The National Library Service
for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
BARD Mobile Application User Guide
Section 2: Getting Started1.1: Access to BARD
1.2: Operating BARD Mobile
1.3: BARD Login
Section 3: Bookshelf2.1: Heading and Navigation Bar
2.2: Tab Bar2.2.1: Bookshelf
2.2.2: Get Books
2.2.3: Settings
2.2.4: Now Reading
Section 4: Get Books3.1: Accessing and Learning More about Titles on Your Device
3.2: Reading Titles
3.3: Deleting Titles
3.4: Reorganizing Categories
Section 5: Settings4.1: Wish List
4.2: Recently Added Titles
4.3: Downloading Titles
4.4: BARD Website
4.5: Cancelling and Deleting Titles in Process of Downloading
5.1.1: Speed
5.1.2: Tone
5.1.3: Background Playback
5.1.4: Auto-Lock during Playback
5.1.5: Skippable
5.1.6: Verbosity
5.1.7: Restore Defaults5.2.1: Font Size
5.2.2: Contrast
5.2.3: Restore Defaults
5.3.3: Auto-lock during download
Section 6: Now Reading (Audio)
Section 7: Now Reading (Braille)6.1: Title Heading and Book Navigation Button
6.2: Title Information
6.3: Current Position
6.4: Sleep Timer
6.5: Bookmark
6.6: Previous
6.7: Menu
6.8: Next
6.9: Rewind
6.10: Play/Stop
6.11: Forward
6.12: Speed and Tone
6.13: Book Navigation
7.1: Contracted Braille
7.2: Now Reading (Braille) Screen Layout and Reading a Braille Book
7.3: Braille Shortcut Keys
7.4: Navigation
7.5: Text Search
7.6: Setting and Removing Bookmarks
7.7: Menu
7.8: Previous
7.9: Next
8.1: When VoiceOver Is Enabled
8.2: Downloading Titles
8.3: Contracted Braille
8.4: Now Reading (Audio)
8.5: Settings8.6.1 Loading Books via Third-Party File Sharing Applications
Welcome to the BARD Mobile application user guide. This handbook will guide you through the various features of BARD Mobile, an application that allows you to download and read books from the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress, Braille and Audio Download (BARD) website using your iOS device. Screen shots in this guide are visual representation of the BARD Mobile screens and may not exactly match VoiceOver representations.
Use of BARD Mobile is restricted to eligible NLS patrons, who have a BARD account. If you are not currently a patron of NLS, please read about the NLS eligibility requirements and learn about signing up for service.
BARD Mobile will operate on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 5 or later. Connectivity from a wireless carrier or a Wi-Fi provider is required to download material from BARD.
BARD Mobile is completely accessible to visually impaired individuals when used with Zoom or the Voice-over screen reader, two standard features on iOS operating systems.
Zoom is a built-in magnifier that when activated allows you to adjust screen magnification between 100 and 500 percent. Zoom will not affect gestures used to operate BARD Mobile and works with VoiceOver.
VoiceOver is gesture-based and allows blind or visually impaired individuals to interact with items on the screen. You do not need Zoom or VoiceOver to use BARD Mobile. However, if using VoiceOver, you may find enabling the Hints feature helpful.
Gestures used to operate BARD Mobile with VoiceOver differ slightly from the gestures used to operate BARD Mobile without it. With VoiceOver, for example, you will flick your finger to the right or left to hear what content is on a screen and you will double tap buttons to select an item, not as the single tap required without VoiceOver. A few functions require additional gestures. Also, with the hints featured enabled, VoiceOver will provide verbal prompts that describe which gestures need to be used to complete an action. This occurs whenever you perform a gesture.
Unless otherwise noted in this guide, standard VoiceOver gestures should be applied if you use VoiceOver to interact with BARD Mobile.
If you would like to learn more about Zoom or VoiceOver, please visit Apple's accessibility website for iOS devices at www.apple.com/accessibility/ios/vision. For additional information on VoiceOver, visit LookTel at www.looktel.com/vo-tutorial, or download the LookTel VoiceOver tutorial, available from the Apple App Store.
To activate Zoom or VoiceOver on your device, go to Settings>General>Accessibility.
At the initial launch of the application, BARD Mobile will prompt you to read and agree to the BARD service agreement. You cannot use BARD Mobile unless you consent to the terms of service.
To agree, select the Agree button, which is located directly after the terms of service. VoiceOver will announce the word “agree.” Then flick to and select the Start button near the bottom of the screen. If you want to verify that the Agree button was selected, flick back to the Agree button and VoiceOver will confirm by saying “selected agree.”
After you have selected the Start button, a BARD login screen will appear. Provide your BARD account login information here.
