[Blindapple] Apple2E Dropbox
Josh K
joshknnd1982 at gmail.com
Tue Mar 24 20:29:34 EDT 2015
manual is attached.
follow me on twitter @joshknnd1982
On 3/24/2015 8:19 PM, Joe Quinn wrote:
> I'd like the manual. How do you install this?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Mar 24, 2015, at 5:55 PM, Josh K <joshknnd1982 at gmail.com
> <mailto:joshknnd1982 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>> do any of you know if there are any games for the free mac os7 or mac
>> os8 with outspoken screen reader? or didn't anyone make games for
>> that platform? you can get it here.
>>
>> http://www.eurpod.net/vmware/os8.rar
>>
>> if you want the manual let me know i can include it.
>> follow me on twitter @joshknnd1982
>> On 3/24/2015 5:50 PM, Blake Roberts wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello all,
>>>
>>> I rejoined the list today after a brief absence. Reviewing list
>>> archives for this month, I notice that a few people have been
>>> inquiring about the Apple2E Dropbox. There is a publicly accessible
>>> Dropbox link here:
>>>
>>> https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gaf0548jqycghv1/I6ZDn73BGP
>>>
>>> I am only a browser of the content. I don't have a Dropbox account
>>> and have no idea how disks can be contributed.
>>>
>>> Blake
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> BlindApple mailing list
>>> BlindApple at bluegrasspals.com
>>> http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/blindapple
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> BlindApple mailing list
>> BlindApple at bluegrasspals.com <mailto:BlindApple at bluegrasspals.com>
>> http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/blindapple
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> BlindApple mailing list
> BlindApple at bluegrasspals.com
> http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/blindapple
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://jaybird.no-ip.info/pipermail/blindapple/attachments/20150324/9b5a6f6c/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
REGISTRATION
Your copy of outSPOKEN has a unique registration number. This number is on the outSPOKEN master disk (in print and braille), and in print below.
Your registration number is:
Please fill out and return the enclosed owner registration card, which has your registration number on it. You can fill out this card in print or braille.
Registration entitles you to unlimited free technical support, and notification of upgrades to the program. Please refer to your registration number when you call or write Berkeley Systems.
Many months of programming and testing went into the creation of outSPOKEN. To continue supporting the program, we depend on users to register and give us feedback on how to improve outSPOKEN.
Berkeley Systems, Inc.
1700 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94709
(415) 540-5535
Copyrights
outSPOKEN Software
©copyright, 1989 Berkeley Systems, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
outSPOKEN User Manual
©copyright, 1989 Berkeley Systems, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
outSPOKEN User Manual cassette
©copyright, 1989 Berkeley Systems, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.
Berkeley Systems, Inc.
1700 Shattuck Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94709
(415) 540-5535
Manual by Mike Schutte, Marc Sutton, Wes Boyd, Michael O'Connor. Thanks to Joan Blades, Lawrence Boyd and our testers.
outSPOKEN is a trademark of Berkeley Systems, Inc.
The product names mentioned in this documentation are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their manufacturers.
License Agreement
You have the nonexclusive right to use this program. You may use it on one computer at a time. You may copy this program onto other disks for your own use, but you may not transfer the program from one computer to another over a network. You may make one copy of the program disk for backup purposes. This disk must include the outSPOKEN copyright notice.
This program, its look, feel, and its related documentation are copyrighted. You may not distribute copies of the program or documentation to others. You may not modify or translate the program or documentation without the written consent of Berkeley Systems, Inc.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
[NOTE: THE NUMBER AFTER EACH SUBJECT REFERS TO THE PAGE IN THE PRINT MANUAL.]
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 About outSPOKEN 1
1.2 Learning the Macintosh 1
1.3 About this manual 1
1.4 System requirements 1
CHAPTER 2. ABOUT THE MACINTOSH
2.1 Basic concepts 2
2.2 The Macintosh desktop 2
2.3 Windows 2
2.4 Pointing and clicking 3
2.5 Menus 3
2.6 Dialog boxes 4
2.7 Putting it together 4
CHAPTER 3. GETTING STARTED
3.1 About this tutorial 5
3.2 outSPOKEN's keypad 5
3.3 Starting up the Mac 6
3.4 Finding out what's on the screen 6
3.5 Reading text from a document 7
3.6 Writing and editing your own document 9
3.7 Shutting down 11
CHAPTER 4. REFERENCE
4.1 About this chapter 13
4.2 Using the outSPOKEN keypad 13
4.3 Installing outSPOKEN onto your disk 14
4.4 outSPOKEN keypad functions 15
A Direction keys 15
B Select 16
C Drag/Release 17
D Cancel 17
E Say/Stop 17
F Menu 18
G Window 18
H Mark and Goto 19
I Top 20
J Where 21
K Info 21
L Spell 21
M Find 21
N Scroll 23
4.5 outSPOKEN settings 24
A Dictionary 24
B Voice 25
C Custom 25
4.6 Using the main keyboard as a keypad 28
4.7 Using the mouse 28
4.8 Macintalk speech synthesis 28
4.9 Using outSPOKEN on disks 29
CHAPTER 5. TIPS & HINTS
5.1 About this chapter 30
5.2 The Finder 30
5.3 Dialog boxes 31
5.4 Menus 33
5.5 Word processing programs 33
5.6 Spreadsheets 33
5.7 Telecommunications programs 36
5.8 Other applications. 36
APPENDICES
A Embossed sheets 38
B Troubleshooting 42
C Compatibility notes text file on second disk
D Useful accessories text file on second disk
REFERENCE: outSPOKEN Keypad Functions
A Quick Tutorial 46
Alphabetical Reference 48
outSPOKEN Keypad Functions (graphic) 50
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 About outSPOKEN
outSPOKEN is software that allows you to use most Macintosh programs, even if you cannot see the screen. outSPOKEN reads what is on the screen, and provides a keyboard alternative to the mouse pointing device.
1.2 Learning the Macintosh
The hardest part of learning to use outSPOKEN is learning to use the computer itself. This manual introduces Macintosh basics, and briefly describes some Macintosh operations. Nevertheless, it is in no way intended to be a complete Macintosh tutorial.
Perhaps the best way to learn the Macintosh is through trial and error with the help of a friend. For a more structured approach, Apple Computer and others offer reference materials in print, on disk, or on cassette. Many community colleges also offer good Macintosh classes.
1.3 About this manual
This manual has five chapters. This chapter reviews the materials in the outSPOKEN package. The second, "About the Macintosh," describes basic concepts to give you a general idea of how things work and appear on the Macintosh screen. The third, "Getting Started," is a tutorial that leads you through your first outSPOKEN session. Chapter 4, "Reference," fully describes the rich
set of commands and features in outSPOKEN. Chapter 5, "Tips & Hints," gives information on using outSPOKEN with different types of programs, plus other general tips.
This manual is provided in print, on 4-track cassette tape, and as text files on disk. A braille manual is available to registered users, upon request. The package also contains braille quick reference sheets that summarize outSPOKEN's commands. Also, there are four embossed sheets that supplement the manual. The first sheet (in print & braille) shows the layout of the keypad that is used to operate outSPOKEN and the Macintosh. The other three show the Macintosh display in different situations, to show how it is organized. All figures in this manual are on these embossed sheets.
There are four Appendices. Appendix A gives a full description of the embossed sheets. Appendix B is a Troubleshooting section to help if things seem to go wrong. Appendix C has a few compatibility notes. Appendix D lists products and services that might interest you, including Berkeley Systems' inLARGEª and inTOUCHª, and other Macintosh documentation in accessible media. Note that Appendices C and D appear only as text files on the outSPOKEN disk.
1.4 System requirements
outSPOKEN runs on the Macintosh Plus or better. The minimum memory requirement is one Megabyte of RAM. We recommend using the latest version of the Macintosh operating system software. outSPOKEN can be installed onto and run from a hard disk or a floppy disk.
CHAPTER 2. ABOUT THE MACINTOSH
2.1 Basic concepts
Learning to use any computer seems daunting at first. However, the Macintosh stands out because of the special effort that went into making it a model for easy learning and use. To achieve that end, Apple used the idea of a consistent and intuitive user interface. This means that the same basic concepts and operations apply to all programs. When you learn one program, you know a great deal about all other programs. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce some of these basic Macintosh conventions. (Appendix A describes the enclosed embossed sheets of typical Macintosh displays, which are also helpful for learning about the Macintosh.)
2.2 The Macintosh desktop
Apple designed the Macintosh to simplify the way we work with computers by making it more like the way we do things at our desks. The Macintosh desktop appears on the screen when you first start up your computer. A typical desktop layout is illustrated in Figure A (embossed sheet 3). Like your own work space the Macintosh desktop has places to store documents and files. These are represented on the screen as small pictures called "icons." Icons have the shape and appearance of text documents, file folders, or computer disks. Most icons are given labels the same way we often label our file folders. outSPOKEN can find and identify these desktop items for you.
As on any desktop, items can be picked up, moved about, or opened to reveal their contents. This is done with the "mouse" input device, or with outSPOKEN's navigation keys. Documents such as spreadsheets or letters are handled in the same way. When a document is opened, the program that created it is launched, displaying the contents of the document.
Figure A. Window on desktop (embossed sheet 3 )
2.3 Windows
When a folder or document is opened, its contents are shown in a window. Almost all information displayed by the Macintosh is presented in windows, which are bordered rectangles filled with information. Figure A (embossed sheet 3) shows a window laying on the desktop.
Typically, a window displays a part of a single document. Because you can have more than one window on the screen at a time, you can work with more than one document at a time.
Windows can be moved about and reshaped to use your desktop space however you please. There can be one window filling the whole screen, or many overlapping windows on the screen at the same time. outSPOKEN provides special commands for working with windows. These commands allow you to determine which windows are open, and to choose a window for review.
2.4 Pointing and clicking
The Macintosh operating system uses two cursors, only one of which is active at a time. The mouse controls the "pointer," which usually resembles a small arrowhead. As you move the mouse across the surface of your desk, the pointer also moves in that direction. Many common operations are performed by pointing at information with the pointer and pressing the mouse button. For example, to add a word to a text document, simply move the pointer to where you want to insert the word, and click the mouse button. This places the other cursor - the "insertion bar" - at that place in the text. After you type in the new word, you can move the mouse, but this moves the pointer only. The insertion bar always follows your typing, unless you click the mouse button to move it to a new position in the document.
Every program utilizes this same approach to working with text. This is a good example of the benefit of a consistent interface. outSPOKEN offers keyboard shortcuts for these functions that make pointing and clicking practical even if you can't see the screen.
Figure B. Pull down menu (embossed sheet 2 )
2.5 Menus
Many common operations are performed through menus. The "menu bar" is present in every program, and occupies the top 1/3 inch of the screen. The words in the menu bar are menu titles identifying the major headings for Macintosh commands. To use a menu, a user moves the pointer to one of the menu bar titles, and holds the mouse button down. A list of commands then appears below that menu title, from which you can select one by moving the pointer to it and releasing the button. outSPOKEN provides an effective way to use menus.
Menus are convenient because you don't have to memorize commands. A good way to explore a new program is to explore its menus. As another example of the Mac's consistent interface, certain menu title are found in almost every program, such as Apple, File, and Edit. In the File menu are choices like New, Open, Close, Save, Print, and Quit. This is illustrated in Figure B (embossed sheet 2).
2.6 Dialog boxes
When you choose a command from the menu bar, the Macintosh may need more information to complete the task. Simple windows called 'dialog boxes' are used to get that information. Dialog boxes appear on top of anything else on the screen, as if a colleague dropped a memo on top of the pile of papers on your desk.
Figure C. Dialog box (embossed sheet 4)
outSPOKEN tells you if a dialog appears, and lets you read the contents. Typically, you can't do anything else until you respond. For example, if you select the Quit command, most programs ask if you want to save changes you made in your document before quitting. Figure C (embossed sheet 4) shows this "Save Changes" dialog.
