Monday 2 November 2015

Title Reading – Tables – JAWS – MS Word 2007 – Accessible Information

Accessible Tables: Automatic Title Reading with JAWS

An ever present in my workplace is making sure that everyone is doing their bit to make information more accessible. It always amazes me just how much this base theme - that not everyone does things the same way you do - feels like such a game changer in the office. But that’s the platform right there, get that in place as a baseline and the world of accessibility and usability begins to feel like a freedom and not a penalty.

When it comes to accessible documents, specifically accessible Word documents, there are some things to be mindful of – in fact, I posted a table of some of these elements in an earlier post – but there’s also a few extra bits on top of these broader elements which could be seen as going that extra mile.

In this post I’m going to walk through one of these digital garnishes, one of those additional techniques that you can embed in your existing best practice without too much extra effort.

Automatic Table Titles in MS Word

When a JAWS user encounters a table in a document, the screenreader indicates the table object and will allow the use of a bunch of hotkeys specifically for use in tables. Many users though simply ARROW KEY or TAB KEY their way through tables, gradually building up a picture of the content. To aid this navigation and understanding of the content, you can use a little known trick to automatically read out the column and/or row titles. Let’s go through how this works.

  1. Open an existing Word document that contains several tables or create a new test document with a couple of tables in it. (I’ve created a test document for this purpose, with a heading and a couple of small uniform data tables.)
  2. Navigate to the first table and locate the titles – if you have any of course! Assuming that you do, depending on the type of data you are displaying, you need to think about the type of titles you require and where you need to place your edit cursor to get this right. So:
    • If you only have column titles, focus the cursor in the row that contains the column titles.
    • If you only have row titles, focus the cursor in the column that contains the row title.
    • If you have both row and column titles, focus the cursor in the specific cell where the column title row and the row title column intersect. In a typical table, this can often be the very first cell.
    With the cursor placed appropriately, move to the upper ribbon with ALT and ARROW RIGHT to the Insert tab.
  3. Use DOWN ARROW to move to the lower ribbon for the Insert tab then use the TAB key to move along to the Bookmark button. Activate the Bookmark feature with the SPACEBAR.
  4. With focus in the Bookmark dialog box, specifically the "Bookmark Name edit combo box" (ALT B), type in the bookmark text that is appropriate for the type of titles you have in your table. So:
    • For column titles only, type ColumnTitle. (Capital C Capital T, no space in between)
    • For row titles only, type RowTitle. (Capital R Capital T, no space in between)
    • For both row and column titles, type Title. (Capital T)
  5. When you have typed in your bookmark text, use ALT A to activate the Add button. The bookmark will be confirmed and the dialog box will close.
  6. With focus back in the document, navigate through the table – notice that JAWS is now speaking the titles automatically when you move to the next column or row.

The benefit of this bookmarking scheme is that, when you save your document you also save the accessibility – this gives any JAWS user a head start with their table reading. So, it is worth remembering popping these bookmarks in when you need to.

More Than One Table in the Document?

But what if you have more than one table in your document? In this case you need to ensure that you provide unique bookmark names. Bear in mind that your JAWS bookmarks must always begin with the text outlined above to which you can add an underline (bookmarks do not contain spaces) and then add more text. You can create bookmarking schemes as necessary, take the following examples:

  • RowTitle_Number_One
  • ColumnTitle_Sales_Figures_10
  • RowTitle_First_Table
  • ColumnTitle_Page1_table

In each case make sure you use the appropriate text for your row and column titles, add an underline, then type another word in. Alternatively, you can add another couple of words, each separated with an underline. Try not to make the bookmarks too unwieldy though - keep things as straightforward as possible.

Pretty neat trick this one. And now that you know all about it, your job is to pass the information on to other users of MS Word so they can add it to their best practice information. Have fun!

Wednesday 28 October 2015

FS Clipboard – JAWS - MAGic

Using the FS Clipboard - JAWS - MAGic

If you use any kind of AT software you’ll be well aware of some of the additional tricks that you can pull off to make your daily digital life that little bit easier. One of those little helpers is the FS Clipboard feature, available in both the JAWS screenreader and also MAGic, the magnification and speech software also produced by Freedom Scientific.

FS Clipboard adds a bit of spin to the normal Windows clipboard as you append rather than replace any existing content. Normally, when you select some text and use CONTROL C to copy to the clipboard, what you are copying replaces the current contents of the Windows clipboard. However, with the JAWS and MAGic FS Clipboard feature, every time you copy you add to the existing contents as opposed to replace them. Let’s go through an example.

Appending Content in the FS Clipboard

In this example, we’re going to create a list of reference numbers and then copy some of those numbers to the FS clipboard for pasting in later in a new location. I should add that if you are running JAWS or MAGic the steps are identical.

  1. Open a new document in MS Word or equivalent.
  2. Type in a few lines of data, something like ten should be enough. I’ve chosen to create some short references, like this: A1001, A1002, A1003 and so on.
  3. Now, move to the top of the list with CONTROL HOME and select the first reference number using SHIFT with the ARROW KEYS.
  4. Remember you can repeat what is currently selected using INSERT SHIFT DOWN ARROW in JAWS and MAGic. (With MAGic you may also use the MAGic key of CAPSLOCK instead of INSERT.) Additionally, if you are using JAWS, you can use INSERT SHIFT DOWN ARROW twice quickly to have your selection spoken character by character.
  5. With the content selected and checked, instead of using the standard Windows keystroke of CONTROL C, use INSERT WINDOWS C to copy instead.
  6. Move the cursor in your list now and choose one of the other reference numbers. Select it as before and copy to the FS Clipboard with INSERT WINDOWS C. Repeat this step another couple of times.
  7. With a few entries now in the FS Clipboard, let’s check the content. Use INSERT SPACEBAR, then tap letter C (MAGic users can also use CAPSLOCK SPACEBAR instead). A virtual viewer will open and from there you can read all the text you have copied. When you have finished checking the content, use ESCAPE to close the viewer.
  8. Now move the cursor to a new position and paste in the FS Clipboard contents using CONTROL V. Check that everything is as you expect it to be – you’re done.

A neat finishing touch to this FS Clipboard feature is that if you accidentally use CONTROL C instead when you are copying your data, it doesn’t wipe the FS Clipboard content immediately. JAWS or MAGic will pop a warning message box up on screen indicating that if you continue you’re going to lose the content in the FS Clipboard contents. Very nice – because if there is one keystroke that everyone knows by instinct, it’s got to be CONTROL C!

This is an image of the warning message that appears if you accidentally use control C when using the FS Clipboard. There's a Yes button, to continue and lose the contents of the FS Clipboard. Alternatively, there is a No button to cancel.

The FS Clipboard is a useful tool that has been around for a while, so if you are using JAWS or MAGic and are often faced with moving non-contiguous data from one location to another, this is an option worth adding to the toolbox if you haven’t already.

Until next time, have fun!

Wednesday 21 October 2015

Freeze Window - Zoomtext V10

Freezing a Window in Zoomtext V10

If you’ve been wondering why things have been a bit quiet round here the last few weeks it’s because I’ve been busy moving house – which is always good fun, if not always for the right reasons. Now that the dust has settled somewhat and I’m a bit more comfortable living in the remaining boxes with a paint brush in one hand, it’s time to get back to blog business.

A reader of this blog asked me recently whether the blog “is all about JAWS?” Although I indicated otherwise, upon reflection there is a fairly JAWS heavy feel to it so it’s about time I balanced things out a bit more and spread a little more love to my non-JAWS using readers. And what better way to do this than with a walkthrough of that much under-used Zoomtext function: Freeze Windows.

The Freeze Window feature works in full screen mode only and allows you to keep a section of the screen in focus while you navigate around the screen. In other words, you can drag over a bit of the Desktop and keep it in the zoom window while you are scrolling around looking at different parts of the screen. It works best with an area of the screen that is not likely to get obscured by an overlapping window and, with that in mind, let’s walk through a useful example.

Creating a New Freeze Window

Remember that this freeze window feature only works when you run Zoomtext in full screen mode. Notice that if you are in any other screen mode, such as Line or Lens or Overlay (by the way, who actually uses Overlay?) then the Freeze option will be greyed out.

Our example here is going to set a freeze window around the 24 hour clock in the system tray area at the bottom right hand corner of your Desktop. Setting a freeze window around the clock means that you can always see the time no matter what you are working in. Let’s get started:

  1. With Zoomtext running, ensure that you are in full screen mode by activating the Type menu button on the Magnifier toolbar and choosing Full from the list if it is not already ticked.
  2. Return to the Type menu and choose New from the Freeze submenu.
  3. Image showing the Freeze submenu in the Zoom Window type toolbar in Zoomtext V10.
  4. Notice a small icon now following the mouse pointer. Move the mouse pointer down to the bottom right of your Desktop – position the arrow so that the tip of the mouse pointer is at the bottom right of the time display.
  5. Now hold the left mouse button down and drag diagonally to the top left corner of the time display. Notice how a small reverse video box will cover the area you are "dragging" over. This area will be your freeze window.
  6. When you are happy that the window is right, let go of the left hand mouse button.
  7. Notice some white drag handles have appeared around the border of the freeze window area, you can use these as necessary to make slight adjustments to the frozen window area. Left click and drag to move them as necessary.
  8. After making any sizing adjustments, position your mouse pointer over the area you have just "frozen", hold the left mouse button down and drag the whole frozen window to another position on the screen. For example, some people like having their time display freeze window situated in the top right corner of the screen so that it doesn’t get in the way when you are working.
  9. NOTE: It may take a few tries to get used to this, so if you need to start again just go back to the Freeze submenu and choose New to restart.

  10. With the resizing and repositioning done, confirm everything using a single tap of the right hand mouse button.
  11. With your new freeze window on screen, you can use the enable and disable freeze window keystroke of CONTROL SHIFT E to control the feature.