Enter your user name in the user name text field following the login information heading and then enter your password in the password text field that directly follows the name text field. Select the Done button on the bottom right corner of the keyboard to complete login.
BARD Mobile will remember your user name and password. Unless you change them through BARD, you should only have to provide this information once.
You are now ready to download books to your iOS device.
To get the most out of BARD Mobile, there are various features and functions that you should know. This section provides a quick overview of the basic elements to help you get started.
Each screen of BARD Mobile has a heading. It is on the navigation bar located at the top of the screen, directly below the device status bar, which displays information about your device such as the current time and battery life. The heading tells you which screen or content you are managing.
Also on the navigation bar—and depending on where you are in the application—there will be a Back button on the upper left corner, or a Done or Edit button on the upper right corner.
The Back button will allow you to easily return to the previous screen, while the Edit and Done buttons allow you to customize categories, select titles to delete, and finalize actions.
The tab bar is located at the bottom of the screen and contains the tabs that represent the four main screens of the application. These tabs are labeled Bookshelf, Get Books, Settings, and Now Reading. The Now Reading tab is available only when a title has been opened to read.
All the audio and braille titles you have downloaded to your device are listed in Bookshelf, the first tab on the tab bar. These titles are organized into four categories: Audiobooks, Audio Magazines, Braille Books, and Braille Magazines. An additional category titled Help is where you can access this user guide.
Audio foreign-language titles, music materials, and books that you have downloaded will be automatically listed under the Audiobooks category, while braille foreign-language titles, music materials, and books that you have downloaded will be automatically listed under the Braille Books category.
Get Books is the second tab on the tab bar directly following the Bookshelf tab. It allows you to access material on BARD and browse recently added audio and braille books and magazines.
In Get Books, you can also visit the BARD website to add titles to your wish list. Books on your wish list in BARD will appear on your wish list in Get Books. Only titles located on your wish list or in the recently added categories in Get Books can be downloaded to your device.
Settings is the third tab on the tab bar, between the Get Books and Now Reading tabs. In Settings, you can manage your audio and visual preferences, as well as your user account information.
The Now Reading tab is the last tab on the tab bar, and is available only when a title has been opened to read. You can activate this tab from any screen within BARD Mobile to access the book you are currently reading.
The Now Reading screen for audiobooks and magazines is oriented similarly to the digital talking-book player. Buttons used on the application resemble the buttons on the player, with a few exceptions. The Now Reading screen for braille books and magazines is also oriented similarly to the digital talking-book player, but has very few controls that are similar to those on the digital talking-book player.
Bookshelf, the first tab on the tab bar at the bottom of the screen, is used to manage all the titles available on your device that have been downloaded from BARD.
Downloaded titles, or titles in the process of being downloaded, are automatically placed under one of four categories listed in Bookshelf. As listed, these categories are: Audiobooks, Audio Magazines, Braille Books, and Braille Magazines. The Help category is where you will find the user guide.
By default, books are listed alphabetically by title. However, if you prefer, books can also be listed alphabetically by the author’s last name, or by the date of most recently downloaded or read. To change the listing order, select the Title, Author, or Latest button located at the top of the screen within the category you would like to reorder.
To learn more information about each book or magazine in Bookshelf, select the More Info button that is located after the title. When you select this button, a screen with the heading Details will open and, if applicable to the book, will list the title, author, annotation, narrator, total time, and book number. The Details screen for braille books will list the title, author, annotation, number of volumes, and book number.
Depending on the status of the book or magazine selected, there is also a Read, Downloading, or Queued for Download button at the bottom of the Details screen.
There are two ways to read titles that are on your bookshelf.
Method one: Select the name of the title you would like to read. In doing this, books that have been downloaded will automatically open in the Now Reading screen.
Method two: Activate the Read button. To do so, select the More Info button, located directly after the title you would like to read. This action will open the title’s Detail screen, at the bottom of which will be a large green Read button.
You cannot read a book that is in the process of downloading.
At any time, you can delete titles from your Bookshelf.
After you select and enter a category within Bookshelf, on the upper right corner of the screen, there will be an Edit button. Activate the Edit button to reveal a Delete button after the name of the book you intend to delete. Select the Delete button to remove the title from the list.
When you have finished deleting titles from within the category selected, activate the Done button on the upper right corner of the screen.
Categories in Bookshelf are listed alphabetically. However, you can reorder the categories by activating the Reorder button.
Select the Edit button on the upper right corner of the main Bookshelf screen. This action will reveal a Reorder button. The Reorder button indicates that a row can be dragged to another location on the list. It will be located directly after the number of items listed within each category. If VoiceOver is enabled, you will hear the word “reorder” once you have flicked to it within a category.
