-</PRE>
-<H2>DESCRIPTION</H2><PRE>
- The <STRONG>beep</STRONG> and <STRONG>flash</STRONG> routines are used to alert the terminal
- user. The routine <STRONG>beep</STRONG> sounds an audible alarm on the
- terminal, if possible; otherwise it flashes the screen
- (visible bell). The routine <STRONG>flash</STRONG> flashes the screen, and
- if that is not possible, sounds the alert. If neither
- alert is possible, nothing happens. Nearly all terminals
- have an audible alert (bell or beep), but only some can
- flash the screen.
+</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
+ <STRONG>beep</STRONG> and <STRONG>flash</STRONG> alert the terminal user: the former by sounding the
+ terminal's audible alarm, and the latter by visibly attracting user
+ attention. Commonly, a terminal implements a visual bell by
+ momentarily reversing the character foreground and background colors on
+ the entire display; even a monochrome device can do this. These
+ functions each attempt the other alert type if the one requested is
+ unavailable. If neither is available, <EM>curses</EM> performs no action.
+ Nearly all terminals have an audible alert mechanism such as a bell or
+ piezoelectric buzzer, but only some can flash the screen.