Henter-Joyce has developed JFW Braille Viewer to provide textual representation on the computer screen of the output received on a refreshable Braille device. The application is designed to simulate a 40-cell Braille display and operates with or without an actual Braille display being present. The main purpose of Braille Viewer is to assist sighted instructors or testers that do not read Braille or may not have access to a Braille display. It helps to demonstrate and confirm the output information JFW sends to these hardware devices.

Braille Viewer is installed from the BrlView directory on the JFW 3.5 CD ROM. The actual location on the CD-ROM is as follows: D: (or other CD ROM location) \JFW35\BrlView. It can then be executed from the JFW 3.5 program group after JFW is operating. When launched, an application desktop toolbar appears at the top of the screen and displays two lines. The top line contains a button labeled Braille Keys and an Edit field that displays in text form exactly what is being sent to the cells of a Braille device. Pressing the Braille Keys button reveals a list of options commonly performed by pressing Braille keys on a Braille display, such as Pan Right or Pan Left. The second line contains an Exit button and a status line that displays modes (line, structured, or speech box) and other significant information. The toolbar can be moved to the top or the bottom of the screen, but is designed so that it cannot be hidden or covered by other windows.

JFW must be operating to run Braille Viewer. Braille Viewer unloads when JAWS is unloaded.

When using the JFW Braille Viewer without an actual Braille display, before using the Braille Keys BraillePanRight or BraillePanLeft you must select BrailleMovesActive. If you do not do this you will notice that your position will not change and that BraillePanRight or BraillePanLeft no longer works.

JFW Braille Viewer does not appear on the taskbar, but is displayed in the system tray. To access the system tray icons without using a mouse use INSERT+F11.