Select the Reorder button next to the category you would like to move, and then slowly drag the row for that category to its new location.
When you have finished reorganizing your categories, select the Done button on the upper right corner of the screen.
Get Books is the second tab on the tab bar, following the Bookshelf tab. It is used to access and download titles currently on BARD. Within this tab, you can browse BARD and download materials that have been placed on your wish list.
Books on your wish list in BARD will appear on your wish list in Get Books. Only titles located on your wish list or in the recently added categories in Get Books can be downloaded to your device.
You can view titles that are available on BARD through several categories within Get Books. The first category is titled Wish List. The second set of categories is organized within the Recently Added Titles section, and they are: Audiobooks, Audio Magazines, Braille Books, and Braille Magazines. The final category is located in the BARD Website section and is titled Browse BARD.
Figure 1 The Get Books Tab in BARD Mobile
The wish list in Get Books is your BARD wish list, and you can download these titles to your device directly from this category. See section 4.3 to learn about downloading titles to your device.
BARD Mobile initially lists the fifty audio and braille books most recently added to BARD. They are listed within one of four categories under the Recently Added Titles section: Audiobooks, Audio Magazines, Braille Books, and Braille Magazines.
Recently added titles are presented in scrollable lists that you can flick or slowly scroll through. Each list is divided into sections based on the date the titles were added to BARD. A table index is available to help you navigate through the lists by the date the titles were added.
To view more than the initial fifty titles, select Load More at the bottom of the lists, and an additional fifty titles will be added. If you would like, continue to scroll to the bottom of the lists and select Load More again to view additional titles in increments of fifty.
To access more information about each title, select the corresponding More Info button to see the Details page. From the Details page you can add this title to your wish list by selecting the Add to wish list button, or download the title by selecting the Download button.
See section 4.3 to learn about downloading titles to your device.
There are two methods to download books or magazines to your device.
Method one: Select the title you would like to download. An alert box titled Confirmation will appear on the screen. Select the Cancel button within the alert box to cancel the option to download, or select the OK button within the alert box to confirm that you would like to download the selected title. When you select OK, the alert box will fade away and a downloading progress bar will appear directly below the title you have chosen to download.
VoiceOver announces downloading progress as a percentage. When a book is downloading, flick to the right until you reach the progress bar of the title being downloaded. VoiceOver will say “progress” followed by the percentage downloaded.
Method two: Activate the More Info button, located after the name of the title you would like to download. Selecting the More Info button will open a screen labeled Details, from which you can activate the Download button at the bottom of the screen. If no other book is currently downloading, the process will commence immediately. Otherwise, the button will be replaced by a Queued for Download button. To pause downloading, select the title currently downloading.
Books that are downloading will automatically be removed from your wish list and filed within the appropriate category in Bookshelf.
You can access the BARD website through the Browse BARD button, which is after the BARD website heading on the main Get Books screen.
The Browse BARD option allows you to access BARD online. You can search the collection, add additional items to your wish list, and more. However, only links that lead to another location within BARD will be functional. You cannot explore other websites through this option.
Navigate through the BARD website as you wish, and at any time, return to the main Get Books screen through the Get Books Back button on the upper left corner of the screen.
If you wish to cease downloading a book from your wish list or a recently added title or perhaps delete the title from Bookshelf, activate Bookshelf, which is the first tab of the tab bar. Select the category that contains the title you want to cancel downloading or delete. Then activate the Edit button to reveal the Delete or Cancel button that will be located after the name of the book you want to delete or cancel downloading.
Depending on the download status of the title, select the Cancel or Delete button, and when you have finished cancelling and deleting the titles from within the selected category, activate the Done button on the upper right corner of the screen.
To delete a title form your wish list, activate the Edit button within the wish list category. Deleted titles will be removed from the list.
BARD Mobile allows you to adjust audio, visual, and user account settings to optimize your reading experience through the Settings tab, the third tab on the tab bar.
Settings for iPad users are displayed in a split-view screen, similar to the iPad device Settings screen. In BARD Mobile, the left pane lists all the setting options available—audio, visual, and user account—and the right pane lists all the subordinate actions available within each of the settings, as selected on the left pane.
While in the subsections of Settings, iPad users will need to navigate to the left pane to return to the main settings options. iPhone and iPod touch users will need to return to the main Settings screen by selecting the Settings Back button located on the upper left corner of the screen.
Figure 2 Audio Settings
The first button on the Settings screen is the Audio Settings button. Through the Audio Settings button, you can adjust default narration speed and tone, turn on or off the background playback and auto-lock during playback features, and turn on or off skippability and verbosity options. You can also restore BARD Mobile audio settings to their default values.
