The Atkinson Hyperlegible Font

The choice of font can make a big difference in legibility, especially for readers like myself with low vision. I recently discovered a new font that's specifically designed to improve readability for people with low vision. It's called Atkinson Hyperlegible and it's free to download and install. 

Atkinson Hyperlegible font is named after Braille Institute founder, J. Robert Atkinson.  What makes it different from traditional typography design is that it focuses on letterform distinction to increase character recognition, ultimately improving readability.  We are making it free for anyone to use!

I've installed it as the default font in Chrome and I do find it much easier to read than any other font that I've seen. I've also installed it on my Kindle. I had been using Amazon Ember, which is a very readable font, but Atkinson Hyperlegible is better. Note that to install it on your Kindle, you should remove the "-102" suffix in the font name before copying it to your Kindle. 

If you're interested in finding out more about the font, there will be a free webinar with the designer on February 24th. 

The Apollo Jettison Anomaly

A previously classified anomaly that could have killed the Apollo 11 astronauts on re-entry has recently been revealed. It almost caused the Service Module to collide with the Command Module, and it also affected two previous flights.

A serious anomaly occurred as the crew careened toward a landing on Earth, according to Nancy Atkinson, a science journalist and author who details formerly classified information about the event in her new book, " Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions."

"Through my interviews and research for the book, I uncovered a serious anomaly that occurred during Apollo 11's return to Earth," Atkinson — whose book comes out July 2 — told Business Insider in an email. "The event was discovered only after the crew had returned safely to Earth."

The problem happened just before Apollo 11 returned to Earth, causing a discarded space module to nearly crash into the crew's capsule.

What's more, Atkinson's sources suggest, the same issue also threatened the crews of three other Apollo missions.

I have not heard about this before reading the article linked here and it's made me quite interested in reading Atkinson's book.

Reading on the Fire HD 8 Tablet

A couple of months ago, I bought an Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet to use as an ereader. I had intended to use it for occasional web browsing, mostly to read news sites, but I've found that Amazon's proprietary version of Android limits its use for me. So I'm using it mostly as a replacement for my Kindle Paperwhite. I do use the Paperwhite when reading outdoors because neither my phone or tablet are great for reading in bright sunlight.

There are four apps that I've used for reading.

Amazon's Kindle app

Given that this is an Amazon tablet, you might think that the Kindle app would be the best for reading books. That turned not to be the case for me, primarily due to an annoying feature (or possible a bug) in the app. There are 12 or 13 possible font sizes but there's a significant jump in size between the 6th and 7th. The 6th is too small and the 7th too large. I can read the smaller size if I use my reading glasses, but that's not always convenient and the larger font size drastically slows my reading speed. 

The app has other limitations. It won't expand or collapse subheadings in the table of contents if the book has them, margins are too wide, it doesn't offer control over justification in many books, and I can't add custom fonts. Some of these limitations can be worked around by formatting the book in Calibre, but then the app treats them as documents instead of as books, so it won't sync between the tablet and my phone.

The app is also cluttered and generally not as pleasant to use as the Kindle Paperwhite.

Google Play Books

I now use Google Play Books as my default for reading books. It addresses most of the limitations of the Kindle app mentioned above. I do have to format the book in Calibre if I want to use my preferred font (Atkinson Hyperlegible), but unlike the Kindle app, Play Books will sync between the tablet and my phone. 

The font selections available in Play Books are more limited than those in the Kindle app and it doesn't have the excellent fonts (like Amazon Ember) that Amazon designed for online reading. I haven't found a way of adding the Atkinson Hyperlegible font to Android's font list, either on my phone or on the tablet, which means I still need to format the book in Calibre to use that font. 

Kobo Books

I've purchased quite a few books from the Kobo bookstore. I run them through Calibre and then read them on the Kindle or in Play Books because the Kobo app is very basic and doesn't offer the many of the options available on Kobo's ereaders.

