SELVAS Healthcare H520B BrailleSense Polaris MINI User Manual
SELVAS Healthcare, Inc. BrailleSense Polaris MINI
User Manual
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Safety Precautions
For your safety and protection of the BrailleSense Polaris MINI, please
read and abide by the following safety precautions.
1.The input voltage of the AC adapter is 100V - 240V, and the output is
DC 5V / 2A.
2.When the BrailleSense Polaris MINI is shipped, the battery may be
packaged separate from the unit to avoid damage. When you use the
BrailleSense Polaris MINI for the first time, you may need to open the
package, remove the battery, and insert it into the battery slot at the
underside of the unit. (See section 1, introduction, for more details on
inserting the battery.) It is possible that the dealer or distributor from
whom you purchased the BrailleSense Polaris MINI has already done
this for you. The battery may not be fully charged when it is shipped.
Before you use the BrailleSense Polaris MINI, you should ensure the
battery is fully charged.
3.When you use the BrailleSense Polaris MINI with the battery for the first
time, the battery status may not be displayed accurately. To avoid this,
leave the BrailleSense Polaris MINI connected to the AC adapter for
about four hours with the unit turned on. If you want to use the
BrailleSense Polaris MINI immediately, you may use it while it is
charging.
4.If you want or need to remove the battery from the unit, power the unit
off, and then remove the battery. If the unit is connected to AC power,
before re-inserting the battery in to the unit, make certain that the
power is off.
There is a risk of explosion if the battery is replaced by an incorrect
type. Please make certain to use only battery packs produced
specifically for the BrailleSense Polaris MINI by SELVAS Healthcare.
Please dispose of used batteries according to the instructions.
5.If the usage time is less than 50% as compared to the stated battery
run time in the product specifications, even after a full charge, it is
recommended that you replace the battery.
6.It is recommended to remove and store the battery separate from the
product during long periods of disuse.
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7.If you drill into or disassemble the product or battery using a sharp point,
it may cause electric shock, explosion or fire.
8.When you are using the BrailleSense Polaris MINI on battery power,
the status of the remaining battery power is announced when the
battery charge is low. When the battery’s charge falls below 15 percent,
connect the AC adapter to the unit for recharging. If the remaining
battery charge drops to five percent, and the unit is not connected to
the AC adapter, the BrailleSense Polaris MINI goes in to Sleep mode
one minute after the announcement of the battery’s status. At 2%, the
unit shuts down to preserve settings, etc. The amount of battery life
per charge varies depending on the options you have set and the
number and type of tasks you are running.
9.Your BrailleSense Polaris MINI needs to be handled with care. The
BrailleSense Polaris MINI is a very delicate machine. Please handle
the unit in a proper, careful manner. The BrailleSense Polaris MINI is
very sensitive to dust. Make sure to keep it away from dusty
environments.
10.The Braille cells are very sensitive, intricate parts. If the Braille cells
are not working properly due to the presence of dust or for any other
reason, please contact our repair center, or the dealer from whom you
purchased the BrailleSense Polaris MINI for support.
11.You should register your BrailleSense Polaris MINI in order to ensure
further maintenance, service, and upgrade information. In the US,
please visit www.hims-inc.com, to register your information. If you
have any trouble when registering your information, please contact the
dealer from whom you purchased your BrailleSense Polaris MINI for
help. International customers should contact their regional dealer for
information about product registration.
12.Do not disassemble the BrailleSense Polaris MINI yourself. Do not
have anyone else who is not authorized by HIMS take apart the
BrailleSense Polaris MINI. If an unqualified person disassembles the
unit, serious damage may occur. If an unauthorized person
disassembles the unit, it is excluded from any free maintenance, and
the warranty becomes void. If any liquid or external force damages the
unit, it may also be excluded from free maintenance, even if the
damage occurs during the warranty period. The BrailleSense Polaris
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MINI contains a Liquid Contact Indicator sticker that will change color
if the unit comes in contact with water or other liquids. This indicator
will not activate under humid or other conditions that fall within the
product’s normal environmental requirements.
13.Do not leave your BrailleSense Polaris MINI in closed, high
temperature environments such as inside a car on a hot summer day,
as the battery may be damaged or catch fire. Please do
not let your BrailleSense Polaris MINI remain in such
environments for long periods of time.
14.To prevent possible damage to your hearing, do not
listen to audio at high volume levels for long periods.
15.This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits
for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules.
These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against
harmful interference in a residential installation.
Operation is subject to the following two conditions.
1)This device may not cause harmful interference, and
2)This device must accept any interference received, including
interference that may cause undesired operation.
This equipment can generate, use and radiate radio frequency energy
and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may
cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there
is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular
installation.
If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television
reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and
on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or
more of the following measures:
- Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
- Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
- Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that
to which the receiver is connected.
- Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
FCC RF Radiation Exposure Statement:
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This equipment complies with FCC RF radiation exposure limits set
forth for an uncontrolled environment. This transmitter must not be co-
located or operating in conjunction with any other antenna or
transmitter. Changes or modifications not expressly approved by
SELVAS Healthcare may void your authority to operate the equipment
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Congratulations on the purchase of your BrailleSense Polaris MINI! The
BrailleSense Polaris MINI is capable of doing everything that an ordinary
tablet can do, and more – all without the need for a screen!
I. Your BrailleSense Polaris MINI packing box should
contain the following items:
1) BrailleSense Polaris MINI
2) Battery
3) Carrying Case
4) AC adapter
5) USB C Cable
6) Earbuds
7) Braille Commands Summary
II. How to use this manual
In this manual you will see references to hot keys and shortcut keys.
These keys refer to ways to access menus and functions quickly by using
a combination of keystrokes. Please note that not all hot keys and shortcut
keys will work from every location on the BrailleSense Polaris MINI. Some
hot keys and shortcut keys are program specific, thus, they require that
you be within a specific program for them to work.
Shortcut keys refer to keystrokes used to quickly activate a function from
within a menu. Hot keys refer to keys that will activate a function
regardless of where you are within the program. When functions are
described in this manual, shortcut keys are shown in parentheses, and
hot keys are shown in quotes.
This user manual notes how to press hot keys and shortcut keys in the
following manner: Keys that are to be pressed at the same time are
separated by a - (dash). When you see “Space-b (dots 1-2),” this means
that you should press “Space” and dots 1 and 2 simultaneously.
If you are unable to find a solution to a problem within the manual, or if
you need assistance with the BrailleSense Polaris MINI, please email us
at support@himsintl.com. You may also visit us on the web at
www.himsintl.com; or, you can call us at +82 42 864 4460.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 18
1.1 What is the BrailleSense Polaris MINI? ................................................................ 18
1.2 Hardware ................................................................................................................ 19
1.2.1 The Top Panel .................................................................................................. 19
1.2.2 The Right Panel ............................................................................................... 20
1.2.3 The Left Panel .................................................................................................. 20
1.2.4 The Front Panel ............................................................................................... 21
1.2.5 The Bottom Face ............................................................................................. 22
1.3 Hardware Specifications ....................................................................................... 23
1.4 Memory on the BrailleSense Polaris MINI ........................................................... 24
2. BASIC FUNCTIONS OF THE BRAILLESENSE POLARIS MINI ............................. 25
2.1 How to Enter Commands ...................................................................................... 25
2.1.1 Basic Alerts and Messages ............................................................................ 25
2.2 Menu Concepts ...................................................................................................... 26
2.2.1 Control Symbols .............................................................................................. 30
2.3 Using the Function Keys ....................................................................................... 35
2.4 The Power Adapter and the Battery Pack ............................................................ 36
2.5 Controlling the Volume, Speed, and Pitch of the TTS ........................................ 37
2.6 Using Speech and Braille ...................................................................................... 38
2.7 Entering Text .......................................................................................................... 38
2.8 Multi Tasking .......................................................................................................... 39
2.9 Switching Media Modes ........................................................................................ 41
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2.10 Switching Key Lock ............................................................................................. 42
2.11 One-Handed Mode ............................................................................................... 42
2.12 Using Typing Mode .............................................................................................. 43
3. CUSTOMIZING YOUR NOTETAKER ....................................................................... 45
3.1 Set Time and Date .................................................................................................. 45
3.2 Setup Internet ......................................................................................................... 48
3.2.1 Setup Wireless LAN ........................................................................................ 48
3.2.2 LAN Setup ........................................................................................................ 52
3.3 Bluetooth Manager ................................................................................................ 53
3.3.1 Bluetooth Device List ...................................................................................... 54
3.3.2 Bluetooth Service List .................................................................................... 56
3.4 Backup/Restore Polaris Settings.......................................................................... 58
3.5 Change Device Name ............................................................................................ 60
3.6 Quick Start Guide................................................................................................... 61
3.7 Password Protection ............................................................................................. 61
3.7.1 Setting and Modifying Passwords ................................................................. 62
3.7.2 Password Configuration ................................................................................. 63
3.7.3 Reset Password to Factory Defaults ............................................................. 63
3.8 Initialize Polaris Options ....................................................................................... 64
3.9 Voice Options ......................................................................................................... 64
3.10 Polaris Global Options ........................................................................................ 65
3.10.1 Global Options in Detail ................................................................................ 67
3.11 Android Backup & Reset ..................................................................................... 72
3.12 Android System Settings .................................................................................... 72
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4. FILE MANAGER ....................................................................................................... 74
4.1 Overview ................................................................................................................. 74
4.1.1 Navigating the File List ................................................................................... 75
4.1.2 Selecting Folders and Files ............................................................................ 76
4.2 Working with Files and Folders ............................................................................ 77
4.2.1 Entering and Exiting Folders.......................................................................... 77
4.2.2 Ejecting USB Drives and SD Cards ............................................................... 78
4.3 The File Menu ......................................................................................................... 78
4.4 The Edit Menu ........................................................................................................ 80
4.5 The View Menu ....................................................................................................... 81
4.6 Using the Address Window .................................................................................. 81
5. WORD PROCESSOR ............................................................................................... 83
5.1 File Menu ................................................................................................................ 83
5.2 Edit Menu ................................................................................................................ 85
5.3 Insert Menu ............................................................................................................. 86
5.4 Go to Menu ............................................................................................................. 87
5.5 Read Menu .............................................................................................................. 88
5.6 Layout Menu ........................................................................................................... 89
5.7 Miscellaneous Functions ...................................................................................... 89
6. E-MAIL ...................................................................................................................... 91
6.1 Executing E-mail .................................................................................................... 91
6.2 Setting Up an Account .......................................................................................... 92
6.3 Managing Accounts ............................................................................................... 97
6.4 Receiving E-mail .................................................................................................... 99
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6.5 Reading Messages................................................................................................. 99
6.6 Writing E-mail ....................................................................................................... 102
6.6.1 Attaching a File .............................................................................................. 104
6.6.2 Saving E-mail to the Outbox......................................................................... 104
6.7 Navigating Accounts and Mailboxes .................................................................. 105
6.7.1 Managing Mailboxes ..................................................................................... 106
6.7.2 Copying and Moving to Mailboxes .............................................................. 107
6.8 Advanced Message Features .............................................................................. 108
6.8.1 Reply and Reply All ....................................................................................... 108
6.8.2 Forwarding a Message .................................................................................. 109
6.8.3 Saving an E-mail ............................................................................................ 109
6.8.4 Finding Messages ......................................................................................... 110
6.8.5 Move to Next Unread Message..................................................................... 111
6.9 Using the Tools Menu .......................................................................................... 111
6.9.1 Set Path .......................................................................................................... 111
6.9.2 Set Options .................................................................................................... 112
6.9.3 Spam Settings ............................................................................................... 113
7. MEDIA ..................................................................................................................... 116
7.1 Media Player ......................................................................................................... 116
7.1.1 Using the Media Buttons .............................................................................. 116
7.1.2 Media Player Layout ...................................................................................... 118
7.1.3 The File Menu ................................................................................................ 120
7.1.4 The Play Menu ............................................................................................... 121
7.1.5 Making Recordings ....................................................................................... 122
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7.1.6 The Position Menu ........................................................................................ 122
7.1.7 The Mark Menu .............................................................................................. 122
7.1.8 The Settings Menu ........................................................................................ 123
7.2 FM Radio ............................................................................................................... 123
7.2.1 Listening to FM Radio via the Internal Speakers ........................................ 124
7.2.2 Frequency Control ........................................................................................ 124
7.2.3 Adding and Navigating Presets ................................................................... 125
7.2.4 Recording from the FM Radio ...................................................................... 126
7.2.5 Additional Features ....................................................................................... 128
7.3 DAISY Player ........................................................................................................ 128
7.3.1 Arrangement of the DAISY Player ................................................................ 129
7.3.2 The File Menu ................................................................................................ 131
7.3.3 The Document Menu ..................................................................................... 131
7.3.4 The Mark Menu .............................................................................................. 132
7.3.5 The Headings Menu ...................................................................................... 132
7.3.6 The Memo Menu ............................................................................................ 133
8. ORGANIZER. .......................................................................................................... 134
8.1 Address Manager ................................................................................................. 134
8.1.1 Adding an Address ....................................................................................... 135
8.1.2 Setting Add Address Fields.......................................................................... 136
8.1.3 Searching For an Address ............................................................................ 136
8.1.4 Setting Searching Address Fields ............................................................... 137
8.1.5 Backing up and Restoring the Address List ............................................... 138
8.1.6 Importing from CSV ...................................................................................... 139
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8.1.7 Exporting to CSV ........................................................................................... 140
8.1.8 Editing, Saving, and Deleting Addresses .................................................... 140
8.1.9 Syncing Contacts .......................................................................................... 141
8.2 Schedule Manager ............................................................................................... 142
8.2.1 Adding an Appointment ................................................................................ 143
8.2.2 Setting a Recurring Appointment ................................................................ 145
8.2.3 Search Appointments ................................................................................... 147
8.2.4 Editing, Saving, and Deleting Appointments .............................................. 148
8.2.5 Backing up and Restoring Your Appointments .......................................... 150
8.2.6 Multiple Accounts and Syncing ................................................................... 151
8.2.7 Setting Alarm Options .................................................................................. 152
9. WEB TOOLS .......................................................................................................... 154
9.1 Web Browser ........................................................................................................ 154
9.1.1 The File Menu ................................................................................................ 155
9.1.2 The Edit Menu ................................................................................................ 155
9.1.3 The Go To Menu ............................................................................................ 156
9.1.4 The Read Menu .............................................................................................. 157
9.1.5 The Favorites Menu ....................................................................................... 157
9.1.6 Options ........................................................................................................... 157
9.1.7 Navigating Page Elements ........................................................................... 158
9.1.8 Table Navigation ............................................................................................ 160
9.1.9 Playback of Streaming Audio Files .............................................................. 162
10. EXTRAS ................................................................................................................ 164
10.1 Excel Viewer ....................................................................................................... 164
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10.1.1 General Navigation ...................................................................................... 164
10.1.2 The File Menu .............................................................................................. 166
10.1.3 The Edit Menu .............................................................................................. 166
10.1.4 The Go To Menu .......................................................................................... 167
10.1.5 The Read Menu ............................................................................................ 167
10.1.6 The View Menu ............................................................................................ 168
10.2 Online DAISY ...................................................................................................... 169
10.3 Sense Dictionary ................................................................................................ 170
11. UTILITIES ............................................................................................................. 172
11.1 Calculator ........................................................................................................... 172
11.1.1 General Functions ....................................................................................... 173
11.1.2 Fractional Arithmetic .................................................................................. 174
11.1.3 Memory Functions ...................................................................................... 174
11.1.4 Sine Functions ............................................................................................. 176
11.1.5 Cosine Functions ........................................................................................ 176
11.1.6 Tangent Functions ...................................................................................... 177
11.1.7 Logarithm Functions ................................................................................... 177
11.1.8 Convert Unit ................................................................................................. 177
11.1.9 Copy to Clipboard ....................................................................................... 179
11.1.10 Return Formula .......................................................................................... 180
11.1.11 Option Settings .......................................................................................... 180
11.2 Display Compass Heading ................................................................................ 181
11.2.1 Options of Gyrocompass ........................................................................... 181
11.3 Display Time and Date ....................................................................................... 182
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11.4 Wake up Alarm ................................................................................................... 182
11.5 Stopwatch ........................................................................................................... 184
11.6 Terminal for Screen Reader .............................................................................. 185
11.6.1 Terminal Clipboard ...................................................................................... 186
11.7 Display Network Status ..................................................................................... 188
11.8 Display Power Status ........................................................................................ 188
11.9 Format ................................................................................................................. 189
11.10 Set Sleep Timer ................................................................................................ 190
11.11 Upgrading Polaris MINI Firmware ................................................................... 190
11.11.1 Upgrading the Polaris MINI Firmware Using the Internet ...................... 192
11.11.2 Upgrading the Polaris MINI Firmware from a Disk ................................. 193
12. INSTALLING AND USING NATIVE ANDROID APPS ......................................... 195
13. USING THE HELP MENU ..................................................................................... 199
14. TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE ............................................................................. 201
14.1 The BrailleSense Polaris MINI Will Not Turn On ............................................. 201
14.2 The Voice Cannot Be Heard .............................................................................. 201
14.3 The Voice is Too Fast to Understand ............................................................... 201
14.4 The Voice Pitch Is Too Low or Too High to Understand ................................ 202
14.5 You Don't Know Where You Are ....................................................................... 202
14.6 No Internet Connection ..................................................................................... 202
14.7 E-mail .................................................................................................................. 202
14.8 The Braille display Does Not Display Braille ................................................... 203
14.9 The BrailleSense Polaris MINI Does Not Speak when using Play store or Android
Apps 203
14.10 The BrailleSense Menus are Not Displayed or Spoken ................................ 203
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14.11 The BrailleSense Polaris MINI Does Not Respond ........................................ 204
14.12 USB or SD Files Seem to Contain 0 Bytes ..................................................... 205
15. COMMAND SUMMARY ........................................................................................ 206
15.1 Common Combination Keys ............................................................................. 206
15.2 Quick Launch Commands ................................................................................. 208
15.3 File Manager ....................................................................................................... 210
15.3.1 Navigation Keys for the File and Menu List .............................................. 210
15.3.2 Navigation Keys for the File List ................................................................ 210
15.3.3 Selection Commands .................................................................................. 211
15.3.4 File Menu Commands ................................................................................. 211
15.3.5 Edit Menu Commands ................................................................................. 211
15.3.6 View Menu Commands ............................................................................... 212
15.4 Word Processor ................................................................................................. 212
15.4.1 File Menu Commands ................................................................................. 212
15.4.2 Edit Menu Commands ................................................................................. 213
15.4.3 Insert Menu Commands .............................................................................. 213
15.4.4 Go To Commands ....................................................................................... 213
15.4.5 Read Commands ......................................................................................... 214
15.4.6 Layout Commands ...................................................................................... 215
15.4.7 Miscellaneous Hot Keys ............................................................................. 215
15.5 E-mail .................................................................................................................. 216
15.5.1 Hot Keys for the Inbox ................................................................................ 216
15.5.2 Hot keys for Sending E-mail ....................................................................... 217
15.5.3 Hot Keys for Reading/Writing an E-mail Message .................................... 217
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15.6 Media ................................................................................................................... 218
15.6.1 Media Player ................................................................................................ 218
15.6.2 FM Radio ...................................................................................................... 221
15.6.3 DAISY Player ................................................................................................ 222
15.7 Organizer ............................................................................................................ 224
15.7.1 Address Manager ........................................................................................ 224
15.7.2 Schedule Manager ....................................................................................... 225
15.8 Web tools ............................................................................................................ 226
15.8.1 Web Browser ............................................................................................... 226
15.9 Extras .................................................................................................................. 229
15.9.1 Excel Viewer ................................................................................................ 229
15.9.2 Online DAISY ............................................................................................... 232
15.10 Utilities .............................................................................................................. 232
15.10.1 Calculator ................................................................................................... 232
15.10.2 Display Compass Heading ....................................................................... 233
15.10.3 Stopwatch .................................................................................................. 234
15.10.4 Terminal for Screen Reader ...................................................................... 234
15.11 Settings ............................................................................................................. 234
15.11.1 Setting Time and Date ............................................................................... 234
15.11.2 Bluetooth Manager .................................................................................... 235
15.11.3 Backup/Restore Personalized Settings ................................................... 235
15.11.4 Password Protection. ................................................................................ 236
15.12 Screen Reader Commands ............................................................................. 236
15.12.1 Moving Focus ............................................................................................ 236
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1. Introduction
1.1 What is the BrailleSense Polaris MINI?
The BrailleSense Polaris MINI is a Braille note taker developed and manufactured
by HIMS, for people who are blind and visually impaired. The BrailleSense Polaris
MINI has a variety of powerful capabilities, including the following.
1. Read TXT, BRF, RTF, PDF, EPUB, and Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
files. Take notes or create formatted documents and e-mails.
2. Play media, DAISY books, and FM Radio and YouTube videos.
3. Organize your Appointments and contacts, and synchronize them with your
Google account.
4. Perform scientific calculations, set alarms and explore the Lunar and solar
calendars.
5. Use the BrailleSense Polaris MINI as a USB or Bluetooth Braille display with a
compatible screen reader, such as JAWS, NVDA, SuperNova, System Access,
VoiceOver for Mac and iOS and TalkBack for Android.
6. Use the built-in GPS sensor and digital compass to navigate independently
without the need for external devices.
7. Download and install 3rd party applications from the Google Play Store.
8. Utilize Google Services such as Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Classroom
via our included screen reader, specially customized for these applications.
9. Obtain information and perform functions using your voice with the included
Google Assistant, or third party voice assistants like Amazon Alexa.
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1.2 Hardware
To get the most from your BrailleSense Polaris MINI, it is important to become
oriented to the buttons and ports as well as learning their functions. This section
will orient you to your Polaris MINI.
Place the Polaris MINI on a desk or table top with the Braille display nearest you.
1.2.1 The Top Panel
On the top face of the BrailleSense Polaris MINI is located a 9 key Perkins-style
keyboard, consisting of Braille dots 1:6, "SPACE", "BACKSPACE", and "ENTER".
On the same row as the Space bar are Control and Alt, as well as 4 rectangular
function keys. Moving from left to right, the row contains F1, F2, Control, Space,
Alt, F3 and F4.
Below the keyboard is a 20 cell Braille display. Above the Braille display, there
are cursor routing buttons corresponding to each of the 20 Braille cells. When you
are editing documents, you can use these keys to route your cursor to the
character of the corresponding Braille cell. The cursor routing keys also serve as
shortcut keys for navigating lists and groups of fields in certain places on the unit.
A dot is placed on each 5th cursor routing button for easier orientation.
On each side of the Braille display are two capsule shaped keys. These are the
"UP" and "DOWN" scroll keys. The scroll keys are used to scroll the Braille display
through menus, fields, lists or text. You can use the scroll keys to scroll by display
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length, paragraph, line, sentence, or character. You can set the left and right sets
of scroll keys independently in the "Global Options". (See chapter 3.)
1.2.2 The Right Panel
Toward the front of the right panel of the BrailleSense Polaris MINI is the USB C
port. This port can be used for transferring data, charging the unit, and connecting
to a computer as a USB Braille display.
Nearer the back of the device is a Micro HDMI port. Use this port to connect to an
HDMI monitor with a Micro HDMI cable, or with a full-sized HDMI to Micro adapter.
1.2.3 The Left Panel
Near the front of the unit on the left panel are 2 small buttons for raising and
lowering the master volume of the unit. Use the button nearer the front to decrease
the volume, and the button behind it to increase it.
Behind the volume buttons are located 2 small, round jacks. The one nearest the
front is the stereo headphone jack, and the one nearer the rear of the unit is the
stereo microphone jack for connecting a stereo microphone or line level recording
source.
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1.2.4 The Front Panel
On the far left of the front panel is located a 3-position slide switch. This is the key
"Lock" switch. This switch is explained in more detail in section 2.11 of this
manual.
To the right of it is another 3-position slide switch. This is the "Media Mode" switch,
and determines which type of content the front panel buttons control. This switch
is explained in more detail in the next chapter.
To the right of the "Media Mode" switch, are five buttons, with a dot on the center
one. These buttons control media and DAISY playback as well as providing
shortcut keys for other areas of the unit when they are set to Application Mode.
As explained above, the type of content controlled by these buttons depends on
the position of the "Media Mode" switch. These five buttons are explained further
in subsequent chapters of this manual.
To the right of the media buttons is the Power button. To turn on the unit, press
and hold this button until you hear a beep and feel a vibration. The first time you
power on the unit, it will take some time to boot up.
Once the unit boots, you can press the Power button quickly to put the unit in
standby "screen off" mode. This is similar to locking the screen on a phone or
tablet. Press it quickly again to unlock it and return to the position at which you
entered Screen off Mode. Press and hold the Power button to completely power
down the system.
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1.2.5 The Bottom Face
The underside of the unit contains the battery compartment, speaker and the
camera.
The battery contains a rounded edge along one of the sides of its length. This
rounded edge should be placed alongside the back edge of the unit's casing. To
insert the battery, align the side tabs of the battery pack with the side walls of the
battery compartment. Roll the battery forward until it clicks in to place.
locate the 2 switches on the underside of the unit near the left and right ends.
Using your left hand, click the left-most switch to the left when the battery is
inserted to lock it in to place. When you want to remove the battery, Click this
switch to the right to unlock it. Near the right end, is a second, spring-loaded
switch. Hold this switch to the left to release the battery, then roll the battery away
from the unit.
On the inside wall of the battery compartment is a micro SD card slot for additional
storage. Press the Micro SD card in to the slot until you feel it click in to place. To
release it, gently press in on the card and release. The card will pop out enough
for you to grasp it with your fingers and remove it.
The 13 megapixel camera is located near the center of the underside of the unit.
Applications for OCR and photo capture can be downloaded from the Google Play
Store. For best results, hold the Polaris MINI 9 to 12 inches above the paper, with
the unit centered above the text.
Finally, below the label for the serial number, you’ll find a rectangular speaker
grill for the mono speaker.
Congratulations! You are now familiar with the basic functions of the buttons and
ports of the BrailleSense Polaris MINI. The rest of the manual discusses each
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function in greater detail to help you maximize the potential of your BrailleSense
Polaris MINI.
1.3 Hardware Specifications
1. Operating system: Android Lollipop 5.1.1
2. Internal storage: 64GB.
3. RAM: 3GB.
4. CPU: 2.1 GHz SAMSUNG Exynos 7420
5. Battery: Lithium Ion (detachable), 3400mAh.
6. Battery running time: 12 to 13 hours (with Braille and TTS, internal speaker at
mid volume)
7. Keyboard: 9 key Perkins-Style Braille keyboard, Control and Alt, 4 function
keys, 20 cursor routing keys, 4 scroll buttons.
8. Additional buttons and switches: key lock switch, Media Mode switch, 5 media
buttons.
9. Braille display: 20 refreshable Braille cells.
10. Visual display: Micro HDMI, Miracast
11. Wireless: 802.11 b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Dual-band (2.4GHz and 5.0 GHz), Wi-
Fi Direct; Bluetooth 4.2.
12. Sensors: GPS, RTC, Accelerometer, Compass, Gyroscope
13. Camera: 13 MP SAMSUNG Camera
14. Interface: 1 USB C data and charging port, 1 micro SD card slot
15. Sound: Internal mono speaker, stereo headphone jack.
16. Voice recording: Internal stereo microphones, external stereo microphone
jack, headset microphone.
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17. Vibrate motor: installed.
1.4 Memory on the BrailleSense Polaris MINI
The BrailleSense Polaris MINI has 3GB of RAM (random access memory) and
64GB of flash memory. The RAM is memory reserved for running programs. RAM
is a temporary storage area for any program files that are running or any currently
open documents. The data in the RAM area disappears if your battery depletes,
and the AC adapter is not connected. The RAM data also disappears when
BrailleSense Polaris MINI reboots for any reason. This means, if you have an
open document which you have not saved, the unsaved data disappears.
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2. Basic Functions of the BrailleSense Polaris MINI
2.1 How to Enter Commands
The commands used to operate the Polaris MINI are comprised of various
combinations of the Braille and function keys. In this user manual, the "-" (dash)
is used to indicate that keys should be pressed simultaneously. For example,
"Space-Z" indicates that the user should press "space" and Z at the same time.
This manual also contains expressions like "Space-2-4-6". This means that the
spacebar with dots 2, 4, and 6 should be pressed and released simultaneously.
In a menu or dialog, when your cursor is placed on your desired command, you
can execute most commands by pressing "Enter". To cancel a function or close a
program or menu, and return to your previous location, press "Space-Z".
Note: In Android applications, “Space-Z” serves as the “Back” button. You
can also use “Space-E” or “F4” as the Android “Back” button, used to move
back one screen, or exit your current function or application.
2.1.1 Basic Alerts and Messages
There are instances where the Polaris MINI alerts you to events for which you
have asked it to notify you. For example, by default, the Polaris MINI checks the
Schedule Manager when you power on, and notifies you of any appointments
scheduled for that day. When you are notified of an appointment, you can interact
with the Schedule Manager as you normally would. To exit the Schedule
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Manager, press "Space-Z" or "Space-E" and you are returned to your previous
location.
Other Polaris MINI system messages are displayed and spoken, and
automatically disappear when any key is pressed, or after a set number of
seconds. For example, when you connect the AC adapter to the Polaris MINI, the
Polaris MINI speaks the message "AC adapter connected." When you disconnect
it, the Polaris MINI says, "AC adaptor disconnected."
You will also hear alerts from the Android system and applications. You can
review Android notifications by pressing “Space-1-2-3-4-5-6”, and can delete most
notifications using “Space-D”. Press Enter on the notification to open the
associated program. You can control how various notifications and alerts are
handled in the Global options. (See Chapter 3)
2.2 Menu Concepts
Menus on the Polaris MINI provide you with a list of programs, actions, or options
from which you can select. If a menu item has a sub menu, selecting it brings up
another list of choices.
When using a program on the Polaris MINI, press "Space-M" or F2 to bring up its
menu. Press the "Up" scroll key or "Space-1" to move to the previous item, and
press the "Down" scroll key or "Space-4" to move to the next item.
To move to the first item in the menu, press "Space-1-2-3." To move to the last
item in the menu, press "Space-4-5-6." When placed on the first item of a sub
menu, pressing "Backspace" returns you to the upper Menu. To repeat the current
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item, press "Space-R". To open a sub menu or execute the current item, press
“Enter”.
You can also quickly jump to and execute a menu item by pressing its shortcut
key, usually the first letter of the item name. Often menu items can also be
executed instantly, directly from your current position in the program, with a
hotkey.
Shortcut keys are displayed in parentheses following the menu names. Hotkeys
generally consist of a modifier such as "Enter," "Space," or "Backspace", pressed
simultaneously with a letter or dot combination. These are displayed following the
shortcut keys.
For example, if you are in the Word Processor, and press "Space-M" or "F2," then
press "Enter" on "File," you hear "New (n) Enter-n". The word "New" is the menu
option. YOU would press the letter N to jump to "New" from within the "File" menu.
Press "Enter-n" to access the "New" document command from anywhere in the
Word Processor. The n is the shortcut key and "Enter-n" is the hotkey. It is
important to note that some hotkey commands are global, thus will work from
anywhere on the unit, and some are program specific. For example, if you want
to activate the "new document" option in the Word Processor. You cannot press
"Enter-n" from the "Program" menu to activate this option. You must be in the
Word Processor for "Enter-n" to activate the "new document" command.
However, if you wish to activate the "display time and Date" option in the "Utilities"
menu, this can be done from anywhere on the unit using "Space-T" as this is a
global hot key.
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Let's begin going through the various menus. First, turn the unit on as explained
in chapter 1. Now, bring up the "Program" menu by pressing "F1". The "Program"
menu is the main menu of the Polaris MINI. You can access all of the
programming, option settings, utilities, and help from this menu, as well as the
Play Store and installed Android apps.
The "Program" menu consists of 3 programs: File Manager, Word Processor, and
E-mail; then 7 sub menus: Media, Organizer, Web Tools, Extras, Utilities,
Settings, and Help. Finally, at the bottom of the menu are the Play Store, and All
Apps, which brings up a list of all native Android applications installed on the unit.
The first item in the "Program" menu is "File Manager". If "Space-4" is pressed,
the next menu item is displayed and spoken. Pressing "Space-4" repeatedly,
continues your navigational progress down the list of items in the "Program"
menu. When you reach the bottom of the list, the "All Apps" menu item is
displayed as it is the last item in the "Program" menu.
You could also jump quickly to the "All Apps" menu item by pressing "Space-4-5-
6" when "File Manager" is displayed. Press "Space-1-2-3," and the Polaris MINI
jumps back to the top. Press "Enter" on an item you want to execute or open. If
you are in a submenu, and wish to return to the main "Program" menu, press
"Space-E" or F4.