Changing the skippability and verbosity options within audio settings will only affect books and magazines not previously opened.
By default, the narration speed is set at 100 percent and is adjustable by a slider, which is located near the top of the Audio Settings screen.
A slider is used to adjust the speed to pre-set values between 50 and 300 percent. VoiceOver users can quickly adjust the speed by flicking one finger on the screen, either upward or downward. Flicking upward will increase the speed in increments of 25 percent and flicking downward will decrease the speed in similar increments. If VoiceOver is not enabled, you can slide the slider to the left to decrease the speed or to the right to increase the speed.
Changing the speed setting only affects titles not previously opened.
By default, the narration tone—or the amount of bass or treble in the reading voice—is set at zero and is adjustable between the values of negative 4 and positive 6 by a slider. The tone slider is the second setting option on the Audio Settings screen, directly after the speed slider tool.
VoiceOver users can quickly adjust the tone by flicking one finger on the screen, either upward or downward. Flicking upward will increase the treble and decrease the bass in increments of one while flicking downward will decrease the treble and increase the bass in similar increments.
Changing the tone setting only affects titles not previously opened.
The third setting option located on the Audio Settings screen, directly after the tone slider, is the background playback setting. It is a switch that provides you the option of allowing a book to play while the application is closed. By default, this setting is switched off. When you close BARD Mobile or your device enters sleep mode, the book you are reading will stop. If the option is switched on, BARD Mobile will continuously play a book, even if your device is in sleep mode.
iOS devices have an auto-lock setting, which turns off the display in order to save battery life and prevent unintended operation of the device. However, BARD Mobile provides you the option of allowing auto-lock features to remain off or on during playback. By default, the setting, controlled by a switch, is switched off.
The auto-lock during playback setting is the fourth setting option, directly after the background playback option on the Audio Settings screen.
The fifth setting option on the Audio Settings screen is the skippable setting, located directly after the Auto-Lock during Playback switch. The Skippable button is used to enable or disable the narration of elements that producers have marked as skippable within the book.
By default, BARD Mobile will play content within books marked as “skippable.” Skippable material may include items such as sidebars, page numbers, and footnotes. To change this setting, select the Skippable button, then activate the Skip button if you would like the material to be skipped. Activate the Play button if you would like BARD Mobile to play material that is marked as “skippable.”
Changing the skippable setting only affects titles not previously opened.
Verbosity only affects the behavior of BARD Mobile when VoiceOver is off.
The verbosity setting affects the amount of spoken messages the application will provide as you navigate a book using the buttons on the Now Reading screen. These messages are similar to the messages you might hear when using your digital talking-book player. For example, choose the Bookmark button to create a bookmark in BARD Mobile, and you will hear the message “bookmark inserted.” Select the button again, at that same point in the book, and you will hear the message “bookmark removed.” When VoiceOver is enabled, the verbosity setting will not affect VoiceOver speech.
By default, the verbosity option is off, and no spoken messages are provided.
At the bottom of the Audio Settings screen, above the tab bar, is an orange button labeled Restore Defaults. This button is used to reset all audio settings to the BARD Mobile default values.
The second button on the Settings screen, following the Audio Settings button, is the Visual Settings button. Through the Visual Settings button, you can adjust the font size and display contrast or restore BARD Mobile visual settings to their default values.
There are four font-size options that can be used for BARD Mobile: small, medium, large, and extra large. By default, the font size used in BARD Mobile is medium.
Select the font size of your choosing through the Font Size button, which is the first button on the Visual Settings screen.
By default, BARD Mobile uses black text on a white background. However, you can select another contrast option for the text in relation to the background. In addition to having black text on a white background, you can choose to have white text on a black background, black text on a yellow background, or yellow text on a black background.
To change your contrast setting, select the Contrast button, which is the second button on the Visual Settings screen directly after the Font Size button. Then select the contrast option of your choosing.
Near the bottom of the Visual Settings screen, prior to the tab bar, is an orange button labeled Restore Defaults. This button is used to reset all visual settings to the BARD Mobile default settings.
The BARD Mobile user account settings allow you to access your BARD login information. They also allow you the option of downloading materials to your device using your mobile network, if your device has cellular capabilities, and to control auto-lock during downloads.
BARD Mobile allows different users to log into their BARD account on the device using their unique user name and password. This is accomplished through the User Account Settings button, the third button on the Settings screen listed after the Visual Settings button.
When you make this selection, a BARD account Details screen with your current login information appears. Listed in two text fields, one above the other, are your user name and your password. Select the first text field, the user name text field, to enter the user name, and select the second text field to enter your password.
