Math Flash Android User Guide¶

Welcome to Math Flash. Math Flash is a fun, motivating basic math training program. It is a self-voicing application that helps sharpen your math skills through practice and drills. It uses high-quality digitized speech with fun responses to help make learning basic math skills enjoyable.

Getting Started¶

Math Flash is a self-voicing application. If you are a blind or visually-impaired person you can use a screen-reader such as TalkBack for Android. You may have to download the Accessibility Suite for Android to get TalkBack.

First, the user will press the Start button on the title page. When Math Flash begins, the self-voicing will announce the equation to be solved. In Portrait Mode, the equation is at the top of the screen and the answer field is below it. Below the equation and answer field is the keypad used to type the answer. In Landscape Mode, the equation and the answer field below it are on the left side of the screen and the keypad is on the right side of the screen.

• The Minus button (-), which is used to enter negative numbers when needed
• The Remainder button (REM) for division problems that contain a remainder in the answer.
• The Clear button (CLR), which is used to clear the entire answer.
• The keypad of numbers going from 1 through 9 and then 0.
• The Enter button (Enter), is pressed when the user is ready to submit the answer.
• The Delete button (DEL), is pressed when the user wants to delete one digit at a time.

At the very top of the screen is the Title Header. On the left side is the Navigation Drawer. Next to it is the title of the screen the user is on. On the right side is the Settings Icon which looks like a gear. When the icon is pressed or tapped, it will take the user directly to Settings. Settings can also be accessed by using the Navigation Drawer.

• The Home button will take the user back to the Home screen.
• The Help button will send the user to the app's user guide.
• The Settings button is where you can change the criteria of the equations. Settings can also be accessed by pressing the Settings Icon in the upper right corner of the header on the Home screen.
• In the Settings, the user can make changes in Operations, Number Range, Mode, and Drills.
  • For Operations, this is where changes can be made to the equations, by changing the type of equations. The types of changes are Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division. All of them can be checked off or just one type. It is noted that at least one operation must be enabled. It is also recommended that Addition and Subtraction be grouped together and Multiplication and Division be grouped together
  • In Operations, the user can choose to allow or not allow remainders in Division equations.
  • Also in Operations, the user can choose to allow or not allow a number to be divided by 1, like 5/1, and for a number to by divided by itself, like 5/5.
  • In Number Range, the user can set a range of numbers the application can use, such as 1 through 10 or 1 through 100. Negative numbers can be used as well. So there can be a range such as -20 through 20 or even -50 through -1. The app will use any numbers in that range to make an equation to solve. The largest range a user can do is from -9999 through 9999.
  • There is also a place to change the Number of Tries before the app goes to a new question. The lowest amount of tries is 1 and the highest is 99.
  • The user can change how often an equation repeats itself in a practice or a drill in Number Range. To disable Repeat time enter 0.
  • Mode enables the user to change from Practice to Drill.
  • When in Drill, the number of problems in the Drill can be changed and the amount of time to complete the Drill in minutes can be changed. The user can enter 0 for no time limit.
• In the Navigation Drawer under Communicate, there are some other buttons.
• The Send Feedback button allows the user the opportunity to send an email back to customer service about any issues they might have with the app.
• The About button gives the title of the app, version number, the copyright date, and company name for the app. The company name is American Printing House for the Blind. Also available in the About is the company website and the company's privacy policy.
• The Rate App button lets the user rate the app, explaining any likes or dislikes.