Okay, the freeze window feature is hardly going to change the world but, for specific things, it is well worth experimenting with if you are in full screen mode most or all of the time. And if you discover some great new uses for this feature then please let me know so that we can share with other readers. Until next time, have fun!

Tuesday 8 September 2015

JAWS V16 Keystroke Search

Search for a Keystroke Feature in JAWS V16

Increasingly these days I find myself feeling more than a little underwhelmed as I greet the next AT software upgrade. Once upon a time I might have read through the release notes with some excitement, these days... not so much. Partly, this is due to some fairly mediocre updates - I think everyone gets a bit jaded when software updates aren't as sparkly as the hype suggests. But it's also increasingly about the downside of upgrades, being more concerned with what might get broken in the process and really thinking about whether any update is worth the risk now.

Having said all of that, I made the jump to JAWS V16 recently and, one of the new features I've been playing around with, is the JAWS command keystroke search feature. Actually, it's pretty good. Finally, a convenient way of making sense of the sheer mountain of JAWS keystrokes built into the software!

What is the JAWS Command Search?

Anyone who uses assistive technology such as JAWS will be all too aware of the cognitive payload involved in learning and using that software. Put simply, there's a huge amount of stuff to remember and think about. Now, while it is true that in programs such as MS Word you can fluff about a bit and get reasonable results. It's also true that when you move to a more challenging software environment, you'll soon hit the point where your JAWS experience relates directly to how much hotkey functionality you know.

This isn't just an AT thing. Over the last few years we've started to see complexity being hit in diffrerent ways. The "live" searching used in Windows and "Dash" in Ubuntu to name but two together with the rise of the voice input PA such as Siri and Cortana, are all designed to streamline the strain rather than let it spill over the edges. Even JAWS itself has dabbled with a live search style of interface, as anyone who has worked in the Settings Centre can tell you. So it comes as no suprise really that JAWS V16 finally unveils a feature designed to give you meaningful hotkey information at the point you actually require it.

But what about the old hotkey and windows key help systems? Well, the JAWS Help systems we all know and love are still there but, while they've always been and continue to be very comprehensive, they've never been particularly flexible or even friendly. Often what is required is a helping hand or quick memory aid, not a window containing a whole catalogue of hotkeys. By comparison, the new JAWS Command Search is effectively a built-in search engine for JAWS keystrokes. For example, maybe you can't recall the hotkey to list all the footnotes in the current Word document? Type in "footnote" and instantly a list of keystrokes with matching descriptions appears. Or maybe you're in Excel and can't recall the keystroke to list all the visible cells with data, once again type in "data" and "list" and you're on your way. Or what about JAWS hotkeys that relate to charts? Just type in "chart" and you're good to go.

Launching and Navigating the JAWS Command Search

I'm going to base the following walkthrough on an example I mentioned earlier - listing visible cells with data in Excel.

  1. With JAWS V16 running and focus in Excel, launch the new command search with INSERT SPACEBAR then J. (Hold down INSERT then SPACEBAR - at which point you will hear a sharp clicking sound - then use letter J.)
  2. JAWS will announce "Search For JAWS Commands dialog" with your specific focus in the "Search For: edit" field.
  3. Now type in what you are looking for. (I'm using "data" and "list" but try out whatever you want.) As you type, a results list will appear and automatically adjust with matches relevant to your search string.
  4. Use the DOWN ARROW to move the virtual cursor as you would in any webpage and read the results.
  5. NOTE: The command search page is HTML, so you can use the usual web page navigation keys to move through the results that appear. For example, the H quick key or the number 3 key (each keystroke heading link title is level 3) both work well. Or, if you prefer, you can launch your list of headings with INSERT F6 or you can choose to navigate using the trusty list of links (INSERT F7).

  6. Each entry in the results list has a title followed by a description of the hotkey and its function. For example, in my search using "data" and "list" I receive the following feedback:
  7. List Visible Cells With Data.
    Control + Shift + D
    Lists cells with data visible in the active window and allows the user to move to the selected cell.
  8. When you have found the information you need, either run the chosen command using the heading link or close the HTML search page using the ESCAPE key.
  9. To run another search, move back up to the edit field, make sure you are in Forms Mode and type in your new search terms.

Pretty neat isn't it? Let's run with another example.

Column Titles in Excel with Command Search

Here's another approach you can take with the new command search. Not only is it great for getting the information in the first place - it can also help out with those tricky three and four finger keystrokes. Manually assigning column titles in an Excel worksheet I'm looking at you...

  1. Open a new worksheet in Excel and type a column title in cell A1, B1 and C1.
  2. For some added drama, enter some data in cell A2, B2 and C2.
  3. Move the cursor to a cell in row one.
  4. Launch the command search feature with INSERT SPACEBAR, J and type "Set Column" in the edit field.
  5. DOWN ARROW to the "Set Column Titles to Row Range" heading link and use ENTER to activate the command.
  6. Focus will now return to the Excel worksheet and JAWS will indicate that the headings are set.

Hey, I know - I'm lazy! But it's not a bad way to go, especially as some JAWS keystrokes of the three and four finger variety can be pretty tricky to use.

So there you go, if you've upgraded recently to JAWS V16, go into your main Office programs and give the new command search feature a spin. Until next time, have fun!

Friday 21 August 2015

JAWS V15 - Speech History

Speech History Mode in JAWS V15

It might be stating the obvious but - JAWS speaks a lot. And yet, sometimes, in the middle of all the stream of echo consciousness, we don't always catch the nuggets we need or we simply forget what JAWS said a few minutes back. Try and recall that information in speech and it's impossible - at least it was impossible until JAWS V15 came along.

Using the Speech History Tool in JAWS V15

Since JAWS V15, you can now use a function to navigate through a history of the speech output that JAWS has spoken in the current session. If you have JAWS V15 or above, try it out:

  1. From inside MS Word for example, use the keystroke of INSERT SPACEBAR. You should hear a sharp click.
  2. Use the single letter key of "H". A virtual viewer window will eventually open.
  3. Your cursor focus should now be at the bottom of what might, potentially, be a long list. How long depends on how busy JAWS has been!
  4. Use the UP ARROW to move back through all of the speech spoken in the current session. Remember the most recent speech will be at the bottom.
  5. When you are in the virtual viewer, you can move straight to the top of the list with CONTROL HOME and move directly to the bottom of the list with CONTROL END.
  6. When you have finished reading, close the virtual viewer with ALT F4.

Pretty neat isn't it? And clearing the speech history list can be achieved in a similar fashion too:

Clearing the Current JAWS Speech History List

  1. Use INSERT SPACEBAR, you will hear a sharp click as before.
  2. Instead of H this time, use SHIFT H.
  3. JAWS will indicate that the list has been cleared.

And that is it - until next time, have fun!

Thursday 30 July 2015

Correcting Spelling Mistakes - JAWS V15 - Quick Keys - MS Word 2007

Correcting Spelling Mistakes Using Quick Keys

Normally there's a bunch of Office or Windows keystrokes that you end up knowing off by heart and F7 - the hotkey to launch the standard spell-checker in MS Word - is certainly one of that bunch. But, did you know that you can also check for spelling mistakes in your document using JAWS quick keys? Read on.

Quick Key Mode

The JAWS quick key mode in MS Word allows you to approach a Word document in the same way that you might approach a website. So, in JAWS you can do things like tap letter H to go to the next heading in a webpage, letter E to go to the next edit field, B for next button and so on. Imagine being able to do something similar but for functions more appropriate for MS Word. In this post, I'm going to cover using quick key mode to move through any misspellings in the current document:

  1. Open a new Word document and type in a few lines of text, making sure to create some mistakes in the text!
  2. Use CONTROL HOME to move to the top of the file.
  3. Switch the JAWS quick key mode on in MS Word with INSERT Z. JAWS will echo "quick keys on".
  4. With quick key mode active, use the single letter key of "M" to move focus to the first "misspelling" in the page. JAWS will read the misspelled word, echo each individual letter and then read the line of text for the word.
  5. As the PC cursor physically moves to the location of the error it is reading you can now turn the quick key mode off (INSERT Z again) and correct the error.
  6. To move on to the next error, enter quick key mode in the usual way and press "M" again from your current position. That's it!

So, if you like working with JAWS quick keys then this might be a more appropriate route for you - especially if, for whatever reason, you just don't get on with the standard spellchecker.

Spelling as you Type Setting

Maybe you tried the above and heard the message from JAWS indicating that because "spelling as you type is disabled" the quick key option is not available. In this case, you will need to enable the "spelling as you type" option in the MS Word settings area. (This is the setting that pops a wavy red line under any spelling mistake on screen in case you're wondering.) To follow is the steps for activating/deactivating this setting in Word 2007, bear in mind that with a different version you may need to adjust them slightly:

  1. Open the Office button menu using ALT F.
  2. TAB or SHIFT TAB to the Word options button or, alternatively, tap the hotkey of "I" to launch Word options directly.
  3. Focus will be in a list of pages, such as "Popular", "Display" and "Proofing". Press DOWN ARROW to move to "Proofing" then TAB to move from the heading to the associated options. (Specifcially, initial focus will be on an "autocorrect options" button.)
  4. While you can TAB your way through the myriad checkboxes in this page, it is quicker to simply use ALT P to move focus to the "Check Spelling as you Type" checkbox directly. Use the SPACEBAR to toggle the setting on and off as required.
  5. With the option set, TAB to the OK button and use SPACEBAR to activate. You're good to go!

Until next time, have fun with quick keys!

Tuesday 28 July 2015

Drop Down Lists in Cells - Excel 2007 - JAWS

Cell Drop Down Lists and JAWS

Something that crops up now and again at work in Excel is the issue of cell validation, how to set it up in a cell and how this works with a screenreader such as JAWS. In past times, this has been tricky to achieve, but these days it works really well.

