3.8 Reading a Document.
We now discuss the various commands for reading a document. We recommend you open your "Sample" document, or the "Demonstration Document" that comes with KeySoft, so that you can practice using the reading commands. The "Demonstration Document" is found in the "General" folder. Open the document as explained in 3.5 Opening a Document. Reviewing the document by reading the Braille display is, of course, quite different from listening to the document so these two methods are discussed separately below. First we discuss reviewing using the Braille display. Note: If you are ever unsure which document you are reading, press READ with CONTROL with I then F for filename. This will display the name of the document.
3.8.1 Reading on the Braille Display.
You can read through the document up to eighteen or thirty-two symbols at a time. This depends on the width of the Braille display of your BrailleNote QT and the number of whole words that fit on the display. KeySoft avoids breaking the last word by leaving the last few cells blank. The Braille display provides a window into the document. You can step this window forwards or backwards through the document using the thumb keys. ADVANCE steps forward one window and BACK steps back a window. After reading across the display press ADVANCE to display the next window. Repeat the procedure to read through the document. You can go back if necessary by pressing BACK. You can also move the display to the left or right a word at a time. To move the display back a word in the document, press PREVIOUS with BACK at the same time. To move the display forward a word, press PREVIOUS with ADVANCE. The function of the PREVIOUS and NEXT thumb keys is defined in the Braille Display Options. For information on how to change the setting, refer to 5.4.4 Function of Previous and Next thumb Keys. The default setting is Up and Down, and using this setting PREVIOUS steps directly up and NEXT steps directly down where the document has text organized in columns or tables. When text is arranged in sentences the cursor moves to the same place in the line directly above or below. The function of PREVIOUS and NEXT can also be set to move back or forward by sentence or paragraph. By changing the cursor movement mode within the document, these thumb keys commands move by line rather than sentence, and section rather than paragraph. Cursor movement modes are discussed in 3.10.3 Cursor Movement Modes. To return to the top of the document, press READ with T. KeySoft displays a window of text starting at the very first symbol in the document. To jump directly to the end of the document, press READ with B. KeySoft displays a window of text ending with the last symbol in the document. Experiment with the thumb to become familiar. Try reading your "sample" document or the "Demonstration Document" in this way. You can set your BrailleNote QT to automatically advance the display without you having to press ADVANCE all the time. Each Braille window is displayed for a time before the next window is displayed. You can set the speed to suit your particular preference. To start the automatic advance press READ with SHIFT with G. Press NEXT to speed up and PREVIOUS to slow down the display rate. You can stop by pressing PREVIOUS and NEXT or READ with SPACE simultaneously. Re-start by pressing READ with SHIFT with G again. 3.8.2 Listening to a Document. When you are reading sentences or paragraphs, you may be simply listening to the text, or checking it in detail for errors. You can choose to hear the amount of detail you require by setting the punctuation level. You may also choose whether numbers are spoken as words or as digits. You use the keyboard to enter commands when listening to BrailleNote QT's speech. To listen to a document without stopping, press READ with G, for "Go." KeySoft continues reading to the end of the document unless you stop by pressing READ with SPACE. You can start and stop as you wish with these two commands. To return to the top of the document, press READ with T. KeySoft says: "Top of document." and announces the first word of the document. To jump directly to the end of the document, press READ with B. Experiment with the Go, Stop, Beginning and End commands until you are happy that you understand their effects. There are several other important commands for moving around the text. These additional commands are arranged in groups of three on each row of the keyboard centered on the comma, K, I and 8 column of keys. These are all used in conjunction with the READ key. For example, try the commands for reading characters: To move back a character and read it, press READ with M; To read the current character, press READ with comma; To move forward a character and read it, press READ with period. This convention also applies to reading whole words, as follows: To move back a word and read it, press READ with J; To read the current word, press READ with K; To move forward a word and read it, press READ with L. You may be able to guess the next triplet of commands: To move back a sentence and read it, press READ with U; To read the current sentence, press READ with I; To move forward a sentence and read it, press READ with O. A similar convention applies for previous, current, and next paragraphs: To move back a paragraph and read it, press READ with 7; To read the current paragraph, press READ with 8; To move forward a paragraph and read it, press READ with 9. You can follow a sentence or paragraph read command with another sentence or paragraph read command to immediately change the prose being read. Try reading your "Sample" document or the "Demonstration Document" with these commands. You can refresh your memory by pressing HELP, and opening the "Review Commands" list. Alternatively you can enter the Announce Key mode by pressing READ with A and practice the review keystrokes.
When using several review commands one after the other, you do not have to wait for speech to finish, nor do you have to release the READ key after each command. Here is an example where we move back several words and then move forward a character at a time. First press, and hold down, the READ key. Now, with the READ key held down, tap J several times, to move back several words. With the READ key still down, tap PERIOD several times to move forward several characters. Finally release the READ key. The CONTROL key operates in the same way when it is used for deleting and formatting text as described later. You will find this feature very convenient to use.
3.8.3 Review Voice.
The Review Voice settings determine when KeySoft speaks and how much detail KeySoft includes when reading. When you hold down the PREVIOUS thumb key, press SPACE and release both keys, KeySoft displays the current Review Voice. The options are; Speech On, Speech On Request, and Speech Off. The Review Voice settings can also be accessed by pressing FUNCTION with O then R, anywhere in KeySoft. KeySoft might prompt: "Speech? Currently on." The options are as follows: To have speech and sounds on, press N for ON. To have speech on Request, press R. To turn off speech and all sounds except alarms, press F for OFF. When the Speech on Request option is selected, KeySoft only speaks when you use a command that is a specific speech command. For example, in KeyWord, the word processor, when you move forward word by word using READ with L, nothing is spoken. However if you use the dedicated "Speak Word under Cursor" command, READ with K, the word under the cursor is spoken. After selecting the speech setting above, or pressing ENTER to leave the current level unchanged, KeySoft displays: "Punctuation level? (number)." where the word "number" shown in brackets is really an actual number from 1 to 5. At level 1, no punctuation is announced. At level 5, all characters are spelt out, along with all punctuation. The default setting is 2. The intermediate levels are described in 5.6.3 Punctuation level. This setting applies whenever you are editing or reviewing documents or text. To leave the setting unchanged, press ENTER. To select a particular punctuation level, press a number from 1 to 5, then press ENTER. KeySoft then prompts: "Number Format? (Words)." where the word shown in brackets is really the currently selected option either "Words" or "Digits." The options are W, for numbers spoken as words, or D, for numbers spoken digit by digit. If you select the word format, the number 1942 is spoken as “nineteen forty two,” since it is assumed to be a date. The sequence $25.15 is spoken as “twenty five dollars and fifteen cents.” If you select the digits option, the number 1942 is spoken digit by digit. The choice is a matter of personal preference. To leave a setting unchanged, just press ENTER, or press W or D for the option you prefer, followed by ENTER. You are returned to the point at which you selected the Review Voice settings. 3.8.4 Identifying Indistinctly Spoken Characters. When you read a character by pressing READ with COMMA, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between letters that sound similar. If you press READ with COMMA, twice, KeySoft expands the current character into its "military call sign", for example A - Alpha, B - Bravo, etc.
3.8.5 Spelling Out a Word.
If you press READ with K twice, KeySoft spells the current word. In a Braille document three presses of READ with K causes KeySoft to spell a translated version of the word. If the word in question contains one or more grade 2 contractions, those contractions are expanded to their equivalent characters and the expanded word is spelt out. For example, the word "time" is spelled as "dot 5 T" on the second press but "t i m e" on the third press.