Libby

Libby, produced by Overdrive, is an app that you can use to download magazines and ebooks from your local library. I use it mostly for magazines, although I have read a couple of ebooks with it. (The three-week loan period isn't long enough for me to get through most books). 

I used to use an app called RB Digital for reading magazines, but that was shuttered after it was bought by Overdrive and the magazine collection folded into Libby. That was unfortunate, because Libby's selection interface is cluttered and harder to use than that of RB Digital. Fortunately, the app offers a usable text mode, which means that I can use it on the Fire 8 HD. (The 8" size is too small for comfortable reading when using the full-page view). I would like to have a larger font selection and a higher brightness level in text mode or more control over text contrast.

Conclusion

The Fire HD 8 is hobbled by Amazon's proprietary version of Android, which means that it's not great for general use as a tablet. However, it works well enough as an ereader now that I've found workarounds for some of the limitations of the various apps. I do regret not spending more money and getting an 8" Samsung tablet. 

An App to Help Users with Tremors

Users with tremors caused by Parkinson's or other neurological diseases can have trouble using phones and tablets. If you use an iPad, there is now an app called Staybl that can help by using the device's accelerometer to detect tremors and move the screen in the opposite direction to stabilize the field of view.

Other improvements made to the Staybl app that help make it more accessible and useable for those dealing with hand tremors were the removal of swipe and slide gestures required for navigation, enlarged buttons made easier to press, a higher contrast interface, and the use of the Atkinson Hyperlegible sans-serif font developed by the Braille Institute for improved legibility for readers with visual impairments through a design that makes individual letters easier to differentiate.

The app is currently only available for iPads but the developers hope to create versions for other devices and platforms.  

Font Wars At The State Department

The US State Department is changing the font used for internal documents and it's causing some controversy. The State Department has been using Times New Roman since 2004 but is now switching to Calibri. The change is ostensibly to make it easier for employees using screen readers or who have other perceptual issues that make it hard to read a serif font.

Not everyone is happy. 

The change comes as a means to help employees who are visually impaired and was recommended by the secretary’s office of diversity and inclusion. However, the announcement has received criticism and complaints that the Calibri font is not aesthetically pleasing.

One Foreign Service officer told The Post that a water cooler discussion about the font change “took up, like, half the day,” and ranged on both ends of the approval spectrum, while another said, “I’m anticipating an internal revolt.”

Although the change is facing pushback, this is not the first time the State Department has implemented a font change to internal documents. The font was exchanged for Times New Roman in 2004, but at that time had received criticism because it was changed from the Courier New 12 font, otherwise known as the typewriter font.

If they are really concerned about legibility, they should be looking at Atkinson Hyperledgible, which I'm now using as the default font on my browser and on my Kindle. At least they aren't going back to Courier New.

What I Read in 2022

As has been the case in recent years, most of my reading has been newspapers and magazines. I subscribe to the New York Times and the Toronto Star and regularly read about a dozen magazines through the Toronto Public Library and the Libby and Pressreader apps on my aging Samsung tablet. I also use the tablet for graphic novels, though I didn't read any last year. (I just bought the Neil Gaiman Dark Horse Collection from Humble Bundle which will keep me busy for a while). 

For books, I mostly use my Kindle now. I have found that using the Atkinson Hyperledgible font makes it much easier for me to read; my reading speed is about double when I'm reading using that font. 

These are the books I managed to read in 2022.

• Perseopolis Rising, James S. A. Corey
• Tiamat's Wrath, James S. A. Corey
• Leviathan Falls, James S. A. Corey
• The Year's Best Science Fiction: 34th Edition, Gardner Dozois (ed)
• The Next Civil War, Stephen Marche
• The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume Eleven, Jonathan Strahan (ed)
• Dark State, Charles Stross
• Invisible Sun, Charles Stross
• The Genesis Machine, Amy Webb and Andres Hassel
• Shadow Captain, Alastair Reynolds
• A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine

Kindle Fire HD 8 First Impressions - Updated

I use several devices (Pixel 4a, Samsung Galaxy Tab A, Kindle Paperwhite). for reading. Even with strong reading glasses, I can't comfortably read newspapers, magazines, or most books in their paper editions. My preference is for dark mode (white text on a black background) as I find a white screen hard to view for any length of time. 

