                                 USER'S MANUAL

                Introduction to The Computerized Braille Tutor


I. Getting Started

The following steps and notes should be helpful in getting you started using The
Computerized Braille Tutor program in your computer.

A. What You Will Need:

   1. DOS computer with a hard drive on which you can allocate 5 mb of memory. 
This program cannot be used in Apple or MacIntosh computers.  

   2. The Computerized Braille Tutor public-domain disk.  

      NOTE:  if you received the program with its files on a single 3.5" disk,
      follow the procedures outlined below.  If the program is on more than one
      disk (3.5" or 5.25") with individual lesson and program files, you should
      be able to simply copy the files onto your hard drive in a subdirectory of
      your own creation.  [At the a:\ prompt, simply type copy a:\*.* c:\ and
      press <return> for each disk.  This will copy the files onto your c:\
      drive.]  (See Disclaimer below.)

B. Using The Program in a DOS, Non-Windows-based Environment

NOTE:  The following procedure copies the information from the program disk onto
your computer's hard drive.  You only need to install this information one time. 
Once that is done, you will be working from your hard drive.

   1. Installation of program from "original" (compressed) files  [From a single
      3.5" disk which does NOT have separate files labelled "Lesson##.brl"]
      a. Turn on your computer.

      b. Insert The Computerized Braille Tutor program disk into the 3.5" drive.
         (An arrow at the upper left corner of the disk indicates the correct
         end to insert.)

      c. Type a:\ (or b:\ if you are using the "b:" drive) followed by Enter.
         (If you have more than one external drive, the top one of a stack is
         usually the "a:" drive; the one below it, the "b:" drive.  The hard
         drive is usually "c:".)

      d. Type INSTALL followed by ENTER.
         (The program is now creating a subdirectory called TUTOR, un-
         compressing files, and information on the disk is being copied into the
         new subdirectory of your computer's hard drive.  This may take a few
         minutes, depending on how fast your computer is.)

      e. Type C:\ followed by Enter.
         (If you wish to begin using the Computerized Braille Tutor immediately
         after installation, you must change from your original a: or b:
         directory to your hard drive, which is usually c:\.)

   2. Running The Computerized Braille Tutor Program
      a. From the c:\ prompt, type cd tutor followed by Enter.
         (You are "Changing the Directory" to the tutor subdirectory where the
         program is housed.  If you created your own subdirectory, obviously,
         you would type cd <your subdirectory name> followed by Enter.)

      b. Type TUTOR followed by ENTER.
         (This calls up The Computerized Braille Tutor program and you are ready
         to begin.)
   3. Exiting the Program
      a. Press the Esc key in the upper left-hand of your keyboard (press,
         release, press, release, ...) until you see either C:\TUTOR> or C:\. 
         (Whether or not your "prompt" displays the subdirectories depends on
         how your particular computer was set up.  In either case, you are still
         "in" the TUTOR subdirectory.)

      b. Type cd .. followed by Enter.  
         (This will take you out of the subdirectory back to your main
         directory.  You only need to do this step if you intend to go on to
         another application before turning your computer off.  Otherwise, the
         computer will automatically start you at the C:\ prompt the next time
         you turn it on, and you will need to do the steps outlined above in 2: 
         Running The Computerized Braille Tutor program.)


C. Using The Program in a Windows Environment

NOTE:  The following procedure installs the information that is on the 3.5"
program disk onto your computer's hard drive and enables you to call the program
up by double clicking on an icon in Windows.  You only need to install this one
time.  Once that is done, you will be working from your hard drive.

IMPORTANT:  While it is possible to run The Computerized Braille Tutor in a
Windows environment, it will remain a non-Windows application.  Please refer to
your Windows manual for limitations (for instance, because it is not a true
Windows-based program, multi-tasking is not possible, so the Windows Screen Saver
programs will not work).

To install The Computerized Braille Tutor program so that you can call it up with
a double click on an icon from your Windows screen, you will need to do the
following things.