I'm going to explain how we do this in Office 2007, I'm going to set up a cell with a specific list of choices and then we're going to run through working with that and try to mess it up and see what happens!

Set a List of Options for a Cell

Before we can check on how the cell validation works we need to have a drop down list in place so that's our first job. By the way, I'm using Excel 2007 and JAWS V15, so you may need to adjust the following steps if you're running with different versions:

  1. Open Excel 2007 and make sure you have focus in cell A1.
  2. In cell A1, type in "Do you like Marmite?" and use TAB to move to cell B1.
  3. With focus in cell B1, use the ALT key to move to the upper ribbon and then RIGHT or LEFT ARROW to move focus to the Data tab heading. Alternatively, you can use ALT A to open this tab heading straight away.
  4. Tap the DOWN ARROW to move to the lower ribbon and TAB through the commands until you have focus on the Data Validation... split button. Use the SPACEBAR to activate this button. Note: to go straight to this dialog box using the jazzy new Office keys the sequence is: ALT A, V, V.
  5. With the Data Validation dialog box in focus, press TAB to move focus to the Allow drop down (ALT A) and choose "List".
  6. When you confirm the "List" option, focus will move to the "Source:" edit field. This is where you type in the choices that you need the person inputting to pick from. In my example, I am only allowing two possible options - Yes, No. So, I type: Yes, No - into the edit field. NOTE: This is case sensitive, so you may want to input different case versions of your text. For example: "YES", "Yes" and "yes".
  7. With the options set, I TAB away and then use CONTROL TAB to move to the Error Alert page in the dialog box. This page allows you to detail what happens when the person working in Excel doesn't supply the right inputs. I have several options here that I can TAB between in the Error Alert page, these are:
    • Style (ALT Y): This allows you to choose between three icons that can be displayed: "Stop" displays a cross inside a circle, "Warning" displays an exclamation mark in a triangle and "Information" displays a lower case letter I in a circle.
    • Title (ALT T): Here you can type in the main banner heading for your message.
    • Error Message (ALT E): This text field is where you can explain, in slightly more detail, the information required.
  8. For my example, I have chosen the Warning symbol, typed in a title ("Ooops!") and some extra text to explain that I require a simple "Yes" or "No" response. With these options in place, I TAB to the OK button and use SPACEBAR. The drop down list is now in place.

Now it's time to test it out!

Access Drop Down List Options in a Specific Cell

  1. When you have focus on a cell with some validation, JAWS indicates that the cell has a "drop down list." If you miss this information, use INSERT TAB to read the current cell again.
  2. With focus on the specific cell, use ALT DOWN ARROW to expand the list.
  3. This image shows my example drop down list in cell B1 with the Yes and No options (currently unselected).
  4. Use the DOWN and UP ARROW KEYS to move through the options in the list and press the ENTER key to confirm a choice.
  5. To collapse the list without choosing, use the ESCAPE key.
  6. Double-check that your choice appears in the cell by either moving away and back again or by using INSERT TAB.

Testing the Validation

But let's cut to the chase - what if you ignore the drop down list options and try and type your own entry? Well, this is where your "Error Alert" should kick in and do the business for us. In theory, you should have a message box with your text in it so let's test this out:

  1. With focus on the cell containing the drop down list, instead of choosing from the drop down list I ignore it entirely and type in the word "food" and use the ENTER key.
  2. Immediately, Excel pipes up with a warning message containing my Title and Error Message text. JAWS reads this information but if I miss it I can always re-read the dialog box contents with INSERT B.
  3. The error message dialog box also gives me several button options in response to how I want to proceed. Of particular importance is the "No" button, which is in focus by default, and the "Yes" button. If I decide to choose "No" then my input is cancelled and I return to the spreadsheet. If I choose "Yes" however, my manual input is accepted even though it doesn't meet my criteria.
  4. In this case, I choose the "No" button - I mean, the author of the worksheet has put cell validation in for a reason after all!

And there you go - cell validation working neatly in Office 2007 with JAWS. I should also add that it's good form to embed some comments in the worksheet for anyone using a screenreader to alert him/her to the use of drop down lists. For example, if you have a column of drop-down lists, you might want to pop a comment in the cell with the column heading to give the person inputting the data a bit of a heads-up. (I covered Comments in Excel a while ago on this blog, if you need a refresh then have another read through.

Until next time - have fun!

Wednesday 15 July 2015

Zoomtext Camera Feature - Webcam - CCTV

Camera Fun with Zoomtext V10

In this post I'm going to cover one of the more recently introduced features in Zoomtext. Providing you have V10 or over you may have noticed some of the new features situated in the Tools menu (ALT T). If you have the “Magnifier only” version of Zoomtext you'll find two items in the Tools menu, namely “Camera...” and “Launch Camera”. But if you have the full “Magnifier and Reader” installation then you'll find another few items such as the Text Recorder and Background Reader - in fact, I covered the latter in a post a while back here. In this post though I want to play with the camera feature and see if my old webcam can be given a new lease of life.

This image shows the Tools page of the main Zoomtext user interface, the camera section of the toolbar has a Full and Docked button.

So, what's the deal here? Well, the basic idea is that if you have a semi-decent USB webcam (or, in my case, a really old poor quality USB webcam) you can drive this camera from inside Zoomtext and treat it like a portable CCTV. No great shakes there you might be thinking, until you recall the sobering fact that most CCTVs have a wince-inducing price tag! So, while you don't get all the bells and whistles of a top-flight CCTV, you do get some basic, functional CCTV ability. Additionally, if you are running on a laptop, you can factor in the portability of the solution too. Not bad, considering you have the Zoomtext software and the webcam already anyway.

Setting Up the Webcam

  1. Plug in your USB webcam, if it isn’t already attached to your PC.
  2. Ensure that your webcam is placed on a stand, or at the very least is suitably supported to enable you to focus appropriately on an example printed page.
  3. Access the Tools menu (ALT T) in the main Zoomtext user interface and choose the Camera... option. 
    This images shows the Camera dialog box, the main settings area for the camera feature.
  4. In the Camera dialog box use the TAB key to move around the options. Notice the Active Camera field - this should contain the name of the camera you are using - although, if you have more than one camera, then you will need to select the correct device here.
  5. Also, notice that you can set the View Mode for the current Camera, choosing between a "Full Screen" or a "Docked Screen" style of view. If you choose the latter then you can Dock the camera view to the top, bottom, left or right hand half of the screen by default.
  6. When you have finished exploring, set the options in the dialog box as required and use TAB to move to the OK button. Use the SPACEBAR to confirm and close the dialog box.

Toggle the Camera On and Off

Now that you have run through the main Camera settings dialog box the final step is to launch the camera. You can do this by either:

  • Opening the Tools menu as before and choosing one of the camera views from the Launch Camera submenu.
  • Activating the Launch Camera button in the Camera… dialog box via the Tools menu.
  • Pressing the keystroke of ALT WINDOWS M, this toggles the camera display on and off.

Now that you can launch the camera function, grab a page of printed text and place it in the range of the webcam.

Using the Webcam to Read Text

Just how much control you can have over your webcam through Zoomtext really depends on the camera hardware itself. For example, the webcam I have is a simple fixed focus affair so I have to manually move it to an optimal distance away from the material I want to read - in my case around 17-18 centimetres away.

If you have a manual focus webcam then you can make focusing adjustments via the Focus option in the Camera toolbar or by using the following keystrokes:

  • Manually Focus In: CONTROL WINDOWS RIGHT ARROW
  • Manually Focus Out: CONTROL WINDOWS LEFT

With some suitable material in place, you can now change a few settings to suit your requirements.

Keyboard Control of the Camera

As you might expect, there's a whole bunch of keystrokes that can be used to switch between the different modes of operation and to alter various settings.

IMage showing the Camera toolbar that appears when you are in a docked view with the camer feature active. This toolbar gives you quick mouse access to options such as colour, docked/full and zooming in and out.

First, you can choose between running in Full Screen Mode (which will also remove the specific Camera Toolbar from the screen) and a half-screen Docked View (where the specific Camera Toolbar is available). You control these display options with the following hotkeys:

  • Toggle Full Screen and Split View: ALT WINDOWS V
  • Cycle through Split View Settings: ALT WINDOWS S

Depending on the material you are trying to read and the position of your webcam, you may also need to rotate the display. This will work whether you are in "full" or "split" screen modes:

  • Rotate camera screen (full and split views): ALT WINDOWS R

On most CCTV systems you have various colour and clarity options that you can choose from to increase contrast levels. The settings here are no different, with a bunch of colour schemes that you can cycle through and choose from. Also, when you have set your preferred colour scheme, you can choose to customise the brightness and contrast levels as required. Doing this gives you complete control over the clarity of the image and can be the difference between reading something comfortably - or not!

  • Toggle the Colour Scheme View On and Off: ALT WINDOWS SPACEBAR
  • Cycle through available Colour Schemes: ALT WINDOWS C
  • Decrease image brightness: ALT WINDOWS UP ARROW
  • Decrease image contrast: ALT CONTROL WINDOWS DOWN ARROW
  • Increase image brightness: ALT WINDOWS DOWN ARROW
  • Increase image contrast: ALT CONTROL WINDOWS UP ARROW
  • Reset to the default clarity settings: ALT WINDOWS B

An Example Scenario

In this example, I want to use my webcam to read some text on a bottle label. I will use the black and yellow colour scheme and manually set the contrast levels to enable an easier read. Let's go:

  1. Connect the USB camera.
  2. Position the camera and the material to be read on a suitable surface - obviously, I will have to move both around in due course.
  3. In Zoomtext, turn the camera mode on with ALT WINDOWS M.
  4. I'm in one of the split views to begin with which is fine, so now I cycle through the colour schemes (ALT WINDOWS C) to get to black and yellow.
  5. At this point I move the bottle a little bit so that it appears sharper. I also increase the contrast with ALT CONTROL WINDOWS UP ARROW.
  6. Now I zoom in slightly to focus more on the text using ALT WINDOWS NUMBERPAD PLUS.
  7. After a few more manual adjustments of moving the bottle (the ambient lighting is not balanced on all sides so I have to move it around) I switch to full camera view (ALT WINDOWS ) and read the text.
  8. With the job done, I set it back to split view (ALT WINDOWS V) and reset my clarity changes back to their defaults with ALT WINDOWS B.
  9. Finally, I turn the colour schemes off with ALT WINDOWS SPACEBAR then turn the camera feature feature off completely with ALT WINDOWS M.