2.7 Putting it together
Windows, menus and dialogs are the major elements of the Macintosh user interface. Windows present information; menus are used to give the computer commands; and dialogs request more information. The mouse - or outSPOKEN's keypad commands - ties them all together. Once you are familiar with these, you are familiar with a good part of most Macintosh programs.
Figures A, B and C show in detail the appearance of windows, menus, and dialogs. In general, these details don't matter. All that really matters is how they work and how you use them with outSPOKEN. But for the curious, we have included a complete description of these screen shots in Appendix A at the end of the manual.
The next chapter is a short tutorial which shows ways to use windows, menus and dialogs withÊoutSPOKEN.
CHAPTER 3. GETTING STARTED
3.1 About this tutorial
In Chapter 2, you were introduced to basic Macintosh concepts and operations. To learn outSPOKEN, it is most satisfying to begin using the Macintosh to do real work. In this chapter, you will use these concepts as you are guided, step by step, through several operations. It does not present every feature of the Macintosh or of outSPOKEN, but it tries to convey the flavor of both. Specifically, you will
(1) Start up the Macintosh with outSPOKEN.
(2) Locate, open, review, and close a document.
(3) Create, edit, save, and quit your own document.
(4) Shut down the Macintosh
3.2 outSPOKEN's keypad
With outSPOKEN, you most often interact with the Macintosh through keys located on the numeric keypad. The keypad is located on the right end of your keyboard, and is conventionally used as an alternative to the number keys at the top of the main keyboard. By using the keypad, outSPOKEN's commands are kept simple and accessible. An embossed representation of this keypad containing the names of keypad commands, in both print and braille, is provided in your outSPOKEN package (entitled "outSPOKEN keypad functions"). You may want to refer to this as you work through the tutorial.
In this manual, the key for a specific task will be referred to first by its column and then by its row number. For example, the key in the upper left of the keypad is referred to as (1,1) and the key with the raised dot near the center of the keypad is (2,3). The double wide key in the lower left corner is (1,5), and the double height 'Enter' key in the lower right is (4,4). The small key in the bottom row is (3,5).
Figure D. outSPOKEN keypad functions
outSPOKEN has a feature that can tell you the name of any key on the keyboard or on the outSPOKEN keypad. Find the double height (Enter) key in the lower right corner of the keypad (4,4). This is outSPOKEN's Say/Stop key. When you hold this key down, you can press any other key on the keyboard, and outSPOKEN will say "a," "space," "shift," etc. If you press a key that produces a different character when modified by the Shift key, outSPOKEN will read the shifted character second. For example, the key to the right of the "L" key is read as "semicolon colon." On the keypad, it reads the name of the outSPOKEN command for that key.
3.3 Starting up the Mac
3.3A Inserting the outSPOKEN disk
On the front of the Mac Plus and SE, below the video screen, is a narrow three and a half inch long opening where you can insert a storage disk. On the Mac II, the disk slot is on the right front of the chassis. Orient the outSPOKEN disk with the sliding metal gate toward the Mac and the circular rotating hub facing down. Slide the disk into the disk slot until it springs into place.
3.3B Turning on the Macintosh
The On/Off switch is located on the back of the Mac Plus and Mac SE about one third of the way up the left edge. If you are using a Mac II, the On/Off switch is a key on the keyboard. On the standard keyboard, that switch is an isolated double wide key at the top center. On the extended keyboard, it is the right most key in the isolated row of function keys at the top. Turn on the Mac by flipping the switch or pressing the key. In a minute or so, you will hear "Welcome to outSPOKEN." When the static-like sound ceases, the Mac is ready for use. That static, outSPOKEN's "At Work" sound, indicates that the Mac is too busy sending information to the screen to respond to any commands.
3.4 Finding out what's on the screen
3.4A Overview
The Macintosh screen can be thought of as an electronic desktop. There are two important areas or parts of the desktop - the menu bar and windows. Windows are bordered regions for storing and displaying information in an organized manner, while the menu bar provides commands for working with this information. The best way to become familiar with your Mac is to explore the menu bar and windows as discussed in the following sections.
3.4B Scanning the menu bar
The Menu Bar contains a list of menu titles for Macintosh commands arranged in a single line across the top of the screen. Press outSPOKEN's Menu key (1,1) to move the pointer to the top left hand corner of the Mac screen over the first menu title. outSPOKEN will respond by saying "menu Apple," indicating that the pointer is on the menu bar, over the Apple icon.
Press outSPOKEN's Right key (3,3) to move the pointer to the first menu title to the right, which is 'File.' Continue pressing the Right key to step through the remaining menu titles "Edit," 'View," and "Special." outSPOKEN alerts you with a "no more" beep when you try to move the pointer beyond "Special," because that is the last menu title. Press the Left key (1,3) to step back through the menu titles. To leave the menu bar press the Cancel key (3,5). This returns the pointer to where it was before you pressed the Menu key.
3.4C Windows on the desktop
To find out what windows are open on the desktop, press the Window key (2,1). outSPOKEN responds by saying "Windows menu," and displays a list of the windows that are currently open on screen. To review this list, press the Down key (2,4). If there are no windows open, outSPOKEN will say "Desktop." Generally, there are open windows whose titles you can read by repeated use of the Down key (2,4). The desktop is always present at the bottom of the windows list. outSPOKEN will say "Desktop" and then beep when you are at the bottom of the list. Press the Up key (2,2) to step back through the list. To leave the windows menu press the Cancel key (3,5).
3.5 Reading text from a document
This section is a step-by-step tutorial that introduces both basic Macintosh concepts and outSPOKEN commands. We recommend that for now you carefully follow these steps in the order presented, or else you may encounter a situation or command that hasn't been introduced yet.
First, we will review a document without editing it. Then, in the next section, you can create your own document. To read text from a document, you will
A. Find the right window
B. Find the document
C. Open the document window
D. Review the document
E. Close the document.
3.5A Finding the right window
The document we wish to review is called "outSPOKEN Tour." It is located in the window called "outSPOKEN Disk," which should already be open on your desktop. This window, when open, shows a list of items stored on your floppy disk. To read that window, first activate it by pressing the Window key (2,1) and move down through the list using outSPOKEN's Down key (2,4) until you have found the window called "outSPOKEN Disk." Press the Select key (2,3) to choose that window. This action brings the "outSPOKEN Disk" window to the front of any others. outSPOKEN positions the pointer in the upper left corner of the window.
An important point to remember is that the Windows menu only includes windows that are open. Files, folders, and disks are displayed only as icons and names until you open them to display their contents in windows.
3.5B Finding the document
Now that you are in the window that shows the contents of your disk, it is time to locate a specific document to review. To find the document called "outSPOKEN Tour," press the Down key (2,4) to step down through the contents of the window you have just opened. The first thing outSPOKEN encounters is the word 'Name'. This is just a heading for a column of names for each file in the folder on the disk.
Press the Down key (2,4) again and outSPOKEN moves the pointer to the next line in the window. outSPOKEN will say, "Folder, System Folder." This is the folder where the Macintosh operating system programs are stored. The first word "folder" refers to the icon that represents this folder. Press the Down key (2,4) again and you will encounter "Application TeachText," which is a word processing application (the kind you use to write letters, reports, etc.)
Continue scanning down until you hear "File outSPOKEN Tour," which is the document you want. For practice, you can continue down until outSPOKEN beeps, indicating that the pointer is on the last line in the window. Now move back through the lines in the window by using the Up command key (2,2).
3.5C Opening the document
Opening the "outSPOKEN Tour" document will bring up a window displaying the contents of the document. To do this, move up or down as discussed to locate the document called "outSPOKEN Tour." Press the Select key (2,3) to highlight it. Open it by holding the Command key down while pressing the 'o' key. Be sure you press the two keys at the same time, not separately, or else the command will not be executed. (The Command key is the large key on the bottom row to the left of the space bar.)
This keyboard combination is a shortcut for the Open command that is found in the File menu of the menu bar. The contents of a document window fills the whole screen below the menu bar. outSPOKEN places the pointer in the upper left corner of the document and says "window" to indicate that you have moved from the desktop to the outSPOKEN Tour document window.
3.5D Reviewing the document
To read through this document a line at a time, use outSPOKEN's Down key (2,4). On the screen, the pointer moves across the line from left to right and rests at the end of the current line. If the pointer is already at the end of a line, pressing the Down key moves the pointer to the end of the next line.
Likewise, the Up key (2,2) moves the pointer back to the beginning of the current line or to the beginning of the previous line, depending on whether the pointer is at the beginning of the line or not.
Knowing only these few commands, you may want to set aside the manual and read the entire document. When ready, you may also want to try additional reviewing capabilities.
For instance, read the next word by using the Right key (3,3). Likewise, to read the previous word, use the Left key (1,3). Read a letter at a time by holding down the Shift key on the main section of the keyboard while using the Left and Right keys as before.
You also can have outSPOKEN spell out the letters of the current word by pressing the Spell key (4,3). This command indicates the pointer's position within the word by beeping. Identify the font, size, and style of the current word by pressing the Info key (4,2).
Return to the upper left corner of the window by using the Top key (1,2). Read the current line without moving the pointer by pressing the Say key. Or press Shift and Say together to read the current word, without moving the pointer.
It is important to be aware that the pointer follows the action of outSPOKEN's reviewing commands (except for a few commands that are meant to give information only, without moving the pointer). For example, when you read the next word with a Right key, the pointer will come to rest at the end of that word. This becomes important when you want to select a place in the text to make changes.
3.5E Closing the document
When you have finished reviewing the outSPOKEN Tour document, you can press and hold the Command key and the 'w' key simultaneously to close the outSPOKEN Tour document. This is the keyboard shortcut to the 'Close' command contained in the 'File' menu. This action closes this document window but leaves you in the word processing application, ready to create a new document or to open another existing document.
3.6 Writing and editing your own document
To create and make changes in your own document, you will
A. Open a blank document
B. Enter and review some text.
C. Insert some text
D. Change some text
E. Move some text.
F. Save the document.
G. Quit the application and return to the desktop.
3.6A Opening a blank document
Once you've launched any application, there are two ways to open a new (blank) document window. One is to press the Command key and the 'n' key simultaneously. The alternative is to select the 'New' option under the 'File' menu. Since you haven't yet used the menus, let's go through that procedure.
First, press the Menu key (1,1) and outSPOKEN will move the pointer to the top left corner of the menu bar. Press the Right key (3,3) to move to the 'File' menu title. Now, press the Drag key (1,5). At this command, outSPOKEN says "menu" to indicate that it has "pulled down" the 'File' menu, showing the commands that are available under it.
Press the Down key (2,4) once to move down over the first selection which happens to be 'New'. For practice, use the Down key (2,4) to read the rest of the commands. outSPOKEN will beep when there are no more commands. Use the Up key (2,2) to move back to the 'New' command. When you are over the 'New' selection, press the Drag/Release key again (1,5) to select the New command. The application then fills the screen with a new blank document window.
3.6B Typing in and reviewing some text
To type text into this new word processor document, you simply begin typing. Go ahead and type a couple of sentences. Notice that outSPOKEN speaks each word after you press the space bar. Practice reviewing what you have typed with the commands that have been introduced so far, such as reviewing by line, by word, or by letter, or by spelling out individual words.
3.6C Inserting text
Without outSPOKEN, inserting text is accomplished by using the mouse to point to the place in the text where you want to insert something and clicking the mouse button. This positions a text insertion bar at that location in the text. With outSPOKEN, you move the pointer by using the Up, Down, Left, and Right commands in the same way that you review text. The text insertion bar is positioned by moving the pointer to a location in the text where you wish to make a change and pressing the Select key (2,3). Whatever you type is then placed at the insertion bar, with succeeding text moving over or down to make room.
