Easy Braille
Start-Up
Handy Tech
Elektronik GmbH
Page 10
3
Start-Up
3.1 Turning the Power On
Please make sure that the Easy Braille is connected to your PC with a USB interface
cable, and that the PC is on. Switch the on/off switch towards you. You will hear a
short, high-pitched beep, and the following start-up message will be displayed on the
Braille display:
'Handy Tech Easy Braille Ver. x.xx BT Y'
where "x.xx" is the version number of your Easy Braille's firmware (for example 1.24),
"BT" stands for Bluetooth (if installed) and Y is the Bluetooth status and may be "On",
"Off" or "Auto" (see also Section 3.5 Configuration Mode).
The Easy Braille is ready to work after the beep. As soon as the screen reader
transmits any information to the Easy Braille, the start-up message disappears, and
the new data will be displayed.
3.2 Energy Saving Features
If no key is pressed or the display does not change on the Easy Braille for several
minutes (default setting: 45 minutes), the device will switch into sleep mode. In sleep
mode, the Braille modules are turned off and some of the electronic modules are also
deactivated. As soon as any key is pressed, the Easy Braille is immediately fully
operational again. You will recognize this because the tactile pins of the Braille
modules will be pushed back up.
Further explanations concerning the set-up of the energy saving features can be
found in Section 3.5 Configuration Mode).
3.3 Operation as a Braille Display
In order to operate the Easy Braille as a Braille display under any Windows operating
system, you need a screen reader program to control the display, which is not
included with the Easy Braille.
Please make sure that your Easy Braille is properly connected and switched on
before starting up the screen reader program, because otherwise the screen reader
will not be able to detect it. As a rule, the screen reader will display the currently
selected position within the active window on the Braille display. For example, if you
are moving through a menu, the selected menu item is displayed. The two long
navigation keys [L] and [R] allow you to move through text. In word processing
programs such as Microsoft Word, you can also position the cursor with the [CR]
keys. In addition, the [CR] keys also allow you to activate menu items or functions
directly (e.g., when you are prompted for a yes or no answer with
'y/n'
, pressing the
[CR] key above the "y" has the same effect as entering [y]).