   1. Installation from "original" (compressed) files  [From a single 3.5" disk
      which does NOT have separate files labelled "Lesson##.brl"]
      a. Turn on your computer.

      b. Insert the program disk into the 3.5" drive.
         (An arrow at the upper left corner of the disk indicates the correct
         end to insert.)

      c. Use your mouse to Exit Windows
         Click on File and scroll down to Exit Windows.
         [The computer tells you that this will end your Windows session.]
         Click OK.

      d. You should now be at the C:\> prompt.

      e. Type a:\ (or b:\ if you are using the "b:" drive) followed by Enter.
         (If you have more than one external drive, the top one of a stack is
         usually the "a:" drive; the one below it, the "b:" drive.  The hard
         drive is usually "c:".)

      f. Type install followed by Enter.
         (The program is now creating a subdirectory called TUTOR, un-
         compressing files, and information on the disk is being copied into the
         new subdirectory of your computer's hard drive.  This may take a few
         minutes, depending on how fast your computer is.)

      g. Type c:\ followed by Enter.
         Type win followed by Enter.
         (This will take you back to Windows.)  


NOTE:  At this point the information is on your disk and you can call up the
program by exiting Windows and following the procedures outlined above in the
instructions for working in a DOS environment.  Doing the remaining steps will
allow you to call up the program by clicking on an icon from Windows itself.)

      h. Click on File and scroll down to New.
         Select Program Item and click OK.
         (This allows you to set up a new item in the currently opened "window"
         box.)

      i. Type in the following information:
         DESCRIPTION:  Computerized Braille Tutor (or select your own title)
         COMMAND LINE:  tutor
         WORKING DIRECTORY:  c:\tutor

      j. If you want to select a particular icon, now is the time, here is the
         place to do it (click on the ICON box).  When you have finished setting
         this up,
         Click OK.  

      k. You should now have an icon in the open window with the label
         "Computerized Braille Tutor" (or your title, if you chose something
         different).  

NOTE:  If you did not copy the information onto the drive first, you will get
error messages about "invalid drive paths" and so on.

   2. Running The Computerized Braille Tutor Program
      a. Double-click on the icon for Computerized Braille Tutor.

   3. Exiting the Program
      a. Press the Esc key in the upper left-hand of your keyboard (press,
         release, press, release, ...) until you get back to the Windows screen.



II.  About The Computerized Braille Tutor

A. Introduction   

The Computerized Braille Tutor was designed to provide instruction and practice
with immediate feedback for individuals interested in learning or reviewing the
basic literary braille code.  

For those who may be unfamiliar with braille, it is a system of tactile dots
which represent letters or strings of letters, numbers, punctuation signs and
something called composition signs which are specific to braille.  Grade 1
braille is most similar to what is typically thought of as an alphabet.  Grade
2 braille, on the other hand, is more of a short-hand where one or two characters
may represent a string of letters.  As you will note from the outline below,
Grade 1 is covered almost in its entirety in the first lesson.  The subsequent
14 lessons cover the remaining braille code, the few remaining punctuation signs,
and general formatting rules for the consistent writing and/or transcription of
braille materials.  

As you look at the lists of contractions you may find yourself wondering about
some of the choices of words that have short-form or contracted forms.  Some of
the less frequently used words are the result of the fact that one of the primary
uses for braille used to be to make religious texts available to blind people. 

B. The Lessons

After selecting 1. Lessons at The Computerized Braille Tutor Main Menu, you will
be shown a somewhat abbreviated listing of the contents of all 15 lessons in this
program from which to make your selection.  For your information, the complete
lesson contents are listed below:

Lesson 1:  alphabet; single capital sign; punctuation -- period, comma, question
mark, hyphen, apostrophe; paragraphing

Lesson 2:  numbers and the number sign; single letter contractions; parentheses

Lesson 3:  contractions -- and, for, of, the, with; colon and semi-colon; short
forms about, above, according, across, after, afternoon, afterward, again, also,
almost, already, altogether, always, blind, friend

Lesson 4:  contractions -- ch, st, sh, th, wh, ou, and their whole word
counterparts (child, still, shall, this, which, out); short form words --
braille, could, would, good, paid, said; ordinal numbers

Lesson 5:  contractions -- gh, ar, ed, er, ow, ing, ble; short form words --
either, neither, immediate, today, tomorrow, tonight, great, letter, little,
necessary

Lesson 6:  contractions -- be, enough, his, was, in, were; short form words -- 
o'clock, quick, together, deceive, deceiving, receive, receiving, declare,
declaring, rejoice, rejoicing; punctuation -- dash, double dash

Lesson 7:  contractions -- prefixes be, com, con, dis; punctuation -- exclamation
point, quotation marks, slash; fully capitalized words

