Filonardi
wrote:
>On a related note, I downloaded the Opera web browser today at work
>and discovered that an entire web page can be "magnified" up to 500%.
The actual version 5.1 you can do till 1000%. To switch
between this grades is very easy because the scale is on the
main interface and you don't have to go through any menu.
ciao
Michael Farebrother
Laurie <lau...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Thank-you all so much for replying to my post. I'm truly touched by
>your kindness, especially your comments encouraging my father to
>continue to play despite his vision problems.
>club, where he is a very popular player.
>
player asks the people playing her cards the previous round to sort them
when they're done with them. If sorting isn't common practice in his part
of the world (some countries it is, some countries shuffle in general),
this will make his life much easier.
I have never seen anyone complain about calling cards to her (even if we
forget sometimes; and sometimes she needs dummy recalled halfway
through - again no problem); however at tournaments where she isn't as
well known, there have been people who have bitched about not having
bidding boxes (there, again, the EBU regulations David Stevenson gave
earlier give a decent alternative; call and bid, and one of the opps
pulls the cards for the low-vision player. If they've got a problem
with spoken bidding, they can do the extra work :-).
In team games (without predealt hands), the teammates' table deal out
half the boards, with appropriate opp sorting. Then they switch
immediately with the other table (sorting each of those when they're
done).
I hope he can continue with his passion.
Michael.
--
Michael Farebrother - farebrother.cx disabled for a couple of weeks.
Try mfare - dotcomnow - com (with the obvious fixes).
Karen Allison
>>impossible for him to see the dummy's cards. He is an
>>expert bridge player (has several thousand master points)
When I played my first world championship (in Stockholm), Waldemar Von Zedtwitz
was playing the Mixed Pairs with Barbara Brier. He could see only his hand and
that when he passed it very close to his one working eye. The dummy was called
for him and the cards were called, too, as played by the opponents. No one
minded this at all and Brier and Von Zedtwitz won the World Mixed Pairs.
Your father would be accorded no less courtesy than was Von Zedtwitz or than is
Mike Levinson, who is similarly afflicted and who is a regular tournament
player. There is no need for him to learn braille (though if he did, he could
use those cards and so would everyone else in his section).
We wish him the best of luck and hope that between the Internet and courteous
players he can continue to play this game that we love so much. With a working
brain for bridge, there are really no challenges that can't be met to allow a
player to continue to enjoy our game for life.
Karen
cazlha...@gmail.com
Thank Caz
> Laurie
Adam Wildavsky
http://cdn.acbl.org/nabc/2018/01/bulletins/db9.pdf
Harriet will be happy to discuss with anyone who’s interested. Email me if you want her contact info.
—
ad...@tameware.com
Bertel Lund Hansen
> My wife unfortunately has macular degeneration, so I seized the chance
> to learn more. No criticism of Adam intended for his posting the
> information, but to possibly save others some disappointment, the
> bottom line is $10,000.
One can hope that the price will fall, and, as the article
mentions, a club or an organisation might be able to invest in
some of these gadgets.
--
/Bertel
