Screen Reader Operations - Handy Tech Basic Braille User Manual

Basic Braille

Screen reader Operations

5 Screen reader Operations
All screen reader programs are used to output the information contained on a computer
screen and to convert it into speech and Braille in a format that can be used by blind
persons. The Basic Braille serves to display the Braille data. Since only a small portion of
the current screen contents can be displayed at any time on the Braille display, it is
necessary for the screen reader to transmit only the information that is relevant in any
given situation to the Braille display.
All screen readers on the market today provide "focused" Windows information after they
start up, for example, if any menu item is highlighted under the Windows Start menu, this
will be displayed on the Braille display by default. If you move the Windows focus up and
down by using the arrow keys, these changes will automatically be shown on the Braille
display.
In any editable text input field, the cursor is usually represented as a character of blinking
Dots 7 and 8. If the cursor leaves the portion of the screen that is shown on the Braille
display while you are entering text, the section shown on the Braille display will
automatically move forward. You can move around within the text regardless of the cursor
position by using the reading keys, with [3] or [6] for forward, and [1] or [4] for backward.
By activating any Cursor Routing key, you can move the cursor directly to the desired
position. If you want to return to where the cursor is after navigating for a while, you can
usually accomplish this simply by pressing [2], or by moving the cursor with the arrow
keys. Any marked text, which is shown inverted on a computer screen, is underlined with
dots 7 and 8 on the Braille display.
Generally, it is possible for the speech output information to differ from the information
shown on a Braille display. In the "Save" dialogue of Microsoft Word when quitting the
program, for example, the speech output will read the text "Do you want to save the
changes made to...?" followed by the button texts "Save," "Don't Save," and "Cancel."
Only the buttons, however, will be shown on the Braille display. You can select the desired
button by activating the cursor routing key above the button text. You can also review the
text in the dialog box by pressing the [1], [3], [4] and [6] keys.
The Basic Braille is supported by various screen reader programs, such as:
 Window-Eyes
 JAWS
 Hal/SuperNova (Dolphin Systems)
 NVDA
 VoiceOver
 BrailleBack
 Blinux (SuSE LINUX)
The current driver for the screen reader programs Window-Eyes, JAWS and HAL is
included on the StartStick that came with your Basic Braille.
Handy Tech
Elektronik GmbH
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