Using the App¶

The user presses the Start button on the Math Flash Title page and the app opens to the Home screen which contains the equation. The self-voicing will announce the equation upon starting the Home screen. The equation has an open answer field to type in the answer needed. The user can wait a moment and self-voicing will announce the equation again. If the user wants the equation announced immediately, there is a Repeat button that can be tapped or pressed. In Portrait mode, it is in the upper right corner of the Home screen below the header. In Landscape Mode, the Repeat button is just below the header, about center and next to the "1" button on the keypad. If the user has a hardware keyboard, the Spacebar can serve as the Repeat button, too. The user can also make the equation larger on the screen by tapping once on the equation. The equation will appear in a separate screen that is visible in Landscape Mode only. The equation will not be announced with self-voicing when it appears in this larger mode. To get back to solving the problem, the user will have to back out of large screen mode by tapping once on the equation again. It is the user's job to enter the answer in the blank answer field. Use the keypad to enter the answer. Once you type the answer in the answer field, press the Enter button at the bottom right of the keypad. If the answer is correct, you will hear a positive sound like a dinging of bells and the self-voicing will speak a complimentary, funny saying like, "Way to Go!" or "Wow!" or "That Rocks!" After that is said, the self-voicing speaks the next equation. If the answer is incorrect, a negative raspberry sound will be made along with a disapproving but funny saying such as, "Bummer" or "Get a grip" or "Sorry Charlie." There are approximately 80 positive sayings and over 70 negative sayings that are spoken.

PRACTICE MODE

When in Practice Mode, the equations to solve could be Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, or a combination of the four. The user can answer the equation by pressing the buttons on the keypad and it will show up in the answer field. If the user is satisfied with the answer, they can press the Enter button. If the user is not satisfied with the answer and wants to change it, they can press the CLR button which stands for "Clear." This button will clear the entire answer. If they want to delete one number, press the DEL button which is for "Delete." It will clear one number at a time so you don't have to type the whole number again. The Negative or Minus button may be used when the answer requires a negative number. If you change the number range to use negative numbers, the equations could have negative numbers in them, thus needing a negative numerical answer. Here is an example of an equation requiring a negative number as its answer: 3 + (-5) =. The answer would be -2. The REM button which is used for remainders is for division equations only. In Settings, in the Operations section, Division and Remainders would both have to be checked off. Here is an example of an equation requiring a remainder in it's answer. 8/5 =. The number 5 goes into the number 8 one time with 3 remaining. So the answer would be 1r3.

When solving the problems in Practice Mode, the self-voicing will announce the equation to be solved. The app will repeat an equation determined by what was entered in Repeat Time. To disable equations from repeating , enter 0. If a repeat time is entered, it will continue to announce the equation until an answer is put into the answer field. If the answer is correct, the self-voicing will let you know. If it is incorrect, the self-voicing will let you know as well. Then self-voicing will immediately repeat the equation. The user has whatever number of tries to answer the problem as what was entered in the Number Range in settings. Once the tries have been exhausted, a new equation will be presented and self-voicing will announce that equation. Also, the larger the number range, the harder the problems can be.

DRILL MODE

When Drill Mode is activated, it operates almost the same as Practice Mode except for a couple of differences. In Settings, with Drill checked off, there are options to choose from. First, the user can set how many problems to answer. Next, the Drill Time can be set so that the user has a set amount of time to answer the problems. The time is set in minutes such as 1, 2 or 3 and so on. For no time limit, set to 0. Each problem will be answered by typing on the keypad and pressing Enter. All the keypad functions are the same as in Practice Mode. The self-voicing will let you know if the problem is correct or if the problem is not correct. The amount of tries can be set as well, giving you a chance to answer correctly and move on to the next problem, or it can be set for one chance and then it moves on to the next problem. If you finish answering the problems before time runs out, a screen comes up that says how many problems were answered correctly out of the set amount. Also, if you beat the set time it says how fast you did it. Press the OK button at the bottom of the slide and it takes you back to the Drill again. If you run out of time, a slide comes up that says, "Time is up." Press the Continue button at the bottom of the slide and another slide comes up telling you how many you answered correctly out of the set amount in the time that was set. Press the OK button at the bottom of the slide and it goes back to another Drill.

Addendum¶

Using a BrailleSense 6 Device

When using a BrailleSense 6, be aware that Math Flash is set up to ignore invalid characters in edit fields, such as the letter A. It does not actually get accepted by the edit field and acts like nothing was typed in the edit field. The BrailleSense 6 does show an invalid answer in its pre-editor. If you use a hardware keyboard, such characters are not actually entered. To enter valid characters as answers, press Space-Enter when on the edit field and type the answer. Press Enter to submit the answer. Once Space-Enter is pressed, you may continue to enter subsequent answers without using Space-Enter again until you move away from the edit field.

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