If you have a temporary or an expired password, you must first update it on BARD using a web browser before it can be entered in BARD Mobile.
The option to download materials over a mobile network only appears in User Account Settings if your device has cellular capabilities. When on, the setting allows you to download titles using your mobile network.
By default, the setting is off.
This setting, which is off by default, will prevent your device from sleeping while a download is in process. Turning it on will allow your device to go to sleep during download, which will interrupt the download process.
The Now Reading tab, the fourth and last tab on the tab bar, is used to read audio and braille titles that are downloaded onto your device. Section 6 outlines the steps necessary to play audio titles only.
Figure 3 Now Reading Screen (audio)
At the top of the Now Reading screen, directly after the status bar, is the navigation bar. It displays the title heading of the book you are reading and a Navigation button on the right corner.
Activating the Navigation button provides an alternate way to navigate through the contents of the book you are reading. It also allows you to access your skippable settings.
For further details on book navigation options, please see section 6.13.
Located on the top portion of the Now Reading screen is the title information section. On the iPhone, this information includes the title of the section being currently read, the current reading time, and current position within the book. The title information presented on the iPad also displays the author, narrator, and book number of the title.
You can navigate through the book using the current position slider, located after the title information. It indicates your current position in the book, compared to the total length of the book, and is used to adjust your position within the book.
VoiceOver users can quickly adjust the position by flicking one finger on the screen, either upward or downward. Flicking upward will move the reading position toward the end of the book in increments of 10 percent and flicking downward will move the reading position toward the beginning of the book in similar increments.
If VoiceOver is not enabled, slide the slider to the left to move the reading position toward the beginning of the book or to the right to move the reading position toward the end of the book.
Directly following the current position slider is the Sleep Timer button. Invoking the Sleep Timer will stop playback after a set period of time or at the next chapter boundary.
Activating the Sleep Timer button repeatedly (within three seconds) will cycle through the available options. Activating it once will set the Sleep Timer for 15 minutes, twice will set it for 30 minutes; three times will set it for 45 minutes; four times will set it for 60 minutes; and five times will set the Sleep Timer to stop playback at the end of the current chapter. At the conclusion of the selected period the volume will fade for10 seconds and playback will stop. Activating the Play/Stop button will cancel the Sleep Timer.
If hints are enabled on the device, selecting the Sleep Timer button after it has been set will indicate the remaining time until playback stops. Activating the Sleep Timer button while the book is not playing will initiate playback and then stop playback at the designated time. Activating the Sleep Timer button while the book is playing will reset the timer to the selected setting.
Following the Sleep Timer button is the Bookmark button. Selecting the Bookmark button will insert or delete a bookmark at the current reading position.
While reading the book, select the Bookmark button at any time to mark points you may wish to return to later. Selecting the Bookmark button while playing a book will not disrupt the narration of the title. The bookmark will be kept in memory even if you turn off BARD Mobile or select another title to read.
To remove a bookmark while reading a book, return to within 5 seconds of the marked position and select the Bookmark button. If you are not currently reading the book, the reading position must be exactly at the existing bookmark to remove it.
You can review all your bookmarks for the title you are currently reading through the Navigation screen. To access the screen, select the Navigation button on the upper right corner of the navigation bar. The Bookmark button follows the Page button on the Navigation screen. (Note that the iPad Navigation screen is displayed as a pop-up.)
The next button on the Now Reading screen is the Previous button, which is used to move backward one navigation point to the previous point as selected with the Menu button. If BARD Mobile is in stop mode, each time the Previous button is activated, the book narrator will read the heading of the new item selected. If it is in play mode, playback will start from the new location.
Pressing the Previous button for an extended time will move navigation toward the beginning of the book in increments of five navigation items, or by tens for pages. VoiceOver users can double tap and hold the button to accomplish the same result.
The Previous button is followed by the Menu button. Its purpose is to select the navigation you would like to use when moving between points of the book, through the Previous or Next buttons. Navigation points such as chapters, sections, or bookmarks vary with each title.
Following the Menu button is the Next button, which is used to move forward one navigation point to the next point as selected with the Menu button. If BARD Mobile is in stop mode when the Next button is activated, the book narrator will read the heading of the item selected. If it is in play mode, playback will start from the new location.
Pressing the Next button for an extended time will move navigation toward the end of the book in increments of five navigation items, or by tens for pages. VoiceOver users can double tap and hold the button to accomplish the same result.
The Rewind button is directly after the Next button and just before the Play/Stop button. It is used to move the reading position backward. Select the Rewind button to move backward 5 seconds in the book or double tap to move backwards 10 seconds. If VoiceOver is enabled, you can triple tap the button to move backwards 10 seconds in the book
If you continue to press the button, however, the further you will move backward. If you press the Rewind button for longer than 10 seconds, the reading position will continue moving backwards in increments of up to one hour.