And there you go! A pretty nifty feature - especially if you have a semi-decent webcam kicking around in the back of a drawer in the first place. But, either way, it's definitely worth taking some time out to experiment with it. Until next time, have fun!

Friday 3 July 2015

Managing Key Labels - JAWS V15

Amending Key Label Settings with JAWS V15

When you start out using a screenreader you tend to hang on every word or every bit of "echo" the software provides. But, over time, you start to focus on the audio cues you actually need. In fact, the mission with your screenreader soon becomes one of paring down all that beginner level verbosity which can, ultimately, get really irritating.

A valuable option in trying to personalise the JAWS echo is to manage the labels spoken for some of the keys on your keyboard. As you know, when you use certain keys on the keyboard, JAWS will indicate the key you have pressed. But what is often under-acknowledged is that you have some control over how JAWS is doing this - in fact, over whether JAWS speaks at all!

To give you an idea of how JAWS can control this type of key label echo, I am going to walk through how to both mute the echo completely and also how to change the label to a text string of your own choosing. (So, if you always wanted to have a TAB KEY echo "Gerald" every time you press it, then read on!)

Toggle Key Label Speech On and Off

  1. With JAWS running, use the keystroke of INSERT F2 to open the Run JAWS Manager list box.
  2. Use the letter S several times to quickly move to the Settings Centre item in the list and use ENTER.
  3. Press CONTROL SHIFT D to open the Default Configuration file in the Settings Centre dialog box.
  4. In the Search field (CONTROL E) type in the word "Manage" then DOWN ARROW to focus on "Manage Key Labels..." Press ENTER.
  5. Focus will now be on "Manage Key Labels..." in the formal tree view of settings, so tap F6 to move and focus on the "Manage Key Labels button..." Use SPACEBAR to activate this.
  6. The Manage Key labels dialog box will now open and your focus will be in a list view, each row containing three columns of information. Use the DOWN ARROW to move through the options and listen to the feedback for each item.
  7. This image shows the Manage Key Labels dialog box in JAWS V15. There are three columns of information: Key Name, Key Label and Mute.
  8. The three columns of information for each item in the list is as follows:
    • Key Name: This is the name of the key on the keyboard.
    • Key Label: This is the text label spoken when the key is used.
    • Mute Status: This piece of information shows whether the label is spoken or not. NOTE: if the text is "Always Speak" then you are unable to mute that key.
  9. With focus in the list, press the letter "T" to move to the "Tab" key entry in the list. Notice that "Tab" is set to "Speak" and the key label is "Tab".
  10. Use the ALT T keystroke to toggle the Mute Status on and off - in this case, set it to "mute".
  11. Use INSERT UP ARROW to conduct a final read across the columns for the Tab key and ensure that the Mute setting is active.
  12. Press the TAB key to move to the OK button and use SPACEBAR to confirm.
  13. Focus will move back to the Manage Key Labels... button so tap the F6 key to return to the tree view, then TAB to the OK button. Use the SPACEBAR to confirm and activate your configuration change.

Now go into a new document (or navigate around something like the CONTROL P Print File Dialog box) in MS Word and test out your new silent TAB key!

Customise Key Label Speech

But what if you want to change the text that is spoken rather than turn the text off completely? In this example I'm going to change the echo speech "Num Lock" into "Number Lock".

  1. Follow the steps as previous to navigate through the Settings Centre, choosing the default file and Manage Key Labels dialog box.
  2. Locate the "Num Lock" item in the list.
  3. This time, use the keystroke of ALT C to activate the Change Label button.
  4. Focus moves to an edit field, replace "Num Lock" with "Number Lock".
  5. Press the TAB key to move to the OK button and use SPACEBAR to confirm.
  6. As before, use the F6 key to move to the tree view then TAB to OK and confirm with SPACEBAR.

Now test out your new key label for Number Lock! I've never been keen on the "num lock" echo which sounds like a wrestling move to me. Anyway, until next time, have fun!

Tuesday 16 June 2015

Selecting, Copying and Pasting with VoiceOver - iOS

Selecting, Copying and Pasting Text with VoiceOver on iOS

A task that doesn't always feel particularly intuitive at first for newcomers to VoiceOver on iOS is how to work with and manipulate text. Even basic tasks such as copying and pasting can, at first, be a minefield. What can make this even more frustrating is that these "tricky" situations crop up when you least want them to - suddenly, you are faced with figuring out how to include a URL in an email or how to copy that bit of text in a website. And while general navigation with VoiceOver is relatively straightforward (after a bit of "play time" anyway) text manipulation with VoiceOver requires a bit more structure and insight.

In this post I'm going to go through some of the steps that you can take to achieve these tasks. My ultimate aim here is to get you confidently copying and pasting text so we're going to explore every bit of the overall process individually. Let's get started...

Text Fields and Insertion Points

Before you begin copying and pasting text, you need to understand exactly how to approach working in a standard text field and the general approach to selecting specific characters and/or words. First thing, we need to talk about insertion points:

  1. Navigate to the standard Notes app on your iOS device. DOUBLE TAP to launch the app.
  2. In the Notes app, DOUBLE TAP the Compose button and SWIPE RIGHT to the "Note text field, is editing" area.
  3. Type or dictate some basic text into this area.
  4. When you have some text in place, use a SINGLE FINGER DOUBLE TAP - notice that VoiceOver indicates "insertion point at start". Use the same gesture again, to move the insertion point to the end.

Being able to control the insertion point in this way allows you to start your text operations from a more convenient situation. Always bear this positioning ability in mind prior to any text manipulation you need to do. Okay, on to the next step...

Using the Rotor: Characters and Words

The key to having fine control at the text level is all via the rotor. You are going to be accessing it a lot for your text actions so, if you find the rotor gesture difficult or unwieldy to use, keep practicing until it becomes easier.

  1. In your text edit area, move the insertion point to the start of your text, if you are not already there.
  2. Use the rotor gesture to select the Characters option.
  3. With the Characters rotor option set, use a ONE FINGER FLICK DOWN gesture. You should hear VoiceOver move the cursor and echo the next character that takes focus.
  4. After you are comfortable with the ONE FINGER FLICK DOWN gesture, use a ONE FINGER FLICK UP to move backwards through the characters.
  5. Now use the rotor control again and set the Words option.
  6. With the Words rotor option set, use the ONE FINGER FLICK DOWN gesture as before and this time you should hear VoiceOver move the cursor and echo the next word.
  7. When you are happy with moving through the words, use a ONE FINGER FLICK UP gesture to move backwards through the previous words.

Now practice each different mode, switching the rotor control between "Words" and "Characters" as required and using the SINGLE FINGER FLICK UP and DOWN gestures to move focus.

When you have played with these gestures for a while, ensure the rotor control is set to "Characters" in preparation for our next step.

Select Text in a Note

Now that you can move the insertion point to the beginning and end of the current text area and change the rotor between "words" and "characters", it is time to explore selecting:

  1. With your "Characters" rotor option set, use a SINGLE FINGER FLICK DOWN gesture to move through the individual characters in your text. Move to a word that you want to copy and focus the cursor on the first letter.
  2. NOTE: A little technique I use when I SINGLE FINGER FLICK DOWN is to overshoot the first letter of the word I want to copy and then SINGLE FINGER FLICK UP to go one character back. This extra FLICK DOWN and FLICK UP results in the cursor being positioned to the left hand side of the character, a starting point that makes selecting the text feel more intuitive to me. I do this extra flicking to give me the confidence that I definitely have focus on the right letter when I start to highlight.

  3. Now use the REVERSE PINCH gesture to perform the highlighting move from the cursor position. (This REVERSE PINCH gesture can be tricky, imagine stretching an elastic band between two fingers on the screen.) As you drag across the screen, the text will be highlighted and the individual characters will be spoken. (Remember: you are in Characters mode.)
  4. If you over-shoot with your highlighting selection, then use the PINCH gesture to reduce the highlighting from right to left. Again, VoiceOver will comment as you go about this.
  5. Practice both of these PINCH gestures until they become second nature and you can confidently select text. Also, switch to the Words rotor option and test out the PINCH gestures with words.

Copy and Paste into a New Note

Now that you can move the insertion point around, switch between word and character movement and select text, it is time to venture into the Editing options available via the rotor:

  1. With any relevant text highlighted, use the rotor to select the Edit option. Now SINGLE FINGER SWIPE UP or DOWN to confirm the Copy setting. DOUBLE TAP to activate and perform this copy operation, VoiceOver will indicate "(your words here) copied" if you are successful.
  2. With the selection now copied to the clipboard, SWIPE LEFT to reach the Compose button and DOUBLE TAP to create a new note.
  3. SWIPE RIGHT to the text edit area of the new note and access the rotor control area once again. Choose the Edit rotor option as before and this time around SWIPE UP or DOWN to select the Paste option. As before, DOUBLE TAP to confirm and paste the text in at the insertion point.
  4. If necessary, switch the rotor mode back to "Word" or "Characters" and carry on working.