To practice inserting text, use the Up key (2,2) to move the pointer to the beginning of one of the lines you have written. Press the Right key (3,3) a few times to move a few words into the line. Press the Spell key (4,3) to confirm that the pointer is at the end of the word you have chosen. (Note that outSPOKEN beeps to indicate the position of the pointer within the word.) Press the Select key (2,3) to place the insertion bar there. Now, type in a space and several more words. You can hear the change you just made by pressing the Say key (4,4) to read back the whole line.
3.6D Replacing a word
Without outSPOKEN, you replace a word by pointing with the mouse to the beginning of the word, dragging the pointer across the word, and releasing the mouse button. This selects (highlights) the word. Then type in the new word which replaces the old. With outSPOKEN, this is accomplished with the Drag/Release key (1,5).
To learn exactly how this is done, move backward through your text, word by word, using the Left key (1,3), until you find a word you would like to replace. Now press the Spell key (4,3) to confirm that the pointer is at the beginning of the word you have chosen. Press the Drag/Release key (1,5) to begin selecting from that point. Note that outSPOKEN now makes a low hum, the "drag sound," whenever a drag operation is in progress. Then press the Right key (3,3) to move the pointer to the end of the word. Press the Drag/Release key (1,5) again to complete the selection of the word and stop the drag sound. Just type in a new word and the selected word will be erased and replaced by whatever you typed.
At this time, you could still revert back to the original word by selecting the Undo command in the Edit menu. The Undo command, available in most programs, is an invaluable aid for fixing mistakes.
3.6E Moving whole segments of text
To practice moving a whole segment of text from one place in your document to another, try putting the first line of your text at the bottom of your document. Start by positioning the pointer at the beginning of the first line using the Up key (2,2). Press the Drag/Release key (1,5). Move to the end of the first line using the Down key (2,4). Press the Drag/Release key (1,5) again to select (highlight) the first line. Now, go to the 'Edit' menu by pressing the Menu key (1,1), followed by the Right key (3,3), until you are over the 'Edit' heading. Press the Drag key (1,5) to pull down that menu. Use the Down key (2,4) to find the command 'Cut'. Select this command by pressing the Select key (2,3). This will cut out the whole line that has been selected, putting it on a hidden clipboard, a holding area for storing cut or copied blocks of information.
Now, with the Down key (2,4) move to the end of your document and place the insertion bar there using the Select key (2,3). Return to the 'Edit' menu, as above, and move down to and select the command 'Paste.' This will insert the "cut" text where you put the insertion bar (at the end of your document). Take this time to become more familiar with the outSPOKEN commands you have learned thus far by reviewing your document to confirm the results of your work.
3.6F Saving your new document
To save your new document on the outSPOKEN disk, go to the 'File' menu, find the "Save as..." command, and select it. (If a menu choice ends with three periods - an ellipsis - selecting it brings up a dialog box.) outSPOKEN will respond with a beep, indicating that a dialog box has popped up. This dialog box requests a name for this untitled document. After typing in a name press the Return key, which is the same as clicking on the 'Save' button in the dialog. This stores your document onto the outSPOKEN disk.
Once you have named your document, save further changes to your document by selecting the 'Save' command in the "File" menu, or by holding down the Command key while pressing the 's' key. As you will see, you are protected from accidentally quitting your document without saving your most recent changes.
3.6G Quitting the application
After we had reviewed the outSPOKEN Tour document above, we used the Close command to exit the document. This kept the word processing application, "TeachText," open. The Quit command not only closes all open documents, but also exits the application itself. To quit, find the 'Quit' command in the 'File' menu and select it. Alternatively, hold down the Command key and press the 'q' key simultaneously. Either approach tells the TeachText application that you want to quit. If your most recent changes have been saved, the application will quit immediately.
If your changes to the document have not been saved, outSPOKEN will say "dialog" to inform you that a dialog box has been brought up. If this is the case, read the dialog box using the Down key (2,4). It will ask if you want to save the changes that have been made to the document. If you want to save them, find the 'Yes' button and press Select (2,3), or just press the Return key. Those changes to your document are saved to the outSPOKEN disk. The Macintosh then leaves the TeachText program, and the document window is closed.
Now that you have quit the TeachText program, press the Window key (2,1) to access the list of open windows, the Down key (2,4) to find the outSPOKEN Disk window in the list, and press the Select key (2,3) when you have found it. This positions the pointer on the outSPOKEN Disk window, and makes it the active window at the top of the stack. Press the Down key (2,4) until you find the name of the document you just saved. Congratulations! You just created your first Macintosh document.
3.7 Shutting down
Complete your round trip with outSPOKEN by retrieving the outSPOKEN disk and turning off the Macintosh. To do this, press the Menu key (1,1) and then the Right key (3,3) to move across the menu titles to the Special title. Press the Drag key (1,5) and the Down key (2,4) to move down to the last menu selection, which is 'Shut Down,' and press the Select key (2,3). Within a few moments, after the operating system completes any needed "housekeeping," the Macintosh will eject your outSPOKEN floppy disk. If you have a Macintosh II, your machine will turn itself off. If not, reach around the left side of the Macintosh and flip the power switch off.
CHAPTER 4. REFERENCE
4.1 About this chapter
If you have completed the tutorial, you're already familiar with many of the most common features of outSPOKEN and the Macintosh. This chapter provides instructions for installing outSPOKEN, and describes outSPOKEN's rich set of features in complete detail. The enclosed print and braille quick reference sheets summarize these features. You may want to first survey the quick reference sheets to become generally familiar with outSPOKEN's capabilities, before reading this chapter.
4.2 Using the outSPOKEN keypad
When outSPOKEN is active, the keys on the numeric keypad are transformed into function keys for reviewing and moving around the screen. By using the keypad, outSPOKEN lets you alternate between typing and reviewing without additional keystrokes.
The numeric keypad consists of five rows and four columns of keys. The layout of the keypad is shown in Figure D (Section 3.2), on the embossed sheet you used in the Getting Started tutorial, as well as in the printed graphic reference sheet. Keypad keys are referred to by their column and row number. The key in the upper left of the keypad is referred to as (1,1); the key with the raised dot in the center of the keypad is (2,3).
Many outSPOKEN functions are chosen by simply pressing one of these keys. Other functions are chosen by pressing a keypad key in combination with another key, called a modifier key. For example, the Right key tells outSPOKEN to move the pointer one word to the right. But the Right key pressed while holding the Shift key down tells outSPOKEN to move the pointer one letter to the right instead of one word.
There are three modifiers that can be used with an outSPOKEN keypad key. They are the Shift, Command, and Option keys. The Command and Option keys are found on the bottom row of the keyboard, to the left of the space bar. The Shift key, as on most typewriters, is on the second row of the keyboard, and is the large, left-most key.
Whenever possible, the modified key commands were chosen to perform similar functions for the different outSPOKEN keys they modify. While it was not possible to hold to these "themes" in every case, the consistency of modifier commands should help you learn and recall the outSPOKEN commands more quickly.
Pressing Shift with an outSPOKEN key generally performs a portion of the action (usually movement) of the unmodified key. Examples include reading by letter instead of word; by column instead of line; saying the current word instead of the current line; and affecting the current window instead of the whole screen.
Similarly, the Option key tends to modify a key's regular function by providing some information about it.
The Command key generally modifies functions that require additional keystrokes, which includes outSPOKEN's dialogs.
outSPOKEN has a "Say key" feature that can tell you the name of any key on the keyboard or the outSPOKEN keypad. When you hold down the Say/Stop key (4,4), press any other key on the keyboard. outSPOKEN will say its name. If you press a key that produces a different character when modified by Shift , outSPOKEN will read that character too. outSPOKEN doesn't actually type characters into your document as you use this feature.
On the keypad, this feature reads the name of the outSPOKEN command for that key, without executing it.
4.3 Installing outSPOKEN onto your disk
Once you have completed the Tutorial in Chapter 3, you will want to install outSPOKEN onto a working disk, and store the master disk in a safe place. outSPOKEN offers a special Install command that makes installation onto your hard disk or another floppy disk easy.
For most users, the procedure is as simple as pressing the Install command, listening to a spoken message, and pressing Return. You can also review that dialog box at your own pace after it is read aloud, by using the techniques discussed in the Tutorial. If outSPOKEN needs to tell you something about the operation, it reads the message aloud.
To install outSPOKEN on a "start-up" disk, start up your Macintosh with the outSPOKEN disk, as only this master disk can execute the Install operation. After the greeting, press the Option, Command, and Menu keys at the same time. outSPOKEN says "Install," and brings up a dialog box that is read aloud.
This dialog asks for your permission to install outSPOKEN onto a particular disk. That disk can be either a hard disk or a second floppy disk. If the disk name that is spoken is the one onto which you want to install the program, press Return. The outSPOKEN file is then copied into that disk's System Folder.
outSPOKEN can only be installed onto "mounted" disks, which could be a hard disk that is attached and turned on, or a floppy disk that is inserted. If you have more than one such disk, press the Tab key to cycle through other mounted disks. When outSPOKEN reads the name of the desired disk, press Return to install.
For a disk to be a candidate for installation, it must not only be mounted, but also must already contain the operating system software needed to start up your Macintosh. At a minimum, this means it includes the files called "System" and "Finder," which must also be in the same folder. The Install feature would tell you if one of these conditions is not met.
If you want to install onto a floppy disk, but have only one disk drive, you can do so by "disk swapping." Having started up your Mac with the outSPOKEN master disk, press Command-E (or select Eject from the Finder's File menu) to eject the outSPOKEN disk. Insert the desired floppy disk, then eject it and re-insert the outSPOKEN disk. The system now recognizes the availability of both disks, even though only one is inserted. Now when you issue the Install command, the operating system will eject the outSPOKEN disk so you can insert the target disk. The process may take a few swap cycles. Each time it ejects one disk, insert the other. When the process is complete, outSPOKEN will say "Installation complete."
If a disk doesn't have enough available space for installation (about 200 Kilobytes), outSPOKEN will tell you that installation failed because the disk was too full.
After you've successfully installed outSPOKEN, you can restart your Mac with that disk. outSPOKEN always turns itself on at startup. You can easily turn outSPOKEN off - and on again - by pressing the Command and Menu keys simultaneously.
There are two ways to prevent outSPOKEN from activating at startup. The first is to hold the mouse button down after the "smiling Mac" icon appears during the startup process. Keep the button down until the Finder icons & windows appear. This prevents outSPOKEN from loading for that startup only.
The second method is to drag the outSPOKEN file out of the System Folder, and restart. But remember that this prevents outSPOKEN from working until you return the file to the System Folder and restart. In contrast, if outSPOKEN is active at startup, but you turned it off from the keyboard or the control panel, it can still be turned back on at any time, without restarting.
To completely remove outSPOKEN from a disk, drag the "outSPOKEN" and "outSPOKEN Preferences" files from the System Folder into the Trash.
4.4 outSPOKEN keypad functions
This section describes each function on the outSPOKEN keypad. It starts with the most frequently used keys - the ones that serve the same functions as the mouse.
4.4A Direction keys
The outSPOKEN direction keys, Up, Down, Left, and Right, are conveniently positioned around the Select key, the one in the center with a raised dot. In general, these keys move the pointer in that direction leading away from the Select key (2,3). They only move to and read information in the current window.
outSPOKEN's direction keys are different from the four "arrow" keys on the main keyboard. Those arrow keys are used by many programs for their own purposes.
There are a number of variations on the direction keys:
Word by word: The Left (1,3) and Right (3,3) direction keys normally move the pointer forward and backward, one word at a time. After you hear the last word on the current line, the pointer automatically moves to the first word on the next line. Note that when you are moving forward with the Right key, the pointer is placed at the right end of each word as it is read. When moving backward with Left, it is placed at the left end. Of course, the pointer will also move to and announce graphic objects. outSPOKEN puts the pointer in the middle of a graphic object, rather than at either end.
