Handy Tech
Elektronik GmbH
Modular Evolution
Active Tactile Control (ATC)
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remain at that character and the speech output will spell the character. Individual
letters and characters are also spoken if you are reading backwards.
ATC can also be extremely useful when you are learning a foreign language. For
example, if you want to learn how to pronounce, let's say, German words, correctly,
you can first switch your speech output to German. Then, set the Assistant Mode
under the tab ATC in the Settings window for Handy Tech Braille displays to
"Learning". We recommend setting a speech output delay of approximately 2000
milliseconds, i.e., 2 seconds. Now when you activate ATC, you will have two seconds
after having read an entire word to pronounce it yourself, before the speech output
speaks the word as well.
5.3 Tips for Utilizing ATC for the Experienced Braille Reader
In this section, you will find tips on how the ATC technology can help you, as an
experienced Braille display user, to operate your PC and your screen reader program
even more efficiently.
Probably the most important Assistant function made possible by ATC is automatic
text scrolling when you reach the end of the Braille line. Enable ATC by entering the
key combination [L + 1 7] or [L + B1 + B4] (Chord A). This will activate reading
position detection via ATC. In the default setting, the Assistant Mode is "Reading".
You can turn ATC off again by entering the same key combination.
Automatic scrolling is the default setting. The active cursor should be tracking the
Braille display in order to make automatic scrolling of the text possible. If ATC is
active, you will find that the Braille display automatically resets itself to the next
segment of text once you have read to the last character represented on the Braille
line, just as if you had entered [R] or [TRD].
If you leave the default setting in Reading mode, you can also cause the entire text
on the line to be spoken when ATC recognizes fast reading. Simply move quickly
across at least three Braille characters from left to right, which will be detected as fast
reading, and the speech output will speak the entire text on the display. By default,
fast reading is recognized upwards of a reading speed of 15 characters per second.
You can customize this value in the Reading Speed profile.
At this point, we would like to draw your attention to a special feature: If there is a
blank line, the first three elements on the display will be set with all eight dots. This
enables the Braille system to provide automatic scrolling even when there are blank
lines.
If you remain at one character for longer than one second or whichever delay you
specify in the Reading Speed profile, that character will be spoken.
We recommend the following ATC-settings for you as an experienced Braille reader:
