- 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; oth-
- erwise 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 audi-
- ble alert (bell or beep), but only some can flash the screen.
+ <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.