And that's it - copying and pasting VoiceOver and touchscreen style! A bit on the fiddly side I'm sure you will agree but once you get the hang of switching between all the relevant rotor options and the PINCH and REVERSE PINCH gestures, it will start to feel more fluid.

Now that you are getting to grips with this, it's time for a challenge - just how do you go about copying that URL and pasting it into a file or email?

Until next time, keep those rotors spinning...

Friday 12 June 2015

Sending Tweets with VoiceOver - Twitter - iOS - iPad - iPhone

Tweeting on iOS with VoiceOver

Lately I've been getting more and more requests for coaching in Twitter using iOS and VoiceOver so I'm going to run with a bit of a Twitter theme over the next few posts. Today I'm going to concentrate on the core Twitter activity of sending messages or, to give it its formal name, tweeting!

Those of you who haven't experimented with the official Twitter app (or who haven't yet explored Twitter at all for that matter) might be surprised to know that it's not so bad with VoiceOver on iOS. Personally, I find moving around the app and generally using Twitter with speech to be a lot of fun - well, more fun than moving round the Facebook app anyway which I still find a bit more complex. In my opinion, the Twitter app feels fairly intuitive, consistent and swift.

I've recently started to put some notes together on a few Twitter topics and I have used these notes as the basis for my post here. I'm not worried about the scene-setting in this article I'm only interested here on the main steps to achieve certain Tweeting tasks, so I hope these notes provide some useful reference.

My usual disclaimers apply: you may need to adjust some of the steps for the kit and versions you are using and, while these are the approaches I take - they aren't necessarily the only options nor even the best options for you. Again, as with all guidance, add your own flavours. Finally, all the walkthroughs here assume that you are logged in to the Twitter app and that you have some basic familiarity with the layout and the overall service. Right, enough waffle, let's get on with it!

Create and send a basic tweet.

A message in Twitter is called a "tweet" and consists of no more than 140 characters each.

  1. Navigate to the Compose tweet button in the Twitter app. On the iPad, this is located near the top right of the screen. DOUBLE TAP.
  2. Focus will move to the text field of the new tweet. Input your text as necessary - remember to keep it short and sweet as you only have 140 characters! (You can SWIPE RIGHT a couple of times to the characters remaining information if you need to check.)
  3. When you have finished typing, SWIPE LEFT and focus on the Tweet button. DOUBLE TAP to send the tweet.
  4. Alternatively, if you wish to cancel the message, SWIPE LEFT a couple of times and DOUBLE TAP on the cancel option.

Create and send a tweet containing a mention.

A "mention" is when you quote another handle or Twitter user account in your tweet. Note that this "mention" must occur somewhere other than the very start of your tweet. If you type the username first in your tweet it is formally considered a "reply" and not a "mention".

  1. Follow the steps for a basic tweet.
  2. At the relevant point in your tweet, begin typing the user name (usernames always start with an @ symbol).
  3. As you type, a drop down list will appear and attempt to match the results to the string of text you are typing in. SWIPE RIGHT or FINGER DRAG to move through these results. DOUBLE TAP to confirm your choice.
  4. When you confirm your choice, focus will return to the text input area in your new tweet. Continue typing as necessary, then SWIPE LEFT to the Tweet button and DOUBLE TAP.

Reply to a tweet.

A formal reply is a normal tweet where the username of the account you are replying to is the first thing in the tweet. Twitter includes an option to make this process easy - you don't need to manually do this.

  1. When you have read the tweet you want to reply to, continue to SWIPE RIGHT to focus on the associated Reply button. DOUBLE TAP.
  2. Focus will move to a new tweet edit area, with the @username already supplied at the beginning of the reply.
  3. Type (or dictate) your reply in the normal way then SWIPE LEFT to the tweet button and DOUBLE TAP to send.
  4. Alternatively, you may also be able to reply to a specific tweet via the option in the "magic tap" menu, launched by a TWO FINGER DOUBLE TAP gesture:

  5. Focus on the tweet you want to reply to and use the TWO FINGER DOUBLE TAP (the "magic tap" gesture).
  6. In the magic tap menu that appears, SWIPE RIGHT to the Reply option and DOUBLE TAP to activate it.

Not sure what the "Magic Menu" setting is? Check out my earlier post on the Accessibility Settings in the Twitter App.

Re-tweet a message to my followers (RT).

A re-tweet is when you send a message, originated by another Twitter user, to your own followers. As with a reply, there is a re-tweet option that makes this process much easier to do now.

  1. With focus on the tweet you want to re-tweet to your followers, SWIPE RIGHT until you have focus on the Re-tweet button. DOUBLE TAP.
  2. Focus will move to a small menu containing several options such as: Re-tweet, Quote Tweet and Cancel.
  3. SWIPE RIGHT to the re-tweet option and DOUBLE TAP to confirm.
  4. Alternatively, you can also re-tweet via the "magic tap" menu, launched using the TWO FINGER DOUBLE TAP gesture:

  5. Focus on the tweet you want to re-tweet then use the TWO FINGER DOUBLE TAP gesture to launch the "magic tap" menu.
  6. SWIPE RIGHT to the re-tweet option, then DOUBLE TAP to confirm and "re-tweet" the message.

Create and send a tweet containing a hashtag.

A hashtag is a word or word string, indicated by the use of the "hash" (number) symbol. Using hashtags is a way of tracking and creating conversations across what might be thousands and thousands of individual tweets.

  1. Navigate to the New Tweet button and DOUBLE TAP.
  2. Focus will move to the text field of the new tweet. Type your message as normal.
  3. At the point where you need to type the hashtag, simply start it with the hash (number) symbol, for example: #meandmyguidedog. (Note that hashtags do not contain spaces.)
  4. Continue to type in your text, perhaps including other hashtags, then SWIPE LEFT to the Tweet button and DOUBLE TAP to send.

Mark a tweet as a favourite.

You can bookmark any tweet by marking it as a favourite. You can then open your Favourites page to access your list of favourite tweets.

  1. When you have read the tweet you want to mark as a favourite, SWIPE RIGHT until you have focus on the Favourite button. DOUBLE TAP to confirm.
  2. Alternatively, you can also mark a tweet as a favourite via the "magic tap" menu, launched with a TWO FINGER DOUBLE TAP gesture:

  3. Focus on the tweet you want to mark as a favourite and use the TWO FINGER DOUBLE TAP gesture.
  4. SWIPE RIGHT through the menu options and focus on Favourite. DOUBLE TAP to confirm the action.

Create and send a tweet containing a picture.

  1. Compose your tweet in the normal way.
  2. When you have finished typing your text, SWIPE RIGHT to the photo button. DOUBLE TAP.
  3. A list of thumbnail images will appear at this point from your camera roll, SWIPE RIGHT and/or LEFT through these and DOUBLE TAP the required image.
  4. However, if the image you need is in a specific photo album (and I strongly advise you to take this more organised route) SWIPE LEFT to focus on the Albums button and DOUBLE TAP. SWIPE RIGHT to the specific album you need and DOUBLE TAP to move into it.
  5. Inside the specific photo album, SWIPE RIGHT to move to the image you require. DOUBLE TAP to add the image.
  6. Focus will return to your tweet, SWIPE LEFT or RIGHT to locate the Tweet button and send in the usual way.

Create and send a tweet containing a hyperlink.

While this is a pretty straightforward thing to do on the PC, in iOS it's a bit more of a trickier operation. If you are not yet confident with the VoiceOver rotor control you may want to concentrate on getting used to those gestures first before attempting the following.

  1. First, you need to go and grab the required hyperlink. Open the Safari web browser and navigate to the URL of the page you need to copy. (On my iPad, the address bar area is in the middle, at the top of the screen.
  2. DOUBLE TAP to go into the text edit mode for the address bar. (Importantly, the text will already be highlighted when you move into this text edit mode.)
  3. Access the rotor control and set it to: Edit.
  4. Use a SINGLE FINGER FLICK UP (or DOWN) to move through the edit options, choose "copy" and DOUBLE TAP.
  5. With the URL of the page now copied to the clipboard, close Safari and open Twitter.
  6. Locate and activate the new tweet button as usual.
  7. In the tweet text input area, type your message as required.
  8. At the point where you need to insert the URL from the clipboard, access your rotor again and set it to: Edit.
  9. Use a SINGLE FINGER FLICK UP (or DOWN) to choose "paste" and DOUBLE TAP to confirm. The content of the clipboard will now be pasted into your tweet.
  10. Continue typing as necessary and send the tweet in the usual manner via the Tweet button.

I hope these little walkthroughs help you get to grips with VoiceOver and Twitter? Have fun!

Wednesday 3 June 2015

Sending Direct Messages - Twitter - VoiceOver - iPad

Sending a Direct Message in Twitter with VoiceOver

If there is one Twitter topic that splits opinion it must be the sending and receiving of direct messages. Some people just loathe them, considering direct messages pretty much out of sync with a social (and very public) technology such as Twitter. Other users, while they don't object to the Direct Message functionality as such, don't use it much if at all anyway.

The love it or hate it perception of the direct message might be a result of the spammers and more aggressive online marketers who have used and abused the function, turning it almost into a kind of Twitter "fishing" tool - especially among new connections. To be sure, the behaviour of continually sending direct messages is a bit of cultural no-no and runs considerable reputational risk.

My own personal feeling about the Direct Message is that it's good to have the option. However, I tend to the view that if, in a future update, this particular functionality is removed entirely it wouldn't really concern me in the slightest. That said, I'm quite sure a lot of non-personal account holders would be concerned and the cynic might say that, as a result of this, the Direct Message is likely to remain part of Twitter life.

What is a Direct Message in Twitter?

In Twitter a Direct Message is a personal private message sent between you and one of your followers. What makes it different from a standard tweet of course is that it is only visible to you and the recipient in private - it won't show up for any other followers. (Ironically, it is this very privacy that turns a lot of people off using the feature.) So, now that we know what it is, let's experiment!

