When using a Braille keyboard implementation with WintextCom Personal Information Manager(tm), there are Braille chord commands available to modify the next Braille symbol. Some Braille displays also have their own Shift keys.

The Braille chords for symbol modification are as follows --

Dots 2347 (uppercase "s"): Next character is shifted
Dots 456: Toggle Caps Lock
Dots 1346 ("x"): Next character is a control character
Dots 46: Next character is in combination with Alt
Dots 467: Press Alt key alone (activates application menu bar)
Dots 24568: Next character is combined with the Windows logo key
Dots 24567: Press WindowsKey alone (activates start menu)

You can press these chords consecutively before a character to produce multiple modifier combinations such as Control+Shift.

Note that the chords including dots 7 or 8 are available regardless of the 6/8-dot Braille settings for general keyboard operation.

Particularly in the case of Shift,which is the most common modifier during ordinary typing, preceding Braille characters with a chord command to shift them as you type is probably not the most convenient solution for most people. You can also use Braille dot 7 to shift the character pressed in combination with it, but it may not always be desirable to have dot 7 enabled.

WTC provides "sticky" key alternatives for character modification. If you are using only a Braille keyboard available on Braille display hardware, the main computer keyboard is fully enabled, apart from any restrictions placed upon it by separate WTC or Windows keyboard settings. If you are using a Braille keyboard configuration on the computer keyboard itself, the main typing area of the keyboard is usually disabled apart from the Braille dots, as is the numeric keypad, but other keyboard keys function normally (and you can enable the main keyboard). In both cases, pressing and releasing a Shift or Control key shifts or controls the next character typed on the Braille keyboard, respectively. You can press either left or right Shift or Control, and in combination with the Braille character rather than preceding it if preferred. You can also press a Shift and a Control key together, or consecutively, to produce Control+Shift. Note, however, that you should not press both Shift keys or both Control keys together, because these combinations are used to provide main keyboard equivalents of certain Braille chord commands that affect Braille display output and will not cause the following character to be modified.

The effect of pressing Alt or WindowsKey on the main keyboard depends on whether these keys are blocked by WTC Alt or WindowsKey settings. If they are, they perform sticky modification actions just like Shift and Control. However, when these keys are left unfiltered and perform their normal Windows operations, they do not affect characters typed on the Braille keyboard.

You can turn the sticky key effect off, as described in the main keyboard configuration section.

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

Key Modifiers (Shift, etc.)