When accessing technology is considered by professionals to enhance quality of life, educational plans and vocational goals, several issues need to be considered, for example:

Vision condition and functionality,
Individual's current skills,
Barriers that prevent or limit individuals accessing print,
Activities for which adaptive technology is aimed for,
Affordability of equipment,
Training or strategies for individuals to use the recommended technologies.

Advances with technology have provided individuals who are blind or vision impaired the ability to access print, using a variety of assistive technologies. For example, voice output programs or screen reader programs enable a blind person to navigate the computer screen. People who cannot read the screen because of blindness, low vision, or dyslexia can use the computer with the aid of screen reading software. Screen reading software takes information that is displayed visually on the computer screen and makes it available through synthesized speech. Similarly, screen magnifiers, that can enlarge the contents of the screen, are developed for people with low vision. Most magnification programs offer a maximum magnification to 16 times. On the physical computer screen, only a portion of the information is displayed. The entire screen can be viewed by scrolling over the screen using the mouse or the keyboard. When the mouse is moved the information displayed on the screen changes to synchronize with the mouse.

One of the main factors that can prevent a blind or vision impaired person having access to such programs is the cost of purchasing the adaptive technology. For example, the cost of stand alone screen reader and large print programs range from a few hundred to over a thousand dollars.

The aim of this document is to research and evaluate some free and shareware large print, speech and large mouse software that could mainly assist a vision impaired person to access print. It will include instructions on ways in which to access and use these programs. Information on the advantages and disadvantages, and whom might benefit from having access to such programs will also be included. The focus of this document is on Windows 95 and 98 shareware and freeware programs.

Some information in this document could also benefit blind computer users, for example the speech friendly Internet browsers and information regarding electronic and Braille books.

In addition the author has included information about speech friendly Web Browsers and some Internet sites that could provide free electronic and Braille books on line.

It is important to be aware that even if an individual is able to see and hear screen information with the aid of a shareware program, it may not be the most appropriate program for the individual. This is because the shareware programs do not have all the functionality of the standalone applications. Also magnification and speech shareware programs may not have been tested with a large range of application programs for compatibility.

This project is directed at people who have some familiarity with computers, adaptive technology, Internet and downloading procedures.

It is envisaged that the result of this project will be beneficial to blind and vision impaired individuals, as well as to families and professionals working with vision impaired and blind people.

Note :In this document the word "click" is often used. It refers to pressing (clicking) the left mouse button. You could press the Enter key once a screen dialog button has been selected and highlighted, instead of double clicking the mouse.

UNZIPPING A FILE USING THE WINZIP CLASSIC PROGRAM

When downloading programs from the Internet into your computer, the files will generally transfer to your computer in a compressed or zipped format. In order to be able to access the programs or files you need to unzip them. To extract or unzip the files follow these steps:

Use Windows Explorer or My Computer to locate the zipped files.
Double click on the zipped file.
The WinZip dialogue box will appear on the screen.
You may encounter a condition of agreement statement. Read the conditions of the agreement and click on the 'I agree' button for the WinZip program to open.
Files to be unzipped will be displayed in a list.
Select file or files to be unzipped.
Click on the Extract icon in the toolbar or press the Ctrl + E to open the Extract dialogue box. (The Extract option can also be accessed from the Action menu)
Enter or choose a folder in the 'Extract to' field into which to place the unzipped files.
Click on the Extract button for the files to be decompressed or unzipped and the WinZip program to close.

MICROSOFT ACCESSIBILITY OPTIONS FOR WINDOWS 95 AND 98

LARGE MOUSE POINTERS

Changing the size of Mouse Pointers in Windows 95/98

Open Start Menu
Select Settings
Open Control Panel
Double click on the Mouse item
click on the Pointers tab
click on the drop-down Scheme menu.
Choose from 3-D, Animated Hourglasses, Large and Extra Large pointer schemes.
Click on the Apply button
Click on OK button

Mouse Trial: If you have problem tracking your mouse when it moves, then put a trail on it and reduce the speed of mouse motion.

Open Start Menu
Select Settings
Open Control Panel
Double click on the Mouse icon
Click on the Motion tab, Select Show Pointer Trails Move the slider closer to the Long or Short trail according to your preference.
Similarly use the Pointer Speed slider bar to select how quickly or slowly you want your pointer to move.
Click Apply for changes to take effect.
Click OK to close the dialogue box.

Slowing down the repeat rate when holding down a character on the Keyboard

Open Start Menu
Select Settings
Open Control Panel
Double click on the Keyboard icon to open keyboard properties panel.
Click on the Speed tab.
Move the Character repeat delay slider to the left to increase the delay.
Move the Repeat Rate slider also to the left to slow down the speed of repeating a character when it is pressed.
Click Apply for changes to take effect.
Click OK to close Keyboard Properties..

Windows 98 Magnifying Lens

The Windows 98 in-built magnifier allows a small portion of the screen to be enlarged and it is able to follow the mouse pointer.

To access the magnifier:

Open the Start Menu
Select Programs
Open Accessories
Select and Open Accessibility
Choose Magnifier

Closing the Magnifier:

Move the mouse pointer inside the Magnifier.
Right mouse click
Select Exit

Key commands when using the magnifier

Increase magnification Window key + up arrow
Decrease magnification Window key + down arrow
Follow mouse cursor toggle key Window key + page down
Invert colour toggle key Window key + page up

Dierk's List of Animated Cursors

http://www.anicursor.com/special.html

This site contains a collection of animated, large and coloured mouse pointers and arrows.

For example the link bigcolor.exe has a number of large mouse pointers in different colours. It is freeware and created by Kristy Shanks. To download these large mouse pointers you require an unzip program.

Download procedures

Press the Enter key or double click on the bigcolor.exe link
File download dialogue box appears. Accept the default radio button choice (Save this program to disk)
Choose OK button.
The Save in the desired folder
Select Save button
Note:
To keep all colour cursors in one folder you could create a new folder under Bigcolor in the Cursor folder of the Windows directory
Use the Windows Explorer to find the folder in order to unzip the files. Choose the BigColor folder to save the unzipped files.

