Blind Gamers Crossword Software
BG Crossword Puzzle 1.0
Ross Beresford posted a blurb about the BG Crossword Puzzle software on his "An Englishman Does American Crosswords" website and I was intrigued. I have an interest in website accessibility issues and requested a copy of the software for review. I've found it interesting enough to recommend blind or vision impaired people give it a try. I must confess that it has never occurred to me that they would do crosswords, or want to, but okay why not. Despite an interest in the subject, I am not qualified to say that this software is what blind solvers need, though the developer has a long interest in this field and should have an excellent feel for what is wanted, needed, and possible. It is a specialized niche and I didn't find a lot of other options that could be used for reference or comparison.
BG Crossword Puzzle 1.0 was developed by Ian Humphreys, who is located in Australia. Through his Spoonbill Software empire he distributes a number of software packages designed for the blind and vision impaired. NOTE: Ian has pointed out that his 'empire' consists of "little ole me and a few blind people around the world". That's okay; I am the King of my castle, the reality of which would impress no one:))
Blind Gamers software is freeware, potential users need only request a link to the zipped installer package. The link will be sent with a few days of request. Requests should be emailed to:
games@spoonbillsoftware.com.au.
Your request should be sent in the following format:
My name is David Blackwell from North Carolina, USA, please send BG Crossword Puzzle 1.0.
I had no difficulty with installation. Be sure to note the installation location: Program Files > Games > CrosswordB. The program will put itself on the program list at 'start > All Programs > Spoonbill Games'. There are several crosswords included in a variety of formats. There are directories for Across Lite Binary, Across Lite Text, Crossword Compiler, and Guardian HTML.
I moved a couple of my own constructions in .puz format into the Across Lite Binary directory and they opened and functioned perfectly. Solvers that download crosswords in the Across Lite format need only make sure that it is placed in the correct directory. The program cannot open a file from just anywhere; files must be placed in the correct directory. For American users, I would expect the Across Lite Binary directory to be the only one utilized. Most American crosswords are distributed in several formats, including .puz Constructors and publishers will have to make little or no effort to provide their puzzles in a format supported by BG Crossword Puzzle 1.0 In our correspondence, Ian Humphreys has confirmed that Across Lite Binary directory (.puz) is expected to be the most important and commonly used, stating, "the de facto electronic interchange format."
I don't believe that the Across Lite Text directory will be a factor for most users.? I am unaware of any outlets that offer the public such files, though evidently there are some, perhaps outside the United States.? I don't know of any publishers or constructors that distribute Across Lite compatible formats in plain text, though the process is certainly simple enough. This is an international product however, developed in Australia, with input and support from Britain, and now being well publicized within the crossword community here in the United States. Presumably the publicity effort is occurring within the blind and vision impaired community as well. Ian has also confirmed with me that the Across Lite Text directory is an 'extra', available for the convenience of publishers should they choose to offer files in the format. The advantage of these text files is that the markup (code) format is extremely simple. Anyone can learn the format and key-in a puzzle in a few minutes. (Truth be told, if one knows how it is no more difficult to hand code a .puz file, but I digress.)
Note from Ian Humphreys: "Across Lite text format does not allow for a partially completed crossword, only an empty crossword plus optional solution. So this format is useless for saving a partially completed crossword."
The Guardian HTML directory is specific to England's "The Guardian" newspaper. Although The Guardian offers its crosswords in a version for the blind and partially sighted, it seems that accessibility has long been a significant problem for many potential users. I don't fully understand why this is, or would need to be, given the resources available (expertise, not just funds), nevertheless, with BG Crossword Puzzle officially released users will now have the opportunity to add their voices to influence the situation as needed.
Note from Ian Humphreys: "BG Crossword Puzzle was ready for release about two months ago but we were hanging on for the Across Lite button on the GU site. But it has been dragging on and on and finally we decided we could wait no longer. We had identified a great demand for this type of program, and as you yourself found out, there's nothing much out there already which provided blind people with the opportunity to solve crossword puzzles. So Guardian HTML format has to remain until GU have got themselves sorted.
I know GU have this Blind/PS format but this is no use to blind people unless they have the special Braille apparatus to use it. This apparatus is provided by RNIB (Royal National Intstitute of Blind People)l in the UK at a cost out of the reach of most blind crossword fans. And using it involves downloading the Blind/PS file, putting it in a text editor, then painstakingly reading the file with their screen reader and transferring all the information regarding blank squares into the crossword apparatus. They can then begin solving it. Apparently RNIB are reissuing the Braille apparatus at a greatly reduced cost, but even so it is a very clumsy way to get into crossword solving and BG Crossword Puzzle is by far much easier to use."
