[BlindTlk] Refreshable Braille Display Question Please...

[James Kelm]

Dear friends,

    I hope that everyone is having a great Halloween!

    As of about 3 days ago, I am the very excited owner of a Focus Blue 40 5th generation Refreshable Braille Display.  I am very excited about the Focus Blue, and feel confident that it will be a big help for me at work.  I do hope that you can assist me however!

    I have been a computer user for longer than I would like to admit.  But I have never used a Braille Display before, so I am starting at the beginning with my Focus.  I have the little Quick Start booklet that came with the item, and I have downloaded the slightly more complete book from the web site.  But does anyone know of a CD "course", or other more in-depth method that I can buy that will help me get comfortable more quickly and/or more proficient?  There are no agencies in my area that have any experience with refreshable Braille displays, and Freedom Scientific, or whatever their name is now, said that they do not have any training material other than what came in the box.

    I remember that years ago there were some companies that sold courses on all kinds of software and such for the blind, and you could learn a lot just by following along at home.  I do not know if they still exist though.  If there was something like that for my Focus Blue though, I would jump up and down and do a happy dance, and trust me when I say that is not something that any of you would want to see!  LOLL

    Seriously, if you have any ideas for me, I would sincerely appreciate them!  I want this Focus to be an aid for me at work, but I don't want to take forever trying to figure it out on my own.


Thank you for your help!
James