Early Info About Triple Gyrus Core
Triple Gyrus Core is a data and software system built for accessibility and usability first. After 2 weeks of being live, some important lessons have happened and some invaluable feedback has come from the disability community. So, plans for version 2 are underway, and that new version will be released as soon as possible.
Versioning Strategy for Triple Gyrus Core
Versioning for Triple Gyrus Core is just simple numbers, what you see is what you get. The upcoming version is version 2, and the version after that will be version 3. Since semantic versioning (major, minor, patch) is ambiguous with screen readers, harder to express with speech to text, and has its own structural ambiguities (like where the distinction between a minor version and patch is), Triple Gyrus Core versions will sidestep all that complexity. Version 2 will be the second release, version 3 will be the third, and so on.
Equivalent Triple Markers
The markers in the initial version of Triple Gyrus Core, such as ^+1+1^, were optimized for universal access on all computer keyboards and ease of writing by hand for analog-to-digital conversion. However, in the real world, some confusion and ambiguity occurred. Some OCR didn't handle carets as well as initial tests suggested, and conflicting information about character usage in Braille emerged. The question of why Triple Gyrus Core did not use more traditional markers, like those used in XML or HTML, also came up multiple times. The attempt to create a single accessible representation caused some usability friction.
So, the solution that will be implemented in Triple Gyrus Core version 2 is the ability to have multiple equally valid formats for markers. The premise of Triple Gyrus Core will remain the same: information in triples with contextual information present in each triple.
The original format of ^+1+1^ is still going to exist in Triple Gyrus Core version 2, since is original logic is still valid. However, based on feedback from the community, at least 3 equally valid alternative markers will be implemented: a marker that is reliable across more OCR contexts, a Braille representation of markers, and an HTML/XML style marker. Exactly how these will be implemented is still being worked on; for the sake of flexibility the goal will be to create a way for users to specify marker formats that make the most sense to them, with some formats (like the suggested ones) built into the system by default.
Improvements to Bidirectional Text
The Triple Gyrus Core HTML editor currently forces markers and their content to be on separate visual lines to handle display mangling between left-to-right and right-to-left text. While that works as long as the information inside markers goes in one direction only, information that combines text directions still breaks.
The W3C has acknowledged the usefulness of newline characters as bidirectional separators for some time, as in their Additional Requirements for Bidi in HTML and CSS. This is a technique that has been reliable for managing bidirectional text mangling for over a decade.
So, version 2 of Triple Gyrus Core will enhance text direction detection and extend the same logic that keeps markers on their own lines to any string of text where direction changes. This will be a purely visual enhancement, but is should significantly improve usability for people using right-to-left scripts.
Braille and Tactile Support
One of the most critical pieces of feedback from the community was the understanding that Braille is far richer than it may first appear. Optical character recognition (OCR) often fails with it, optical Braille recognition (OBR) is its own area of study, and tactile support can depend on both the physical peripheral being used and the Braille mode a user prefers.
Due to a current lack of knowledge, Triple Gyrus Core is not equipped to handle all of these complexities yet, especially not without further input from the atypical vision community. However, if you have knowledge or information that would make Triple Gyrus Core better, please don't hesitate to reach out. The point of the system is accessibility and usability first, and there are no better people to provide input than those who actually need those things in their own contexts.
For now, version 2 of Triple Gyrus Core will include a Braille representation of its markers, with cell count minimized, tactile distinctiveness maximized as much as possible, and adherence to Braille norms a primary concern. Just like with the equivalent markers listed above, if there are tactile markers that may work better for some users, please don't hesitate to reach out and state what you need.
Accessibility Compliance Documentation
Version 1 of Triple Gyrus Core did not contain accessibility compliance documentation. To rectify this, Version 2 and every version after that will contain accessibility compliance documentation as part of its Zenodo release, and the documentation will also be present in the project's GitHub repository. A VPAT is currently being built and will be included with version 2. If there are other accessibility compliance documents you would like to see, please reach out so they can be added.
Additional Features
Triple Gyrus Core is also still going to be a full semantic data system and accessible programming language one day. Whether that can happen in version 2 is still uncertain; it may be in version 3 or in a future version. Please be assured, however, that the functionality is coming.
Learning More
If Triple Gyrus Core sounds like something that could help you out with accessibility and data tasks, please feel free to check out the project website or LinkedIn page, and email if you have feedback or are interested in collaborating.
If you have any feedback about Triple Gyrus Core, please reach out! Connecting with the user community is important, and you are why Triple Gyrus Core exists in the first place.
https://triplegyruscore.github.io/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jsrc-expert/
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