Letter by letter: When the Shift key is pressed while moving Right or Left, the pointer moves by one letter, not one word. Again, the pointer is placed after the letter when moving to the Right, and before the letter when moving to the Left. This feature will also read "spaces" and punctuation.
Line by line: The Up (2,2) and Down (2,4) keys read the line above or below the current line. After it finishes reading the line, outSPOKEN makes a soft click. When reviewing Down, the pointer "sweeps" across the line from left to right, comes to rest at the right end, then reads the line. Similarly, when reviewing Up, the pointer stops at the left end of the line, even though outSPOKEN reads from left to right.
If the pointer is anywhere in the middle of the line when you press Down, outSPOKEN first reads that portion of the line from the pointer to the right end. With the pointer now at the right end, pressing Down again reads the next line. Of course, the same applies to moving Up, if the pointer isn't at the left end of the line.
Enter any command while outSPOKEN is still speaking a line, and it will stop. The pointer will be at the end of the line, not at the word being spoken when you interrupted speech.
In columns: If you hold down the Shift key with Up or Down, outSPOKEN tracks and reads the current column of text, not the whole line. (For an example of this feature, see Section 5.6, "Spreadsheets.")
All the way: When the Command key is used with any direction key, the pointer moves all the way to that edge of the window. This is a quick way to get to the beginning or end of the line, or the top or bottom of a column.
A bit at a time: If you hold down the Option key while pressing a direction key, the pointer will move in that direction by one tenth of an inch. If the pointer passes over a word or graphic, outSPOKEN will read it. This feature gives fine control over the pointer position.
Most movement commands only move the pointer to text or graphics, not to blank areas of the screen. outSPOKEN will tell you the number of blank lines skipped. The type of feedback depends on the "Movement" setting, which will be described later.
While outSPOKEN's "regular" reviewing commands can't move the pointer into blank areas, there are a few commands that can. The "a bit at a time" feature (listed above) moves the pointer anywhere in a window by a tenth of an inch. The Goto key (covered shortly) can also be used to move to a specific screen or window position.
This section on outSPOKEN's direction keys refers to the four keys surrounding the Select key on the keypad. In this manual, we call them "direction" keys, or refer to their names (the Up, Down, Left, or Right keys) to distinguish them from the "arrow" keys on the main keyboard.
4.4B Select
The direction keys are used to effectively duplicate the function of moving the mouse pointer. The mouse also has a button for making selections. The Select key (2,3) performs the same function as clicking the mouse button. You "select" whatever is under the pointer. For example, when editing text, pressing the Select key means that you want to move the text insertion bar to a selected position.
In the Finder, "double-clicking" the mouse button when the pointer is resting on any icon opens a disk, folder, or document. Pressing the Select key twice in rapid succession performs this double-click. You only need to press Select once on buttons.
4.4C Drag/Release
The large bottom left-most key (1,5), also affects the mouse button, but in a different way than the Select key. Pressing the Drag/Release key (usually called the Drag key) is the same as pressing and holding down the mouse button. Pressing the key again releases the mouse button. Moving the pointer with the mouse button held down is called "dragging."
When you press the Drag key, outSPOKEN makes a low humming noise, which we refer to as the "dragging sound." This sound reminds you that dragging is in progress, which is important to know since unknown dragging could result in significant changes that you should be aware of. Dragging is used to "pull down" any menu, which reveals its contents. Dragging also highlights text for editing, and allows you to move items such as icons.
4.4D Cancel
The Cancel key (3,5) is located on the bottom row, to the right of the Drag key. Cancel has two functions. Pressing it cancels outSPOKEN operations that require multiple keystrokes, as long as that operation is still in progress. This includes the Menu, Window, Mark, Goto, Find, Scroll, Drag, and Say On features.
The other function of the Cancel key is to automatically find and press the Cancel button of dialog boxes that contain a Cancel button. This includes outSPOKEN's own dialog boxes.
4.4E Say/Stop
The large bottom right-most key (4,4) is called the Say/Stop key, also known as the Say key. It is very versatile, having a number of functions. The "Stop" feature of this command allows you to immediately silence outSPOKEN when you have heard enough speech. If you were reviewing by word when you issued the Stop command, the pointer comes to rest at the end of that word. If you were reviewing by line or by "rest of window," the pointer stops at the end of the line spoken.
The "Say" function of this key works when outSPOKEN is silent. Pressed by itself, the Say key reads the current line. If you hold down the Shift key with the Say key, outSPOKEN reads the word or graphic that the pointer is resting on. If you hold down the Option key, it reads the rest of the window, starting from the pointer. (To hear the entire window, simply press Top before issuing this command.) You can always press the Say key again to Stop the reading. Note that using the Say key leaves the pointer in its original position, in contrast to the movement commands.
outSPOKEN's "Say On" feature can read words as they are displayed on screen. When you press the Option, Command, and Say keys together, this feature is toggled on or off. As a convenient alternative to this three-key command, hold down the Say key alone to hear this new information, until you release the key. One example of when you might want to hear what's appearing on screen is when you are printing a document. In this situation, a small dialog box appears, displaying the status of the task, such as "the printer is out of paper." More about the Say On feature is found in Section 5.7, "Telecommunications programs."
Two other uses of the Say key are described elsewhere. The outSPOKEN Dictionary command is described in Section 4.5 ("outSPOKEN Settings"). The "Say key" feature, which lets you explore the keyboard, was explained in Section 4.2 ("Using the outSPOKEN keypad").
4.4F Menu
Because the menu bar is so frequently used, there is a special key to move the pointer there. Pressing the Menu key (1,1), which is the key in the upper left corner of the numeric keypad, causes outSPOKEN to say "menu apple" as it moves the pointer to the first menu title, the Apple menu. You can move through the menu bar using direction keys or other movement commands. After you have made a menu selection, the pointer returns to where it was when you pressed the Menu key.
Once you reach the desired menu title, pull it open with the Drag key. outSPOKEN then limits your reviewing to that menu, just as it limits your reviewing to one window at a time. When you reach the desired menu choice, press Drag/Release again. As long as you are in the menu bar, outSPOKEN will not let you type characters into your document. If you decide against making a selection from that menu, press the Cancel key to leave the menu bar.
In some situations, certain menu choices are inappropriate. For instance, the "Eject" command in the Finder's File menu is not appropriate when there's no floppy disk in the disk drive. Selecting an unavailable item has no effect. Each application determines which menu items are inappropriate. Unavailable choices are "dimmed" - the words are displayed in gray, instead of the standard black letters on a white background. When you come across a dimmed menu item, outSPOKEN gives "Style Change" feedback, based on your current setting in the Custom dialog. The Info key can verify whether a particular item is dimmed.
The Menu key is also used as a quick way to turn outSPOKEN on and off. The program is set to always turn itself on whenever you restart your Macintosh. To turn it off, press the Command and Menu keys at the same time. The same command turns it back on again.
4.4G Window
The key to the right of the Menu key is the Window key (2,1). The Window key helps you move from one window to another. When you press the Window key, a menu of all open windows appears, with the active window listed first. Scan this list of window names with the direction keys, and choose one with the Select key. As with many of outSPOKEN's commands, you can press Cancel if you decide not to make a selection.
When you first open a window, or if a dialog box appears on screen, outSPOKEN automatically puts the pointer in the upper left corner, so that you can begin reviewing its contents. When you switch to an already open window via the Window key, outSPOKEN returns the pointer to its last position in that window.
Using modifier keys with the Window key provides some convenient shortcuts. Instead of bringing up the Window menu, press the Shift and Window keys together. outSPOKEN automatically activates the second window in that menu, and announces its name. Issuing the command again toggles back to the original window.
If you want to confirm the name of the current window, hold down the Option key while pressing the Window key. outSPOKEN reads the active window's name, then tells you if that window is completely showing on screen. This is important because outSPOKEN cannot read parts of a window that are off screen.
The Resize Window feature addresses that situation. It drags and resizes the current window so that it's "all showing." Press Command-Window, then press one more key to choose one of five different size/position combinations. Command-Window followed by either Top or Select makes the window cover the whole screen below the menu bar. Command-Window followed by Left or Right makes the window cover the left or right half of the screen; Up or Down covers the top or bottom half. If you resize one window to one half, and another to the opposite half, the two windows will not overlap.
Note that this feature will not resize windows that aren't meant to be resized, such as dialog boxes.
The Resize Window and Shift-Window features are especially helpful in the Finder. See Section 5.2, "The Finder," for more information.
4.4H Mark and Goto
The next key in the top row, Mark (3,1) allows you to set "marks" on the screen to which you can return at any time by using the Goto key (4,1). There are three versions of the Mark feature.
The first marks an absolute location on screen, relative to the upper left corner. Press Mark at any location on the screen, and a dialog box appears. It asks you to type a name for this position on screen. When you press Return or select the "OK" button, this position and name are saved into your outSPOKEN Preferences file. From then on, you can quickly return to that mark. Press the Goto key, then type the name of the mark, and press Return. If outSPOKEN finds that name in the Preferences file, it moves the pointer to and reads the mark's name. If not, it gives the "no more" feedback. (If this happens, you might retry the Goto command, as you may have mistyped the mark's name.)
The second type of mark allows you to mark a location within the current window, not the whole screen. This feature is only slightly different from the first feature. When the pointer is in a window location you want to mark, press Shift-Mark. The dialog box that follows asks you to define that window position. Then use the Goto procedure described above for window marks.
The best use of window marks is getting access to unrecognizable graphic tools in certain types of applications, like desktop publishing programs. See Section 5.8 for further information.
The third and final type of mark is temporary. Press Option-Mark at any position, and outSPOKEN says "Quick Mark." You can then return to this screen Mark by pressing Option-Goto. We say it is temporary because it is forgotten once you set another Quick Mark.
The Goto key also provides a way to move the pointer directly to and read specific lines on the screen. Press the Command and Goto keys simultaneously. Now you can type any character key and outSPOKEN will read the next line in the window that begins with that letter. If you type the same letter, it will look for the next match further down. If there are no more lines that match your Goto request, outSPOKEN cycles through the list of lines again. You can repeat this "Goto line" feature until you press the Return key to exit this special mode.
This same procedure can be used to Goto a specific line, by number. Press Command-Goto, then, using the number keys along the top of the main keyboard, press a number from 1 to 0. outSPOKEN will go to one of the first ten lines in that window ("0" equals ten). If you want to get to a higher line number, say 15, press the dash key ("-"), and outSPOKEN will say "Next Group." This puts you in the 11-20 range. As long as you remain in that group of ten, you need only type 7 to get to line 17, for example. To move backwards by groups of ten, press the equals key ("="). outSPOKEN says "Last Group," and puts you back in the 1-10 range. From here, typing 3 moves the pointer to line 3. You can continue pressing the Next Group or Last Group keys to move by groups of ten until there are no more groups in that direction, at which point outSPOKEN gives the "No More" feedback.
The Goto line feature works automatically in the menu bar. Press the Menu key to move the pointer to the Apple menu. Then press the first letter of the desired menu title, such as "e" for "Edit." outSPOKEN then moves the pointer to and reads that title, without requiring you to use the Goto line command or direction keys. Pressing "e" again would look for any other menu titles beginning with E. And when you drag a menu open, typing a number or letter initiates the Goto line mode for a particular choice within that menu.
