Task Manager - Windows V7 - Keyboard

Launching the Task Manager Directly

Every so often I learn a new keystroke that makes me think not only "why have I never discovered this before?" but "that's really helpful and I can see me using this a lot." This happened the other day when I discovered CONTROL SHIFT ESCAPE. What does this keystroke do? It moves focus directly into the Task Manager. This is pretty handy because, as we all know, going into the Task Manager is not exactly a rare occurrence in the wonderful world of access technology...

To get a feel for how swift this is in use, let's go through a quick example by assuming that MS Word has gone AWOL:

Opening the Task Manager to Close a Running Program

1. Press CONTROL SHIFT ESCAPE to launch the Windows Task Manager.
2. Tap letter W to locate the Winword.exe application in the list.
3. Press ALT E to activate the End Task button.
4. A message box will open, with focus on an End Process button. Press the SPACEBAR to confirm the operation and you're done!

Much more direct than the trusted route of ALT CONTROL DELETE I feel, so give it a whirl and see if it works for you.

Research It - JAWS V15 - BBC Headlines - News Summary

Checking the BBC Headlines via JAWS Research It

One of the more under-used recent features in JAWS must be the Research It feature. This is a real shame as it does have some pretty funky tricks in its bag, my own personal favourite being how easy it is to aggregate the headline stories on the BBC website in a JAWS virtual window. If you haven't given this a try, this is how you do it:

Reading the BBC Headlines with JAWS Research It

1. With JAWS running, press INSERT SPACEBAR and you should hear a sharp clicking sound.
2. Tap letter R to open the Research It dialog box.
3. Press TAB to move into a list view, your focus will most likely be on the top item which is "Wiktionary".
4. Press the DOWN ARROW - or use first letter navigation - to reach the list item labelled BBC Top News Stories.
5. With the BBC News Stories item in focus press the ENTER key.
6. After a short delay, focus will move to a JAWS virtual window containing the top BBC News headlines. Read the information in the usual way, using the UP and DOWN ARROW keys for example.

NOTE: Each section in the virtual viewer contains a hyperlink, when you activate it your default web browser will open and focus will move to the specific headline page on the BBC site.

Pretty neat feature - it's a shame it is so well hidden away! This really does give a JAWS user a quick and efficient way of checking the main news headlines on the BBC.

Have fun!

Taskbar - Jump Lists - Keystrokes - Windows 7

Working with Windows Taskbar and Jump List Keystrokes

You might think that there's nothing much exciting about the Windows Taskbar. After all, it's been there since the dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the stable rock at the foot of the screen onto which we now etch the programs we want to get to quickly or to check the programs already running.

But while the Taskbar itself is hardly news, there have been a fair few twists over the years. In Windows V7, suddenly the functionality of the Taskbar was enhanced with things like jump lists (for the applications you already have open) and the ability to "pin" applications to the Taskbar. But the niftiest thing about the Taskbar - and what I am going to cover here - is the emphasis on direct keystroke control.

Launching a Program on the Windows Taskbar using a Keystroke

Use the following keystroke to launch a specific application, or move to a specific application if it is already running:

• WINDOWS KEY NUMBER: For example, if MS Word is the second program pinned to your Taskbar you can use WINDOWS KEY 2 to launch it.

This keystroke also works for programs you have running. For example, assuming you don't have any programs pinned to your Taskbar, the first program you have started since logging in will be number 1, the second number 2 and so on. So, to switch to a different program directly, use WINDOW plus the relevant NUMBER. Try it out!

Launching a Jump List for a Specific Program on the Taskbar

Essentially, a jump list is an option menu - it's also one of the areas where you can control whether an application is "pinned" or "unpinned" to the Taskbar:

• ALT WINDOWS KEY NUMBER: For example, if Internet Explorer is the third program pinned to your Taskbar you can use ALT WINDOWS 3 to move focus directly into the expanded jump list for that application.

Right then, it's time to play with the new keystrokes - have fun exploring the jump lists too!

Calender - Outlook 2007 - JAWS V15

JAWS V15 and Outlook 2007: Accessing Another Calendar

Opening Another Users Calendar in Outlook 2007 with JAWS V15

One of the more common office tasks for many JAWS users is opening and navigating another Calendar in Outlook. So, in the immortal words of Montell Jordan, this is how we do it:

1. Press CONTROL 2 to move directly to your Calendar folder in Outlook 2007.
2. Press ALT F and DOWN ARROW to the Open submenu. Press the ENTER or RIGHT ARROW key to move focus into the submenu.
3. In the Open submenu, press the DOWN ARROW to focus on the Other User's Folder... option and press ENTER.

