Express Activity 1: Setting Up and Getting to Know Your Monarch

Expanded Core Curriculum Mastering the Monarch
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I was very surprised and impressed by the interactive startup tutorial as it was the first I have come across that is interactive and walks you through it. I did not know what to expect with a multi line display and navigation, the focus indicator was a surprise, especially since it has 9 dots (larger than a full cell), but it quickly became very natural. I like that there are some commands similar to old braille tech, but also a new take on some navigation, rethinking the traditional chord shortcuts could lead to increased productivity.

I am still getting used to some of the menu’s behavior. Selecting the voice was a bit cumbersome since you had to download a voice fully before hearing it (at least that I could tell) and in the list of voices I kept finding myself wanting to have a context menu to select or delete voices, but the only option was to replace with another voice.

I am excited about the modern network connectivity. As a user of older braille technology, I was hesitant when devices started integrating with Android. But for creating and sharing files, connectivity is vital nowadays. And having trialed a Hims Braille Sense that also had the Android tablet settings this is very similar, and it does work better than I imagined. I am used to fighting with a display as a peripheral which makes it very easy to want to go back to using the main device for more fluidity. But with integration with the device as one unit it is the only option and feels more natural. (but maybe that is because I use older devices)

My priorities for features to explore first would be the tactile graphics, chess, and general file manager behavior to compare with other devices.

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My first impression while setting up the Monarch was how familiar the process felt, yet how different the device itself seemed from the single-line displays I’ve used for years. The initial setup—connecting to Wi-Fi, updating, and setting preferences—was straightforward, but what stood out right away was how much more interactive the device felt. It wasn’t overwhelming, but it definitely gave the sense that I was working with a true tablet for braille, not just a display.

In terms of expectations, I see the Monarch opening up new opportunities for my students and clients. Whether it’s learning how to draft professional documents, navigate complex data, or explore tactile graphics, the device offers a broader range of skills that directly connect to employment and daily life. I expect it will make a big difference in digital literacy, especially for clients preparing for competitive integrated employment where efficiency and confidence with technology really matter.

My priorities for exploration are the Braille Editor and the Tactile Viewer. I am eager to explore the devices ability to create, read, edit and just overall navigate Excel spreadsheets for adult clients. For my high school/college students I think it will be all about tactile graphics, accessible scientific calculations (plots and graphs) and being able to work with multiline mathematical and computer programming code.

Overall, my first experience with the Monarch confirmed that it’s more than an incremental upgrade. It feels like a device that can genuinely change how braille users access, produce, and share information in education, work, and daily life.

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My First Impressions:

I tend to approach new technology with curiosity, preferring to explore devices hands-on rather than following a manual. With that mindset, I was excited to unbox and set up the Monarch. From the moment I unpacked it and placed it on my desk, I was eager to examine every detail—buttons, ports, textures, and more. When I located the power button and turned it on, I was amazed by the butterfly shape that appeared on the tactile display.

Immediately, my thoughts leapt to the future—imagining blind children accessing books with both text and tactile graphics at their fingertips. It felt like a whole new world opening up for them, offering near-instant access to knowledge in subjects like math, science, and astronomy—alongside their sighted peers.

As a device developed by HumanWare, the Monarch’s interface felt somewhat familiar. Navigating through menus was intuitive, and I found it easy to move forward, backward, and access different settings. What impressed me most was being able to read 10 lines of braille at once. When I discovered that pressing the “plus” sign increased the spacing between lines, I immediately thought of students who struggle with reading closely spaced braille. Reducing the number of lines to six could significantly improve their reading experience and learning outcomes.

I also explored the built-in tutorial and found it to be a great starting point, especially for students who already know braille. It provides an accessible introduction to the Monarch’s features and functions.

Overall, I see the Monarch as a powerful tool—one that breaks down barriers that previously made accessing braille books and educational resources more difficult. I’m particularly excited about the math features and even the potential for interactive applications like playing chess.

