Guess What? Braille Sense 4.0 Beta 1 and MSN Messenger
Oct-31-2006Disclaimer
The following message includes information regarding Braille Sense 4.0 Beta 1. Please note that Braille Sense 4.0 Beta 1 HAS NOT been released at this time. We are, however, providing you with some small glimpses into the features that the 4.0 Braille Sense upgrade will contain. We are currently not answering any questions regarding the functionality of the beta. The only things we're going to talk about will be what we have included in our new Guess What series, which will continue daily up to the beta release date, November 3, 2006. We will answer all questions at that time. Please be patient; you will be rewarded.
If you're subscribed to the GW Micro or Guess What podcast feed, you'll automatically receive this Guess What in MP3 format. Check out www.gwmicro.com/podcast for more information. If you want to download the MP3, read this article online, or view more Guess What articles (when they are released), please visit www.gwmicro.com/sensebeta.
Enjoy!
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Welcome to GW Micro's "Guess What?" series, an introductory look at the upcoming release of Braille Sense 4.0 Beta 1. We’ll be covering a new feature in the Braille Sense 4.0 Beta 1 every day until its release, so stop by our web site (www.gwmicro.com/sensebeta) daily to make sure you don't miss any of the exciting new features.
Since its Release the Braille Sense has taken the country by storm. The 4.0 release of the Braille Sense will continue to raise the bar in quality. We are excited about the new features in this upgrade and we are conducting this series to give you a glimpse in to what you will see in the Braille Sense 4.0upgrade.
GW Micro is committed to quality and stability in our products, and we want to give you the opportunity to give us feedback on the new features in this release. Since our Window-Eyes public betas are so successful we have decided to conduct a public beta for the Braille Sense 4.0 upgrade. Very soon users of the Braille Sense will be able to give us feedback as we release the first public beta for the 4.0 upgrade.
This week we will be highlighting some of the new features you will find in the new upgrade.
Today we are going to take a look at the Braille Sense and its support for MSN Messenger
One of the most requested features from our users has been support for MSN Messenger.
Now you will have access to this important tool.
In order to use MSN Messenger you will need to have Internet Access and have setup your MSN Messenger account with Microsoft.
Using MSN Messenger with the Braille Sense is easy to do.
In order to launch MSN Messenger do the following.
1. Press F1 on the Braille Sense
2. Use SPACE-DOT-4 to arrow to MSN Messenger
3. Press ENTER.
Note that in parentheses next to the MSN Messenger Program Item, you will see the letter (N). This means you could have pressed “F1” and then the letter “N” to quickly launch MSN Messenger without having to arrow through the rest of the menu options.
I am going to launch MSN Messenger so we can take a quick look at how it works using the Braille Sense.
<Braille Sense Speech>
The Braille Sense will check to make sure you are connected to the Internet. If connected, you will be prompted to type in your username and password for your MSN Messenger account. Lets take a quick look at this dialog.
<Braille Sense Speech>
When you hear the Braille Sense say “computer Edit Box”, this means you will type in computer Braille.
In Braille you will see “CE” which stands for Computer Edit Box.
In the E-mail Edit Box, type your e-mail address.
Next tab to the password edit box to type in your password.
If you keep tabbing you will notice 2 check boxes that by default are unchecked. The first is “Remember Me.” Checking this check box with the SPACEBAR will remember your e-mail address so you won’t have to type it in each time you want to sign in to MSN Messenger on your Braille Sense.
The second check box, “save password,” will store your password so you don’t have to type it in each time you want to sign in to your MSN Messenger account on the Braille Sense. Again, to check a check Box on the Braille Sense, press the SPACEBAR.
I have already filled in my information for signing in to my MSN Messenger Account, so I can just press ENTER to sign in.
<Braille Sense Speech>
Notice the Braille Sense will speak “signing in.” This message as well as other messages will also be shown in Braille.
After you sign in to MSN Messenger you will be placed in your list of contacts.
You can then move to the contact you want to write and press ENTER.
you will hear or see on the Braille Display “message.”
<Braille sense Speech>
This is where you can type the message to your contact.
Lets tab through this dialog.
<Braille Sense Speech>
You will see on the Braille Display as well as hear the following:
“Button Send”
“Button Close”
“Received Message”
“message:”
I will now type a short message to one of my contacts.
Now all I need to do to send the message is press ENTER.
Notice the sound that plays. This indicates the message has been sent.
To review the received message you can use SPACE-B.
This will tab you from the message area to the Received Message area.
<Braille Sense Speech>
There are many other hot keys you can use in the Braille Sense. For Example if you have multiple conversations going on at the same time you can see the received messages sent to you by doing BACKSPACE-R.
Once you are in the list of received messages you can arrow to the contact you want to write and press ENTER on that item to be placed in the message box. You can then type your message you want to send to that contact.
The Braille Sense has a built in Context Help System which you can access with
SPACE-H.
Once in this context help you can arrow through to see the hot keys that can be used.
<Braille Sense Speech>
“Move to Previous Control: SPACE-1-2 or SHIFT-TAB Button”
“Move to next Control: SPACE-4-5 or TAB Button”
“Move to previous list: SPACE-1 or LEFT SCROLL”
“Move to next list: SPACE-4 or RIGHT SCROLL”
We won’t take the time to go through all of the keys that are listed here. However I wanted to show you this Context Help that is built in to the Braille Sense as it can be very helpful when you want to get a list of keys that you can use while in a program when using the Braille Sense.
To close Help and return to MSN Messenger, press SPACE-E.
When you want to close MSN Messenger press SPACE-Z.
We hope today’s Guess What has given you a glimpse in to the Braille Sense and its Exciting new support for MSN Messenger.
Please join us again tomorrow to learn more about the Braille Sense 4.0 Beta 1 release.
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