To Use one of the bigcolor cursors follow these steps:

Open Start Menu
Choose Settings
Open Control Panel
Select and open Mouse
Go to Pointers
Click on Browse button
Select and open Bigcolor folder
Choose a mouse pointer
Click on Apply button
Press on OK button.
Close Control Panel

Increasing The Font Size and changing the colour of Windows elements

Windows 95 and 98 offers Display Schemes such as Windows Extra Large, High Contrast Black and White. To access these schemes that provide different colour schemes and large icons, menu bars and title bars follow these steps:

Open the Start button
Select Settings
Open the Control Panel.
Select and open Display
Select the Appearance tab
Open the Scheme list box
Use arrows or scroll bars to go through the available schemes
After making a selection press Apply button
Press the OK button to close the Display window
Close the Control Panel

In addition to existing schemes, you could further customise the Windows appearance. For example if you liked a particular window scheme but the menu items were not large enough or the colour of the scroll button was not contrasting, then you are able to change them to suit your individual need.

Further customising windows appearance

Open the Start button
Select Settings
Open the Control Panel.
Select and open Display
Select the Appearance tab
Open the Scheme list box
Use arrows or scroll bars to go through the available options
After choosing windows scheme colour tab to the Item list box
Choose the window element that you want to change its font size or background or foreground colour
After making the appropriate changes press the Apply button
Press the OK button to close the Display window
Close the Control Panel

Choosing the Desktop Background

Open the Start button
Select Settings
Open the Control Panel.
Select and open Display
Select the Background tab
Open the Wallpaper list box
Use arrows or scroll bars to go through the available options
After making a choice for the background display press Apply button
Press the OK button to close the Display window
Close the Control Panel

Changing the font size in Windows Explorer

Option 1

Choose View from the Windows Explorer menu bar
Select Text Size
Choose Largest
Press Enter

If the text size is still small you could further customise it.

Using Internet Options to change the text Style for a Web page
Choose Tools from the Internet Explorer menu bar

Select Internet Options
Click on Fonts in General tab
From Web Page Font list box choose for example Tahoma
Press OK
Click on Accessibility button in General tab
Tick the check box for "Ignore Font Styles specified by Web pages"
Tick the "Ignore Font sizes specified by Web pages" box by clicking in the box or use the tab key to move to the check box and press Enter.
Press OK
Close the Internet Options

Changing the Colour for the Web Page text and links

Choose Tools from the Internet Explorer menu bar
Select Internet Options
Click on Colors in General tab
Untick the "use windows colors" chick box
Select a background and text colour from the colour palettes
Select Colour from the palettes for visited and unvisited links
Press OK
Click on Accessibility button General tab
Tick the check box "Ignore colors specified by Web pages"
Press OK
Close Internet Options window.

Microsoft Accessibility URLs for Window 95 and 98

Accessibility Options in Windows 95 can be accessed from:

http://www.tsbvi.edu/technology/95options.htm

Accessibility Options in Windows 98 can be accessed from:

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/windows98/steps.htm

SPEAK FRIENDLY WEB BROWSERS

WEBFERRET FREE SEARCH TOOL, VERSION 3

URL: http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,000AFV,.html

The WebFerret search tool provides a simple and efficient method to find information on the World Wide Web.

To search for your topic:

Enter your search string in to the edit box.
Choose from the 4 Radio button,
- All keywords
- Any keyword
- Exact phrase
- Boolean expressions (placing condition on search string)
Choose Find Now

The WebFerret will use the Internet connection to search for your query in the following search engines: Alta Vista, AOL, NetFind, Euroseek, Excite, GoTo, Infoseek, LookSmart, Lycos and Yahoo. The result of the search is then displayed in a list box (duplicated results are not displayed).

You could tab to the list box or use arrows and mouse to open the web page.

Viewing the abstract about each site:

Provided that there is an abstract available for the site, the WebFerret can display this information as a tool tip when moving through the list.

To display the Abstract:

Open the view menu option.
Select Abstract by pressing enter or left mouse click. A tick will appear next to the word Abstract.

Note: For vision impaired people you could alter the size of tool tip text, through the Control Panel. One method is as follow:

Press the Start button or Window key
Select Settings
Select Control Panel
Select Display
Select Appearance
Open Item list box
Select ToolTip
Change the font size and style as required (Font size and styles are restricted)
Select Apply
Select OK button to close Display window
Close Control Panel

IBM HOME PAGE READER (HPR) VERSION 2.5

http://www-3.ibm.com/able/hprtrial25.htm

General comments

This program is specially design by Microsoft to provide easy access to the Web pages for vision impaired and blind people. The program uses the IBM ViaVoice OutLoud synthesiser and Netscape Navigator Manager.

This program could also be utilised by people with Dyslexia and reading disorders. It also provides e-mail and fax options, which is not covered in the following notes.

Due to the visual presentation and graphical design of the majority of Web pages, it is often quite difficult and sometimes impossible for a vision impaired and blind person to access information on the Internet.

The IBM Home Page Reader assists with this problem by providing a web page reader that discards graphics and provides reading and navigation commands to access the page elements such as links, frames, control buttons, edit boxes and text.

It also provides an easy method of searching for information on the net and the open Web Page.

However the program does not follow standard Windows commands and conventions, which can be a disadvantage for people who are familiar with these commands and procedures.

To utilise the IBM Home Page Reader, they have to learn new procedures and commands in order to read and access information on a web page. This could cause confusion and loss of data.

When installing the program, it is requested to close other open programs. This means that a blind or vision impaired person can not independently install the program, since they would not have access to their speech and large print programs to assist them with reading screen information.

Furthermore this browser does not have the full capacity and options that is offered by browsers such as the Internet Explorer or Netscape. For example the option of printing, changing font size and editing commands are not available when using the IBM Home Page Reader.

