Voice of Vision
Volume 6  Number 1 -  April 1998

Welcome to the April 1998 issue of Voice of Vision, GW Micro's
quarterly newsletter.  VV is available in large print, on audio
cassette, in braille, and on computer disk. For subscription
information, see the information given at the end of the
newsletter. 

For information about the new hotkeys for Window-Eyes 2.1 read Mike
Lawler's article, Getting Keyed-Up.  Read Sonja's Get Off the Roads
for an update on her driving.  If you did not read Turn Off Your
Lights!" by Sonja Morgan in the April 1997 issue, I suggest that
you read it first; you can find it on our ftp site,
ftp://ftp.gwmicro.com.  Randy Borst's article, Welcome to the
Locker Room is funny and informative.  To learn more about our GW
dealers read Focus on a GW Dealer by Sonja Morgan.  For a review on
a popular scanning software program, Text Bridge Pro, read Bill
Herzler's article.  There is also an article with tips on Windows
95.  Of course, we have announcements as well.

Getting Keyed-up by Michael Lawler

Versions of Window-Eyes prior to 2.1 relied heavily on Control
letter combinations and ALT letter combinations.  There were many
conflicts with the operating system keystrokes and  application
keystrokes.  We have abandoned our previous philosophy for hotkeys
and adopted a numeric keypad layout.  We realize this will be
confusing at first to those users familiar with the previous
layout.  But we feel in the end, this new approach will be easier. 
We are in the process of creating a laptop layout.  This should be
available by the time Window-Eyes 2.1 is released.

We have used the numpad-up arrow and numpad-down arrow to read up
and down by line with the mouse, the numpad-left arrow and
numpad-right arrow to read by character with the mouse, and the
insert-numpad-left arrow and insert-numpad-right arrow to read via
word with the mouse.  This is similar to the commands that you
would use with the normal arrow keys to move and read with the
caret except that we substituted the insert for the control to read
by word.  We eliminated the prior and next caret keys because you
can use the arrow keys to move around and read.  Finally, we
grouped all of the caret keys to use the control modifier on the
numpad.  For those who prefer to continue to use the Vocal-Eyes
layout you will be able to choose this from the Window-Eyes group
in Windows 3.1 Program Manager or from the Window-Eyes item on the
Windows 95 start menu.  For those of you who want to stop having to
use the bypass key so much and want to get a head start on this
layout we list the new default key assignment below.

The following hotkeys are located on the numeric keypad.  In order
to use them the numlock must be off.  Since all the keys are on the
numpad, the word "numpad" will be left off of the hotkey.  For
example, instead of saying "numpad-home," the hotkey will simply
say "home."

-) Mouse button hotkeys

left mouse click = /
right mouse click = *
toggle left mouse button = insert-/
toggle right mouse button = insert-*
mouse drag and drop = insert-delete

-) Mouse movement hotkeys

move mouse to top left of mouse boundary = home
move mouse to top right of mouse boundary = page up
move mouse to bottom left of mouse boundary = end
move mouse to bottom right of mouse boundary = page down
move mouse to beginning of line = ALT-INSERT-home
move mouse to end of line = ALT-INSERT-end
mouse previous character = left arrow
mouse current character = control-insert-center
mouse next character = right arrow
mouse previous word = insert-left arrow 
mouse current word = insert-center
mouse next word = insert-right arrow

mouse previous line = up arrow
mouse current line = center
mouse next line = down arrow

mouse previous sentence = insert-end
mouse current sentence = insert-down arrow
mouse next sentence = insert-page down

mouse previous paragraph = control-insert-end
mouse current paragraph = control-insert-down arrow
mouse next paragraph = control-insert-page down

mouse previous clip = insert-home
mouse current clip = insert-up arrow
mouse next clip = insert-page up

mouse up delta pixels = control-shift-up arrow
mouse down delta pixels = control-shift-down arrow
mouse left delta pixels = control-shift-left arrow
mouse right delta pixels = control-shift-right arrow

-) Mouse reading functions

read top to mouse = ALT-insert-up arrow
read left to mouse = ALT-insert-left arrow

read mouse to right = ALT-insert-right arrow
read mouse to bottom = ALT-insert-down arrow

-) Caret reading functions

current character = control-left arrow
current word = control-right arrow
current line = control-center
current sentence = control-down arrow
current paragraph = control-up arrow

-) Misc. hotkeys

toggle WE/Mouse pointers = - (dash)
sync WE and mouse pointers = insert-- (insert dash)
mouse up/down speak rotor = ALT-center
route caret to mouse = + (plus)
route mouse to caret = insert-+ (insert-plus)
caret position = control-+ (control-plus)
mouse position = control-insert-+ (control-insert-plus)
caret ASCII/Attribute = control-delete
mouse ASCII/Attribute = control-insert-delete
speak default button in a dialog = delete

The remainder of the hotkeys are on the normal keyboard.

