Tutorial download
Visually impaired players may download the guide here in doc. format.
It can also be found below.
Importantce of Blind mode
There are over 250 million people with vision impairment in the world, and over 1.1 billion with near-vision impairment. Chess players with low vision can find it difficult to play online chess.
A screen reader is a form of assistive technology that renders text or image as speech or braille output. Screen readers are essential to people who are blind, and are useful to people who are visually impaired, illiterate, or have a learning disability.
Blind mode feature which displays game as text makes Tornelo compatible with screen-reader technology, allowing visually impaired players to participate in your Events.
Blind mode can be turned on and off during a game if needed. When it is turned on the game will look like this:
Full Tutorial
Before the game begins:
To access the blind mode, go to your tournament link and click on your name at the top right of the screen. A drop-down menu opens up where you should select “Game preferences”. There, you should tick the box “Display games as text”.
During the game:
There will be sounds to indicate when the game has started and when your opponent has made a move.
Here is how the opponent’s pieces will be announced:
White pieces
Pawns: alfa 2, bravo 2, charlie 2, delta 2, echo 2, foxtrot 2, golf 2, hotel 2.
Knights: bravo 1, golf 1.
Bishops: charlie 1, foxtrot 1.
Rooks: alfa 1, hotel 1.
Queen: delta 1.
King: echo 1.
Black pieces
Pawns: alfa 7, bravo 7, charlie 7, delta 7, echo 7, foxtrot 7, golf 7, hotel 7.
Knights: bravo 8, golf 8.
Bishops: charlie 8, foxtrot 8.
Rooks: alfa 8, hotel 8.
Queen: delta 8.
King: echo 8.
When it is you turn, you can type your move into the form using standard algebraic notation, for example “Nf3 or e5 or Qxd5” (remember to use capital letters for the pieces). For pawn promotion, you can write a8=Q or a8Q.
A list of commands is available to help you perform different tasks. Type these commands into the move form.
/resign or /r: Resign the game.
/draw or /d: Offer or accept a draw.
/undo or /u: Offer or accept a takeback.
/last or /l: Read last move.
/clocks or /c: Read both player’s clocks.
/my or /m: Read my clock.
/turn or /t: The color of the player to move.
/rooks or rooks: Read the positions of all rooks on the board.
/bishops or bishops: Read the positions of all bishops on the board.
/knights or knights: Read the positions of all knights on the board.
/pawns or pawns: Read the positions of all pawns on the board.
/kings or kings: Read the positions of all kings on the board.
/queens or queens: Read the positions of all queens on the board.
A confirmation is needed when offering or accepting a draw and when resigning a game.
Please be careful to not click on “Return to game board” during the game. In case you do, you will be directed back to “non-blind mode” and you will have to go again to “Game preferences” to tick the box “Display games as text”.
As a final remark, we strongly suggest that you use NVDA as your screen reader. We have tried Tornelo with JAWS and it is not fully compatible, at least not yet, so we advise against using it.
We wish you a pleasant experience and are always available to help you, when needed.