The "Media" menu contains the "Media Player", "FM Radio" and "DAISY Player".
The "Organizer" menu contains the "Address Manager" and "Schedule Manager".
The "Web Tools" menu currently contains only the "Web Browser".
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The "Extras" menu contains the optional "Sense Dictionary", "Excel Viewer" and
"Online DAISY".
The "Utilities" menu contains the "Calculator", "Display time and Date", "Display
Compass Heading", "Wake Up Alarm", "Stopwatch", "Terminal for Screen
reader", "Display Network Status", "Display Power status", "Format", "Sleep
Timer" and "Upgrade BrailleSense Firmware".
The "Settings" menu contains "Set Time and Date", "Setup Internet", "Bluetooth
Manager", "Backup/Restore Settings", "Change device Name", “Quick Start
Guide”, "Password Protection", "Initialize Polaris Options”, “Voice options”,
"Polaris Global Options", “Android Backup and reset” and “Android System
Settings”.
The "Help" menu contains the various sections of the User Manual as well as an
"Information" section containing general information about your BrailleSense,
such as firmware version, device name, copyright and service information, and
Mac address.
The "Play Store" item opens the Google Play Store where you can search for and
download native Android apps.
Finally, the "All Apps" menu displays a list of all native Android apps installed on
the unit. When the unit ships, this list contains stock Android apps and other
Google basics like Docs, Sheets and Slides.
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For more information on a specific program, please see the section of this user
manual related to that program. For information on using Android apps, see
chapter 12.
The "F1" command for accessing the "Program" menu is an example of a global
hotkey. This means that pressing the "F1" key takes you to the "Program" menu
immediately from anywhere on the Polaris MINI.
There are also global quick launch commands for most Polaris MINI programs,
usually comprised of either F1 or F3 and a letter or dot combination. These quick
launch commands immediately launch their associated application from
anywhere on the Polaris MINI. See section 15.2 for a complete list of the quick
launch commands.
2.2.1 Control Symbols
The BrailleSense Polaris MINI uses several control symbols to note the type of
information being displayed: examples are list items, menus, and edit boxes.
These symbols can appear "Before" or "After" the text, or the appearance of this
information may be set to "off", determined by the "Control information" setting in
the "Global Options". For example, if "Control information" is set to "before", and
you bring up the Word Processor's program menu, The BrailleSense displays,
"MN File (f) pull down".
Note: In the Web Browser, the control symbols are displayed even if the
"Control information" is set to "off".
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The following table shows the types of controls and the symbols that are used to
indicate them.
Name
Symbol
Comments
Menu
MN
A menu that has submenus.
Menu item
MI
A menu that does not have a sub menu.
List item
LI
An item that is part of a list.
Edit box
EB
After this symbol, the edit box name is displayed. You can find the edit box after
the edit box name. In the web browser, the symbol "EB" may be followed by an
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edit box without an edit box name. Edit boxes that begin with the symbol "EB" are
one line.
(Ex: "EB Last name: (cursor)" in the address manager program or "EB (cursor)"
Multi edit box
MEB
This indicates a multi line edit box.
(Ex: "MEB Subject: (cursor)" in the e-mail program)
Computer edit box
CE
An edit box requiring ASCII Braille input.
(Ex: "CE To:" in the Email program)
Combo box
CB
Indicates a combo box in which you can choose an item by pressing the up scroll
button or the down scroll button.
(Ex: "CB Type:" in the "Open dialog box" of the Word Processor)
Edit combo box
ECB
Choose the desired item by pressing the up or down scroll button, or by directly
typing in the item name.
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(Ex: "ECB File name: (cursor) was in the "Open dialog box" of the word processor
program)
Prompt button
PB
PB follows any question in which you have to choose "Yes" or "No." You can
toggle between "Yes" and "No" by pressing "Space" or "Backspace" button.
(Ex: When you exit from the word processor, "PB Save: Yes")
Static box
ST
ST indicates the current status.
(Ex: "ST noname.hbl/insert mode/write" in the word processor program)
Link
LN
Indicates a link on a web page.
Anchor
ANC
Indicates an anchor on a web page.
Radio button
RB
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Indicates a radio button, cycle among items using up scroll button, down scroll
button, space, or Backspace.
(Ex: "RB Attribute: Write" in the "Information dialog box" of the file manager)
Radio button select
SRB
Indicates the currently selected radio button in the web browser
Radio button unselect
URB
It indicates the radio button is not selected.
Check box check
SCHB
Indicates the check box is selected.
Check box uncheck
UCHB
Indicates the check box is not selected.
Note: Links, anchors, and radio buttons are controls that are only used in
the Web Browser.
The symbols enable you to understand what type of input control or menu you are
working with. For example, if "MN," "MI," or "LI" are displayed, you know you can
35
move from one item to the previous and next items by pressing the "Up" and
"Down" scroll keys. If "ECB," "EB," "CB," or "MEB" are displayed, you know you
are in an input area where you must type the. If "BT" is displayed, you can press
"Enter" to activate the "button".
2.3 Using the Function Keys
There are four function keys on the Polaris MINI. You can use these function keys
to open the menus, cancel tasks, and move to other items.
The "F1" key opens the Polaris MINI "Program" menu from anywhere on the unit,
and is used in combination with other keys to open various Polaris MINI programs.
From within Polaris MINI programs, the "F2" key opens the program specific
menu, similar to pressing “Alt” in Windows.
Note: you may also use "Space-M" to perform this function.
The "F3" key functions as "Tab ("Space-4-5")". "Space-F3" serves as "Shift-Tab
("Space-1-2")". F3 is also used together with other keys to open Polaris MINI
programs.
The "F4" key functions like the "Escape" key on a PC. You can also use "Space-
E". Please note that "Escape" does not exit a program, as does "Space-Z" but
rather, exits menus, dialogs, or prompt boxes. It also serves as the Back button
in native Android apps.
You can use the function keys in combination to perform various other tasks.
Pressing "F1" and "F2" at the same time functions as "Page Up". Pressing the
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"F3" and "F4" keys together serves as "Page Down". "F1" and "F4" together opens
the task list. Pressing the "F2" and "F3" keys together cycles through the running
programs; similar to pressing "alt-tab" on your PC. The Task List and task
switching are explained in greater detail in section 2.9.
The keys to the left and right of the spacebar are referred to as Control and Alt.
This is because, in native Android applications, these keys function as Control
and Alt on a QWERTY keyboard so that you may take advantage of native
Android keyboard shortcuts when they are present. In BrailleSense specific
applications, these keys operate similarly to "Space-1" and "Space-4" and provide
an alternative method for scrolling through menus and lists.
2.4 The Power Adapter and the Battery Pack
To check the battery power status, press "Space-1-6." The unit displays the
following 2 items:
1. Battery power level: expressed as a percentage of the remaining battery power
compared to a full charge.
2. Power source (battery or USB power)
If the battery power level drops under 15 percent, the Polaris MINI displays the
battery status on the Braille display, and it announces that the battery has less
than 15 percent of its power remaining. If the battery power level falls below five
percent, the Polaris MINI gives you a warning indicating that your battery power
level is under five percent, and the Polaris MINI will be automatically put to sleep
37
in one minute, unless you connect it to a power supply. When the level reaches 2
percent, the unit automatically shuts down.
When the Polaris MINI is shipped, the battery pack is not installed. This is done
to prevent damage during shipping. When you insert the battery in to the Polaris
MINI for the first time, the unit may display an inaccurate battery power level.
Before using the Polaris MINI for the first time, please charge the battery for at
least 3 hours. You may use the unit during the initial charge, however, it is
recommended if you do, that the unit remain connected to AC power for at least
3 hours to fully charge the battery.
When you remove the battery from the Polaris MINI, make sure your unit is turned
off; especially when the USB power adapter is not connected. If you remove the
battery while the unit is on and power is not connected, you will lose all data stored
in RAM, including open documents, emails, and contacts or appointments that
have not been backed up.
Polaris MINI can be charged via a USB C cable. It is compatible with Qualcomm
quick chargers for more rapid charging.
2.5 Controlling the Volume, Speed, and Pitch of the TTS
Press "Backspace-F4" to increase the voice volume. Press "Backspace-F1" to
decrease the voice volume. Press "Space-F4" to increase the speech rate. Press
"Space-F1" to decrease the speech rate. Press "Enter-F4" to raise the pitch and
"Enter-F1" to lower it.
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When you press any of the above key combinations, the Polaris MINI announces
the status of its volume, rate, or pitch. The changes in the characteristics of the
voice remain in effect until you change them again, or a hard reset is performed
either manually or due to lack of power to the unit for an extended period of time.
Note: the volume of the voice is controlled independent of the Main Volume
on the unit, thus, you can adjust it above or below the volume of the system
sounds, media playback, etc using the Voice volume control described
above. You can control the "Main Volume" of the unit using "Backspace-
Space-F1" to lower it and "Backspace-Space-F4" to raise it. You can also
use the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons on the left side of the Polaris
MINI to control master volume.
2.6 Using Speech and Braille
When using the Polaris MINI, you can choose to read using Braille only or speech
only. You can also use both Braille and speech simultaneously. However, you
cannot turn off both Braille and speech as you would have no method of receiving
information from the Polaris MINI. Use "Backspace-F2" to toggle the speech on
and off. Press "Backspace-F3" to toggle the Braille on and off. You can also
control these settings in the Global options.
2.7 Entering Text
In a document, "edit box" or "multi edit box" on the Polaris MINI, you can enter
either grade 1 or grade 2 Braille. By default, the unit uses UEB Braille, and you
39
are free to use UEB, even when writing e-mail or Web addresses. However, if
using the traditional US Braille code, some areas of the unit, such as the "to" field
of the E-mail program, contain a "computer edit box" requiring you to enter text in
computer Braille.
To enter a capital letter in computer Braille, use the upper case indicator (Space-
U" before the letter you want capitalized. For example, if you want to enter H in a
computer edit box, press "Space-U" then H. If you press "Space-U" twice, caps
lock is turned on. Press "Space-U" again to turn off caps lock.
You can also press "Space-Backspace" simultaneously with the letter to capitalize
it. To input the "at sign," you may either use "Space-U" followed by dot 4, or
"Space-Backspace-dot 4".
To enter numbers in contracted or uncontracted Braille, use the "number sign
followed by the number. However, when using computer Braille, you use no
number sign and must enter numbers as "dropped" numbers (Nemeth numbers).
2.8 Multi-Tasking
Polaris MINI can run many tasks at once. For example, you can work with the
Word Processor while listening to music, and place calculations into a document
at the same time. To do this, open the Media Player and play a music file. While
the audio is playing, press the "F1" key to bring up the "Program" menu and launch
the Word Processor.
If you try to run a program that is currently running, The Polaris MINI does not
open a new instance of the program, but rather, returns you to the instance of the
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program that is already running. For example, while working with a document
called "Notes" you decide to execute the "File Manager." Next, you navigate to a
document called "journal" in the file list and press "Enter." The Word Processor
does not load a second time, but rather, "journal" is opened in the same instance
of the Word Processor in which "notes" is already loaded. You can switch among
multiple open documents in a single instance of the Word Processor with F3 and
Space-F3. Switching documents is explained in more detail in section 5.
To switch between currently running programs press "F1-F4" to open the Task
List. The Task List shows all the currently running programs in list form. To return
to any application, simply navigate to it and press "Enter". To force closing of an
application in this list, press "Space-D". To close all applications, press “F3” to tab
to the “Close All” button, and press “Enter”.
If you have pressed "F1" to bring up the "Program" menu, or "F1-F4" to open the
Task List and you decide not to access a different application, you can press
"escape" ("Space-e" or "F4") to return to your previous location on the unit.
You can use "F2-F3" to immediately cycle among all running programs without
opening the Task List. This is similar to using "alt-tab" on your PC. If you are
running three programs and are in the second program, pressing "F2" and "F3"
moves you to the third program. If you press "F2-F3" again, you are placed in the
first program.
In the above case, if you were to press "Space-Z" to close the currently open
program, you are then placed in the previous program. However, if there is only
41
one program running, pressing "Space-Z" closes the program and places you in
the "Program" menu.
2.9 Switching Media Modes
The media buttons on the front panel perform different functions according to the
location of the "Media Mode" switch.
If you slide the "Media Mode" switch to the left-most position, the Polaris MINI
announces, "application mode" and the media buttons control operation of the
current application. If you place the "Media Mode" switch in the center position,
the Polaris MINI says, "DAISY mode" and the media buttons control playback of
DAISY content. If you slide the "Media Mode" switch to the right-most position,
the Polaris MINI announces, "media mode" and the media buttons control media
playback.
It is very important to pay attention to the position of the "Media Mode" switch to
achieve desired operation of the media buttons. For example, if you are using the
Media Player, if the "Media Mode" switch is placed in the center position, the
media buttons on the front panel control operation of the DAISY Player, even
though your focus is in the Media Player. More detailed explanations of the
functions of the Media buttons is given in the Mobile Screen Reader, DAISY
Player, and Media Player sections in this manual.
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2.10 Switching Key Lock
You can disable the keys on the Polaris MINI to prevent the accidental pressing
of keys using the key "Lock" switch on the front panel.
When the key "Lock" switch is placed in the left-most position, Polaris MINI
announces, "all keys locked". This means all keys on the unit are disabled
including the on/off switch. If the key "Lock" switch is placed in the center position,
Polaris MINI says, "top panel locked". This means you can continue to use the
buttons and switches on the front panel (media mode switch, media buttons and
on/off switch), however, you cannot use any of the keys on the top face of the
unit. If the key "Lock" switch is placed in the right-most position, Polaris MINI
announces, "unlocked". This indicates all keys are operational.
To lock and unlock only the keys on the front media panel, press the "Back" and
"Forward" media buttons simultaneously. The unit announces "Media keys
locked". If you press the keys again, the unit announces "Media keys unlocked",
and the media buttons are again operational.
2.11 One-Handed Mode
Polaris MINI provides a One-handed mode for users restricted to the use of one
hand for Braille input. To toggle One-handed mode on/off, press “Backspace-1-2-
3”. You can also turn One-handed mode on or off in the "Global Options" dialog.
When One-handed mode is on, use the following methods to input text:
1. To type a character, press the dots in any combination or order. When you have
pressed all dots, press "Space" to complete the entry of the character. For
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example, if you want to type "h," you press "dot 1" and "dot 2" separately or
together and then press "dot 5." Finally, press "Space".
2. To press a command that includes "Space," press "Space" both before and
after the dot combination. For example, to press "Space-o (dots 1-3-5)," press
"Space" then press "dot 1", "dot 3" and "dot 5" separately or together in any order.
Then press "Space" again.
3. To press a command that includes "Backspace" or "Enter," press "Backspace"
or "Enter" before the dot combination. Then press keys that make up the dot
combination. Finally press "Space". For example, to press "Enter-l (dots 1-2-3)",
press "Enter", and then press "dots 1-2-3." then, press "Space".
4. To press "Space," "Backspace" and "Enter", press the key twice. For example,
to press "Space" to create a space between words, press "Space" twice.
The operation of the scroll keys, function keys, and media buttons remains the
same as in normal mode.
If One-handed mode is on, the Polaris MINI announces this each time it is
powered on, as well as how to return to normal operation.
2.12 Using Typing Mode
While you are typing in a document, you may wish to turn off the navigation
keystrokes, especially if you type very fast as you may accidentally navigate when
you intend to enter text. To turn on "Typing Mode", press "Backspace-Enter-C"
from within a document. "Start typing mode" is announced and displayed.
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When using "Typing Mode", if you press "Space-dot 4", instead of moving to the
next line, the "Space" and "Dot 4" are entered into the document.
To cancel "Typing Mode", Press "Backspace-Enter-C" once again. "End typing
mode" is announced and displayed. After "Typing Mode" is canceled, navigation
commands return to normal operation.
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3. Customizing your Notetaker
When you receive your notetaker, one of the first things you will want to do is to
configure it to act the way you want it to. The "Settings" menu allows you to
configure and customize your notetaker to meet your specific needs and
preferences.
To open the "Settings" menu, press "F1" to bring up the main menu. Press
"Space-4" until you reach "Settings" and press "Enter". Or, just press S from the
main menu to quickly jump to and open the "Settings" menu.
The "Settings" menu contains the following items: "Set Time and Date", "Setup
Internet", "Bluetooth Manager", "Backup/Restore Polaris MINI Settings", "Change
Device Name", "Quick Start Guide", "Password Protection", "Initialize Polaris MINI
Options", “Voice options”, "Polaris MINI Global Options", “Android Backup &
Reset” and “Android System Settings”. The following sections discuss each of
these items in detail.
3.1 Set Time and Date
To set the Polaris MINI's internal clock, press "Enter" on "Set Time and Date" in
the "Settings" menu. Or press T to open the "set time and date" dialog from the
menu. You can launch the "Set Time and Date" dialog from anywhere on the unit
by pressing "F3-T".
The set time and date is a dialog, consisting of the following: "Time zone", "Time
format", "Time", "Date Format", "Date", "Synchronize with time server", a
46
"Confirm" button, and a "Cancel" button. You can move among these items by
pressing “F3” or “Space-F3”.
When you activate "Set Time and Date", "Time zone?" appears followed by the
default time zone. You can choose your desired time zone by navigating to it using
"Space-1" or "Space-4" or by typing the first letter of the time zone. Once done,
move to the next item using "F3".
The next item is "Time format", the options for which are 12 hour and 24 hour
time. You can toggle between the two using "Space-1" or "Space-4".
The next item is "Time". When typing the time, separate the hour and minute using
a space or a colon.
If you select 12 hour clock in the "Time format", A.M. or P.M. is displayed after the
hour and minute. In the 12 hour clock, you can toggle A.M. it P.M. by pressing
"Space-X".
Tab to "Date format". You can choose to display the date in either the "short" or
"long" format. The short format displays the date numerically, while the long
format displays the Month spelled out and shows the date as it would appear in
literary form. Toggle between the two using "Space-1" and "Space-4".
The next item is "Date". Type the "Date" month, date, and year as mm/dd/yyyy.
Use 2 digits for the month, 2 digits for the day, and 4 digits for the year, separating
them by a space or a slash.
The next item is "Synchronize with time server", used to synchronize time and
date with a time server on the Internet. This function is extremely useful when the
47
date and time of Polaris MINI is faster or slower than the current time. To execute
this function, your Polaris MINI must be connected to the Internet. When
connected, press "Enter" on the "Synchronize with time server" button. After
synchronization, it displays the synchronized time in the "Time" edit combo box.
The synchronized date is also displayed in the "Date" edit combo box.
If you do not wish to enter date and time information directly, you can navigate
using the following commands:
When setting time:
Move forward 1 hour: Space-4
Move back 1 hour: Space-1
Move forward 10 minutes: Space-5
Move back 10 minutes: Space-2
Move forward 1 minute: Space-6
Move back 1 minute: Space-3
When setting date:
Move to the next day: Space-6
Move to the previous day: Space-3
Move to the next week: Space-5
Move to the previous week: Space-2
Move to the next month: Space-4
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Move to the previous month: Space-1
Move to the next year: Space-5-6
Move to the previous year: Space-2-3
When you have completed entering all of the information, press "Enter" to save
your settings, or "Tab to "Confirm" and press "Enter", and you are returned to the
"Settings" menu.
3.2 Setup Internet
The "Setup internet" function is used to configure your Polaris MINI to use a LAN
or Wireless connection to access the Internet.
Note: to use a LAN connection, you will need a USB to Ethernet adapter.
To activate "Setup internet", press "Enter" on "Setup internet" in the "Settings"
menu, or press "I". You can open the "Setup Internet" menu from anywhere on
the unit by pressing "F3-I".
3.2.1 Setup Wireless LAN
Before setting up a Wireless LAN connection, be sure wireless is turned on in the
"Global Options" dialog. You can toggle wireless on and off from anywhere on the
Polaris MINI using "Backspace-1-4-5-6". In addition, when you choose this option,
if Wireless is not turned on, BrailleSense automatically activates Wireless LAN.
To connect to a wireless network, navigate to the "Wireless LAN" option in the
connection types list under "Setup Internet" and press "Enter".
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The "Wireless LAN" dialog consists of the "access points" list, "Advanced" button,
"Options" button and "Close" button. You can move among these controls by
pressing "F3" or "Space-F3". If wireless is not turned on, the "access points" list
displays "no items".
When wireless is on, this list shows the wireless "access points" (networks) in
range of your notetaker. The "Access points" list displays the "access point name",
"encryption", and "sensitivity" of each item. (Ex: linksys, encryption: WEP,
sensitivity: good.) If there is more than one access point in the list, you can move
among them by pressing "Space-1" or "Space-4". Move to the "access point" to
which you want to connect, and press "Enter". If the access point has no
encryption, the Polaris MINI announces, "Connecting to (access point name)". If
connection is successful, the connecting sound is heard. If the network is
encrypted and requires a network key, when you press "Enter" on the access
point, the "Network key" edit box is displayed. Type the network key in computer
Braille in the edit box and press "Enter". If your settings are correct, the unit says,
"Completed setting profile" and the connecting sound is heard.
The "Advanced" dialog is used to modify an existing profile, manually add a new
profile, or check the settings of an existing profile. Pressing "Enter" on the
"advanced" button, while wireless LAN is turned on, displays a list of the wireless
profiles saved on the Polaris MINI.
The "Advanced" dialog has 5 controls: the "profile list", "Connect" button, "Add"
common dialog button, "Remove" button, "Properties" common dialog button, and
"Close" button. You can navigate among these controls by pressing "F3" or
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"Space-F3". Navigate the items in the Profile list using "Space-1" and "space-4".
Press "Enter" to activate one of the buttons.
Use the "Add" button: to manually add a profile, specifically where an SSID is
hidden, and thus does not appear in the "access points" list. The "Add" dialog"
contains 10 controls.
1) "Setup IP: Automatic" combo box: You can switch between automatic and
manual by pressing "Space-4" or "Space-1". If you select "Manual", you must
enter your IP address, subnet mask, gateway IP address, and DNS IP address.
You can move among these computer edit boxes by pressing "Space-4" or
"Space-1". Press "tab (Space-4-5)" to move to the next control.
2) "Network name (SSID)" computer edit box: Type the network ID in the computer
edit box.
3) "Network mode" combo box: You can select among "Infrastructure", and
"802.11 ad-hoc" mode by pressing "Space-1" or "Space-4".
4) "Network authentication mode" combo box: Select among "Open", "Shared",
"WPA-PSK", and "WPA2-PSK" by pressing "Space-1" or "Space-4".
5) "Data encryption" combo box: Select the data encryption method by pressing
"Space-1" or "Space-4". If you select "Open" or "Shared" in network authentication
mode, you can choose among "Disable" and "WEP". And if you select "WPA-
PSK" or "WPA2-PSK" in network authentication mode, either "AES" or "TKIP" can
be selected in the "Data encryption" combo box.
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6) "The key is provided automatically" check box: If the "access point" does not
provide a key for users automatically, uncheck this check box by pressing
"Space". The default is checked.
7) "Network key" computer edit box: This is a computer edit box to type the
network key if the key is not provided automatically.
8) "Key index" edit box: This is an edit box to type the key number of the wireless
access point that matches the network key input.
9) "Confirm" button: Pressing this button applies the changes.
10) "Cancel" button: You can select this button to cancel the setup.
Things to note:
1) If "Data encryption" has been set as "disabled", press "F3" and you are
taken directly to the "Confirm" button.
2) "Network key" and "Key index" is displayed only if you uncheck "The key
is provided automatically".
To delete a profile item in the profile list, select the profile item you wish to delete,
and press R or "Tab" to the "Remove" button and press "Enter".
To get information about a selected profile item in the profile list, "Tab" to the
"Properties" button and press "Enter". In the "Properties" dialog, you can
reconfirm or modify the information for each profile.
To exit the "Advance" dialog, press "Space-E" or "Space-Z".
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The "Options" dialog allows you to set how the Polaris MINI scans for and detects
wireless networks. The "Scanning Always Available" option allows you to choose
whether Polaris MINI auto scans for available networks, even when you don't
open the Setup Internet dialog. The "Wi-Fi Frequency Band" determines what Wi-
Fi networks are detected and used. Choose from "Auto", "5GHz" and "2.1GHz".
Use "Space" to adjust the options in the dialog, and press "Enter" to save your
settings.
3.2.2 LAN Setup
Before attempting to set up a LAN connection, connect one end of a LAN cable
to the Polaris MINI via a USB to Ethernet adapter, and the other to a router or
direct LAN connection to the Internet. ?. From the list of connection options in "Set
up Internet", navigate to "LAN" and press "Enter".
"Setup IP: Automatic" is displayed. If your service provider does not require you
to use a static IP address, simply press "Enter" on this option for automatic setup.
For the automatic setup, your host server should provide DHCP service (Dynamic
Host Configuration Protocol).
To set up your IP configuration manually, move to "Manual" by pressing "Space-
1", and press "Enter". The following settings are displayed: "IP", "Subnet mask",
"Gateway", and "Primary DNS". These settings require specific numeric
addresses. Please contact your Internet service provider for the correct
addresses. Use computer Braille to type the information for each setting, using
"Space-1" and "Space-4" to move among the settings. When you have entered
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the information for each item, press "Enter" to save the settings. The unit
announces, "Setting completed". And you are returned to "Setup internet". Your
Internet connection should be active.
3.3 Bluetooth Manager
The Polaris MINI is Bluetooth capable, or rather, you can connect the Polaris MINI
to various devices such as keyboards, printers, audio devices, and other
computers without the need for cables. You can also use Bluetooth to transfer
files, or to connect the Polaris MINI as a Braille display with a compatible screen
reader. Bluetooth is the latest in wireless technology and enables wireless
connectivity via a Personal Area Network (PAN). Unlike a traditional Wireless
Local Area Network (WLAN), these networks are limited to approximately 30 feet
or less. Bluetooth enables users to exchange various types of information over
this wireless connection.
You can toggle Bluetooth on/off from anywhere on the unit using "Backspace-
dots-3-4-5-6".
To access the Bluetooth Manager from the program menu, navigate to the
"Settings" menu, and press "Enter. Then, navigate to "Bluetooth Manager", and
press "Enter". You can also press "F3-B" to launch the Bluetooth Manager from
anywhere on the unit.
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3.3.1 Bluetooth Device List
When the Bluetooth Manager is activated, you are placed in a dialog with 2 items:
a paired devices list, and a "Search" button to scan for available devices. For
example, if you have a computer with Bluetooth enabled nearby, the Polaris MINI
attempts to find it. It may take 30 to 40 seconds to discover all of the Bluetooth
devices in range. The Polaris MINI announces and displays, "Scanning for
devices. Please wait...” Full cells are filled in on the Braille display to indicate
scanning progress.
When a Bluetooth device is detected, the Polaris MINI announces "found
(Bluetooth device name)".
Note: while the Polaris MINI is scanning for Bluetooth devices, it cannot
respond to key presses. In addition, you may not cancel the scan once it
has begun, but must wait for its completion before the Polaris MINI returns
to normal operation.
When the scanning process completes, you are placed in the Bluetooth Device
List. If the Polaris MINI has found other Bluetooth devices in range, they are
displayed as "device name (untrusted (or trusted)) xx/yy" where xx is the number
at which the device appears in the list, and yy is the total number of devices.
"Trusted" indicates that the service has been authenticated, "untrusted" indicates
the service has not been authenticated.
If there are no other Bluetooth devices in range, the Polaris MINI announces, "no
items". You can press "Space-1" or "Space-4" to move through the list. To select
a device from the list, press "Enter" on the device name.
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If the Bluetooth device is trusted, settings for connecting the device are
automatically saved in the Polaris MINI. If you want to delete this information,
press "Space-D" on the Bluetooth device name in the list. The Polaris MINI
announces, "Device settings removed". Removal of the settings applies only to
the current device.
From the Bluetooth Device List, you can access the menu by pressing "F2". The
"Bluetooth Device List menu" contains "Rescan For Devices", "Delete Pair
Information", "Options" and "Exit". You can navigate among the menu items using
"Space-1" or "Space-4".
The first menu item is "Rescan For Device". This option initiates a new scan for
other Bluetooth devices. To activate this item, press "Enter" on "Rescan for
Devices" in the menu. Or you can activate it directly from the list by pressing
"Enter-R".
The next menu item is "Delete Pair Information". This item allows you to remove
the connection settings for the current device. To activate this item, press "Enter"
on "Delete Pair Information" from the menu, or press “Space-D" to activate it from
the Device List.
The "Options" item lets you determine if the Polaris MINI is discoverable to other
Bluetooth devices. Press "Space" to check or uncheck the option.
The final item in the Bluetooth Device List menu is "Exit". This option exits the
Bluetooth Manager program. To activate this item, press "Enter" on "Exit" from
within the menu, or exit the program any time by pressing "Space-Z".
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3.3.2 Bluetooth Service List
When you locate a Bluetooth device to which you'd like to connect, press "Space-
1" or "Space-4" to navigate to the device in the Bluetooth Device List, and press
"Enter" on the device name. The unit announces, "Scanning for services. Please
wait...” Please note The Polaris MINI does not respond to key presses during the
scanning process.
The Polaris MINI supports the following Bluetooth services: FTP, Serial port, USB
port, and headset. To access any of these functions, be sure that the remote
Bluetooth device is in Discoverable mode, and that the service you wish to access
is enabled on that device. It is possible to have certain services enabled on your
remote Bluetooth device, while disabling others. The Polaris MINI only sees and
displays services which are enabled on your remote device, even if others are
available.
When the Polaris MINI has found all of the available services, the services are
displayed in a list in the following format: "service name xx/yy" where xx is the
number at which the service appears in the list, and yy is the total number of
available services. You can move through the available services by pressing
"Space-1" or "Space-4". Press "Backspace" to return to the Bluetooth Device List.
From the Bluetooth Service List, you can access the menu by pressing "Space-
M" or by pressing "F2". The "Bluetooth Service List menu" contains "Open FTP",
"Disconnect" and "Exit". You can navigate the menu items using "Space-1" or
"Space-4".
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The "Open FTP" menu item allows you to quickly open a direct FTP connection
with a remote Bluetooth device without accessing the Device and Service lists.
However, you must have connected the FTP service previously for the Polaris
MINI to allow you to transfer files. If you have not connected the FTP service, and
you activate this function, the unit announces, "FTP service disconnected".
You can access "Open FTP” by pressing "Enter" on it from within the menu, or by
pressing "Enter-T" directly from the Bluetooth Service List. The Polaris MINI says,
"Connecting service". Detailed information on connecting various service types is
covered later in this chapter.
The "Disconnect" menu item allows you to disconnect services with other
Bluetooth devices. You can access this item by pressing "Enter" on "disconnect"
from within the menu. Or you can activate it directly from the Bluetooth Service
List by pressing "Enter-D".
If there are no services connected and you activate this function, the unit says,
"There is no service connected".
3.3.2.1 Connecting a Service
To authenticate a service and connect to it, press "Enter" on the service. The
Polaris MINI announces, "Connecting service". You are then prompted for a "PIN
code:" You must use ASCII characters when you type the pin code. This edit box
only appears when you have not previously connected to a service, and a pin
code is required by the device. You can exit the edit box or delete text you have
typed by pressing "Space-Z" and you are returned to the Bluetooth Service List.
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When you finish typing the pin code, press "Enter". The unit announces, "Please
wait for authentication". If the remote device is setup correctly, and has not been
set up to allow this device to always connect, the remote device also asks for a
pin code. Please be sure to enter the same pin code on both devices. If the remote
Bluetooth device pin code matches the pin code on the Polaris MINI, the service
should authenticate. If connection is successful, the unit announces, "PIN code
authentication accepted".
You are then prompted, "Please wait. Access permission". If the remote Bluetooth
device does not give access permission, the unit says, "Connection failed", and
you are returned to the Bluetooth Services List. If the remote Bluetooth device
gives you access permission, the Polaris MINI says "Connection succeeded". If
the connection succeeds, "Connected" is displayed after the service in the
Bluetooth Service List. Some services may be connected without inputting a pin
code depending on the Remote Bluetooth device settings.
3.4 Backup/Restore Polaris Settings
If you hard reset your Polaris or initialize the Polaris Options, the main option
settings and settings for each program are initialized to the default values. If you
have created a backup of your settings, you can restore the option settings after
the hard reset.
You can run this utility by pressing K from the "Settings" menu. You can also
launch the "Backup/Restore Polaris Settings" dialog from anywhere on the unit by
pressing "F3-K".
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The "backup/restore" dialog contains: the "program option check box list", a
"Select all" button, a "Backup" button, a "Restore" button, and a "Cancel" button.