Miscellaneous Reading Commands

Read To End = Control-Shift-R
Field Data = Control-Shift-D
Field Name = Control-Shift-N
Speak Summary = Control-Shift-S
Read Active Window = Control-Shift-W
Read Title/Status Of Current App = Control-Shift-T
Read Marked Block = Control-Shift-M

Miscellaneous Mouse Commands

Mouse Boundary Rotor = Control-Shift-B
Mouse Search = Control-Shift-F
Continue Mouse Search = Insert-F
Capture Pointer = Control-Shift-P

Miscellaneous Commands

Window-Eyes Control Panel = Control-\
Context Sensitive Help = Control-Shift-F1
Bypass = Insert-B
System Tray = Insert-S
Read Time/Date = Insert-T
Capture Graphic = Control-Shift-G
Auto Label Graphics = Insert-G
Speak All Toggle = Insert-A
Reclass = Insert-R
Redraw = Insert-\
Autodetect Caret = Insert-C
Load Set = Insert-L

User Window Commands

Read Window 0 = ALT-0
Read Window 1 = ALT-1
Read Window 2 = ALT-2
Read Window 3 = ALT-3
Read Window 4 = ALT-4
Read Window 5 = ALT-5
Read Window 6 = ALT-6
Read Window 7 = ALT-7
Read Window 8 = ALT-8
Read Window 9 = ALT-9

Select User Window = Insert-F3
User Window Coordinates = Insert-F4
Set User Window Top Left = Insert-F5
Set User Window Bottom Right = Insert-F6
User Window Definition = Insert-F7

Hyperactive Window Commands

Select Hyperactive Window = Control-Shift-F3
Hyperactive Window Coordinates = Control-Shift-F4
Set Hyperactive Window Top Left = Control-Shift-F5
Set Hyperactive Window Bottom Right = Control-Shift-F6
Hyperactive Window Definition = Control-Shift-F7
Hyperactive Windows Toggle = Control-Shift-F8

Get off the Roads! by Sonja Morgan

Now it's not safe to be on the roads in Fort Wayne at anytime! 
After having my driver's license for one year, I had enough driving
time and confidence to pursue the removal of the "daytime only"
restriction from my license.  Again, the process involved several
steps.

Step 1:  Low Vision Specialist Recommendation

My low vision specialist had to send a letter to the Bureau of
Motor Vehicles (BMV) recommending the night driving evaluation.

Step 2:  Written Notification

The BMV sent a letter informing me that they had reviewed my
driving record and that I could take a night driving evaluation.

Step 3:  Night Driving Evaluation

My evaluation was with Dave Kreiger of Driver Rehabilitation
Services (DRS).  He came to my home at 9:00pm; the evaluation was
about 90 minutes.  I drove in a variety of different environments:
residential, downtown and interstate.  It was stressful being
evaluated for skills that I had not been able to practice.  After
the road test he shared his assessment of my strengths and
weaknesses.  The two areas that he felt that I needed to work on
were 1) not hugging the right side of the road and 2) not dropping
below the speed limit on the interstate.  Overall he said that I
had excellent driving skills and he was going to recommend the
removal of the "daytime only" restriction from my license.  He had
to send a written report to the BMV.

Step 4:  Visit to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles

After several weeks I received a letter from the director of the
Bureau informing me that I should go to the local office to have
the restriction removed.  I did so and now I have a new license
without a "daytime only restriction".

Although I am happy to be able to drive legally at night, I only do
so under special circumstances: e.g. in the winter when it is dark
before quitting time.  I avoid driving at night when weather
conditions make driving more difficult such as rainy nights.  You
may also be interested to know that I had my first accident.  A
driver ran a red light and struck my car on my side of the car.  No
one was seriously hurt although my car was totaled.  Fortunately,
there were witnesses so the police determined on the spot that it
was the other driver's fault.  The only good thing to come from the
accident was a boost in my confidence in my driving ability.      

Welcome to the Locker Room by Randy Borst

More time has passed since my last contribution to the Voice of
Vision than I care to admit.  Last week I called GW Micro and asked
if they would consider publishing some concerns I have about the
user side of the Windows-access game.  The buzzer has sounded it's
halftime.  So join me in the locker room for my assessment of the
game and my opinions of what we have to do if we want to win.