The Kindle Paperwhite does have a dark mode but it isn't very good, because the E-ink screen doesn't have enough contrast. I've been thinking about getting a small tablet (one smaller than the Samsung), so when I saw the Kindle Fire HD 8 tablet was on sale, I decided to get one. 

The tablet is solidly built although a bit heavy compared to my Kindle. I've read complaints about performance but it is adequately fast for general use, certainly faster than my now 5-year-old Samsung tablet. Amazon uses its own version of Android and has its own app store, which is much more limited than Google's. It is possible to add the Google Play Store to the tablet; more on that later. 

There are several Amazon-installed apps that you can't remove, but it's easy enough to move them into folders and tuck them away at the bottom of the home screen. I intend to use the tablet as an ereader and won't be installing email or social media apps like Facebook on it. So on my home screen right now, I have the Kindle app and Libby for reading magazines and books from the library. 

The Kindle app works but has some limitations that I find annoying. The major issue for me is that the choices of font and font sizes are limited. For font size, the choices aren't granular enough and I would like a size in between the sizes offered. You also can't add your own fonts to the app (I prefer Atkinson Hyperlegible), something that I verified with Amazon support. You can use Calibre to embed the font into a book and transfer it to the tablet as a document. 

The Libby app works quite well and I will probably be using it more than I did on the larger Samsung tablet. 

I ordered Amazon's own case for the tablet, but have decided to return it and get something else. Their case is very slippery, and I am really afraid I will drop it, especially if I read in bed. (Update: The Moko case is better than the Amazon case: the strap makes it much more secure to hold and the stand is better, at least for keeping it in landscape mode). 

I did get the Google Play Store onto the tablet by following these instructions and installed several apps. Unfortunately, I'm having a problem with Chrome; it won't let me log into my Google account, claiming the account is already on the tablet but won't let me log in. More investigation is needed, although given the intended uses of the tablet, it's not a big deal.

I likely would have gotten more flexibility out of a Samsung tablet or an iPad, but given the cost of the tablet ($100 CDN), I don't have many regrets. 

Update: After almost six months, I've noticed that my Google account now syncs with Chrome on the tablet. Either an OS or Chrome update fixed the problem as I didn't do anything else to change it. This makes the tablet much more usable. 

Kindle to Support EPUB, Sort Of

Amazon has announced that you will soon be able to send EPUB files directly to your Kindle, using the Send to Kindle email address that each Kindle has, or later in the year through the Send to Kindle app. The files will be automatically converted to the current AZW3 format. 

They will drop support for the old MOBI format though files that you have will still continue to work (and I assume you can still sideload them directly from a computer). 

I'll be interested to see how well this works. Currently, I run EPUB files through the Calibre app so I can force justification to flush left (aka ragged right) as fully justified files look horrible at the font size I normally read at. I don't know if the new conversion from EPUB will support changing the default justification. If you know, please leave a comment. I would also like to see the ability to use the Atkinson Hyperlegible font, which my .mobi files don't seem to like, although I can get that working on AZW3 files by using Calibre.

At some point in the next year, I may buy a Kobo reader so I can download library books directly to my device and for the better typographic support offered by Kobo. (I can read library books on my phone or tablet, but would prefer to use an ereader as it's easier on the eyes). 

 

1980s Home Computing Radio Show Archive

In the early 1980s, there was a radio show about the new world of home computing called The Famous Computer Cafe. The hosts of the show included major figures from the computing industry and other well known public figures, includuing: Bill Gates, Jack Tramiel (Atari), Timothy Leary, Bill Atkinson (Apple), and many others.

Fortunately, the show episodes were recorded on reel-to-reel tapes. Unfortunately, the tapes were lost, but recently some were found and digitally restored, and are now available to listen to on the Internet Archive Site. 

