Patent ID: 7336256

Claim:
A method for conveying the importance of display screen data, comprising the steps of: identifying a data element selected by a user on a visual display screen; determining the importance of the identified data element; and providing an audible indicator to convey the importance of the identified data element to the users; wherein the audible indicator is selected from the set of audible indicators that consists of an audio tone whose pitch varies in dependence upon the importance of the identified data element, a periodic train of audible clicks with a period that varies in dependence upon the importance of the identified data element, an audio signal that varies between a plurality of audible tones at a rate that depends upon the importance of the identified data element, and an audio signal that varies between two audible tones at a rate that depends upon the importance of the identified data element wherein one of the two tones is essentially silent and the other is not, so as to convey a periodic train of audible beeps to the user with a period that varies in dependence upon the importance of the data element.