Another feature of the Goto key enables you to move to a specific coordinate on the screen or within the current window. Press Goto, then use the number keys along the top of the keyboard to enter a number in tenths of inches (such as "34" for 3.4 inches), then press a direction key. If you press Down, outSPOKEN moves the pointer 3.4 inches from the top of the screen; Right moves the pointer 3.4 inches across from the left edge. Note that the coordinates start in the upper left corner (0 across, 0 down), and that movement is always relative to the top or left edge, not to the current pointer position. To move to a coordinate in the current window, press Shift-Goto instead of Goto.
4.4I Top
The first key in the second row (1,2) is the Top key. This key places the pointer in the upper left corner of the current window or dialog box, immediately beneath the window's title bar (if it has one). This puts the pointer in the best position to begin reviewing the window.
There are two handy modifications of the Top key. With Shift-Top, outSPOKEN moves the pointer to the bottom left corner of the window instead of the top left corner.
If you press Command-Top, outSPOKEN moves the pointer to the window's Close box. From there, just press Select to close the window. This is an alternative to selecting Close from the File menu.
4.4J Where
The Where key (3,2) announces the pointer position on screen. The first number represents the horizontal coordinate in tenths of an inch from the left edge of the screen, while the second number represents the vertical coordinate from the top edge.
Pressing Shift-Where announces the pointer position within the current window. Again, this is consistent with Goto versus Shift-Goto.
Hold down the Option and Where keys together, and outSPOKEN will announce the current line number followed by the total number of lines in the window. There are two points to note about this total. First, unlike character-based computer systems, there is no standard number of columns and rows on the Macintosh screen. The height of each "line" can vary, depending on the font size, icon height, etc. Also, this total ignores all blank space, only counting "lines" containing text or graphics.
4.4K Info
The last key on the second row is the Info key (4,2). This key gives the style, size, and font information about the word the pointer is on. For example, in "italic 12 point Helvetica," italic is the style, 12 point is the size, and Helvetica is the font. Character size on the Macintosh is given in points, which are usually 1/72 of an inch. Twelve point is the most common size, while 18 point is usually considered "large print." outSPOKEN will also announce if the pointer is on a graphic.
For users with color monitors, outSPOKEN does work, but it does not report the color of objects.
4.4L Spell
The last key on the third row of the keypad is the Spell key (4,3). This key simply spells the current word. It also produces a sound to indicate your location within the word. If you were typing before you pressed Spell, that beep reflects the I-bar location; if you were reviewing, it's the pointer position.
Pressing Option-Spell uses whole words like "alpha," "bravo," and "charlie," to help distinguish between letters that sound similar, such as "c" and "z."
If the pointer is on a graphic symbol when you press the Spell key, outSPOKEN will spell out that graphic's name, as it was entered in the outSPOKEN Dictionary. This is especially useful since Find requests for graphics must use that exact spelling.
4.4M Find
The Find key is the first key on the fourth keypad row (1,4). This key activates a search for a string of text. Press Find, then type the text string you wish to locate.
There are three variations on the Find command. First, Find can be directional. After typing the text string, press the Down key to search the window from the pointer forward, or press the Up key to search from the pointer backward to the top of the window. If a match is found, outSPOKEN places the pointer on the match, and says the word or graphic name. If a Find request is unsuccessful, outSPOKEN does not move the pointer, but gives "no more" feedback of a type set by the Movement Custom setting, described shortly.
Following a Find request with Return tells outSPOKEN to search the entire window - it searches forward, then, if unsuccessful, beeps and searches from the top.
Normally, the Find command only searches the currently displayed portion of the active document. But if what you are searching for is in another, undisplayed part of the document, outSPOKEN allows you to activate a "scrolling find" request. Press Scroll then Find, type your text string, then a direction key. outSPOKEN first searches the rest of the current window. If unsuccessful, it scrolls the window automatically, and keeps scrolling and searching until it either finds your request or scrolls all the way in that direction.
The characters you type for a Find request can be any part of a word, not necessarily the beginning. Typing one letter searches only for words beginning with that letter.
The Find request is not sensitive to capitalization. Your typed Find request can include letters, numbers, and punctuation, but not spaces, so it cannot be longer than one word.
outSPOKEN stores the most recent Find request, so you can retry a search by pressing Find then the direction key, without retyping the request.
The Find command can also search for graphics that have been named in the outSPOKEN Dictionary (which is discussed in Section 4.5A). In this case, you type your Find request exactly as it was entered in the dictionary, even if you deliberately misspelled it to improve pronunciation. Also, in this special case of searching for graphics, your Find request can include spaces, and therefore multiple words, if that's how it was defined.
In some situations, it is very helpful to be able to move instantly to highlighted (selected) text. Press Option and Find together, and outSPOKEN will move to and read the entire block of selected text.
outSPOKEN also offers the ability to search for specific font styles, or graphics. To use this feature, press Find, then hold down the Command key while you press one of the following letters. Then press a direction key to start searching.
B Bold text
C Changes in style
D Dimmed text
F Font or Font size changes
G Graphic elements
H Highlighted text
I Italic text
O Outlined text
P Plain text
S Shadowed text
U Underlined text
X Buttons
This "Find attribute" feature searches for the next occurrence of that attribute. Note that it only reads the first word. Press Find then Say to hear all consecutive words with that attribute.
Another variation of Find lets you decide if you want to review from the pointer or the text insertion bar, since they are usually in different parts of the screen. If you've been typing, outSPOKEN automatically routes the pointer to the insertion bar so reviewing can begin there. If you'd like to review from where the pointer was before you typed, press Shift-Find to move from "I-bar" to "pointer." Remember, to route the I-bar to the current pointer location (instead of the reverse), press the Select key, which is the same as clicking the mouse button.
4.4N Scroll
The third key on the fourth row (3,4) is the Scroll key. This key is used to move other parts of a document onto the screen. Usually a window can only display a fraction of a document on screen at a time. The "scroll bar" is used to select which part of the document you want. The vertical scroll bar along the right edge of a window scrolls up or down through the window. Some applications also have a scroll bar along the bottom to allow you to scroll from side to side.
To scroll, press and release the Scroll key, then press the direction key indicating the direction in which you would like to scroll. The text will move one window in that direction This is analogous to the "Screen Up" and "Screen Down" commands on other computers. We say it scrolls by one "window" as opposed to "page" or "screen" because you can choose the size of windows.
You can also scroll a little bit at a time. Press the Scroll key, then hold down the Shift key as you press the desired direction key. The distance of each Shift-Scroll command is approximately one-quarter inch. In most cases, this will be one line, but it can vary because line height is not standard on the Macintosh.
Within the scroll bar is a tool called the "elevator box." Its location within the scroll bar tells you the relative location of the current window within the whole document. Normally this is a visual cue, but outSPOKEN will give you the percentage reading if you press the Option and Scroll keys together. (Pressing Scroll then Info also works.) For instance, "zero percent down" means you're at the very top of the document, and you can't scroll up any further. If the window has no horizontal scroll bar, outSPOKEN only reads this vertical value. If there is a scroll bar, but the entire document fits in the window, the elevator box disappears. outSPOKEN reads this as "nothing down" (or across).
Scroll bars also allow you to scroll by dragging the elevator box to some relative position within the scroll bar. For instance, to move halfway into your document, you'd drag the elevator box halfway down the scroll bar. To scroll in the equivalent manner using outSPOKEN commands, press Scroll, then Goto, then type a number from 0 - 100 (using the number keys at the top of the main keyboard), followed by Down to scroll down, or Right to scroll across. To scroll halfway, press Scroll, Goto, then 50, then the Down key. (Note: pressing Goto then Scroll also works for this feature.)
There is also a shortcut for scrolling all the way to the top, bottom, left, or right end of the window. To scroll all the way to the bottom, instead of pressing Scroll, Goto, 100, then Down, press Scroll followed by Command-Down. Similarly, the other three shortcuts are Scroll followed by Command-Up (top of document), Left, or Right. Another shortcut is to press Scroll then Top to move to the top of the document, or Scroll followed by Shift-Top to move to the bottom.
A small number of dialog boxes add a second scrollable list. This situation is covered in Section 5.3, "Dialog boxes."
4.5 outSPOKEN settings
Settings affect the way outSPOKEN presents information, which can be changed to fit your personal tastes. Most settings are changed through one of three dialog boxes. Many can also be changed from the keyboard, without having to enter a dialog box.
Any changes you make to these settings are stored in the "outSPOKEN Preferences" file in your System Folder. If there is no such file in your System Folder at startup - as when you first install the program - it will automatically create a new Preferences file with default settings. You may occasionally want to make a backup copy of your personalized Preferences file, just as you might back up any other important file.
4.5A Dictionary
outSPOKEN pronounces words according to certain phonetic rules. However, sometimes it doesn't pronounce words adequately. To change the pronunciation of a word, use the outSPOKEN Dictionary. After outSPOKEN pronounces a word in a way that you would like to change, leave the pointer on that word and press Command-Say to bring up the Dictionary dialog. Type in a new spelling that may sound better.
Experiment with different phonetic pronunciations of the word by using the Hear button in the dictionary dialog. If you don't like the pronunciation, use the Backspace key to delete unwanted letters, then try different spellings. You don't have to learn any special phonetic language - you can just type in English. Hint: separating syllables by spaces can sometimes help achieve the desired pronunciation. When you find a pronunciation you like, Select the OK button to save the change, or press Cancel to leave the Dictionary without making changes.
You can change or delete any entry in the Dictionary. When you enter the Dictionary dialog, the current pronunciation is already selected, and therefore is deleted when you begin typing. The Next and Previous buttons can be used to scan the Dictionary's contents.
In Section 2.2, "The Macintosh Desktop," we mentioned that outSPOKEN can identify icons and other graphic symbols. For your convenience, we've defined many standard Macintosh operating system graphics. When you come to a graphic that's not yet defined, outSPOKEN will say "icon," or "symbol." To name that graphic, enter the Dictionary dialog. When it appears, name this graphic, spelling it the way you'd like it pronounced. The next time it encounters that graphic, outSPOKEN will read this name.
You can also perform Find requests for defined icons. The procedure was described in Section 4.4M, "Find."
Finder icons sometimes change shape to indicate something about their status. outSPOKEN distinguishes between these states by allowing you to give them different names. For instance, in its normal state, a folder's icon is called "folder." But when the folder icon is selected (highlighted), outSPOKEN recognizes this as a different icon, called "folder selected," with its own entry in the outSPOKEN Dictionary. Similarly, disk and trash icons have different names for their normal and special states.
4.5B Voice
Press Command-Spell to bring up the Voice Settings dialog. The Voice dialog contains three settings: Speed, Volume, and Pitch. Each of these can be set from one to seven. To make a change, move the pointer to the desired category's name or current value, press Select to highlight it, and type the new value.
There is an alternate way to change the Voice settings. After you press Command-Spell, release the Spell key while continuing to hold the Command key down. This prevents the Voice Settings dialog box from appearing. With the Command key still down, type "S" for Speed, "V" for Volume, or "P" for Pitch. Each time you press these keys, outSPOKEN cycles through the values for that setting. When you reach the desired values, release the Command key.
There are two things to remember about this faster settings method. First, you can modify more than one category as long as you keep the Command key down throughout the process. Next, these settings aren't permanent, as they are when changed using the Voice dialog. These "Quick Settings" are only remembered for the current work session, until you shut down the Mac. However, you can ask outSPOKEN to make them permanent by opening the Voice dialog and immediately pressing Return to select the OK button.
The approximate voice speeds for settings one through seven are: 85, 141, 197, 253, 309, 365, and 421 words per minute.
4.5C Custom
The Custom Settings dialog allows you to control the feedback given by outSPOKEN. Press the Command and Info keys together to bring up this dialog. The Custom dialog offers eight categories. Each category has three or four possible settings. In each case, there is always a choice allowing you to eliminate the feedback.