By accident I found out that all the Guardian crossword pages are presented not as a Java on-line crossword solver with the data for the crossword stored elsewhere, but their on-line crossword solver app is embedded in the HTML of the page being displayed and it was possible with a tricky bit of programming to extract all the information to reconstruct the crossword within BG Crossword Puzzle and present it for solving. This, as I mentioned allows blind solvers access not only to the current puzzles but all GU's vast archives of puzzles as well. Guardian offer all their crossword puzzles for free, so this is not contravening any copyright restrictions.
Ian has clarified several questions regarding the Crossword Compiler directory. It is "Spoonbill's proprietary format used exclusively by another Spoonbill product, Crossword Compiler. Not to be confused with the Crossword Compiler you are accustomed to. I had suspected that perhaps we were not referring to the same Crossword Compiler program. Strictly speaking, the top choice of professional constructor's is called "Crossword Compiler for Windows", though most everyone just calls in Crossword Compiler or Compiler.
Both have been around for quite awhile. If his solving software is well received, there may be some initial confusion. Spoonbill's Crossword Compiler exports .xwc files, and these files are opened by Blind Gamers Crossword Puzzle. Antony Lewis' Crossword Compiler for Windows, the international standard for construction software, does NOT export files in that format. To make things a bit more confusing, it does export .xwd files, which are compatible with the Crossdown brand of constructing software. Got all that:)) It's a small market and word will get around as to what's what. I hope that I am actually helping and not further muddying the water.
Note from Ian Humphreys: ..... The only format to which I have access which allows the saving of a partially completed crossword is my own Crossword Compiler format. So that is why, whatever format the original crossword comes in, if you save a partially completed crossword in BG Crossword Puzzle, it always saves it in XWC (Spoonbill Crossword Compiler) format. The Crossword Compiler directory is only used for storing saved partially solved crosswords. There are only about 65 users of my Crossword Compiler program worldwide, so unless any of these people want to contribute their crosswords to BG Crossword Puzzle users, this directory will not be used for input of crosswords. There are two key points here: 1. If accessing a saved puzzle, the user will need to access the Crossword Compiler directory, not the original directory. 2. This directory need not concern users for any other reason than opening saved puzzles.
To use the program, the first order of business is to read the BG Crossword Tutorial, and then the BG Crossword Help. Both are well organized and appear to be quite detailed. Lesson 1 in BG Crossword Help has 59 numbered steps. There are several lessons specific to solving cryptics. Not surprisingly, I had a difficult time doing everything without the mouse and using only the keyboard. I can't imagine getting anything done without being able to see it at the same time, but I reckon that we all learn what we need to do to manage our circumstances effectively. If you can remember the myriad keyboard commands, using the program seems pretty straightforward.
A search for similar software yielded dismal results. I found a few things; maybe. Very little information is offered. AbleData may have something, but their website makes no effort to be at all informative. From the moment of release it appears the BG Crossword Puzzle software is going to become the de facto source for anyone interested in this type of product, and Ian draws from a lifetime of programming experience as well as extensive experience in designing applications for the blind. I'd like to see the Tutorial and Help documentation on his website; it would be helpful to prospective users trying to determine if this software is something that they want to request and install.
The text-to-speech experience is occasionally disconcerting because pronunciation is sometimes a problem. Non-dictionary words such as LAZAR, as in Irving 'Swifty' LAZAR tend to be pronounced incorrectly, in this case, 'laser', a hard A followed by ER, instead of the correct soft A and ARE pronunciations. Phrases are also a problem, the Windows speech program (SAPI) slurring through the entries.
NOTE: Ian has advised me that if pronunciation of an entry is unlcear, that users can have the entry spelled out letter by letter. That should be clear enough, but users can also have the entry spelled with International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Ian recommends Microsoft Mary as the best choice, if available on your machine. He considers Microsoft Sam and Microsoft Anna to be inferior.
To have an entry spelled out, key Shift W or Shift F3. These commands intstruct the program to spell the entry. The word "dot" is used to denote missing letters. For IPA spelling, key ALT W or ALT F3.
SAPI voices superior to the Microsoft choices can be purchased if needed. The narrowness of the market for this type of specialized software means that it is very difficult for developers to see a return on an investment. It is my understanding that some individual applications, such as dictionaries, have software that allows pronunciations of individual words to be customized, using a selected phonic for each syllable. Perhaps this could someday be implemented into BG software? There would need to be a way for authors to specify pronunciation for phrases and non-dictionary words when coding or publishing. Again, the return on investment for accessibility designers and programmers will likely continue to limit the pace of progress.
I have muddled through tests of several of my crosswords, and assume that blind users are much better at muddling through and adapting more quickly and more easily than I. Feedback from anyone who tries this program is welcome and encouraged. I will be happy to consider edits to this page that will help make the content accurate and fair. This is a case in which my best effort can likely be augmented and improved by blending the impressions of actual users with my own observations.
