We read with our fingers - 2

I'm not sure if this is interesting for Habraluds, but I decided to tell about what was done on www.Braille.ru , including with your invaluable help (for example, in the comments to my first topic on this topic).


^{in title transcript}

I will say at once that far from everything that you advised was done, but after much deliberation and arguments with a colleague, we came to the conclusion that it was better to do it the way we did. All in order.
')

Probably, you should immediately write about what goals were pursued, releasing the second version of the converter. Among them:
1) get away from the JS library for cross-browser display of Braille (there are still some problems with IE, but they are in the process of solving, and in general, do not spoil the situation);
2) rewrite the kernel in order to include the rudiments of the API that will be implemented later, speed up the work and further simplify the addition of support for new languages;
3) make the font not only cross-browser, but also clear;

Here are three general ideas that guided us.

1. From the JS-library typeface, we still left.
Here are two screenshots for comparison (the pictures are clickable):
the first one is floomby.ru/content/UoUkkV0aAk - a screenshot of the old version of the converter, it is no longer in public;
the second - floomby.ru/content/23Lz4kI1ku - a screenshot of the new version of the converter, the one that is now on the site;
The number of requests and time decreased. And for the same phrase, the difference in page weight is almost 60 times.

The method for this was chosen to be quite extreme, and it carries several problems that have not yet reached the hands, but which are solvable. If anyone is interested, I ask to the source code of the page after converting any phrase or just a screenshot look - floomby.ru/content/QrXo6vFuqE .

To give the opportunity to copy the converted text, a switch is made (arrow to the right of the text).

2. Rewrote kernel.
The new core is morally and physically ready to support the API, convenient output to the same PDF, and it works faster. Plus the rudiments of reverse conversion and several mobile services (well, not necessarily mobile, but from a mobile phone it will be just more convenient).

3. Clear font.
Someone in the comments to the previous topic correctly noticed that the font is blurry, even with a slight increase. We tried to resolve this issue. That's what happened - floomby.ru/content/IPn74u6W0S - quite clearly, it seems.

4. Other.

With a wonderful design that offered phenomen , due to the fact that the appearance of the site itself has changed a little, after giving up on JS. It is a pity that as soon as the appearance is settled down, I will try to ask for a new layout, I hope it will not.

There is a lot of work to be done with punctuation marks and various dashes, minuses and other things. The fact is that Braille is divided into two alphabets, six-point, and eight-point.

Six points cover the overwhelming majority of the interests of blind people, therefore we use only it. In books for the blind there are no long dashes, etc. specific characters. All this will need to be translated into something, into which - it is not yet clear. They gave a couple of phones in the All-Russian Association of the Blind, they are working now, there will be meetings the other day.

Oh yeah, eight-point alphabet is used for exact sciences. And as an impression of a trip to the VOS, the Braille display works with both six and eight points.

Thanks again for the tips and bug reports.