Why is the keyboard showing in English when I'm using Chinese or Japanese Communicator 5?

marzo 28, 2017

Most keyboards in Communicator 5 can be changed to a different language easily in Keyboard Settings.  Changing the language to Chinese or Japanese involves one additional step.

If you need to use a Chinese or Japanese Keyboard in Communicator 5 you must first change the Language setting in Windows. If the additional language was already added to Windows, please skip to the seventh step below.  *Please understand that some of these instructions may become inaccurate as Windows regularly updates.  

  1. Starting from the Windows desktop, click on the Windows button and select the Settings button (which looks like a gear).
  2. Select Time & language
  3. Choose Region & language
  4. Select Add a language
  5. Select the Chinese or Japanese dialect you wish to use.
  6. Close the Settings window.
  7. You should now see the letters ENG next to the time and date in the system tray on the Windows Taskbar. Select ENG and from the menu that appears select the language of the keyboard you need to use in Communicator.

    Change Windows Language

  8. For Japanese only, you will see an A in the system tray near the time and date.  Select the A and it will change to a Japanese character.

    A button

    Japanese Character button

  9. Open Communicator and select the third button on the left side of the device or hit Ctrl+M on your keyboard to open the Quick Menu
  10. Select Advanced Settings
  11. Choose the Keyboards & Language tab then choose Keyboard Settings
  12. Select the Language & Prediction tab.
  13. Under Keyboard Language select the language of the keyboard you wish to use.  Select OK
  14. Leave Advanced Settings and open your keyboard.  The Chinese/Japanese characters will not appear in the message window until after hitting space or ending the sentence.  Words should be spelled phonetically when typing.
A few extra notes... In order for the Chinese or Japanese to speak, a Chinese/Japanese voice needs to be installed.  The English voices will not speak Chinese or Japanese.  Tobii Dynavox does not sell a Chinese or Japanese voice however the NeoSpeech voices are recommended.  Google Neospeech for more information.
Also, for Japanese a button can be added to the keyboard in place of step 8 above.  To do so...
  1. Add a button
  2. Right click the button and choose Smart Button Type...
  3. Choose the IME tab.  (You may need to add the tab under the Choose Feature Tabs... button)
  4. Select IME on/off
  5. Choose OK
  6. Save the pageset and be sure to make this new pageset your default pageset under Keyboard Settings.