Lesson 8:  short form words -- because, before, behind, below, beneath, beside,
between, beyond, perhaps, perceive, perceiving, conceive, conceiving; ellipsis

Lesson 9:  contractions -- ea, bb, cc, dd, ff, gg; short form words -- herself,
themselves, him, himself, your, yourself, yourselves, its, itself, myself

Lesson 10:  contractions -- to, into, by; short form words -- against, although,
children, should, first, must, much, such, thyself, ourselves

Lesson 11:  two-cell contractions using dot 5 (day, ever, father, here, know,
lord, mother, name, one, part, question, right, some, time, under, work, young
character, through, where, ought, there); short form word -- oneself

Lesson 12:  two-cell contractions using dots 4-5 (upon, word, those, whose,
these) and 4-5-6 (cannot, had, many, spirit, their, world); italics; termination

Lesson 13:  two-cell signs using dots 4-6 (ound, ance, less, sion, ount), 5-6
(ence, ong, ful, tion, ness, ment, ity), and 6 (ation, ally)

Lesson 14:  symbols -- dollar sign, percent, decimals, fractions, opening and
closing brackets; letter sign; roman numerals

Lesson 15:  outlines, poetry, headings, page numbering, measurement.


III.  Sequence of each lesson

Each lesson is divided into between two and six sections.  The last section is
always a graded self-test (post-test) covering the material presented in that
lesson.  Ignore any sections that are numbered but have no section title.  They
are there for possible use by individuals taking advantage of The Computerized
Braille Tutor Authoring Program discussed below.  

Each section has four parts.  The first part contains information about specific
braille characters or contractions to be learned in that section, and a
discussion of the pertinent rules, with examples, related to those characters or
contractions.  
After the content of the section, practice exercises are presented in the
remaining three parts.  These practice exercises will consist of three types:
   
   (a)   Print To Braille - print words or numbers or sentences are shown on the
         screen which you are to transcribe into braille by using selected keys
         of the keyboard as though they were the six keys of a braillewriter

   (b)   Braille To Print - braille samples are shown on the screen, which you
         are to translate into print by using the keyboard as you normally do,
         and

   (c)   Proofreading - the screen presents a sample of braille which contains
         several errors which you are to locate and correct, again using the
         keys on the keyboard as you would a braillewriter.

The number of practice exercises will vary somewhat in number depending on how
much information is presented in a given section though for most sections the
number of practice lines or sentences are 15 each for Print to Braille and
Braille to Print, and 5 sentences or a short paragraph for the Proofreading.

At the end of each lesson, a self-evaluation (post-test) will be available.  This
self-evaluation also consists of print to braille, braille to print, and
proofreading samples.  The Post Tests have 10 sentences each for Print to Braille
and Braille to Print, and 5 sentences or a short paragraph for Proofreading.  The
posttest should be taken after you have gone through the instructional material
for that lesson.


IV.  The Keyboard as Braillewriter

Although it may seem a bit awkward at first, the computer keyboard will be used
to produce both braille and typed text.  The Computerized Braille Tutor program
automatically switches from one to the other as necessary, and if you forget
momentarily, you will hear a beep to remind you, or see nonsense on the screen
which you can simply erase.

For those who may be unfamiliar with a braillewriter, braille is produced by
simultaneously pressing down all the necessary keys to produce the correct dots
for each character.  Since there are six dots in a braille cell, six keys (s, d,
f, and j, k, l), each representing a dot in the braille cell, are set aside on
the keyboard and will be used when you are asked to produce braille.  The space
bar works the same in both modes.

This is explained in greater detail in the Information section of Lesson 1, Part
1.  People who have used the program reported that although at first this shift
from braille to typing and back took some concentration, it became almost second
nature with practice.


V.  Special Characteristic of the Program:  The Screen

The screen is composed of two parts split across the middle by a bar with numbers
on it.  This bar separates the cue screen (what the program gives you to process)
from the response screen (what you type or braille).  It has numbers indicating
the number of braille spaces in a line available to you (38).  You can use this
as an aid when determining how much more you can type, in centering headings, and
so on.  
On the bottom of the screen you will see an abbreviated list of "F" keys with
brief one and two word description of their functions.  These refer to the keys
found on most computer keyboards which say F1, F2, F3 and so on through F10 or
F12.  Depending on the keyboard you have, these may be found in a single line
across the very top edge of the keyboard, or in a separate bank of keys to the
right of the regular "typewriter" keys on a keyboard.  These are on the screen
as reminders and are discussed in greater detail below.