I wish I'd been able to listen to this show back when I was first getting into computing in 1983. As it is, they're a fascinating historical artifact of an important era in tech history. 

Apple iPad Mini: First Impressions

A couple of years ago, I bought an Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet to use as an ereader. It's a good size for that, with a size that's in between my aging Samsung Tab A tablet and my Pixel 8 Pro. (Due to my vision issues, I find reading on my Kindle Paperwhite harder on my eyes than reading on a device with dark mode). But it hasn't been a happy experience as Amazon's forked version of Android and the tablet's slow processor make it frustrating to use. 

There aren't a lot of good, small Android tablets. Samsung has one but they have a bad track record with updates and I don't like their One UI interface. I've read good things about Lenovo's new tablet but it seems to be aimed at gamers, which I am not. So I figured it was finally time to embrace the Dark Side and get an iPad Mini.

The Good

It's a quality machine, almost luxurious, Solid, good looking, and with a beautiful screen (even if it isn't OLED). It's fairly fast, though maybe not quite as quick as my Pixel 8 Pro, but certainly fast enough. 

Apple's IOS is functional and pretty, though as a long-time Android user, it is taking more than a little getting used to. I have the basics figured out. YouTube has been my friend here. 

Since I have a Windows PC and a Pixel phone, I am continuing to use Google's apps like Calendar, Messages, and Keep instead of the equivalent Apple apps. 

I am using Apple News+ since the iPad came with a three month free trial and so far, I love it. I've been using the Libby app to read magazines on my Fire tablet, but News+ is superior in almost every respect though it doesn't have all the magazines  that I like to read. But I like it enough that I will probably pay for the subscription when the trial runs out.  

Apple's Folio cases are very expensive. I bought this Oduio case instead. It's 1/3 of the cost, looks good, and lets me stand the iPad up in both portrait or landscape mode for viewing videos. The feature I really like is the strap on the back so I can hold it securely with one hand while reading.

The Bad

Control Center is a dog's breakfast and the customization process is annoying. I much prefer Android's Quick Settings. I had to watch a video to figure it out and ven then customizing it is fussy. The method used in IOS before version 18 (which I saw in a video) looks like it's much easier. A switch to revert to the old method would be nice.

Battery life is OK but not great. I am may be keeping the screen brightness up higher than need be and will fiddle with that. I enabled the 80 percent charging limit to preserve long-term battery life (I do the same on my phone). Also, I don't know what apps and processes are running in the background. I will have to look at this

As noted above, the screen looks good. I do wish they had enabled a higher refresh rate than 60 Hz. as I can see a bit of jitter in some apps. 

I was disappointed that the iPad Mini doesn't support FaceID. I'm used to opening my phone just by looking at it and miss this on the iPad.

As much as I like Apple News+, it's annoying that I can't set a default font. I much prefer sans serif fonts for reading. Some articles come up in sans serif, others in a serif font. Sizing of fonts is hit or miss between stories. I am going to try to load the Atkinson Hyperlegible font onto the iPad. I doubt that will help with Apple News+ but would be good for my ebooks. 

I really miss not having Google's Reading Mode app, which takes the current screen, strips out all of the extraneous stuff (including ads) and reformats it as plain text. Some searching has revealed that Safari has a reading mode and I may have to start using that, which will mean importing my bookmarks and passwords from Chrome. Google's Reading Mode app works on almost anything, not just web pages.

The Ugly

The inability to resize icon text and things like the system's date, time, and battery percentage at the top of the screen is more than just an annoyance. Come on Apple: you can give us more accessibility options here. 

Apps that don't support Apple's system font size setting are a problem (Google Keep, for example). I've had to set up the Magnifier to deal with that. In fairness to Apple, this may be Google's fault. 

Since I have an Apple Care subscription, I may book an appointment at the Apple Store's Genius Bar to get some help with this.

As has been commented on in almost every review I've read, the bezels are ridiculously large for a current device.