H.2 Tips on Using Screen Readers and Braille Displays

The following are some suggestions on using text-to-speech output and braille displays.

• Use a character mode based terminal such as Putty or Cygwin. Do not use an X-Windows-based VNC.

• In the settings of the terminal software, set the cursor type to "block" cursor, not blinking or flashing.

• The output of the certain commands can generate a significant amount of information and might spill off the terminal window, and the virtual window or braille display. In those, cases consider piping the output of a command through more in order to break the output into pages. You can then use the space bar key to page through the output.

• A few recommended screen reader settings include the following (JAWS is used here just as an example):

  • Set the JAWS cursor to "All". Use the key combination of Insert + s until you hear "All".

  • You may need to turn off virtual cursor. If you are using JAWS, you can do this using the key combination of Insert + z.

  • Use the virtual window to capture text. If you are using JAWS, you can do this using the key combination of Insert + Alt + w.