4. In the Open Other User's Folder dialog box, focus will be in the Name... edit field. If you know the full name of the person who has given you permission to access their calendar then input it here. Use the format: Surname, First Name (surname comma space first name - for example: Bloggs, Joe). Alternatively, press SHIFT TAB to focus on the Name... button and choose the relevant person from the standard Outlook contact lists you have access to.
5. When you have input the correct name, move to the OK button and press SPACEBAR. Providing you actually do have the right name and the appropriate permissions, the relevant Calendar will open and take focus.

Moving Around the Outlook Calendar

I have my Calendars in Outlook launching in Day View by default but it is easy to switch between the different Day/Week/Month views using the following keystrokes:

• Switch to the Day View: ALT CONTROL 1
• Switch to the Working Week View: ALT CONTROL 2
• Switch to the Week View: ALT CONTROL 3
• Switch to the Month View: ALT CONTROL 4

Using JAWS in the Day View, you'll find the following keystrokes are really helpful:

• Move to Next Day: RIGHT ARROW
• Move to Previous Day: LEFT ARROW
• Move to Previous Time Slot: UP ARROW
• Move to Next Time Slot: DOWN ARROW
• Move to a Specific Date: CONTROL G
• Launch a JAWS Window Summary for the Current Date: INSERT A (pressed twice)

Moving Between Outlook Calendars

1. To cycle around the main task pane areas of the Outlook Calendar window, press the F6 and/or SHIFT F6 keys.

Closing a Calendar

1. Move through all the open Calendars using the F6 key, until you have focus in a tree view area, this is actually the Navigation Pane and contains the options you need.
2. Press the DOWN or UP ARROW, depending on where you have focus in the Navigation Pane already. Listen out for a branch of the tree labelled "People's Calendars", when you locate this continue to ARROW DOWN.
3. As you ARROW DOWN you will hear a list of names with a checked or unchecked status for each. When the name is checked it indicates that the Calendar for that person is currently displayed. So, locate the name of the person you require then use the SPACEBAR to uncheck the entry.
4. Now ensure that the Calendar has been closed by using the F6 key to move between the work panes currently open in Outlook.

Once upon a time the Outlook Calendar used to be a buggy and near impossible place to be. These days it still presents some challenges but, with the right keys and approach in place, it works pretty well.

Have fun!

Overdrive App - RNIB Library - VoiceOver

Into the RNIB Library with the Overdrive App: Part 1

Something a lot of people have been talking about recently is the OverDrive app on iOS, specifically in relation to the RNIB Talking Book library in there. Overall it appears to have been generally well received and, as it has been creating a bit of a buzz, I've decided to put my "Using Comments in a Worksheet with JAWS" post back in the mix for another day and check out the iOS Overdrive app with VoiceOver.

I'm taking the VoiceOver route purely because of my own natural bias towards portable devices when it comes to TTS reading and other audio books. For me, I'm just more likely to make use of this software if I install it on the iPad Mini as opposed to my PC. In fact, there's something about reading books on a PC that really doesn't work for me at all, unless I have the room to myself where I can use the main speakers. Anyway, let's jump straight in.

Signing in with the Overdrive App

1. After finding, installing and opening the OverDrive app from the Apple App Store, I have focus on some message text that appears to be asking me to sign up or log in. When I SWIPE RIGHT focus moves to a Sign Up button and another SWIPE RIGHT takes me to a Have an Account? Sign In button. Yet another SWIPE RIGHT takes focus to a button where I can declare that I'm under 13 years old. That's a pretty sobering moment right there and isn't something I have to worry about ever these days, so I SWIPE LEFT a couple of times to put focus back on the Sign Up button.
2. When I DOUBLE TAP on the Sign Up button I am presented with the following options:
• Sign up with Facebook: button
• Name: text field
• Email address: text field
• Email address again: text field
• Password: text field
• Yes! Help me find my next favourite title. Receive recommendations and reviews: checkbox.
• Sign up: button
3. Alternatively, if I DOUBLE TAP on the Have an Account? Sign In button instead, I am presented with these input options:
• Sign in With Facebook: button
• Email Address: text field.
• Password: text field
• Remember Me: checkbox
• Sign In: button
• Forgot Your Password?: link

NOTE: To move back to the previous page in the Overdrive App there are two physical locations to pay attention to. One back arrow button is sometimes positioned near the top left of the screen while in most of the other more common screens in OverDrive the back button is located in a line of options at the bottom left of the app screen. I would advise spending a bit of finger drag time to get used to the screen layouts as much as possible.