You can move among the check boxes in the "program option check box list", by
pressing "Space-1" or "Space-4". You can move among the controls in the dialog
by pressing "F3" or "Space-F3".
The "program option check box list" contains "Options settings", "File manager
options", "Word processor options", "E-mail Options", "Media Player options",
"Radio Options", "DAISY Player options", "Address manager options", "Schedule
manager options", "Web browser options", “Excel Viewer Options", "Wake Up
Alarm Options" and “Bluetooth manager options".
In this list, move to the program options you want to backup or restore and check
the item by pressing "Space". You can uncheck a checked item by pressing
"Space" again. To select all of the program options in the list, press "Enter" on the
"Select all" button.
After selecting all the options you want to backup or restore, press "Enter" on the
"Backup" or "Restore" button, or press "Enter-B" to backup or "Enter-R" to restore.
If you select the "Backup" button, you are prompted to select a path for storing
the backup file. You can accept the default path, or choose an alternative.
Navigate to the folder in which to store the backup files using normal file/folder
navigation commands. Select the folder or drive in which to store the backup by
pressing "Space", and press "Enter" to start the backup process. If you select the
"Restore" button, you are prompted for the path from which to restore backup
files. Again, use normal file and folder navigation to select the folder containing
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your backup files. If you select a folder in which there is no backup, you receive a
message indicating there is no backup option file. To restore your settings, select
the folder containing the backup files by pressing "Space", then press "Enter" to
initiate the restore process.
3.5 Change Device Name
The "Change device Name" function allows you to change the Bluetooth/network
name of your unit. By default, the BrailleSense is named something like "Polaris
MINI035". You may wish to give it a more personalized name in order to identify
it more easily when pairing with another device.
You can access the "Change device Name" dialog by navigating to the "Settings"
menu, then to "Change Device Name". You can also launch the "Change device
Name" dialog from anywhere on the unit by pressing "Backspace-Enter-E".
The "Change device Name' dialog consists of 3 controls: a "Device Name" edit
box, a "Confirm" button, and a "Cancel" button. Use "F3" and "Space-F3" to move
among the controls.
To change your device name, type a new name in the edit box and press "Enter".
Or, after typing the new name, tab to "confirm" and press "Enter". If you decide
you do not wish to change your device name, tab to the "Cancel" button and press
"Enter", or press "Space-E" or "Space-Z".
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3.6 Quick Start Guide
The Quick Start Guide runs a getting started wizard that introduces you to Polaris
MINI and its functions, and lets you set basic preferences. This guide
automatically launches the first time you start your unit. You can relaunch it at any
time by selecting the “Quick Start Guide” option in the “Settings” menu.
When you press “Enter” on this option, you are asked, “Would you like to reboot
your system and launch the Quick Start Guide?”. Press “Enter” for Yes, or
navigate to ‘No’ with “Space-4” and press “Enter” to cancel this operation.
Note: when you launch the Quick Start Guide, all options are initialized to
factory defaults, so that they can be reset using this wizard.
3.7 Password Protection
The Password Protection item allows you to set a password that must be entered
when the unit is powered on, comes out of Sleep Mode, is upgraded, or the disk
is formatted.
WARNING!! It is imperative that you create a password that you can easily
remember, or that you store in another location for easy retrieval! Due to Android
security safeguards, we are not able to send unlock codes as has been the case
with older BrailleSense models. If you set a password using this function, or using
the Android system settings, and you are not able to remember or retrieve it, it will
be necessary to send the unit to HIMS/SELVAS for unlocking, during which, all
data will be lost. As remembering and retrieving personal passwords is the
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responsibility of the customer, any costs associated with transporting and/or
unlocking the unit are also the responsibility of the user.
To open the "Password Protection" settings, from the Main menu, navigate to
"Settings" and press "Enter". Press A to jump to and open "Password Protection".
You can open "Password Protection" from anywhere on the unit by pressing "F3-
N".
The "Password Protection" dialog consists of 4 items: "set/modify Password"
dialog, "Password Configuration" dialog, "Set Password to factory defaults", and
a "Close" button. Use "F3" or "Space-F3” to move among the controls in the
dialog.
3.7.1 Setting and Modifying Passwords
When you open the "Password Protection" program, you are placed on the "Set
Password" option. Press "Enter" to open the "Set Password" dialog. The "Set
Password" dialog consists of 4 controls: "Password" edit box, "Retype Password"
edit box, "Confirm" button and a "Cancel" button".
Type the password you wish to use into the "Password" edit box. Tab to the "Re-
type Password" edit box, and type it again. To save the password, press "Enter",
or Tab to "Confirm" and press "Enter". To cancel saving the password, press
"Space-Z", or Tab to the "Cancel" button and press "Enter".
When a password is saved, the "Set Password" option is replaced with "Modify
Password". Once you have entered a password, you can modify in very much the
same manner. The "Modify Password" dialog consists of all the same controls,
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except you must type your current password, before you can type a new one.
Once you have typed your current password, then the new password, you must
re-type the new password. Press "Enter" on the "Confirm" button to save the new
password, or "Enter" on the "Cancel" button to cancel the modification.
3.7.2 Password Configuration
The "Password Configuration" dialog allows you to define when you are prompted
to enter the password. When you press "Enter" to open the "Password
Configuration" dialog, you are prompted to enter your password to gain access to
this configuration. Type your password, and press "Enter".
The password configuration settings consist of 4 radio buttons: "Prompt for
password on boot", "Prompt for password when in Sleep Mode", "Prompt for
password when formatting" and "Prompt for password when upgrading." Use
"Space-1" and "Space-4" to toggle these buttons between "Yes" and "no". When
you have chosen your options, press "Enter" on the "Confirm" button to save your
settings. If you want to cancel the configuration, press "Enter" on the "Cancel"
button.
3.7.3 Reset Password to Factory Defaults
Use this option to reset the password configuration and return your unit to its
factory state of no password protection.
When you press "Enter" to open this option, you are prompted, "Do you want to
initialize the password settings?". Use "Space-1" and "Space-4" to choose
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between "yes" and "No". If you choose "yes", you are prompted for your current
password. Type it, and press "Enter". The unit announces, "Password settings
have been initialized" and you are placed on the "Set Password" option.
3.8 Initialize Polaris Options
You can use the "Initialize Polaris Options" item to restore the BrailleSense Polaris
MINI to the factory default settings.
To launch this function, navigate to it in the "Settings" menu, and press "Enter",
or press C.
You are prompted, "Do you want to initialize options?" Use "Space" to choose
"Yes" or "No". Choosing "Yes" initiates the factory reset process. Choosing "No"
cancels the function and returns you to the "Settings" menu. You can also perform
this function by holding the Forward Media key while pressing the Power Button.
Once you see “HIMS” displayed on the Braille display, you can release the
Forward key.
3.9 Voice Options
This dialog allows you to install and set alternative Vocalizer Expressive TTS
voices. Available voice downloads are available via the “Download” option in this
menu. To download and install directly from the Polaris MINI, choose the
“Download” button, and use “Space-1” and “Space-4” to choose the voice you
want and press “Enter”. The correct folder will be auto created, and the language
pack will automatically be placed there.
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You can also download voices manually via the HIMS website.
When you have downloaded the language pack files, create a folder on your
flashdisk called “TTSDATA”, and copy the files in to it.
Once done, open the “Settings” menu, and press “V” to open the Voice options
dialog. This dialog contains a voices list, a “Download” button, an “Install” button”,
and Confirm and Cancel buttons. Use “F3” and “Space-F3” to move among the
controls.
Press “Enter” on the “Install” button to install any language packs available in the
“TTSDATA” folder. When voices are installed, an ‘Uninstall” button also appears
in the dialog.
When you have installed your voices, use “Space-1” and “Space-4” in the Voices
list to choose your voice, and press “Enter”. Your speech should automatically
begin outputting using the voice you chose.
You can open the Voice options dialog quickly at any time by pressing “F3-V”.
You are placed in the Voices list, from which you can easily choose a different
speaking voice.
3.10 Polaris Global Options
The "Global Options" on the Polaris MINI is a large dialog box for controlling many
preferences/settings. Open the "Polaris MINI Global Options" from the main
menu, by pressing S to open the “Settings” menu, then "O" for the "Global
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Options". You can also open "Global Options" from anywhere on the notetaker by
pressing "Space-O".
The "Global Options" dialog is organized into groups, making it easy to jump to a
particular section in the long list of settings. You can navigate among the groups
with "page down ("Space-3-4-5" or "F3-F4")" or "page up ("Space-1-2-6" or "F1-
F2")". When you navigate to a group, you are placed at the position where that
group of options begins.
You can navigate among the individual options using "Space-1" and "Space-4" or
using the scroll keys. You can also use shortcut keys to quickly move to specific
items.
Note: Often, the same shortcut key is used for multiple options. Thus, the
first press of the shortcut key moves the focus to the first setting that
matches; pressing the key again moves to the next setting that matches. If
there are no more settings matching the shortcut, the Polaris MINI wraps
around to the first match.
Many of the Global Options also have global hotkeys, allowing you to adjust these
settings from anywhere on the unit.
You can toggle an option on or off or cycle through the available values of a setting
with the "space" and "Backspace" keys. To save your changes, press "Enter" or
tab to the "Confirm" button and press "Enter". Polaris MINI says, "Saved options,"
and you are returned to your previous position on the notetaker. To cancel without
saving changes, press the "F4" key, "Space-E" or "Space-Z".
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3.10.1 Global Options in Detail
The "Global Options" dialog contains the following settings. For each setting, the
shortcut key appears in parentheses, and the hotkey, if available, is shown in
quotes.
1) Braille display: (B). "Backspace-F3". Toggles the Braille display On/Off.
2) Braille Cursor: (C). "F4-Up Scroll". Defines how the Braille cursor appears on
the Braille display: "Always Up", "Blinking" or "Off". Note the cursor appears as
dots-7-8 in most situations. When selecting text, it notes the end of the selection
with blinking dots-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8.
3) Eight Dot Mode: (E). "F4-Up Scroll". Toggles Eight Dot Mode on/off for ASCII
text entry.
4) View/input Braille Grade: (G). "Space-G". Lets you choose what grade of Braille
you want to use when viewing/entering text: Uncontracted Braille, Contracted
Braille, or Computer Braille.
5) Braille Code: (C). "Backspace-Enter-B". Defines the rules by which Braille is
translated to text and vice versa: "US", "UK", "UEB", or one of several foreign
language Braille codes. When foreign language codes are set, you can read and
write Braille according to that language's Braille rules. The Braille language also
affects lists, combo boxes, and edit boxes. Prompts, menus, buttons and static
boxes remain in English.
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6) Message Display Time: (M). defines how the Polaris MINI deals with system
messages: ignore, stand by until you press a key, or, display for from 1 to 10
seconds before disappearing.
7) Voice: (V). "Backspace-F2". Toggles the voice output On/Off.
8) Punctuation Level: (P). Use this setting to choose how you want the Polaris
MINI to read punctuation marks and symbols: "All", "Off", "Punctuation," or
"Symbols".
9) Keyboard Echo: (K). Defines how Polaris MINI speaks as you type: "On with
characters and words," "On with characters," "On with words," or "Off".
10) Capitalization alert: (U). Choose how the Polaris MINI alerts you that a
character is capitalized, either when typing or when navigating a document or edit
box by character: "Off", "Say cap," or "Pitch".
11) Numbers: (N). Defines how Polaris MINI speaks numbers: when set to "On",
Polaris MINI speaks numbers, and when set to "Off", it speaks digits.
12) Voice Volume: (L). "Backspace-F1 and Backspace-F4". Raises or lowers the
volume of the text-to-speech.
13) Voice Rate: (R). "Space-F1 and Space-F4". Controls the rate of the speech.
14) Voice Pitch: (T). "Enter-F1 and Enter-F4". Adjusts the pitch of the Polaris MINI
voice.
15) Main Volume: (V). "Backspace-SPACE-F1 and Backspace-Space-F4", or the
Volume Up and Down buttons. Controls the master volume of the unit, including
system sounds, audio and speech.
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16) Scroll Voice: (S). Choose whether you want the Polaris MINI to speak while
using the scroll buttons as you read.
17) Audio alerts: (A). Choose whether the Polaris MINI alerts you to various
events using audio signals, vibration signals, both, or no signal.
18) Battery Alerts: (B). Choose how you are alerted when your battery is low:
"Message", "Beep", "Final Message" or "Final Beep".
19) Play Power On/Off Sound: (P). Choose whether you hear a sound when you
turn on/off the Polaris MINI.
20) Left Scroll Buttons: (L). Define the operation of the left scroll buttons: "Scroll
display", "Move by line", "Move by character", "Move by paragraph" and "Move by
sentence".
21) Right Scroll Buttons: (R). Define the operation of the Right Scroll buttons with
the same options as above.
22) Skip Empty Lines: (E). Choose to have the Polaris MINI alert you to a blank
line by announcing "Blank" or skip empty lines.
23) Control Information: (I). Define where information is announced regarding the
type of control on which you are currently located, a list item, menu, combo box,
etc. Choose from Before, After and Off.
24) Hide passwords: (P). Choose whether the characters of a password are
hidden as you type them.
25) Hot Key Information: (H). Defines how hot key information is announced:
"Letters," "Dot patterns," or "Off".
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26) Announce shortcut keys: (S). Lets you choose whether the Polaris MINI
speaks the menu shortcut key for a function as you encounter it.
27) Sleep Mode: (P). Set Polaris MINI to save power by automatically shutting
down after a certain period of time: "On", "Off", or "Message". (Only active when
using battery power.)
28) Sleep Mode Kick In: (K). Use this option to set the time of inactivity before
entering SLEEP Mode: 10 minutes, 20 minutes, or 30 minutes.
29) Check Today's Schedule: (S). Set the Polaris MINI to check today's schedule
for appointments each time you turn it on.
30) One-Handed Mode: (H). This option allows users with only the use of one
hand to use the Polaris MINI in a specific mode adapted for that purpose. For
detailed information about one-handed mode, refer to section 2.14.
31) Enable Spell-check: (C). You may wish to disable spellcheck in educational
situations where a student needs to be tested on spelling, etc.
Note: If "Enable Spellcheck" is turned off, Automatic Spellcheck cannot be
used.
32) Automatic spell-check: (C). Set whether the Polaris MINI automatically checks
spelling as you type in "multi line edit boxes" in programs such as the Schedule
Manager, Address Manager, E-mail messages, the Word Processor, etc. If the
option is "On", and you enter a misspelled word, Polaris MINI emits a beep sound
to indicate the misspelling.
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33) Default Document Type: (Q). Set the default document type for new
documents you create using the word processor: “DOCX document”, "Sense
document", "Braille document,", "DOC document" or "Text document".
34) Automatically synchronize with time server: (T). Using this feature, you can
ensure the accuracy of the time on the Polaris MINI by synchronizing with an
atomic clock when Polaris MINI is connected to the Internet.
35) Time Announcement: (T). Set the Polaris MINI to announce the time every 5
minutes, every 10 minutes, 30 minutes or every hour.
36) Progress indicator: (P). Defines how the progress of opening a document,
copying files or opening a webpage is indicated: "Silent," (no progress indication)
"Beep," (continuous beeps while the task is performed) and "Message" (progress
is shown as a percentage).
37) Bluetooth: (B). "Backspace-3-4-5-6". Toggles Bluetooth On/Off.
38) Wireless LAN: (W). "Backspace-1-4-5-6". Toggles Wireless LAN On/Off.
39) Screen Reader Hints: (H). Set whether to receive spoken hints about how to
interact with the screen reader as you navigate the controls of 3rd party programs:
"On/Off".
40) Screen Reader Control Information: (I). Determines whether the screen
reader speaks the type of control or field as you navigate 3rd party applications:
"On/Off".
41) Notification alerts: (N). Set whether you receive push notifications from
Android applications.
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42) Enable Braille in standby Mode: (N). Set whether status messages are shown
in Braille while in Sleep Mode.
3.11 Android Backup & Reset
The “Android Backup & Reset” option opens the Restore and Reset options found
in the Android System Settings in a more convenient location. Here, you can set
options for backing up and restoring information related to your Android
applications and accounts, and you can factory reset your device. WARNING!
Performing a factory Reset in the “Android Backup & Reset” menu erases all
personal data, including files, account information, installed applications, etc. This
is also a long and involved process and should not be undertaken before
consulting with tech support staff, as you will need special instructions to complete
it properly.
3.12 Android System Settings
The “Android System Settings” is the final item in the “Settings” menu. You can
launch it from anywhere using “F3-E”.
This option opens the standard Android “Settings” dialog found on stock Android
phones and tablets. While many settings are duplicated in the Polaris MINI
interface, the “Android System Settings” contains a standard Android interface,
and must be navigated in the same manner as Android applications. Use “F3”,
and “Space-F3” to move among objects on a screen. Use “Backspace-Space-1”
and Backspace-Space-4” to adjust slider controls. Please see chapter 12 on the
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Mobile Screen Reader, and chapter 15, Commands Summary, for more complete
information on navigating the Android interface.
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4. File Manager
4.1 Overview
The functionality and structure of the "File Manager" on the Polaris MINI are
similar to "Windows Explorer" on a PC. To run the "File Manager", press F from
the "Program" menu or press "Enter" when your cursor is placed on "File
Manager". You can launch the "File Manager" from anywhere on the unit by
pressing "F1-F". Close the "File Manager" by pressing "Space-Z".
The "File Manager" contains 2 basic areas: an "address window" and the content
list. You can navigate between them using "F3" and "Space-F3". When you first
open the "File Manager", you are placed in the drive list. By default, you are placed
on the internal "flashdisk". If an SD card or USB drive is connected, it also appears
in the list. You can use "Space-1" or "Space-4" or the scroll buttons to navigate
the items in the drive list. Press "Enter" on the drive you want to open. The Polaris
MINI then displays the list of the files/folders on that drive.
The "address window" contains the path of the current directory or file.
The "File Manager" contains both menus and hot keys, allowing you to easily
activate items in the program with a single keystroke as well as to access
functions through the menus for commands you have not memorized. You can
bring up the menus by pressing "Space-M" or "F2". For the purposes of the
directions in this chapter and the rest of this manual, we will use F2. However,
either keystroke will perform this function.
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Use Space-1" and Space-4" to navigate among the available menus. To open a
menu, press "Enter". Again, use "Space-1" or "Space-4" to navigate among the
items in a menu, and press "Enter" to execute a menu item.
The File Manager also contains dialogs. You can navigate among the controls in
a dialog box by using the equivalents of "Tab" on a PC. You can use "F3" or
"Space-4-5" for "Tab" and "Space-F3" or "Space-1-2" for "Shift-Tab". For the
purposes of instructions in this manual, we will use "F3" and Space-F3", or you
will be directed to "Tab" or "Shift-Tab".
4.1.1 Navigating the File List
The "File Manager" contains two kinds of lists: the "file list" and the "menu list", or
rather, the list of items contained in the "File Manager" menu. The menus in the
Polaris MINI wrap. This means, when you reach the end of the list of items in a
menu, the Polaris MINI automatically brings you back to the top of the list when
you press "Space-4". However, when you reach the end of a "file list," the Polaris
MINI remains at the end of the list, even if you press "Space-4". The following is
a list of the keystrokes used for navigating lists:
Note: the following keystrokes can be used to navigate any list on the
Polaris MINI.
1. Move to previous item: (Space-1) or up scroll button
2. Move to next item: (Space-4) or down scroll button
3. Move to the beginning of a list: Space-1-2-3
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4. Move to the end of a list: Space-4-5-6
The following keystrokes are valid only in a "file list".
1. Jump to folder or file list: Space-5-6
2. Move between file list and address window: (Space-4-5 or F3) / (Space-1-2 or
Space-F3)
3. Enter the selected folder or open the selected file: Enter
4. Move back a level in the folder structure: Backspace
5. Jump to the drive list: Space-1-2-5-6
6. Move to the previous group of 20 items: Page up (space 1-2-6 or F1-F2)
7. Move to the next group of 20 items: Page down (space 3-4-5 or F3-F4)
8. Jump to a file or folder by pressing the first character of the folder or file name.
You must use ASCII characters.
4.1.2 Selecting Folders and Files
1. Select individual items "Space": * is displayed in front of the item to denote its
selection. Pressing "Space" again on the selected folder or file cancels the
selection.
2. Continuous selection "Enter-b": This selects all of the items from the point
where this command is executed to the item where the cursor is located. * appears
in front of the selected items.
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3. Select all "Enter-a": This selects all the files and folders in the current list. You
can toggle selection and de-selection of items by pressing "Space". When the
"Select All" command is executed, the Polaris MINI says the number of selected
files, and * appears in front of the selected files on the Braille display.
4.2 Working with Files and Folders
When viewing the contents of a drive or folder, the items in quotation marks are
folders, and the items without quotation marks are files.
The items in the list are followed by numbers, such as 1/5 or 2/5. The numbers
following the items indicate an item's placement in the list and the total number of
items in the list. For example, "database 1/5," indicates "database" is the first
folder in a list containing five items.
4.2.1 Entering and Exiting Folders
There are several ways to open a folder.
1. Bring up the menu by pressing "F2". Select the "Open" option from the list and
press "Enter".
2. Press the hot key "Enter-O" to activate the "Open" command and open the
desired folder.
3. Finally, as described above, you can simply press "Enter" on the selected
folder.
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To exit the current folder, use the "Backspace" key. You are returned to the
previous level in the folder structure.
4.2.2 Ejecting USB Drives and SD Cards
The Android operating system requires that drives are ejected properly before
removing them. If not done, re-inserting them in to the Polaris MINI or connecting
to other mobile devices or computers may result in all files appearing as though
they have no data, or have a size of 0 bytes. Before disconnecting a USB drive or
SD card, press “Backspace-Enter-U” or “Backspace-Enter-3-6” to it
from the system. If your drive is showing files with no data, please re-insert it in to
the Polaris MINI, and press the Unmount key to eject it properly, and the data
should, be visible once again.
4.3 The File Menu
To open the "File" menu, press "F2" to bring up the menu, and press "Enter" on
"File". Use normal list commands to navigate to your desired option and press
"Enter".
The Polaris MINI supports the following file formats:
1. Document files: hbl, brl, txt, brf, rtf, doc/docx, XLS/XLSX, PPT/PPTX, PDF and
unprotected EPUB.
2. Web formats: url, and html.
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3. Media formats: ac3, asf, asx, m3u, mp2, mp3, MP4, ogg, pls, wav, wax, wma,
wmv and flac.
4. DAISY formats: DAISY 2.0, 3.0, BookShare.
5. programs: APK. Press “Enter” to install.
The menu contains the following items. Shortcuts are placed in parentheses, and
hotkeys are in quotes.
1) Open: (O) "Enter-O". Opens the selected file in the associated application for
its file type.
2) Open New Word Processor: (W) "Backspace-W". Appears only for supported
document files. Launches a second instance of the Word Processor instead of
opening the file in a currently open Word Processor.
3) Open With: (E) "Enter-E". Allows you to choose a compatible application with
which to open the selected file.
4) Zip (Z) "Enter-Z". Compresses the current file or folder.
5) Unzip (U) "Enter-U". Appears only for compressed files, extracts the current
file.
6) Send To: (S) "Enter-S". Lets you send the current file or folder to a different
location.
7) Rename (R) "Enter-R". Rename the current file or folder.
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8) New Document: (N) "Enter-N". Create a new document using DOCX, DOC,
TXT, BRL, or HBL.
9) New Folder: (F) "Enter-F". Creates a new folder.
10) File Conversion: (T) "Enter-T". Converts selected document files to TXT, BRL,
or HBLIND.
11) Find File: (F) "Space-F". Search the current drive or folder for a specific file
by name.
12) Find Text: (F) "Backspace-F". Search Word, Text, and Braille files on the
current drive or folder for specific text strings.
13) Merge Files: (M) "Enter-M". Select 2 or more text or Braille files to merge
together.
14) Split Files: (P) "Enter-P". Split text or Braille files by paragraph or word count,
by size, or into a certain number of files of equal size.
15) Information: (I) "Enter-I". Provides basic properties of the current file or folder.
16) Exit: (Z) "Space-Z". Closes the File Manager.
4.4 The Edit Menu
The Edit Menu contains the following items:
1) Copy: (C) "Enter-C". Copies the selected files or folders to the clipboard.
2) Cut: (X) "Enter-X". Cuts the selected files or folders to the clipboard.
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3) Paste: (V) "Enter-V". Pastes the files or folders on the clipboard to the current
location.
4) Delete: (D) "Space-D". Deletes the selected files or folders.
5) Select All: (A) "Enter-A". Selects all the files and folders in the current list.
4.5 The View Menu
The View Menu contains the following options:
1) Sort Files By: (G) "Enter-G". Determines in what order files and folders are
displayed.
2) Set File Info: (L) "Enter-L". Determines what information is displayed about
each file or folder in the list.
3) Display Only Files of Type: (W) "Enter-W". Filters files by file type.
4) Hide System Folders: (H) "Enter-H". Hides Android system folders that do not
contain user content. These are hidden by default.
4.6 Using the Address Window
This edit box lets you type the direct path of the file name you want to open. This
window also contains the history list for easily accessing recently opened files or
directories.
When you are in a file or folder list, you can press "tab (Space-4-5)" to navigate
to the address window. The Polaris MINI displays the current path including the
current drive name, such as "flashdisk/download/". The address window is only
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visible when you are in a file or folder list. When you are in the drive list, the
address window is not available.
You can edit the text by relocating the cursor with a cursor routing key, the Polaris
MINI inserts the text at the cursor location. If you know the exact path and file
name, you can type in the path and file name to open the file with the appropriate
application. For example, if you type in "flashdisk/download" in the address
window and press "Enter," the Polaris MINI displays the list of the files in the
download folder. If you type "flashdisk/My Documents/sample.txt" in the address
window, and press "Enter," the Polaris MINI loads the Word Processor, and opens
the file "sample.txt".
Use "Space-1" or "Space-4" in the Address Window to review the history list (a
list of file and folder paths you have recently opened). To open a file in the history
list, press "Enter". The file opens with the appropriate application. (See section
4.2.3).
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5. Word Processor
You can launch the "Word Processor" in a couple of ways:
Press "F1" to open the main "Program" menu. Navigate to "Word Processor"
using "Space-4" and press "Enter". You can also press W from the main menu to
quickly jump to and open the "Word Processor.
You can launch the "Word Processor" from anywhere on the unit by pressing "F1-
W".
When you launch the Word Processor on the Polaris MINI, it places you in a new,
blank document. You can activate all the functions of the Word Processor via the
Word Processor menu or by using hot keys. The menu in the Word Processor
consists of File, Edit, Go To, Read, and Layout. To access these menus, press
"Space-M" or "F2". Select a menu item using "Space-1" or "Space-4", and press
"Enter". Or, you can press "Space-M or "F2" followed by the shortcut for the
corresponding menu item.
Use "Space-1" and "Space-4" or the Up and Down scroll keys to navigate menus,
settings or file lists. Use "Space-4-5" and "Space-1-2" or "F3" and "Space-F3" to
tab among controls in a dialog.
Press "Enter" to execute an item.
5.1 File Menu
The File menu contains the following options:
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1) Open New Word Processor: (W) "Backspace-N". Opens a second instance of
the Word Processor to more easily switch between documents.
2) New: (N). Creates a new document, by default named "noname". Choose the
default document type in the Global Options. You can create a DOCX, DOC, TXT,
BRL or HBL document.
3) Open: (O) "Enter-O". Opens an existing file. Supported file types include DOC,
DOCX, PPT, PPTX, PDF, EPUB, XML, RTF, TX, BRL and BRF. *Note: these files
can be read, but all file types cannot be saved.
4) Save: (S) "Enter-S". Save the current file. Tab between name, location and file
type. Use normal file management navigation to choose a different folder.
5) Save As: (A) "Space-S". Save the current file under a different name, as a type
or in a different location.
6) Print: (P) "Space-P". Emboss the current document. Inkprinting must be done
via native Android apps.
7) Settings: (E) "Enter-E". Dialog to set various document options. Tab among
settings list, location Info check boxes, Default folder, and Confirm and Cancel
buttons. Settings list includes View Format Characters, Reading unit for Space-1
and Space-4, Read Only On/Off, Automatic Save Interval, Auto Scroll Speed,
Apply Settings to All Documents, Home/End movement unit, Math Braille Code,
and new Document default name. Use “Space-1” and “Space-4” to move among
the settings in the Settings list, and Space or Backspace to change the value of
the setting.
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8) File Open Setting: (T) “Backspace-Enter-O”. Determines how a document is
loaded: Choose “Load completely” to open the document in whole before reading,
choose “Load in Background” to start reading after the first page is loaded, and
continue loading in the background.
9) Dictionary: (D) "Backspace-Enter-D". Opens the Sense Dictionary installed,
and inserts the word under the cursor in the lookup edit box.
10) Exit: (Z) "Space-Z". Closes the Word Processor.
5.2 Edit Menu
The Edit Menu contains the following items:
1) Start Selection: (B) "Enter-B". Marks the beginning of the selection. The end of
the selection is marked by the current cursor position.
2) Copy: (C) "Enter-C". Copies selected text to the clipboard.
3) Cut: (X) "Enter-X". Cuts the selected text to the clipboard.
4) Paste: (V) "Enter-V". Pastes text from the clipboard to the current location.
5) Delete: (D) "Space-D". Deletes selected text.
6) Delete Blank lines: (L) "Backspace-E". Deletes blank lines from the selected
text area.
7) Add to clipboard: (P) "Enter-P". Appends selected text to the clipboard without
deleting the prior selection.
8) Clear clipboard: (E) "Enter-D". Empties the clipboard.
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9) Select All: (A) "Enter-A". Selects all the text in the document.
10) Check spelling: (K) "Enter-K". Opens the Check Spelling dialog, and begins
checking the document for errors. Use “F3” and “Space-F3” to move among the
controls, and “Space-1” and “Space-4” to move through lists of options. You can
also use the following hot keys:
A. Skip Once: Backspace-S.
B. Skip All: Backspace-I.
C. Modify Current: Backspace-C.
D. Modify All: Backspace-M.
E. Add to User Dictionary: Backspace-A.
5.3 Insert Menu
1) Set Mark: (M) "Enter-M". Sets a bookmark at the current cursor position.
2) Jump to Mark: (J) "Enter-J". Jumps to a previously set mark.
3) Delete Mark: (D) "Backspace-D". Deletes a previously set mark.
4) Insert from File: (I) "Enter-I". Inserts information from another file.
5) Insert Date: (W) "Enter-W". Inserts the current date.
6) Insert time: (T) "Backspace-W". Inserts the current time.
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5.4 Go to Menu
1) Find: (F) "Space-F". Opens Find dialog where you can enter a text string to
search, choose whether to match case, and choose the search direction.
2) Find Next: (H) "Enter-F". Finds the next instance of the previously searched
string.
3) Find Previous: (V) "Backspace-F". Finds the previous instance of the search
string from your current position.
4) Find and Replace: (R) "Enter-R". Dialog to search for a text string and replace
with an alternative string. Choose search direction, match case, and whether to
replace one instance or all.
5) Go To Location: (L) "Enter-L". Go to a location in the document according to
page, paragraph, line or percentage.
6) Go To Previous Sentence: (E) "Space-2-3-6". Moves back one sentence.
7) Go To Next Sentence: (X) "Space-3-5-6". Moves forward one sentence.
8) Go To Previous Page: (B) "Space-1-2-6). Moves back one page.
9) Go To Next Page: (G) "Space-3-4-5". Moves forward one page.
10) Go To Previous Document: (P) "Shift-Tab". If multiple documents are open,
moves to the previous document in the order the files were opened.
11) Go To Next Document: (N) "Tab". If multiple documents are opened, moves
to the next document in the file open order.
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5.5 Read Menu
1) Read Selected Text: (B) "Backspace-B". Reads the selected block of text.
2) Read beginning of Selected Text: (U) "Enter-U". Reads the first line of a
selected text block.
3) Read from Beginning to Cursor: (T) "Backspace-G". Reads from the beginning
of the document to the current cursor position.
4) Read from Cursor to End: (Q) "Enter-G". Reads from the current cursor position
to the end of the document.
5) Auto Scroll: (A) "Up/Down Scroll". Starts and stops the auto scroll function. Set
the speed of the auto scroll in the Settings under the File menu.
6) Read Current Sentence (E) "Space-1-4-5-6". Reads the current sentence.
7) Read Current Line: (L) "Space-1-4". Reads the current line.
8) Read Current Word: (W) "Space-2-5". Reads the current word. Press twice to
spell.
9) Read Current Character: (C) "Space-3-6". Reads the current character. Press
twice to hear the military alphabet equivalent.