VI.  Step-by-Step Sequence

There are four nested menus in this program.  They are set up as follows:

1.  The Computerized Braille Tutor Main Menu

This is the menu you used to reach this explanation section.  Your choices are: 
(1) Lessons, (2) Introduction, (3) Acknowledgements, and (4) Exit.  The Exit
choice will take you back to the DOS prompt or Windows screen.  Information and
Acknowledgements contain information about the program and how it works, and the
individuals involved in the development of The Computerized Braille Tutor
respectively.  Selecting #1, Lessons, will take you to the next level.

2.  The Braille Lesson Menu

Here you will find all 15 lessons and an abbreviated list of the material
contained in each.  We recommend that you work through each of the lessons in
sequence even though you may be using The Computerized Braille Tutor as a
refresher.  After selecting a lesson by number, you will find the content divided
into individual sections for learning.

3.  Section Menu

At this point you are given the choice of whether to learn the material in one
of the sections (the number of sections in a given lesson vary, from two to six)
or to take the graded post-test.  The last section will always be a post-test
which covers all the material presented in that lesson.

4.  Sub-menu of each section

This is the last of the menu choices.  For each section you will always find the
following subsections:  Information (a description of the braille material being
covered, including examples), Print-To-Braille (exercises in which you are given
material in print which you are to practice transcribing as braille), Braille-To
Print (exercises in which you are given material in screen braille which you are
to practicing writing as print), and Proofreading (exercises in which you are
given material in screen braille that is written with errors which you are to
identify and correct).


Here is a brief outline of how one might go through the menus starting at the
Main Menu:

1. Select Lesson from the Main Menu.
   Type 1 followed by Enter.

2. Select the desired lesson from the Lesson Menu.
   Type the <number> followed by Enter.

3. Select any one of the individual parts of the lesson contained in this
   Section Menu.
   Type the <number> followed by Enter.

4. Now you are in the Submenu.  Select "Explanation of the Lesson" to learn the
   braille material in that section.
   Type 1 followed by Enter.

5. After you have read and understood the lesson, return to the Submenu.  
   Press Esc.

6. Select one of the Practice Exercises, in this case, Braille To Print.
   Type 3 followed by Enter.

7. After you have worked through all the practice exercises in turn you will be
   ready to take the Posttest.
   Press Esc to return to the Submenu.
   Press Esc to return to the Section Menu.
   Type 7 followed by Enter to select the Posttest.

8. In the Posttest, select the exercise format you wish to be tested on first
   (e.g. Print-To-Braille).
   Type 1 followed by Enter.

9. Continue selecting and completing the remaining exercise formats of the
   Posttests (Braille-to-Print and Proofreading) using the Type command and Esc
   keys.

10 When you have completed the Posttests, simply continue pressing Esc (press,
   release, press, release ...) until you have returned to the Lesson Menu to
   begin a new lesson, or until you have exited The Computerized Braille Tutor.

NOTE:  The Esc key will take you back to the preceding menu each time it is
pressed.  It is also used to exit the program.  If the Esc key is pressed while
in the Main Menu, it will exit the program and you will see the c:\TUTOR or c:\
prompt (or the Windows screen, if you have installed the program there).  At this
point, if you wish to return to the program, simply type student followed by
Enter (or double click on the icon you selected for this program in Windows).


VII.  Meaning of Special Keys and Feedback Symbols

There are several function keys which you will be using frequently to move around
pages or exercises, or to ask the program for correction feedback, etc.  You will
find some of these listed on the bottom of the screen when you are doing the
practice exercises.  They are there as reminders.  Function keys used in this
program include:

  F1  -  go to the next line of exercise

  F2  -  go to the previous line of exercise (not possible in the post-test
         section)

  F3  -  clear F4 or F5

  F4 (judge) - show the feedback symbols during the practice exercises and self-
               evaluation test
   
  F5 (correct response) - show the correct print or braille response during the
         practice exercises and the self-evaluation test

  END -  moves the cursor to the end of the line

  HOME - used in connection with the following keys
      
      up arrow -- moves up the page
      down arrow -- moves down the page

      forward arrow -- moves forward to the end of the line

      backward arrow -- moves backward to the beginning of the line

  ARROWS - used alone will move the cursor space by space in the indicated
            direction

  BkSp (backspace) - moves the cursor backward, erasing the characters it
            encounters

  del (delete) - erases the character under which the cursor is found, erasing
            the text immediately ahead of it (when in braille mode, make sure
            that the cursor is placed under the right half of the braille cell
            where dots 4, 5, and 6 belong)

   ins (insert) - allows you to type over existing characters on a line, erasing
           them as you over-write them (See General Tips below.).