4. Thankfully for me, the most appropriate option is to use my Facebook details to login to Overdrive. These days I'm increasingly in account overload territory, so I shudder at the idea of having yet another login name and password to remember. So, via the Sign In button I SWIPE to and DOUBLE TAP the Sign In with Facebook button.
5. The login via Facebook page now appears with the expected Facebook login options, these are:
• Email Address or phone number: text field
• Password: text field
• Log In: button
6. After my customary typo's with my Facebook details (my own fault for choosing such long email addresses and passwords) I think I have logged in although nothing is announced automatically. Ignoring the lack of automatic feedback, I use a DOUBLE FINGER SWIPE UP gesture to force a read through from the top focusable element on the current page.
7. Sure enough, my login appears to be successful and I'm focused on what seems to be a pretty simple page. This Home Menu sounds interesting so I put my VoiceOver focus on the Home Menu button in the top left of the page and DOUBLE TAP to launch it. Although the Home menu opens immediately (actually in a long vertical window on the left hand side of the screen) the VoiceOver cursor stays focused on the Home menu button. So this is probably a good time for a bit of finger dragging - I need to explore the screen and get some details. Although I am logged in to the OverDrive app I am not yet logged in to the RNIB Talking Book Library which is a different login.

Finding and Logging into the RNIB Overdrive Library

1. With the Home Menu list of options open, I could just drag around the screen to latch on to something in the expanded list but I like to use my trusty FOUR FINGER SINGLE TAP at the top of the screen to "ground" my cursor on the top focusable element on the screen.

NOTE: This four finger gesture is fairly new so if you have upgraded iOS recently you should be able to use it. This is fast becoming one of my favourite "cursor grounding" gestures - when you tap with four fingers at the top of the screen it puts the VoiceOver cursor on the first focusable element. By doing this I have the confidence that, when I start swiping through the screen elements, I have started at the very top of the list. I should also point out that this gesture, when you use it at the bottom of the screen, puts your focus on the last focusable element too, allowing you to swipe backwards.

2. From the first element I SWIPE RIGHT a few times until I move to an option called Add a Library. I DOUBLE TAP to activate this option.
3. In the next page I continue to SWIPE RIGHT to reach a Search input field. I type in "rnib" and SWIPE RIGHT to a Search button which I DOUBLE TAP to activate.
4. Focus moves to the results page so I continue to SWIPE RIGHT until I have focus on the RNIB details that have been found. A DOUBLE TAP on those details moves the focus to another results list.
5. I follow the same procedure as in the previous step, I SWIPE RIGHT - past the "Library Systems" heading to eventually focus on a text element labelled "Royal National Institute of Blind People". I activate this with the usual DOUBLE TAP and focus now moves to the home page for the RNIB Library!
6. After a few seconds of drifting round the page (hey, there's some interesting stuff on there) I use my FOUR FINGER SINGLE TAP near the top of the screen to put the VoiceOver cursor on the top element, so that I can work through the page ingredients in some kind of order and begin to map out the screen a bit - besides, I still haven't logged in to the RNIB Library yet and need to find that option.
7. After SWIPING RIGHT a few times I have focus on a Sign In link. When the new page loads, focus is on the Library Card Number text field and, nearby, a Password text field. I move into the edit mode for each text field and type in the information I have received from RNIB. After this I activate the associated Sign In button and that's it - I'm logged in to the RNIB Library.

General Notes on Navigating the Pages: Rotor Control

NOTE: Before we go through finding and reading a book, it is useful to refresh on our good friend in VoiceOver - the rotor control. The reason I mention this now is because some of these pages are pretty information heavy and being able to scoot around a particular element (moving only through the hyperlinks for example) might be useful for you. Let's go through an example...

