[nabs-l] braille displays

Sat Apr 30 20:16:20 UTC 2011

Ashley,
Answering your questions as best as I can...

I can also type using the display's eight keys at the top. I press
right shift + left shift + space bar to enter typing mode, then I
start typing. This is also useful for finding words within a file
(right shift + f, I think) and typing in the search box of the start
menu (ST contraction, and typing mode is already on). I can type in
grade 1 Braille, and it will be readable as print on the screen...or I
can type in grade 2 Braille and it'll be in translated Braille in the
document, which means I can write directly into Duxbury with contracte
Braille and emboss my work. I can also type in contracted Braille then
print on the printer using a program called WinPrint, available for
free from Freedom Scientific.

You asked if it moved the cursor on the scrreen or just on the
display. Teh answer is both. You can toggle the following using NavRow
keys or hotkeys on the display: 1. Active cursor follows Braille
cursor, 2. Braille cursor follows active cursor. So, if you are using
the keyboard, the Braille can follow so that you can use primarily
speech and check words on the Braille as needed. Also, you can have
the active cursor follow the Braille cursor, so when you want to hear
the word read out, you'll be there. You can also toggle either off

You say that I must be very lucky that rehab bought it for me. Yes, I
feel quite lucky. Betwen the Braille display and the embosser, I am
able to read most anything in Braille. I emboss mantras and prayers
for temple (I attend a Buddhist service), I can emboss lesson plans
and activities for the children's program at the temple, I can read
digital braille books (I like this, because the Braille never gets
squished because the cat sat on it...:P), and so much more. It allows
me to do much of my own work for school, instead of waiting for the
disability office to decide to emboss parts of my textbook or
worksheets or other stuff. I can do it for myself.

Yes, I type in grade 2 Braille, and I use what they call convenience
commands (hotkeys, in my mind) to use the display's keys as a
keyboard. For example, l (dots 1, 2, and 3) sends a command to the
keyboard to go to the top of the file, while the far left button on
the bottom plus the rocker bar up sends a home command, and the far
left button plus the left shift is another way to go to the top of the
file.

You asked how I tell where the paragraphs are on the display. If there
is an indent at the beginning of the paragraph, there will be an
indent on the display at the beginning of the paragraph. This also
helps when I'm composing an essay, to tell me if I indented at the
beginning of the paragraph or not. You also asked about bold and other
changes made to the text. I haven't fully explored this y et, but I
did see the Braille sign for italics in a file (dots 4, 6). I am
pretty sure there are different computer braille signs for bold,
underline, etc. I'm not 100 percent sure, though.

You asked my Braille reading speed. I am actually very slow with
Braille. I type on the QWERTY keyboard at 80 wpm, but about half that
on the Braille 6-dot keyboard. I read at a snail pace of 60 wpm. I
have only been reading Braille for a little m ore than 2 years, but I
improve all the time because I use Braille everywhere and for almost
everything. I believe Braille is the most efficient way to do things
once I get faster, and so I practice all the time and read Braille
several times a day, spending hours at a time reading or writing in
Braille. The only way to get better is to practice, practice,
practice!

If you do a Google search for Focus 40 User's Guide, you should find
the user's guide in accessible PDF. I recommend reading that to get a
good idea of what the Focus 40 can do. The user's guide has tables of
the convenience commands which essentially allow you to use the
display as an output and input device (output: Braille on bottom,
input: 8 keys at top can be used for grade 2 or computer Braille
code).

Oh, someone also asked about Word problems. I've not come across the
problem you spoke about, where you couldn't move by line without using
the wizwheel. You might want to contact Freedom Scientific and see if
they can help you figure out what's going on.

~Jewel

On 4/30/11, Dezman Jackson <jackson.dezman at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ashley,
>
> You are aware that the braille note can act as a display for your computer
> with a screen reader right?
>
> Dezman
>
> On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 9:08 PM, <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>> 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
>> _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
> --
> Dezman Jackson, NOMC, NCLB
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