This depends on your chosen code, but generally, you'll want to use uncontracted entry. In this mode, simply use dot 6 to indicate a capital letter, number sign for a number, letter sign to switch back to letters if an A through a J should follow a number, and all punctuation as normal. This works for me using UEB, but I've never tried using contracted U.S. braille. The main thing seems to be to use uncontracted braille so you don't have to worry about contractions at all.
Hi,
I use braille screen input for all my typing, such as entering passwords, sites, email addresses, etc. I use English Unified braille code, which makes it easier for me to write letters with punctuation and other symbols. I don't know what to tell you for other braille codes though.
If you want to use braille screen input for passwords, I guess you have to rely on what I call "muscle memory" to know which dots you're pressing because you will not hear what you're typing. If your password has capital letters you just type the dot six then the letter(s). Also a tip I find very useful is, in order to know that what you're typing is actually being entered, listen for the clicks.
Sorry if this was confusing, but feel free to contact me if you have more questions.
Hth
I'm using the six dot US braille mode, and I can't seem to type in an email address with the built-in braille input. I do a dot 4, and it types the @ sign, but the next letter typed after it always comes out as an accented letter. And the dots 2 5 6, a period, says it typed the period, but then when previewing what I typed, it changes to a number 4 instead. Trying dots 4 6 as the period in an email address also doesn't work.
I don't know the U E B code at all, not one little bit, or I'd switch to that.
Is anyone doing this successfully with the built-in braille input? Is there anyway of entering email addresses with the six dot US method? I can always switch out of braille input back to the regular keyboard, and that works, but it's a bit clunky.
I use UEB on my iPad Air, and I have experimented with the three modes offered.
Contracted braille is standard UEB with contractions.
Six dot mode is standard UEB without contractions.
Eight dot mode appears to be based on the computer braille code and does not resemble UEB at all. Every combination dots is mapped to a unique character in the ASCII character set. Capital letters have dot 7 added to them, as well as other characters that share the same dot pattern in the computer code, like the square and curly brackets.
In UEB, an at sign is dot 4 followed by dot 1. In eight dot mode, an at sign is dots 4 and 7 (whereas dot 4 by itself is an accent mark).
Thanks for all the info about the different braille codes. I'm on an iPod Touch 5G, though, so no eight dot braille for me.
I think I solved my own problem, however. What I do is type the dot 4 for the @ sign, type a space, delete the space, and then the letters seem to get typed as normal. Same procedure works for typing the dots 2 5 6 for the period. Still a bit clunky, but not as much as switching to the standard iOS keyboard.
In the braille menu under VoiceOver settings, I temporarily switched from UEB (Unified) to US for translation. It did not take long for me to realize why I like UEB so much. The legacy US code was never designed for symbols to be used the way they appear in electronic addresses, so it did not surprise me that there was no clean way to insert periods, at signs, and other symbols. I was surprised at how some combinations of braille symbols got interpreted in US mode.
As I recall, the official US braille code recommends switching to the computer braille code for electronic addresses, which I can essentially do on the iPad by going to eight dot mode, but the option isn't really there on other iOS devices (unless I missed something). A period in the middle of a word is not really supported in the old code, nor are symbols like the at sign, number sign, ampersand, or even the plus sign. In literature, those symbols are supposed to be converted to plain text, such as the word "plus" instead of a plus sign, but you can't do that in the computer world, which is why the computer code was created in the first place.
Although UEB gets a lot of criticism, it is good in at least one way: it is much more compatible with today's technology. If you don't know UEB, you probably should learn it, especially since it will eventually replace the legacy codes everywhere (except that Nemeth will still be used for math, at least in the US).
Do you have six dot mode selected, Ken? If you use contracted mode, what you type won't be translated (and thus passed to the text field) until you tell it to by space or a two-finger swipe up. Since nothing is entered, no clicks are heard, and VO doesn't echo characters in contracted mode, this can make it seem like nothing is being typed. In reality, the phone is taking your input, it's just not translating/passing it on yet.