Moving to the Search Edit Field Directly

To demonstrate the rotor control, here is a quick way of getting to the main Search text field on the RNIB Overdrive home page. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong in using a swipe or by dragging your finger to locate this but I'd suggest giving the rotor control a bash here - it might make navigating a little bit easier at times.

1. From the RNIB Library Home Page, launch the rotor control by holding two fingers on the screen, then dragging the second finger round the first in a sort of circular motion. If the gesture has been recognised, you will hear VoiceOver indicate some options such as Links, Headings and Form Controls - which are the very items we need actually!

NOTE: Using the rotor can be tricky at times. Try to imagine the gesture like turning a tuning control on a radio or like winding up a clock or watch. Imagine making a winding gesture on the screen with two fingers, like turning a dial so that it points to different spokes on a wheel. When each "spoke" is set, for example "speech rate", you can then use a SINGLE FINGER SWIPE UP and DOWN to make the actual changes to the chosen rotor option or category.

2. Keep using the rotor gesture to turn the "dial" on screen until you hear the rotor option labelled Form Controls.
3. When you have set the rotor to Form Control you are then able to use the ONE FINGER SWIPE UP to move to the previous Form Control in the page or a ONE FINGER SWIPE DOWN to move to the next Form Control. In this way you can move directly between only the form controls in the page.
4. Using this method of SINGLE FINGER SWIPING UP and DOWN locate the Search Field in the page. Pretty nifty once you get the hang of it.
5. Then, when you have a feel for how this approach works, you might want to set the rotor control to "Headings" and navigate through the Headings directly. You can also set it to "Links" too - so if you haven't explored this feature in VoiceOver before then have bash at it and see if it works for you.

Okay, now that all of the logging and signing in has been taken care of and I have explored some of the information in the home page, it's finally time for me to get to the books. It's time to run a search!

Searching for a Book

1. Finger drag, swipe or use the rotor Form Control option to locate the Search text field - on my iPad Mini this field is physically positioned towards the top, right hand edge of the screen.
2. In the active text field type in your search criteria such as a book title or author or even a keyword and run the search operation.
3. Focus now moves to a list of results, displayed in a kind of book cover view by default. Finger drag over the screen to read the titles and use the THREE FINGER SWIPE UP to move through the pages.
4. Alternatively, another route to make sense of the results for your search is via the rotor options again. Set the rotor to Headings and SINGLE FINGER SWIPE UP or SINGLE FINGER DOWN until you have focus on Search Results, which is a level 3 heading.
5. With focus on the Search Results heading, now SINGLE FINGER SWIPE RIGHT to move in a logical element by element fashion. Listen out for the number of matches, this will be read as something like: 1, 15 of 15 which, translated, means "showing 1 to 15 of 15 results". With that information I can make a decision on whether I need to fine tune my search or just soldier on using finger drag or swiping to locate the book I want.

Find the Book, Play A Sample

1. With focus on a book in the Search Results list, I can SINGLE FINGER SWIPE RIGHT through a whole bunch of options. However, my basic approach is to activate the "Click here to view more details..." option and move to a page that is solely focused on the details for the chosen book.
2. I switch the rotor control to Headings and SINGLE FINGER SWIPE UP or SINGLE FINGER DOWN depending on where my focus is to the main level 3 Heading title.
3. With focus on the heading title I can SINGLE FINGER SWIPE LEFT once to focus on the Sample button. A DOUBLE TAP activates the button and automatically plays the sample audio.
4. When the sample has finished playing, I finger drag to the bottom left of the OverDrive app and locate the back button. A DOUBLE TAP takes me to the previous screen so that I can now choose whether to borrow the book or put it on my wishlist - but we'll cover the latter in a future post.

Example Search and Playing Some Sample Audio

We have covered a fair bit of ground in this post and it might be useful to give you more of a quick-fire walkthrough using a real world example. So, I'm going to run a search and play a sample of one of the classics of the Horror genre - "The Rats" by the late great British Horror maestro James Herbert. Okay, let's go:

1. After logging in, I turn the rotor option to Form Controls and SINGLE FINGER SWIPE UP or SINGLE FINGER DOWN (depending on current focus) to locate the Search edit field quickly.
2. I run my search in the standard way with the following keywords: Herbert The Rats.
3. I now turn the rotor option to headings and SWIPE UP or DOWN to locate the level 3 heading Search Results.
4. The search has brought the trilogy into the list, but I am interested in the first novel only. So, I SINGLE FINGER SWIPE RIGHT several times to locate the "click here for more options about The Rats" item and activate it with a DOUBLE TAP.
5. Now in the page for the specific book, I SINGLE FINGER SWIPE UP or SINGLE FINGER DOWN to locate the level three heading "The Rats".
6. With focus on the book title heading I SINGLE FINGER SWIPE LEFT once to focus on the sample button. I activate this with a DOUBLE TAP.
7. I sit back and enjoy the opening paragraphs of this classic Horror novel. Lovely!
8. When the sample has finished, I locate the Back Button in the bottom left of the OverDrive app interface and activate it with a DOUBLE TAP. I'm done here!

That's where I'm going to leave it for now - I realise this post has been a bit heavy at times but I hope that my own exploration has provided some fresh insights and confidence with approaching this App. It does seem like there is a lot of great content online already and RNIB are always adding new titles which is fantastic so this is one not to miss. However, I am somewhat dismayed that there is a real lack of quality UFO literature in the Library, maybe one day Santa will give us an audio version of Leslie Kean's breakthrough work "UFOs: Generals, Pilots, and Government Officials Go on the Record." Maybe. I digress...

Now that we have covered some of the initial approaches and have started to get a feel for how OverDrive works, I'm going to explore a few more tasks and options in a future post. But, for now, happy exploring and reading!

One final thing... RNIB have recently uploaded a video on using VoiceOver in OverDrive, here it is:

Out of Office Assistant - Outlook 2007 - JAWS V15

Setting the Out of Office Assistant in Outlook 2007

As it is half term week it feels like it's the right time to recap on how to set up, switch on and switch off the Out of Office Assistant in Outlook. In this post I'm going to be using Outlook 2007 and making sense of it with my trusty JAWS V15.

The "Out of Office Assistant" is one of these operations that, in earlier versions of the application, I always found to be pretty straightforward but, with Outlook 2007 and 2010 for that matter, I've found it a bit of a trickier process. I don't know if things have changed again in the most recent Outlook 2013 but since the 2007 move to a multi-tab page layout, I've just found it naturally less intuitive than I used to. Anyway, I'm going to go through the way I have it figured out and this works for me so I hope that it gives you some ideas of how to tackle the layout.

Configuring the Out of Office Assistant

1. Open Outlook 2007 and ensure that you have focus in the Inbox.
2. Press ALT T to open the main Tools menu.
3. Press the DOWN ARROW to move to the Out of Office Assistant menu item and press ENTER to activate it. You can also tap the U key to launch it directly instead of using the ARROW keys.

4. Focus moves to the Out of Office dialog box, specifically the two radio buttons at the top. One of these options, labelled "Do not send out of office replies" is already checked. From there tap the DOWN ARROW to select the other radio button, labelled "Send out of office auto-replies". Each of these radio buttons has a dedicated hotkey that you can use to activate the relevant radio button from anywhere in the dialog box, these keys are as follows:
• Do Not Send Out of Office Replies: ALT N
• Send Out of Office Auto-Replies: ALT S
5. When you select the "Send Out of Office Auto-Replies" radio button, previously unavailable form fields now become active. Press TAB to move to the Only Send During This Time Range: checkbox and check or uncheck this using the SPACEBAR. If you activate this option, you will have the opportunity to set some extra date and time information in several text input fields that you can TAB through next. Personally, I never use this but you might feel differently and I can see how, in some circumstances, it could be beneficial to set a time period within which the system generated messages are sent. If you do want to experiment with this, make sure you press TAB to move through the Start Date, Start Time, End Date and End Time edit fields in order and complete as necessary. Type the required information in using the following format:
• Date Format: DD/MM/YYYY (Example: 14/02/2015)
• Time Format: HH:MM (Example: 14:30)

Now we get to the twist in the plot! When you press TAB at this point you will have focus on an unlabelled button, another TAB takes you from there to an unlabelled edit field. If you continue to TAB you will reach a Menu Bar with some formatting options in it and you can TAB through that to get to the text area for you to input your actual message. Apart from the obvious labelling issues I also personally feel, from a speech point of view anyway, that using the TAB key to plough on doesn't serve me well. It also glosses over what is an important point about this dialog box: there is a large multi-tab area to explore that contains two distinct pages. The first page contains all of the auto-message options for people emailing from inside the organisation. The second page contains the auto-message options for people emailing you from outside your organisation.

