I’ve tried to work more with the built-in internet browser Ecosia. Below is some feedback.
It’s very reliable about jumping to elements like headings, links, lists combo boxes, edit boxes. I find that extremely handy. It would be handy to have a setting that when one jumped to the next or previous of a specified element, the result would appear in the middle at the top or bottom of the Braille display. This would enable more effective reading of surrounding context, and the user would choose which they preferred. The user would simply press Space with O and instead of getting general options, they’d get options specific to Ecosia.
The Monarch always says “computer Braille is required” in an edit box where it isn’t always actually required. The user guide has two confusing sentences as well:
>Anytime you are typing content in Ecosia, you must use Computer Braille.
Note: if you are using any UEB English Braille tables, computer Braille is not required when >typing in Ecosia.
Which one of these sentences is true? I found when logging in to various sites I had to use computer Braille with my password and UEB with my user name. I did not have to switch grades; it switched automatically based on the field I was in. The documentation should clarify this.
Ecocia is still flaky. Often when I enter a search term in the plant trees" edit box, and press Enter it just clicks away and nothing happens. Entering the same search in Chrome on a cheap (under $100 android phone running talckback using the same wi-fi connection) works.
If I am in an edit box on a web page, I get help not for editing but for navigating the page. So the context is slightly off.
The Ecosia home page links to many popular sites, but I’m unsure that a Monarch user can benefit from Instagram or Youtube. I could not get it to play any videos on Youtube, though it would play Mp4 videos (at least their audio) from other pages like CNN or Freedom Scientific training. It’s a little strange that an MP3 on a web page plays fine, but an Mp3 pulled up with the file manager will not play; says it’s an unsupported file type.
Maybe a more customized home page should open when the user chooses to go to the home page. Ideally like other browsers, a teacher could set up a home page for a student to always return to.
Also the default Ecosia home page is going to lead to adult content, and if Monarch is being marketed to elementary school pupils, a kid-safe page might be more appropriate.
I’ve also had trouble getting Ecosia to open links I have stored elsewhere. Problem: I’ve been browsing the web on my computer and what to read some of those pages with the Monarch using its internet browser.
I’ve tried emailing myself the links. But I cannot “click” on them in KeyMail.
I’ve tried saving them to a text file, opening it in Keyword and selecting a link and copying it to the clipboard.
But the Monarch won’t copy and paste between apps.
I tried opening the text file in Ecosia then finding the link I needed, selecting it with Enter-s at the beginning and end of the link. Then I went to the address bar with Enter-O and in the edit box I did backspace-Y. But that copies spoken text, not selected text. Plus punctuation is converted to words so the - becomes “dash” the . becomes “period”. There appears to be no way a teacher or colleague can send some links to a Monarch user and have them easily open in Ecosia.
I’m not sure why copying spoken text rather than selected text in Ecosia would be what anyone would want to do.
For example, I’m now viewing a recipe for my air fryer. I’d like to select it, copy it to Keyword and emboss it on throw-away paper. After I cook the recipe, the page will be sticky and I’ll simply trash it. I certainly won’t want the Monarch anywhere near my kitchen.
I also have not yet figured out how to email a link to someone, for example if I was doing a homework assignment and needed to cite sources, or I wanted to share that recipe with a friend.
Being able to open a graphic in the tactile viewer is really cool, especially when viewing small images like logos. The default for image descriptions is off, but turning it on helped me make sense of the image. This switch is under “customize and control google chrome”, Settings/accessibility.
I was able to use google classroom after logging in to my profile and even play embedded videos and look at PDF files in a class I help to teach as a volunteer; I logged in as a student so I could get that experience. The navigation was a bit clumsy but quite doable.
I also explored the Ecosia settings but when I went to Homepage there were simply check boxes, no way that I could fine to enter a page I’d like to become my homepage. At work my employer’s page is my home page and at home the advanced google search is my home page on my computers. I could not figure out how to change the address of the home page on this browser.
The Ecosia password manager is very easy to use. I have several very long passwords in my job and it was easy to save, use and later review them.
It still is a thrill to be able to read web pages with multi-line Braille, though using the Braille terminal to do it with a computer is more flexible. For example skipping past repeated links at the top of pages is tedious if there is no “skip to main content” link. Screen readers have a keystroke to go to the main landmark or move past links to text that is 50 characers or longer.
I was very successfull using the Libby App, a web-based app for reading or listening to library audio books and ebooks. (www.libbyapp.com) which worked perfectly with Ecosia. Though I couldn’t get Youtube videos to play, the helpful videos on the libby site, which linked to Youtube did play fine after I got an error “unable to play media” then I hit play and they all did.
However if I tried to open a PDF, even one I could read fine with a screen reader, the page images were all that loaded.
I had a lot of fun though looking through public library databases such as encyclopedias, newspaper articles and online ebooks that were text-based. The bookshare online reader for example works quite well in Ecosia and so do reviews and descriptions through Libby.Unlike with using a screen reader on a computer, the formatting for recipes and poetry seems to be accurately retained.
I think this is probably arleady a longer post than necessary so I will stop for today.