Sending a Direct Message Using VoiceOver

Before the instructions, remember that if you are using a different device - or even different versions of iOS - then you may need to make some allowances as you go through the following steps:

  1. Launch the main Twitter app.
  2. Navigate (using "finger drag" or by swiping) to the Me taband DOUBLE TAP to launch. On my iPad Mini the Me tab is located on the left hand side of the app, about a third of the way down the screen.
  3. Move to the Me heading located at the top, middle of the screen.
  4. From the Me heading SWIPE RIGHT to pass various other options such as Search button, Compose Tweet button and profile photo.
  5. After passing the Settings button and Switch Account button, focus will be on the Direct Messages button. Use the standard DOUBLE TAP gesture to activate this.
  6. When the Direct Message screen launches, focus will be on a Close button, located in the top left of the screen on my iPad. From there, I SWIPE RIGHT and eventually have focus on the New Message button.
  7. A DOUBLE TAP on the New Message button will open the Messages panel and force focus to a text edit field where you can enter the name of the recipient.
  8. All Twitter user names start with an "@" symbol so use the onscreen keyboard to locate this character and start typing the user name. As you type, a drop down list of matches will pop up - giving you the option of finger dragging down to select the required follower name from the list. You will need to DOUBLE TAP to confirm your choice from the list.
  9. After you have confirmed the recipient name, focus will move to the main text edit field, allowing you to input your 140 character long Direct Message. Once more, use the onscreen keyboard to input or use the dictation tool to complete this.
  10. With the message completed, SWIPE RIGHT to the characters left figure and then SWIPE RIGHT again to focus on the Send button. DOUBLE TAP the Send button and your Direct Message will be on its way to the recipient.
  11. When you are done, close the Direct Messages screen by locating the Close button in the top left and DOUBLE TAP. Focus will return to your Me tab.

And that's it for Direct Messages - just be careful on how you use them! Have fun!

Tuesday 26 May 2015

Drag and Drop - Dragon Naturally Speaking V12 - Speech Input

Drag and Drop Using Dragon Naturally Speaking

As this is blog post number 50, I want to write about something that is fittingly simple and funky. So, today I'm going to depart from the usual magnification and speech output fun and pass the baton over instead to the increasingly fashionable speech input zone, specifically the mighty Dragon Naturally Speaking. In this post I'm going to cover how you move objects around your Desktop using Dragon's mouse commands - while it sounds a bit arcane, it's not as tricky as you might imagine.

Understanding the Mousegrid

Dragon has a whole bunch of different voice commands that allow you to control the mouse and I will be visiting those in a future post. However, the drag and drop approach I want to discuss here, relies on the Dragon "mousegrid" feature.

What is the mousegrid? Well, while you can move the mouse pointer around by itself in Dragon, this does get pretty tedious as you wait on the pointer travelling to the right location. Sure, you can make it travel a bit faster and so on but, for any mouse user of old, this process will feel excruciatingly restrictive. If you don't believe me, try using these manual mouse move commands to do everything. Take it from me, it won't take long before that frustration starts to kick in...

The solution to this frustration is to use the mousegrid option, this is where Dragon splits the screen into a numbered 3 x 3 grid. The idea is that you specify a number, with Dragon then applying a further smaller 3 x 3 grids, which you then use to specify another number and so on. Eventually, the mousegrid is so small the mouse pointer is pointing at one tiny area of the screen - which is, hopefully, over the object you need to "click" on!

This image shows a new document in MS Word with the 3 x 3 Dragon mousegrid overlay. Each segment has a small number inside it, from 1 (top left) to number 9 (bottom right).

The mousegrid voice command comes in two flavours, these are:

  • Say "MOUSEGRID" - this command applies a mouse grid to the whole screen.
  • Say "MOUSEGRID WINDOW" - this command applies a mousegrid but only to the currently active window.

Each of these mousegrid options can also be turned on and off using the following voice commands:

  • To scrub the last mousegrid command use "UNDO THAT"
  • To close the mousegrid mode completely, use "CANCEL"

Let's run through a typical mousegrid example, this is me using this approach to activate the Bold command in MS Word 2007:

  1. Say "MOUSEGRID WINDOW"
  2. Say "1"
  3. Say "2"
  4. Say "7"
  5. Say "LEFT CLICK"

Pretty neat isn't it? You can even roll the number references together more, saying "MOUSEGRID WINDOW 1 2 7 LEFT CLICK". Try it out!

Mousegrid Drag and Drop

Okay, now that we've played with the mousegrid option a little bit, let's cut to the chase and walk through moving an icon from one position on the Desktop to another. The icon I am moving is in the middle left of the screen and I am moving it to the bottom right of the screen. Here goes:

  1. Say "MINIMISE ALL WINDOWS"
  2. With focus on the Desktop now, say "MOUSEGRID".
  3. Say "4 1 6 1"
  4. Say "MARK"
  5. Say "MOUSEGRID"
  6. Say "9 6"
  7. Say "DRAG"
  8. Say "STOP LISTENING"

So the JPG image icon that I had placed on the left hand side of my Desktop has now been dragged over to the bottom right of the Desktop.

If at any point you lose your way with the voice commands remember to use either "UNDO THAT" to go back a step or "CANCEL" to switch the mode off completely.

Drag and Drop with Dragon: Moving an Email to a Folder in Outlook

Let's go through another example to really reinforce the voice command steps. This time I am in Outlook 2007 and I am going to use the MOUSEGRID command to move an email from my Inbox list view to a folder in the Navigation Pane on the left-hand side of the program interface. With focus in my Inbox, I approach this scenario as follows:

  1. Say "MOUSEGRID WINDOW".
  2. Say "2"
  3. Say "4"
  4. Say "5"
  5. Say "2"
  6. Say "MARK"
  7. Say "MOUSEGRID WINDOW".
  8. Say "4"
  9. Say "7"
  10. Say "8"
  11. Say "3"
  12. Say "DRAG"
  13. Say "GO TO SLEEP"

And that's it! Of course there are shortcuts you can take here - you might want to skip the mousegrid completely for certain Dragon mouse control options. But, while using the mousegrid is not always the fastest option, it does make for a safe and secure to move things around.

Have fun and here's to the next 50 posts!!!

Friday 22 May 2015

Using the Virtual Ribbon in MS Word 2007 - JAWS

Applying and Understanding the JAWS Virtual Ribbon

The ribbon-style interface is kind of old hat now but I'm pretty sure that there are more than a few of you out there who are still grappling with it. In addition, I'm sure there will be a few of you who may have heard of the JAWS virtual ribbon a while back but have never given it a go, opting instead to soldier on stoically with the default ribbon interface. Well, in this post I'm going to refresh on some of this discussion, walk through the virtual ribbon and then probably tell you why you may not want to use it any more...

Introduced in JAWS 12, the virtual ribbon was designed to make navigation of the new so-called "ribbon" interface that we all know and love a more familiar experience. I'm sure we can all think of at least one horror show moment where more time than necessary was wasted trying to locate a specific option in MS Word. But this wasn't the only problem we faced, what was really frustrating for a lot of speech users was that the ribbon didn't appear to make any navigational sense at all. The whole relationship between tabs, groups and commands just seemed hopelessly arbitrary with speech and keyboard.

A lot of the problem was due to the lack of what I call "meaningful restriction" - in that there really wasn't much of it in the ribbon and, to be fair, there still isn't. Put simply, having the reassurance of boundaries while you navigate allows you to build meaning from your route. This tends to be a series of escalating steps with appropriate choices, progressively fewer, at each point. The ribbon though just felt like a jumble of commands and control types lashed together. If you were lucky, you could get to the command you needed eventually, but the necessary steps were somewhere between "hit TAB 20 times" or "hit TAB 35 times."

The virtual ribbon came along to provide a bit more meaning for PC using speech users who were flummoxed by this new interface. It aimed to do this mainly by introducing a restriction at the group level, no longer could you just step off the upper ribbon tabs and be focused straight on a specific command in the lower ribbon. No, the virtual ribbon forced a focus on to the group level first and then, after the correct group was in focus, you could choose to move through the commands in that group only. The latter was an important point; it stopped you overshooting a command which would often result in you then navigating halfway across the entire program.

To really understand the differences here, let's compare and contrast the steps you take in the vanilla and virtual ribbon approaches. The scenario here is a common one, moving to the Insert tab and navigating to the Insert Page Number command. For the time being, just read through each example and pay attention to the differences.

Example 1: Navigating to Insert Page Number without the Virtual Ribbon

  1. Tap the ALT key to the move to the upper ribbon in MS Word.
  2. ARROW RIGHT or LEFT and focus on the Insert tab.
  3. Use the DOWN ARROW to move to the lower ribbon, then use the TAB key to move through the commands.
  4. Keep using the TAB key to move all the way along the lower ribbon. Eventually, you will have focus on the Page Number command, in the Header and Footer Group box.
  5. With focus on the correct command, use the SPACEBAR to open the drop down menu.

Example 2: Navigating to Insert Page Number using the Virtual Ribbon

  1. Use ALT to move to the upper ribbon, JAWS will indicate that "virtual ribbons" are on.
  2. ARROW RIGHT or LEFT and focus on the Insert tab.
  3. Use the DOWN ARROW to move to the lower ribbon, focus will be in the Pages group. JAWS will indicate that you have focus on the "Pages submenu".
  4. Press the TAB key to move through the other formal groups of commands, which JAWS announces as "Submenus".
  5. With focus on the "Header and Footer submenu", use the RIGHT ARROW to open the submenu and then DOWN ARROW to move through all the commands. Notice that you loop back to the first command in the submenu as you might expect - you are restricted to navigating through the commands in tha specific group.
  6. Use the ESCAPE key three times to leave the ribbon area and return to your document.