At this point in the game, speech output gives us only partial
access to thousands of software programs off the shelf and to
millions of pages on the Internet.  It is impossible for
speech-access developers to keep up with our every access need and
desire.  Worse, for technical reasons this is not a technical talk
Windows itself is only accessible when what is being written to the
screen by the application program is in text format and is reported
to Windows through conventional programming methods.  Even then, we
can label and read graphics, only if we already know what they are. 
We are able to access some things through speech output better than
other things, a fact we will probably always face.  Save your
energy for the game.  Don't lose your focus, longing for the old
DOS days.  Though DOS and access to it may not have seemed quite so
clunky in a particular program, much of the DOS world was
inaccessible to us, too.  In fact, the graphical interface was
entirely, not just partially, inaccessible to us.

TV commercials tell us, "It's so easy; just point and click.  But
the Windows environment is a visually intuitive environment, much
like the real world.   It's hard for us to just point and click if
we don't know what we're pointing to and we don't know what happens
on the screen after we click.  So we have to labor sometimes in the
use of our screen reader and use deductive and inductive reasoning
when intuitive appeal isn't available to us.  Well, I say, enough
crying and moaning about that; we've got a game to win!  We have to
tone up and we have to function as conditioned athletes just to get
into the computer game like it or not let alone win the game. 
Speech access offers us feature after feature for attempting to
handle that visually intuitive Windows environment, troublesome as
it is.  If we are to succeed in it, we have to work out.  

How do we work out?  Three ways: by studying, by getting training
in the operations of both our access software and our application
software, and by having the time and available equipment to
practice our skills outside of the work/school/play environment.

I've heard too many players say, "But I'm a person who can't
benefit from reading a manual."  Well, this coach doesn't take "I
can't, Coach" for an answer.  I will accept a statement like "So
far, working with manuals hasn't gotten me the skills I need to
work my computer."  Maybe people who believe they can't benefit
from reading manuals don't know how hard they have to work to
benefit from manuals.  I find I have to read, reread, and read some
more and I have a little experience with writing manuals.  I have
to stop the tape, rewind the tape, start it again, sometimes
rewinding  too far all the time pausing to try doing what the tape
is saying.  Same thing when I read ASCII files.  I'm sure that back
in the late 1980s I spent at least 500 hours studying the field of
word processing.  Another hard thing about working with a manual is
that you have to be ready for it.  If you don't know much of
anything about Windows, it stands to reason you're not going to
understand much about a manual that uses Windows terminology. You
have to start from the beginning, not in the middle.

Admittedly, then, because of the difficulty and long hours that are
required to learn from manuals, they have limited value.  So
training is another source of help.  There are tape recorded
training programs that are much easier to work with than are
manuals.  Often access-software vendors provide training; many
agencies serving the blind offer training as well.  Training should
consist not only of operating the many rich features of the screen
reader for accessing Windows but also should give significant
attention to learning to run the application software as well.  No
doubt about it all this costs money, but so do computers and
software.  For most computer users who are blind, training must be
planned on as part of the start-up cost; often, there is just no
substitute.

My first day on the job in the personnel office of a steel mill, I
asked my supervisor what they did in the way of training their
employees.  He said, "We give them a desk and a pencil and tell
them to get to work."  No wonder that company went from nearly
30,000 workers to less than 7,000 in just five years.  If someone
hands you a computer, a Windows upgrade, and a copy of Window-Eyes
and tells you to get to work, you're in big trouble.  If it's the
first day of the semester in school, you've never used speech
access before, and your first term paper is due in your English
class in three weeks, you're in big trouble.  You can't win the
game without an opportunity to practice what you have learned; I
don't care how smart you are and what big muscles you have.

As you read, as you get training, and as you practice, you may need
a little technical support to work out the kinks.  Manuals are hard
to write please believe me and sometimes they don't do an excellent
job of explaining what you need to know.  Sometimes trainers don't
know enough about the application you need to run.  And sometimes
in the real world computer programs don't work exactly as their
programmers had hoped they would.  That's when you call the
technical support line.  I do this frequently, in fact, more than
some companies might appreciate.  But I don't want to hear any
players call the Lotus line to ask how to work Windows or the GW
Micro support line to ask how to work WordPerfect.  If you can't
benefit from manuals, and you can't get training, and you have to
get your work done before you know how to do your work, calling the
support line sure ain't gonna help, because the tech support staff
can't make up for all that is missing from the game.

OK, sports fans the resources are out there and they are often hard
to get to, but somehow it all has to start with you the athlete. 
Believe in yourself.  Take it slow.  Repeat  repeat  repeat  not
necessarily in that order.  Look at it from a different angle every
time.  You'll be surprised at how smart and how capable you really
are and how you can find your way around the great challenges of
accessing Windows.

