Hi Jane, You wrote:
> Can someone explain to me why someone would want to use a BrailleNote as a > remote synthesizer if the computer already has screen reading software on it? > I don't see the logic, I'm afraid. > When you install JAWS using the automatic option, JAWS installs the Eloquence > synthesizer by default, and it is this software synthesizer which directs > your sound card to produce the speech that you hear through your computer > speakers. Optionally, during the guided or advanced JAWS installation, you > can choose to install and use voice synthesizers which are hardware devices > in the form of boards which can be installed in your PC, such as a Dectalk, > Doubletalk or Tripletalk, or you can attach other hardware speech > synthesizers such as Dectalk Express, Doubletalk or Tripletalk external > synthesizers which connect to your computer via a serial or USB connector > cable. These synthesizers cannot produce speech on their own, they require a > driver which is a small software program which tells them what to do, just as > a driver installed in your PC will tell your printer what to do when you > print a document. Some years ago, there was a hardware speech synthesizer > called a Keynote SA, which also could produce speech and which sounded very much like the speech in the Braille Note or VoiceNote, as the Braille Note and Voice Note have this same synthesizer chip. The Braille Note emulates the old Keynote synthesizer. In past versions of JAWS, you could hook up a Braille Note or Voice Note to your PC, and drivers were available which enabled JAWS to tell the Braille Note or Voice Note to behave like an older Keynote SA synthesizer to produce speech. With the advent of Windows XP, these drivers were discontinued, but drivers are now available for use with Jaws in Windows XP. So if you don't want to use Eloquence for some reason, you'll have the option of modifying JAWS and using the Braille Note or Voice Note as a remote synthesizer just as you once could do in prior versions of Windows. I hope this clarifies things a bit for you. Regards, Tom