10) Read Cursor Position: (R) "Space-1-5-6". Reads current cursor position as
page, paragraph, word, and line.
11) Read Status: (S) "Space-3-4". Reads title of document and indicates Insert or
Overwrite mode.
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12) Read Character and Space Count: (I) "Backspace-I". Reads the current and
total character count, and the current and total space count of the current
document.
13) Read Font info: (F) “Backspace-Enter-N”. Provides font, style, and formatting
information for the text at your current position.
5.6 Layout Menu
1) Font: (F) "Enter-backspace-F". Opens the font settings dialog. Acts on selected
text.
2) Braille Paragraph Layout: (B) "Backspace-1-2-4-6". Determines the Braille
format of the current paragraph.
3) Braille Document Layout: (P) "Backspace-P". Determines Braille document
format for embossing.
4) Print Paragraph Layout: (C) "Backspace-2-3-4-6". Determines the print format
and style of the current paragraph.
5) Print Document Layout: (T) "Backspace-T". Determines the format of the pages
of a printed document.
5.7 Miscellaneous Functions
The following commands can also be used in the Word Processor:
1) Insert Tab: Backspace-Space-Enter-I.
2) Insert Page Break: Backspace-Space-Enter-P.
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3. Center current line: Backspace-Space-Enter-C.
4) Start/End Math Mode: Backspace-M.
5) Insert math symbol: Press Space-H in Math Mode, and press Enter on the
symbol in the list.
6) Next slide in PowerPoint file: Space.
7) Previous Slide in PowerPoint file: Backspace.
8) Go to slide in Power Point File: Enter-L.
9) Move back by double carriage return: Backspace-Space-2-3.
10) Move forward by double carriage return: Space-Enter-5-6.
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6. E-mail
To use the e-mail program, you must have an e-mail account, provided to you by
your Internet service provider or sign up for a free account such as Gmail or
Hotmail. Your e-mail account needs to support POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) or
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer
Protocol) to be accessed with the Polaris MINI.
Before you use the e-mail program, you must also configure the Polaris MINI to
access the Internet, (see section 3.2 "Internet Setup").
Note: The menus in the Polaris MINI's e-mail program are specific to the
task you are performing: for example, when checking the "Inbox" in the e-
mail program, the menu items are different from the available items when
you are writing an e-mail or viewing mailboxes. Generally, the available e-
mail program menus are "File", "Edit", "Tools" and "Message".
To access these menus, press "Space-M" or "F2". Select a menu item, and press
"Enter". Use "Space-1" and "Space-4" or the Up and Down scroll keys to navigate
menus, settings or file lists. Use "Space-4-5" and "Space-1-2" or "F3" and "Space-
F3" to tab among controls in a dialog.
6.1 Executing E-mail
To use the e-mail program, you must configure the Polaris MINI to access each
of your e-mail accounts by entering your e-mail account information.
To execute the e-mail program, navigate to "E-mail" in the "program" menu, by
pressing "Space-1" and "Space-4" and press "Enter", or just press E from the
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main program menu. You can launch the "E-mail program from anywhere on the
unit by pressing "F1-E".
When you launch the e-mail program for the first time, the Polaris MINI says, "You
must create at least 1 mail account from the accounts manager in the Tools
menu". Then, the "Inbox" is opened.
The "Inbox" is the main window of the E-mail program. When you run the e-mail
program for the first time, this "Inbox" is empty and the Polaris MINI displays "no
items".
If there are e-mail messages in the "Inbox", "Opening inbox." is announced; and
"xx% processed" is displayed on the Braille display. Once progress has reached
100%, the "Inbox" is opened and displays the received e-mail in the message list.
Press "Shift-Tab (Space-1-2)", and you are placed in the mailbox list. By default,
the Polaris MINI contains the following mailboxes:
1) Inbox: received mail that has not been deleted or saved to a different folder.
2) Sent: sent messages you have chosen to store
3) Outbox: messages waiting to be sent, either when you save mail in "Outbox"
or sending mail fails.
6.2 Setting Up an Account
To access the "Accounts Manager", Open the menu with "F2", navigate to "Tools"
and press "Enter". "Accounts Manager" is the first item in the "Tools" menu, thus,
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you can just press "Enter" again to open it. You can also launch the "Accounts
Manager" from anywhere in e-mail by pressing "Enter-M".
"Account name: no items" is displayed.
The "Accounts manager" dialog contains the following 6 items: "Accounts" list,
"Information" button, "Add" button, "Modify" button, "Delete" button and "Close"
button.
To add an e-mail account, follow these steps:
1) From the "Accounts Manager", press "F3", to move to "Add" and press "Enter".
2) The dialog is opened and "Server Type" is displayed. This is a combo box in
which you can choose to manually setup your account, or ask BrailleSense to
auto fill in server information from known server types like Gmail and iCloud. Use
"Space-1" and Space-4" to navigate the Server types. If your server is not in the
list, select "Manual". Press F3 to move to the incoming server type.
3) "Default mail server" is displayed. Use Space to choose between POP3 and
IMAP. Press "F3" to move to the account settings list.
4) "Account name:" is displayed. Type the name by which you want to identify the
e-mail account: (example, "Gmail" or "work e-mail").
5) Press "Space-4", to move to "Display name". Type the "Display name" in the
edit box. This name is the name people will see when they receive an e-mail from
you.
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6) Press "Space-4", to move to "Logon username". Type the "Logon username"
in the edit box (using computer Braille if writing in US Braille). (Ex: Sense or
sense@himsintl.com).
Note: some providers require you to use the entire e-mail address as the
username, while others may use the part of the address before the at-sign.
BE sure you type the username correctly for your e-mail provider.
7) Press "Space-4", to move to "Password". Type the "password" in the edit box
(computer Braille if using US Braille).
Note: By default, the password is hidden, and thus displays as asterisks.
Be sure to type carefully as you cannot review your password unless you
choose not to hide passwords in the "Global Options".
8) Press "Space-4", to move to "E-mail address". Type your "E-mail address" in
the edit box (again, use computer Braille if entering US Braille). (Ex:
sense@himsintl.com)
9) Press "Space-4", to move to "Incoming Server?". If you have selected "IMAP"
as your incoming server type, "Incoming IMAP server?" is displayed. If you have
chosen "POP3" as your incoming server type, "Incoming POP3 server" is
displayed. Type the "Incoming server" in the edit box (in computer Braille for US
Braille). (Ex: imap.himsintl.com, or pop.himsintl.com). Check with your account
provider for your specific incoming server name.
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10) Press "Space-4", to move to "Outgoing SMTP server". Type the "Outgoing
SMTP server" in the edit box (computer Braille if using US Braille). Check with
your account provider for the exact name of your outgoing SMTP server.
11) "Tab to the "Confirm" button and press "Enter".
12) The Polaris MINI exits to the "Account name list" and shows the added
account name (Ex: Account name: Polaris MINI 1/1).
13) When you finish adding accounts, press "Space-Z" to return to the "Inbox".
Note: Many e-mail service providers use secure servers with different port
numbers. If your service provider requires you to use encryption, you must
set these options in the "Advanced" dialog explained below:
Note: If you are not using UEB, several of the fields for setting up an e-mail
account require you to use computer Braille. To type your ID, Password,
and address,
While adding your account, you can create a signature and set advanced options
in the "Advanced" dialog.
1) Open the "Accounts Manager" as described previously.
2) If you're creating a new account, "Tab to the "Add" button and Press "Enter". If
you need to add advanced settings to an account you've already created, Tab to
the "Modify" button and press "Enter".
3) When you have filled in everything in the main account settings list, press "F3"
to move to "Advanced" and press "Enter".
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4) Polaris MINI displays "Use secure POP3 (or IMAP) (POP-SSL)". The default
value of this check box is unselected. If the POP3 or IMAP server uses "SSL",
select the check box by pressing "Space".
5) Press "F3" to move to "POP3 (or IMAP) port number": POP3 is set to 110 by
default, and IMAP is set to 143 by default. Type a different POP3 or IMAP port
number in the edit box if your provider requires a different port number.
Note: if you check "SSL" above, the pop port number is automatically
changed to 995 and the IMAP port to 993, as most servers with SSL
require.
6) Press "F3" to move to "SMTP encryption type". The setting values are "None",
"SSL" and "TLS". If your Outgoing SMTP server uses "SSL" or "TLS", change the
value by pressing "Space".
7) Press "F3" to move to "SMTP port number": set to 25 by default. If you have
chosen "SSL" as the encryption type, the default port number is set to 465 as is
most commonly used for SMTP servers using SSL. If you have chosen TLS, the
default SMTP port number is set to 587. Type a different value in the edit box if
your provider uses a different SMTP port number.
8) Press "F3" to move to "SMTP username". If your Internet account provider
requires you to use a different SMTP username, enter it in this edit box.
9) Press "F3" to move to "SMTP password". Type the password that corresponds
to the above ID (using computer Braille if entering US Braille). If your SMTP
username and password are not different, leave these items blank.
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10) Press "F3" to move to "Use as default send-from account" To use the
username and password that were set in steps 7 and 8, select the check box by
pressing "Space".
11) Press "F3", move to "Use signature". The default value is "No". To attach a
signature to your mail, press "Space" to change "No" to "Yes".
12) If you chose yes, press "F3", to move to "Signature" and press "Enter".
13) You are placed in the "Signature:" multi edit box. Type the information for the
signature you want to attach to your e-mails.
14) Tab to "Confirm" and press "Enter".
15) Tab to the "Confirm" button and press "Enter" to save the settings in the
"Advanced" dialog.
16) Tab to the "Confirm" button one more time to save the settings in the main
"Account information" dialog.
6.3 Managing Accounts
To view the information about a stored e-mail account, open the "Accounts
Manager" as described previously. Navigate to the account for which you want
information and press "Enter" or Tab to "Information" and press "Enter".
In this dialog you can read all information associated with an e-mail account. Use
"Space-1" and "Space-4" to navigate the list of settings for the account. Press
"Space-E" to return to the accounts list.
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To modify the information for an e-mail account, open the "Accounts Manager"
and navigate to the desired account in the list. When the desired account is
displayed, press "F3" to move to the "Modify" button, and press "Enter". Or, press
Enter-M to activate the "Modify" button.
You are placed in the "Account name" edit box. You can now make changes to
the information presented. The "Modify" dialog is exactly like the "Account setup"
dialog, except that all the information is already filled in. Use normal editing and
navigation commands to navigate to the information and make your desired
changes.
When you have finished making modifications, press "F3" to move to "Confirm"
and press "Enter".
Use the following steps to delete an E-mail account.
1) Open the Accounts Manager in the manner previously described.
2) Press "Space-4" or "Space-1" to move to the desired account in the account
list.
3) When the desired account is displayed, press "Space-D" Or, press "F3" to
move to the "Delete" button, and press "Enter".
4) Polaris MINI prompts, "Are you sure you want to delete the (added account
name) account? Yes".
5) Press "enter" To delete it. Press "Space-Z" to cancel the deletion.
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6.4 Receiving E-mail
To check for new mail, press "Enter-N". You can also choose "Check for New
Mail" from the "Message" menu. For POP3 accounts, the Polaris MINI displays
"There are xx messages to receive. Now receiving." "x/y mail received;"
"Successfully received x out of y message" is displayed. When the e-mail
messages are downloaded from the server, the e-mail message list is displayed
in the "Inbox".
To cancel the download, press "F3" to move to the "Cancel" button, and press
"enter", or press "Space-E".
When receiving messages via an IMAP server, you can both check the newest
mail, according to the number of messages you have it set to automatically
receive in the "Set options" dialog, or you can ask the Polaris MINI to load older
e-mail messages. To receive the newest e-mail messages, press "Enter-N" from
the message list of the mailbox on which you are located. To receive previous
mail, press "Backspace-P". You can also access "Get new mail" and "Get
Previous mail" from the "Message" menu.
In addition, when using IMAP, as you navigate the various mail boxes in an
account, new mail is automatically received for each mail box as you open it.
6.5 Reading Messages
E-mail messages are displayed in the Inbox and other mailboxes with the
following information: "Subject", "Date", "From" (Sender), "CC", "Message" (main
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body of the e-mail) and "Attach" (displayed only for an e-mail with one or more
attached files) you can move among the items by pressing "F3" or "Space-F3".
If there is a file attached to the e-mail, an A is shown before the subject, and the
number of attachments is announced as you navigate the message list. The
Polaris MINI also indicates which e-mail messages have been read, and which e-
mail messages are unread. E-mail messages that have not yet been read have a
dash placed in front of the subject.
"Date" shows the date and time when the e-mail was received in the following
order: day, month, date, and year. The time is displayed in the following order:
hour, minute, and second using 24 hour time format.
"From" shows the sender information; "From: (sender's e-mail address) you can
save the e-mail id of the sender to your contacts in the "Address Manager" using
the following steps:
1) Press "Enter-I" when the sender is displayed.
2) The "add address" dialog is opened, and "Name: (sender's user name or e-
mail address)" is displayed.
3) Type the sender's name, or, if what is automatically filled in is acceptable, press
"F3" to move to "confirm", and press "enter". The contact is saved, and you are
returned to your previous position in the message list.
You can also save the e-mail id of the carbon copy recipient (CC) to the Address
Manager using the process described above.
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You can move to the body of a message by pressing "F3". Or, you can press
"enter" when "Subject", "Date", or "From" is displayed. When you press "enter",
the entire message is automatically spoken. To interrupt reading, press
"Backspace-enter". Navigate the message as you would a document in the "Word
Processor". To return to the "Subject", press "Space-E".
Note: Messages in the Polaris MINI are opened as plain text. If you receive
an html e-mail, you can access the links and other HTML content by
viewing the message in the Polaris MINI's Web Browser. Open the
message with the Web browser by pressing "Backspace-O", or by selecting
"Open Message in Web Browser" from the "Message" menu.
You can find and download attached files by tabbing to "Attach" on messages
containing attachments.
To save an attachment, move to the desired file name in the attachments list and
press "Enter". You are prompted, "Attachments will be saved to
/flashdisk/download. Do you want to change this location? No". Press "enter". The
selected file is saved in the "download" folder on the "flashdisk". If you have more
than one attachment you want to download, you can press "Enter-A" to select all
attachments in the list, or press space on any number of individual files to select
them.
To change the download path: When you are prompted, "Attachments will be
saved to /flashdisk/download. Do you want to change this location?", navigate to
"Yes" and press "Enter". You are placed in the file list of the "Downloads" folder
on the "flashdisk". Use normal file and folder navigation to locate the folder into
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which you want to save the attachments. Press "Space" to select the folder in
which to save the attachments, and press "Enter". * Note: when using IMAP, the
message must be opened before you can navigate to the attachments.
You can delete e-mail messages individually, or you can select multiple messages
and delete them simultaneously. Press "Space-D" to delete the current message,
or select multiple messages with "Space", then press "Space-D" to delete all of
them.
When you delete messages, they are automatically moved to the "Trash" folder,
where they remain until you delete them from there, or until you empty the "Trash"
folder. You can empty the "Trash" folder at any time by pressing "Enter-
Backspace-Q" or choosing 'Empty Trash' from the "Edit" menu.
Note: When messages are deleted from the "Trash" folder, they are
permanently disposed of, and cannot be retrieved.
6.6 Writing E-mail
To write a new message, choose "Write New Message" from the "File" menu, or
press "Enter-W" from the message list. "To:" is displayed on the Braille display. If
you wish to use a different account from the default, Shift-Tab to the "Account"
combo box, choose your desired account, and Tab back to the "To" field.
Type the e-mail address of the recipient, or rather, the person to whom you are
sending the message. If using US Braille, you must use computer Braille. To send
to multiple recipients, place a semicolon between the e-mail addresses.
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You can also add recipients from the address list by selecting "Look up Address"
from the "File" menu or pressing "Enter-L". Type the last name of the desired
recipient, and press "enter".
Addresses matching your search are displayed. If you press "enter" without typing
in the desired name, all of the addresses in your address list are displayed. If
there is no matching address, "No match" is announced. Move to the desired
address, and press "enter". You can select more than one address by pressing
"Space", then enter to input all of them.
When you are finished entering recipients in the "To" field, press "F3" to move to
"CC:" and "BCC", and input any copy or blind copy recipients as described above.
If you do not need to carbon copy anyone, you can skip to the next step.
Press "F3" to move to "Subject", and type the subject of the e-mail message.
Finally, press "F3" to move to "Message body:", and type the text of your e-mail
message. Use the same input and editing methods as are used in the Word
Processor.
When you have finished writing your e-mail message, select "Send" from the "File"
menu, or press "Enter-S" directly from your message. When the e-mail is finished
sending, "Successfully sent new message" is displayed. If sending fails, the
Polaris MINI displays "Unable to send message", often with a specific error
explaining the reason for the inability to send the message. If this occurs, the e-
mail is saved in the "Outbox".
To cancel e-mail message creation or sending, press "Space-E" or "Space-Z" and
you are returned to the "Inbox".
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6.6.1 Attaching a File
To attach a file to a message, select "Attach File" from the "File" menu, or press
"Enter-F" while writing an e-mail message. Use normal file and folder navigation
keys to locate the file or files you want to attach.
Press "enter" on the desired file to attach it. To attach more than one file, press
"Space" to select each file you want to attach. * is displayed in front of the selected
file names. Press "enter" To attach the selected files. Now, the "Attach" item is
displayed in the tab order after the "Message body".
6.6.2 Saving E-mail to the Outbox
Messages are saved in the "Outbox" under 2 conditions:
1. The user manually saves the e-mail to the "Outbox" for later sending.
2. An e-mail is automatically saved to the "outbox" after it fails to send due to a
network error or other reason.
While writing a message, you can save by selecting "Save Mail in Outbox" from
the "File" menu, or pressing "Space-S". A default file name is shown titled with
the subject of the email. Press "Enter" to save the e-mail under the current file
name, or type a new file name and change the path where the file is stored using
the same method as in the "Save As" dialog of the Word Processor.
Note: If you choose to save the e-mail in a location other than
"flashdisk/email/outbox", you cannot access the e-mail message in the
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"Outbox". Thus, you cannot send the e-mail unless it is returned to the
"Outbox" folder.
While creating a "message", press "Space-E" or "Space-Z" To cancel writing the
e-mail. The Polaris MINI displays "Currently writing mail. Save? Yes". Press Enter
to save the message in the Outbox. To return to the "Inbox" without saving the e-
mail, press "Space" to change "Yes" to "No", and press "Enter".
To send a message from the Outbox, "Shift-Tab" to the mailbox list, navigate to
the Outbox, and Tab to the message list. Press "Space-1" or "Space-4", to move
to the message you want to send.
If you want to send all the e-mails in the list: Press "Enter-a (dot 1) to select all. If
you want to send individual messages, use normal selection commands to select
them. Press "Enter" on "Send" from the "File" menu, or just press "Enter-S" from
the outbox, and the messages are sent.
6.7 Navigating Accounts and Mailboxes
There are two ways to move to an account or mail box.
You can access the accounts list or mailbox list by moving through the tab order
until you reach "mailboxes" or "Accounts". Use "Space-1" or "Space-4" to move
among the items in the list, and press "F3" to open the Account or mailbox.
You can also use the following hot keys to navigate accounts and mailboxes:
Go to next mailbox: Enter-3-4-5.
Go to previous mailbox: Enter-1-2-6.
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Next account: Backspace-dots-3-4-5.
Previous account: Backspace-1-2-6.
Note: These hot keys are not available from the account list or mail box list.
6.7.1 Managing Mailboxes
You can create additional mailboxes in the "E-mail" folder for sorting and storing
your messages.
To create a new mailbox, from the Mailbox list, open the "Edit" menu and select
"Create New Mailbox", or press "Enter-N" to activate this function directly. Type
the mailbox name you want to create, and press "Enter".
The Polaris MINI does not allow you to delete the "Inbox", "Sent", or "Outbox".
However, you can delete folders/mailboxes you have created.
To delete a folder/mailbox, navigate to the mailbox you want to delete in the
Mailbox list, open the "Edit" menu and choose "Delete Mailbox". You can also
delete the current mailbox in the list by pressing "Space-D".
You can also rename mailboxes you have created. To do this, from the mailbox
list, navigate to the mailbox you wish to rename. Open the Edit Menu and select
"Rename mailbox", or press "Enter-R" to open the "rename mailbox" dialog
directly. Type the new name for the folder mailbox, and press "Enter".
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6.7.2 Copying and Moving to Mailboxes
You can copy and move e-mails using the "Copy to Mailbox" or "Move to Mailbox"
commands in the "Edit" menu.
The "move/Copy dialog" contains the following:
1) "Folder" list.
2) "Create mailbox" Button
3) "Delete mailbox" Button
4) "Rename mailbox" Button
5) "Confirm" Button
6) "Cancel" Button
To copy and move an e-mail to another folder, follow these steps:
1) Select individual e-mails by pressing "Space", select a continuous group with
"Enter-B" or select all with "Enter-A".
2) Open the "Edit" menu, and press "SPACE-4", to move to "Copy to Mailbox" or
"Move to Mailbox" and press "Enter". You can activate these functions directly
from the message list by pressing "Backspace-C" for "Copy" and "Backspace-X"
for "Move to".
3) Polaris MINI displays "Folder list".
4) Press "Space-4", to move to the folder into which you want to copy or move
messages and press "Enter0.
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5) The e-mail is moved or copied to the selected folder, and you are returned to
the mailbox from which you activated the "Move" or "Copy" command.
6.8 Advanced Message Features
6.8.1 Reply and Reply All
When you reply to an e-mail, you can edit or add a message to the original
message, or add another recipient. Choosing "Reply" sends en e-mail to only the
original sender. Choosing "Reply To All" sends an e-mail back to the original
sender as well as all other recipients of the original e-mail.
1) From "Subject", "Date", or "Message body" of a message in the "Inbox", select
"Reply" or "Reply All" from the "Message" menu, or press "Enter-R" or
"Backspace-R" respectively.
2) You are placed in the message body, which already contains the original
message body of the received e-mail; below "--- Original Message ---".
3) You can type additional text, edit the original message, and/or edit any of the
fields associated with the message including the subject and recipient fields.
4) When you have finished, press "Enter-S" to send the e-mail.
You can save replies just as you can save new messages in the "Outbox" for
sending later.
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6.8.2 Forwarding a Message
"Forwarding" refers to sending an e-mail you received to another person.
1) From the "Subject", "Date", or "Message body", open the "Message" menu and
select "Forward", or press "Enter-F".
2) Polaris MINI displays "To:". Input the e-mail address of the new recipient, or
multiple recipients, using computer Braille.
3) Press "F3", to move to "CC", "BCC", and "Subject" and edit them as you wish.
The subject will appear as "FW: (original subject)".
4) "Tab" to the message body. The original e-mail message is shown following, "-
---- Forwarded Message -----".
5) Type any additional text you wish to add to the message, or make any edits to
the forwarded text, and press "Enter-S" to send.
If you don't want the e-mail to appear in the same message body as the e-mail
you are writing, you can also forward the current e-mail as an attachment. Use
"Backspace-W" to send the current e-mail as an attachment, then use the process
described above.
6.8.3 Saving an E-mail
There may be times when you wish to save a received message as a file. Please
note that there is a small difference between IMAP and POP3.
1) Using Pop3: when placed on one of the fields of an e-mail message you want
to save, select "Save as Text" from the "File" menu, or press "Space-S".
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2) Polaris MINI displays "File name: (subject of e-mail being read.txt".
3) Press "Enter" to save the message under the current file name. If you wish,
you can rename the file using the same method as in the "Save As" dialog of the
"Word Processor".
If you are using IMAP, you must first navigate to and open the message before
you can save it. Otherwise the steps are exactly as those above.
6.8.4 Finding Messages
The "Find" command is used to search for messages in the current mailbox. The
"Find" function looks for text that matches the text you enter in "Subject", "Date",
and/or "From". This function only works in the "Subject", "Date", or "From"
controls. Use "Space-F" to open the "Find" dialog, or open the "Edit" menu and
press "Enter" on "Find".
Use "F3" and "Space-F3" to move among the controls. Type the text to search in
the Edit box. Choose what parts of the message to "Search". Choose the direction
to search, and press "Enter".
The "Find Again" command finds the next occurrence of the text according to the
search text and direction specified in the "Find" dialog. As with "Find", the "Find
Again" function only works in the "Subject", "Date", or "From" fields. Open the
"Edit" menu and press "Enter" on "Find Again", or press "Backspace-F" from the
message list.
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6.8.5 Move to Next Unread Message
The "Move To Next Unread Message" command allows you to move to the next
unread message. If you use this function on the last unread message in a list, you
are taken to the first unread message in the list.
To activate this function from the "Subject", "Date", or "From" field, open the "Edit"
menu and select "Move to next Unread Message" or press "Enter-U" to activate
this function directly.
6.9 Using the Tools Menu
In addition to the "Accounts Manager", the "Tools" menu contains options for
setting the save path, spam filters and other e-mail options.
6.9.1 Set Path
"Set Path" sets the default download path where file attachments and e-mail are
stored. To set the download path, open the "Tools" menu and press "Enter" on
"Save Path", or press "Enter-P" from the message list.
The "Set Path" dialog contains three settings:
1) Save attachments path
2) Send attachments path
3) Disk to save mail in
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You can move among these items by pressing "Space-4" and "Space-1". Each
item consists of "Path", "Modify", and "Close". At "Path", the default path is
displayed. You can move among this information by pressing "F3" or "Space-F3".
If you choose to modify any path, use normal file management navigation to locate
your desired folder, and press "Enter".
6.9.2 Set Options
To open the "Set options" dialog, press "Enter" on "Options" from the "Tools"
menu, or press "Enter-O" to activate this item directly.
The first item in the "Set options" dialog is "Default server?” You can set the
default server to "IMAP" or "POP3". Use "Space" to change the value of the
setting.
The next item in the "Set Options" dialog is "Use inbox as default mailbox when
using POP3 server? Yes.". If you want the e-mail program to always place you in
the "inbox" when starting e-mail using POP3, leave this setting as is. If you would
like to use a different mailbox, press "Space" to change this option to "no".
The next option in the dialog is "Get the number of mail at once when using IMAP".
The default is set to 64. Use "Space" or "Backspace" to cycle through the various
options. The available values are All, 32, 64, 96, and 128.
When you have finished adjusting the settings, press "Enter" to save the options,
or tab to the "Confirm" button and press "Enter". If you do not wish to save your
changes, tab to the "cancel" button and press "Enter" or press "Space-Z".
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6.9.3 Spam Settings
When the Polaris MINI downloads e-mail from the e-mail server, there may be a
number of e-mail messages that are spam. In this case, you can avoid
downloading these spam e-mail messages by identifying specified words in the
subject or specifying e-mail addresses you know are from spammers.
The spam e-mail messages that are identified by your "Spam Settings" are not
downloaded into the Polaris MINI, and remain on the e-mail server.
Use the following steps to set spam e-mail filters:
1) Open the "Tools" menu and select "Spam Settings", or press "Enter-E" to
activate this item without accessing the menus.
2) The "Spam Settings" dialog contains 6 items: "Type" combo box, "List", "Add"
button, "Modify" button, "Delete" button, and a "Close" button.
3) "Type" can be set to 1 of 3 options: "Subject", "E-mail address string", and
"Host". You can move among these options by pressing "Space-1" or "Space-4".
The "list" is displayed according to the "Type" you choose.
— If you have selected "Subject", the list is displayed as "Subject: (Registered
word) 1/xx". If you selected "E-mail address string", it is displayed as "E-mail
address string: (Registered e-mail address string) 1/xx". It is displayed as "no
items" if there is no registered word or e-mail address string.
How to register Spam Settings:
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1) Press A when "Type: Subject 1/3" is displayed. Or, press "F3" to move to the
"Add" button, and press "enter".
2) The "add dialog" is opened and "Subject add:" is displayed.
3) Type the words, by which you want to identify spam messages and press
"Enter". Or, "Tab" to the "Confirm" button, and press "enter".
4) "Successfully added spam data". is announced and you are returned to the
"list". "Subject: (registered word) 1/1" is displayed.
By adding the word in the manner just described, if there are e-mail messages
that include the words you entered in the subject of the message, the Polaris MINI
downloads those e-mails from the e-mail server, but deletes them automatically.
You can also avoid receiving e-mail messages from a specific sender or host by
registering it in the same manner.
To cancel setting spam filters from the "Add dialog", press "F3" to move to the
"Cancel" button, and press "Enter". Or, press "Space-E" or "Space-Z".
To modify a spam filter you have set, do the following:
1) Access the "Spam Settings" dialog as described previously, and navigate to
the "Type" of spam setting you want to modify by pressing "Space-1" or "Space-
4".
2) Press "F3" to move to the list of registered items in that category.
3) Navigate to the item you want to modify using "Space-1" or "Space-4".
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4) Press M, or press "F3" to move to the "Modify" button, and press "Enter".
5) Make the modifications in the edit box.
6) Press "F3" to move to the "confirm" button, and press "Enter" to save the
changes.
You can also delete an item that has been registered in the spam list.
1) Access the "Spam Settings" dialog as described previously, and navigate to
the "Type" of spam setting you want to delete by pressing "Space-1" or "Space-
4".
2) Press "F3" to move to the list of registered items in that category.
3) Navigate to the item you want to delete using "Space-1" or "Space-4".
4) Press D or press "F3" to move to the "Delete" button, and press "Enter".
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7. Media
The "Media" menu on the BrailleSense Polaris MINI consists of programs related
to media playback: specifically music, videos, and DAISY content. The "Media"
menu contains 3 items: "Media Player", "FM Radio", and "DAISY Player".
You can open the "Media" menu by pressing "F1" to bring up the main "Program"
menu, then navigating to "Media" using the DOWN scroll key and pressing
"Enter". Or, you can quickly jump to and open the "Media" menu by pressing M
from the main menu.
7.1 Media Player
You can use the Media Player to play audio files as well as listen to the audio for
some video file formats. The Media Player plays the following formats, ac3, asf,
asx, m3u, mp2, mp3, MP 4, mpa, mpg, ogg, pls, wav, wax, wma, flac, midi and
wmv.
You can control the playing of media files using either Braille keyboard commands
or the media buttons on the front panel of the Polaris MINI. To launch the "Media
Player", navigate to it in the "Media" menu and press "Enter". Or, launch it from
anywhere on the unit by pressing "F1-M".
7.1.1 Using the Media Buttons
Near the center of the front panel on the Polaris MINI is a group of 5 buttons.
These buttons can be used to control the Media Player. Moving from left to right,
the buttons are: "Back", "Record", "Stop", "Play/Pause", and "Forward".
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The media buttons can control media playback, DAISY content playback, or
application operation, depending on the position of the Media Mode switch,
located to the left of the media buttons. Slide this switch to the right-most position,
"Media Mode", to control media playback.
If the "Play/Pause" button is pressed while you are using another program on the
Polaris MINI, the unit opens the Media Player and begins playing the files in the
most recently played list. If there are no files in the playlist, the Polaris MINI says,
"There are no items to display". "Back", "Stop", and "Forward" are available after
audio playback is started.
Note: As the Polaris MINI is able to multi-task, initiating audio playback with
the "Play/Pause" button does not close the program you were running when
you pressed it. To return to your former position, press "F2-F3" to cycle
through the running programs until you reach your former location.
A playlist can contain only 1 file, or many files. If there is more than one file in the
playlist when you press the "Play/Pause" button, the Polaris MINI plays all the
files in the list one after another. If you press the "Play/Pause" button during
playback, audio playback is paused. To resume playing, press the button again.
If you press the "Play/Pause" button while you are in the "Record" dialog, the most
recently recorded file is played.
If you press the "Forward" button, the next file in the playlist is played, and
pressing the "Back" button plays the previous file. If you press the "Forward"
button (while the last file in the list is playing, (or the "Back" button (while the first
file in the list is playing), it has no effect, as there is no file to navigate to.
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You can use the "Record" button to create a recording using the internal
microphone or an external microphone from anywhere on the unit provided the
Media Mode switch is set to the right-most position. Pressing the "Record" button
once opens the "Record" dialog. Press the "Record" button again to start
recording. Press the "Record" button while you are recording to pause recording.
Resume recording by pressing the "Record" button one more time. Press the
"Stop" button to stop and save your recording. The recorded file is saved in the
"flashdisk/music/record" folder.
The "Stop" button is located in the center of the group and has a dot on it. It is
used to stop playback or recording. If you press "Stop" during audio playback,
the next time media playback is launched, the Polaris MINI starts playing the first
file in the playlist. If you press this button while recording, the Polaris MINI stops
and saves the recording. If you press the "Stop" button in the "Record" dialog
when not recording, the dialog closes.