Beeps during rewind indicate you have passed a navigation point.
After the Rewind button is the Play/Stop button. Activate the button to either start or stop playing a title.
You will hear a beep each time you activate the button and, if VoiceOver is on, you will also hear the word “stop” when halting play. After you have started playing an audio title, VoiceOver users can use a two-finger double tap to stop or restart audio playback.
The Forward button is directly after the Play/Stop button, and it is used to move the reading position forward. Select the Forward button to move forward 5 seconds in the book. VoiceOver users can triple tap the button to move forward 10 seconds in the book.
If you continue to press the button, however, the further you will move forward. If you press the Forward button for longer than 10 seconds, the reading position will continue moving forward in increments of up to one hour.
Beeps heard while forwarding indicate you have passed a navigation point.
Located at the bottom of the Now Reading screen, directly above the tab bar, are the Speed/Tone button and slider. The Speed/Tone button changes the function of the slider that follows it and is used to interchangeably adjust those values.
Select the Speed button to adjust the speed to pre-set values between 50 and 300 percent using the slider. VoiceOver users can quickly adjust the speed by flicking one finger on the screen, either upward or downward. Flicking upward will increase the speed in increments of 25 percent and flicking downward will decrease the speed in similar increments.
If VoiceOver is not enabled, you can slide the slider to the left to decrease the speed or to the right to increase the speed.
Select the Tone button to change the amount of bass or treble in the narrator’s voice using the slider. VoiceOver users can quickly adjust the tone between values of negative 4 and positive 6 by flicking one finger on the screen, either upward or downward. Flicking upward will increase the treble and decrease the bass in increments of one while flicking downward will decrease the treble and increase the bass in similar increments.
If VoiceOver is not enabled, you can slide the slider to the left to increase the bass and decrease the treble or to the right to increase the treble and decrease the bass.
Changing the speed or tone setting on the Now Reading screen will only affect the book you are currently reading.
To access the Navigation screen, activate the Navigation button located on the top right corner of the Now Reading screen. (Please note that the iPad Navigation screen is displayed as a pop-up.) The Navigation screen provides you an alternate way to navigate through the contents of the book you are reading.
At the top of the Navigation screen, there is a navigation heading and a button labeled Skippable on the upper right corner. The Skippable button is used to play or skip the narration of elements that producers have marked as skippable within the book.
By default, BARD Mobile will play content within books marked as “skippable.” Skippable material may include items such as sidebars, page numbers, and footnotes. To change this setting for the book you are reading, select the Skippable button, then activate the Skip button if you would like to skip material marked as skippable.
Use the Contents, Page, or Bookmark buttons located directly after the Navigation screen heading to navigate through the book. If applicable, selecting the Contents button will allow you to navigate, or jump, through the book by chapter or section; selecting the Page button will allow you to jump to a particular page number; and selecting the Bookmark button will allow you to jump to a set bookmark. By default, the Bookmark button contains options to jump to the beginning of the book and the end of the book.
A gray triangle next to a navigation item indicates that the item can be expanded to display additional points. VoiceOver will announce the triangles as a plus (to expand) or minus (to collapse), and the level. VoiceOver users can double tap and hold to expand or collapse the selected items. If VoiceOver is not enabled, tap and hold to expand or collapse.
Once you have chosen the point of the book you wish to jump to, the Navigation screen will close and the player will be set to read from your selected navigation point.
Select the Navigation button to return to the book you are reading without making a selection.
Figure 4 Navigation Screen
The Now Reading tab, the fourth and last tab on the tab bar, is used to read audio and braille titles that are downloaded onto your device. A refreshable braille display is required to read braille titles with this application. BARD Mobile does not back translate braille files into readable, fully spelled-out text, but uses contracted braille.
Gestures used to operate BARD Mobile when reading braille materials will be based on VoiceOver screen reader being enabled.
Section 7 covers the steps necessary to read braille titles only.
Almost all NLS braille materials downloadable from BARD are in contracted braille. To read a contracted braille book or magazine with BARD Mobile, you must set braille input and output to eight-dot and you must turn off single-letter Quick Nav. Even with eight-dot braille on, BARD Mobile will display your book or magazine in six-dot braille. You can turn eight-dot braille input on with dots 2-3-6-spacebar. You can turn eight-dot braille output on with 1-2-4-5-spacebar. Both of these can also be set from within braille on the VoiceOver settings menu of your iOS device. The command for toggling single-letter Quick Nav is spacebar with dots 1-2-3-4-5-7.