Notice the major differences between the two routes, with the virtual ribbon on, JAWS interprets the group structure as submenu's and, just as in a submenu, your focus is restricted to the menu choices. By contrast, with the virtual ribbon off, it's more a case of getting to the right tab in the upper ribbon and then moving through the lower ribbon however many times it takes to find the right command.

Okay, so that's all the theory! But, the best way to establish whether something is going to work for you or not, is to try it out. Before you do that however, you need to switch the JAWS virtual ribbon mode on if it isn't already.

Toggling the Virtual Cursor On and Off

The virtual ribbon is a setting you can check or uncheck in the default JAWS settings file. If you try and activate this feature in the Word or Excel specific settings file you'll hear a message reminding you that the virtual ribbon option is a default file only choice. So, if you were thinking that you could have the virtual ribbon on in MS Word but not in MS Excel think again! Anyway, let's go through the process:

  1. Use INSERT F2 to open the Run JAWS Manager list box.
  2. Tap the letter S key until you have focus on the Settings Centre option and press ENTER.
  3. The JAWS Settings Centre dialogue box opens with focus in a search edit field. The first thing to do here is use CONTROL SHIFT D, this will load in the Default JAWS settings file. (If you don't do this, JAWS will remind you to make the change as you will be unable to activate the virtual ribbon option otherwise.)
  4. With the default settings file loaded in, move to the search field. (Note that if you ever need to move to this search box directly you can use the keystroke of CONTROL E.) With focus in the search field, type: virtual ribbon.
  5. Use the DOWN ARROW to move to the single result. Listen to whether JAWS indicates that the "Use Virtual Ribbon Menu" option is checked or not. Use the SPACEBAR at this point to check or uncheck the option as necessary and INSERT UP ARROW to confirm the setting.
  6. Press the TAB key to move to the OK button and use SPACEBAR to activate it.

An easy way to check if you have the virtual ribbon running or not is to simply move to the upper ribbon and listen to the feedback. Without the virtual cursor running, JAWS will indicate "upper ribbon" when you use the ALT key. But, with the virtual ribbon setting active, JAWS will instead indicate "virtual ribbons".

Another Virtual Ribbon Example: Page Orientation

To wrap up the work here I want to run through another example with the virtual ribbon running so that you really get a feel for how it is meant to work. This time around we are going to the Orientation command in the Page Layout tab:

  1. Press the ALT key to move to the upper ribbon, JAWS indicates "virtual ribbons".
  2. Use LEFT and RIGHT ARROW as necessary to focus on the Page Layout ribbon tab.
  3. Use the DOWN ARROW to move to the lower ribbon. JAWS will indicate that you have focus in the "Themes submenu".
  4. Use the TAB key to move focus to the next group/submenu, JAWS will indicate "Page Setup submenu".
  5. Use the RIGHT ARROW to open this submenu and press DOWN ARROW to navigate to the Orientation drop down button.
  6. Activate the button with SPACEBAR and DOWN ARROW through the two listbox choices, these are: Portrait, Landscape. Activate either with the ENTER key, focus will return to the document. Alternatively, press the ESCAPE key several times to exit without doing anything.

I hope that in this post I have managed to communicate the fundamental differences between the two approaches. The virtual ribbon is the more guided approach and you may find that it suits the way you work. The virtual ribbon certainly makes more sense if you are a relatively new recruit to the ribbon interface. However, my own opinion is that the virtual ribbon is not necessarily the best way to go for everyone.

Why do I say this? Well, in Office 2007 where you had much more restriction on how you could customise the ribbon, the virtual ribbon made a lot of sense - especially as people were getting over the shock of the new interface. But by the time of Office 2010, with its ability to hide the default ribbon and create your own tabs, the purpose of the virtual ribbon seemed already under siege. The point is this: if you are creating your own ribbon tabs and groups, then having the virtual ribbon active might actually slow things down for you.

That said, for all the customisation power in Office 2010 and above, I know very few people who are making use of it. So, in that sense, the virtual ribbon is still an option. The best thing is to try it out for a while and see how you get on. (But I'll bet you'll soon return to spamming the TAB key fifty times to get to your ribbon commands...)

Have fun!

Thursday 21 May 2015

Pass Through Keys - Zoomtext - JAWS -

Using the Pass Through Keys in Zoomtext and JAWS

If you are using a magnifier or a screenreader regularly, sooner or later, you are going to discover a keystroke conflict. This is when the access tech layer intercepts the keys that you are really trying to send through to the underlying application you are working in.

Now while it is possible to remap hotkeys this can be a tricky operation because, in correcting one keystroke, you may unwittingly create another conflict. Or, you may end up having to create a keystroke combination that requires such deft finger acrobatics that it becomes a real pain to use. But, instead of remapping keystrokes, a simpler option is to use the built-in pass through keys.

Using a pass through feature does mean you create a bit of extra work for yourself, in that you have another keystroke to use first, but it might save you any potential remapping hassles. To find out about whether the AT you are running actually has a pass through key feature, check the built-in Help system and try it out if it does.

For all you Zoomtext and JAWS users out there, let's go through the keystrokes you need here:

  • JAWS: INSERT 3
  • Zoomtext: ALT PAUSE

So, if you are using Zoomtext and trying to use a keystroke in another application, you use the pass through key first (ALT PAUSE) then use the keystroke that is conflicting. That second keystroke, because you used the pass through key, will now be "passed through" to the underlying application - your AT will be strictly hands-off.

Note that the pass through keystroke will only work for the keystroke you use immediately - if you happen to mess it up you'll have to use the pass through key again.

Until next time... now, where exactly is the Pause key again...

Monday 18 May 2015

Linking Worksheets - Excel 2007 - Keyboard

Creating a Summary Sheet in MS Excel 2007

A fairly common task in Excel is to create a worksheet that pulls in data from other worksheets in the same workbook. For example, your workbook may have one sheet for each month with a final worksheet used to summarise values across the whole twelve months.

If you are one of those brave souls that enjoys building your formulae manually, how you deal with this kind of task generally depends on how well organised your data is - especially whether the values you require occupy the same cell across each worksheet. To understand how to tackle some of this, let's run through some examples. First though,we need some data...

Creating the Example Data in Excel

I'm using MS Excel 2007 here so, if you are using something different, you may need to adjust some of the steps:

  1. Open MS Excel 2007, by default you will be focused in a new workbook with the standard three worksheets already open. You can move between each worksheet using the keystrokes of CONTROL PAGE DOWN and CONTROL PAGE UP.
  2. Focus on sheet one and move the cursor to cell A1. (In any worksheet remember that the cursor is moved using the ARROW KEYS while you move to a specific cell with CONTROL G.)
  3. In cell A1, type January then press ENTER to automatically move to cell A2. Type in a number here and press ENTER again to move to cell A3. Repeat the process a few times, so that you have a bunch of figures in a few of the cells in column A. I have chosen to populate cells A2 on to cell A6.
  4. Use ALT to move to the upper ribbon. Put focus on the Home tab if it isn't already then DOWN ARROW to the lower ribbon. Press TAB to move all the way along to the Format option in the Cells Group Box.
  5. With focus on the Format option use the SPACEBAR to open the menu. ARROW DOWN to the Rename Sheet option and press SPACEBAR to confirm.
  6. Type in the new name - I chose January for mine - and press ENTER to finish.
  7. Now use CONTROL PAGE DOWN to move to the second worksheet and repeat the process, but this time around replace January with February.
  8. With the worksheet for February complete, move to the final sheet - this will be the summary sheet. With that in mind, label the worksheet "Summary".
  9. When you have finished you should have a three sheet workbook. Sheet 1 is titled January, with a heading in cell A1 and, directly underneath that, a few cells with some numbers. Sheet 2 is similar, except it is titled and headed up for February. Sheet 3 is titled Summary and should be blank.
  10. With all that in place make sure the workbook is saved. Then focus back into cell A1 in the third worksheet.

Referencing a Single Cell Value in a Different Worksheet

Sometimes you only need to pull a value into the spreadsheet from a specific cell in a different worksheet. In this case you would use the following:

=Sheet_Name!Cell_Reference (equals sign, sheet name, exclamation mark, cell reference)

Okay, try inputting the following examples to get some confidence building the formula manually:

=January!A2
=February!A3

In the first example, what you should find is that the value in cell A2 on the January worksheet is pulled through to the cell in worksheet three. The second example will return the value in cell A3 in the February worksheet. Use the data you have created to experiment with another few examples of your own - remember that you can easily delete any cell content using the DELETE key.

Creating a Same Cell Summary Total

Expanding on the above you can easily create summary totals across your group of worksheets by calling on the SUM function. If you have anything in cell A2 on the Summary sheet delete it first then input the following to test it out - the formula should add up the values that exist in cell A2 across the two worksheets:

=SUM(January:February!A2)

Notice with this formula you define the range across the worksheets first and then, after the exclamation mark separator, define the specific cell on each worksheet you require the sum of.

This technique is commonly used in workbooks that have one sheet for each month. For example, this formula =SUM(January:December!A2) will add all of the values in each A2 cell across the January to December worksheets. So, mental note to self, make sure you design your worksheets consistently because using a range with the SUM function makes things a lot easier!

Creating a Different Cell Summary Total

But what if you need to total values that aren't located in the same cell across your worksheets? In this case, things do become a little bit more inelegant and the best way to demonstrate this is with a fitting example using our data. Try this for size:


=SUM(January!A2,January!A4,January!A5,February!A2,February!A3)

Nothing special going on there, it is essentially just one long list of the different cells across the different worksheets. Now, while it is valid and certainly does the job, the more you have to type in the more potential there is for typo's. However, if you have no other option...