Overall the program is a useful tool to access and navigate the Internet in a more controlled mode by help of a speech program.

Commands summary lists (Using the Numeric Keypad)

URL for a complete list of key commands: http://www-3.ibm.com/able/quickhelp.htm

Start IBM HPR Ctrl + Alt + H
Turning HPR off Num lock + Enter (twice)

Note: Sometimes this command does not work. Alt and F4 can also turn the program off but has not been mentioned in the manual.

Start Reading 			0

Stop Reading   			Enter

Open (Text input for URL 

Or Search string) dialogue box 	(+ then .)

Getting Page summary		(. then 5)

Where am I key 			(0 then 5)

Settings key 			(*)

Extended key 			(+)

Jump Key			(.)

Key label Help 	double click 	(/)

Exit Key label Help  		(/)

Changing Speech Settings

Press (*) setting key
Press down arrow (8) until you hear speech settings
Press right arrow (6) until you hear voice change for links
Press down arrow (8) or up arrow to go through the list ( Rate, Volume and Pitch)
Pressing right arrow (6) will increase the rate, volume and pitch.
Pressing left arrow (4) will decrease the rate, volume and pitch.
Press (*) key until you hear back to normal mode.

Reading Text


Read the Page again from the beginning 		(+ then 4)

Read Current Heading on a Page			(. then 2)

Read Previous heading on a Page 		(. then 1)

Read Next Heading on a Page 			(. then 3)

Read previous word or character   		7

Read Current Word or character    		8

Read next word or character          		9

Double Click 8 to toggle between 

character mode and word mode

Read previous item 				4

Read current item				5

Read next item 					6

Fast forward through the Page and read 		(+ then 1)

Move to the Top of Page and Read 		(0 then 4)

Move to the Bottom of Page and Read last item 	(0 then 6)

Reading Links


Previous Link 					1

Current Link 					2

Next Link 					3

Open Current Link double click 2 or press 	(+ then 2)

Jump to the First Link on Current Page 		(+ then 1)

Jump to the Last Link on the current Page 	(+ then 3)

Searching Commands

Search in page for string

Press (+ then .) to Open Search dialog box.
Press / followed by string without the space between the / and the string.
Press Enter

Search Commands continued

Search on Internet
Press (+ then .) to Open Search dialog box.
Press / followed by string without the space between the / and the string.
Press Enter

Search forward, 			(Enter with 6) 

Search backward, 			(Enter with 4)

Hear search string, 			(Enter with 5)

Reading Frames


List of Frames in a Page 		(. then 0)

Previous frame 				1

Current frame 				2

Next frame				3

Open frame 				double click 2 or

					(+ then 2)

Reading Tables


Jump to current table on

 a Web page and read 		(. then /)

Jump to Next table on 

a Web page and read		(. then *)

Jump to previous table 

on a Web age and read 		(. then Num Lock)

History key


Reload the previous page	(Num Lock)

Move down the History list 	(Num Lock with *)

Move up the History list 	(Num Lock with /)

Reload page 			(+ then Num Lock)

Cancel connection		(+ then Enter)

Connection status		(. then Enter)

To delete from History		(Num Lock with -)

PWWEBSPEAK PLUS RELEASE 3

http://www.prodworks.com/products/pwwebspeak/eval_vwh.html

General comments

The pwWebspeak is a web browser designed especially for people who have difficulty accessing Internet information visually. People who are blind or have vision impairment or have dyslexia or other learning disorders and users who are learning new languages may also benefit from this program.

The pwWebSpeak is a web browser with an E-mail option. This program also supports Real Audio and Video files. It requires a dedicated speech synthesizer to read information on a web page. The voice and rate of speech can be altered to suit individuals. It gives the option of changing the font size and colour to give a large character display for low vision users. It is able to automatically recognize and identify headings, links, frames, forms and tables in a web page. It allows user interaction with search engines. In addition it provides searching options for text within a full page.

It is compatible with the Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT and Windows 2000.

The program has online help (F1), which provides a keyboard commands summary. It provides simple navigation keys for example arrows to move through links and text on a page.

The option of altering font size and colour is especially useful for vision impaired people and those who have a problem distinguishing certain colours. However when text is enlarged significantly, the command Menu options cannot be viewed fully.

Similarly when entering URLS and using the search commands the text cannot be enlarged. Another point such as not being able to enlarge the current URL, which is displayed at the top of the page, can be a disadvantage at times. Although the program is able to read the current URL, it does not provide an option to phonetically spell letters. This could be a useful tool, especially when reviewing URLS.

In addition the program does not follow standard Windows commands and conventions, which can be a disadvantage for people who are familiar with these commands and procedures. To utilise the pwWebspeak, they have to learn new procedures and commands in order to read and access information on a web page.

It also does not provide simple options for printing and some editing options that are normally available through the Internet Explorer or the Netscape browser.

Furthermore, when installing the program, it is requested to close other open programs. This means that a blind or vision impaired person can not independently install the program, since they would not have access to their speech and large print programs to assist them with reading screen information.

Overall the program is a useful tool for people who have difficulty accessing visually, the graphical and complicated web pages. The pwWebspeak assist with this problem by providing a web page reader that discards graphics and provides reading commands and the options of enlargement to navigate web pages easier.

For more detailed information the pwWebspeak user manual can be accessed from:

http://www.prodworks.com/products/pwwebspeak/pwwr3a.html

The following notes mainly cover some aspects of the Web browsing options and do not include the e-mail function.

Navigation through a web page can be achieved both by using keyboard commands or choosing option from the Command Menu.

Choosing options using the Command Menu:

Shift-F1
Activates the Command Menu.
Up and Down arrows
Move through the menu
Enter
Select an entry from the Command Menu
F1
Reads a more detailed description of the menu option
Escape
Exit the Command Menu or take you back one level

Keyboard Commands

The following are some of the navigation key commands, which follow the web page structure.


