In an 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. In this case, the important links are labeled as follows:

Change your password
Change your e-mail address

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.

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 information on how to change a password and email address in the “Update Account Settings” section of the BARD site. We hope that you found this information helpful.