VIII.  Feedback on Errors and Corrections (exercises)

The Computerized Braille Tutor program is equipped with the ability to provide
you with feedback as you work through the practice exercises.  While the program
cannot spell out exactly what kinds of errors you may have made, it can provide
you with several symbols to indicate where an error has been made, and the
general kinds of steps that must be taken to correct it.  

Pressing the F4 key will cause the program to compare your answer with the
program's correct answer and produce a row of symbols directly below the answer
you entered.  A dot indicates a correct match.  Other symbols indicate errors and
indicate the kind of steps to take to make the corrections.

These symbols are as follow:

D  delete - indicates that you wrote something that should not be there, often
   referring to extra spaces or letters where contractions should have been
   used;

S  substitute - indicates that you should substitute something else for what you
   have written in that space, often referring to alternative contractions that
   should have been used;

^  insert - indicates that you have left something out which must be inserted
   (the program does not distinguish the number of characters, simply that some
   thing(s) is(are) missing); and

T  transpose - indicates that some type of reversal of character sequence has
   been made.

For the practice exercises, one of the above feedback symbols will appear below
each error.  Once you have determined what correction to make, use your arrow and
backspace or delete keys to erase the error and insert your correction.  You can
also use F5 to see what the correct response should be, though you are encouraged
to use the F4 key to identify specific errors and try to make the corrections
before resorting to the Tutor for the correct answer.

F3 will clear the screen of either type of feedback, and F1 will move you on to
the next exercise sentence.  When you have completed the entire set of sentences,
Esc will take you back to the lesson menu.


Here is a brief outline of how one might go through a Proofreading exercise:

1. Having selected the Proofreading exercise at the Section Sub-menu, a braille
   sentence is seen on the Cue screen (upper half of the monitor).

2. Read through the paragraph, identifying misused contractions.

3. Using the arrow keys, move the cursor to the mistake, making sure that the
   cursor highlights the right half of the cell (dots 4-5-6) and press the Del
   key to erase the mistake.  You type in the correct braille contraction.

4. Press the F4 key to see how your answer compares to the computer's correct
   answer and see a ^ sign at the end of one line and a series of D's at the
   beginning of the next.  This tells you that you should move some characters
   from the second line (to be deleted) onto the first (to be inserted).

5. Press the F3 key to clear the screen.

6. Make the necessary corrections, then press F4 again.  You will see a series
   of dots indicating no errors.

7. Press F1 to move on to the next sentence in the exercise.

8. At some point, should you decide you want to go back to the first sentence to
   check something, you would press F2 repeatedly until you reach that sentence,
   then press F1 repeatedly to return to your starting point.

9. When you have completed the exercises, press Esc to return to the menu.


For the Print To Braille and Braille to Print exercises, the task is even easier.

Here is a brief outline of how one might go through one of these exercises.

1. Having selected the Braille To Print exercise at the Section Sub-menu, a
   braille sentence is seen on the Cue screen (upper half of the monitor).

2. Type the print translation of the braille sentence which appears on the lower
   half of the monitor (the response screen).

3. Press the F4 key to see how your answer compares to the computer's correct
   answer, see an S below one of the characters and recognize that you typed in
   the wrong contraction.

4. Press the F3 key to clear the screen.

5. Make the necessary corrections then press F4 again.  You see a series of dots
   indicating no errors.

6. Press F1 to move on to the next sentence in the exercise.

7. At some point, should you decide you want to go back to the first sentence to
   check something, you would press F2 repeatedly until you reach that sentence,
   then press F1 repeatedly to return to your starting point.