It may be helpful to think of the Now Reading screen as three distinct sections:
Figure 5 Now Reading Screen (braille)
When the Now Reading screen first appears, the VoiceOver focus is at the top of the screen and the braille display shows the title of the book as the header. You can move through the elements of the screen by using the “flick right” gesture on your device or the “pan braille right” command from a braille display. This will work fine when you are beginning to read a book for the first time. Flicking or panning into the reading window from the top will cause the focus within the book to move to page 1, line 1, for a one-volume book or to the last line of the previous volume for a multi-volume book. If the VoiceOver focus happens to be beyond the reading window and you flick left on your device or pan left with the braille display into the reading window, the focus of the book goes to the last line of the volume for a one-volume book and the first line of the next volume for a multi-volume book.
If you wish to move to the reading window and resume reading at the point where you left off, you may use one of two methods:
Using either of these strategies, once in the book window, you can move from line to line within the book using the “flick left” or “flick right” gestures on your device, or Pan Right or Pan Left keys on the braille display.
If you wish to move out of the reading window to another element on the screen, you will need to use some other gesture other than flicking left/right or panning left/right with the braille display navigation keys. You can touch the screen to move the focus out of the reading window or use one of several screen navigation keys available on the braille display.
Listed below are shortcut keys that can be used from your braille display that includes a braille keyboard or with a Bluetooth keyboard. They are usable from any point on the Now Reading screen when a braille book or magazine is displayed.
Key |
Action |
|
m |
Menu Dots 1-3-4 |
|
Comment |
Cycles through the options available on the Jump By menu. The first press of the Menu key reports the current setting. Subsequent presses cycle through the available options. |
|
p or ' |
Previous element Dots 1-2-3-4 or dot 3 |
|
n or , |
Next element Dots 1-3-4-5 or dot 6 |
|
Comment |
Moves to the previous or next instance of the currently selected menu item. |
|
v |
Volume navigation Dots 1-2-3-6 |
|
Comment |
Moves to the Navigation screen with volume selected. |
|
a |
Page navigation Dot 1 |
|
Comment |
Moves to the Navigation screen with page selected. |
|
w |
Where am I? Dots 2-4-5-6 |
|
Comment |
Displays the volume, page, and line number of the current position in the item. |
|
s |
Search text Dots 2-3-4 |
|
Comment |
Moves the focus to the search box. Text editing is activated and the edit box is ready for text entry. Text must be entered in the same form it would be found in the contracted braille item. The only exception to this is the entry of the dots 4-5-6 character where you need to enter dots 4-5-6-7. |
|
b |
Bookmark Dots 1-2 |
|
Comment |
This has the same function as the Bookmark button on the Now Reading screen. It adds and removes bookmarks. |
|
k |
Bookmark navigation Dots 1-3 |
|
Comment |
Moves to the navigation screen with bookmark selected. |
|
r |
Reading Window Dots 1-2-3-5 |
|
Comment |
Moves the VoiceOver focus to the reading window. |
|
l |
Last reading position Dots 1-2-3 |
|
| Comment | Each time the application is closed while a braille title is being read, the application will store the last reading position. This key will move the focus to the “stored last” reading position. The last reading position is updated each time a new line is displayed in the reading window. | |
| t | Skips to next non-blank line Dots 2-3-4-5 | |
Comment |
When reading a braille book or magazine this key will advance the user to the next line containing text. |
|
To the right of the Now Reading screen’s header is the navigation button.
Figure 6 Navigation Menu in the Now Reading Screen (braille)
When you activate this button, you will have access to the Volume, Page, and Bookmark buttons through which you can navigate the book. These buttons are located directly after the Navigation screen heading. Selecting one of these buttons will cause a list of the selected elements to appear. By default, BARD Mobile lets you navigate by page number, and the Bookmark button contains options to jump to the beginning of the book and the end of the book.
Once you select an item from the list of navigation points, the Navigation screen will close and the selected navigation point will appear in the reading window. To leave the Navigation screen without making a selection, double tap the Navigation button.
Directly below the screen header and the Navigation button is the search box. Double tapping the search field or entering the S shortcut key will put you into edit mode. You will need to type the search term in contracted braille, exactly as it appears in the book. The only exception to this is when you are searching for a dots 4-5-6 character, for which you must enter dots 4-5-6-7.
After entering your term, you can use the touch screen or the braille display to move to the Go button. The VoiceOver focus will be taken to the line of the book on which your search term appears. If your search term was not located, you will hear an ascending tone and the words “no match” will appear on the braille display.
