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GWKB1092 : Tips and Tricks For Using the Braille Sense Plus, Voice Sense, and Braille Sense Original

The following is a collection of tips and tricks for the Sense notetakers. The Sense notetakers include; the Braille Sense Plus, Voice Sense, and Braille Sense Original. In most cases, using the latest firmware is required. As new tips and tricks are collected, they will be added to this list.

Tip: Updating The Sense Firmware by Sharon Ewing

While performing a firmware update, slide the key lock switch so that all keys are locked. This will prevent any accidental pressing of keys during the update. Once the firmware update has completed, remember to slide the key lock switch back to the unlocked position. For steps on upgrading the OS firmware, please read KB1028. Please note: The Braille Sense Original does not have a key lock switch.

Tip: Inserting And Removing The Voice Sense In And Out Of Its Case by Vicky Collins And Don Bishop

Tip the back of the unit up slightly and press the front edge of the Voice Sense against the posts and then press down gently on the top edge of the back. This snaps it into place. To remove, just pull gently back on the metal piece behind the unit and lift up on the back edge. It will slide right out.

Tip: Installing The Voice Sense Shoulder Strap by Jim Rebman

First, these strap attachments with the thin, synthetic cord have been in use for quite a while and have proven to be quite reliable. They are commonly found on various things such as minidisc recorders, digital recorders, cell phones, USB memory sticks, etc. Typically they don't fail if used appropriately. Of course you have to be sensible with what you do with them. Using your Voice Sense on it's shoulder strap as a substitute leash for your guide dog for example, will shorten it's useful life considerably. That being said, they are quite easy to install. To get all the details, read KB1086.

Tip: Using The Voice Sense Virtual Cursor by Paul Edwards

The Voice Sense has a virtual cursor which can be used to navigate to parts where you cannot normally move your arrow keys or cursor movement keys to. Instead of using the space together with various keys such as dot 3 for prior character, you would use f2 with dot 3 and the virtual cursor would be moved to the prior character. You can read KB1078 for more details.

Tip: Quickly Moving Within Database Search Results by Paul Edwards

When performing a database or an address book search, you can quickly move within each record with the SPACE-DOT-2 and SPACE-DOT-5 keys. You can read KB1080 for more details.

Tip: Selecting A Folder by Mary Otten

When you are in a program such as GW Sense Navigation or the DAISY player which requires you to choose a folder for its operation, you need to press the SPACE key before pressing the ENTER key on the folder you choose. Failing to press the SPACE key first will result in the folder getting opened rather than the folder getting chosen to be used.

Tip: Writing Computer Braille While In Grade 2 View/Input Mode by James Aldrich

If you are in a text document, you can write it using grade 2. Simply press SPACE-G until you hear Grade 2. If at any time you need to input computer Braille such as an E-mail address, Web site, or Ham call, you can switch back to computer Braille by pressing SPACE-G until you hear ASCII. Next, write what you need, then toggle back to Grade 2 by pressing SPACE-G twice. If you are in a Braille document, toggling to ASCII is not an option, so another way to write computer Braille is to type what you need surrounded by the beginning and ending computer Braille indicators without spaces. Beginning computer Braille is indicated with UNDERLINE (DOTS-4-5-6) followed by the ING sign (DOTS-3-4-6). Ending computer Braille is indicated with UNDERLINE (DOTS-4-5-6) followed by the WH sign (DOTS-1-5-6). Either method used will be recognized by the Sense notetaker.

Tip: To Mobile Disk Or Not To Mobile Disk by Raul Gallegos

The Sense notetaker has a mobile disk option which can be toggled on and off from the global options dialog SPACE-O. It is the last option in the list. When mobile disk is set to on, the Sense notetaker's flashdisk will appear on your PC as a removable drive when connected. If you have any other memory cards inserted, they too will appear as additional removable drives. While mobile disk is set to on, you cannot use ActiveSync. In order to use ActiveSync via USB, you must set mobile disk to off, then when you connect the Sense to the PC, you will be able to use the Windows Mobile Sync Center.

Tip: Confused Bluetooth Status by Raul Gallegos

Sometimes when you have an active Bluetooth connection between the Voice Sense or Braille Sense Plus, and another device such as a GPS receiver or a phone, the Bluetooth status gets confused if the Sense notetaker is shut off while the connection is active. Because of this confusion, when you try to connect with a Bluetooth device, the Sense notetaker informs you that Bluetooth is not active even though you have enabled it from global options or by pressing BACKSPACE-DOTS-3-4-5-6. To fix the Bluetooth confusion:

1. Press BACKSPACE-DOTS-3-4-5-6 until the Sense notetaker says, "Bluetooth off."
2. Press the reset button on the back of the Sense notetaker and hold it in for one second.
3. After you release the reset button, the Sense notetaker will reboot. Once the Sense notetaker has rebooted, enable Bluetooth with BACKSPACE-DOTS-3-4-5-6.

Now when you make the connection to the Bluetooth device, it will work as expected. Please note: The Original Braille Sense does not have built-in Bluetooth and so does not have this issue.

Tip: Saving Internet Audio Streams by Raul Gallegos

If you come across an audio stream which you want to save so you can access it directly at a later time, you need to save the playlist. With firmware versions prior to April 2008, you always had to save them as a Web Browser favorite. However this is no longer the case.

1. Navigate to the web page which has the audio link you want to listen to.
2. Press ENTER on the audio stream link. The Media Player will open and the stream will begin playing.
3. Now that you are in the Media Player, press ENTER-I (DOTS-2-4) to save the current playlist.
4. A dialog box will open and the default file name "playlist.m3u" will be displayed.
5. Type a new file name such as "my favorite stream" and press ENTER. It is not necessary to type the .m3u after the file name.

The playlist will be saved to the /flashdisk/media folder by default. From now on any time you want to listen to this audio stream, you need not open the web browser first. As long as you are connected to the Internet, navigate to the playlist you saved and press ENTER on it to start the audio stream.

Tip: Correctly Logging Into Web Sites by Raul Gallegos

In most cases when you need to log into a web site you are presented with two dit boxes; the user name edit box and the password edit box. Because the password edit box is coded differently to mask passwords, it will automatically accept computer Braille (ASCII) input. However the user name edit box is a regular edit box which accepts the text that is entered the same way the view/input mode is set to in the Sense notetaker. This means that if your user name is an email address and your view/input mode is set to Grade 2, you need to be careful how you type your email address in. If you treat this edit box like a computer Braille edit box, your email address will not be accepted. The best thing to do whenever you need to log into any web site is set your view/input mode to ASCII by pressing SPACE-G. This way both your user name and your password will be guaranteed to be entered in as computer Braille (ASCII). Once you have logged in, you may switch back to Grade 2 if you wish.

Tip: Quickly Opening A Program by Raul Gallegos

If you know the shortcut of a program you want to open you can press its shortcut letter together with F1 and the program will instantly open. For example, F1-E will open the email program and F1-B will open the web browser. If you have a Braille display, you can use the cursor routing keys to instantly focus a program in the menu. For example, the first cursor routing key on the far left when pressed will focus the File manager, the fourth cursor routing key will focus the Address manager, and the seventh cursor routing key will focus the Media player. When a program is focused, you must still press ENTER to launch it.

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