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The Braille Viewer has been updated for Fusion and JAWS 2020. For many years, the Braille Viewer has been a helpful tool for visually displaying on screen the text of exactly what is being presented on a refreshable braille display. This is very useful for sighted instructors, parents, script writers, and testers who do not read braille or have limited or no access to an actual braille device.
The Braille Viewer represents the number of cells on the currently connected braille display. If a physical display is not in use, the Braille Viewer defaults to representing a 40-cell display, including status cells. In JAWS and Fusion 2020, we have made several updates to Braille Viewer including:
To activate the Braille Viewer, do the following:
The Braille Viewer has opened at the top of the screen. Visually I can see the four status cells on the far-left side, which show the line number, 001, and the currently active cursor, P, for the PC cursor. Also, I can see the first cell where the blinking cursor is for dots 7 and 8. By default, the braille cursor location on a refreshable display is represented by dots 7 and 8 moving up and down at half-second intervals. The default for Braille Viewer is to show text using 8 dot braille.
Photo of braille cells showing the numbers one through eight for the position of the dots in one of the cells.
I will type a line of text in the document, "Hello, how are you today?" As I type, the text and the braille font are updated in real time above in the Braille Viewer. Notice that as I move back to the beginning of the line by pressing HOME, the print letter H and the braille symbol for H is highlighted light cyan in the Braille Viewer. I will press RIGHT ARROW.
(Fusion JAWS voice) e
(N) Now the cursor, dots 7 and 8, is blinking below the braille font for the letter E, dots 1 and 5.
One thing to notice here is that I physically do not have a braille display attached to this computer. So, the default Braille Viewer is set to 40 cells. Also, I have Fusion set to show uncontracted, or computer braille. The settings you have for braille may be different. I am going to change to contracted braille output, which means that the braille will show up with contractions to save space on the braille display.
(F) Contracted braille on for display
(N) OK. The message that was just spoken is called a "flash message." Flash messages appear on the braille display for 5 seconds by default and give additional information other than the text that was here a few seconds ago. Once the flash message disappears the braille display returns to showing the text of the current line. Now, the Braille Viewer at the top of the screen is showing contracted braille. Focus is on the capital H, and I can also see the Capital letter sign, dot 7, which is not blinking. I will press RIGHT ARROW to move to the space after the comma.
(F) e l l o , space.
(N) Notice that the next word, "how" is contracted with an "h" and an "ow" sign, showing just two cells instead of three. However, once I press RIGHT ARROW to move into that word, Fusion automatically uncontracts the word so I can edit the text if needed.
(F) h o w space.
(N) As soon as the cursor moves to the space after the word, visually the braille font in the Braille Viewer for the word "how" has become contracted again. The remaining words on this line are also showing up as contracted braille now.