Each category is displayed on a line, with the category name on the left, followed by its current setting to the right. To make a change, move the pointer to the desired category's name or current setting, and press Drag. A "pop-up" menu listing the possible settings appears, which you can review with the direction keys. When you reach the desired setting, press Drag again to choose that setting. Press Cancel to leave this pop-up menu without making the change. After you've changed any other Custom settings, Select the OK button (or just press Return) to confirm the changes and close the dialog. (You could also Cancel.)
The first category, Typing, sets the kind of feedback outSPOKEN gives as you type. With the Letters setting, you hear each key immediately after you type it, unless you type faster than outSPOKEN can speak. When the setting is Words, you hear each word as soon as you press the spacebar, Return, Tab, type punctuation, or when outSPOKEN senses a pause in your typing of about a second. When the setting is Nothing, you do not hear what is typed until you use reviewing commands.
The Typing setting also controls the feedback outSPOKEN gives as you type a Find or Goto request.
The second category, Style Change, determines the way outSPOKEN indicates a change in font or style. There are four settings - Speak, Tone, Pitch, and Nothing. The Speak setting indicates a style change in the text you are reading by announcing the new font or style, such as "italic." If you only want to know that a style change has occurred, without hearing the nature of the change, set Style Change to either Tone or Pitch. Tone causes outSPOKEN to beep just before the change occurs, while Pitch makes outSPOKEN read the first word of a new style in a higher pitch voice.
The feedback indicating superscript or subscript text, as in footnotes or chemical notation, is also controlled by the Style Change setting. If set to Speak, outSPOKEN will say "up" as it moves from plain to superscript text, then "down" as it moves back to the main line of text. Similarly, it says down then up for subscript text.
The third category, Capitals, offers the same four choices as Style Change. This setting operates when you use the Spell key or read by letter.
The fourth category, Graphics, offers the same settings as Capitals and Style Change. The Speak setting causes outSPOKEN to say "graphic" when the pointer moves to an icon or other graphic symbol, just before it reads the graphic's name (if it has been given one in the Dictionary). If set to Tone, outSPOKEN makes a high beep before reading the graphic's name, while Pitch reads the name in a higher voice. And when Graphics is set to Nothing, outSPOKEN skips graphics entirely, although you can perform Find requests for them.
The fifth category, New Window, offers three settings, Speak, Tone, and Nothing. When you open or close a window or menu, you can have outSPOKEN indicate the change via tone or by speech. The Tone feedback is a quick double beep.
The sixth category, Movement, offers the same settings as New Window. When the pointer moves over a large gap within the same line, or if it skips over some blank space when it moves from one line to the next, outSPOKEN can alert you to the movement by speaking, or indicate it with a distinctive tone. outSPOKEN uses slightly different tones to indicate if it is moving upward (a rising double beep), downward (a descending double beep), or on the same line (a single beep).
The seventh category is Punctuation. Its purpose is to enable you to read lines faster by ignoring certain punctuation marks and other unwanted characters. This setting only affects what you hear when you read by line. Everything is read when reviewing by word or letter.
There are three settings, All, Some, and None. With the Some setting, these characters go unspoken:
, . ; : ' Ô Õ " Ò Ó ! Á ? À ( ) [ ] { } < > Ç È * ¥ / _ = + ~ $ £ ¢ ´ ¤ ¦ - Ð Ñ ª © ¨ É ¡
These characters were chosen because they may occur frequently or in clusters. Note that accents like Ÿ – ” Ž and are also not spoken when the setting is Some.
The pointer still covers unspoken characters as it moves by line. To find out the exact position of the pointer, review by word, by letter, or use the Spell key to hear all characters.
The eighth category, At Work, adjusts the static-like sound that outSPOKEN makes when information is being drawn to the screen. The choices for this sound are Loud, Soft, or Nothing. When your computer is at work responding to a command such as opening or scrolling a window, it is not available to respond to other commands. Therefore it is often convenient to know when the computer is engaged. If the text insertion bar is in the current window, it blinks on and off, resulting in soft, even clicks. When the more intense At Work clicks cease, and all you hear is this insertion bar pulsing, the Mac is ready to receive commands.
The At Work feature can tell you when information is being drawn on screen. In contrast, the Say On feature, described earlier, can tell you exactly what is appearing.
There are situations when the Macintosh is busy, but not because it is drawing information onto the screen. Examples of such situations include launching an application, and sorting large numbers of records in a database program. In these situations, many programs temporarily turn the cursor into the shape of a small wristwatch, showing tiny hands that turn slowly. outSPOKEN's At Work feature makes a clicking sound as these hands move. The sound level is subtler than when the whole screen is being redrawn.
A few more notes about these Custom settings are worth mentioning. The same "Quick Settings" feature described above for Voice settings also works for Custom settings. After pressing Command-Info, keep the Command key down and type the first letter of the setting you want to change. outSPOKEN will cycle through the available options. Release the Command key when you reach the settings you want. The letters are: T (Typing); S (Style Change); C (Capitals); G (Graphics); N (New Window); M (Movement); P (Punctuation); or A (At Work).
If you use the "Speak" setting, the words that outSPOKEN gives as feedback will be spoken in a higher pitch. This is so you don't confuse the spoken feedback with the actual contents of the screen.
Each person can select a particular combination of Custom settings that works best for them in different situations, and with different levels of experience. It makes sense, though, that you won't want to have everything set to Tone, or everything to Pitch, as you wouldn't know to which Custom category outSPOKEN is referring. On the other hand, too much "Speak" feedback can be time-consuming or annoying. The "Quick Settings" feature allows you to easily adjust the level of feedback.
4.6 Using the main keyboard as a keypad
For touch typists who hate to move their hands, there is a way to control keypad functions from keys on the main keyboard. When you hold down the tilde key (~), the outSPOKEN keypad functions move from the separate keypad to the keyboard. The tilde key is located just to the left of the space bar on Mac SE and II keyboards, and in the upper left hand corner of the Plus keyboard.
The outSPOKEN keypad then becomes centered around the 'K' key on the keyboard which, like the Select key on the keypad, has a raised dot so that it's easy to locate. Most outSPOKEN keys are located in the same positions relative to that central key. For example, the Up key is the 'i' key and the window key is the '8' key. There is one exception. The Cancel key is located on the quote key, which is to the right of the semicolon.
Here is a table of the keyboard keys that become outSPOKEN keys when pressed with the Tilde key.
7 = Menu 8 = Window 9 = Mark 0 = Goto
U = Top I = Up O = Where P = Info
J = Left K = Select L = Right ; = Spell
M = Find , = Down . = Scroll / = Say
space = Drag " = Cancel
Holding down the tilde key also lets you use the Macintosh number pad for entering numbers, or for other standard keypad functions. Remember, the tilde key must be held down as if it were one of the regular modifier keys. For example, if a program requires the use of the keypad's Enter key for a command, press Tilde and Say together.
outSPOKEN's "Say key" feature does not read the "regular" name of each of the keypad keys, as they vary on different keyboard models. To find out what these keys are on your particular keyboard, open any text document, set outSPOKEN's Typing setting to Letters, then hold down the Tilde key as you type each keypad key.
4.7 Using the mouse
Up to this point, we have talked about the outSPOKEN keypad as a substitute for the mouse. However, outSPOKEN does work with the mouse. Using the mouse overrides outSPOKEN's pointer routing features, such as automatically moving to the top of dialog boxes. As you move the mouse, outSPOKEN reads whatever is beneath the pointer. If outSPOKEN is reading an item, and you move the pointer off that item, outSPOKEN stops reading it. If you move the mouse so fast that outSPOKEN doesn't have time to keep up, you will hear a soft click for each item it passed over. Also, you can get a continuous read-out of the pointer position by holding down the Where key as you move the mouse.
Note that when using the mouse, the pointer is not restricted to the current window, as it is with keypad commands. When the pointer passes over the edge of the current or another window, you will hear the New Window feedback.
4.8 Macintalk speech synthesis
outSPOKEN uses the "Macintalk" program written by Apple Computer to pronounce words. It enhances Macintalk by allowing you to change the speed, pitch, and volume; by allowing you to quickly interrupt speech; by allowing you to easily define icons and alter the pronunciations of words. Macintalk is incorporated into outSPOKEN, so you don't need the actual Macintalk file for outSPOKEN to work.
outSPOKEN does not currently support external speech synthesizing hardware.
4.9 Using outSPOKEN on disks
As we mentioned in Section 4.3, you can Install outSPOKEN onto a hard disk or a floppy disk for use. There are a couple of conditions on using more than one disk drive that are important to point out.
If you install outSPOKEN onto a hard disk, you can use any software you have on that hard disk or on a floppy disk. If you have a Mac with two floppy disk drives, you can use software on either disk.
However, you cannot start up your Mac with a floppy disk that has outSPOKEN on it, and then try to run programs that are on the hard disk. This is because the Macintosh operating system prefers to switch control from the System Folder on a floppy disk to the System Folder on a hard disk. outSPOKEN, having been launched from the floppy disk, gets left behind, and goes silent when the operating system does this "switch-launching."
CHAPTER 5. TIPS & HINTS
5.1 About this chapter
This chapter begins with a further discussion of the Macintosh operating system, including the Finder, dialog boxes, menus, and windows. It then gives some tips on using outSPOKEN with word processing, spreadsheet, telecommunication, desktop publishing, and other programs.
5.2 The Finder
Understanding the Macintosh's hierarchical approach to organizing files is an important step in learning how to use the Mac. The Macintosh operating system uses the metaphor of an office to organize the files on your disks. Think of each disk as a drawer in a filing cabinet. To reach a specific document, open a particular drawer, and open the folder containing your document. If you want to switch to a different document, it may be necessary to leave the current folder or disk. Disks, folders, and documents can be given names that describe their contents.
The alternative to this hierarchical approach is to have every file on your disk - possibly hundreds - all in the same drawer. You could organize your files that way, but it would take a long time to review the entire list. The hierarchical approach helps organize your files.
Other computer operating systems have a similar structure. Macintosh "folders" are often called "directories" and "sub-directories" in other operating systems. Unlike most other operating systems, the Macintosh allows you to choose a file or folder name from a list. This alleviates the need to recall and type the exact spelling of its name. Move to the file name with outSPOKEN commands, then use one of the various methods to open the file.
The Finder can be seen as the equivalent of home base. When you first start up ("boot") your computer, the Finder is the program that automatically appears, from which you launch applications, open documents, rename or copy files, format blank disks, shut down, etc. When you quit an application, the Finder reappears.
Finder windows contain the icons and names of files, folders, and disks. The Finder's "View" menu offers six different formats for viewing the active window. While using outSPOKEN, we recommend using one of the following View menu choices: "by Name," "by Date," "by Size," or "by Kind." These four choices organize the window's contents as vertical lists of file names in a characteristic order. In contrast, viewing by Icon or by Small Icon can cause confusing feedback, as the placement of files is unpredictable and unordered, and names can overlap.
The "desktop" is the bottom layer onto which all windows open. This is why "desktop" is always at the bottom of the Windows menu. At a minimum, the Finder desktop always contains the disk and Trash icons. The startup disk's icon can be found in the upper right corner, below which are the icons for any other mounted disks. The Trash icon is always in the lower right corner of the desktop. The contents of the desktop and other windows are read separately - no icons in another window are read when reviewing the desktop versa.
Icons from other windows can also be moved onto the desktop. Be aware, however, that in some important ways, the desktop is not a standard window. It can't be scrolled or closed, and the View is always "by Icon."
When you are reviewing the desktop, the only icons that outSPOKEN can read are those that are not covered by a window. Unlike standard windows, selecting the desktop from the Window menu does not uncover these icons. To access these icons, close the windows covering them.
The size of a window determines how much information can be read before it must be scrolled. outSPOKEN's Resize Window feature provides an easy way to resize windows to a convenient size. Resizing to the left or right half displays the Name and Size columns. Resizing to the top or bottom half also displays the Kind and Last Modified columns. In the Finder, this feature keeps the area along the right side of the screen that contains the disk and trash icons uncovered.