Below the reading window are lines of text indicating the current volume number and the current page and line number. Below these lines and to the right is the Bookmark button. Double tapping this button or entering the B shortcut key will add a bookmark at your current location in the text. To move to a previously set bookmark, you can either open the Navigation screen and select the Bookmark button to display the list of bookmarks, or you can set the menu function to “Bookmark” and use the Next or Previous keys.
To remove a bookmark, navigate to the line of text where the bookmark is located and select the Bookmark button or enter the B shortcut key.
Near the bottom of the screen is a row of three buttons: Previous, Menu, and Next. Double tapping the Menu button will change the amount by which the Next and Previous buttons move. The Menu button can also be activated with the shortcut key M. The Jump By options on the menu are line, page, volume, and bookmark. Once you have performed a search, “jump by search keyword” will also appear on the menu. When you load a new book, the menu jump amount will be set to page by default. After that, BARD Mobile will remember the setting you last used.
To the left of the Menu button is the Previous button, and it is used to move backwards one navigation point to the previous point as selected with the Menu button.
To the right of the Menu button is the Next button, and it is used to move forward one navigation point to the next point as selected with the menu button.
If you wish to have BARD Mobile's audio playback turned off after a specific amount of time, you can do this with your iOS device. In the device's clock application, select the timer tab and then activate the When Timer Ends button. You will be presented with a list of sounds in alphabetical order. Select Stop Playing, which is the last item on the list and is not a sound. After selecting this, you can set the timer for the desired length of time and BARD Mobile's audio playback will stop playing when the time is up. If Siri is active on your device, after Stop Playing is selected, you can use Siri to tell your device "set time for 30 minutes," if you would like.
Books that are stored on your computer can be loaded onto BARD Mobile in using services that allow you to store your files on the cloud and access them from your phone, computer, or the company website. To side load audio items they must be zipped, with each book or magazine zipped as a separate file. You do not have to zip braille books before importing them, but if you do not, BARD Mobile will treat each braille file as a separate book.
Please note that each protected audio item must receive a unique key from BARD in order to play on your mobile device. Audio items that have been side loaded will not play until your mobile device is able to contact BARD.
iTunes and Dropbox are two third-party file sharing applications that can be used to side load titles on BARD Mobile. The following instructions for using these applications have been included here as a courtesy to BARD Mobile users. Their inclusion does not imply that these applications are supported or endorsed by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.
8.6.1.1: Loading Books via Third-Party File Sharing Applications
If you use iTunes 11, you will probably find it easiest to use iTunes file sharing if the sidebar is turned on. Press Control-S in Windows or Command-Option-S on a Mac, as needed, to make the sidebar appear. When your screen reader says “sources tree view,” “hide sidebar,” or a similar announcement you will know the sidebar is on the screen.
- Connect your device to your computer.
- Press F6 in Windows or VO (the Control and Option keys) with Command and T on a Mac until you reach the sidebar, which your screen reader may call the source list. (Note that using VO-Command-T will move you to the next table. Since VoiceOver considers the sidebar to be a table, using the VO command will help you find it quickly.)
- Type the first few letters of your device’s name to move quickly to its listing in the sidebar. The name should be something like “Jack’s iPhone” or “Jill’s iPad.” When you do this, you open a multi-page dialog box controlled by a series of radio buttons, but which act like the tab controls in most multi-page dialog boxes.
- Tab to the Apps radio button, and press Space. Your screen reader should tell you that Apps is selected. This opens the Apps section of the dialog box.
- Tab until you reach the File Sharing Apps table. On a Mac, VO-Command-T will get you there more quickly. In Windows, your screen reader’s Find command may help.
- In Windows, press Down Arrow until you reach BARD Mobile. On a Mac, press VO-Shift-Down Arrow to interact with the table, and then press VO-Down Arrow until you reach BARD Mobile.
- Press Tab until you reach the Add button, and press Space to activate it. A standard Open dialog box will appear.
- Use the Open dialog box to find the zip file you want to add, and press Enter. The file will be added to your device.
- Press F6 in Windows or VO-Command-T on a Mac until you find the sidebar.
- Press the Context key or Shift-F10 in Windows, or press VO-Shift-Down Arrow followed by VO-Shift-M on a Mac to open the context menu.
- Press Down Arrow until you reach the word Eject followed by your device’s name, and press Enter.
- If you receive a warning that syncing is in progress, choose Cancel, and repeat step 11 in a few minutes. If you receive no warning, disconnect your device and open BARD Mobile.
- BARD Mobile will open and will extract the zip file. When the extraction is done, you will hear the same doorbell sound you hear when a download is complete. The reading screen for the book may be open; if it is not, double-tap the Bookshelf tab in the lower left corner of the screen and find your book or magazine in the usual way.
Last updated: 04/21/2016