WintextCom Personal Information Manager(tm) allows Braille users to have part of the computer keyboard arranged as a set of perkins keys for typing text into the computer instead of standard typing. This capability is useful for visually impaired people who cannot touch type and prefer to enter text perkins-style.

By default, the Braille input keyboard is located with letters "fdsjkl" corresponding to dots 123456, letter "a" representing dot 7 and semicolon representing dot 8. This is the standard position for a perkins-style keyboard implemented on a QWERTY keyboard. But WTC allows you to specify the position of the keyboard by defining the key that represents each Braille dot. This not only enables positioning of the Braille input keys anywhere that you find most comfortable, but also makes it possible to change the orientation, so that a stainsy Braille keyboard could be represented.

The WintextCom Personal Information Manager(tm) Braille keyboard implementation can be either local or global. With the local setting, which is the default, WTC behaves like a completely separate Windows application with its own Braille input keyboard. The local Braille keyboard is useful when other people who do not use Braille may be using the same computer logon as someone just using WTC for certain purposes, and may also provide a neat solution for technical support personnel who prefer the keyboard to revert to standard typing if they switch away from WTC.

The global Braille keyboard setting enables Braille input at all times while using Windows and its applications, providing WTC is running in the background. This setting is ideal with WTC running in Hide Mode, since it provides a Braille input keyboard for use under Windows and WTC does not show as a standard running application, but can be invoked at any time with its accelerator keystroke or by clicking an icon. Some restrictions apply to the global Braille setting, as discussed under Using the Global Braille Keyboard; it is strongly recommended that this setting be fully tested in the intended environment before deciding to adopt it.

In addition, the Braille input keyboard can be toggled on and off with the hotkey command Shift+WindowsKey+B. When toggled off, the keyboard is restored to its standard settings, except that it retains any other settings implemented within WTC but not part of the Braille keyboard configuration. This command has no effect by default, but is available when the Braille keyboard has been enabled. You can also chose to have the toggle command available but the Braille keyboard not automatically activated when WTC is started.

As well as specifying the location of the Braille keys, you can also assign alternative keys to use as a space bar, and in fact map the entire keyboard. It is possible to have both ordinary typing and Braille input enabled together, making it possible to use the same keyboard for one-to-one communications between a deafblind person reading and writing Braille and a sighted person typing. By default, most other keys are inactive when the Braille keyboard is enabled.

WTC's computer Braille input keyboard configuration feature requires compatible keyboard hardware. In general, the keyboards that are supplied as part of the purchase of a PC are not suitable. The problem is manifest by certain Braille dots being ignored in certain combinations. But there are many keyboards that support this feature that can be purchased separately at little extra cost to replace the original. One such suitable keyboard is the Trust KB-1120 PS/2 keyboard, which can be purchased directly from S.W.H.-Wintextware along with the Windows Text Communications program. A list of compliant keyboards and information is given at http://www.braille-pokadot.com/keyboard.html. Note that S.W.H.-Wintextware is not responsible for the above website or its contents, and does not warrant the continued availability of the site or the accuracy of the information presented there. We would not expect most laptop computers to work out-of-the-box with the Braille input keys configuration, but to require that a compliant keyboard as above is connected.

Page url: http://wtcmanual.wintextware.com/index.html?bti_computer_keyboard_configuratio.htm

Computer Keyboard Configuration