It's a Wrap

Let's finish up here by going over the three approaches I've covered in this post one more time:

  1. =January!A2 - Returns the specific value of cell A2 on the worksheet titled January.
  2. =SUM(January:February!A2) - Gives the sum of the values in cell A2, across the range of worksheets titled January to February.
  3. =SUM(January!A2,January!A4,January!A5,February!A2,February!A3) - Returns the sum of the specific cells listed, across the different worksheets indicated.

Now it is over to you, happy experimenting with those summary worksheets!

Friday 15 May 2015

Reading a PDF in Adobe Reader - JAWS - PDF

Reading a PDF with JAWS

There's a bunch of subjects that always seem to crop up regularly in this field and chief among these has to be reading a PDF file using a screenreader. So, in this post, I'm going to walk through reading an accessible PDF using JAWS and explain a couple of the approaches I find useful. I'll be using Adobe Reader XI and JAWS V15 for this and I need to point out here that if you have different versions of the software your results may well be different to mine.

Now You Read It, Now You Don't

Before we begin though, you'll notice that I indicated the PDF file I am going to use is a generally accessible file. This is important to note because the bottom line - and a huge part of why the PDF is a perennial "hot potato" - is you can never be entirely sure what reading experience lies just ahead. There is an irony in this, because the whole aim of the format is to ensure a broadly similar experience across different endpoints. However, the continuing actual reality of the format, is a junkyard of historical workarounds, a raft of configuration and security implications and the downright too simple and too speedy ability for any user to create a PDF file that is, ultimately, pretty rank when it comes to accessibility. And that is a major grass roots PR issue that Adobe still struggles with although to be fair, Adobe have always provided the tools and information for making something that does generally work.

Anyway, I think I've said enough as I really don't want to bog this post down with this debate right now, I'm more than happy to leave it to everyone else to carry it on - and carry on it will! Suffice it to say, if you need a bit more background on these and related issues, you won't have to search hard on the Web. Also, if you want some formal guidance on best practice techniques when creating a PDF file then please have a read through of the information here: www.w3.org/TR/2014/NOTE-WCAG20-TECHS-20140408/pdf.html

If you want to follow my actions exactly here, the PDF file I used in writing this post is called Keyboard Shortcuts, downloaded from this page on the Ability Net website: www.abilitynet.org.uk/factsheet/keyboard-shortcuts

I saved my Keyboard Shortcuts PDF file down to my Desktop, this is how I go about opening it:

  1. WINDOWS KEY D routes my focus to the Desktop area.
  2. I tap letter K to move focus - eventually - to the Keyboard Shortcuts PDF file.
  3. I press the application context menu key (SHIFT F10 does the same thing).
  4. In the context menu, I navigate to the option called "Open with Adobe Reader XI" and press ENTER.
  5. The Keyboard Shortcuts PDF now opens in the Adobe Reader program. I check this with the JAWS keystroke to read the title bar of the active window, INSERT T. When I do this, JAWS indicates: "Keyboard Shortcuts dot PDF dash Adobe Reader."
  6. Okay, let's get started!

Getting More Information

Before you jump in and try to read any text in a PDF file, it's a good idea to always get a bit more information on the document content. At the very least it gives you a bit of a heads-up on the number of basic elements present and also reminds you about some of the keystrokes you can use. We can get at this information via the JAWS context help system:

  1. With focus in the PDF file in Adobe Reader, use the keystroke of INSERT F1.
  2. The virtual viewer opens and shows some element information for the currently loaded file. Navigate through the information in the virtual viewer using the ARROW KEYS as required.
  3. When you have finished reading, use the ESCAPE key to close the virtual viewer and return focus to the file.

Note that the Keyboard Shortcuts PDF file I downloaded from the Ability Net website contains two level one headings and five level two headings. This is good information and I'll be making use of those headings shortly!

Reading a PDF

General rule of thumb with JAWS and a PDF file is this: treat the document like a web page. So, let's start with some basics before moving into a few other tips and tricks to speed things up:

  1. When your PDF file opens in Adobe Reader, silence speech straight away using the CONTROL key.
  2. I recommend grounding the cursor at the very beginning of the file by using the CONTROL HOME keystroke. (Note that you can also use CONTROL END to route the cursor to the end of the document if this is closer to the info you need to read.)
  3. With the cursor routed at the top of the file, press the DOWN ARROW to move to the next line of text or other focusable element in the page.
  4. If you want to have JAWS reading everything from the cursor on, use INSERT DOWN ARROW to run a JAWS say all. To stop this read through at any time, use the CONTROL key to silence speech.
  5. You may also wish to manually move and read a paragraph at a time, in this case use the standard CONTROL DOWN ARROW and CONTROL UP ARROW keystrokes.
  6. To read a word at a time, use the keystrokes of CONTROL RIGHT ARROW and CONTROL LEFT ARROW.
  7. Finally, to move and read a character at a time, use the RIGHT and LEFT ARROW.

Moving Through The File

Treat the PDF file as you would any other HTML or Word file, many keystrokes you are already familiar with can be used here, such as:

  • As mentioned previously, use CONTROL HOME and CONTROL END to move to the first and last pages respectively.
  • Manually move between the pages in the file using CONTROL PAGE DOWN ARROW and CONTROL PAGE UP ARROW.

Moving to a Specific Page

If you need to go straight to a specific page in the file then test out the following:

  1. Call up the Go To Page dialog box with CONTROL SHIFT N.
  2. Type in the page number you need to move to and use ENTER to confirm.

Moving Between Headings

Earlier on I used the context help feature to inform me of the number of headings present in the active file, now I am going to use that information to move around the PDF file:

  1. To move between all of the headings, regardless of level - use the quick keys of H, to go to the next heading, and SHIFT H to go back to the previous heading.
  2. Additionally, as context help informed me that there are two level one headings and five level two headings, I can opt to move between the headings at those specific levels:

    • Use the quick key of 1 and SHIFT 1 to move to the next and previous level 1 heading.
    • Use the quick key of 2 and SHIFT 2 to move to the next and previous level 2 heading.

Copying and Pasting from the PDF into a Word 2007 Document

Copying text from a PDF is achieved in exactly the same way as copying text with the virtual cursor from a webpage. However, you need to be aware that in a standard copy and paste operation, the paste bit will copy the formatting of the selected text and not just the content. To avoid this situation, the best option is to use the Paste Special feature in MS Word. This is how you approach the task in Word 2007:

  1. Move the cursor to the start of the text in the PDF file you want to copy. Remember to check your exact focus, so that you can be absolutely certain you have the right start point.
  2. What you do next really depends on the text you are selecting. Remember those keystrokes from earlier on about how to move and read the text? Well, all you have to do now is add the SHIFT key to any of them. So, to select a paragraph, use CONTROL SHIFT DOWN ARROW, to select a word use CONTROL SHIFT RIGHT ARROW and to select the next character SHIFT RIGHT ARROW.
  3. Check the text you have selected using the JAWS keystroke of INSERT SHIFT DOWN ARROW. If you need to be character perfect with your highlighting, use INSERT SHIFT DOWN ARROW twice so that JAWS spells out your selection.
  4. With the selection right, press CONTROL C.
  5. If you are still not 100% sure of what you have in the windows clipboard, then use the JAWS home row technique to check it. With the text in the clipboard use INSERT SPACEBAR (you will hear a sharp tapping sound) then press letter C. The virtual viewer will open and you can move the cursor around to read the text in the clipboard. When you have checked everything, press ESCAPE to close the virtual viewer and return focus to your file.
  6. Now open or switch to a document in MS Word (in my case it is Word 2007) and press the ALT key to move to the upper ribbon.
  7. Ensure you have focus on the HOME tab in the upper ribbon and use the DOWN ARROW to switch to the lower ribbon. Focus will immediately be on the specific command you need there, the Paste split button.
  8. Tap the SPACEBAR to launch the menu associated with the Paste split button and use the DOWN ARROW to locate the Paste Special... option in the drop-down menu. Press the ENTER key to launch the Paste Special dialog box.
  9. Focus will be in a list of formatting choices, so now either use first letter navigation to move to the "unformatted text" option or use the UP and/or DOWN ARROW KEYS to highlight that item in the list.
  10. When you have the "unformatted text" option in focus, press the ENTER key to perform the paste operation.
  11. Focus will return to your Word document with the selection now pasted in. Importantly, the original formatting of the pasted content will no longer be present, instead the pasted text will be in the default normal style for the current document.
  12. Remember that you can check the formatting of any current text in JAWS by using the keystroke of INSERT F.

Setting and Using Placemarkers

You can also set placemarkers in a PDF file. If you are familiar with using them in Internet Explorer then you can use the same approach here. Being able to set placemarkers can make longer PDF files considerably easier to navigate. Let's try it out:

  1. In the PDF file, move to the location that you want to bookmark with a placeholder.
  2. Use the keystroke of CONTROL SHIFT K to open the JAWS Placemarker dialog box.
  3. Press the TAB key to move to the Add button and press the SPACEBAR. Alternatively, press ALT A to open the Add dialog box.
  4. Input a distinct label for the placemarker and TAB to the Define for all pages on the current domain checkbox. If this is checked, tap the SPACEBAR to uncheck it and press TAB to move on again.
  5. Focus will now be on the Anchor to text checkbox and, as before, ensure that the checkbox is clear. Press TAB to move on to the OK button and tap the SPACEBAR to confirm the operation - your placemarker is now created!
  6. Focus will return to the PDF file enabling you to test it out straight away. Use CONTROL HOME to move focus to the beginning of the file and use the quick key of K to move to the next placemarker location. (To move to a previous placemarker use SHIFT K.)

Okay, I hope that there's a few new tips in there to get you working more efficiently with those sometimes troublesome PDF files. Remember though that not all PDF files are created equally, so if you are struggling to be able to read any of the file using JAWS, chances are it isn't that accessible.

At some point in the future I'll get a blog post together on creating accessible PDFs and also some of the configuration options in Adobe Reader to look out for. Until that time - have fun!