Randy Borst is Director of Disability Services at the State
University of New York at Buffalo.  He is a longtime beta tester of
GW Micro products and also has done much of the writing in the
Vocal-Eyes and Window-Eyes manuals.

Focus on a GW Dealer by Sonja Morgan

Kimberly and Jerry Cline founded The Adaptive Advantage Point
(TAAP) in Las Vegas, Nevada in July 1994.  TAAP's mission is to
work with individuals who have special needs.  Their focus is
computer skills, job seeking skills and English skills.  While
Kimberly and Jerry primarily serve persons who have visual
impairments, hearing impairments, and learning disabilities, TAAP
has worked with persons with many different disabilities. 

Kimberly Cline has been in the computer field for about 10 years. 
She graduated from the American Computer Institute in Las Vegas. 
After working in the business field and as a computer instructor,
she began working as a consultant and trainer primarily for the
Nevada Bureau of Services to the Blind and Visually Impaired.  
Providing one-on-one instruction to clients, Kimberly was quickly
overwhelmed by the agency's need.  TAAP was founded to meet that
need.  Individuals attend classes in small groups to learn adaptive
software programs such as Vocal-Eyes, Window-Eyes, Open Book,
Visability, ZoomText Xtra and DragonDictate.  They offer
fundamental and intermediate classes for each of those software
programs.  
  
Jerry Cline has been in the computer field about 5 years.  He
graduated with an Applied Associates Degree in Electronic
Technology from Phillips Junior College.  Jerry trains TAAP clients
in computer Fundamentals, DOS, Windows 3.x and 95, WordPerfect,
DragonDictate, and other commercial and adaptive technology.  Some
of the services that Jerry provides are: assessment, technical
support, configuration and assembly of computer systems, and
installation of hardware and software.

Kimberly and Jerry have been happily married for almost 13 years. 
They have a son, Caleb who is 5 years old. 

The Adaptive Advantage Point has been a GW dealer since April 1995.

Product Review - Text Bridge Pro by Bill Herzler

There is a new, cost-effective solution for those wishing to scan
and read documents that works very well with Window-Eyes right out
of the package.  This program, Text Bridge Pro '98 by Xerox sells
for around $80.00 and is available at a wide variety of computer
stores.  Text Bridge works in Windows '95 and installs from a
CD-ROM.

-Installation

The installation of Text Bridge went very well for me.  I was able
to install it faster than other scanning programs I have used.  The
install works like a normal windows installation program.  Once the
CD is inserted, the installation program comes up automatically. 
I read the information and tabbed to next after agreeing to the
licensing terms.  Selecting the scanner was not difficult at all. 
I hit H, which took me to the HP scanners and selected my scanner
from the scanner list.  Text Bridge Pro '98 supports 153 different
scanners, and if your scanner is not supported directly, you can
call your scanner manufacturer and obtain the appropriate drivers. 
Finally, I chose where I wanted to run Text Bridge.  In addition to
running Text Bridge as a stand-alone application, you can also
choose to scan from within NotePad, WordPad, Microsoft Word,
WordPerfect, and many other applications. The programs are listed
and can be initialized in the Access Control Panel after the
installation is complete.

-Scanning

After installing Text Bridge, I was ready to try scanning.  I
loaded WordPerfect, hit ALT-F for files, and scrolled down to the
Text Bridge option.  Next, I had to select how I wanted to scan. 
I simply tabbed through the list boxes and arrowed around to make
my selection.  I decided to scan a magazine, so I set my setting as
follows: Any Page Type, Scan from Scanner, and Retain Pictures and
Layout were unchecked.  I tabbed to OK and hit enter to start
scanning.  The magazine took a little under an hour to scan, and
the end result was very satisfying.

-Pros & Cons

I find the price, scanning quality, and ability to use Window-Eyes
instead of a built-in reader to be a big advantage over other OCR
programs.  Its scanning speed and processing time along with
allowing me to run the program easily from my word processor made
a big impression on me.  It does, however, have some drawbacks that
other OCR applications deal with.  For example, Text Bridge does
not follow the cursor like Open Book Unbound does.  Also,
individuals must know how to maneuver easily in Windows '95 to be
able to save what's been scanned.  Someone not familiar with the
Windows operating system may have problems installing Text Bridge
and using it from inside other applications.  On the other hand, if
someone is very familiar with the Windows operating system, then
that could significantly decrease the amount of time it takes to
scan with Text Bridge Pro '98.

Tips for Windows 95 by Sonja Morgan

The following tips were actually discovered by Dan Weirich in the
Windows folder.  To "read more about it" you may want to open the
file named tip.txt in NotePad or a word processor.

