Hi folks,

Gary asked about Braille Window and Alva Satellite. His note was sent to
another list where I saw it and replied, but due to an incomplete address I
had to join and send to this list in order to reach him. I hope others might
be interested...

> -----
>
> I use a Braille Window (am doing so right now in fact). It's quite good
with
> JFW. It has no DOS support, and this can be a problem in the event Windows
> doesn't come up. I have an Optacon, but haven't had to use it in so long
> I've misplaced (temporarily I _hope_) the CRT lens.
>
> I haven't used or seen the Alva Satellite, but I do have the ABT340. It is
> also a fine device. It has three status cells instead of the BW's 5, and
it
> doesn't have as many keys as the BW (but I think the Satellite has more
than
> either). The BW's panning keys repeat, so I can zoom around the screen by
> holding the key down. The Alva's keys repeat in their DOS support, but
> because of the design of JFW they do not repeat in Windows. It's easy
enough
> to repeatedly bang on them, but it is something of a nuisance. JFW has
> commands for getting to the top and bottom lines of the screen, and I've
> written one to get to the beginning of the current line and to "turn the
> page" (PageDown and go to top line likely to be of interest).
>
> Both devices are distributed and supported by Humanware in the United
> States. Without a complete address I don't know what country you're in.
I've
> had both repaired once. The Braille Window mysteriously got dots that
> gradually stopped coming up. I think the cause was some mineral oil that I
> didn't completely wipe off my fingers before I started reading. If that
was
> indeed the cause, it solidified as it got old and, though some globules
were
> gradually ejected, others got progressively in the way. Since being
cleaned,
> the device has worked flawlessly. The Alva had a couple keys stick
together.
> I may have made it worse by trying to pull them apart. Again, after repair
> it has worked flawlessly.
>
> As far as compatible software is concerned, the Alva is, of course,
> supported by outSPOKEN (an Alva product). The Braille Window is not. As
far
> as the number of devices supported by a screenreader, JFW is probably the
> leader, though I could be mistaken.
>
> Let me know if there's anything else I can tell you, particularly JFW's
> support of Braille (its defaults are not well chosen for Braille only use,
> but it's fairly customizable).
>
> Have fun,
>
> Lee
>


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