7.1.2 Media Player Layout
You can use the Braille keyboard to perform the same functions as the media
buttons as well as more advanced features in the Media Player.
The playback dialog contains two information tabs: "playback information" and
"playlist". Press "F3" or "Space-F3" to move between these tabs.
The "playback information" tab displays the track number, the file name, and the
current playback status: (play, pause, or stop). If there are no files in the playlist,
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the Polaris MINI displays "Title: There are no items to display". If you press
"Space-4", the Polaris MINI displays playback time information.
When in the Playback tab, you can use the cursor routers to jump to specific areas
of the media file. For example, if you want to move to a place near the middle of
the file, press cursor router 16 or 17. If you want to move to a place near 75%,
press cursor router 24 or 25.
The "playlist" tab displays all the files in the playlist. For each file in the playlist, it
displays the track number, file name, the location of the file in the list, and the total
number of files in the list. If there is no file in the playlist, the Polaris MINI displays
the message "no items".
The Polaris MINI's Media Player supports the viewing of lyrics for MP3 files which
contain them. The "Lyrics tab appears in the tab order only if the file you are
playing contains lyrics in its file information. The lyrics are displayed in a multi edit
box which you can read and navigate using normal document navigation
commands.
The Media Player menu contains five items: "File", "Play", "Record", "Position",
"Mark" and "Settings".
To open the Media Player menu, press "Space-M" or "F2". Select a menu item
using "Space-1" or "Space-4" and press "Enter". Or, you can press "Space-M or
"F2" followed by the shortcut for the corresponding menu item. For example to
open the Record menu, press "Space-M" or "F2" to open the menu, and press R.
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The Media Player also contains various lists and dialog boxes. Use "Space-1" and
"Space-4" or the Up and Down scroll keys to navigate menus, settings or file lists.
Use "Space-4-5" and "Space-1-2" or "F3" and "Space-F3" to tab among controls
in a dialog. For the purposes of these instructions, we will generally refer to using
"F3" and "Space-F3" or simply "Tab". However, in these instances, "Space-4-5"
and "Space-1-2" can also be used. Press "Enter" to execute an item.
7.1.3 The File Menu
1) Open File: (O) "Enter-O". Opens a media file and creates a new playlist.
2) Open Folder: (F) "Enter-F". Creates a new playlist with all the media files in the
selected folder.
3) Add File: (A) "Backspace-O". Adds the selected files to the current playlist.
4) Add Folder: (I) "Backspace-F". Adds all the media files in the selected folders
to the current playlist.
5) Save Playlist: (S) "Space-I". Saves the current playlist.
6) Save As Playlist. Saves the currently playing files as a playlist.
7) Delete Item: (D) "Space-D". Deletes the current item from the playlist.
8) Tag Information: (T) "Enter-T". Opens the properties for the current media file.
9) Open URL: (U) "Enter-U". Opens a website for streaming playback.
10) Exit: (Z) "Enter-Z". Exits the Media Player.
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7.1.4 The Play Menu
1) Play (P) "Enter". Initiates playback. You can also press the "Play" button.
2) Previous Track: (B) "Dot-3". Moves back 1 track. You can also press the "Back"
button.
3) Next Track: (N) "Dot-6". Moves forward 1 track. You can also press the
"Forward" button.
4) Back 5 Tracks: (D) "Dots-2-3". Moves back 5 tracks.
5) Forward 5 tracks: (U) "Dots-5-6". Moves forward 5 tracks.
6) First Track: (T) "Dots-1-3". Moves to the first track in the playlist.
7) Last Track: (E) "Dots-4-6". Moves to the last track in the playlist.
8) Volume Up: (H) "Space-Up Scroll". Increases the volume.
9) Volume Down: (L) "Space-Down Scroll". Decreases the volume.
10) Speed Up: (K) "Dots-3-4-5". Increases the playback speed.
11) Slow Down: (M) "Dots-1-2-6". Decreases playback speed.
12) Pause: (A) "Space". Pauses playback. Press again to resume. You can also
use the "Play" button.
13) Stop: (S) "Backspace". Stops playback. You can also use the "Stop" button.
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7.1.5 Making Recordings
1) Record: (R) "Enter-R". Places you in standby mode. Press again to initiate
recording. Press "Space-Z" when finished. You can also use the "Record" button
to start recording and the "Stop" button to finish.
7.1.6 The Position Menu
1) Mark Position: (M) "Enter-M". Marks the current position for later use.
2) Delete marked Position: (D) "Enter-D". Unmark the marked position.
3) Jump to Marked Position: (J) "Enter-J". Go to the position previously marked.
4) Go to Time: (G) "Enter-G". Go to a specific time in the file.
5) Go to Percent: (E) "Backspace-P". Move to a place in the file according to it's
percentage.
6) Set Start Point: (L) "Enter-P". Set a start point for repeat play.
7) Release Point: (R) "Space-E". Set the end point for repeat playback.
7.1.7 The Mark Menu
1) Set Mark: (S) "Backspace-M". Bookmark a specific point the media file.
2) Jump to Mark: (M) "Backspace-J". Move to a previously set mark.
3) Previous Mark: (P) "Backspace-dot-3". Moves back one mark from your current
position.
4) Next Mark: (N) "Backspace-dot-6". Moves to the next mark after your current
position.
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5) Delete Mark: (D) "Backspace-D". Deletes a mark.
6) Mark Manager: (K) "Backspace-K". View and modify all marks in the current
file.
7.1.8 The Settings Menu
1) Configuration: (C) "Backspace-C". Lets you configure file information display,
and exit position saving.
2) Playback Settings: (P) "Enter-S". Settings for Repeat Shuffle and other playlist
settings.
3) Record Settings: (R) "Backspace-S". Choose recording source, file type,
sample rate, bitrate, etc.
4) Effect Settings: (E) "Enter-E". Set Equalizer and bass boost.
7.2 FM Radio
To use the "FM Radio" on the Polaris MINI, you must connect headphones to the
headphone jack on the unit, as the headphone cord serves as the antenna, and
without it, radio reception will be poor to nonexistent.
From the Media menu, use the scroll buttons to navigate to "FM Radio" and press
"Enter". You can also press R to quickly jump to and launch the "FM Radio". You
can launch the "FM Radio" from anywhere on the unit by pressing "F1-R".
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When the FM Radio is launched, your Polaris MINI announces the radio
frequency. If you have used the FM Radio program previously, the Polaris MINI
tunes to the frequency that you last listened to.
Note: the frequency range of the FM Radio is 87.5MHz to 108MHz.
7.2.1 Listening to FM Radio via the Internal Speakers
When you execute the FM Radio after connecting headphones, sound from the
radio is directed through the headphones. As previously explained, it is necessary
to connect the headphones to provide an antenna for radio reception. However,
there may be times when you wish for the sound from the radio to output through
the speakers on the Polaris MINI. To listen to the radio through the internal
speakers, press X, to toggle internal speaker output on/off.
You can adjust the radio volume using Space with the Up and Down scroll buttons.
7.2.2 Frequency Control
To tune to another frequency, use the following commands:
Press "dot 5" to scan forward for the next radio station, and "dot 2", to auto scan
backward. Press "dot 6", to increase the frequency by0.1MHz, and "dot 3", to
decrease the frequency by0.1MHz. Press "Space-F" to input the frequency
directly. Type the frequency in numbers in the edit box and press "Enter".
You can also use the media buttons on the front panel to control the FM Radio.
The Media mode switch should be moved to the left-most position, "Application
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Mode." Pressing the "Back" button scans backward, and pressing the "Forward"
button scans forward.
You can also activate frequency movement commands from the "Frequency"
menu.
7.2.3 Adding and Navigating Presets
To add the currently selected frequency as a preset, select "Add Preset" from the
"Presets" menu, or press "Enter-S".
The "add preset" dialog is opened and "Frequency: (current frequency)" is
announced. "Tab" to the "Label" edit box. Type the name by which you want to
identify the preset. Press "Enter" to save the preset.
To add a frequency other than the one you're currently listening to, you may type
the number of the frequency you wish to add in the "Frequency" edit box of the
"add preset" dialog.
You can navigate your presets by using "dot 1" to move back, and "dot 4" to move
forward a preset.
To delete a preset, navigate to the preset and press "Space-D".
Note: when this command is executed, the preset is deleted instantly
without any warning or verification.
You can also add and delete presets using the Preset Manager dialog. Select
"Preset Manager" from the "Presets" menu, or press "Enter-M".
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The Preset Manager dialog contains the "Preset list", an "Add" button, a "Delete"
button, a "Modify" button and a "Close" button.
Pressing "Enter" on the "add" button opens the "add preset" dialog explained
above. The "Modify" dialog lets you change the label of the current preset in the
list. Use the "Delete" button to delete a preset from the preset list. To exit the
Preset Manager" dialog navigate to the "Close" button and press "Enter" or press
"Space-E".
You can also use the media buttons on the front panel to add and move among
presets. Press the "record" button for more than 2 seconds, to open the "add
preset" dialog. To move to the previous preset, press the "Back" button for more
than 2 seconds. Pressing the "Forward" button for more than 2 seconds moves to
the next preset. Pressing the "stop" button for more than 2 seconds deletes the
selected preset.
7.2.4 Recording from the FM Radio
To record the audio of the radio station to which you are currently listening, Select
"Record" from the radio's menu, or press "Enter-R". The "record" dialog is opened
and the Polaris MINI begins recording.
While recording the radio, "Tab" to the "Pause" button and press "Enter", or press
A to pause recording. The name of this button is changed to "Continue". Activate
the "Continue" button or press G, recording resumes. To stop the recording, press
S. Or, "Tab" to the "Stop" button and press "Enter".
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To check the duration of the current recording press "Space-4". The unit
announces the current recording run time and total possible recording time.
Recorded files are saved in the "flashdisk/music/radio" folder. The files are named
according to the preset label and frequency. If you are recording a radio station
that is not in your preset list, the recording is named "radio" followed by the
frequency.
You can also instantly start recording by pressing the "record" button on the front
panel. Press the "Stop" button to stop and save the recording. Press the "Record"
button again to pause and resume recording. Pressing the "Back" and "Forward"
buttons moves among the controls in the "record" dialog.
7.2.4.1 Changing record folder
To change the folder where recorded files are saved, select "Recording Settings"
from the "File" menu or press "Backspace-S".
You are placed in the "Recording Settings" dialog on the first item, "Recording
type: mp3". "Tab" to the "Record folder" setting.
"Record folder: /flashdisk/music/radio" is displayed. Press "Enter". Use normal
folder navigation to locate your desired folder for storing recorded files. Press
"Space" to select it and press "Enter", and you are returned to the "Record
Settings" dialog. Press "Enter" again to save the settings and exit the dialog.
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In the Record Settings dialog, you can also set recording type, sample rate, and
bit rate. To change the recording type, press "Space" to toggle between "wav"
and "mp3".
7.2.5 Additional Features
1) Sensitivity adjustment
If the Polaris MINI cannot tune to the broadcast frequency you desire, adjust the
scanning sensitivity. Open the "Settings" dialog. Press "Space-4" to navigate to
"Sensitivity" and press "Space" or "Backspace" to adjust the sensitivity. Higher
values increase the scanning sensitivity of the radio. If the sensitivity is increased,
you can fine tune to more frequencies.
2) Mute
While listening to the radio, press "Space" to mute the audio. Pressing "Space"
once again unmutes the radio. You can also mute the radio by pressing the "stop"
button on the front panel, and unmute by pressing the "play" button.
7.3 DAISY Player
Using the DAISY Player on the Polaris MINI, you can listen to files and read books
that use the DAISY format. DAISY is an acronym for (DIGITAL ACCESSIBLE
INFORMATION SYSTEM). One advantage to DAISY books is that you can listen
to the audio as well as read the associated text with the audio in DAISY books
where both text and audio are present.
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The Polaris MINI supports DAISY books that are version 3.0 or earlier. The DAISY
Player supports the following book types:
DAISY 2.0/2.02/3.0, DAISY XML/Digital Talking Book.
ANSI/NISO Z39.86 2002, 2005.
Bookshare.org DAISY content,
NIMAS 1.1
DRM: supports 2006 PDTB2 authentication.
7.3.1 Arrangement of the DAISY Player
To launch the DAISY Player, press "Enter" on "DAISY Player" in the Polaris MINI
"Media" menu. You can also launch the DAISY player from anywhere on the unit
by pressing "F1-D".
When you launch the DAISY Player, you are placed in Polaris MINI's drive list.
Press "Enter" on the drive containing the DAISY book you want to open.
Use normal folder navigation to locate the folder containing a DAISY book you
want to open. Press "Space" to select it, then press "Enter" to open it. You must
first select the folder containing the book, because a DAISY book contains
multiple files, thus, Polaris MINI needs to know exactly from which folder to get all
the book text and information.
If you replay a book that you have listened to before, playback resumes from the
location where you last exited. To stop playing a DAISY book, press "Space-Z".
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A prompt box appears asking if you would like to exit the DAISY Player. Select
"Yes" or "No" with "Space" or "Backspace" and press "Enter".
You can also control DAISY playback using the media buttons on the front panel.
The Media Mode switch must be set to the center position, "DAISY Mode". Start
DAISY playback by pressing the "play" button on the front panel. Press "play"
again to pause playback. Press the "Back" button to move back 1 navigational
element, and press the "Forward" button to move forward by1 navigational
element. Use the "Record" button to set the navigational element by which the
"Back" and "Forward" buttons move.
Open the DAISY Player menu by pressing "Space-M" or "F2". The menu contains
"File", "Document", "Mark", and "Heading". You can navigate the menu items
using "Space-1" and "Space-4". To activate a menu item, press "Enter".
Or, you can press "Space-M or "F2" followed by the shortcut for the corresponding
menu item. For example to open the "Heading" menu, press "Space-M" or "F2" to
open the menu, and press H.
The DAISY Player also contains various lists and dialog boxes. Use "Space-1"
and "Space-4" or the Up and Down scroll keys to navigate menus, settings or file
lists. Use "Space-4-5" and "Space-1-2" or "F3" and "Space-F3" to tab among
controls in a dialog. For the purposes of these instructions, we will generally refer
to using "F3" and "Space-F3" or simply "Tab". However, in these instances,
"Space-4-5" and "Space-1-2" can also be used. Press "Enter" to execute an item.
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While playing DAISY content, you are placed in a dialog in which four
controls/components are available: "heading", "Information", "Play" and "Pause".
"Tab" through this information using "F3".
"Heading" shows you a prefixed heading or navigation element as well as the text
under that element if text exists. In "information", you can find the current page,
level, phrase, elapsed time, and running time. You can move among these items
with "Space-1" or "Space-4". You can press "Enter" on "Pause" or "Play", to pause
or play the audio. From anywhere in the dialog, you can also toggle play/pause
with "Space".
7.3.2 The File Menu
1) Open DAISY: (O) "Enter-O". Calls the "Open DAISY" dialog.
2) Voice Settings: (S) "Enter-S". Set auto playback settings as well as rate, pitch
and volume of the reading voice.
3) Book Info: (I) "Enter-I". Obtain information about the currently playing DAISY
book.
4) Exit: (Z) "Space-Z". Closes the DAISY Player.
7.3.3 The Document Menu
1) Play/Pause: (P) "Space-P". Pause and resume playback. You can also use the
"Play" button.
2) Previous Page: (U) "Dots-1-2-6". Moves back one page.
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3) Next Page: (D) "Dots-3-4-5". Moves forward one page.
4) Go To Page: (G) "Enter-G". Enter the number of the specific page you want to
go to.
5) Move by Previous Movement Unit: (H) "Dot-3". Move back by specified
movement type.
6) Move by Next Movement Unit: (L) "Dot-6". Move forward by specified
movement type.
7) Change to Previous Movement Unit: (I) "Dots-2-3". Cycle backward one
movement type.
8) Change to Next Movement Unit: (E) "Dots-5-6". Cycle forward one movement
type.
7.3.4 The Mark Menu
1) Set Mark: (M) "Enter-M". Bookmark a position.
2) Jump to Mark: (J) "Enter-J". Move to a previously set mark.
3) Delete Mark: (D) "Space-D". Delete a previously set mark.
7.3.5 The Headings Menu
1) Headings List: (L) "Enter-H". Open the list of headings in the book.
2) Scan for Next Heading: (N) "Enter-N". Move to the next available heading.
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3) Read Current Heading: (W) "Enter-W". Read the heading under which the
current text is located.
4) First Heading: (T) "Dots-1-3". Move to the first heading.
5) Last Heading: (B) "Dots-4-6". Move to the final heading of the book.
6) Find: (F) "Space-F". Search for text.
7) Find Again: (R) "Enter-F". Find the next instance of the search string you
specified in the "Find" dialog.
7.3.6 The Memo Menu
1) Insert Memo: (M) "Backspace-M". Insert an annotation.
2) Read Memo: (R) "Backspace-R". Read the current memo.
3) Previous Memo: (P) "Backspace-P". Move back one memo from your current
position.
4) Next Memo: (N) "Backspace-N". Move to the next memo from your current
position.
5) Delete Memo: (D) "Backspace-D". Delete the current memo.
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8. Organizer.
The "Organizer" menu contains items to help you organize and synchronize
appointments and contacts. It contains the "Address Manager", and the "Schedule
Manager".
Open the "Organizer" menu by navigating to "Organizer" in the main "Program"
menu, or just by pressing "O from the main menu.
8.1 Address Manager
The "Address Manager" is a program you can use to keep track of your contact
information for friends and colleagues, such as company addresses, home
addresses, e-mail addresses, as well as other information. You can also
synchronize your contacts with your Google account under Accounts in the
Settings menu of All Apps.
The "Address Manager" consists of two main dialogs: "Add Address" for entering
contact information, and "Search Address" for retrieving this information.
In the "Organizer" menu, you can quickly jump to an open the "Address Manager"
by typing "a" or by navigating to the "Address Manager" and pressing "Enter".
When the "Address Manager" is opened, the "Search Address" dialog is
displayed. The Polaris MINI prompts, "Last name:"
You can use the menus to conveniently browse and execute all of the available
commands. To open the menu, press "Space-M" or "F2". Select a menu item
using "Space-1" or "Space-4”, and press "Enter". Or, you can press "Space-M or
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"F2" followed by the shortcut for the corresponding menu item. Use "Space-1"
and "Space-4" or the Up and Down scroll keys to navigate menus, settings or file
lists. Use "Space-4-5" and "Space-1-2" or "F3" and "Space-F3" to tab and Shift-
Tab among controls in a dialog.
8.1.1 Adding an Address
This dialog allows you to enter new contacts. Select "Add Address" from the
menu, or press "Enter-I" directly from in the "Address Manager".
The "Add address" dialog contains a list of 22 input fields, the "Memo" field, a
"Confirm" button, and a "Cancel" button. In the input fields, enter the information
corresponding to the 22 fields of a record. You can move from one field to the
next using "Space-1" and "Space-4" or the up and down scroll keys. You do not
have to fill in all the fields, simply leave blank those you do not need to use.
If using US Braille, you can enter telephone numbers using computer Braille
(without a number sign) or regular grade 1 Braille (with or without a number sign).
To enter a dash, press "Space" or "dots 3-6". To put an extension number after
any phone number, enter the phone number as described above, and then type
a comma (,), followed by the extension number, as in "000-000-0000,100." In this
case, Press "dot 6" to enter the comma in computer Braille or "dot 2" in grade 1
Braille. When you enter a home page address or an e-mail address, you should
also use computer Braille.
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After filling in the desired information, Tab to the "Memo" field. You can type in
multiple lines of text in the "Memo" field. If you do not wish to enter a memo, leave
it blank.
When you have entered all the relevant information, Tab to the "Confirm" button
and press "Enter". Or, just press "Enter" from any field. To cancel the contact
entry, Tab to "Cancel" and press “Enter". After canceling or adding an entry, you
are placed in a new blank record.
8.1.2 Setting Add Address Fields
There are 22 fields in a record, but you may not want to enter information in every
one of the 22 fields. You can use "Set Address Fields" to select only the fields that
you need.
To use this function, Select "Set Address Fields" from the menu, or, press "Enter-
O" from the "Add Address" dialog. On the right side of each field name, "used" or
"unused" is displayed. The default value is set to "used". To toggle the value,
press "Space".
After setting all the fields you want to change, Tab to "Confirm" and press "Enter".
To cancel changes, press "Space-E".
8.1.3 Searching For an Address
The "Search Address" dialog enables you to search for specific records in the
"Address Manager". The "Search Address" dialog is opened automatically when
the "Address Manager" is launched. To open "Search Address" from "Add
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Address", you can either select it from the menu, or press "Enter-S" from the "Add
Address" dialog. "Last name" is displayed as this is the first field in the address
data.
Type a last name to search for and press "Enter". Press "Enter" without entering
text to search, and all records are shown. To search by a different field, navigate
to it using "Space-4", type the search text in the edit box, and press "Enter".
You can move among found records using "Space-1" and "Space-4". Press F3 on
the record you wish to view. The information appears in a multi-line read box
which you can navigate using normal text navigation commands.
If a record contains an e-mail Address, you can press "Enter" to launch the e-mail
program and send an e-mail to that person. If a field contains a web page, you
can press "Enter" on it to open the page in the Web browser.
When you enter text to be searched, you do not have to type the entire content of
a field. For example, to find a record about "Edward", type in "ed" in the "search
name" field. Then, all the records whose name field contains "ed" are found.
8.1.4 Setting Searching Address Fields
This option enables you to select the fields that you want to search. Select "Set
Address Search Fields" from the menu, or press "Enter-O" from the "Search
Address" dialog.
All the address fields are displayed. Press "Space", to toggle the value of a field
between "used" and "unused".
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8.1.5 Backing up and Restoring the Address List
If you perform a hard reset, or if your battery dies, all of the data in the "Address
Manager" is lost. Thus, it is very important that you make a backup file every time
you make a change to the address list. Select "Backup Address List" from the
menu, or press "Enter-U" from anywhere in Address Manager.
If you already have a backup file, you are prompted, "Backup file already exists.
Continue to backup? Yes". If you have made changes to your address list, press
"Enter" to create a new backup file. To keep the previous backup file press
"Space-4", to move to "No", and press "Enter". When you create a backup file in
your address list, you will have a new backup file in the database folder on the
Flashdisk.
To restore the address list after a hard reset, select "Restore Address List" from
the menu, or press "Enter-R" from anywhere in Address Manager.
If you already have an address list, you are prompted, "Address file already exists.
Which do you prefer? Append". If you press "Enter", the backup address list is
appended to the current address list. If you press "Space-4" once and press
"Enter" on "Overwrite", the new backup file is restored, erasing the old backup
file.
You can backup your address list automatically using the "Set Backup Options".
Select "Set Backup Options" from the menu, or press "Enter-E".
The "Backup mode" has three radio buttons: "Always backup changes when
exiting", "Manual backup", and "Prompt backup changes when exiting". Move
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through the radio buttons using "Space" and "Backspace". Press "Enter" to save
your setting.
8.1.6 Importing from CSV
"CSV" is the acronym for Comma Separated Value. A CSV file is used for the
digital storage of data structured in a table form, with the information in the various
columns separated using commas. The "Address Manager" can import a CSV
contact file created using MS outlook or some cell phones. You can also export a
CSV file of your contacts for use on other devices.
To import the data from a CSV file, select "Import from CSV" from the menu, or
press "Backspace-I" from anywhere in the Address Manager. Type the name of
the file you want to import in the edit box. To browse for a file, "Shift-Tab to the
path search list, and use normal file navigation commands to choose your file and
press "Enter".
When the CSV file is imported, "Last name: unused 1/xx" is displayed. You can
choose whether the data from the CSV file for each field should be imported.
Some CSV files may contain data that is not equivalent to any of the fields in the
"Address Manager", or you may simply not wish to import certain pieces of
information.
This dialog contains all the fields in the "Address Manager", a check box for
allowing fields in the first record, and "Confirm" and "Cancel" buttons. Tab and
Shift-Tab among these items. For each "Address Manager" field, there is a list
box containing "Unused" and all of the fields of the CSV file being imported. Use
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"Space-1" and "Space-4" to move among the fields. If there is no equivalent field
in the CSV file for an "Address Manager" field, select "unused".
Often, the first set of fields in a CSV file represent field titles. For this reason, there
is a check box for allowing fields in the first record to be imported or not. If the first
set of fields does contain title data, make sure that the "allow fields in first record"
item is not checked.
To complete the import, Tab to "Confirm" and press "Enter". You are prompted,
"Address file already exists. Which do you prefer?" The default value is
"Overwrite". The setting values are "Overwrite" and "Add". You can either replace
the existing file with the data imported from the CSV file, or you may add it to the
existing address list. To change the setting value, press "Space", and press
"Enter" to save the data.
8.1.7 Exporting to CSV
To export address data to CSV, select "Export to CSV" from the menu, or press
"Backspace-X". Type a file name for the exported data and press "Enter". To
change the location where the file is stored, Shift-Tab to the file list and use normal
file and folder navigation to select the location.
8.1.8 Editing, Saving, and Deleting Addresses
To edit information in a record, find the desired address by using the "Search
Address" function. Select "Modify Address" from the menu, or press "Enter-M" to
activate this command directly. You can now enter new information in any of the
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fields. When you have modified the information, press "Enter". The Polaris MINI
saves the changes, and you are returned to your previous position. You can press
“Space-E” to cancel the modification.
To delete the record you are currently reading, select "Delete Address" from the
menu, or press "Space-D" while viewing the record. You can also delete more
than one record at a time by first selecting individual records with "Space", or by
selecting all records with "Enter-A".
You can also save selected records to a file. Select "Save addresses As File" from
the menu, or press "Enter-T" from the "Search Address" dialog. The "file save"
dialog is displayed and you are asked to enter the file name and select a file
format. After you type the file name, and select one of the available file formats,
press "Enter" on "Confirm", and the selected records are saved.
8.1.9 Syncing Contacts
Contacts entered or imported into the Polaris MINI can be synchronized with your
Google Account, and thus also, any other accounts that synchronize with your
Google Account.
You can set your sync preferences in the Android System Settings, under the
accounts item, then Google. All of your Google accounts are listed and identified
whether Sync is enabled. Press Enter to open a dialog in which you can choose
what items you would like to have synced. If you choose to sync your contacts,
they are automatically synchronized when you make changes. You can also
manually “Sync Now” in the More options menu of the Accounts dialog.
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Note: if you make too many changes, such as when importing a CSV, or
synchronizing many new contacts, you may receive “Sync Errors”. If this occurs,
press Space-1-2-3-4-5-6 to open the Notification Shade, and press Enter to open
the error. From there, you are given options as to how you would like to handle
the errors.
8.2 Schedule Manager
The "Schedule Manager" is a program used to manage information about
appointments, anniversaries, and events. It can also inform you of appointments
at a specified time using alarms. You can start the "Schedule Manager" from the
"Organizer" menu, by navigating to it with "Space-4" and pressing "Enter". You
can launch the "Schedule Manager" from anywhere on the unit by pressing "F1-
S".
The "Schedule Manager" has two main dialogs: "Add appointment" and "Search
appointments". In "Add appointment", you can enter information for a new
appointment. Using "Search appointments", you can look for information about a
specific appointment and edit or delete the information.
When the "Schedule Manager" is opened, the "Search appointments" dialog box
is displayed. You are prompted for a "Find date:" with the current date filled in as
the default. To add a new appointment, select "Add appointment" from the menu,
or press "Enter-I" from the "Search appointments" dialog.
Note: Due to the nature of appointments, it is very important that dates and
times are entered correctly to ensure that your schedule is accurate and
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you are alerted to your appointments at the proper times through the
"Check Today's SCHEDULE" option as well as the alarms that can be
associated with appointments. Please be sure your time and date are set
correctly. (See section 3.1)
8.2.1 Adding an Appointment
To add a new appointment, press "Enter-I" from the "Search appointments"
dialog. The "Add appointment" dialog has a set of input fields, a "Confirm" button,
and a "Cancel" button. Use "F3" and "Space-F3" to move through the controls.
When you start "Add appointment", you are prompted to choose the appointment
type. Use Space-1 or Space-4 to choose between “Anniversary” or “Appointment”.
The next field is the "Start date" edit box. To use the date displayed, Tab to the
next field. To enter a new date, type month/day/year.
Note: If you have not searched for an appointment, or have searched by
subject, the default "Start date" is today's date. If you have searched
appointments by date, it is the last date for which you searched.
Tab to the "Start Time" field. By default, this field shows the current time. Enter
the time as hhmm or use navigation keys to select your appointment time. If you're
using "12 hour" format, press "Space-X" to change between am and pm.
The next field is the end date. By default, the end date is the same as the "Start
date". To use this date, Tab to the next field. To enter a new date, type
month/day/year.
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By default, the end time is the same time as you set in the "Start time" field. To
change the time, type the time as hhmm.
The next field is the subject of the appointment. If you do not enter anything in this
field, you cannot save the record. If you press "Enter" after typing in the subject,
the record is saved, leaving the "Location" and "Memo" field empty, and the
"Alarm time" field set to its default value ("Time of appointment"). Type your
subject and Tab to the next field.
Type the location of your appointment. Press “Enter" to save the appointment, or
Tab to the next field.
In the "Memo" field, you can enter detailed information about an appointment.
This is a multi-line edit box, meaning you can type more than one line of text. You
can use most of the editing commands that are used in the "Word processor". You
can leave this field blank if you wish.
The "Alarm time" function allows you to set when you are reminded about an
appointment. The alarm is set relative to the appointment time. For example, you
may want the alarm to sound 30 minutes before your appointment, so that you
are not late. The default value for this field is set to "Time of appointment".
The time can be set anywhere from one minute to two weeks before the
appointment. Use the same navigation keys as when setting the time and date. If
you do not wish to have an alarm reminder, press "Space-1" to "Alarm off". After
setting the "Alarm time", press "Enter" to save the appointment.
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8.2.2 Setting a Recurring Appointment
Set this option when the appointment you are creating recurs at regular intervals.
If it is unchecked, the appointment is set to occur once. To set a recurring
appointment, check this box with "Space", then Tab to the resulting combo box
for setting the recurrence pattern. You can select from "Daily", "Weekly",
"Monthly" and "Yearly".
If you select "Daily", Tab to the "Recurring interval of day" edit box. You can type
a number between 1 and 999 to represent the number of days between
recurrences. If you enter 1, the appointment recurs every day, and if you enter 2,
it recurs every other day. Be sure the difference between the start and end date
is shorter than the recurring interval value.
Tab to the "Set recurrence end date" check box. By default, it's unchecked, which
indicates that the appointment recurs indefinitely. If you check this box, an edit
combo box for entering the end date appears in the tab order.
If you set the "Recurrence" to weekly, Tab to the "Recurring interval" edit box, and
type the number of weeks between appointments in numbers from 1 to 999. As
with daily, the appointment duration should be shorter than the recurring interval.
Tab to a list box where you can select the day of the week on which the
appointment recurs. To select or unselect the current item, press "Space". You
can make more than one selection, thus the appointment recurs on more than
one day during the week. If you don't select a day, it is set to the today's week
day.
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If you set the "Recurrence to monthly", Tab to the "Recurring type" combo box.
You can set the recurring type as "Date" or "Day of the week". "Date" is used
when you want to set an appointment recurring on the same day of a month, for
example, on the 17th of every month, or every other month. On the other hand,
"Day of the week" is used when you want to set an appointment recurring on the
same week and day of the week of a month, for example, on Wednesday of the
second week of every month. After selecting the "Recurring type", Tab to the
"Recurring interval", and type a number of months between appointments in
numbers from 1 to 999.
Different fields are shown in the Tab order depending on what you have selected
in "Recurring type". If you set the "Recurring type" to "Date", an edit box appears
for typing the day of the month for the recurrence. By default the "Start date" is
shown. Tab to "Set recurrence end date" and make your choices.
If you set the "Recurrence" to "Yearly", Tab to the "Recurring type" combo box.
Select either "date" or "day of the week". If you set the "Recurring type" to "Date",
you can set the month and the day of the month when the appointment recurs. If
you set it to "Day of the week", you can set the month, the week, and the day of
the week when the appointment recurs every year. After setting "Recurring type",
Tab to the "Month for recurrence" combo box. Select the month of the year using
"Space-1" or "Space-4". From here, different fields appear in the tab order
depending on how you have set the "Recurring type".
If you have set the "Recurring type" to "Date", the focus moves to "Day of
recurrence" edit box. You can type a number between 1 and 31. Then, Tab to the
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"Set recurrence end date" check box. If the "Recurring type" is set to "Day of the
week", you have to set "recurring week" and "Day of week for recurrence".