6. So, from the Only Send During This Time Range: checkbox instead of instinctively pressing TAB - press SHIFT TAB five times to go back round, past the Cancel and OK buttons until you have focus on the Inside My Organisation tab - when you hear this you are now on the page heading tabs. At this point you can switch between the pages simply by using the RIGHT and LEFT ARROW KEYS.

Inside My Organisation: Setting the Out of Office Assistant

1. With focus now on the Inside My Organisation page tab, press SHIFT TAB once more to move to the associated text edit field. This is where you now type in your message that you wish to be sent automatically to people (within your organisation) who email you while you are out.
2. Press TAB to return focus to the Inside My Organisation page tab and press the RIGHT ARROW to put focus on the second page, labelled Outside My Organisation (On).

Outside My Organisation (On): Setting the Out of Office Assistant

1. With focus now on the Outside My Organisation (On) page tab, press SHIFT TAB to move to the text edit field as before and type in the message that will be automatically sent to people who are emailing you from outside your organisation.
2. Alternatively, you do have the option with the external facing email to actually turn this auto-message function off completely. If you want to do this, the quickest way is to use the keystroke of ALT U as this moves the cursor to the Auto-reply to people outside my organisation checkbox. Control the state of the checkbox as normal, using the SPACEBAR. When you disable this feature, the rest of the form will be made unavailable as it no longer applies and the label for the page will indicate Outside My Organisation (OFF) instead of Outside My Organisation (ON).
3. As well as turning the external email on and off you can fine-tune the function so that it only sends an automatic email to external senders who are in your Contact List, as opposed to everyone who emails. Once again, the best route here is to use the direct keystrokes for each option, these are:
• My Contacts only: ALT C
• Anyone outside my organisation: ALT A - (this being the default option in the series of two radio buttons.)
4. When you have input your messages and set all of the options, press the TAB key several times to reach the OK button and press the SPACEBAR to confirm everything and run the Out of Office Assistant.

Boo! Back from the Holidays, Turning the Out of Office Assistant Off

1. From the Inbox, press ALT T to open the Tools menu.
2. With the Tools menu open, press the U key to launch the Out of Office dialog box directly or navigate with the DOWN ARROW to the menu item and press ENTER.
3. The Out of Office Assistant dialog box will open, with the cursor focused on the second of the two main radio buttons ("Send out of office replies"). Press the UP ARROW to select the first radio button, labelled Do Not Send Out of Office Auto-replies and press the ENTER key to confirm. NOTE: You can also use direct keystrokes to control the selection between these two radio button options as I outlined earlier on in this post.

And there you have it! It may take a few passes through this dialog box to get the hang of it and you might find that you want to just TAB your way through it - if that works for you then great! For me, when I approached this in the usual manner by just trying to TAB all the way through, I really didn't find it particularly intuitive. But, being able to get to the page tabs quicker using SHIFT TAB gave me more of a context for what I was doing. Throw in a few of the direct keystrokes on top and the Out of Office stuff works okay with speech. And, y'know, it's not exactly the first time the tab order hasn't done me any favours and I am sure it won't be the last. But, let's not go there eh...?

Until next time - have fun!

Desktop Icons - Windows 7 - Recycle Bin - My Computer

Something that popped up in conversation the other day is how, on a Windows 7 computer, you put the Recycle Bin and Computer shortcut icons back on the Desktop. It's one of those annoying little knowledge nuggets that comes and goes for some AT users - not always at the right time!

So, let's sort this old and sometimes frustrating chestnut out right now, it's actually pretty straightforward with the live search tool.

Putting the Recycle Bin and My Computer Icons Back on the Desktop

1. Tap the WINDOWS key to open the Start Menu.
2. In the live search edit field, type in the following text to search for: show desktop icons.
3. Tap the DOWN and UP ARROW as necessary to focus on the Show or Hide Common Icons on the Desktop item. Press the ENTER key to activate it.

