--- In qalam@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Wordingham"
<richard.wordingham@...> wrote:

> Yes (except that using a browser is not ideal) but you would need a
> keyboarding back-up (ideally part of the same element) to avoid RSI.

Sorry, what is RSI? I would consider this only an alternative input
method. However, most non-alphabetic scripts have multiple input
methods for different purposes. SInce keyboarding a non-alphabetic
script requires in some sense compsoing the text from 30 keys there
have to be multiple approaches for access.

> I have my own webpage for typing Thai using Kedmanee / phonetic
> (mostly one non-control key-press per character) keyboard encoding or
> mouse clicks

I would love to see that but I won't be able to view it till later. I
have limited time on a dial-up connection for now.

- the difference truly between keying and clicking is so

> vast that I only click for the unencoded stuff. Point and click is

a

> crutch, albeit a necessary one for many - perhaps for all of us in

one

> context or another.

In Asian scripts there seems to be a split between input methods used
by secretrial professions and those used by others. Of course, there
is a huge difference between keyb oarding and clicking but imagine not
being able to use the computer at all and watching a five year old who
can.

When I was in Beijing I visited the apartment of a calligrapher, a
woman, and her teenage son. He was using a Pinyin IME to instant
message with friends just as quickly as my kids do in English.
However, I asked the mother what method she used and by the look on
her face realized that this calligrapher could not use the computer at
all. How humiliating for her to have to get her son to handle even
email! Her generation are not fluent in Pinyin and obviously she had
not learned a difficult glyph-based method like canjie and did not
know about the new input methods which are easier. She spoke some
English and was educated but truly hampered by her lack of access to
digital literacy.

Suzanne

>
> Richard.