Find and Replace Styles - Duxbury Braille Translator V11.2

Find and Replace a Code or Style in Duxbury Braille Translation Software

As you might expect for a text editing and markup program like Duxbury, you can utilise a Find and Replace feature to replace text just as you would in MS Word. However, what is less well known, is that you can use the same Find and Replace dialog box to find and replace Duxbury styles and codes. Let's try it:

Finding and Replacing Duxbury Styles and Codes

1. Open an existing document in the DBT and launch your code view with ALT F3.
2. Call up the Find and Replace dialog box with the F6 key.
3. With the cursor in the Text to find: edit field, use the Style manual input hotkey of CONTROL F9 or, if you are looking for a Code, use F9 on its own.
4. When you use either CONTROL F9 or F9 the appropriate style of brackets is automatically inserted; angle brackets for Styles and square brackets for Codes. All you do now is type in the relevant Style or Code syntax, such as h1. or /acronym or g1 and so on.


NOTE: Remember to run your Find and Replace operation for your Style start and end tags. It is easy to get caught out and find and replace the Style start tags yet forget to change the end tags too. The end tag is the same as the start tag except for a forward slash / placed at the beginning of the tag text.

5. When you have completed the Text to find: information, press TAB to move to the Replace with: edit field. Using the same F9 or CONTROL F9 method as before, specify the Style or Code you need as a replacement for the Style or Code in the Text to find field.
6. Press TAB to move on through a series of checkboxes (toggle them on and off with the SPACEBAR if required) to eventually focus on the OK button. Press the SPACEBAR again to confirm and run the Find and Replace operation.
7. If the details have all been input correctly, a message box will pop up with the first instance of the text to find selected. You can TAB through the four buttons and activate them as necessary with the SPACEBAR. These Replace? message box buttons are:
• Yes (ALT Y) - Choose this to replace the currently selected instance of the Style or Code only.
• No (ALT N) - Choose this to ignore the currently selected instance of the Style or Code only.
• All (ALT A) - Choose this to replace all instances of the selected Style or Code.
• Stop (ALT S) - Choose this to stop the Find and Replace immediately.
8. Continue to work through the instances of the Style or Code you need to change. When there are no more found, Duxbury will indicate the end of the operation with a small summary window showing how many changes were made.

And that's it! Much easier than laboriously changing every Style or Code manually isn't it?

Fractions - MS Word - Accessible Information - JAWS - NVDA

Fractions and Speech

It may never crop up of course, that document you are creating - or all the documents you might ever create for that matter - may never include even one solitary fraction. If that's the case, you'll probably want to skip over this post.

But imagine it does contain fractions? Then imagine that one of the people who needs to read that document uses a screenreader such as JAWS or NVDA... Hmmm, feeling the shivers a bit now I'll bet - how can something so seemingly insignificant create such a potential fuss? The great cry goes up, how am I going to write the fractions so that JAWS will read them? And... how does JAWS read them anyway!?" So, in this post, I'm going to spend a bit of time talking about fractions...

The first thing to understand is that there are several ways of actually inputting fractions into MS Word. For example, you can:

• Type in a fraction like this - 1/2 or 1/4
• Create and display a fraction inside a Word field - I'll explain this in a bit.
• Or you can insert a common fraction using the specific ASCII code - I'll explain that shortly too.

What you as a document creator need to be aware of though is that not all screenreaders will read across all of these methods equally. So, let's investigate each of the above and see what happens.

The All Manual Way For Fractions

It may come as no surprise that the most obvious way of inputting a fraction, just typing in the numerator followed by a slash and then the denominator with no spaces is likely to prove the most accessible across a diverse range of assistive tech. With an example fraction like "1/5", JAWS will simply repeat the characters and say "one slash 5". (Of course the listener will have to build the contextual meaning around this, something that should be fairly straightforward so long as the surrounding text is useful.)

However, what might not be so apparent is something that can happen when you type in the more common fractions, such as one half, one quarter or three quarters. Try out the following:

1. Launch MS Word and create a new document if you don't have one open already.
2. Type in: 1/2 and press ENTER to insert another paragraph.
3. Now move back up and check the fraction you have just input. Is JAWS announcing "1 slash 2" or is it saying "one half"?
4. On a different line, type in "3/12" - once again check to hear how JAWS announces what you have typed in. JAWS should indicate "3 slash twelve".

So, why the change in echo with the half? Well, it's because the text on screen is actually different - MS Word has automatically changed it without you even realising it. This is all due to a checkbox in the Autoformat As You Type tab, labelled "(Replace as you type) fractions (1/2) with the fraction character." The bottom line is that Word automatically replaces three individual characters with one character, representing the common fraction. This explains the different echo with JAWS.

If you want to change this behaviour in MS Word so that there is no automatic formatting then try the following:

Toggle Fraction Autoformatting As You Type On and Off (Office 2007)

1. In MS Word, press ALT F to open the main menu via the Office button.
2. Press the letter I to activate the Word Options button directly. Alternatively, use the TAB key to put focus on the button and press SPACEBAR to activate it.
3. In the Word Options dialog box, press the DOWN ARROW until you have focus on the list option called Proofing.
4. With focus on Proofing press the TAB key to move to the Autocorrect Options button and tap SPACEBAR to activate it. Alternatively, when you put focus on Proofing, you can use ALT A to activate the button directly.
5. The Word Options multi-page dialog box opens up. Use CONTROL TAB to move between the pages to focus on the correct one which is labelled: Autoformat As You Type.
6. With focus on the correct page, press the TAB key to locate the (Replace as you type) Fractions with Fraction Character checkbox. Use the SPACEBAR to toggle the status of the checkbox in the usual way.
7. When you have set the checkbox status as required, press the ENTER key to confirm the changes and close the dialog box. (You might want to explore the other options here though, in which case just TAB through to the OK button and press SPACEBAR when you're done.)
8. Focus will return to the previous dialog box, once again TAB through and press SPACEBAR to confirm.