You can also use the standard Macintosh procedure for resizing windows, which is to drag the Resize box. Press Command-Down then Command-Right to move to the bottom right edge of the window, where the Resize box is located. Press Drag , then hold down Option with one of the four direction keys to resize the window by tenths of an inch. Finally, press Drag again to set the new size.
Here is the general procedure for moving files. Resize the source and destination windows to opposite halves of the screen. This makes them "all showing," without overlapping, and the top two choices in the Windows menu. Select the file(s) to be moved from the source window, and press the Drag key. Next, use Shift-Window to switch to the destination window. Move to the desired folder name, and press Release.
There are two notes about the destination window. First, if you will be releasing items into a certain folder, be sure it's visible in the destination window before you Drag, since you cannot open, close, reposition or scroll windows during a drag operation. Second, if you want to release in the window as a whole, not to a folder within that window, make sure the pointer is not on the line of any folder name. If this happens, you will inadvertently release your files into that folder. The best place to release items is in the line immediately beneath the title bar, where the Top key puts the pointer.
To select more than one item, Select the first icon, then hold down the Shift key as you Select other files to add them to the selection. This is called "shift-clicking."
5.3 Dialog boxes
As discussed earlier, dialog boxes present and request information. They may contain descriptive text, buttons for making selections, text entry areas, or a scrollable list of files & folders. Unfortunately, there is no standardized order for displaying this information
Here are a few tips for approaching dialog boxes. Until you are familiar with a particular dialog box, read it entirely to learn how it's arranged. Once you become familiar with a few dialog boxes, you will no longer need to spend as much time exploring them.
The top line of a dialog box is often descriptive. Buttons are usually grouped together at the bottom of the dialog, or in a column along the right side. You can use the "find attribute" feature to search for buttons. Some buttons perform actions when they are selected. Others simply change a setting. Buttons have two possible settings, "on" and "off," or "checked" and "unchecked."
One of the most common dialog boxes appears when you select "Open" from the File menu of any program. Its structure is standardized, with minor variations between programs. The top line usually says something like "Select a file." Below this appears the icon and name of the current folder. Below that, along the left side, is a scrollable list of the files and folders in that folder. On the right are such buttons as Drive, Eject, Open, and Cancel. The name of the current disk is usually above the Eject button.
The Open dialog box always appears with the current document's folder open. If the file or folder you need is contained within the current folder, review the list to find it, perhaps using a "scrolling" Find request. Then move to and Select the Open button. But if the desired file is not nested somewhere inside the current folder, you must move "up" the folder hierarchy. In our office filing cabinet metaphor, this would be like switching to a different folder or drawer.
There are two ways to move "up" the file hierarchy. One is to Drag on the current folder name, which is just above the scrollable list. A menu will pop up showing the sequence of folders between the current folder and the top of the hierarchy, the disk itself. Use the Down
key to move through this menu, then Select the desired folder. The other method is to use the keyboard equivalent, Command-Up (note that this is the Up arrow key on the main keyboard, not outSPOKEN's). Each time you type Command-(keyboard Up), you move one hierarchical level closer to the disk's main window. Finally, if the document you want to open is on a different disk, use the Drive or Eject buttons.
There are some handy keyboard shortcuts that can be used in dialog boxes. Most dialogs have a "default" button, such as "OK" or "Open" to execute the most likely choice; press Return to select it. Most programs support using the Tab key instead of selecting the Drive button; typing Command-E for the Eject button, and typing either Command-period, or outSPOKEN's Cancel key, for the Cancel button.
As in menus, some buttons may be inappropriate to choose at the current time. Such buttons are dimmed, and selecting them has no effect.
As we mentioned in the section of Chapter 4 covering the Scroll key, some dialog boxes have more than one scroll bar. outSPOKEN's Scroll key commands (by window, by line, goto %, etc.) only work on the "primary" scroll bar. This is usually the top-most or left-most of the two scroll bars. To scroll the other list, enter a Find request for "scroll up" or "scroll down." There are two of each of these graphics, but the right-most or bottom-most one (use the Where key) is for the secondary list. To scroll it by line, press Select on that scroll bar graphic. If you need to scroll this secondary list often, set a Mark or Quick Mark to speed up the process.
5.4 Menus
We've already discussed some of the basic concepts about using menus. This section describes special menu situations you may encounter.
A few programs offer the ability to add additional choices to menus. If a menu has more entries than your screen can display at one time, that menu will need to be scrolled to reveal those additional choices. Scrolling a menu is not done via a scroll bar, however. Where a scrollable menu meets the bottom of your screen, there is a "menu down" symbol. When the pointer is moved over this symbol, press Select, and the menu will scroll to the bottom of the list, so you can then select one of these new menu choices. Also, at this point, a "menu up" symbol appears at the top of the menu; selecting it allows you to move back to the top of the menu. Find and Goto line requests only operate on the set of choices currently on screen.
Another unusual menu configuration you may encounter is the "submenu." When a menu item contains its own set of additional choices, it usually brings up a dialog box. But a small number of programs also use submenus. At the right end of such a menu choice, there is a "submenu" symbol. When the pointer is on this symbol, press Select, and the submenu will appear. Review it with the usual commands, including Cancel. If you don't want to review the submenu, don't press Select on its symbol.
5.5 Word processing programs
Word (or text) processing programs are the most commonly-used type of program. They contain one unique element that warrants discussion.
The ruler is a separate area just beneath the title bar that is used for setting margins, tabs, and other aspects related to how your document is formatted. Rulers can be hidden when not in use, usually by a menu command.
A typical ruler extends across the full width of the window, and contains three very short, vertical layers. The top line looks like an actual ruler, marked off in fractions of an inch, with numbers representing inches across the page. The next layer consists of small icons representing current tab and margin settings. Each of these icons is placed at a particular location on the ruler corresponding to a position in the document. The third and final setting layer contains a variety of symbols representing functions that vary from program to program. Some create new tabs, while others set justification or line spacing.
Here is a general procedure for setting tabs and margins. First identify the symbols below the ruler, by trial and error, the help of a friend who is familiar with the program, or from the program's documentation. (These symbols look different in every word processing program.) Store their names in the outSPOKEN Dictionary. Move to the tab, margin, or other symbol whose position on the ruler you want to change, and press the Drag key. Use the Option-Up command a few times to move up to the inch numbers on the ruler. Move along the ruler using Option-Left or Right. As the pointer passes each inch, outSPOKEN will read that number. The Where key can be used when moving one of these symbols by a specific distance to verify your destination. When you reach the desired location, press the Drag key again to reset this tab or margin stop.
outSPOKENÕs At Work feature can be especially useful in word processors. As described in Chapter 4, when the Macintosh is busy drawing new information on the screen, such as when you scroll the window, the operating system is too busy to accept commands. The At Work feature's static-like sound tells you when the application is ready to accept keystrokes. When the static subsides, outSPOKEN will settle down to a slow, pulsing single click if the insertion bar is anywhere in the current window. If youÕve scrolled to a portion of the document not containing the insertion bar, this "pulse" will be missing. When you begin typing, the application will automatically scroll to the insertion bar, where your keystrokes are being entered.
There are two ways to select a block of text (for underlining, deleting, etc.). One way is by moving the pointer to the beginning of the text you want to highlight, and pressing the Select key to place the insertion bar there. Then move to the desired end point, and hold down the Shift key while you press Select again. This is known as Òshift-clicking,Ó which selects everything between those beginning and end points. Shift-clicking is a Macintosh feature that should work in all word processing applications, and many other programs.
A second method is to move the pointer to the beginning of the text to be selected, press Drag, move to the end, then press Drag again to make the selection. This method has one disadvantage - the entire selection must be on the screen. This is because you cannot scroll while dragging.
outSPOKEN reports the number of blank lines or spaces it skips as the pointer moves. It normally won't move the pointer into blank areas. However, you can move into blank areas by a tenth of an inch each time you press Option with the desired direction key.
Alternatively, most word processors support use of the main keyboard's arrow keys to move the insertion bar within the document, even into blank space. The Up and Down arrow keys move the pointer by line, while Left and Right move by character. Use the Select key to place the insertion bar in a known location, like the end of a word, then use those arrow keys to move into the blank area.
The Macintosh does a good job of displaying text as it will appear in print. But this "rich" display can occasionally cause outSPOKEN to give confusing feedback. For instance, if outSPOKEN encounters a word that contains a mixture of styles, such as partial underlining, it will read these parts as separate words to alert you to this change.
Another example is that the Macintosh can "justify" text, so that the right edge of all lines are even, not jagged (as on a typewriter). It "justifies" text by adjusting the spacing between words. Since the Macintosh is not a character-based system, outSPOKEN cannot tell if a 1/4 inch gap between words is actually a few space characters, or a single space character stretched by justification. In such cases, outSPOKEN's Movement feature may give excessive feedback. This only happens if the text is "fully" justified (at both left and right ends). If justification is set to left or right only, or if text is centered, this won't occur.
5.6 Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets are often used in statistical and financial applications. Data is displayed in rows and columns, in contrast to the relatively free-form layout of word processors and other types of programs. outSPOKEN offers a number of features that can be used in navigating through this grid-like structure.
All spreadsheet programs have very similar layouts. Just below the window's title bar, are the column headers (which can be letters or numbers). Along the left edge are the row headers. The intersection of row A with column 1 is cell A1. When entering, editing, or reviewing the worksheet, use either the applicationÕs or outSPOKENÕs commands to move to and select the desired cell.
Spreadsheet programs usually contain a "Go to cell #" command. The keyboard's arrow keys, as well as Tab and Return, usually move through the grid by one cell at a time.
outSPOKEN's column mode (Shift-Up or Shift-Down) is a useful feature for reading spreadsheet data. However, if the distance between two columns is so small that outSPOKEN does not recognize them as separate columns, try increasing the cell width. Also remember that Command-Up or Down can be used to move the pointer to the top or bottom of a column.
When a cell is selected, its contents are displayed in a narrow rectangular region called the Òformula bar.Ó outSPOKEN treats this as a window called "status line." The formula bar lies across the top of the screen, between the menu bar and your document windowÕs title bar. The insertion bar is usually placed at the end of any text in the formula bar, ready for data entry or modifications. Spreadsheets usually display the current cell number in a small, separate area at the left end of the formula bar. outSPOKEN calls this the "small status line" window.
outSPOKEN is designed to follow the insertion bar once you start typing. Therefore, when reviewing a worksheet, once you start typing, the pointer is moved to the "status line" window. Before entering text from the formula bar into the worksheet, you may want to explore your worksheet further. Or you might want to find out from the "small status line" what cell you are in.
Because all three of these areas - the document window, formula bar, and cell number area - are fundamental to using spreadsheets, outSPOKEN treats them as separate windows so you can move between them easily. While you could use outSPOKENÕs Window menu to move between them, the Shift-Window command, described in Chapter 4, is much faster. Normally, Shift-Window only alternates between the top two windows in the list. But for this special type of program, the feature has been expanded to allow you to move among all of them.
An alternate method for quickly moving to a particular location in the display is to use the Mark and Goto features.
5.7 Telecommunications programs
When you have connected your computer to another computer via a modem or direct link, you use communications software to send information back and forth. These programs are similar to word processing programs in that they put information on the screen, which can then be reviewed by outSPOKEN.
outSPOKEN's At Work feature can inform you when data is being received from an external source. When the transmission is complete, the sound stops. Similarly, if the At Work sound suddenly begins, you know that transmission is taking place. We recommend reviewing text after, not during, transmission, when the At Work sound has ceased. You may need to Scroll the window if much information has been received.