8.2.3 Search Appointments
When you start "Schedule Manager", the "Search appointments" dialog is
opened. You can also open this dialog from the "Add appointment" dialog, by
pressing "Enter-S" or selecting "Search appointments" from the menu. There are
two methods for searching an appointment: "searching by subject" and "searching
by date".
When "searching by subject", you can find an appointment using keywords in the
subject field. When "searching by date", you can find appointments according to
a specified date. To toggle the search mode, Select "Toggle Search Mode" from
the menu, or press "Enter-F". The last search mode you used is saved when you
exit the Schedule Manager.
When you search by date, by default, the Polaris MINI searches for appointments
occurring today. To search for another date, type the date in the format
"mm/dd/yyyy", or use the "move by date" hotkeys. Press "Enter", and the
appointments occurring on the chosen day are shown. If there is no appointment
on that day, the unit announces, "There is no appointment registered".
The first appointment is announced in the form of "date, time, and subject". If the
appointment lasts for more than one day, "continuous schedule" is announced. If
the appointment recurs, "recurring schedule" is announced. If you scheduled
more than one appointment for that day, move among the appointments using
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"Space-1" or "Space-4". To move to the first appointment, press "Space-1-3", and
to move to the last appointment on that day, press "Space-4-6".
To move to the appointments on another day, press "Space-2" or "Space-5". The
previous/next appointment occurring within four months is displayed. To move to
the first appointment stored in the Schedule Manager, press "Space-1-2-3", and
to move to the last appointment stored in the Schedule Manager, press "Space-
4-5-6". To obtain details on an appointment, press "Enter".
To search by subject, type in the keywords to search and press "Enter". All
appointments with the keywords are displayed. If you press "Enter" without typing
text, Polaris MINI displays all appointments in the “Schedule Manager".
To move to the next or previous appointment, press "Space-4" or "Space-1"
respectively. Pressing "Space-1-3" and "Space-4-6" move to the first and last
items in the appointment list.
For recurring appointments and multiple day appointments, the Polaris MINI only
shows the appointments of the first day if you search the schedule by subject.
Press "Enter" on an appointment to read the details. Press "Space-E" to return to
the appointment list. To search other keywords, Tab to the "Search subject" edit
box, and type new search text.
8.2.4 Editing, Saving, and Deleting Appointments
To modify an existing appointment, move to the appointment and select "Modify
Appointment" from the menu, or press "Enter-M" from the search results list. If the
appointment is a recurring schedule, a prompt, displaying "Recurrence
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appointment. Open type?" appears. Choose whether you want to modify the
recurring appointment or the appointment for a specific day. If you select "This
occurrence", your changes affect the appointment of the day, but the recurring
appointments on other days are not changed. If you select "The series", your
changes affect all the recurrences.
The "Modify appointment" dialog contains the same controls as in the "Add
appointment" dialog. The only difference is that each field has the value entered
previously. If you have made changes you wish to save, tab to "Confirm" and
press "Enter".
To delete an appointment, move to the appointment in the search results list.
Select "Delete Appointment" from the menu, or press "Space-D" from the search
results list. If the selected appointment is a recurring appointment, you are
prompted, "Recurring appointment. Delete type?" is displayed. You can choose
whether you want to delete the recurring appointment, or just the appointment for
that day. If you select "This occurrence", only the current appointment is deleted.
If you select "The series", all recurrences of the appointment are deleted.
To completely initialize the Schedule Manager, select "Delete All Appointments"
from the menu, or press "Backspace-Enter-q" from anywhere in the Schedule
Manager.
You can also save selected appointments as a document. Select "Save
Appointments as File" from the menu, or press "Enter-T" from the search results
list. The Polaris MINI asks you to specify the beginning and end dates of the
appointments to be saved. After setting the beginning and end dates, press
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"Enter", and you are prompted to enter the name and the format of the file to be
saved. This dialog is the same as the "Save As" dialog in the "Word processor".
8.2.5 Backing up and Restoring Your Appointments
If you perform a hard reset, or your battery dies, all of the data in the Schedule
Manager is lost. Thus, it is very important to create a backup file each time you
change your schedule. To backup your schedule, Select "Backup Appointments"
from the menu, or press "Enter-U" to activate this function directly.
If you already have a backup file, you are prompted, "Backup file already exists.
Backup anyway? Yes". If you have made changes to your schedule, press "Enter"
to create a new backup file. To keep the previous backup file, press "Enter" on
no. If you make a backup file again in the Schedule Manager, a new backup file
is created with the extension DAT, and another file is created with the extension
BAK containing your previous backup file.
To restore your schedule after a hard reset, Select "Restore Appointments" from
the menu, or press "Enter-R" to activate this function directly.
If you have an existing schedule, you are prompted, "Schedule file already exists.
Which do you prefer? Append" or, press "Space-4" to move to "Overwrite". If you
choose to append, and the backup file contains appointments that also exist in
your current file, you will have redundant appointments. If you choose to overwrite
and your current schedule contains appointments the backup file does not, these
appointments are lost.
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You can back up the schedule automatically by activating the "Set Backup
Options" function. Select "Set Backup Options" from the menu, or press "Enter-
E".
The "backup Options" dialog has three controls, "Backup mode" radio button, a
"Confirm" button, and a "Cancel" button. To move between the radio buttons,
press "Space and Backspace".
The options are: "Always backup changes when exiting", "Manual backup", and
"Prompt backup changes when exiting".
If you select the "Always backup changes when exiting", a new backup file is
created automatically if you have modified or added to your schedule.
If you select the "Manual backup", a new backup file is not created, even if there
are changes to your schedule. If you select this option, you can only create a new
backup file by using the "Backup Schedule" function.
If you select "Prompt backup changes when exiting", you are prompted, "Backup
changes? Yes" if you have modified or added to your schedule. Press "Enter" on
"Yes", and a new backup file is created before exiting the Schedule Manager.
Choose your setting, and press "Enter".
8.2.6 Multiple Accounts and Syncing
BrailleSense Polaris MINI allows you to use multiple calendars, and automatically
makes associations with any Google account connected to Polaris MINI. To view
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available calendars, choose the “Calendar Settings” option from the Schedule
Manager menu.
By default, there is an account called “BrailleSense Polaris MINI”. In addition, any
Google account you have signed in to with Polaris MINI is also available in this
list.
The dialog contains two settings: “calendar to add appointment”, and “Calendar
to print appointments”. This allows you to set appointments in multiple calendars,
and view, add and output appointments from your chosen calendars. This can be
useful for creating separate calendars for work and personal use.
In addition, you can synchronize these calendars with Google using the
“Accounts” dialog of the Android Settings under All Apps. See section 8.1.9 for
more information on syncing using the Android System Settings.
Note: as with the Address Manager, if too many items are changed, added or
deleted, you may experience sync errors. If you receive a Sync Error notification,
press Space-1-2-3-4-5-6 to open the Notification Shade, and press Enter on the
Sync Error to see your options.
8.2.7 Setting Alarm Options
You can open the "Set Alarm Options" dialog by pressing "Enter-O" or by pressing
"Enter" on "Set Alarm Options" in the menu. Alarm option fields include "type of
echo", "Alarm duration", "Alarm repeat interval" and "Repeat". You can move
between these fields using "Space-1" or "Space-4".
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The "type of echo" option lets you set what type of alarm you would like to use to
alert you to your appointment: Choose from several audio alarm types, including
a media file, the FM Radio, or 1 of 3 alarm melodies. You can also choose a
vibration, or both (All). Press "Space" to cycle among the options.
You can change the duration of the alarm sound. You can set this option to a
value that is between 5 and 600 seconds. The default value is set to 30 seconds.
When the alarm goes off, if you do not stop it with "Backspace-Enter", the Polaris
MINI keeps giving you a notice about the appointment after a specified time
interval. The "Alarm repeat interval" option allows you to change this interval. You
can set the value anywhere from 1 to 60 minutes, the default value is set to 5
minutes.
The "Repeat" field allows you to decide how many times the alarm will sound. You
can set the value from 1 time to 10 times; the default value is set to 3. To change
the value, type a number between 1 and 10.
Press "Enter" on the "Confirm" button to save your settings. Cancel saving the
alarm options by pressing "Enter" on "Cancel" or pressing "Space-e".
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9. Web Tools
The "Web Tools" menu consists of programs used to assist in the searching and
downloading of web content. Currently, this menu contains only the Web Browser.
9.1 Web Browser
You can use the "Web Browser" to read pages on the web, as well as to read html
documents you have saved to disk. You can also download files and stream audio
content.
To launch the "Web Browser, from the "Web Tools" menu, navigate to "Web
Browser" and press "Enter". Or, press B. You can launch the "Web Browser" from
anywhere on the unit by pressing "F1-B". The Polaris MINI opens the "Web
Browser" and connects to the "home page".
You can also launch the Web Browser" by using the global hot key for opening a
web page: Press "Space-W" from anywhere on the unit. The Polaris MINI, opens
up a computer edit box into which you can type in the URL you want to go to and
press "Enter". The Browser is launched, and takes you to the web page you
requested.
You can access the Web Browser's functions using hot keys, or via its menus. To
access these menus, press "Space-M" or "F2". Select a menu item using "Space-
1" or "Space-4", and press "Enter". Or, you can press "Space-M or "F2" followed
by the shortcut for the corresponding menu item. Use "Space-1" and "Space-4"
or the Up and Down scroll keys to navigate menus, settings or file lists. Use
"Space-4-5" and "Space-1-2" or "F3" and "Space-F3" to tab among controls in a
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dialog. For the purposes of these instructions, we will generally refer to using "F3"
and "Space-F3" or simply "Tab". Press "Enter" to execute an item.
9.1.1 The File Menu
1) Open URL: (U) "Enter-U". Type the web address of the page you wish to go to
and press "Enter".
2) Open: (O) "Enter-O". Open an HTML file or URL stored on your Polaris MINI.
3) Save As: (S) "Space-S". Save the current webpage to your Polaris MINI.
4) Copy URL: (D) "Backspace-D". Copy the URL of the current page to the
clipboard.
5) Copy Link: (C) "Backspace-L". Copy the address of the focused link to the
clipboard.
6) Page Information: (I) "Enter-I". Opens a dialog of general information about the
current webpage.
7) File Download Dialog: (L) “Backspace-3-4”. Opens a dialog to show current
download progress as well as file download history.
8) Exit: (Z) "Space-Z". Closes the Web Browser.
9.1.2 The Edit Menu
1) Start Selection: (B) "Enter-B". Begin selecting a block of text. The end of the
selection is determined by your cursor position.
2) Copy: (C) "Enter-C". Copy selected text to the clipboard.
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3) Add to clipboard: (P) "Enter-P". Append selected text to the clipboard.
4) Select All: (A) "Enter-A". Select all the text on the current page.
9.1.3 The Go To Menu
1) Go To Home page: (S) "Backspace-H". Return to your home page.
2) Go To Previous Page: (P) "Backspace-P". Go to the page you were viewing
before the current one.
3) Go To Next Page: (N) "Backspace-N". Move forward one page in your viewing
history.
4) Go To Previous Heading: (U) "Backspace-B". Move back one heading.
5) Go To Next Heading: (D) "Backspace-F". Move forward one heading.
6) Go to Previous Text: (B) "Dots-2-4-6". Go to the block of text before your current
position.
7) Go To Next Text: (P) "Dots-1-2-4-5-6". Go to the next block of text below your
current position.
8) Refresh: (R) "Enter-R". Reload the current page.
9) History: (H) "Enter-H". Open a list of pages you have recently viewed.
10) Find: (F) "Space-F". Find text on the current page.
11) Find Again: (E) "Enter-F". Search for the next instance of the text string you
entered in the "Find" dialog.
12) Links List: (I) "Backspace-I". Displays all the links on a page in a list view.
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13) RSS Feed list: (J) "Enter-J". Displays any RSS feeds on the current page.
9.1.4 The Read Menu
1) Read from Beginning to Cursor: (T) "Backspace-G". Reads the text from the
top of the page to your current position.
2) Read from Cursor to End: (G) "Enter-G". Reads the text from your current
position to the bottom of the page.
3) AutoScroll: (A) "Up and Down Scroll". STARTS and stops the auto scroll
function.
9.1.5 The Favorites Menu
1) Set Current as Home Page: (S) "Enter-S". Set the current page as your home
page.
2) Add to Favorites: (A) "Backspace-A". SAVE the current page as a favorite.
3) Favorites List: (L) "Enter-L". Open the list of favorites you have saved
previously.
9.1.6 Options
Use the "Options" dialog to manage Web browser preferences. Navigate the
settings with "F3" and "Space-F3".
1) User Agent: use "Space" to choose between Mobile and desktop.
2) Show visited links: Use "Space" to choose On or Off.
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3) Default Download Folder: Press Enter to open folder list and choose desired
download folder.
4) Clear Cookies: press "Enter" to clear all cookies.
9.1.7 Navigating Page Elements
On a web page, there are links, controls, and other various elements, as well as
text. To read web pages properly, the "Web Browser" should classify each
element, and notify the user with its information.
When reading a web page by moving with "Space-4" or "Space-1", one element
is displayed on one line. The links and controls are displayed with their respective
symbols so the user can distinguish each element. To move among controls
without viewing the text between them, use "F3" and "Space-F3".
A control is a link, an edit box, a radio button, or a combo box. Each control has
different purposes. Therefore, the user has to know exactly what type of control
is being used.
When you find controls in web pages, the Polaris MINI displays control symbols
ahead of the contents of the control. The following is a list of control symbols.
Control name
Symbol
Link
LN
Visited link
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LNV
Anchor
ANC
Edit box
EB
Multi edit box
MEB
List Box
LB
Combo box
CB
Radio button select
SRB
Radio button unselect
URB
Check box check
SCHB
Check box uncheck
UCHB
Button
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BT
To change a selection in the combo box, press "Backspace-Space-4" or
"Backspace-Space-1". You can move to the next item by pressing "Space-4". The
page is renewed automatically when you change a selection in a combo box.
To select or unselect a checkbox or radio button, press "Space".
You can move to the previous form field: with Space-1-2-3-4-6, and to the next
form field: with Space-1-3-4-5-6.
Move to the previous frame with Space-3-4-6, and to the next frame with Space-
1-4-6.
9.1.8 Table Navigation
At the beginning position of the table, the Polaris MINI shows the table number,
and the number of rows and columns on the table.
For example, there are two large tables (we call these "upper level tables") on one
web page. Each table has 3 sub tables (we call these "lower level tables") with 3
rows and 2 columns on each. In this case, when the Polaris MINI shows the first
sub table on the second large table, it displays "table 2-1 3 rows, 2 columns". At
the end of the sub table, the Polaris MINI displays "table 2-1".
If the table consists of only 1 row and 1 column, or empty space that has only
border or background, such tables are not considered tables in the Polaris MINI.
The Polaris MINI provides a way to move table by table, and cell by cell, in order
for the user to comprehend the structure of the table. To move cell by cell, the cell
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position and contents of the cell are displayed. However, the position information
is only announced with speech.
For example, if you have move to a cell that is positioned on the second row and
third column, and the content of the cell is "news", the Polaris MINI announces,
"row 2 cell 3 news". In this case, "row 2 cell 3" is announced with speech only,
while "news" is displayed in Braille.
If a table is included in the cell, the Polaris MINI announces "table cell". If there is
not a table in the cell, you hear "empty cell".
In the "table cell", To move to any cell within the lower level table, press "Space-
4" to move to the beginning line of the lower level table.
Moving by cell is only valid in the table. If this command is executed outside of the
table, a warning sound is played.
1. Move to the previous table: Space-3-4-5-6
2. Move to the next table: Space-1-4-5-6
3. Move to the previous cell: Space-2-3
4. Move to next cell: Space-5-6
5. Move to upper cell: Space-3-5
6. Move to lower cell: Space-2-6
7. Read current cell: Space-2-3-5-6
8. Move to the previous cell in the upper level table: Backspace-2-3
9. Move to the next cell of the upper level table: Backspace-5-6
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10. Move to the upper cell of the upper level table: Backspace-3-5
11. Move to the lower cell of the upper level table: Backspace-2-6
12. Check the current position: Space-1-5-6
9.1.9 Playback of Streaming Audio Files
While navigating a web page, if you come across a link for a streaming audio file,
you can simply press "Enter" on it. The Media player program is launched with
lists of address inside of the streaming file, and the streaming audio file on the
first address is played. The supported streaming file formats are "m3u", "pls",
"asf", "asx".
For other formats, if you press "Enter" the "Web Browser" program plays the
streaming audio file directly. When you play the streaming audio file in the "Web
Browser", the "Add To Favorites" dialog appears. You can add the streaming
address to the "Favorites list" and the streaming file is saved with "ASF-WAS" at
the beginning of the file name. "ASF" denotes that the link is a streaming audio
file.
While you play a streaming audio file in the "Web Browser", if you exit the "Web
Browser" program or you lose the internet connection, the streaming audio file
stops playing.
You can use the following playback commands in the "Web Browser" while
playing a streaming audio file.
1. Play: "play" button on the front panel
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2. Stop: "stop" button on the front panel
3. Turn up the volume: Space-up scroll button
4. Turn down the volume: Space-down scroll button
Playback of a streaming audio file does not stop if you switch to another program,
unless you press the "stop" button on the front panel after returning to the "Web
Browser".
Note: Real Audio files are not supported in the "Web Browser".
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10. EXTRAS
10.1 Excel Viewer
The "Excel Viewer" allows you to read and navigate XLS and XLSX files by cell,
column, row, group, worksheet, etc. To open the "Excel Viewer", from the Main
menu, press X to open the "Extras" menu, then press X again to open the "Excel
Viewer". You can launch the "Excel Viewer" from anywhere on the unit by
pressing "F1-X".
When the "Excel Viewer" is launched, you are placed in an "Open File" dialog.
Use normal "File List" navigation commands to locate the XLS or XLSX file you
wish to open, and press "Enter". When the file is loaded, you are placed at the top
of the first worksheet. Cells are displayed with the coordinates followed by the text
of the cell. For example, the first cell in a column containing the date might appear
as "a1 Date".
10.1.1 General Navigation
Use the following commands to navigate an Excel file in the "Excel Viewer".
Move to next row: Space-Dot-4
Move to previous row: Space-Dot-1
Move to next column: Space-Dot-6
Move to previous column: Space-Dot-3
Move to beginning of row: Space-Dots-1-3
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Move to end of row: Space-Dots-4-6
Move to top of column: Backspace-Dot-2
Move to bottom of column: Backspace-Dot-5
Move to top of worksheet: Space1-2-3
Move to bottom of worksheet: Space-4-5-6
Move to next worksheet: Space-3-4-5
Move to previous worksheet: Space-1-2-6
Move to next group: Backspace-Dot-5-6
Move to previous group: Backspace-Dot-2-3
Move to next group in row: Space-Dot-5
Move to previous group in row: Space-Dot-2
Move to next group in column: Space-Dot-5-6
Move to previous group in column: Space-Dot-2-3
You can access functions of the Excel Viewer using hot keys, or via its menus.
To access these menus, press "Space-M" or "F2". Select a menu item using
"Space-1" or "Space-4", and press "Enter". Or, you can press "Space-M or "F2"
followed by the shortcut for the corresponding menu item.
The Excel Viewer also utilizes lists and dialogs. Use "Space-4-5" and "Space-1-
2" or "F3" and "Space-F3" to tab and shift-tab among controls in a dialog. For the
purposes of these instructions, we will generally refer to this as "Tabbing".
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Use "Space-1" and "Space-4" or the Up and Down scroll keys to navigate menus,
settings or file lists. Press "Enter" to execute an item.
10.1.2 The File Menu
1) Open: (O) "Enter-O". Open Excel Viewer compatible files.
2) Open Hyperlink: (H) "Enter-H". Open a link contained in an Excel file in the
Web Browser.
3) Set User Table: (T) "Enter-T". Set the parameters for columns and rows in order
to get accurate information for headers and rows of subtables.
4) Cell Properties: (I) "Enter-I". View format information for the cell.
5) Quick Setup: (Q) "Enter-X". Operates similar to the "Set User Table" function,
except instead of defining the boundaries manually, the beginning cell is
automatically set as the cell at your current cursor position, and the end cell is
automatically set as the last cell containing data.
6) Save As: (S) "Space-S". Lets you save an Excel file as a CSV or TXT separated
by tabs or commas.
7) Exit: (Z) "Space-Z". Close the Excel Viewer.
10.1.3 The Edit Menu
1) Start Selection: (B) "Enter-B". Begin selection of a text block. The end of the
selection is determined by your current cursor position.
2) Select All: (A) "Enter-A". Select all the data on the current sheet.
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3) Copy: (C) "Enter-C". Copy the selected text to the clipboard.
10.1.4 The Go To Menu
1) Find: (F) "Space-F". Search for text on the current sheet.
2) Jump to Cell: (G) "Space-J". Move to a cell using its coordinates.
3) Next Sheet: (N) "Space-Dots-3-4-5". Move to the next sheet in the workbook.
4) Previous Sheet: (P) "Space-Dots-1-2-6". Move to the previous sheet in the
workbook.
5) Sheet List: (L) "Enter-L". Bring up a list of all the sheets in the workbook.
6) Set Mark: (M) "Backspace-M". Bookmark your current position.
7) Jump to Mark: (J) "Backspace-J". Move to a previously marked position.
8) Delete Mark: (D) "Backspace-D". Delete a previously set mark.
9) Move to Previous Group: (R) "Space-dots-2-3". Move to previous data filled
area.
10) Move to Next Group: (E) "Space-dots-5-6". Move to next data filled area.
10.1.5 The Read Menu
1) Sheet Title: (T) "Space-Dots-1-5-6". Read the name of the current sheet.
2) Read from Beginning of Row to cursor: (P) "Backspace-Dot-3". Read from the
left most cell to the current position.
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3) Read from cursor to end of Row: (N) "Backspace-Dot-6". Read from your
current position to the right-most cell.
4) Read from Top of Column to Cursor: (U) "Backspace-Dot-1". Read from the
top of the column to the current cursor position.
5) Read from Cursor to Bottom of Column: (D) "Backspace-dot-4". Read from your
current position to the bottom of the column.
6) Read Current Row: (C) "Space-dots-1-4". Read all cells in the current row from
left to right.
7) Read Current Column: (R) "Space-Y". Read all cells in the current column from
top to bottom.
8) Read Header Cell of Row: (Y) "Backspace-Y". Read the title of the current row.
9) Read Header cell of Column: (X) "Backspace-C". Read the title cell of the
current column.
10) Read File Name: (F) "Space-dots-3-4". Read the name of the workbook.
10.1.6 The View Menu
1) Set Time and Date: (D) "Enter-D". Determine how time and date are displayed.
2) Show Hide Hidden sheets: (S) "Enter-S". Toggle whether hidden sheets are
viewable.
3) Show Hide Hidden Rows: (R) "Enter-R". Toggle whether hidden rows are
viewable.
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4) Show Hide hidden Columns: (Y) "Enter-N". Toggle whether hidden columns
are viewable.
5) Cell Activation: (A) "Enter". Opens the cell as a static box so you can review or
select text.
10.2 Online DAISY
The Online DAISY program allows patrons of the Canadian National Institute for
the Blind and Vision Australia libraries to access and download DAISY books
available through their online bookshelf.
To execute the Online DAISY program, Open the "Extras" menu, navigate to
"Online DAISY" and press "Enter".
When you execute the Online DAISY program for the first time, you are asked for
your login information. Use "Space-1" and "Space-4" to navigate to the server you
wish to log in to. Once done, Tab to the iD field and enter it in computer Braille. If
accessing the CNIB library, type "CNIB_" followed by your user number in the ID
field. For Vision Australia, type just your user ID number. Tab to the "Password"
field and type it in computer Braille. Press "Space" to toggle the check boxes for
"Remember Me", and "Save password". When you have chosen your login
settings, Tab to "Login" and press "Enter".
You are presented with a combo box with 3 items: "Expired", "New", and "Issued".
Press "Tab (F3 or Space-4-5)" to access the list in your desired category. You can
navigate the book list using "Space-1" and "Space-4".
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To download a book, navigate to it and press "Enter". The unit announces
"Download start" and shows progress indicators to let you know the progress of
the download process. When the book is finished downloading, you may play it
using the DAISY Player.
Books downloaded using the Online DAISY program are available in the "Online
DAISY" folder from the "Open DAISY" dialog of the DAISY Player. For reasons of
copy protection, these books are only visible from the DAISY Player and cannot
be accessed from the File Manager.
Vision Australia users can also download BRF books. When a BRF book is
downloaded, you have the option of opening it in the Word Processor, from which
you can copy the text to another document, or save it to a different location where
it can be more easily accessed.
When you wish to return a book, navigate to it in the list, and press "Enter-R" This
returns the book to the virtual library so that others can be issued to you.
10.3 Sense Dictionary
The Sense Dictionary is an add-on piece of software for the Sense notetakers
available for purchase from HIMS. The basic package includes the New Oxford
American Dictionary, and the Concise Oxford American Thesaurus. You can also
purchase additional bilingual dictionaries for English/Spanish, English/French,
English/Italian and English/German.
Note: If you have not purchased the dictionary package containing the
dictionary data and license key, pressing "Enter" on the Sense Dictionary
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option in the "Extras" menu results in the message, "Authentication failed".
For pricing and purchasing information, please contact HIMS or your
BrailleSense dealer.
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11. Utilities
The "Utilities" menu provides several special functions and settings for the Polaris
MINI. Move among the items in the "Utilities" menu using "Space-1" and "Space-
4" and press "Enter" to open an item.
You can access functions for each program using hot keys, or via that program's
menus or dialogs. If a program has menus, press "Space-M" or "F2" to open the
menu. Select a menu item using "Space-1" or "Space-4", and press "Enter". Or,
you can press "Space-M or "F2" followed by the shortcut for the corresponding
menu item.
In dialogs, use "Space-4-5" and "Space-1-2" or "F3" and "Space-F3" to tab and
shift-tab among controls. For the purposes of these instructions, we will generally
refer to this as "Tabbing".
Use "Space-1" and "Space-4" or the Up and Down scroll keys to navigate menus,
settings or file lists. Press "Enter" to execute an item.
11.1 Calculator
Using the calculator on the Polaris MINI, you can do simple math equations as
well as complex scientific calculations. The results and expressions are displayed
in Braille, and spoken by the Polaris MINI.
To use the calculator, press C from within the "Utilities" menu. You can launch the
"Calculator" from anywhere on the unit by pressing "F3-C". When the calculator
is opened, 0 is displayed in computer Braille.
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You may type using computer Braille, UEB, or Nemeth Braille when inserting
expressions. Press "Backspace-G" to cycle the Braille codes. Clear the calculator
with "Backspace-C". If you insert numbers or a function into a result, the result
disappears; and if you enter operators, you move to the next step. In addition, you
can keep your result in the calculator's memory, and recall it later. You can
activate the functions and operators via the calculator menu or you can use the
hot keys associated with the various functions.
11.1.1 General Functions
To access general mathematical operations, open the menu by pressing "Space-
m or "F2" and press "Enter" on "General Functions". From the calculation line,
access the "General Functions" by pressing "Enter-G".
"General functions" is a dialog box that contains the "general function list", a
"Confirm" button, and a "Cancel" button. You can navigate the operators using
"Space-1" or "Space-4". Or, you can press the first letter of the operator you want
to access.
Select your desired operation and press "Enter" to perform it. You can also use
hot keys to quickly execute operations. Press "Space-H" for a list of hot keys in
the Calculator.
To enter negative numbers type minus (dots 3-6) and the number in parentheses.
For the percent operation, type the numbers first followed by the percent sign.
Immediately after you type the percent sign (%), the number you have typed in is
converted into a percent value.
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11.1.2 Fractional Arithmetic
The Polaris MINI can perform fractional operations such as simplifying and
multiplying fractions as well as converting fractions to decimals.
You can also convert fractions to decimals, decimals to fractions, improper
fractions to mixed numbers, or mixed numbers to improper fractions. When your
result is fractional, you can bring up the "fraction options" by pressing "Space-3-
4". Press "Space-1" and "Space-4" to move among the available options. If the
fraction is a simple fraction, your options are ""fraction to decimal" and "return
original fraction". If the fraction is an improper fraction, you also have an option to
return "improper fraction to mixed number". If your fraction is a mixed number, the
"mixed number to improper fraction" appears. Finally, if your result is a decimal
and you press "Space-3-4", the decimal is converted to a fraction.
11.1.3 Memory Functions
The "Memory Functions" act on stored answers and calculations in memory. To
access these functions, press "F2" to open the menu, and press "Enter" on
"Memory Functions".
"Recall Items" is a dialog, containing "Variable list", "Delete", "Display detail",
"Confirm", and "Cancel". You can access the dialog by pressing "Backspace-R"
in the calculation line or by selecting it from the "Memory Functions" menu...
The "Variable list" displays "item name: value". Insert the value into your
calculation by pressing "Enter" on the item name. You can also copy items in the
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"Variable list". Press "Space" to select an item in the "Variable list". Then, press
"Enter-i" to copy the selected items to the clipboard.
The "Display detail" shows the item name and its result with the default set to
"No". To review the detailed information, press "Space" to switch to "Yes". Then,
it displays "item name: the expression = its result value" in Braille.
"Delete" is used to remove a variable item from the list.
You can delete all of the saved items stored in the "Recall Items". Select "Delete
All Saved Items" from the "Memory Functions" menu, or press "Enter-D" from the
calculation line.
"Save Items" is a dialog that allows you to define variables according to the current
expression or result in the calculator and save them for future use. The dialog
contains an edit box for typing in the variable name, a "Confirm" button and a
"Cancel" button. SELECT "Save Items" from the "Memory Functions" menu, or
press "Backspace-S" from the calculation line.
When the dialog is opened, the "item name" edit box is focused. Type a name for
the variable, and press "Enter" or move to "confirm", and press "Enter". The
current expression or result is then saved under the variable name you just
specified.
If you type names under variables which have already been created, you are
prompted, "Replace variable xx with current value? Yes". If you type function
names like "sin", "cos", or "pi" as a variable name, you are warned, "Invalid item
name", as you cannot use these functions in variable names.
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You can also define variables directly from the calculation line by typing
"variable=expression" and press "Enter" to save the variable.
If you select the Statistics function, a dialog opens, which consists of a list box
containing all the stored variables and their values, a list box displaying the results
of several functions, and a "Close" button. Press "Backspace-T" to activate this
function from the calculation line,
Press "Space" to select each variable in the list that you want included in the data
set for which the statistics are calculated. TAB to the "result" list to view the sum,
average, variance, and standard deviation of the selected variables. You can also
select items from the result list and copy them to the clipboard.
11.1.4 Sine Functions
Select "Sine Functions" in the Calculator's menu, or press "Enter-S" in the
calculation line. The "sine function" list consists of "Sine", "Arc sine", and
"Hyperbolic sine". If you press "Enter" on one of the three functions you can insert
it into your calculation.
11.1.5 Cosine Functions
Select "Cosine Functions" from the Calculator's menu, or press "Enter-I" from the
calculation line. The "cosine function" list consists of "Cosine", "Arc cosine", and
"Hyperbolic cosine". If you press "Enter" on one of the three functions, the
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calculation is performed. Or, you can activate one of the three cosine functions by
pressing the first letter of each from the list.
11.1.6 Tangent Functions
You can open the "Tangent Functions" by pressing "Enter-T" from the calculation
line, or by selecting "Tangent Functions" from the Calculator's menu. The "tangent
functions" list consists of "Tangent", "Arc tangent", and "Hyperbolic tangent". If
you press "Enter" on one of the three functions, the calculation is performed.
11.1.7 Logarithm Functions
You can open the "Logarithm Functions" by pressing "Enter-L" from the
calculation line, or by selecting "Logarithmic Functions" from the Calculator's
menu.
The "Logarithm Functions" is a dialog, which contains a "function list", a "Confirm"
button, and a "Cancel" button. The function list consists of "Common logarithm"
and "Natural logarithm". If you press "Enter" on one of the logarithm functions, the
calculation is inserted into your calculation line.
11.1.8 Convert Unit
The "Convert Unit" dialog allows you to convert measurements of mass, area,
volume, distance, and temperature from metric measure to imperial measure as
well as other standards of measurement and units of measurement within the
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same system. It also converts several units of measurement related to
programming and computers.
To open the "Convert Unit" dialog, Select "Convert Unit" from the Calculator's
menu, or press "Enter-U" from anywhere in the Calculator.
The "Convert Unit" dialog contains the following items: "Unit Category" combo
box, "Current Unit" combo box, "Change Unit" combo box, "Input Number" edit
box, "Convert" button, "Cancel" button and the "Result" static box. You can move
among the controls in the dialog using "Tab (F3 or Space-4-5)" or "Shift-Tab
(Space-F3 or Space-1-2)". Use "Space-1" or "Space-4" to move among the items
in the combo boxes.