Comments
Use uncontracted mode
This depends on your chosen code, but generally, you'll want to use uncontracted entry. In this mode, simply use dot 6 to indicate a capital letter, number sign for a number, letter sign to switch back to letters if an A through a J should follow a number, and all punctuation as normal. This works for me using UEB, but I've never tried using contracted U.S. braille. The main thing seems to be to use uncontracted braille so you don't have to worry about contractions at all.
Entering Passwords
Hi,
I use braille screen input for all my typing, such as entering passwords, sites, email addresses, etc. I use English Unified braille code, which makes it easier for me to write letters with punctuation and other symbols. I don't know what to tell you for other braille codes though.
If you want to use braille screen input for passwords, I guess you have to rely on what I call "muscle memory" to know which dots you're pressing because you will not hear what you're typing. If your password has capital letters you just type the dot six then the letter(s). Also a tip I find very useful is, in order to know that what you're typing is actually being entered, listen for the clicks.
Sorry if this was confusing, but feel free to contact me if you have more questions.
Hth
I do have UEB
I do have UEB. I am running an iPad mini so I have 8 dot
Which would be uncontracted braille?
Can't type email addresses
I'm using the six dot US braille mode, and I can't seem to type in an email address with the built-in braille input. I do a dot 4, and it types the @ sign, but the next letter typed after it always comes out as an accented letter. And the dots 2 5 6, a period, says it typed the period, but then when previewing what I typed, it changes to a number 4 instead. Trying dots 4 6 as the period in an email address also doesn't work.
I don't know the U E B code at all, not one little bit, or I'd switch to that.
Is anyone doing this successfully with the built-in braille input? Is there anyway of entering email addresses with the six dot US method? I can always switch out of braille input back to the regular keyboard, and that works, but it's a bit clunky.
Different braille modes
I use UEB on my iPad Air, and I have experimented with the three modes offered.
Contracted braille is standard UEB with contractions.
Six dot mode is standard UEB without contractions.
Eight dot mode appears to be based on the computer braille code and does not resemble UEB at all. Every combination dots is mapped to a unique character in the ASCII character set. Capital letters have dot 7 added to them, as well as other characters that share the same dot pattern in the computer code, like the square and curly brackets.
In UEB, an at sign is dot 4 followed by dot 1. In eight dot mode, an at sign is dots 4 and 7 (whereas dot 4 by itself is an accent mark).
Problem with email addresses solved
Thanks for all the info about the different braille codes. I'm on an iPod Touch 5G, though, so no eight dot braille for me.
I think I solved my own problem, however. What I do is type the dot 4 for the @ sign, type a space, delete the space, and then the letters seem to get typed as normal. Same procedure works for typing the dots 2 5 6 for the period. Still a bit clunky, but not as much as switching to the standard iOS keyboard.
US versus UEB
In the braille menu under VoiceOver settings, I temporarily switched from UEB (Unified) to US for translation. It did not take long for me to realize why I like UEB so much. The legacy US code was never designed for symbols to be used the way they appear in electronic addresses, so it did not surprise me that there was no clean way to insert periods, at signs, and other symbols. I was surprised at how some combinations of braille symbols got interpreted in US mode.
As I recall, the official US braille code recommends switching to the computer braille code for electronic addresses, which I can essentially do on the iPad by going to eight dot mode, but the option isn't really there on other iOS devices (unless I missed something). A period in the middle of a word is not really supported in the old code, nor are symbols like the at sign, number sign, ampersand, or even the plus sign. In literature, those symbols are supposed to be converted to plain text, such as the word "plus" instead of a plus sign, but you can't do that in the computer world, which is why the computer code was created in the first place.
Although UEB gets a lot of criticism, it is good in at least one way: it is much more compatible with today's technology. If you don't know UEB, you probably should learn it, especially since it will eventually replace the legacy codes everywhere (except that Nemeth will still be used for math, at least in the US).
My problem with passwords is
My problem with passwords is different. When I go to braille screen input and type, nothing happens. It's very odd.
Six dot mode?
Do you have six dot mode selected, Ken? If you use contracted mode, what you type won't be translated (and thus passed to the text field) until you tell it to by space or a two-finger swipe up. Since nothing is entered, no clicks are heard, and VO doesn't echo characters in contracted mode, this can make it seem like nothing is being typed. In reality, the phone is taking your input, it's just not translating/passing it on yet.