F10		Reads summary of the contents of the web page.

Alt F10		Reads the current address or URL

F1		Enter and Exit Help 

F2 		Places the cursor at the input field for URL or 

		address entry.  (After entering the address the Enter key

		will open the desired page.)

F2 twice 	will open a dialogue box from which you can choose 

		other search engines. 

F9		Reviewing data entry key. Pressing the key 

		again will give you more detail.

		Pressing the key a third time will spell the text entry.

F11		Turns letter mode on or off

Note: having this option on allows the characters to be heard when typed or navigated through.


Alt-A		Adds the page to the list of favorites 

Alt-B		Takes you back one page 

F3		Reads the entire page

F4		Starts and pauses reading 

Q 		Stops reading

Down arrow key	Reads next paragraph

Up arrow key	Reads previous paragraph

Home		Moves to the top of the page

End 		Moves to the bottom of the page

Alt + X		Exit pwWebspeak

Searching Commands


F7		Search the Web

F8		Search for specific text on the current page

Shift F8	Repeats Search

Reading and Navigating Links


Up or Left Arrow 	Moves to the previous link and reads it 

Down or Right Arrow 	Moves to the Next link on the page and reads it

Enter or Space Bar	Opens selected link

Reading and Navigating By Headings and Heading Levels


Alt+H	Next Heading

Control+H	Previous Heading

Alt+1	Next Heading Level 1 

Control+1	Previous Heading Level 1

Alt+2	Next Heading Level 2 

Control+2	Previous Heading Level 2

Alt+3	Next Heading Level 3 

Control+3	Previous Heading Level 3 

Alt+4	Next Heading Level 4 

Control+4	Previous Heading Level 4

Alt+5	Next Heading Level 5 

Control+5	Previous Heading Level 5

Alt+6	Next Heading Level 6 

Control+6	Previous Heading Level 6

Reading and Navigation Through Tabular Information
(using Numeric Pad)


Alt+Num Pad 7	Next Table Cell

Alt+Num Pad 1 	Previous Table Cell

Alt+Num Pad 2	Next Table Row

Alt+Num Pad 8	Previous Table Row

Alt+Num Pad 3	Next Table

Alt+Num Pad 9	Start of Table or Previous Table

Changing the Voice

Press Alt-U to access Setup Dialog
Press the Tab key until you are at the speech rate field. Enter a new speech rate between (100 words per minute to 500 words per minute). The default rate is 180
Press the Tab key until you hear select voice.
Use up and down arrows to locate the voice you want to use. The name of the voice will be spoken in that voice.
Press Tab to move to the Save Settings button
Press the Enter key to Save the preferred voice and exit the Setup Dialog box.

Note: You can also use


	Alt-F 	Faster speech rate 

	Alt-L 	Slower speech rate

	(+)	On the Numeric pad increases the volume

	(-)	On the Numeric pad decreases the volume

Changing the Font size and Colour


	Shift + F11 	Increases the font size

	Ctrl + F11	Decreases the font size

	Shift + F12 	Changes the text colour

	Ctrl + F12 	Changes the background colour

Saving files as Text or HTML

Ctrl + S Opens Save dialog box.
Enter file name.
Choose the desired drive and directory.
Tab to the save as HTML or Text button.
Press Enter.

LARGE PRINT PROGRAMS

ZOOMPOWER V1.2 MAGNIFICATION SHAREWARE PROGRAM BY DAVID EISLER 2000

URL: http://zoomtools.home.mindspring.com/zoompower.htm

General Comments

ZoomPower is a low cost shareware program for magnifying an area around the mouse pointer. It has basically two magnifying views, a full screen magnification (full size view) manly for reading. During the full size magnification, the mouse cannot activate commands. The second zoom option is called the full time zoom, which enlarges a region around the mouse pointer. During this viewing option the mouse can activate programs and commands and the mouse pointer is also enlarged.

The program is compatible with Windows 95/98 operating systems.

The ZoomPower options and commands can be accessed both through the menu options or keyboard commands using the numeric keypad. The ZoomPower provides 2 to 10x magnifications.
Some of the drawbacks of the program are:
It does not track the application cursor.
The magnified view does not always stay on top as a result pull down menu items cannot be viewed properly.
During the full time zoom the viewing port will suddenly change position and moves to the top or bottom of the screen. This causes the user to lose focus.
The speed of scrolling cannot be altered.
The faster mouse tracking and speed of ZoomPower the slower other programs run. The slow speed causes the full time zoom to be very jerky.
Sometimes when a program is maximized, the ZoomPower window cannot be activated from the taskbar to appear on top.

Nevertheless the program is a useful and cheap alternative option for some vision impaired people who do not have a need for a standalone screen magnification program.

Number pad key commands (with Num lock being on):

Note: the Alt key or Ctrl key can be selected as modifier keys from the option menu, Numeric keypad keys to use with other number pad keys to activate commands. The default modifier key is the Ctrl key.


	Ctrl + 0	Turns full size zoom on and off.

			Note: this command does not always give this result,

			 at times it turns full time zoom on and off. 

	Ctrl +		Turns full time zoom on and off. 

	Ctrl + +	Increases magnification.

	Ctrl + -	Decreases magnification.

	Ctrl + 6 	Scrolls the viewing port to the right.

	Ctrl + 4 	Scrolls the viewing port to the left.

	Ctrl + 8 	Scrolls the viewing port up.

	Ctrl + 2 	Scrolls the viewing port down.

	Ctrl + 1 	Scrolls the viewing port to the bottom left corner.

	Ctrl + 7 	Scrolls the viewing port to the top left corner.

	Ctrl + 9 	Scrolls the viewing port to the top right corner.

	Ctrl + 3 	Scrolls the viewing port to the bottom right corner.