The available unit categories are Distance, Area, Mass, Volume, Temperature,
Data, numbers and Text. When you have chosen your measurement category,
the "Current Unit" and "Change Unit" combo boxes will contain measurement
units according to your chosen category. The available distance units are:
Millimeters, Centimeters, Meters, Kilometers, Inches, Feet, Yards, and Miles. The
available units of area are: Square Meters, Are, Square feet, Square Yards,
Acres, and Hectares. The available units of mass are: Grams, Kilograms, Tones,
Grains, Ounces, and Pounds. The available units of volume are: Deciliter,
Milliliter, Liter, Cubic Centimeter, Cubic Meter, Cubic Inch, Cubic Foot, Cubic
Yard, Gallon, Fluid oz, Cups and Quarts. The available units of temperature are:
Celsius, Fahrenheit and Kelvin.
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The available data units are bit, byte, kilobyte, megabyte and gigabyte. The
available numeric units are Hex, Dec and binary. Finally, the text conversion
allows you to discover the ASCII equivalent to any text character.
Choose your unit to convert from in the first combo box. Choose your unit to
convert to in the "Change" combo box. Type the number of the measurement you
want to convert in the "Input Number" edit box. Finally, to convert the
measurement, Tab to the "Convert" button and press "Enter". If you wish to cancel
the conversion, Tab to the "Cancel" button and press "Enter". When you activate
the "Convert" button, the conversion result is displayed in the "Result" static box.
11.1.9 Copy to Clipboard
The "Copy to Clipboard" function is used to copy your expression or result to the
clipboard for pasting your expression or result in a document. You can also access
up to 20 lines of calculation history and copy them as well. Press "Enter" on the
"Copy to Clipboard" option in the menu, or press "Enter-C" in the calculation line
to copy the current expression. You can now paste the calculation to a document
in the Word Processor or to another application on the unit.
To access the cumulative calculation history, press "Enter-H". You can then use
normal selection commands to select the lines of the history you wish to copy.
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11.1.10 Return Formula
There may be times, after viewing a result, that you wish to be reminded what
expression you used to obtain that result. The "return formula" function allows you
to return the expression you just entered
When your result is displayed, press "Enter-R", or select "Return Formula" from
the menu.
The expression you entered to obtain your current result is displayed.
11.1.11 Option Settings
You can activate the "Option Settings" by pressing "Enter" on the menu option, or
from your calculation line, press "Enter-O".
The "Option Settings" dialog contains a "setting list", a "Confirm" button, and a
"Cancel" button. The "setting list" consists of "Angle Unit" and "Calculator Braille
Code". You can navigate among the 2 options by pressing "Space-1" or "Space-
4". Use "Space" to change the value of each setting.
When setting the angle unit, if you select "Radian", you can get the PI value while
using the trigonometric function. If you select "Degree" and activate PI, you will
get a wrong answer as this is not a valid calculation.
You can set the Calculator Braille code to computer Braille, Nemeth or UEB math
Braille as described previously. You can use "Space-G" to change this setting
from anywhere in the calculator.
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11.2 Display Compass Heading
Use this option to display the direction of the compass on the Polaris MINI. You
can display the compass heading from anywhere on the unit.
To display the compass heading, press "Space-F3-F4" from anywhere on the
Polaris MINI.
The current status of the compass is displayed.
You can also access compass status in the "Utilities" menu. Move to "Display
Compass Heading" with "Space-4" and press "Enter".
As you change direction, to check the current compass status, press "Space".
The current direction is announced. To exit this function, press "Space-E" or
Space-Z".
Note: It will take about 15 minutes to initialize the unit should the following
situations occur:
1. The unit discharges a great distance from the location where the
compass was last used.
2. The unit remains discharged for more than a month.
11.2.1 Options of Gyrocompass
There are 2 option settings available when viewing compass status: "Refreshing
time" and "Compass display type".
Refreshing time is the interval of the automatic announcement of the compass
status. To set this option, from the compass status, "Tab" to the "Refreshing time"
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edit box. Type the number of seconds between compass status announcements.
By default, it is set to 0. You may type a number between 0 and 120.
You can set the Compass Display Type by tabbing to this option from the compass
status. The setting values are "cardinal and degrees", "cardinal only" and
"degrees only". By pressing "Space", you can change the value of the setting. By
default, it is set to "cardinal and degrees".
11.3 Display Time and Date
Use this function to check the current date and time. Navigate to "Display Time
and Date" in the "Utilities" menu, and press "Enter". You can also query the time
and date from anywhere on the Polaris MINI with "Space-T". You can Tab to
display today's date.
11.4 Wake up Alarm
You can set a "Wake up alarm" to sound at a specified time every day. To open
"Wake up alarm", from the "Utilities" menu, use "Space-1" or "Space-4" to
navigate to "Wake up alarm", and press "Enter". You can launch the "Wake Up
Alarm" from anywhere on the unit by pressing "F3-A" If you have not yet set the
time or date in the Polaris MINI, the unit prompts, "Set time:" After you set the
time, the Polaris MINI displays the "Wake up alarm" dialog. The "Wake up alarm"
dialog contains: "Set time", "Bell", "Term", "Alarm duration", "Repeat interval",
"Wake up call times", a "Confirm" button, and a "Cancel" button.
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When the alarm sounds, the Braille display displays the message "Wake up call.
Press Backspace-enter to stop the alarm".
When you open the "Wake up alarm" dialog, the Polaris MINI displays the "Set
time" field. The value is set to the current time or the time specified previously.
Here you can directly type the time, or set the time using the shortcut keys, as
explained in section 8.1.3.
Tab to the next field and select from one of 3 alarm sounds, a vibration, a media
file or an FM Radio frequency for the wake up alarm. Press "Space-1" or "Space-
4" to change the alarm sound. As you move among the sounds, the various alarm
sounds are played. When you reach the 4th option, "Vibrate motor", the Polaris
MINI produces a long vibration representing the one you would feel should you
choose to use this option to alert you of your alarm.
If you choose "Media File", Tab to the "File Name" button and press "enter" to
browse for the file you wish to use as your alarm sound. You are placed in a File
Manager control with the focus inside the 'Media" folder. Locate the file you wish
to use, and press 'Enter". If you choose "FM Radio", tabbing once places you in
an edit box in to which you can type the frequency of the radio station you wish to
wake up to.
When you have selected your desired alarm type, Tab to the next field.
In the term field, you can set which days of the week the alarm sounds. There are
four options: "Off", "Once", "Week days", and "Every day". If the "Term" is set to
"Off", the alarm does not go off at the specified time, no matter how the other
options in the dialog are set.
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The duration option sets the amount of time that the alarm sounds. The options
are 1 minute, 2 minutes, or 3 minutes. If you set the ringing duration to "1 minute",
the alarm sounds for one minute, and then is silent. To stop the alarm before a
minute has passed, press "Backspace-enter".
The repeat interval defines the amount of time that is between the times that the
alarm sounds. For example, if you set the repeat interval to three minutes, after
the alarm has stopped sounding, it rings again in 3 minutes. The available settings
are 1, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes.
If the alarm is not turned off by pressing "Backspace-enter", it repeats according
to the number of times you set the Wake Up Call Time option. The available
settings are 1 to 10.
Press "Enter" to save your setting, or "Space-Z" to cancel setting the alarm.
11.5 Stopwatch
You can launch the "Stopwatch" from anywhere on the unit by pressing "F3-W".
Or, you can navigate to it in the "Utilities" menu and press "Enter".
"00:00:00" is displayed. Press "Enter", to start the stopwatch running. Press
"Enter" again, to pause, and the Polaris MINI announces the elapsed time, and
displays it in Braille. Pressing "Enter" again restarts the stopwatch running.
If you press "Backspace" while the stopwatch is paused or running, The Polaris
MINI announces the elapsed time and clears to "00:00:00". While the stopwatch
is running, pressing "Space" gives you the elapsed time. As the stopwatch is still
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running, the Braille display continues displaying the time second by second as it
passes.
Press "Space-F2" to stop displaying the time. If you press "Space-F2" once more,
the time is displayed again.
Tab to switch to the "Countdown timer". You are asked to type hours, minutes,
and seconds. Type a two-digit number for the hour, minute, and the second using
Computer Braille or grade 1. You do not need to use a number sign. If you press
"Enter" without typing any numbers, the "Countdown timer" starts counting down
by the default time, which is set to one minute. When started, the "Countdown
timer" displays "countdown xx minute", and begins running.
Press "Enter" on the "Countdown timer", and the Polaris MINI tells you the
remaining time, and pauses countdown. Press "Enter" again to restart the timer.
Pressing "Backspace" clears the "Countdown timer". If the timer reaches zero, a
10-second alarm sounds, and the "Countdown timer" clears. If you press
"Backspace-enter" while the alarm is sounding, the alarm stops and your timer
clears, and is ready to accept a new time.
To exit the "Stopwatch" program, press "Space-Z".
11.6 Terminal for Screen Reader
The "Terminal for screen reader" function allows the Polaris MINI to be used as a
Braille display when connected to a computer or cell phone that uses a compatible
screen reader such as JAWS, Supernova, Android’s TalkBack or Apple's
VoiceOver. Before using this function, make sure that the Polaris MINI is
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connected to your personal computer or smart phone via a Bluetooth serial
connection, or to the USB client port. To turn on this function, from the "Utilities"
menu, navigate to "Terminal for screen reader", and press "Enter". To launch
"Terminal for Screen Reader" from anywhere on the unit, press "F3-S".
The list of connection options is displayed: "Bluetooth serial port" and "USB port".
Press "Enter" on your desired connection type, and the unit announces, "Terminal
mode". If you are connecting using the Bluetooth serial connection and Bluetooth
has not been activated, the unit automatically activates Bluetooth before entering
terminal Mode.
Once in Terminal Mode, the Polaris MINI no longer speaks as it is now simply
acting as a Braille display for your computer or smart phone. If the connection
fails, you are returned to the list of connection methods.
You can connect a Bluetooth and USB device to the Terminal for Screen Reader
simultaneously. Once you have established the first connection, press
Backspace-Space-Enter-P to initiate the second connection. When 2 devices are
connected, press Backspace-Space-Enter-C to toggle between the connections.
To exit the "Terminal for Screen reader" press "Backspace-Space-Z".
11.6.1 Terminal Clipboard
Terminal Clipboard allows you to create and edit text on the notetaker before
sending it via the Terminal for Screen Reader to the connected device. This can
be useful in instances like when using VoiceOver on an i-device, in which
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characters are translated as they are sent to the IPhone or iPad. Or, you may
simply find it more comfortable to edit in the notetaker environment.
As explained above, the Terminal Clipboard allows you to create and edit text on
the notetaker, and send the completed text to the connected computer or
SmartPhone via the Terminal for Screen reader.
To enter "Terminal Clipboard", press "Space-Enter-I". The BrailleSense
announces, "Terminal Clipboard". Type and edit your text using normal text entry
and edit commands. In "Terminal Clipboard", the Braille display and keyboard are
temporarily disabled from sending/receiving information to/from your connected
computer or i-device, so that you may use them for creating/editing your text. For
more information on text entry and editing, please see section 5 of this manual on
the Word Processor. When you are finished typing the text you wish to send to
your computer or mobile device, press "Enter-S" and the text is quickly inputted
to the device via the Terminal for Screen reader, and your BrailleSense returns to
sending/receiving information to and from the connected device.
"Terminal Clipboard" can also be useful for transferring text from a document or
e-mail in your notetaker, to a document or e-mail you are creating on your
connected computer or SmartPhone. As the "Terminal Clipboard" is a standard
edit box on the notetaker, you can paste text in to it from the notetaker's clipboard.
(see the sections of this manual regarding selecting text as it applies to supported
programs such as the Word Processor, E-mail, Web Browser, etc.)
To send text from your notetaker:
1) Press "Space-Enter-I" to activate "Terminal Clipboard".
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2) Press "Enter-V" to paste the text from the notetaker's clipboard to the edit box.
3) Press "Enter-S" to send the text via the Terminal for Screen Reader.
11.7 Display Network Status
This utility provides information about the current network connection type and
status, the current IP of the unit, subnet mask, gateway, and MAC address. To
check network status, press "Enter" on "Display Network Status". You can also
query network status from the "program" menu by pressing "Space-N".
The information about the current connection is displayed. You can Tab to a
"Renew" button and a "Close" button.
The first item in the information list (status) indicates whether the Polaris MINI is
currently connected to the Internet (online/offline), and if so, the current
connection type (LAN, Modem, ADSL, or Wireless LAN). The next item is the
"current IP address", followed by "Subnet mask", and "Gateway", and finally "MAC
address". You can move among these items by pressing "Space-4" or "Space-1".
If the Polaris MINI is not currently connected to the Internet, the status information
shows "offline", and the IP address, subnet mask, and gateway display 0's.
11.8 Display Power Status
Press "Enter" on "Display power status" from the "Utilities" menu. Or, query power
status from anywhere on the Polaris MINI by pressing "Space-1-6". Two pieces
of information are displayed: the percentage of charge remaining in the battery,
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and whether the Polaris MINI is using the AC adapter or the battery to receive
power. Exit by pressing "Space-Z". And you are returned to your previous location
on the unit.
11.9 Format
WARNING!! The Polaris MINI makes it possible to format the flashdisk to solve
corruption problems and/or start over with a clean internal drive. Formatting the
flashdisk erases everything on the flashdisk. Be extremely cautious when
executing this command. If you execute this command, you will lose all of your
data. You will NOT be able to retrieve this data once the command is executed.
To format the flashdisk, press and hold "Space-1-2-3". While holding down
"Space-1-2-3," quickly press and release the reset button. Continue holding
"Space-1-2-3" until you hear the "format start" announcement.
You can also access the "format" function by pressing F from the "Utilities" menu.
Or, you can launch it from anywhere on the Polaris MINI by pressing "F3-F".
When you format any disk on the Polaris MINI, all information is erased.
Therefore, before you format, you are advised to backup any important data if
possible.
1) From the Utilities menu, press "Enter" on "Format" and "flashdisk" is focused.
Press "Enter", or choose another disk from the list, and press "Enter".
2) You are prompted, "Format flashdisk?" Yes". Press "Enter"
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3) You are prompted, "All data will be lost. Continue? Yes". Press "Enter".
4) The unit announces, "Now formatting flashdisk" and the format is started.
5) When the format is complete, you are returned to the "Disk" list.
To cancel the format, press "Space", or press "Enter" on "No" in step 2 or 3.
11.10 Set Sleep Timer
You can set the sleep timer to turn the Polaris MINI off after a specified amount
of time regardless of what you are doing.
To set the Sleep Timer, navigate to "Sleep Timer" in the Utilities" menu and press
"Enter". Or press "Space-J" from anywhere on the unit.
You are prompted, "Sleep timer: 0". Enter the number of minutes for the sleep
timer in the edit box. The available settings range from 0 to 180. Press "Enter".
When the sleep timer is set, even if the device is active, it powers off after the
specified amount of time. If you set the sleep timer for "5" minutes and press
"Space-J (dots 2-4-5)" after 2 minutes, "3" is displayed in the edit box, indicating
the time remaining before the sleep timer powers the unit off.
11.11 Upgrading Polaris MINI Firmware
Using this utility, you can update the Polaris MINI either via an Internet connection
or from external media containing the upgrade files. If you choose the "Online"
method, be sure you have an active Internet connection before attempting the
upgrade. When you update the Polaris MINI,settings are usually maintained.
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However, if there are changes to setting values in the firmware, all settings will be
initialized. Therefore, it is recommended that you back up your settings using the
backup/restore utility in the “Settings” menu. Data in the flashdisk is protected.
However, we recommend you backup your files before updating the Polaris MINI
Firmware as unexpected problems can occur.
Note: You cannot cancel the update once it has started. You must not reset
the unit during an upgrade. You must keep the unit connected to AC power
throughout the upgrade process. We recommend you do not touch the
Polaris MINI while it is updating. It may take up to 60 minutes to update the
Polaris MINI, possibly even longer depending on the speed of your Internet
connection.
Also note: the upgrade files are temporarily stored on the flashdisk for
installation. If you do not have enough memory available on the flashdisk,
the Polaris MINI is unable to update until you make room for the upgrade
files.
You can access the "Upgrade Firmware" option via the "Utilities" menu, or launch
it from anywhere on the unit using "F3-U".
When you have chosen your upgrade method, and the upgrade files are
downloaded or detected, Polaris MINI will extract all of the necessary program
files. There are about 40 files to extract, and progress is announced every few
seconds.
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Once done, the Polaris MINI will reboot, and the system files will be upgraded.
During this process, there is no speech, but the progress will be shown in Braille
as a percentage.
When the system files have been upgraded, the software will load and boot.
During this process, the Polaris MINI displays “Starting BrailleSense” in Braille,
but no sound or speech is heard. This process can take many minutes; do not be
surprised if nothing happens for 30 minutes or more.
When the firmware boots, the unit will then proceed to upgrade any applications
with updated programming, usually between 25 and 30 apps. Progress is spoken
and displayed during this process.
Finally, the system reboots again. If there are no new or changed setting values
in the firmware, the Main Menu loads, and your settings are restored. If setting
values have been changed, all Settings are initialized, and the system boots and
runs the Quick Guide.
11.11.1 Upgrading the Polaris MINI Firmware Using the Internet
To upgrade the Polaris MINI Firmware via the Internet, follow these steps:
1) Make sure you are connected to the Internet and plugged into AC power. Press
"Enter" on "Upgrade Polaris MINI Firmware" in the "Utilities" menu.
2) Press "Enter" on "Upgrade: Online". The Polaris MINI connects to the HIMS
server, and your current software version is compared to the HIMS server version.
You are prompted to continue with the upgrade.
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3) The Polaris MINI begins downloading the upgrade files. The upgrade is around
1.3 GB. Thus, depending on the speed of your Internet connection, it may take a
long time to download. If the upgrade fails, you may receive the message,
"Internet connection is not available. To try the upgrade again, press "Space-Z"
to cancel, and activate "Upgrade Polaris MINI Firmware" again. If the connection
is successful, the upgrade files are downloaded.
4) After downloading the upgrade files, Polaris MINI automatically starts the
upgrade process. Please remember you must not touch the Polaris MINI until the
upgrade is complete, as pressing keys, resetting, or unplugging the unit can
interrupt the upgrade process, thus resulting in an incomplete installation. When
the upgrade is complete, you are returned to the "program" menu, and the unit
announces, "File manager".
5) After the upgrade is complete, check the software version by pressing "Space-
V" while in the "program" menu.
11.11.2 Upgrading the Polaris MINI Firmware from a Disk
To upgrade the Polaris MINI Firmware from a disk, follow these steps:
1) Download the upgrade file from the HIMS website. Note: the file is a .bin file, however, some versions of
Windows may rename it as a .zip file. Do not extract this file. Simply rename the extension back to .bin. Copy
the file to the root of an external storage device such as an SD card or USB thumb drive.
2) Connect the SD card or USB drive to the Polaris MINI, and be sure the Polaris
MINI is connected to AC power. Then, press "Enter" on "Upgrade Polaris MINI
Firmware" from the "Utilities" menu.
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3) "Upgrade: Online" is displayed. Press "Space-4" to go to the "Upgrade: Offline"
option. Press "Enter".
4) If you are already running the latest version of the software, you are asked to
continue with the upgrade. If you press "Enter" on "No", the upgrade is cancelled.
Press "Space" to toggle between "Yes" and "No".
5) The Polaris MINI starts the upgrade process. Please remember you must not
touch the Polaris MINI until the upgrade is complete. When the upgrade is
complete, you are returned to the "program" menu, and "File manager" is
displayed.
6) When the upgrade is complete, check the software version by pressing "Space-
V" while in the "program" menu.
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12. Installing and Using Native Android Apps
While the Polaris MINI has many powerful programs created specifically for the
visually impaired, one of its most powerful features is the ability to install and use
native Android applications directly from the Google Play Store. Before you can
install native Android applications, you must have a Google Play Store account.
You can run the Play Store by navigating to it from the Main menu, and pressing
"Enter". You can also press the letter "P".
When you first open the Play Store application, you will need to sign into your
Google account. It is important to note: when you use the Google Play Store and
any applications you install from there, you are utilizing native Android apps. Thus,
you are no longer accessing the BrailleSense interface, and interaction and
navigation is slightly different.
BrailleSense Polaris MINI contains a mobile screen reader that is automatically
executed when you use any native Android app. It is somewhat similar to
TalkBack for Android with some notable enhancements. Because you must
navigate the graphical Android screen, it can sometimes be difficult to locate what
you need efficiently. For this reason, the Polaris MINI screen reader allows you to
locate icons according to their first letter. So, if you're looking for a Search icon,
press the letter S. Pressing a given letter will take you to the first icon that
matches. Subsequent presses of the same letter will jump to additional icons on
the screen beginning with that letter.
Use "F3" and "Space-F3" to move among individual objects on the screen. The
Control and Alt keys will often take you to different content areas on the screen.
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In programs like Docs, Sheets, and Slides, keyboard shortcuts are available for
QWERTY keyboards, and the Control and Alt keys allow you also to utilize these
functions.
Use "Space-1-2-3" to move to the top of the current content area, and "Space-4-
5-6" to move to the bottom of the current content area. Use "Enter" to select or
run the current item, and “F4”, “Space-E”, or “Space-Z” to move back one screen.
To type in an edit box, you must press "Enter" to activate Edit Mode before you
can input text. To adjust slider controls, press “Backspace-Space-4” to increase
the slider value, and “Backspace-Space-1” to decrease a slider value”.
You can also navigate Android apps using the Media keys on the front panel. Use
“Back” and “Next” to move to the previous and next object. “Record” serves as
the android Back button. “Play” opens Recent Apps, and “Stop” returns you to the
main Menu.
If you prefer to use more traditional keystrokes for navigating objects, you can
change the method of navigation to emulate Swipe gestures as does TalkBack,
using Space-1 and Space-4. To turn on the gesture method, press Backspace-
Enter-H while using the Mobile Screen reader. Use the same keystroke to change
back to the original mobile Screen Reader method.
It is also possible to operate Android apps in a more traditional manner using a
keyboard and/or mouse, or portable touch monitor. You can turn accessibility
features on and off by pressing the “Stop” and “Next” media buttons together on
the front panel of the device. When the Mobile Screen Reader is on, these
accessories will operate similar to how they would when using TalkBack. When
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the mobile Screen Reader is off, they will operate as they would traditionally
operate in Android.
Once you have signed into your Google account, you may search for applications
using the "Search" function. If you have other Android devices, and have already
purchased apps from the Play Store, open the Navigation drawer, and choose the
"My Apps" option. By default, the Play Store displays only what is currently
installed on this unit. Select the "All" button to show all apps you have purchased
or downloaded.
From an Apps list, press "Enter" to view the details of an app. If you wish to install
it, locate the "Install" button and press "Enter". You are presented with a dialog
showing the necessary app permissions. Locate the "Accept" button, or press the
letter A to jump to it, and press "Enter".
When apps are installed, they will appear in the "All Apps" list at the end of the
main program menu. When Polaris MINI ships, this list contains stock Android
apps and Google basics. The list is displayed in alphabetical order and can be
navigated with first letter navigation.
At the bottom of the Apps list is an "App Manager. The App Manager allows you
to uninstall any native Android app on your Polaris MINI. You can also access the
traditional Android Actions Menu for each app by pressing “Enter-I” when focused
on the app you want to act on.
When you install Android apps, you may begin to hear sounds and
announcements related to these apps. Many apps send “Notifications” to your
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Polaris MINI in realtime, just as happens on smartphones and tablets. Press
“Space-1-2-3-4-5-6” from anywhere on the unit to see a list of these notifications.
Press “Space-1” and “Space-4” to navigate the list, and press “Enter” on a
notification to launch its associated application. Press “Space-D” to delete a
notification from the list. * Note: Google does not allow the deletion of some
notifications.
Note: While there are many native Android apps that work well, HIMS
cannot and does not guarantee the accessibility or usability of any
application that is not developed specifically for Polaris MINI. Apps should
generally work well if they meet Google accessibility standards, however
many apps are not made to meet these standards and are not easily usable
on any Android device running a screen reader.
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13. Using the Help Menu
The help section consists of various text files that allow you to read about the
many functions of the BrailleSense Polaris MINI. To access these help files, press
"F1" to go to the "program" menu, and use "Space-4" repeatedly until you locate
"Help". Or press the letter h to quickly jump to and open "Help". You can also
launch "Help from anywhere on the unit using "F1-H".
Use "Space-dot-4" to navigate to the section you wish to read. Press "Enter" on
your desired section to open it. Keys for navigating are the same as those in the
Word Processor. For a list of navigation keys, please see section 14.3.2.
As you read the manual on the BrailleSense Polaris MINI, you can search for text
in the various sections by pressing "Space-F". Type the text you wish to find, and
press "Enter". You can find the next occurrence of the particular text you searched
for by pressing "Enter-F".
The section, "Help overview," gives a physical orientation to the BrailleSense
Polaris MINI and an overview of its functionality.
The section, "Basic Functions Help", gives a basic overview of the programming
and operation of the BrailleSense Polaris MINI
The section, "Settings Help" provides an explanation of time and date setup,
internet Setup, Bluetooth connectivity, and the "Global Options" and how to use
them to configure your BrailleSense Polaris MINI according to your preferences.
Most of the remaining sections cover each of the functions of the BrailleSense
Polaris MINI in detail.
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The "Commands Summary" section is a quick reference of hot keys for all the
programs on the BrailleSense Polaris MINI useful when you simply want to know
the keystroke for performing an action without reading the entirety of the
instructions on a given program.
The "Information about the BrailleSense Polaris MINI" section provides the
copyright and version of the BrailleSense Polaris MINI, as well as the operating
system version, the version of the BrailleSense Polaris MINI firmware, and other
useful items such as Mac address and Key number. When the "information"
section is open, you can save the information about the BrailleSense Polaris MINI
by pressing "tab (Space-4-5 or F3)", to navigate to the "Save" button and press
"Enter". The unit displays "Successfully saved", and returns you to the "Save"
button. The saved file is named "bs-information.txt", and is stored in "flashdisk"
for easy access.
You can also get help related to the specific task you are performing. Use "Space-
H" within any program to get a list of keystrokes available in that program.
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14. Troubleshooting Guide
If you are encountering problems with the BrailleSense Polaris MINI, please take
a look at the following suggestions for solving many common problems:
14.1 The BrailleSense Polaris MINI Will Not Turn On
1) Check to make sure that the battery is inserted in to its compartment properly.
2) If the battery is inserted properly, connect the AC adapter, and plug the AC
adapter in to an electrical outlet. The battery may need to be charged.
3) Or, Check the location of the keyboard lock switch. If this switch is placed in
the "lock" position, the power switch is not functional.
14.2 The Voice Cannot Be Heard
1) Make sure the volume is loud enough to be heard. Press "backspace-F4" to
raise the volume.
2) Make sure the voice is turned on. Press "Backspace-F2" to toggle the voice
on/off.
14.3 The Voice is Too Fast to Understand
1) Press "space-F1" to lower the voice rate.
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14.4 The Voice Pitch Is Too Low or Too High to Understand
1) Press "enter-F1" to lower the pitch, or press "enter-F4" to raise the pitch of the
voice.
14.5 You Don't Know Where You Are
1) If you have become disoriented as to your location on the BrailleSense Polaris
MINI, and cannot remember where you are, press "F1" to access the "program"
menu. Then, press "F2-F3" to switch among the open programs. If you are in the
Word Processor, pressing "space1-5-6" gives you your current location in the
open document.
14.6 No Internet Connection
1) If you are using a Wi-Fi connection, ensure wireless is turned on. Use
"Backspace-dots-1-4-5-6" to toggle wireless on/off.
2) If using an Ethernet connection, check to ensure that the Ethernet cable is
connected securely with the USB to Ethernet adapter, and that the network
settings are correct.
14.7 E-mail
1) If you are having trouble downloading email, please contact your Internet
service provider to make sure that you have the correct POP3/IMAP and SMTP
settings.
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2) If you cannot send or receive mail, make sure you have an active connection
to the Internet.
14.8 The Braille display Does Not Display Braille
1) If the Braille display does not display Braille, make sure that the Braille display
is turned on. Use "Backspace-F3" to toggle the Braille display on/off.
14.9 The BrailleSense Polaris MINI Does Not Speak when
using Play store or Android Apps
If you do not have speech when you open the Play Store, or an Android app in
your All Apps list, make sure the Mobile Screen Reader is on. You can toggle the
mobile Screen Reader on and off by pressing the “Stop” and “Next” media buttons
on the front panel of the unit.
14.10 The BrailleSense Menus are Not Displayed or Spoken
At times, you may receive a prompt to set the default launcher between Google
Now and the Polaris MINI Launcher. If it is accidentally set to use the Google Now
Launcher, the Polaris MINI menus are not displayed, and accessibility features
are not activated. In this case, System notifications may still be heard, but no
Braille will appear, and no speech is heard.
To reset the Polaris MINI Launcher, press “F2-F3-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8”.
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14.11 The BrailleSense Polaris MINI Does Not Respond
1. If the BrailleSense Polaris MINI does not respond to keystrokes or commands,
it may be necessary to reset the unit. To reset the BrailleSense Polaris MINI, press
"1-2-3-4-5-6-F2-F3."
2) If the soft reset does not revive the BrailleSense Polaris MINI, you may need
to completely shut down the unit. The easiest way to do this is to remove the
battery, leave it out for a few seconds, re-insert it, and power on the unit.
3) Initializing Polaris MINI Options: if you are not able to solve your problem with
the above methods, you may need to reset your Polaris MINI options back to
factory defaults. You can do this in two ways: if your unit is operational, you can
launch the “Initialize Polaris MINI options” item in the “Settings” menu. You may
also hold the Forward Media key while pressing the Power On Button. Continue
to hold Forward until “HIMS” is displayed on the braille display.
4: Hard resetting the Android system: In very serious cases, it may be necessary
to perform a full system reset. However, this should not be attempted unless all
other options have been exhausted, or unless you wish to completely erase all
data, applications and settings. In addition, this process is complex and unique,
and should only be done under the direction of an authorized support staff
member. If you believe a system reset is necessary, please contact technical
support for consultation and full instructions.
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14.12 USB or SD Files Seem to Contain 0 Bytes
The Android operating system requires that drives are ejected properly before
removing them. If not done, inserting them in to the Polaris MINI or other devices
may result in all files appearing as though they have no data, or have a size of 0
bytes. Before disconnecting a USB drive or SD card, press “Backspace-Enter-U”
or “Backspace-Enter-3-6” to unmount it properly. If your drive is showing files with
no data, please re-insert it in to the Polaris MINI, and press the Unmount key.
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15. Command Summary
15.1 Common Combination Keys
Open the main program menu: F1
Open the Running Tasks list: F1-F4
Switch to next running task: F2-F3
Switch to previous running task: Space-F2-F3
Open program specific menu: Space-m (dots 1-3-4) or F2
Exit: Space-z (dots 1-3-5-6)
Escape: Space-e (Space-1-5) or F4
Move to the next control in a dialog box: Tab (Space-4-5 or F3)
Move to the previous control in the dialog box: Shift-tab (Space-1-2 or Space-F3)
Move to the previous character: Space-3
Move to the next character: Space-6
Move to the previous line/item: Space-1
Move to the next line/item: Space-4
Move to the beginning of line/item: Space-1-3
Move to the end of line/item: Space-4-6
Move to the top of a document or list: Space-1-2-3
Move to the bottom of a document or list: Space-4-5-6
Move to the previous page or to the first item of the previous 20-item group:
Space-1-2-6 or F1-F2
Move to the next page or to the first item of the next 20-item group: Space-3-4-5
or F3-F4
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Scroll back: Up scroll button
Scroll forward: Down scroll button
Move the cursor to a specific cell or list item: press the corresponding cursor
routing key
Find: Space-f (dots 1-2-4)
Upper case: Space-u (dots 1-3-6)
Repeat current item: Space-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
Open web Page: Space-w (dots 2-4-5-6)
Say current time: Space-t (dots 2-3-4-5)
Display power status: Space-1-6
Open "Global options": Space-o (dots 1-3-5)
Online help: Space-h (dots 1-2-5)
Check software version: Space-v (dots 1-2-3-6) only from Main menu
Display network status: Space-n (dots 1-3-4-5) from Main menu
Display flash disk empty space: Space-i (dots 2-4) from Main menu
Voice on/off: Backspace-F2
Braille on/off: Backspace-F3
Increase voice volume: Backspace-F4
Decrease the voice volume: Backspace-F1
Increase the voice rate: Space-F4
Decrease the voice rate: Space-F1
Increase the voice pitch: Enter-F4
Decrease the voice pitch: Enter-F1
Increase the main volume: Backspace-Space-F4
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Decrease the main volume: Backspace-Space-F1
One-handed mode on/off: Backspace-1-2-3
Bluetooth on/off: Backspace-3-4-5-6
Wireless LAN on/off: Backspace-1-4-5-6
Typing mode on/off: Backspace-Enter-c (dots 1-4)
Change Braille Code: Backspace-Enter-b (dots 1-2)
Scroll voice on/off: F3-up scroll button
Eight dot mode on/off: F1-down scroll button
Select Braille cursor type: F4-up scroll button
Change TTS Voice: F3-V (dots-1-2-3-6)
Select display of control information: F2-down scroll button
Unmount USB or SD: Backspace-Enter-u (dots 1-3-6) or Backspace-Enter-3-6
15.2 Quick Launch Commands
Use the following commands to launch their associated applications from
anywhere on the BrailleSense Polaris MINI.