The next area I plan to explore is tactile graphics. I want to experience what it’s like to identify shapes and images through touch. I admit that I often benefit from prompts or contextual clues to fully understand a graphic, but I look forward to developing that skill. I’ll be sure to share more as I dive into this next part of the journey.

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When I received the Monarch, I explored it together with my students. These were my first impressions, as well as theirs:

  1. Size and weight: “This is huge! How am I going to bring this around?” Well maybe you can just put it in your math classroom and it can stay there. “That’s only if (name of teacher) will lock it up for me…last time they wouldn’t even let me keep my laptop in the room because they said they didn’t have a place to lock it up!” As a TVI, I can see how this device is also hard to fit on students’ desks without feeling “isolated” to a larger desk.
  2. Internet: "So basically this is a huge iPad for the blind?” Once we realized that we needed to use computer braille, it wasn’t a big issue getting connected. My students asked why some devices only took computer braille and others only took UEB. They thought it was awesome that they could search anything on Google.
  3. Language settings: “But I don’t want to read contractions!” That’s what they said when I asked them to toggle between Grade 1 and Grade 2. When it didn’t work, they were very happy. In the end, we still couldn’t figure out why the toggle didn’t work.
  4. Braille Reading: “This is so cool!” They loved that they could adjust the line spacing and that there was an audio feature that could read out the text to them if they wanted it.
  5. Tactile Viewer: “Wow! But what is this?” For math, the graphs turned out pretty well. My students and I both really liked it. But when they did the startup guide and felt the butterflies, they didn’t realize that they were butterflies. My students had some trouble interpreting the images and some still preferred alternate text, saying that alt text was “clearer and easier to understand.”
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So I am using the monarch in a professional employment capacity. I will not be using it with other students or other individuals. I do find it quite cumbersome compared to other refresh braille devices. I know that it is essentially an android tablet with many exciting extras, but I’m still surprised at how heavy it is. I am looking forward to the tactile viewer and I’ve already been utilising the file managerand look forward to doing some of the editing that thanks to the training modules. I know is possible and that is not always an option with other refresh braille devices.

And look forward to doing some of the editing that thanks to the training modules I know as possible and that is not always an option with other refresh braille devices.

It does take some getting used to. I’ve been using refresh braille displays for years but they’re all different. Thankfully a lot of the Humanware commands are reflected in this device and that is a company I generally go with so I’m familiar with the Commands

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Good morning. I know, I’m way late on respnding to all of this but it has been a busy summer, but I will definitely be glad to give some general insights and first impressions on the unit, and a bit of history as well.On initial unboxing, I had recently had a chance, in the last year, to get my hands on a unit owned by the local school system so I was a bit familiar with the Monarch. With that being said, setup was simple, and in line with other braille displays and especially humanware braille displays and notetakers, like the Braille Note Touch Plus. I previously used one of those for quite a while with work so configuration was a breeze. I was able to get connected easily and loved the tutorial launching at the start to give you a feel for he unit, and all its capabilities. I thought that was a nice touch, and it helped me get comfortable with a few of the key features of the unit right off. I work with the Regional Library for the Blind here in Alabama, and have a rather extensive tech background from working with this stuff over the years, and right out of the box, from pwoering it on, to setup was very straightforward.

The only issue I have and you will hear me echo this a lot, is, the size. With a unit so powerful, and so intuitive, and phenomenal, in all it’s excellence, it is a bit large. From the weight, to sheer overall size, I’m used to using other braille displays hat are a lot more portable than the Monarch is. While I agree that multi-line is revolutionary,in my mind, it could be accomplished with a thinner tablet, and less weight. As my son put it, “it looks like a video gamer’s laptop.” But, outside of that, the ease of use for the unit, is awesome and I get excited every time I use it. I anticipate working with students on the general overall setup, and incorporation into their class corriculum, and ease of use with other APH certified things, within the classroom to make their classroom time more accessible. I have to say, being in school in the 80s, and early 90s, I wish I had this technology back then, and having things moreaccessible, from books, to math, maps, etc. graphics, all of that, would have been a huge gamechanger for me. Iam excited to explore more,the reading features, since I am a librarian, and participate in numerous book clubs, and I’m also a reader Advisor, I deal a lot with literary texts, and books, and I can’t wait to dive even further into the unit. On initial working, I’ve set up and been using Bookshare but would hope to see other book services included eventually, most notably being Nls Bard, from the National Library Sevice, and maybe further down the lineother commercial third party options as well, Kobo, Kindle, etc. but, I know that will come with other company acceptance of the API, but I’m exicted for all the possibilities this unit ofers right from the start.