4D SCROLL TRACKBALL Dual Wheel Mouse V 5.41 WITH MAGNIFICATION OPTION

The advanced 4D Scroll Trackball Model WWT-13 (around $40) is compatible with Windows 95/98 and NT. It features a large trackball, with dual scroll wheels and 3 mouse buttons, including the left, right and a third programmable mouse button. The third button can be programmed to scroll automatically, assigned a function or become a magnifying lens, enlarging a region around the mouse pointer.

This trackball has three main uses for a vision impaired person.

The combination of the track ball and the two wheels on the mouse could be a useful tool to utilize with a standalone large print program. It is particularly useful when scrolling web pages vertically or reading email messages that requires the use of horizontal bar in order to read the whole line of text. When using a large print program sometimes you are forced to change focus and lose your spot on the screen in order to use the scrollbars to read the remainder of the text. For advanced large print users the option of using scroll wheels on the mouse can speed up this process without losing focus.
Using a trackball with a large mouse pointer and slow mouse speed can be a very useful tool for some elderly clients, people with restricted hand movements and those vision impaired people who have poor skills in controlling the mouse and mouse pointers. The ergonomic design of the mouse allows the hand to rest comfortably on the mouse and use the trackball to move the mouse pointer around the screen.
The third and the most useful feature of the 4D trackball for vision impaired people who require minimal amount of magnification to access screen information is its third programmable button. The button that is situated on the right hand side of the mouse can be programmed. Once it is clicked it displays a region around the mouse in a magnified lens with its contents and the mouse pointer being enlarged.

Some of the drawbacks of the mouse software program for a vision impaired person are similar to many others. For example it requires the assistance of a sighted person to install the program. It does not provide a high level of magnification and when the magnified lens is active the mouse is inactive.

The magnified lens does not enlarge pull down menu items.

Overall the 4D trackball with the third programmable button can provide a cheap yet alternative solution for low vision people who do not require a standalone large print program to access computer information.

It is important to note that the magnifying lens is used mainly for reading. It does not follow highlights or the cursor when typing.

Selecting the third button to display a magnified lens

The installation of the 4D trackball software modifies the mouse dialogue box in the control panel. In order to change the function of the third button,

Access the mouse icon from the taskbar or the Control Panel.
Select the Third button, shifted control to open a dialogue box.
Activate Zoom option by clicking on the radio button next to zoom.
Click on Settings button.
Change settings proportionally both for before zoom and after zoom using scroll bars.
Press OK
Choose apply.

Once the third button is pressed the magnifying lens will appear, by turning the wheels during this mode you could alter the text size.

Through settings you could choose the third button to perform other tasks such as opening the start menu, maximizing, closing applications or it could be assigned to a function key.

Note: A mouse with zooming lens, scrolling and programmable button is also available such as the Logitech First Mouse+.

THE SCREEN LOUPE FOR WINDOWS 95/NT BY GREGORY BRAUN (SHAREWARE)

URL: HTTP://www.gregorybraun.com

General Comments

The Loupe magnifying program is compatible with Windows 95 and NT. This program would be a useful tool for vision impaired people, who are able to access windows applications by slightly enlarging the text for menus and icon titles. For example they are able to read icon titles and menu bars if the Windows desktop scheme was set to windows extra large or high contrast black (large), through the Control Panel of Windows 95. The Loupe shareware program provides the option of enlarging text in a dialogue box, which cannot be enlarged significantly through the Windows 95 operating system.

The Screen Loupe shareware program provides up to 8x magnification of text beneath the mouse pointer on a separate magnified window. This window could be moved around and resized. Similar to windows application the Loupe window has a title bar and menu bar. As long as the Loupe window is active the menu option can be accessed through the menu or the shortcut key commands. It is best to keep the Loupe program minimized on the task bar when it is not being used. Also turning the position bar off by using the toggle key (ctrl + P) or through the view menu in the Loupe program would allow a larger viewing area.

Some of the Key commands are as follow:
(Ensure the Loupe is the active Window)


	Ctrl + 1 	Normal text size

	Ctrl + 2 	2x magnification 

	Ctrl + 4 	4x magnification 

	Ctrl + 8 	8x magnification

	Ctrl + B 	is a toggle key for displaying the menu bar.

	Ctrl + X 	is the toggle key for the Crosshair.

	Ctrl + P 	is the toggle key the position bar. 

	Ctrl + T 	is the toggle key for keeping the Loupe window on top.

To resize the viewing window:

Open the Control menu
Choose size.
A diamond shape cursor appears inside the window.
Use arrow keys to enlarge or decrease the viewing window.

After step 3, use the mouse drag and release technique to change the size.

To View text which is hidden beneath the Window:

Point the mouse cursor at the title bar of the Loupe Window.
Hold the left mouse button and drag the window to a different position on the screen so as the hidden text is visible.

Since this program enlarges the text beneath the mouse pointer, it would be beneficial to have a large mouse pointer to ensure easy mouse tracking by a vision-impaired person.

Some of the disadvantages of the program are:

It requires the assistance of a sighted person when installing.
The program is unable to follow the (I) beam cursor.
The program help cannot be enlarged.
The program is unable to enlarge the text hidden beneath the window unless the Loupe window is repositioned.
The size of the Crosshair cannot be changed.

Over all the Loupe shareware program can be a simple useful tool. It is an inexpensive option for people who require minimum amount of magnification in order to access computer information.

OTHER MAGNIFICATION WEBSITES

Magnification Shareware Download site
http://magnifiers.org/links/Download_Software/
Big-W Magnification Software

At the following address you can find the Review of Big-W magnification shareware program.
http://www.magnifiers.org/bigw.html

SCREEN READER PROGRAMS

SPEAKTOME & TALKPAD FREE PROGRAMS BY LARRY C.HUNTER (1999)

URL: http://hunterz.home.att.net/

SpeakToMe

These two free programs are a useful tool for people who are vision impaired or dyslexic. They could benefit from hearing text while typing or when listening to text documents. The text contents of a Web page could also be heard using SpeakToMe.

However, the program would not be suitable to a totally blind person, as it does not read menu items, dialogue box information and text boxes and message boxes. Also the installation of this program requires other applications to be closed. Therefore a vision impaired person would require the assistance of a sighted person to install the program.

The program is based on the IBM speech engine, offering a male or female voice option. The voice rate and pitch can be altered to suit individuals. The volume can be controlled, using the volume control button on the taskbar or the Control Panel.

It is compatible with windows 95/98 and NT and requires at least 16 MB of memory.

Reading Text on a Web Page

Activate SpeakToMe program.
Open your desired web page.
Press Ctrl + A to select all.
Press Ctrl + C to read the text content.

Reading Text Documents
To read the content of a text document,

Highlight portion or the whole text by pressing Ctrl + A. Note: Text size or style does not affect reading.
Activate the SpeakToMe program window
Press Ctrl + C to read.

Keyboard Commands
(SpeakToMe program needs to be active)


	Ctrl + C	reads whole text

	Ctrl + P 	pauses reading

	Ctrl + R 	resumes reading

	Ctrl + S 	Stops reading.

Note: The above commands could also be selected and activated from the Audio menu item of the SpeakToMe.

Changing the voice settings:

Select Options from the SpeakToMe menu bar,
Select settings, to open the dialogue box,
Type some text in the edit box then click on the speak button, to listen to the speech,
To change voice from Male to Female, open the Voice list box by clicking on the down arrow symbol on the right hand side of the list box
Click on Mary Or Mike.
To test the voice click on the Speak button again.
To change the Voice Pitch, click on the slider button and drag it to the right for high pitch or left for a lower pitch.
To test the voice, click once more on the Speak button.
To change the speed or rate of speech, click on the slider button and drag it to the right to increase the speech rate or to the left to slow down the speech.
After choosing your preferred voice settings, click on the save button.

Note: You can also use the tab key to move around the dialog boxes. Use arrows, pageup, pagedown or home and end keys to change settings.

TalkPad

By activating TalkPad, the WordPad program opens up. You would notice an additional menu item (Speak) appears before the help menu item.

This useful utility program reads words and sentence as you type on the WordPad screen.

The program provides additional speech options such as speaking letter by letter or a combination of letters, words and sentences as you type. It also reads selected text.

The above options can be selected from the Speak option from the menu bar. There are also some keyboard equivalent commands available.

Keyboard Commands


	Ctrl D 	Reads selected text

	Alt P	Pauses speech

	Alt R 	Resume reading

	Alt S 	Stops reading

Similar to the SpeakToMe utility you could change the speech settings from the Speak menu under the Preferences option (refer to change of voice settings notes).

One of the drawbacks of the program is that it does not speak when you use the cursor movement keys such as arrows or Ctrl + arrows to move word by word. It also does not speak backspaced or characters when deleted. However for low vision users this problem can be resolved by enlarging the font size.

Furthermore it does not speak menu items, dialogue boxes and text boxes. However once again low vision users could utilize additional large print shareware programs to overcome this problem.

Note: After typing the main contents of your document with the help of TalkPad, you could transfer your document to a more powerful word-processing program for advanced formatting and other tools such as spell checking and thesaurus.

Overall the programs, both SpeakToMe and TalkPad are very useful tools for people who would require some additional speech in order to enhance accessing text from a computer screen and do not have a need for a stand alone screen reader programs.

SIMPLY TALKER 2000

URL: http://www.econointl.com/

This low cost screen reader program is compatible with Windows 98, Windows NT and Windows 2000. According to the documentation it will not work with every application. The program costs around $100 USA.

The Simply Talker is a very useful and low cost screen reader tool for low vision users. Specially, when using programs that have already been tested with the Simply Talker. The program has been tested with Microsoft Word 2000/97, Notepad, Wordpad, Eudora 3.0x, Microsoft Fax, OmniPage Lite and Internet Explorer 4.01 and above.

The program is able to read icon titles on the desktop by simply using arrows or the first letter of the icon title.

When using tab to move within a dialogue box the program is able to speak field names. However it does not speak when typing in an edit box.

When using pull down menus the speech follows the highlighted menu items and reads them.

The Simply Talker program window has 4 menu items. The menu bar items are:

File menu through which the Simply Talker window can be hidden, disabled or shutdown.
Settings menu, through which the speech engine, buffer and verbosity level are controlled. The very high verbosity will read changes in the status bar such as time and title changes are also read.
Speech Menu, through which the pitch and speed of reading is controlled. Also the keyboard echo can be enabled or
disabled.
Help menu, which provides general help about the Simply Talker program.
Some menu items can also be accessed by keyboard commands.

The program does not have the capability of standalone screen reader programs such as JAWS or Window Eyes and it cannot be configured.

Sometimes the speech is not interrupted when other keys are pressed and you might still be hearing from the speech buffer.

Also when the cursor is in the middle of the line, the program does not read the entire line when the up or down arrow is pressed. If the cursor has landed in the middle of a word, it will only read the remainder of the word and not the whole word.

To read the entire line it is best to be at the beginning of the line or at the end of the line. The current line could also be read by pressing the Control key with 7.

When using the down arrow to read the next line the speech will still be reading the line above and not the line the cursor has landed on.

However when using the up arrow to move up one line the program is able to read the line that the cursor has landed on.

When using a word processing program, reading commands have not been allocated for spell checking. It also does not read from the cursor to the end of the document. The F9 key always reads from the beginning.

When editing the backspaced or deleted characters are not announced. When using the left arrow the cursor announces the character to the right of the cursor and when using the right arrow the program still announces the same character.

The above points would cause editing problems. However, low vision users could overcome this problem by enlarging the text when editing in a word processor that has the option of increasing font size or by pressing the Control key with 9 to read the current character.

Overall the program provides some reading options that so far have not been available through other shareware speech programs such as reading dialogue box items, menu items and icon titles to name a few.

Keyboard commands

Stop reading Control


Enable/Disable Simply Talker		Control + Shift + F2 (Toggle key) 

Show/Hide Simply Talker.		Control + Shift + F3 (Toggle key) 

Enable/Disable Keyboard Echo.		Control + Shift + F4 (Toggle key) 

Restart Speech Engine 			Control + Shift + F5.

Repeat last item in speech buffer.	Control + Shift + L 

Browse back through speech buffer.	Control + Shift + K 

Toggle Verbose level between Normal, 

High and Very high.			Control + Numpad "+" 

Read the entire content of the current

 Window and message boxes 		F7 or F8

Read the entire content of the text box 	F9 

Say line.				Control + 7 

Say current word.			Control + 8 

Read word to the right			Control + Right Arrow 

Read word to the left 			Control + Left Arrow 

Say current character.			Control + 9

The following commands do not often work.
Control + Alt +
Down Arrow or F12

Will tell where you are and will move the mouse cursor to that position (this assumes you are on the last event spoken).

Alt + Arrow keys moves the mouse cursor in the direction of the arrow in small steps and speaks what it encounters under the cursor.

Left mouse click.
Control + Alt + Left Arrow or F9

Right mouse click.
Control + Alt + Right Arrow or F10

TEXTHELP SCREENREADER VERSION 4

URL: http://www.texthelp.com

This is a low cost screen reader program, which provides a useful reading tool for those who could benefit from speech when accessing computer information including text from a web page. The program is not suitable for totally blind people, as it does not have the full functionality and reading options in dialogue boxes, message boxes and in general editing.

However for a low vision computer user, who is able to access the screen with general windows display modifications it could be an additional useful tool.

After activating the program a screen reader toolbar will be displayed. By default it will stay on top, however it could also be hidden by right clicking on the button, which is located on the right hand side of the taskbar.

The Screen Reader toolbar displays five tool items.

Screen Reader Toolbar Description

The first item in the left hand side is the 'Start speech' tool. After highlighting the desired text to be read you can click on this tool item. The balloon character 'Genie', will read the text. While Genie is reading the text can appear in your desired font size and style as a tool tip.

Note: The font size range can vary with different font styles.

The second tool item from the left hand side is the 'Open TextReader' tool. This is the second method of reading highlighted text. By clicking on this tool item after highlighting the text a window appears which contains and reads your selected text. The words are highlighted as the screen reader reads the text.

The colour of the highlighted text, as well as the font style and size of the window text can be altered through the fifth tool item on the toolbar.

The third item is the 'Stop Speech' tool.

The fourth item from the left hand side is the 'Open Text' tool. By clicking on it the open dialogue box appears, which allows you to open directly into the TextReader window with a text file.

The fifth button from the left hand side is the 'Open Speech Properties Panel' tool.

Through this tool item you will have access to a panel with speech property tabs. Through his panel you can:

Change the speech pitch rate and volume.
Alter pronunciation of words
Select or unselect to read certain elements of windows such as menu bars, graphics, toolbars, links and others.
Choice of altering Genie's text reading options
Alter key command options if conflicting with the application program
Choosing other compatible speech engines is also available through the speech property panel.

Some of the disadvantages of the program are the size of the toolbar that is fixed. The font size in the speech properties panel is also very small and cannot be altered. In addition the screen reader does not read certain parts of this panel. For example the screen reader is not able to follow check boxes for selecting and unselecting elements of a window for reading.

The speech does not follow the cursor while editing in a word processor or in an edit field. Furthermore there are very few key commands for the program. Since there is only one modifier key (Ctrl) used with function keys it can easily conflict with certain programs such as word processing programs.

Overall this text reading program could be a useful tool in conjunction with other large print options for low vision people.

Keyboard Commands

Note: the Function keys could be altered through the speech panel if the key command is conflicting with an application program.

Speak selected text Ctrl + F3

Speak selected text in the text reader window Ctrl + F4

Speak the contents of the clipboard Ctrl + F5

Speak the clipboard in the text reader window Ctrl + F6

Stop speaking Ctrl + F7

FREE ELECTRONIC INFORMATION ON LINE

The Internet Public Library Online Text Collection
http://www.ipl.org/reading/books/
This site currently has over 12,000 collections. You can search by Author, Title or Dewey category.

International Braille Research Center Braille Book Library
http://www.braille.org/braille_books/by_title.html
This site has a large collection of Braille books for downloading or reading online with Braille devices. The site collection is growing.

A Library of Congress Internet Resource Page
http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/etext/etext.html
This page has links to electronic text online sites such as the Universities, online libraries and other electronic text centres on the World Wide Web.

Electronic Text
http://www.duke.edu/~zec/etexts.htm
This page has a collection of links to sites that provides free electronic text online, including academic and non academic literature.

Alex Catalogue of Electronic Text
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/alex/
This is a collection of English and American literature and western philosophy. It also has links to other electronic text sites.

The On-Line Books Page
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/
The On-Line Books Page is a directory of books that can be freely read on the Internet. It includes an index of thousands of on-line books on the Internet, pointers to other significant directories, archives and new releases.

The Modern English collection
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/modeng/modeng0.browse.html
This is a collection of fiction, non fiction, poetry, drama, letters newspapers and manuscripts from 1500 to current time.

WebFreeBees
http://www.webfreebees.net
This site contains links to some useful free information on line, such as free books, educational resources and etc.

WebFreeBees -
Books
http://www.webfreebees.net/books.html
This site contains links to some sites with free books on line.

WebFreeBees -
Educational exchange
http://www.webfreebees.net/edu.html
This site provides free educational resources for different ages.

WebFreeBees -
Kids
http://www.webfreebees.net/kids.html
This page contains links to children books, games, graphics, movie clip and much more.

Copyrights expired books
http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/index.html

Electronic Text Center - Young Readers
http://etext.virginia.edu/subjects/Young-Readers.html

Original Fiction Library - Fictions
http://www.dragonlance.com/fiction/

Dmoz Open Directory Project
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/Genres/Fantasy/Dragonlance/
This site has links to Fantasy collections.