After you have toggled the Autoformat option off, when you type "1/2" in the Word document, it will stay as three individual characters exactly as you typed.

Fractions and EQ Fields

Sounds impressive doesn't it? And in a sense it kind of is, but using fields in documents has something of a difficult history for screenreader users especially and it should come as no surprise that this method will result in something pretty inaccessible to software like NVDA and JAWS without some serious hand-holding. However, don't discount this method entirely - especially if you need a paper copy of the work containing the fractions. From a visual perspective at least, the fractions produced using this method are large and clear and could be suitable for a low vision user. That said, from an electronic document perspective, bear in mind that the bottom line is this: using these EQ fields will result in an output that is not automatically echoed with a screenreader. Although it is technically possible to still work with the fields as we will discover. Anyway, let's explore!

Create a Fraction Using an EQ Field

1. In a new blank document in MS Word, press the keystroke of CONTROL F9 to insert a blank field area. Bear in mind that if you are using a screenreader there will be no echo when you do this. The main thing is: do not press the arrow keys to move the cursor or you will lose your positioning inside the field you've just created!
2. Type in the text for the fraction you require, it must be in the following format: EQ \F(X,Y) - where X,Y is the numerator and the denominator. For example, writing the fraction 3/36 the text would be EQ \F(3,36). To confirm, the equation text is E Q space backslash F Open Bracket First Number Comma Second Number Close Bracket.
3. When you have typed this code, use SHIFT F9 to toggle the code view - doing this switches between the equation you have just input and the result of that equation - providing there are no errors of course!

NOTE: The equation text view in the field codes can be read with JAWS and NVDA, however the output or result of the equation cannot - or, more accurately, may only be partially read. So, when working with speech, use the code view at all times. A useful hotkey to remember here is ALT F9 as this hotkey will toggle between the two different field views for all the fields in the current document at the same time. Very useful that one!

By default, the output of this equation field method creates a fraction consisting of the numbers you have specified. The actual display of the fraction is quite large and physically spans two lines. In that sense, low vision computer users may find the display of these fractions quite friendly and useful. Anyone using speech on the other hand, will be unable to read the fraction output on screen and will instead have to toggle the field codes back on using SHIFT F9 or ALT F9.

Inputting a Fraction Character using the ASCII Code

Okay, you thought that using a blank field and manually entering an equation code was fun? Well, think again. The real hardcore here is all about memorising a bunch of ASCII codes for specific fraction characters. Yes indeed, you can input the ASCII code for a common fraction directly into a Word document. Let's go through this now using an example where I am inserting the ASCII fraction character for one half:

Insert a Common Fraction Character Using the ASCII Code

1. Open MS Word and ensure you are in a new blank document.
2. Tap the NUMBER LOCK key on your keyboard, this is normally located at the top left of the numberpad section on a typical PC keyboard. (Note that if you are using a laptop you will need to locate your Function key - normally labelled "Fn" - to access your numberpad).
3. With number lock active, hold the ALT key down and type 0189 using the numberpad keys.
4. Tap the NUMBER LOCK key to turn the mode off and check what has been input into the Word document. You should find a fraction character for one half - JAWS will announce this as "one half" while NVDA announces "a half".

Okay, let's have a bit more of this ASCII action. Here is a small table with some of the more common codes - I've also included a couple of columns to give you an idea of how well recent versions of JAWS and NVDA cope in reading the characters.

Fraction	ASCII Code	JAWS V15 Announces	NVDA 2015.1 Announces
One Quarter	ALT 0188	One fourth	A quarter
One Half	ALT 0189	One half	A half
Three Quarters	ALT 0190	Three fourths	Three quarter
One Third	ALT 8531	No echo	One third
Two Thirds	ALT 8532	No echo	Two thirds
One Fifth	ALT 8533	No echo	No echo
Two Fifths	ALT 8534	No echo	No echo
Three Fifths	ALT 8535	No echo	No echo
Four Fifths	ALT 8536	No echo	No echo
One Sixth	ALT 8537	No echo	No echo
Five Sixths	ALT 8538	No echo	No echo
One Eighth	ALT 8539	No echo	No echo
Three Eighths	ALT 8540	No echo	No echo
Five Eighths	ALT 8541	No echo	No echo
Seven Eighths	ALT 8542	No echo	No echo

Clearly you can tell that some of these fraction characters are not going to be good choices as screenreader users will struggle to know that anything is even there in some cases. I should also point out that some of these characters are very narrow so may not magnify well and, at the very least, may need to have a bigger font size for some readers.

Summary

So where does this leave us? Pretty well back at the beginning really! I mentioned earlier that inputting the fraction as individual characters is the safest option for both mag and speech. Of course, there is nothing to really stop you using a blank field or using some of the ASCII codes but you must bear in mind that those methods may result in some difficulties and require more support and context-building with the AT user. As with all other things regarding document accessibility, whatever you decide to do, keep it consistent. Sometimes less is more.

Have fun!

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: