Voice of Vision
Volume 5 Number 2 -- April 1997

Welcome to the April 1997 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. 

I know that many of you are waiting for the latest information on
Window-Eyes 2.0 so see Doug Geoffray's article. If you want to
learn about using Eudora for electronic mail, you should check
out Mike Lawlor's article.  For a review of an inexpensive
software program that will help you label your CD collection,
read Roland Manning's article on CD Wizard.  If you have upgraded
to Windows 95, Dan Weirich's article on different device drivers
may be helpful to you.  If you are debating on large print or
speech output you should read Sonja's article which compares the
two choices.  Although not Voice of Vision's usual fare, you may
enjoy reading about a different type of technology for the
visually impaired by Sonja Morgan.  At the end of the newsletter
please check out our announcements.

____________________
Hear Ye!  Hear Ye!

GW Micro is pleased to announce the addition of Sonja Morgan to
our staff.  Sonja comes to us with 21 years of experience working
with persons who are blind or visually impaired.  During the last
10 years she was responsible for developing and administrating an
adaptive technology program. 

Sonja's major responsibility is marketing and sales.  She will be
doing a lot of traveling all over the country to show off our
products, especially Window-Eyes 2.0 which is our soon-to-be
released upgrade that is compatible with MS Windows 3.1, 3.11,
and Windows 95.  Look for her in a city near you!

____________________
Window-Eyes 2.0 - It's finally here!
by Doug Geoffray

By the time you read this article, Window-Eyes 2.0 will be
shipping or very close to it.  We are currently in the final beta
testing phase and finalizing the rewrite of the manual.  Version
2.0 is loaded with many new features and many improvements. 
There are so many changes that I couldn't possibly discuss them
all here.  However, I will discuss the more popular and powerful
changes since version 1.1, and there are a lot of them!

We showed a beta of Window-Eyes 2.0 for the first time last March
during CSUN.  This is a very popular show held each March in Los
Angeles.  The response was extremely positive.  The main comment
was, "I wish you could have come out with it earlier but I knew
it would be worth the wait."  I apologize for the delay in
releasing 2.0 but I am sure you will also agree that it was worth
the wait.  Let me discuss some of the new features.

Of course the biggest improvement is the support for Windows 95. 
Version 2.0 will support both 3.1x and 95.  Many people are
asking us, is 2.0 a 32 bit application?  My answer is both yes
and no.  In order to do certain tasks under 95, we need 32 bit
code.  But to remain compatible with 3.1x, we also need 16 bit
code.

By not being 100% 32 bit, is the performance suffering?  Are
there disadvantages?  Not really.  Remember, the majority of
Windows 95 is 16 bit code.  Sure, if Window-Eyes were fully 32
bit code, it would run a bit faster but it probably would not
even be noticeable.  In fact, you will find that version 2.0 is
much faster than version 1.1.  We have optimized several key
areas giving it a much more responsive feeling.

With 95 support comes support for the 95 controls.  Controls like
list views, tab controls, and the many other new controls offered
by Windows 95.  We have also added full support for the Win32s
controls.  Win32s is the 16 bit equivalent to many of the
controls found in 95.  This automatic support makes many new
applications talk right out of the box with little or no
customization.

A new auto graphic labeling feature has been added.  If the
application you are using uses tooltips, Window-Eyes can be
instructed to automatically get the tooltip and label the graphic
with the text.  A tooltip is a visual label that is displayed as
the mouse moves over a graphic image.  Now, with the press of a
single keystroke, Window-Eyes will automatically find all those
tooltips and label the graphics.  Obviously, this is great for
new applications, especially when sighted assistance is not
possible.

Application context sensitive help has been added.  This is a
feature that allows you to give context sensitive help for
certain areas within an application.  Although this is
technically not a screen reader function, it sure can make using
a new or unfamiliar application more friendly.  When you hit the
help hot key, you are presented with a Window-Eyes dialog box. 
The main area in the dialog box is an edit box that displays the
help information.  Of course this information is read as well. 
Because it is in an edit box, you can read either the entire
thing or cursor through it at your leisure.  You can also very
easily change the text if you wish.

Along with using the mouse pointer to review the screen, we have
added a WE cursor.  This acts just like the mouse pointer but it
is an invisible pointer.  By being invisible it will not affect
the application.  With some applications, just the act of moving
the mouse over a certain area can cause a screen change.  Not
with the WE cursor.  There is a simple hot key which will toggle
the normal hot keys from using either the mouse pointer or the WE
cursor.  You can also easily route one cursor to the other.

A new line filter option allows you to quickly skip certain lines
when you are reading.  A perfect example of this is using any
sort of email application like Eudora.  When a user responds to a
message, the previous text is entered with each line starting
with a greater than symbol.  If you want to skip the reading of a
line that starts with a greater than, this is the feature.  This
feature is extremely easy to setup and is very flexible.

A new feature has been added to route the mouse or WE cursor to
marked text.  Remember those pesky spell check options within
your word processor?  Typically, the misspelled word is
highlighted within your text while focus is given to a dialog
with optional words and many other options.  The problem is if
you want to read text relative to the misspelled word, it was
very difficult.  Now, this can be done with a single key press or
better yet, automatically via a hyperactive window.

Window-Eyes still has its fifty standard user windows and ten
hyperactive windows.  The hyperactive windows are now fully
functional.  A few new commands have been added once a
hyperactive window triggers.  For example, you can now execute
any hot key.  It is amazing how useful hyperactive windows can be
in certain cases.  Not only are they useful but they are easy to
setup.  Whether you are setting up a hyperactive, float, or
standard user window, Window-Eyes easily allows you to do it. 
These windows can automatically adjust when the Microsoft window
is moved or resized.  This is a powerful and useful feature that,
surprisingly, not all windows screen readers support.

Setting the voices (rate, pitch, volume, and tone) globally has
been greatly simplified.  The verbosity settings are much
easier to set as well.  In general, much of the user interface
has been enhanced to allow the user a friendly and easy access to
the wealth of Window-Eyes options.

There will be different keyboard layouts available.  Many users
love our current scheme but many do not.  Especially laptop
users.  We have therefore provided a couple other different
layouts.  But of course you always have total control of how you
want the keyboard lade out.  Through the hot key menu, you have
instant and easy access to your specific wants and needs.

Stability has always had a high priority with us.  Version 2.0 is
no exception.  We have taken every step to insure that
Window-Eyes is as stable as possible.  Many of the beta testers
have told us they believe Window-Eyes is one of, if not the, most
stable Windows screen reader on the market.

Although DOS is on its way out, there are many cases where it may
be preferred or necessary.  Using DOS boxes has been stabilized
even further.  Having Window-Eyes running and Vocal-Eyes in
several DOS boxes is not only a possibility, it is a reality.

With each release of Window-Eyes we have improved the speed and
responsiveness.  With version 2.0, we have again achieved a
noticeable speed increase.  Many "old time" DOS users have always
preferred the responsiveness of the DOS screen readers such as
Vocal-Eyes.  Responsiveness can no longer be a reason for staying
with DOS.  The responsiveness of Window-Eyes is extremely close
to that of Vocal-Eyes.

We realize some of these new features are offered in other
Windows screen readers.  However, we feel that simply having the
ability is only a small portion of what needs to be done.  The
features also need to be easily accessible.  In other words, can
the average user initiate a feature or does it require a computer
scientist?  We feel that we have not only offered a complete
array of features and flexibility but also the ease of use.  This
is not an easy task but we believe we have achieved it in
Window-Eyes.

The list of new features and enhancements goes on and on but I
hope I have given you a taste for some of the new items.  We are
very excited to be able to offer a strong and powerful 95 screen
reader.  Although version 2.0 is a bit slow in coming out, we
felt it was better to have a strong and flexible product that was
late than offer a weak and unfriendly product that was on time.

If you purchased your original copy of Window-Eyes within three
months of the release date of version 2.0, the upgrade is free. 
If your current copy of Window-Eyes is older than three months,
the upgrade is $75.00.  The upgrade will consist of a new disk
which should be installed over your existing copy and a new tape
tutorial.  The disk will include the new 2.0 manual as well as a
file (README.TXT) which will describe the changes since version
1.1.  You can purchase a 2.0 manual on tape (4-track) or print
for $10.00 per format.

____________________
Accessing Your Email with Eudora for Windows
by Mike Lawler

We have discussed using the web and accessing ftp sites in our
newsletters, but we have not discussed how to access email under
Windows.  We purposely are discussing email last in hopes of
reducing the number of email questions we receive about our
articles.  There are many Internet email programs available for
Windows and we have tried several of them to see how well they
worked with Window-Eyes.  We found that Eudora works extremely
well with Window-Eyes.

For the purposes of this article I used Eudora Pro 3.01.  If you
are using Eudora Lite 3.01, it will work just as well with speech
as its Pro cousin.  Eudora uses standard controls for many of the
functions that you will need to use for sending and receiving
email.  It uses a multi-selection list box for the message list. 
The messages are displayed in a read-only edit box under Windows
3.1 and a read-only rich edit control under Windows 95.  Standard
controls are used in the options dialog allowing you to easily
set up the options that you wish to use.  A standard edit box
under Windows 3.1 or rich edit control under Windows 95 is used
for you to compose your messages.  Eudora displays tool tips for
the graphics on its tool bar which are easily accessed by
Window-Eyes 2.0.  Finally, Eudora offers menu options for all of
the items on its tool bar and short cut keys for most of these
options.

Without knowing that they were doing so, the designers at
Qualcomm have created an extremely accessible program that is
very popular for blind and sighted computer users alike.  You can
get a demo of Eudora Lite or purchase Eudora Pro on the web at
www.eudora.com.  The Pro version includes a spell checker which
also works well with speech.  This is one of my favorite features
in the Pro version.  If many of you have read email from our
support address, you were probably glad when I purchased this
program because the spelling in my messages dramatically
improved.  I personally encourage anyone who does a lot with
email to consider purchasing this program.  It is important for
the blind community to support accessible software and Eudora is
one of the most accessible pieces of software that I have ever
used under any operating system.

____________________
CD Wizard
by Roland Manning

How many times have you promised yourself you'd label your CD
collection?  How many times have you put it off because you
didn't have the time, or you just felt lazy about the whole
thing?  How many times have you gone to the record store and
bought a new CD, taken it home, and wished you could find out
what the tracks were without having to ask someone to read it
again?  Well, if you've got an Internet connection, a CD-ROM
drive and Windows 95, have I got a program for you!

CD Wizard from BFM Software is a shareware CD Player for Windows
95 that can play  CD's, keep a database of artists, and even add
new CD's to your database if you've got a connection to the
Internet.  It works by looking at the CD's serial number which it
then sends out to an online database on the Internet which then
sends back the title of the cd, along with the names of the
artist and all the tracks on the CD.  If you like, it can also
store a small sound clip of each track on your CDS so that you
can go back and review them without having to get the CD out of
the bookshelf.

The program is completely keyboard accessible.  There are
keystrokes for all of the major functions in the program.  You
can even bring up a play list that contains a list box with the
titles of each track and you can choose the track you want to
hear by name from that list.  You can also have the player
shuffle the tracks, or you can program a certain order to play
them and store that information so that it is available the next
time you put that CD into your CD- ROM.

The Database may be exported to a text file, or printed out so
that you could have a hard copy of the contents.  You may choose
how the file is formatted.  So, for example, if you wanted to
have the file organized by CD title, you could get an
alphabetical listing of titles, followed by the name of the
artist and then the names of each track on the CD.  This is a
great shortcut for getting a braille copy for those of you with
braille printers.

This program has proven to be quite speech friendly.  It doesn't
use any nonstandard controls, and all of its documentation is
accessible through the help system.  At a cost of $22.95, it's a
real steal in my opinion.

____________________
Different Drivers under Windows 95
by Dan Weirich

If you are someone who is converting from Windows 3.x to Windows
95 please heed this advice.  Some things may work differently
than they used to.  What do I mean by this?  Our home computer
was transformed at Christmas time with a stocking full of
hardware and also Windows 95.

We kept a good deal of our existing peripherals including our
printer.  However, one thing we soon noticed - our printer was
much slower since we installed Windows 95.  Now at our house, the
kids rule the home PC.  If I get to use it three times a week,
I'm lucky, so this printing problem wasn't a problem for me.  My
kids learned to start printing before bedtime and getting their
results in the morning.  This works okay unless you make a
mistake and have to reprint something - then you have problems.

Last night I suggested to my 14-year-old son to hop onto the
Internet and look for an updated printer driver for our printer. 
He eagerly poked around until he found what he was looking for,
downloaded it and improved our printers performance by many
times.  My son claims that what took fifteen minutes last week
now takes but a few seconds to print.

Why did the printing take longer under Windows 95?  I don't know
and I haven't taken the time to find out.  My point to this
article is to let you know that upgrading to a new operating
system may improve some things but degrade others.  Windows 95
consumes a lot more of your computer's resources - both hard
drive space and RAM.  I'm not suggesting that Windows 95 is bad. 
It just takes more of your computer's power.  Upgrading our
printer driver allowed it to work better with the capabilities of
Windows 95 and in the end made it print just as fast as it did
with Windows 3.11.  The problem may have been due to Epson or
Microsoft.  I don't know or care - I'm just happy it's fixed.

Many households today have Internet access.  I encourage you to
use it to receive updated drivers for printers, video cards (I'm
not kidding), speech synthesizers, screen readers (hint), or
other drivers.  Please make certain you get the correct driver
and that you install it properly.  You will be glad you did.

____________________
Large Print Versus Screen Reader
by Sonja Morgan

As a technology consultant/trainer I was asked numerous times,
"Should I use large print or speech?"  There are many factors to
consider in making a recommendation.

1.  What is the cause of the person's visual impairment?

This may seem like a strange question to ask, but it is an
important one.  Some eye diseases are not stable and are
progressive like diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and
retinitis pigmentosa.  If the person has an eye disease such as
diabetic retinopathy, the individual's visual acuity can change
from day to day.  For a work environment where dependability is
critical a screen reader may be a better choice because it is a
reliable means of access.  If the user has an eye condition that
is stable such as histoplasmosis, large print access may be a
better choice because it will give the user access to more
software programs and, possibly, more job opportunities.

2.  What size is the computer monitor?

The size of the computer monitor being used is important in the
decision process.  When large print software is used, it
magnifies text and graphics from 2-16X.  This means that only a
portion of the actual display is seen by the user.  By increasing
the magnification the size of the actual portion of the screen
being seen decreases.  This is very disorienting; it makes it
difficult for the user to know where he or she is on the screen. 
It is easy to feel lost and frustrated.  If the user has the
option of increasing the monitor to a 17" or better yet, a 21"
monitor, the magnification can be reduced and more of the actual
display can be seen.  If the user must use a 12-14" monitor with
5X magnification or greater, I would strongly recommend that a
screen reader be considered for primary access and large print
could be used as a secondary means of reading the screen. 

3.  How much magnification is needed?

As I said in the last section, I would recommend that a user
needing 4X magnification or greater consider a screen reader for
primary access.  When magnification is 4X or greater it generally
slows down the user's productivity.

4.  What software programs are being used?

Why would the software program play a part of the decision making
process?  If the user is using a word processing package to
create and edit documents, a screen reader can be more efficient
than a large print program.  Reading a document with
magnification can slow down the writing and the editing process
although it can be very helpful to use large print to check the
formatting of a document.  If the user wants to utilize software
programs that have a lot of graphics such as "The Print Shop
Deluxe III," large print software is the only way to access the
graphics.  If the individual is using accounting or spreadsheet
software, it is very helpful to be able to check numbers
visually.

5.  What kind of work is the person doing?

It is very important to do a job analysis to determine what the
job requires.  What are the job tasks?  What are the speed
requirements.  If the job requires high production such as a word
processor, a data entry operator, or a telephone operator, speech
would usually be faster.  If a person needs to do desktop
publishing, large print would be a better choice for checking
format, layout and graphics.  A screen reader would be more
efficient for writing, reading and editing the text.

6.  Is it financially feasible to have a primary and secondary
means of access?

As you can see, there are times when it would be very useful to
have both means of access.  Should the user have a screen reader
and large print software?  If the user can effectively use both,
he or she should have both means of access.  Unfortunately, this
decision is often made based upon economics.  When the user or
the third party purchaser must choose only one access device, I
strongly recommend considering all of the factors that I have
mentioned.

____________________
Software Transfer - A Legal Way to Avoid Piracy
by Dan Weirich

As time passed, we at GW Micro received requests from time to
time, to provide a way for our customers to legally pass their GW
Micro software to another individual.  One scenario is the
situation where a client of ours passes away and their family
wants someone to make use of their equipment.  Another scenario
is the situation where someone only wants to use Microsoft
Windows and not DOS so they want to pass on their Vocal-Eyes but
not Window-Eyes.

In the past we didn't have a mechanism to transfer the products. 
Our copyright clearly states that purchasing our software product
does not constitute ownership of the product but only a license
to use it.  Furthermore, it states that the software may not be
sold or given away to another person without prior written
permission from GW Micro.

We believe the large majority of our customers have honored this
agreement however sometimes either inadvertently or intentionally
this has not been the case.  Some time ago, we decided to provide
a simple, legal method to transfer our software products from one
person to another.

We developed the Ownership Transfer Agreement to meet these
needs.  It is important to know it carries a $75.00 charge per
product to complete the transfer.  It is a document that
acknowledges the past owner, a new owner and provides other
details.  The old owner agrees to pass all original disks and
manuals to the new owner and relinquishes any use of the product. 
It is also agreed that only the latest version may be
transferred.  If the old owner did not have the latest version,
then an upgrade to the latest version must be purchased along
with the agreement charge.  The decision as to who pays the
agreement charge is between the old owner and the new owner. 
Once payment is received, the agreement is mailed to all parties
involved, signed, returned to GW Micro and copies are
distributed.  We try to be as fair as possible to our customers
and we hope this agreement provides a way of staying within the
law and still pass our software products onto another person. 

____________________
Turn off Your Lights!
by Sonja Morgan

I left on the lights last night!  No, I'm not talking about the
lights in my house; I'm talking about the lights on my car.  I am
a bioptic driver.  You ask, "What is a bioptic driver?"  In
Indiana persons whose visual impairment is worse than 20/50 in
one eye or 20/70 in both eyes can drive with a bioptic system if
they meet strict guidelines.  Bioptic lenses are a pair of
glasses with a telescope in the upper part of the right or left
lens, whichever one is the best eye.  The driver does not drive
looking through the telescope all the time, just one or two
seconds to check out conditions in the distance.

The guidelines are as follows:

1.  Visual acuity must be corrected to 20/200 in the best eye.
2.  Visual fields must be at least 130 degrees in a horizontal
diameter. 
3.  Visual acuity through the telescope must be at least 20/40.
4.  The telescope can be no more than 4X magnification.
5.  The candidate must be able to recognize standard traffic
signal colors: red, green, and amber.
6.  Cognitive and perceptual skills must be adequate to safely
operate a motor vehicle.

Persons who are interested in obtaining licensure with a bioptic
telescope must successfully complete a three-part process.

Step 1:  Vision Evaluation, Prescription, and Training

An eye doctor who specializes in low vision care, usually an
optometrist, must evaluate the person.  The specialist will
determine if the guidelines are met and will make recommendations
regarding the advisability of application for a bioptic driver
license.  If the individual is a good candidate, the doctor will
order and dispense the bioptic system with training.

Step 2:  Driving Evaluation and Training

When the doctor feels that the candidate is ready, an evaluation
is scheduled with a Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), an approved
bioptic driver rehabilitation program.  There are several such
programs in Indiana.  The evaluation includes assessment of
cognitive and perceptual skills, reaction time, ranges of motion
and coordination of upper and lower extremities, and actual
on-road testing.  The results of this evaluation and the doctor's
report are sent to the BMV for review by a vision consultant.  If
approved, the applicant is notified that the written test for the
learner's permit can be taken for use only at the rehabilitation
program.  The BMV requires 20-30 hours of specialized training.

When the applicant has completed training to the satisfaction of
the instructor, a letter will be sent to the BMV with number of
training hours and the area in which training was administered. 
The BMV will review the report and send the file to the BMV
Examiner to administer a driving skills test.

Step 3:  Driving Skills Test

The BMV Examiner will administer an extended driving skills test
to determine the applicant's driving abilities in a variety of
traffic situations.  When this test is completed satisfactorily,
a license to drive with a bioptic is issued with any restrictions
that may be recommended.  No license is granted until this last
step is successfully completed.  Every year the bioptic driver
must submit a vision certificate on the official BMV Application
for Bioptic Drivers form.

Since bioptic licensure began in 1986 the percentage of accidents
by bioptic drivers is no higher than the normal population.

The process to obtain my bioptic driver's license took me
approximately six months. I cannot drive at night until my low
vision specialist approves it and I pass a night driving lesson
with the approved trainer.  My driving is very different from
those 16 year olds.  I am very selective about where, when and in
what traffic conditions I will drive.  I have new freedom which I
want to treat very respectfully and new responsibilities which
include turning off the lights so that I don't have a dead
battery!

We wish to thank Dr. Paul Bither, a low vision specialist, for
providing information for this article.

____________________
Announcements

New Product

CrissCross Technologies announces a new series of audio tutorials
designed to help speech users learn to use Windows 3.1x and
Windows 95.  The tutorials use a relaxed, conversational style
and take listeners through the basics of starting up Windows and
into using screen-reader features to simulate mouse movement. 
Installing new software, searching for information in the Windows
help system, and many more topics are discussed.  "Speaking of
Windows...3.x" is recorded on four ninety-minute cassettes and
sells for $50.00.  "Speaking of Windows 95" is on six cassettes
and sells for $60.00.

For more information, or to place an order, contact Crista Earl
at (718) 268-6988 or ivorycc@ix.netcom.com.

No Time Change!

Just a reminder that Indiana does not change time.  Our hours are
8:00 AM to 5:00 PM eastern standard time.  We do not observe
daylight savings time.

Window-Eyes 2.0

When Window-Eyes 2.0 is released at the end of April, the price
will be $495.00 plus a shipping and handling cost of $6.00.  If
you purchased your original copy of Window-Eyes on or after
February 1, 1997, the upgrade is free.  If you purchased your
original Window-Eyes prior to February 1, 1997, the upgrade is
$75.00.  The upgrade will consist of a new disk which should be
installed over your existing copy and a new tape tutorial.  The
disk will include the new 2.0 manual as well as a file
(README.TXT) which will describe the changes since version 1.1. 
You can purchase a 2.0 manual on tape (4-track) or print for
$10.00 per format.

Come See Us!

GW Micro will be exhibiting at many conferences during the next
several months.  We will be at Access Midwest '97 in Omaha,
Nebraska at the Holiday Inn Convention Center Friday, May 2nd and
Saturday, May 3rd.  On Wednesday, June 4th and Thursday, June 5th
we can be found at the President's Committee on the Employment of
People with Disabilities in Washington, DC at the Washington
Hilton and Towers.  Come see a demonstration of Window-Eyes 2.0
at the National Federation of the Blind Convention in New
Orleans, LA Sunday, June 29th - Saturday, July 5th.  Visit our
booth at the American Council for the Blind Convention in
Houston, Texas the Monday, July 7th through Saturday, July 12th
at the Adams Mark Hotel.  In the autumn we will be at Closing the
Gap in Minneapolis Thursday, October 23rd through Saturday,
October 25th.  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.

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 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