Use F1 in combination with each letter to launch the following applications:
Address Manager: A (dot 1)
Web Browser: B (dots 1-2)
DAISY Player: D (dots 1-4-5)
Email: E (dots 1-5)
File Manager: F (dots 1-2-4)
Help: H (dots 1-2-5)
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Media Player: M (dots 1-3-4)
FM Radio: R (dots 1-2-3-5)
Schedule Manager: S (dots 2-3-4)
Word Processor: W (dots 2-4-5-6)
Word Processor 2: Backspace-w (dots 2-4-5-6)
Excel Viewer: X (dots 1-3-4-6)
Online DAISY: Z (dots 1-3-5-6)
Use F3 in combination with each letter to launch the applications below:
Wake up alarm: A (dot 1)
Bluetooth Manager: B (dots 1-2)
Calculator: C (dots 1-4)
Format: F (dots 1-2-4)
Setup Internet: I (dots 2-4)
Backup/Restore Personalized Settings: K (dots 1-3)
Password Protection: N (dots 1-3-4-5)
Terminal for Screen Reader: S (dots 2-3-4)
Set Time & Date: T (dots 2-3-4-5)
Upgrade BrailleSense: U (dots 1-3-6)
Stopwatch: W (dots 2-4-5-6)
Other Quick Commands:
Display time and date: Space-t (dots 2-3-4-5)
Display network status: Space-n (dots 1-3-4-5)
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Display power status: Space-dots-1-6
Display compass heading: Enter-dots 5-6
Change device name: Backspace-Enter-e (dots 1-5)
Open sleep Timer: Space-j (dots 2-4-5)
Open Global Options: Space-o (dots 1-3-5)
Open Sense Dictionary: Backspace-Enter-d (dots 1-4-5)
15.3 File Manager
15.3.1 Navigation Keys for the File and Menu List
Move to previous item: Space-1 or up scroll button
Move to next item: Space-4 or down scroll button
Move to the beginning of the list: Space-1-2-3 or Space-1-3
Move to the end of the list: Space-4-5-6 or Space-4-6
15.3.2 Navigation Keys for the File List
Jump to folder list or file list: Space-5-6
Move between file list and address window: Tab (Space-4-5 or F3) / shift-tab
(Space-1-2 or Space-F3)
Enter selected folder or open selected file: Enter
Move up one folder level: Backspace
Jump to the top level of the disk: Space-1-2-5-6
Move up 20 items: Space-1-2-3 or F1-F2
Move down 20 items: Space-3-4-5 or F3-F4
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15.3.3 Selection Commands
Select individual item: Space
Continuous selection: Enter-b (dots 1-2)
Select all: Enter-a (dot 1)
15.3.4 File Menu Commands
Open: Enter-o (dots 1-3-5)
Open with: Enter-e (dots 1-5)
Open in Second Word Processor: Backspace-W (dots 2-4-5-6)
Zip: Enter-z (dots 1-3-5-6)
Unzip: Enter-u (dots 1-3-6)
Send To: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4)
Rename: Enter-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
New document: Enter-n (dots 1-3-4-5)
New folder: Enter-f (dots 1-2-4)
File conversion: Enter-t (dots 2-3-4-5)
Find file: Space-f (dots 1-2-4)
Find Text: Backspace-f (dots 1-2-4)
Merge files: Enter-m (dots 1-3-4)
Split files: Enter-p (dots 1-2-3-4)
Information: Enter-i (dots 2-4)
15.3.5 Edit Menu Commands
Copy: Enter-c (dots 1-4)
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Cut: Enter-x (dots 1-3-4-6)
Paste: Enter-v (dots 1-2-3-6)
Delete: Enter-d (dots 1-4-5)
Select all: Enter-a (dot 1)
15.3.6 View Menu Commands
Sort files by: Enter-g (dots 1-2-4-5)
Set file info: Enter-l (dots 1-2-3)
Display only files of type: Enter-w (dots 2-4-5-6)
Hide system folders: Enter-h (dots-1-2-5)
15.4 Word Processor
15.4.1 File Menu Commands
New document: Enter-n (dots 1-3-4-5)
Open: Enter-o (dots 1-3-5)
New Word Processor: Backspace-n (dots-1-3-4-5)
Save: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4)
Save as: Space-s (dots 2-3-4)
Close current document: Space-q (dots 1-2-3-4-5)
Print: Space-p (dots 1-2-3-4)
Settings: Enter-e (dots 1-5)
Set File open method: Backspace-Enter-O (dots-1-3-5)
Dictionary: Backspace-Enter-d (dots 1-4-5)
Exit: Space-z (dots 1-3-5-6)
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15.4.2 Edit Menu Commands
Start selection: Enter-b (dots 1-2)
Copy: Enter-c (dots 1-4)
Add to the clipboard: Enter-p (dots 1-2-3-4)
Clear clipboard: Enter-d (dots 1-4-5)
Delete: Space-d (dots 1-4-5)
Cut: Enter-x (dots 1-3-4-6)
Paste: Enter-v (dots 1-2-3-6)
Delete blank lines: Backspace-e (dots 1-5)
Select all: Enter-a (dot 1)
Check spelling: Enter-k (dots 1-3)
Check spelling of the current word: Backspace-k (dots 1-3)
15.4.3 Insert Menu Commands
Set Mark: Enter-m (dots 1-3-4)
Jump to mark: Enter-j (dots 2-4-5)
Delete Mark: Backspace-d (dots 1-4-5)
Insert from file: Enter-i (dots 2-4)
Insert date: Enter-w (dots 2-4-5-6)
Insert time: Backspace-w (dots 2-4-5-6)
15.4.4 Go To Commands
Find: Space-f (dots 1-2-4)
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Find next: Enter-f (dots 1-2-4)
Find previous: Backspace-f (dots-1-2-4)
Find and Replace: Enter-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
Go to location: Enter-l (dots 1-2-3)
Go To Previous Sentence: Space-2-3-6
Go To Next Sentence: Space-3-5-6
Go to previous page: Space-1-2-6 or F1-F2
Go to next page: Space-3-4-5 or F3-F4
Go to previous document: Tab (Space-1-2 or Space-F3)
Go to next document: Shift-tab (Space-4-5 or F3)
15.4.5 Read Commands
Read selected text: Backspace-b (dots 1-2)
Read beginning of selected text: Enter-u (dots 1-3-6)
Read from beginning to cursor: Backspace-g (dots 1-2-4-5)
Read from cursor to end: Enter-g (dots 1-2-4-5)
Auto scroll: up-down scroll buttons
Read current paragraph: Space-2-3-5-6
Read Current Sentence: Space-1-4-5-6
Read current line: Space-1-4
Read current word: Space-2-5
Read current character: Space-3-6
Read status: Space-3-4
Read current cursor position: Space-1-5-6)
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Read character and space count: Enter-3-4
Read Font info: Backspace-Enter-N (dots-1-3-4-5)
15.4.6 Layout Commands
Set font: Enter-backspace-f (dots 1-2-4)
Braille document layout: Backspace-p (dots 1-2-3-4)
Braille paragraph layout: Backspace-1-2-4-6
Print document layout: Backspace-t (dots 2-3-4-5)
Print paragraph layout: Backspace-2-3-4-6
15.4.7 Miscellaneous Hot Keys
Move forward by double Enter: Space-Enter-5-6
Move back by Double Enter: Backspace-Space-2-3
Delete current paragraph: Backspace-2-3-5-6
Delete current line: Backspace-1-4
Delete current word: Backspace-2-5
Delete current character: Space-d (dots 1-4-5)
Set view format characters: Space-1-4-6
Set reading unit: Space-2-4-6
Set read only: Space-3-4-6
Move back one slide in PPT: Backspace
Move forward one slide in PPT: Space
Go to Slide: Enter-L (dots-1-2-3)
Insert page break: Backspace-space-Enter-p (dots 1-2-3-4)
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Insert tab: Backspace-Space-Enter-I (dots 2-4)
Center line: Backspace-Space-Enter-c (dots 1-4)
Toggle Math Mode on/off: Backspace-m (dots 1-3-4)
15.5 E-mail
15.5.1 Hot Keys for the Inbox
Open "Accounts Manager”: Enter-m (dots 1-3-4)
Switch from Offline to Online mode (IMAP): Enter-dots1-2-3
Check for new mail: Enter-n (dots 1-3-4-5)
Receive old mail (IMAP): Backspace-p (dots1-2-3-4)
Move to previous account: Backspace-dots 1-2-6
Move to next account: Backspace-dots 3-4-5
Move to previous mailbox: Enter-dots 1-2-6
Move to next mailbox: Enter-dots 3-4-5
Write new message: Enter-w (dots 2-4-5-6)
Reply: Enter-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
Reply all: Backspace-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
Forward: Enter-f (dots 1-2-4)
Forward as attachment: Backspace-w (dots 2-4-5-6)
Open Set Path: Enter-p (dots 1-2-3-4)
Open Set Options: Enter-o (dots 1-3-5)
Open Set Spam: Enter-e (dots 1-5)
Find: Space-f (dots 1-2-4)
Find again: Backspace-f (dots 1-2-4)
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Move to unread message: Enter-u (dots 1-3-4)
Move to mailbox: Backspace-x (dots 1-3-4-6)
Copy to mailbox: Backspace-c (dots 1-4)
Add a sender to the address list: Enter-i (dots 2-4) (This is valid only at the "from"
item of the "inbox")
Delete current message: Space-d (dots 1-4-5) (valid only from the Subject and
Date fields of the Inbox.
Empty Trash: Enter-Backspace-q (dots 1-2-3-4-5)
Save current message as text file: Space-s (dots 2-3-4)
Print e-mail: Space-p (dots 1-2-3-4)
Cancel: Space-e (dots 1-5)
Cancel and exit e-mail program: Space-z (dots 1-3-5-6)
15.5.2 Hot keys for Sending E-mail
Search address list: Enter-l (dots 1-2-3)
Attach file: Enter-f (dots 1-2-4)
Send e-mail: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4)
Save to Outbox: Space-s (dots 2-3-4)
Cancel: Space-e (dots 1-5)
Cancel and exit e-mail program: Space-z (dots 1-3-5-6)
15.5.3 Hot Keys for Reading/Writing an E-mail Message
Start selection: Enter-b (dots 1-2)
Select all: Enter-a (dot 1)
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Copy to the clipboard: Enter-c (dots 1-4)
Cut to the clipboard: Enter-x (dots 1-3-4-6) (Only available when writing a
message)
Paste from the clipboard: Enter-v (dots 1-2-3-6) (only available when writing a
message)
Delete selection/delete current character: Space-d (dots 1-4-5)
Cancel selection: Space-e (dots 1-5)
15.6 Media
15.6.1 Media Player
15.6.1.1 File Commands
Open file: Enter-o (dots 1-3-5)
Open folder: Enter-f (dots 1-2-4)
Add file: Backspace-o (dots 1-3-5)
Add folder: Backspace-f (dots 1-2-4)
Save playlist: Enter-i (dots 2-4)
Save as playlist: Space-s (dots 2-3-4)
Delete item: Space-d (dots 1-4-5)
Open URL: Enter-u (dots 1-3-6)
Get tag information: Enter-t (dots 2-3-4-5)
15.6.1.2 Playback Commands
Play: Enter, Play button
Pause/play: Space, Play button
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Stop: Backspace, Stop button
Previous track: Dot 3, Previous button
Next track: Dot 6, Next button
Back 5 tracks: Dots 2-3
Forward 5 tracks: Dots 5-6
First track: Dots 1-3
Last track: Dots 4-6
Volume up: Space-Up Scroll button
Volume down: Space-Down Scroll button
Speed up: Dots 3-4-5
Slow down: Dots 1-2-6
Change time index: Dot 2 or Dot 5
Move to next position by time index: Dot 4
Move to previous position by time index: Dot 1
Delete playlist: Space-d (dots 1-4-5)
Set marked position: Enter-m (dots 1-3-4)
Delete marked position: Enter-d (dots 1-4-5)
Jump to marked position: Enter-j (dots 2-4-5)
Go to position: Enter-g (dots 1-2-4-5)
Set mark: Backspace-m (dots 1-3-4)
Move to mark: Backspace-j (dots 2-4-5)
Move to previous mark: Backspace-dot 3
Move to next mark: Backspace-dot 6
Delete mark: Backspace-d (dots 1-4-5)
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Mark manager: Backspace-k (dots 1-3)
Configuration dialog: Backspace-c (dots 1-4)
Playback settings dialog: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4)
Record settings dialog: Backspace-s (dots 2-3-4)
Effect settings dialog: Enter-e (dots 1-5)
15.6.1.3 Recording Commands
Open the Record dialog: Enter-r (dots 1-2-3-5), Record button
Record: Record button
Pause/Continue recording: Space, Record button
Play: Play button
15.6.1.4 Hot Keys in the Play Information Tab
Move to the next item: Space-dot-4
Move to the previous item: Space-dot-1
Open menu: F2 or Space-m (dots 1-3-4)
Open help: Space-h (dots 1-2-5)
Move to Playlist tab: Space-4-5/Space-1-2
Exit Media Player: Space-z (dots 1-3-5-6)
15.6.1.5 Hot Keys in the Playlist Tab
Move to the next file: Space-4
Move to the previous file: Space-1
Move to the last file: Space-4-6
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Move to the first file: Space-1-3
Play current file: Space
Start file selection: Enter-b (dots 1-2)
Start playing the selected files: Enter
Stop playing: Backspace
Delete the selected files from the playlist: Space-d (dots 1-4-5)
Move to "playback information" tab: Space-4-5/Space-1-2
15.6.2 FM Radio
Open the Presets dialog: Enter-e (dots 1-5)
Open the menu: Space-m (dots 1-3-4) or F2
Internal speakers on/off: Space-x (dots 1-3-4-6)
Move to next frequency: Dot 6
Move to previous frequency: Dot 3
Autoscan backward: Dot 2, short press Previous button
Autoscan forward: Dot 5, short press Next button
Go to frequency: Space-f (dots 1-2-4)
Move to previous preset: Dot 1, long press Previous button
Move to next preset: Dot 4, long press Next button
Save preset: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4) or long press Record button
Delete preset: Space-d (dots 1-4-5) or long press Stop button
Open Record dialog: Enter-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
Record pause/resume: short press Record button
Stop recording: short press Stop button
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Mute on: short press Stop button, Space
Mute off: short press Play button, Space
Volume up: Space-Up Scroll button
Volume down: Space-Down Scroll button
15.6.3 DAISY Player
Read title: Space-dots 1-2-5-6
Open DAISY book: Enter-o (dots 1-3-5)
Voice settings: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4)
Check book-info: Enter-i (dots 2-4)
Exit: Space-z (dots 1-3-5-6)
Play/Pause: Space
Go to beginning: Space-1-3 or Space-1-2-3
Go to end: Space-4-6 or Space-4-5-6
Increase volume: Backspace-dot-4
Decrease Volume: Backspace-dot-1
Increase Speed: Backspace-dot-5
Decrease Speed: Backspace-dot-2
Increase Pitch: Backspace-dot-6
Decrease Pitch: Backspace-dot-3
Move to the next page: Space-3-4-5
Move to the previous page: Space-1-2-6
Go to page: Enter-g (dots 1-2-4-5)
Select previous text/time unit: Dot 1
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Select next text/time unit: Dot 4
Move to previous text/time unit: Dot 2
Move to next text/time unit: Dot 5
Select previous movement unit: Dots 2-3
Select next movement unit: Dots 5-6
Move to the previous unit: Dot 3 or short press Previous button
Move to the next unit: Dot 6 or short press Next button
Move to the next heading: Space-5 or long press Next button
Move to the previous heading: Space-2 or long press Previous button
Move to the last heading: Space-4-6
Move to the first heading: Space-1-3
Check the current-reading level and heading: Enter-w (dots 2-4-5-6)
Scan the heading list from the present to the end: Enter-n (dots 1-3-4-5)
Find heading: Space-f (dots 1-2-4)
Headings list: Enter-h (dots 1-2-5)
Find again: Enter-f (dots 1-2-4)
Set mark at current position: Enter-m (dots 1-3-4)
Move to the next mark: Space-dot 6
Move to the previous mark: Space-dot 3
Delete mark: Space-d (dots 1-4-5)
Create memo: Backspace-m (dots-1-3-4)
Read memo: Backspace-r (dots-1-2-3-5)
Read previous memo: Backspace-p (dots-1-2-3-4)
Read Next Memo: Backspace-n (dots-1-3-4-5)
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Delete Memo: Backspace-d (dots-1-4-5)
Exit and erase position without prompt: Enter-z (dots-1-3-5-6)
Exit and erase marks without prompt: Backspace-z (dots-1-3-5-6)
15.7 Organizer
15.7.1 Address Manager
15.7.1.1 Navigation When Adding an Address
Move to the previous field or menu item: Space-1 or Up Scroll button
Move to the next field or menu item: Space-4 or Down Scroll button
Move to the first field or menu item: Space-1-2-3
Move to the last field or menu item: Space-4-5-6
15.7.1.2 Navigation in Search Results List
Move to the previous record: Space-1 or Up Scroll button
Move to the next record: Space-4 or Down Scroll button
Move to the first record: Space-1-2-3
Move to the last record: Space-4-5-6
Move to Record information: F3
15.7.1.3 General Commands
Add address: Enter-i (dots 2-4)
Find address: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4)
Edit address: Enter-m (dots1-3-4)
Delete address: Space-d (dots 1-4-5)
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Select all: Enter-a (dot 1)
Save as a file: Enter-t (dots 2-3-4-5)
Print address: Space-p (dots 1-2-3-4)
Backup address list: Enter-u (dots 1-3-6)
Restore address list: Enter-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
Set backup options: Enter-e (dots 1-5)
Setting add/searching address fields: Enter-o (dots 1-3-5)
Import from CSV: Backspace-i (dots 2-4)
Export to CSV: Backspace-x (dots 1-3-4-6)
15.7.2 Schedule Manager
15.7.2.1 General Commands
Move to the next field: Space-4-5 or F3
Move to the previous field: Space-1-2 or Space-F3
Add appointment: Enter-i (dots 2-4)
Search appointments: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4)
Modify appointment: Enter-m (dots 1-3-4)
Delete appointment: Space-d (dots 1-4-5)
Delete all appointments: Backspace-Enter-q (dots1-2-3-4-5)
Backup appointments: Enter-u (dots 1-3-6)
Restore appointments: Enter-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
Set backup options: Enter-e (dots 1-5)
Alarm options: Enter-o (dots 1-3-5)
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Save appointments as file: Enter-t (dots 2-3-4-5)
Print appointments: Space-p (dots 1-2-3-4)
15.7.2.2 Navigating Search Results
Move to the previous appointment: Space-2
Move to the next appointment: Space-5
Move to the first appointment: Space-2-3 or Space-1-2-3
Move to the last appointment: Space-5-6 or Space-4-5-6
Move to the previous appointment on the same day: Space-1 or Up Scroll button
Move to the next appointment on the same day: Space-4 or Down Scroll button
Move to the first appointment on the same day: Space-1-3
Move to the last appointment on the same day: Space-4-6
15.8 Web tools
15.8.1 Web Browser
15.8.1.1 General Commands
Open URL: Enter-u (dots 1-3-6)
Open: Enter-o (dots 1-3-5)
Save as: Space-s (dots 2-3-4)
Information: Enter-i (dots 2-4)
File Download Dialog: Backspace-3-4
Exit: Space-z (dots 1-3-5-6)
Read from beginning to cursor: Backspace-g (dots 1-2-4-5)
Read from cursor to end: Enter-g (dots 1-2-4-5)
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Auto scroll: Up Scroll button-Down Scroll button
Start selection: Enter-b (dots 1-2)
Copy: Enter-c (dots 1-4)
Add to clipboard: Enter-p (dots 1-2-3-4)
Copy URL: Backspace-d (dots 1-4-5)
Copy link: Backspace-l (dots 1-2-3)
Go to home page: Backspace-h (dots 1-2-5)
Go to previous page: Backspace-Space-3 or Backspace-p (dots 1-2-3-4)
Go to next page: Backspace-Space-6 or Backspace-n (dots 1-3-4-5)
Go to previous heading: Backspace-b (dots 1-2)
Go to next heading: Backspace-f (dots 1-2-4)
Go to previous text chunk: Space-2-4-6
Go to next text chunk: Space-1-2-4-5-6
Go to previous visited link: Space-2-3-6
Go to next visited link: Space-3-5-6
Refresh: Enter-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
Open the history list: Enter-h (dots 1-2-5)
Check the address of the selected title in the history list: Space-i (dots 2-4)
Find: Space-f (dots 1-2-4)
Find again: Enter-f (dots 1-2-4)
Links list: Backspace-i (dots 2-4)
RSS Feed List: Enter-j (dots 2-4-5)
Set current as your home page: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4)
Add to favorites: Backspace-a (dot 1)
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Favorites list: Enter-l (dots 1-2-3)
Option settings: Backspace-o (dots 1-3-5)
15.8.1.2 Hot Keys When Playing Audio Files in Web Browser
Turn up the volume: Space-Up Scroll button
Turn down the volume: Space-Down Scroll button
Play: Play button on the front panel
Stop: Stop button on the front panel
15.8.1.3 Hot Keys for Reading Web Pages
Move to the previous control: Shift-tab (Space-1-2)
Move to the next control: Tab (Space-4-5)
Select the next item in a combo box (list box): Backspace-Space-4
Select the previous item in a combo box (list box): Backspace-Space-1
Move to previous form control: Space-1-2-3-4-6
Move to next form control: Space-1-3-4-5-6
Move to previous table: Space-3-4-5-6
Move to next table: Space-1-4-5-6
Move to previous cell: Space-2-3
Move to next cell: Space-5-6
Move to upper cell: Space-3-5
Move to lower cell: Space-2-6
Read current cell: Space-2-3-5-6
Move to previous cell of upper level table: Backspace-2-3
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Move to next cell of upper level table: Backspace-5-6
Move to upper cell of upper level table: Backspace-3-5
Move to lower cell of upper level table: Backspace-2-6
Check current position: Space-1-5-6
Move to previous frame: Space-3-4-6
Move to next frame: Space-1-4-6
Read current line: Space-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
15.9 Extras
15.9.1 Excel Viewer
15.9.1.1 Navigation Commands
Move to next row: Space-Dot 4
Move to previous row: Space-Dot 1
Move to next column: Space-Dot 6
Move to previous column: Space-Dot 3
Move to beginning of row: Space-Dots 1-3
Move to end of row: Space-Dots 4-6
Move to top of column: Space-Dots 2-3
Move to bottom of column: Space-Dots 5-6
Move to top of worksheet: Space-1-2-3
Move to bottom of worksheet: Space-4-5-6
Move to next worksheet: Space-3-4-5
Move to previous worksheet: Space-1-2-6
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Move to next group: Backspace-Dots 5-6
Move to previous group: Backspace-Dots 2-3
Move to next group in row: Space-Dot 5
Move to previous group in row: Space-Dot 2
Move to next group in column: Space-Dots 5-6
Move to previous group in column: Space-Dots 2-3
15.9.1.2 File Commands
Open: Enter-o (dots 1-3-5)
Open Hyperlink: Enter-h (dots 1-2-5)
Set User table: Enter-t (dots 2-3-4-5)
Cell properties: Enter-i (dots 2-4)
Quick Setup: Enter-x (dots 1-3-4-6)
Save as: Space-s (dots 2-3-4)
15.9.1.3 Go To Commands
Find: Space-f (dots 1-2-4)
Find Next: Enter-f (dots 1-2-4)
Find Previous: Backspace-f (dots 1-2-4)
Move to cell: Enter-j (dots 2-4-5)
Next sheet: Space-3-4-5
Previous sheet: Space-1-2-6
Sheet list: Enter-l (dots 1-2-3)
Set Mark: Backspace-m (dots 1-3-4)
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Go to Mark: Backspace-j (dots 2-4-5)
Delete Mark: Backspace-d (dots 1-4-5)
15.9.1.4 Read Commands
Set Options: Backspace-o (dots 1-3-5)
Sheet title: Space-1-5-6
Read from top of column to cursor: Backspace-Dot 1
Read from cursor to bottom of column: Backspace-Dot 4
Read from beginning of row to cursor: Backspace-Dot 3
Read from cursor to end of row: Backspace-Dot 6
Read current row: Space-c (dots 1-4)
Read current column: Space-y (dots 1-3-4-5-6)
Read header cell of row: Backspace-c (dots 1-4)
Read header cell of column: Backspace-y (dots 1-3-4-5-6)
Read from beginning to cursor: Backspace-g (dots1-2-4-5)
Read from cursor to end: Enter-g (dots 1-2-4-5)
Read One character (When in Cell Activation): Space-Dots 3-6
Read Current Cell: Space-Dots 3-6
Read File Name: Space-Dots 3-4
Read Selected Text: Backspace-b (dots 1-2)
15.9.1.5 View Commands
View Hide Sheet: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4)
View Hide Row: Enter-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
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View Hide Column: Enter-y (dots 1-3-4-5-6)
Cell Activation: Enter
Activation Cancel: Backspace
Set Time and Date: Enter-d (dots 1-4-5)
15.9.1.6 Edit Commands
Start Selection: Enter-b (dots 1-2)
Select All: Enter-a (dot 1)
Copy Selected Text: Enter-c (dots 1-4)
15.9.2 Online DAISY
Move between category and booklist: F3 and Space-F3
Move among list items: Space-1 and Space-4
Download book: Enter
Return book: Enter-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
15.10 Utilities
15.10.1 Calculator
Clear calculator: Backspace-c (dots 1-4)
Delete numbers or operators: Backspace
Calculation history: Enter-h (dots 1-2-5)
General functions: Enter-g (dots 1-2-4-5)
PI: Enter-p (dots 1-2-3-4)
Exp: Enter-e (dots 1-5)
Trigonometric Functions: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4)
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Sine: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4), s (dots 2-3-4)
Arc Sine: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4), a (dot 1)
Hyperbolic Sine: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4), h (dots 1-2-5)
Cosine: Enter-i (dots 2-4), i (dots 2-4)
Arc Cosine: Enter-c (dots 1-4), a (dot 1)
Hyperbolic Cosine: Enter-c (dots 1-4), h (dots 1-2-5)
Tangent: Enter-t (dots 2-3-4-5), t (dots 2-3-4-5)
Arc Tangent: Enter-t (dots 2-3-4-5), a (dot 1)
Hyperbolic Tangent: Enter-t (dots 2-3-4-5), h (dots 1-2-5)
Logarithm Function: Enter-l (dots 1-2-3)
Natural Logarithm: Enter-l (dots 1-2-3), e (dots 1-5)
Common Logarithm: Enter-l (dots 1-2-3), n (dots 1-3-4-5)
Recall Items: Backspace-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
Delete all saved items: Enter-d (dots 1-4-5)
Save Items: Backspace-s (dots 2-3-4)
Convert Unit: Enter-u (dots 1-3-6)
Copy to Clipboard: Enter-c (dots 1-4)
Option Settings: Enter-o (dots 1-3-5)
Fraction options: Space-dots 3-4
Return formula: Enter-r (dots1-2-3-5)
Change Braille code: Space-g (dots1-2-4-5)
15.10.2 Display Compass Heading
Open Display Compass Heading: Space-F3-F4
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Move to the next control: Space-4-5 or F3
Move to the previous control: Space-1-2 or Space-F3
Change compass display type: Backspace or Space
Exit: Space-z (dots 1-3-5-6) or Space-e (dots 1-5)
15.10.3 Stopwatch
Stopwatch start, pause, restart: Enter
Check the elapsed time: Backspace
Stop and restart Braille display: Space-F2
Switch between stopwatch and countdown timer: Space-4-5 or Space-1-2
Count down timer pause or restart: Enter
Count down timer Initialize: Backspace
Exit stopwatch or countdown timer: Space-z (dots 1-3-5-6)
15.10.4 Terminal for Screen Reader
Enter terminal Clipboard: Space-Enter-i (dots 2-4)
Send Terminal Clipboard content: Enter-s (dots 2-3-4)
Exit terminal for Screen reader: Space-Backspace-z (dots 1-3-5-6)
15.11 Settings
15.11.1 Setting Time and Date
Move to the next day: Space-6
Move to the previous day: Space-3
Move to the next week: Space-5
Move to the previous week: Space-2
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Move to the next month: Space-4
Move to the previous month: Space-1
Move to the next year: Space-5-6
Move to the previous year: Space-2-3
Move to 1 hour after: Space-4
Move to 1 hour before: Space-1
Move to 10 minutes after: Space-5
Move to 10 minutes before: Space-2
Move to 1 minute after: Space-6
Move to 1 minute before: Space-3
Switch between A.M. and P.M.: Space-x (dots 1-3-4-6)
15.11.2 Bluetooth Manager
Rescan for Bluetooth devices: Enter-r (dots 1-2-3-5)
Connect device: enter on the device name
Connect service: enter on the service name
Disconnect the service in Bluetooth service list: Enter-d (dots 1-4-5)
Move to Bluetooth device list in service list: Backspace
Remove device settings in Bluetooth device list: Space-d (dots 1-4-5)
15.11.3 Backup/Restore Personalized Settings
Move to previous item: Space-1 or up scroll button
Move to next item: Space-4 or down scroll button
Move to previous control: Shift-tab (Space-1-2 or Space-F3)
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Move to next control: Tab (Space-4-5 or F3)
Select/unselect check box: Space
Backup: Enter-b (dots 1-2)
Restore: Enter-r (dots1-2-3-5)
15.11.4 Password Protection.
Set password: Enter-i (dots 2-4)
Modify password: Enter-m (dots 1-3-4)
Password configuration: Enter-c (dots 1-4)
Reset to factory defaults: i (dots 2-4)
15.12 Screen Reader Commands
15.12.1 Moving Focus
Move to next object: Space-4-5 or F3
Move to previous object: Space-1-2 or Space-F3
Move to top of screen: Space-1-2-3
Move to bottom of screen: Space-4-5-6
Scroll down one screen: Space-3-4-5
Scroll up one screen: Space-1-2-6
Execute current item: Enter or Cursor routing key
Back button: Space-e, F4 or Space-Z
Move to specific object: press first letter of object name
Go to Home screen: F1
Activate App Actions Menu: Enter-I on focused app
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Open Notification Shade: Space-1-2-3-4-5-6
Activate Notification: Enter
Delete notification: Space-D (dots-1-4-5)
Activate Edit Box: Enter
Increase Slider Value: Backspace-Space-4
Decrease Slider Value: Backspace-Space-1
Reset Polaris MINI Launcher: F2-F3-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
Change object navigation method: Backspace-Enter-H (dots-1-2-5)
15.12.2 When Editing Text
Go to next character: Space-6
Go to previous character: Space-3
Go to next word: Space-5
Go to previous word: Space-2
Go to next line: Space-4
Go to previous line: Space-1
Go to next paragraph: Space-5-6
Go to previous paragraph: Space-2-3
Go to beginning of paragraph: Space-1-3
Go to end of paragraph: Space-4-6
Go to top of document: Space-1-2-3
Go to bottom of document: Space-4-5-6
Delete current character: Space-1-4-5
Delete previous character: Backspace
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Delete current word: Backspace-2-5
Delete current line: Backspace-1-4
Delete current paragraph: Backspace-2-3-5-6
Move to next display length: Down Scroll
Move to previous display length: Up Scroll
15.12.3 Media Key Functions when in "App Mode"
Open Main menu: Stop button
Recent Apps: Play button
Back: Record button
Move to previous object: Previous button
Move to next object, Next button
Mobile Screen Reader on-off: Stop and Next buttons
Call Google Voice Assistant: Record and Play buttons