User Manual


The manual is available in following formats:



Screencasts


Step 1: Installing odt2braille MOV AVI WMV YouTube
Step 2: Loading a template MOV AVI WMV YouTube
Step 3: Using BANA formatting MOV AVI WMV YouTube
Step 4: Using custom formatting MOV AVI WMV YouTube
Step 5: Exporting to a Braille file MOV AVI WMV YouTube
Step 6: Embossing MOV AVI WMV YouTube

FAQ


Q:I'm trying to install odt2braille, but I get an error saying "Could not create Java implementation loader."

A:This is an issue a lot people come across. It happens during the installation of other extensions too. We are not sure what is causing this problem. Until we find a real solution, it might we worth trying LibreOfficePortable. LibreOfficePortable is a repackaged version of LibreOffice that is designed to run directly from USB drives, allowing the end user to run the program on any Windows computer. You can install odt2braille once and use it anywhere. Of course you can also put it on your computer's internal hard drive.

Q:The OpenOffice.org extension manager complains about a .dll file. The error message contains the string "cannot get symbol: component_getImplementationEnvironment- nor"

A:Probably, this happened because you downloaded odt2braille with Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer has the annoying habit to save an OpenOffice.org extension as a .zip file, instead of an .oxt file. Try renaming the .zip back to .oxt, that should solve the problem.

Q:I installed the odt2braille plugin and fonts. But for some reason, there is nothing to see in the preview window, just squares.

A:Try installing the fonts again after the plugin has been installed.


Accessibility of OpenOffice.org


OpenOffice.org is poorly accessible with traditional screen readers on Windows. Accessing OpenOffice.org with the newer screen reader NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) appears to work better. Mac OS users can access OpenOffice.org with VoiceOver; Linux users can access it with Orca.


User Forum, Bugs & Feature Requests


If some questions remain unanswered after studying the manual, we'll be happy to answer them on the user forum. If you have good idea's or suggestions for improving odt2braille, please share them on the forum as well.

odt2braille development is still in the beta phase, so it is quite possible that the program contains bugs. If you tried to use odt2braille but ran into a problem, please submit a bug to our bug tracking system. You can also use this system to request new features. Please go through the list of already submitted tickets before creating a new one. It may also be useful to take a look at the issue trackers of Braille Utils, liblouis and liblouisxml.



Papers, Presentations


World Congress Braille21 – Innovations in Braille in the 21st Century (September 2011):