8. When you have completed the exercises, press Esc to return to the menu.


IX.  Scores For The Self-Evaluation (Post-Test):

For the self-evaluation post-test, you will receive a percentage score for each
sentence after you have entered your responses.  Also, an average score is
computed for all the questions completed in each part of the post test.  If your
answer does not match the correct answer, you can press the F5 key to see what
the correct response should be.  However, while you can make corrections on the
test, you cannot get an improved score for that particular taking of the test,
nor can you move backward to a previous sentence.  You can, however, escape (Esc)
back to the sub menu, reselect the self-evaluation and redo the test.  

If you do decide to retake the test, you may wish to review the content of that
lesson or any previous lessons which relate to your errors before retaking the
test.  You may also wish to review the Step-by-Step Procedure section in this
booklet for how to make these selections.  

NOTE:  The percentage provided to indicate the correctness of your response on
the test is not a one-to-one correspondent to actual numbers of errors made or
correct cells written.  Rather it is a calibrated score, an estimate of
correctness, and is intended to provide you with an indication of how well you
performed on that item and/or test.


X.  Student Materials
In the hard-copy (print) version of the User's Manual, you will find materials
designed for student use.  These are as follows:

   a. Tracking Sheet - this is provided as a means of recording your scores,
      should you wish to do so.  Another potential use would be as a means for
      a supervising teacher to monitor the progress of a learner using The
      Computerized Braille Tutor.  Please feel free to record as much or as
      little as is useful to you.

   b. Note-Taking Sheet - this is a simple outline format provided as a guide to
      assist you in the taking of written notes as you work your way through the
      explanation parts of the lessons.  If you find the format useful, it is
      recommended that you make copies of the sheet found in the User's Manual.

   c. Proof Reading Texts - this is a print text of the Proof Reading part of
      all the sections of Lessons 1 through 15.  It is provided for your
      reference.  It is recommended that you try to do the Proof Reading
      exercises on your own first, but you may have access to the text if you
      reach a point where you want to verify the content of a sentence or
      paragraph.  Because this is a fairly large body of information, the
      information is not provided in "hard copy" but is saved on the program
      disk under the title "prf-rd.txt".  To produce a hard copy for yourself,
      simply get to your DOS prompt, place the program disk in your disk drive,
      then type:
                        print c:\tutor\prf-rd.txt <enter>

      The computer will probably ask for the name of your "printing device", but
      if you press <enter> it will resort to the default printer and you should
      get a print-out of the file.


XI.  General Tips

 + When working on exercises using braille, be sure to place the cursor box over
   the second half (dots 4-5-6) of the braille cell before deleting or inserting
   a character.  The braille cell essentially takes up two print spaces and the
   cursor will only highlight one print "space" at a time.  Placing the cursor
   on the second half of the braille cell will ensure that the appropriate cell
   is amended.

 + Because braille is meant to be tactually discriminable, it cannot be reduced
   in size, and so it has become necessary to make use of every possible space
   on each line as a means of keeping the sheer volume of paper to a minimum. 
   The Computerized Braille Tutor counts as errors those spaces which COULD have
   been but were not used.  This happens most frequently with words which are
   split between lines, or misspelled.  You are encouraged to use a dictionary
   to check your writing, since the program is set up to interpret incorrect
   spelling and/or syllabication as errors.

 + The program will "freeze" and beep when there are 38 characters on any given
   braille line or 76 typed characters.  (A braille cell occupies the same space
   as two typed characters.)  In order to add more characters to that line
   (e.g., in proofreading when changing a contraction changes the spacing on a
   line) you will have to delete something using either the BkSp (back space) or
   Del (delete) keys.  Occasionally the program will "freeze" even though you
   can see that there is space on the line for a new character (usually after
   you've just deleted something).  When that happens, moving the cursor left,
   up or down and then returning to you original line will un-freeze it.

 + Occasionally you may be able to "squeeze" an extra character onto a line so
   that your answer does not match the "correct" answer.  If in doubt, move the
   cursor to the end of the line (using the End key) and see where the blinking
   cursor lies.  It should be BEHIND the last cell on that line.  If it is ON
   the last cell, particularly of a braille line, this may indicate that the
   space has been "squeezed" and will be counted as an error.

 + When using the insert (Ins) mode in the exercises (not recommended, but
   certainly possible), you may find occasional "hidden" codes which hinder the
   function of this key.  (The program won't let you type over existing text and
   will beep to indicate the line is full.)  Usually hitting Del (delete) a
   couple of time will clear those codes and permit the insert mode to work.

