Visually Impaired Resource Guide Assistive Technology for Students who use Braille Braille Lite

The Braille Lite 18 is a small computer with a Perkins style keyboard. It allows the student to read and write in Grade 1 or 2 braille [refer to theVision Resource Teacherin your area for further information] . Feedback to the student is provided in the form of refreshable braille and/or speech. Braille text is displayed on an 18 cell refreshable braille display. The Braille Lite is a reading and writing tool which also includes a spell checker, calendar, arithmetic calculator and stopwatch. An internal, rechargeable battery will power the device for 20 hours or more. The Braille Lite has both a serial and a parallel port which can be connected to an ink printer and/or a Braille embosser. This device has about 640K of RAM (600 pages). The optional, portable disk drive allows the student to save (back up) their work to a floppy disk. The disk drive also allows the student to import or export files to or from another computer. Optional programs (including a scientific calculator, print to braille translator and graphing software) can be loaded through the disk drive. A refreshable braille display is very fragile. The display is susceptible to dust, finger oils, and foreign matter, requiring a very high standard of cleanliness to ensure satisfactory performance. Unlike the Perkins brailler, the Braille Lite keyboard is extremely sensitive, so a light touch and accurate finger positioning is essential. This device is highly flexible in supporting the needs of students as they progress through their school years. It can be used initially for basic writing and reading tasks, however as the student becomes more proficient, it can be used for sophisticated word processing and calculations. The following skills for the Braille Lite are arranged in three sections - Introductory, Intermediate and Advanced . The order of presentation of concepts & skills may need to adjusted for individual students. When considering the Braille Lite the reader may find it helpful to refer to the Braille 'n Speak 640 section to review similarities & differences.

Introductory level

Prerequisites

• ability to write with a Perkins brailler
• keyboard touch skills (light touch & accurate finger placement)
• completion of a braille readiness program
• basic knowledge of braille alphabet and simple contractions
• ability to take responsibility / control frustration and behavior
• follow at least 2 step directions
• has expressive & receptive English language skills at or above the K-1 levels

Skills

The student will be able to:

• locate the on/off switch, earphone jack, ports, and the AC battery charger jack.
• adhere to an individual plan for the care of the equipment
• turn on the Braille Lite and begin writing in a file
• use abort command
• finish writing in a file and turn off device
• use the advance bar to move forward and backwards through a file (R)
• read and move through a file using commands (forward, current, and backward by line, word, and character, top of file and end of file)
• perform simple formatting by using the carriage return use the cursor in basic writing functions
• print current file to a printer (see Strategies)
• demonstrate an understanding of the concept of files
• use chords to access Option, Print, enter/exit, abort and warm reset

Strategies

• Support staff connects, configures and tests the printer to make sure that it works. You may want to have only one printing device connected to reduce the potential for confusion between serial and parallel devices.
• Support staff may want to initiate and/or complete the printing process for the student at this level.
• Literacy goals may be best achieved if speech is not initially available to the student. Some students may find it confusing to hear the braille dots spoken (eg low "d" for period) when they are reading from the refreshable braille display.
• The Braille Lite is a very intuitive device. Commands are logical and often reciprocal (i.e. commands using the opposite side of the keyboard performs the opposite function). This allows the student to predict commands and their effect. By building on this, students can have a great deal of success understanding how to use the Braille Lite.
• Key echo on is very useful before a student at the Introductory level opens any menu.

Intermediate level

Prerequisites

• mastery of the Introductory Braille Lite Skills
• mastery of most of the Literary Braille code (contractions and punctuation) and mastery of Nemeth numbers 0 - 9
• motivation to learn the hierarchical menu structure of the Braille Lite
• frequent opportunity and need to use the editing and calculating features of the Braille Lite
• potential to explore and experiment (active learner)

Skills

The student will be able to:

• recharge the Braille Lite & reset the battery timer
• demonstrate an understanding of the concept of menus:
  • the Option Menu
  • the Status menu
  • the Help Menu
• create a file (size, file naming conventions - filename.extension)
• demonstrate an understanding of the concept of a Braille Lite page of memory (4096 characters)
• open a file using O in the file menu
• access the file list (End of List, Top of List, Previous List, Next File, Short and Verbose List)
• read current file
• read and spell current file
• select and open a file with chord O in the file list
• opening a file by number
• use remaining navigation commands for moving through a file:
  • read from cursor to end of file
  • read and spell current word
  • read and say current character (using phonetic alphabet)
  • read current character and give ASCII equivalent
• find text within a file:
  • forward
  • backward
  • edit text:
  • overwrite
  • backspace delete
  • insert text
  • copy text
• delete text by character(s), word(s), line(s), and paragraph(s) see Strategies
• undelete (pasting)
• back up file on disk drive (commands for "save" and "load" only using T-chord at File Menu)
• label and store disks
• use the clock, calendar, stopwatch/timer, to find the time, date and elapsed time
• use the spell checker:
• add, suggest and correct a word
• move blocks of text (setting a marker, copy blocks, insert/paste blocks, delete blocks)
• formatting lines and paragraphs
• load the spell checker from the disk drive when necessary if not already loaded
• write protect files (know when to protect and unprotect files)
• print to both an ink printer and a braille embosser (change serial communication settings format in Status Menu as required)
• set Status menu printer settings for standard page formatting and page numbering
• text using string commands (i.e. dollar sign commands)
• control the printer (load paper, turn printer on, on-line/off-line, set top of form, remove printout)
• perform simple troubleshooting:
  • warm and cold reset
  • concept of default settings
  • readjust Status menu settings after reset
  • locate and open file after reset
  • adjust Key Silent and Key Click
  • check labels on cables, adapters etc.
  • check cables are connected
• demonstrate an understanding of the concept of serial parameters
• edit contents of clipboard
• rename files in order to perform "save as" function
• reload a copy of the file
• determine the space remaining in a file
• change the size of file (bigger, smaller)
• delete files from the Braille Lite
• reset the battery timer
• use the arithmetic calculator for basic operations
• set the clock or calendar and paste the result into a file
• use the calculator and paste in the result
• use the arithmetic calculator for percent and square root
• use the disk drive to
  • perform periodic backups of all files (T-chord at File Menu)
  • load backup copy from floppy disk
  • load disk directory
  • format disks
  • delete files from disk
  • delete files from the Braille Lite
  • import and export text files

Strategies

• Back up files to a floppy (using T-chord at File Menu) before trying a new or troublesome operation (especially before those related to delete and block delete functions)
• Ensure that student has used carriage returns prior to introducing Delete by lines or paragraphs
• Pasting should be taught before the Delete command (since pasting in the Braille Lite is the equivalent to the undo command on another computer)
• Manually changing parameters ensures greater learning than the use of macros. Students who start working with macros often experience difficulties with their operation. Therefore the use of macros should be left until the Advanced Level.

Advanced level

Prerequisites

• mastery of the Intermediate Braille Lite Skills
• willingness to solve problems
• be an independent learner

Skills (listed in no particular order)

The student will be able to:

• write control characters or ASCII characters in a file
• manipulate serial parameters as required
• import and export files using cables and the telecommunications software located on another computer
• use the find and replace text function
• write and use macros
• connect Braille Lite and adjust parameters as required to communicate with other devices (modems and computers)
• use Braille Lite as a refreshable braille display for another computer
• set printer dip switches when necessary
• use cable adaptors and serial to parallel converters
• determine if unit is in one-handed mode or speech box mode
• initialize Braille Lite
• recover files
• seek solutions to problems independently via vendor, manufacturer,
• internet (using correct specifications and version number)
• create and remove sub-directories on disk
• perform software updates
• use the Scientific Calculator

Resources

The Braille Lite Manual by Blazie Engineering
Blazie Web Site (http://www.blazie.com/)
Blazie Techdesk (http://www.blazie.com/~david/)
Braille and Speak Tutorial written by Graham Cook: (Braille 'n Speak: A Public Domain Document To Assist Teachers; A Pictorial 'User Friendly Guide')
"Teacher's Quick Reference Guide to Braille 'n Speak Commands" written by Kathryn Svendsen

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