Updating Your BARD Settings

This is from an instructional email that went out to BARD Support listserv members. If you are interesting in subscribing to this listserv, please email your request to: NLSDownload@loc.gov.

In our ongoing series on tips for using BARD, we now look at a specific set of tools that allows you to make changes to your account. The link to these tools is labeled, "Update account settings." You can tab to the link, jump by headings, or use your screen reader's search function to search for the word, "account." This link is a level 3 heading.

When you hit Enter on the link, the new page provides ten links, one combo box, and no headings, so this is a simple but powerful page. The most important links are labeled as Follows:

Change your password
Change your e-mail address
Add a purchased player
Maximum number of books to be displayed on one page:
250

We'll start with the "Change Your Password" link. This is a catch 22 problem. If you already have a working password, you can log in and get to this link. However, if you can't log in, you can't change your password with this link. The only time you might use this method for changing a password is if you suspect that the privacy of the password has been compromised. If you do proceed to change your password, you will be sent a new temporary password. Then you'll have to log in again and create a totally new password. So, the saying, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it" applies here. Remember, if you haven't forgotten your password, there's never a need to change it.

A more commonly used link is "Change your e-mail address." There aren't too many people who go through life with one e-mail address. Maybe you move, or your Internet service provider changes, so it's time to register a new e-mail address.

First, open this link.
You'll be asked to enter the new e-mail address twice. You do not have to supply your old one. You next come to a button saying, "change e-mail address." Hit Enter on the button, and your e-mail address is changed.

Now there is a surprise that we think some people miss. This is a case where you must read everything. Here's the message you receive after the e-mail address has been changed:

"SUCCESS - Change your BARD user ID and e-mail address
You have successfully changed your e-mail address.
You will need to use your new e-mail address to login. For security purposes, a new password has been sent to that e-mail address. You will need to use this password to login. That is a temporary password so you will need to go through the steps of creating a new permanent one."

We believe that when some people receive an e-mail saying their password has been changed, they probably don't bother to read the rest of the e-mail. However, in that e-mail is a new temporary password that must be used for the next login.

Now life goes on and your happily reading books on the large digital player from your library, but keep hearing about new players that can fit easily in a purse or pocket. To find out what players are available, visit http://www.loc.gov/nls/reference/compatible_players.html

You do your research and decide to buy. But you discover that the new $300 plus machine won't play NLS books. What is wrong? The machine needs to receive an authorization "key."
This process is started by your activating the "Add a purchased player" link.

At the top of the new page, you are asked to enter your name and address. This is to verify that you are who you say you are and that you are registered with NLS. One note here: this is why you should always keep your local library for the blind informed of any changes in your contact information. In many cases, this information will already be filled in for you.

Now comes a somewhat more complicated section. You'll find a list of NLS-approved players.
Below the name of each player is a number, generally a zero. This represents the player or players you've already registered. The zero simply means you've never registered that type of player.

Next is a combo box that also has a zero in it. If the combo box is under the name of your new player, press Alt-Down Arrow to open the combo box and change the zero to one; otherwise, leave it alone.

Now move down to the Submit button, hit Enter, and you're done.

The process that follows is this. First, someone at your library will see the request and verify that you are a registered NLS member. Next, the library sends a message to the vendor of your player who in turn will contact you to get your specific player's serial number. Once you reply with that information, the vendor will send you a small file that is the authorization key for your specific player. The same e-mail will also include instructions on how to proceed. It may seem a little cumbersome, but you only have to go through this once.

Back on the "Update account settings" page, the next item is the "Maximum number of books to be displayed on one page" combo box. The default number is 250 books per page. You can adjust this number from 25 to 10,000. We have found that people using screen enlargement programs seem to have a much easier time reading the screens if the number is cut back to 25 or 50. If you use a screen reader, however, you might prefer to display a larger number so that you can use its searching capability to search the page for the book you want. Experiment to figure out what setting suits you.

Finally, when you first registered a permanent password, you were asked to supply a security question and answer. This is optional, but if you do forget your password and want to set a new one from the login screen, you'll be asked for the question and answer.

About two or three times a week, we are told that a person's secret answer doesn't work. The key to creating a perfect answer is to use a question that has an answer that can only be written one way. Even names can trip you up if you don't remember whether you capitalized the first letter.

And there you have the "Update account settings" section of the BARD site. We hope that you found this information helpful.

Enjoy your downloads.