[nabs-l] braille displays

Sat Apr 30 02:48:00 UTC 2011

Ashley:

I can proofread documents just fine using speech alone.  AS I say, one gets
used to the quirks of one's synthesizer.  Spellcheck is also an assist here.

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of bookwormahb at earthlink.net
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2011 4:44 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] braille displays

Jewel,
That is good news and that is why I want a focus 40.  I want to know the
spelling and punctuation.  This is more for documents where I need to edit
and proofread them.  For reading, I can just listen to jaws.  To justify the
expense to myself or work or whatever, I need to know it does more than Jaws
will do.

So this display has fourty cells; you say it automatically translates text
to grade two braille.
You said you can jump to the cell by
pressing the coresponding button and it moves the cursor.

Can you just read with it or do you write too?
Does it move the cursor on your screen or just on the braille display?  If
rehab bought you this, you're real lucky.

"I'm still learning how to use the display as a keyboard, but it is proving
promising. "
What is this?
Typing with the six dot keyboard? Do you mean you are typing in grade two
braille?

Also how do you tell the paragraphs on the display?  It is linear so you
cannot "see" indenting.  What about changes in font like bold and italics? 
Does the display convey this somehow?

Since you're a braille reader primarily, I bet its real fast for you to
input and read braille. Do you know your speed?

Ashley

-----Original Message-----
From: Jewel
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2011 1:04 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] braille displays

Hi,
Jewel here. I have a Focus 40. For me, the main benefit is not wondering how
a word is spelled while I'm reading it, knowing where the punctuation is
put, and being able to read instead of listening to e-mails, books, and
schol work.

An example: In Spanish class, we have to know how to spell words correctly.
Without the braille display, I have to listen to each letter individually
for every word. This takes waaay to long. Also, I am given worksheets where
I need to put the answer within the area of the line. If I am lsstening to
this, I have to go word by word until it says underline underline underline.
With a braille display, I can find the line just while reading and can press
a cursor routing key to go directly to that area.

I had no troulb e setting up the display. It comes with a CD that you put in
the computer and goes step by step through the process. Also, it has a
Braille translation key that, when on, translates whatever you are reading
into grade 2 Braille, whether on-line, in a word or TXT file, or hatever. To
read a BRF file, you just press the braille translation key to turn that
off.

I'm still learning how to use the display as a keyboard, but it is proving
promising. I know how to move through a file without touching the keyboard,
and am learning how to type using the six-dot keyboard (which is actually
eight because it can do computer Braille).

I wanted to show someone how much of a difference the dislay made for me, so
I read a file for the first time via the JAWS speech, answered comprehension
questions, then read it with the Braille display and answered other
questions. I got way more comprehension when I read the file with the
display.

I've never use d a Braille note, but with the Focus 40, I have several
options for panning, using a wizwheel, two rocker switches, and two panning
buttons. For examle, I tend to use the right panning button for panning
while reading a long file, because I can just tap it at the end of the line
before moving b ack to the beginning of the line.
When I'm skimming a document, I use the wizwheeel to skim by line,
paragraph, or sentence. Moving the cursor is easy, like I said earlier, by
just pressing the button above the cell you want the cursor to move to.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask and I'll try to answer.

~Jewel

On 4/28/11, Nicole B. Torcolini at Home <ntorcolini at wavecable.com> wrote:
> What model and KS version of the BrailleNote do you have? You can use 
> the BrailleNote as a Braille display for the computer.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <bookwormahb at earthlink.net>
> To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 7:08 PM
> Subject: [nabs-l] braille displays
>
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I'd love to have a braille display.  If I work for a government 
>> organization or contractor, they will likely purchase one for me as 
>> they have the funds for it.
>> But privately, I don't know.  Isn't the typical display $3000?
>>
>> Anyway, as I dream of what I think its benefits are, I'd like to know 
>> the reality of them.
>> I'm not an auditory person and I've just thought that reading the 
>> display via the computer will afford me the opportunity to see the 
>> punctuation and
>>
>> spelling you miss with speech.
>>
>> So for those of you who use displays, what are your thoughts?
>> What display do you have?  How does it work?  What are the benefits?  
>> Is it like the Brialle Note display where the cursor can be moved at 
>> the touch of a button?  Do the pins stay duravle?  If not, how often 
>> do they need maintenance?
>> If you buy a display to work with jaws, is it hard to install?
>> Also, can the display show you grade 2 braille in text documents?  I 
>> mean does it automatically convert to grade 2 braille even though its 
>> text? If not, do you have to convert to .brf to run it?
>>
>>
>> Any pros and cons, I'd like to hear.
>>
>> I have the display on the Braille Note and do not use speech.  The 
>> braille
>>
>> is quiet and works so much more efficiently for me!
>>
>>
>> Ashley
>> _______________________________________________
>> nabs-l mailing list
>> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>> nabs-l:
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/ntorcolini%40
>> wavecable.com
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
> nabs-l:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/herekittykat2%
> 40gmail.com
>

_______________________________________________
nabs-l mailing list
nabs-l at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nabs-l:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/bookwormahb%40earthl
ink.net 

_______________________________________________
nabs-l mailing list
nabs-l at nfbnet.org
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nabs-l:
http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nabs-l_nfbnet.org/k7uij%40panix.com