-Windows Explorer Keyboard Shortcuts

Press the Windows key and E to start Windows Explorer 104 key
keyboards which will put you in the contents of "My Computer."

F2=Rename
F3=Find
CTRL+X, C, or V Cut, Copy, or Paste
SHIFT+DELETE=Delete immediately without putting the file in Recycle
Bin
ALT+ENTER=Properties
F6=Switches between panes in Windows Explorer
CTRL+G=Goto
CTRL+A=Select all
BACKSPACE=Goes to the parent folder
Right arrow=Expands current selection if it's collapsed; otherwise
goes to the first child
Left arrow =Collapses current selection if it's expanded; otherwise
goes to the parent

-General Keyboard-Only Commands

F1=Help
F10=Goes to menu mode
SHIFT+F10=Context menu for selected item
CTRL+ESC=Brings up Start menu
CTRL+ESC, ESC=Focus on the Start button
SHIFT+F10=Context menu
ALT+TAB=Switch to the running program
SHIFT while inserting CD=Bypasses auto-run
Alt+M when focus is on taskbar=Minimize all windows

-Windows 104 Key Keyboards

Windows Key+R=Run dialog
Windows Key+M=Minimize All
Shift-Windows Key+M=Undo Minimize All
Windows Key+F1=Windows Help
Windows Key+E=Explorer
Windows Key+F=Find Files or Folders
Windows Key+Tab=Cycle through taskbar buttons
Windows Key+Break= PSS Hotkey... (System properties)

-Quick Access to Start Menu Items

You can quickly open programs at the top of the Start menu by
numbering them (rename them in Explorer with a number before the
name). Then, press CTRL+ESC followed by the number to start those
programs.

-Emptying the Documents menu

1.  Open the Start menu, select Settings, and then Taskbar.
2.  CTRL-TAB to the Start Menu programs tab, and then tab to Clear.

Announcements

-From the Editor Sonja Morgan

Many of our users anxiously awaited the January issue of Voice of
Vision.  Because our staff has been dedicated to finishing
development of Window-Eyes 2.1, the issue never materialized.  We
apologize for any inconvenience that this may have created.  As
always, we thank you for your continued support.

-New Products

CrissCross Technologies, the leader in Windows-based audio
tutorials for speech users, announces the fourth in a growing line
of products.  "Speaking of the Internet: Netscape, Internet
Explorer, and Eudora E-Mail" introduces the basics of web browsing
and sending and receiving e-mail.  It moves into more advanced
topics such as filling out forms, navigating difficult web sites,
downloading and installing RealAudio software, and filtering e-mail
messages.  The six-tape set sells for $75.00.  For more information
about "Speaking of the Internet" or about Windows 3.X, Windows 95,
or Microsoft Word tutorials contact GW Micro.  Find out about
upcoming releases of tutorials on Corel WordPerfect, Microsoft
Excel, and more on our web site, www.crisscrosstech.com.

CrissCross Technologies
110-64 Queens Blvd. #406
Forest Hills, NY 11375
(718) 268-6988
info@crisscrosstech.com
www.crisscrosstech.com

-No Time Change!

This month most of you changed time.  Indiana does not change time. 
Our hours are 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. eastern standard time.  We do
not observe daylight-saving time.

-Come See Us!

GW Micro will be exhibiting at many conferences during the coming
weeks.  Visit our booth at the annual convention of the American
Council of the Blind in Orlando, Florida July 4-11.  Dan and Bill
will be exhibiting at the National Federation of the Blind annual
convention in Dallas, Texas July 4-10th.  We look forward to seeing
you at these locations!

Subscription Information

Voice of Vision is published four times a year in large print, on
audio cassette, on 3.5-inch PC diskette, and in Braille.  You can
receive a subscription for $10.00 for each format.  VV is also
available on GW Micro's bulletin board and ftp site at no charge. 
 Payment can be made by check, MasterCard, Visa, American Express,
or Discover.  Send checks and format specifications to the address
below.

We seek reader input.  If we use an article you've submitted,
you'll receive a year's subscription at no charge and a free GW
t-shirt while quantities last.

Please send articles on IBM compatible diskette or in print to:

     GW Micro, Inc.
     725 Airport N. Office Park
     Fort Wayne, IN  46825

If you have Email, you can send your article to sonja@gwmicro.com.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at:
Voice: (219) 489-3671
Fax: (219) 489-2608
BBS: (219) 489-5281
Web Page: www.gwmicro.com
FTP Site: ftp.gwmicro.com
EMail: vv@gwmicro.com