Web of On Line Dictionaries
http://www.yourdictionary.com/
This site also includes an index of dictionaries in different languages.

Merriam Webster OnLine Dictionary - The Language Center
http://www.m-w.com

Thesaurus.Com
http://www.thesaurus.com

Supporting Access to Information - The FREE Internet Encyclopaedia
http://www.cs.uh.edu/~clifton/macro.b.html

Through the above web pages you could go to other related sites. If you have access to the Web Ferret or other speech friendly search engines then search for electronic text or a more specific title.

REFERENCES

A Library of Congress Internet Resource Page
http://lcweb.loc.gov/global/etext/etext.html
Accessibility Options in Windows 95 can be accessed from:
http://www.tsbvi.edu/technology/95options.htm
Accessibility Options in Windows 98 can be accessed from:
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/windows98/steps.htm
Alex Catalogue of Electronic Text
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/alex/
Big-W Magnification Software
http://www.magnifiers.org/bigw.html
Copyrights expired books
http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/index.html
Dierk's List of Animated Cursors
http://www.anicursor.com/special.html
Dmoz Open Directory Project
http://dmoz.org/Arts/Literature/Genres/Fantasy/Dragonlance/
Electronic Text Center - Young Readers
http://etext.virginia.edu/subjects/Young-Readers.html
Electronic Text
http://www.duke.edu/~zec/etexts.htm
IBM HOME PAGE READER (HPR) VERSION 2.5 key commands:
http://www-3.ibm.com/able/quickhelp.htm
IBM HOME PAGE READER (HPR) VERSION 2.5
http://www-3.ibm.com/able/hprtrial25.htm
International Braille Research Center Braille Book Library
http://www.braille.org/braille_books/by_title.html
Magnification Shareware Download site
http://magnifiers.org/links/Download_Software/
Merriam Webster OnLine Dictionary - The Language Center
http://www.m-w.com
Original Fiction Library - Fictions
http://www.dragonlance.com/fiction/
PWWEBSPEAK PLUS RELEASE 3 manual
http://www.prodworks.com/products/pwwebspeak/pwwr3a.html
PWWEBSPEAK PLUS RELEASE 3
http://www.prodworks.com/products/pwwebspeak/eval_vwh.html
Simply Talker 2000
http://www.econointl.com/
SpeakToMe & TalkPad Free programs by Larry C. Hunter (1999)
http://hunterz.home.att.net/
Supporting Access to Information - The FREE Internet Encyclopaedia
http://www.cs.uh.edu/~clifton/macro.b.html
TextHELP ScreenReader Version 4
http://www.texthelp.com
The Internet Public Library Online Text Collection
http://www.ipl.org/reading/books/
The Modern English collection
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/modeng/modeng0.browse.html
The On-Line Books Page

The screen Loupe for Windows 95/nt by Gregory Braun (Shareware)
HTTP://www.gregorybraun.com
Thesaurus.Com
http://www.thesaurus.com
Web of On Line Dictionaries
http://www.yourdictionary.com/
WebFerret Free Search Tool, Version 3
http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,000AFV,.html
WebFreeBees -
Books
http://www.webfreebees.net/books.html
WebFreeBees -
Educational exchange
http://www.webfreebees.net/edu.html
WebFreeBees -
Kids
http://www.webfreebees.net/kids.html
WebFreeBees
http://www.webfreebees.net
ZoomPower V1.2 magnification shareware program by David Eisler 2000
http://zoomtools.home.mindspring.com/zoompower.htm

Skip Navigation \| ANU Home \| Search ANU \| Students \| Staff
	Division of Registrar & Student Services Disability Services Unit

ACCESSIBILITY ON A BUDGET

for vision impaired computer users

Written by Mary Popal Teacher Consultant Sensory Disability (Vision) Dip Teach/MA Special Education - Sensory Disability (Vision) Email:- mpopal@tpg.com.au

June 2000

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

UNZIPPING A FILE USING THE WINZIP CLASSIC PROGRAM

MICROSOFT ACCESSIBILITY OPTIONS FOR WINDOWS 95 AND 98

LARGE MOUSE POINTERS

Windows 98 Magnifying Lens

Dierk's List of Animated Cursors

Changing the font size in Windows Explorer

Microsoft Accessibility URLs for Window 95 and 98

SPEAK FRIENDLY WEB BROWSERS

WEBFERRET FREE SEARCH TOOL, VERSION 3

IBM HOME PAGE READER (HPR) VERSION 2.5

General comments

Commands summary lists (Using the Numeric Keypad)

PWWEBSPEAK PLUS RELEASE 3

General comments

Choosing options using the Command Menu:

Keyboard Commands

Changing the Voice

Changing the Font size and Colour

Saving files as Text or HTML

LARGE PRINT PROGRAMS

ZOOMPOWER V1.2 MAGNIFICATION SHAREWARE PROGRAM BY DAVID EISLER 2000

General Comments

Number pad key commands (with Num lock being on):

4D SCROLL TRACKBALL Dual Wheel Mouse V 5.41 WITH MAGNIFICATION OPTION

THE SCREEN LOUPE FOR WINDOWS 95/NT BY GREGORY BRAUN (SHAREWARE)

General Comments

Some of the disadvantages of the program are:

OTHER MAGNIFICATION WEBSITES

SCREEN READER PROGRAMS

SPEAKTOME & TALKPAD FREE PROGRAMS BY LARRY C.HUNTER (1999)

SpeakToMe

TalkPad

SIMPLY TALKER 2000

Keyboard commands

TEXTHELP SCREENREADER VERSION 4

Screen Reader Toolbar Description

Keyboard Commands

FREE ELECTRONIC INFORMATION ON LINE

REFERENCES

Written by Mary Popal
Teacher Consultant Sensory Disability (Vision)
Dip Teach/MA Special Education - Sensory Disability (Vision)
Email:- mpopal@tpg.com.au