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Reflections on Setting Up and Learning the Monarch

Setting up the Monarch was by far the easiest experience I’ve had with any new device—especially after going through the Quick Start tutorial. I enjoyed that experience so much that I’ve encouraged several other blind AT users to try it for themselves.

I really appreciate that, unlike most tutorials, this one requires the learner to complete each learning task before moving forward—no exceptions. That design ensures real engagement and builds confidence from the start.

I also respect the developers’ commitment to consistent menu structures across the operating system and all applications. My biggest challenge at first was that I tended to overcomplicate navigation whenever I couldn’t find something. I eventually realized that the Monarch was intentionally designed to make navigation simple and intuitive.

One feature that truly impressed me is the touch display cursor functionality. Being able to locate exactly where I need the cursor and move it instantly makes navigation far more efficient for Braille users.

I believe the Monarch and its many features offer tremendous opportunities for both students and professionals to increase their efficiency and effectiveness. The ability to access more than a single line of Braille dramatically expands what we can explore and understand. Additionally, having access to tactile graphics—something we once lacked entirely—will enable us to participate more fully in areas that have traditionally been visual-only.

Of course, it will take practice. Just as learning Braille was a process, learning to interpret tactile graphics will also require touching, feeling, working, and making meaning. The time and effort invested will ultimately lead to greater proficiency and capability for tactile graphic users.

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My first impressions of was excitement and intimidation, but that quickly went away. I was surprised how easy it was to navigate everything. I had no idea on the spacing preference and how easy that was to change, which is nice when I’m having a bad neuropathy day.

I can see this being very beneficial to navigate websites quickly and be able to have a special awareness of images. I can see it helping so much more with graphs, excel sheets, etc. I can see any braille user use this, most importantly I wouldn’t consider myself a expert braille display user but this was amazing.

I want to explore the Microsoft tools because I feel that is beneficial for both my high schoolers, college students, and adults. I am also interested in the math area. I think it will help them the most with accessing documents quicker than they have before.

I’ve had an apex, edge, and now use the mantis. I feel like the Monarch is beyond what all of those can do, especially when you consider the ability to connect to a screen and I have already shared with TVI, teachers, and paraprofessionals how great this is.

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Hi, Yes I agree that it is cumbersome. I tried to put it in my huge backpack and it still didn’t fit with everything. It is sturdy though. Not sure which I would prefer.

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I liked your comments. Yes that does make sense with the external drives. i didn’t think of that. I think we all are the most excited about the tactile viewer. I found it to be an easy setup and fun. I wish I would of have clients with me to get their impressions.

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Way to go Sarah! I was jumping for joy when I saw yor posts come thorugh. I’m glad that intimidation has been replaced with ease: was there anything that especially helped you push through? Proud of you!

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Hello,

Yeah, I just have to go through and do the activities, I’m almost done with the modules. Well, the getting logged in helped lol/I guess I had never signed up but it told me I was logged in etc. LOL so I was confused why I could never get in. I did more on Monday, so I just need complete the activities. I would say I’m in Step 3 (except the activities/questionaries) I do have a questions so let me know who I should sent that to. It’s regarding a braille cell (sometimes not working, sometimes cell 4-6 of the first row).

Thanks for being patient with me!

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For technical assistance with Monarch, please contact our Monarch support team at monarchsupport@aph.org or (833) 447-8444. They can support troubleshooting of that cell.