 + When using the regular keyboard to produce print, be sure to follow the
   standard print protocol of two spaces after periods at the end of a sentence,
   or colons.  If you do not, the computer will count that as an error.  When
   writing braille, remember that the braille protocol is to use only one space
   between both words and sentences.  This is discussed in greater detail in
   Lesson 1.

 + While certain contractions (e.g., st) would be used in braille across some
   syllables in words if they fit on the same line, they would not be used if
   the word must be divided, so syllabicate carefully when dividing words
   between lines.

 + When working with the proofreading exercises, read through the entire
   sentence to get the context; this will help identify how the sentence should
   read.  If something still does not make sense, you will find the text of the
   Proofreading exercises in the Proof Reading Texts of the Lesson Materials
   (Appendix B).  

 + If the computer beeps when you try to add any type or braille characters,
   this indicates that there is no more space on the line, so you must go
   through and check to see where you should delete errors before trying to make
   other changes, or else move text to the next line.


XII.  The Authoring Program

The Authoring Program is a separate program from the student program that you
will be using.  It is NOT something you need to know anything about in order to
use The Computerized Braille Tutor to learn or review braille.  It is mentioned
here for the benefit of those who might like to add to or amend the existing
Computerized Braille Tutor program in order to mold it to an individual's
specific needs or a particular population group.  Anyone interested in how to use
the Author program is referred to Appendix C of the hard copy of this manual. 
It is also available in the file entitled "author.nts" which is included in the
disk you received from us.  Please note the disclaimer below.


XIII.  Ascii Files

In an effort to make The Computerized Braille Tutor materials as accessible as
possible to visually impaired users, the manuals and lesson content materials
have been saved in an ascii format.  Given the appropriate technology, users will
be able to access the information in these files through synthetic voice, print
enlarging programs, and/or braille.  It should be noted that accessing the
information in this mode completely bypasses the interactive mode available to
those who are able to use the Student program.  These files are available by
request from the Research and Development Institute.  (See below for address.)


XIV.  Distribution Policy 

The Computerized Braille Tutor is provided for your use at little or no cost. 
You may make copies to share with others, and may have received your version of
this program from someone you know.  Please be aware that if you received a copy
of The Computerized Braille Tutor from a source other than those listed below as
primary sources, you may have received an edited version.  Please note the
disclaimer below.


XV.  Comments

The authors welcome any feedback you may have regarding the content, lay-out,
sequence, effectiveness of and/or your general reaction to this program.  Any
information about what worked and didn't work for you would be used to help guide
us in further developing the program and its contents and would be gratefully
received.  Please address all such comments to:
                  
                  Research and Development Institute
                  1732 Raintree
                  Sycamore, IL  60178


XV.  Disclaimer

The Computerized Braille Tutor has several limitations.  The system requires the
allocation of 5 mb memory of hard drive, and does not work well with some virus
protection programs.  While it is possible for visually impaired individuals to
access the content of the lessons (in order to supervise others' learning, for
instance, or as a simple review), the process for doing this bypasses the
interactive feed-back aspect of the program.  The program itself does not include
or produce tactual or auditory materials.  It is strongly recommended, therefore,
that individuals supplement their learning of the braille code with hands-on
experience with braillers, slates and stylae, and tactile braille under the
supervision of a skilled braillist or braille instructor.  Although the authors
feel that the braillewriter-style of data entry as it is programmed in the
computer is good preliminary practice, nothing can take the place of actual
experience with the tools which will ultimately produce tactile braille for
visually impaired persons.

It is also beyond the scope of this program to teach the very important issues
related to the teaching of braille reading and writing.  Nor is it possible to
rely on The Computerized Braille Tutor as the sole preparation for individuals
seeking to become certified braille transcribers since many of the more complex
or detailed rules of usage have been omitted.
   
The authors' primary purpose in designing this program is to increase braille
literacy among sighted and other individuals.  It has been written in such a way
that by using the accompanying Author Program, users can add to, delete, and
completely re-write the content of any and all lessons.  Therefore, if you have
received your copy of The Computerized Braille Tutor from a source other than a
primary distributor (Research and Development Institute or the Association for
the Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Handicapped), you may
have received an edited version for which the authors and the Research and
Development Institute cannot be held responsible.

dadfal;dfkal;sdfk;asdfk;asdfk;adfka;dfk;ola