4. Focus now moves to the Desktop Icon Settings dialog box. This contains a group of checkboxes that allows you to switch the standard icons, such as Recycle Bin and Computer, on and off. Press TAB to move through the checkboxes and check and uncheck as necessary using the SPACEBAR.
5. Notice that each of the checkbox options also has a direct keystroke. I have listed them out here as you may find it quicker using them instead of tabbing around. The key list is as follows:
• Computer: ALT M
• User's Files: ALT U
• Network: ALT N
• Recycle Bin: ALT R
• Control Panel: ALT O
6. When you have activated the icons you need to place back on the Desktop and have finished exploring some of the other options, press TAB to move to the OK button and press SPACEBAR.

And that's it! All that is left for you to do now is to drop focus back to the Desktop and relive the glory days of Windows 95.

Until next time, have fun!

Zoomtext V10 Recorder - Keyboard - Audio - iTunes

One of the features in Zoomtext magnification and speech software I really enjoy using is the Recorder. In fact, in these mobile orientated days, I consider this feature is a bit of a slow burn and think there should be a bit more noise about it.

Zoomtext Recorder is one of two tools in the program that work with the current content of the Windows clipboard and, basically, it converts that current clipboard content into an audio file. It's a pretty straightforward process and, if you have a quality software synth on your computer and you are using Zoomtext, you have the ability to create a lot of bespoke audio content very swiftly. You can even go a little bit further than this because those audio files you create can even upload straight into an iTunes playlist, something I will cover in a short while. So, Zoomtext users, let's roll some speech here!

Using the Zoomtext Recorder to Record to a File

The first route I'm going to cover is the more manual, mouse-driven approach. This is perfect for those times where you just need to quickly create a standard, uncompressed (.WAV) audio file and save it somewhere on your computer.

1. Select a chunk of text in any document and copy it to the clipboard in the usual way (using the CONTROL C keystroke or by accessing the Copy option via the context/applications menu (right hand mouse button). Of course, you may want to select all the text in the document, in which case you can use the keystroke of CONTROL A to select everything.
2. With the text copied to the clipboard, go to the Tools toolbar and activate the Recorder button or access the Tools menu and activate the Recorder option in there.
3. The Zoomtext Recorder dialog box will open and your keyboard focus will be in the Track Name edit field. Type in a suitable name by over-writing the default text already there (normally, this is the first line of text in your selection) then move on to the Track Location field.

4. Set your save location for the audio file you are about to create by either typing in the full path or by accessing the associated Browse... button (ALT B)
5. Now move to and activate the Record Text button to start the audio file creation. By default, the file will be uncompressed (.WAV) so, depending on the amount of text you have copied this process may take a little while. Additionally, you may have a pretty big audio file on your hands!
6. When the audio file has been created, move to the Close button and activate it to close the Zoomtext Recorder dialog box.
7. Now locate your new audio file and play it!

Using the Zoomtext Recorder for Quick Audio Files in iTunes (Keystroke Route)

If you are looking to make this feature a bit more central in how you do your work and you use iTunes for synchronising then I would advise you to go down the following route. This is a much quicker way through using keystrokes and we'll be piping our results straight into a playlist in iTunes for further sorting. This playlist, called Zoomtext Recorder by default, functions in the same way as other playlists in iTunes. Let's try it out:

1. As in the above steps, select your text and copy it to the clipboard.
2. Press the keystroke of CONTROL CAPSLOCK S to record the text you have selected.
3. The Recorder dialog box opens directly, focus will be in the Track Name field as expected, but SHIFT TAB to move to the previous field labelled Record Text To and set this combo box to show iTunes. (Note that when you select iTunes here the Track Type and Track Location fields become unavailable.)
4. Press TAB to move back to the Track Name edit field and type in a name. If you are planning a series of recordings you might want to think about including a reference or a number at the beginning of the title.
5. Press the TAB key once again and focus will move to the Record Text button (ALT R) then use the SPACEBAR to activate. The conversion will now take place and at some point you'll probably see iTunes opening up in the background.
6. With the file created, tap the SPACEBAR to activate the currently focused Close button then ALT TAB into iTunes and check your playlists. You should notice a new addition - labelled Zoomtext Recorder - and you'll find your audio file in there. Note that if you create a second file using this method it will be added into the same playlist. This means that you can build up a whole playlist pro-actively from scratch - how about an IT Tips playlist, anyone...?

So there you go, if you are using Zoomtext and sync a lot of content via iTunes, please explore the Zoomtext Recorder - it's really nifty.

Until next time, have fun!