Whenever possible, we further recommend that data be downloaded from another computer first and reviewed off-line on your own time. While the Say On feature will read information as it is sent to the screen, the transmission rate is slowed significantly, because the Macintosh is busy speaking instead of downloading. (Remember, many on-line services charge you by the minute.) If you want to know the status of a download, hold down the Say key. This is will read the incoming words as long as the key is depressed.
Some on-line services and telecommunications programs have unusual scrolling procedures or displays that cause the speaking of excess or confusing information if the Say On feature is used during a transmission.
An important location for quick access is the line in your telecommunications window where prompts occur. This is usually at the bottom of the window. The Shift-Top command puts the pointer at the bottom of any text in the window. When reviewing Up from this point, this status line will be the first line read. With the pointer at this "bottom" position, you can set a "Quick Mark" with Option-Mark, and return there with Option-Goto. To set a permanent Mark at that relative position in the window, use the Shift-Mark command.
Finally, some telecommunications programs don't have a Macintosh-style thin, blinking insertion bar that moves as you type. Instead, they often have what might be called an "inverted block" or an "underline" cursor. If the program you're using doesn't have an option to use the standard I-bar that is found in practically every other program, outSPOKEN's insertion bar following features won't work. In this case, reviewing begins from the pointer position.
5.8 Other applications
There is too wide a variety of programs outSPOKEN works with to cover them all here. We have discussed three common types in some detail. This section gives general tips for using any other type of program. For more information, see Appendix C, "Compatibility notes."
Some programs involve creating and editing documents in a variety of ways other than simple text entry. Examples are desktop publishing programs and music programs. Such programs usually display "tools," which are small graphic areas that you Select to control what type of action the pointer performs, such as editing text, drawing shapes, or selecting notes for musical composition. These tools are usually found either in a line along the top or left edge of the window, or in a separate "toolbox" window of their own.
Unfortunately, they're often programmed in a way that outSPOKEN can't recognize with its review commands. But since each tool has a fixed location in its window, you can access it by setting a window Mark. You then return to it by using the Goto command. Of course, you must have the pointer in the appropriate window position before you define its Mark. You may need the help of a sighted user of the program to set these marks.
A couple of other points about desktop publishing programs are worth mentioning. By their nature, they are more likely than your average word processor to be laid out in columns, which means that you'd be using the column mode more than usual. They often contain graphics that outSPOKEN can't read, because they are not text, but a collection of dots making up a picture.
Another type of program you can use with outSPOKEN is the database. These programs often give the user a lot of flexibility in designing their layouts. For instance, a field's text label doesn't have to be next to its text entry box. It could be located to the left, above it, or missing entirely. In such cases, you'd need to become familiar with the particular layout to know which field you're in.
APPENDIX A. Embossed sheets
A.1 About the embossed sheets
The major elements of the Macintosh interface were introduced in Chapter 2, and illustrated in Chapter 3. The enclosed embossed sheets are tactile reproductions of the Mac screen, representing a few common situations. Do not expect to be able to read individual words merely by feeling them. However, exploring these embossed sheets may help you understand the way the "visual" interface is arranged on screen, and this understanding can help you become more efficient and confident with outSPOKEN.
Of the four embossed sheets, this Appendix refers to sheets numbered two through four. The unnumbered sheet is a reference card with the major outSPOKEN keypad commands. These three sheets have an embossed print and braille title in the top left corner, and are printed sideways. Just below the braille title, and along the other three edges, is a thin line representing the edge of the screen. In discussing these screen shots, we will be concerned only with this desktop region contained within the border lines.
A.2 Embossed Sheet 2. "Pull Down Menu"
Across the very upper edge of Embossed Sheet 2 is the menu bar, a rectangular region about 1/3 inch tall. The menu bar contains the menu headings from which you select commands. This screen represents the Finder, so the headings are (from left to right) Apple, File, Edit, View, and Special. (The word "apple" isn't spelled out, but is represented by a special character that looks like a small apple.) Note that these five headings don't quite cover half the width of the menu bar. Most applications have more headings than this.
In Embossed Sheet 2, the File menu has been "pulled down" by moving the pointer to the word "File" and pressing the Drag key. When you pull down a menu, two things happen. The word File is inverted to indicate it's selection. More importantly, a list of commands appear, extending downward from the menu title. It is as if you pulled the cord on a window shade, but in this case the whole shade pulls down by itself just by grabbing its cord.
The size of a menu depends on the number of choices, and the width of the widest choice. In Embossed Sheet 2, the File menu is about 4 inches long and 2.5 inches wide. File menu choices include general things you can do with your files. Specifically, it includes New Folder, Open, Print, Close, Get Info, Duplicate, Put Away, Page Setup, Print Directory, and Eject.
There are a few features of pull down menus to point out. When the operating system or the application you're running knows that a particular menu choice is not appropriate, it makes that choice unavailable. "Eject" was not available, for instance, because there was no floppy disk in the disk drive. The print of available menu options appears in black, while unavailable options appear in gray. outSPOKEN says these gray items have a "dimmed" font style. In this particular screen sample, the only available menu option in the File menu is Page Setup, which is 8 choices down. On the embossed sheet, the dimmed choices are less pronounced than "Page Setup" which is the only available choice in this case.
Many of the menu choices have keyboard equivalents, which are aligned along the right edge of the menu. Menus often contain thin lines separating related groups of choices within the same menu. outSPOKEN ignores these lines.
Along the right side of the screen, about half an inch from the edge, are two icons that are always present on the Finder's desktop. The disk icon is in the upper right corner, just below the menu bar. In this example, the disk is a "hard disk," represented as a rectangle with the name "Hard Disk" beneath it. The Trash icon, which resembles a trash can, is in the lower right corner, with the word "Trash" beneath it.
A.3 Embossed Sheet 3. "Window"
The Embossed Sheet entitled "3 Window" illustrates what the Macintosh display might look like when you first start up your Mac. As always, it contains a menu bar, but no menu is pulled down as in Sheet 2. This screen shows the Finder, which is where you find and organize your documents and programs, on disks and in folders.
Along the right side of the Macintosh screen are the hard disk and trash can icons, with one difference - the hard disk icon on Embossed Sheet 3 is shaded. This means that the window for the hard disk disk is open somewhere on screen.
The largest figure on this screen is the hard disk window. As discussed, windows are rectangular regions of the desktop which show the contents of folders, disks or documents. In this example, there is one window open, and it has been sized to a 5 by 6 inch rectangle within the larger rectangle that marks the boundaries of the screen.
Along each window's edges are window control elements - the title bar, cose box, zoom box, resize box, and scroll bars. The title bar is the 1/3 inch region on the very top. The name of the window is centered in the title bar. In this example, it is called "Hard Disk." On either side of this name are several horizontal parallel lines.
In the upper left corner of the window is the Close box, represented by a small square. When you are finished with a window, you can close it and clear it from the screen by moving the pointer over the Close box and pressing the Select key. This is an alternative to selecting "Close" from the File menu.
At the right end of the title bar is the Zoom box, another small square containing an even smaller square. Clicking the mouse button on this box makes the window either zoom to full screen size or back to the last user-defined size and position.
Below the title bar in this window is a line of text that includes some information about the disk or folder. In this case, there are three pieces of information, one against the left edge, one against the right edge, and one centered. From left to right, it says that there are 26 items (files and folders) on this disk, occupying 19,571 K (K for "kilobytes"), with 295 K available for use. This disk information line is displayed beneath the title bar of windows that are viewed by Icon or by Small Icon.
If you view a window by Name, Size, Kind, or Date, this area under the title bar contains column headers. In some applications, this area contains tool graphics that are selected to perform specific editing tasks. In word processing applications, it usually contains a ruler for setting margins, tabs, line spacing, etc.
In the lower right corner of the window is the Resize box. This is a manual alternative to outSPOKEN's Resize Window command. The Zoom box is quicker but less flexible than the Resize box.
The final window control elements are the Scroll bars. These are 1/4 inch wide regions on the right and bottom edges of a window. The bar on the right edge is used to scroll the window up or down. The bottom scroll bar scrolls the window from side to side. At the ends of each scroll bar is an icon that you click on to scroll the window. Sighted users click the mouse button when the pointer is either directly on or just beside the icon, depending on whether they want to scroll a full window or a small fraction of the window. The outSPOKEN scroll command locates and clicks on the appropriate spots of the scroll bars to perform these scrolling tasks. When you are reviewing, outSPOKEN normally skips the scroll bar icons.
Directly above the Resize box, in the lower right hand corner of the window, is the Scroll Down icon. Above that is an unshaded square usually called the "elevator box". Its relative position within the scroll bar tells you the relative position of the current window contents within the entire document. In this case, because the elevator box is all the way at the bottom, we know that this window is scrolled all the way to the bottom of the document. The elevator box on the bottom row indicates that this window is scrolled all the way to the left.
The remainder of the window is the active area that contains the window's contents. When you're in an application, this is where your text, spreadsheet data, database information, etc. is displayed. In this case, we're in the Finder, so the window contains icons representing applications, documents and folders. Below each icon is its name. The top row of three icons, and the second and third icons in the middle row, are icons for word processing, spreadsheet, drawing, telecommunications, and music programs. The outSPOKEN icon is the first icon in the second row. In the bottom row are two folder icons, the System Folder, which contains the operating system software, and a regular folder. If this "Hard Disk" window were viewed by Name, Size, Kind, or Date, the large icons with their associated names would be replaced by the columns of information.
You may note that we arranged the icons in the window fairly nicely into rows and columns. But the icons and their names could easily have overlapped each other, causing outSPOKEN to give confusing feedback for a file that is in the window. This is why we strongly recommended that you display your windows in one of the list views.
A.4 Embossed Sheet 4. Dialog Box
Embossed Sheet 4, entitled "Dialog Box," demonstrates a common situation, a dialog box appearing on top of a word processing document. The situation is one you encountered in the tutorial. This is the Save dialog box asking if you want to save changes before closing the document.
The word processing document in Embossed Sheet 4 fills the Macintosh screen below the menu bar. The menu titles available in this application are different from those in the Finder, as each program has its own set. In this case, after the very common Apple, File, and Edit menus are Search, Format, Font, Style and Spelling. Note that there are no file, disk or trash can icons, as those are only present in the Finder.
In response to your Quit command, the application causes a dialog box to pop up on screen, covering up part of your document. This is the 2 by 4 inch rectangle in the middle of the page. Although it has no title bar, scroll bars, or other such control elements found on regular windows, this dialog box becomes the active window. You cannot continue until you have responded to the question presented in the dialog box.
Across the top of the dialog box is the line "Save changes before quitting?" Below this, there are three buttons for you to choose from. Buttons are small, rounded-corner rectangles that contain words. To choose a button, move the pointer to it and press the Select key. In this dialog box, there is a "Yes" button on the left side. On the next line are the "No" and "Cancel" buttons. The mouse pointer, in its common arrowhead shape, is near the right edge, to the right of the Cancel button.
Note also that the "Yes" button has a more prominent border than the other two. This is how the application tells you that this button is the "default" choice - the most common or safe choice in that situation. You can simply hit the Return key to choose the default button of dialog boxes that have a default button.
APPENDIX B. Troubleshooting
This section discusses some problems you may encounter as you use outSPOKEN. If you do not find a solution after reviewing this section and the rest of the manual, contact us at the address or telephone number in the front of the manual. Please ask for "outSPOKEN Technical Support," and refer to your registration number.
B.1. outSPOKEN won't start up from a locked disk.
If you try to start up your Macintosh with a floppy disk that is locked, outSPOKEN will not work. Instead, it will ask you to "unlock the disk and try again." When a disk is locked, changes cannot be made to the disk. outSPOKEN needs an unlocked disk so it can modify the outSPOKEN Preferences file.
After this dialog box reads itself, press Return. The operating system then finishes starting up the Macintosh, and outSPOKEN will say that it's off. You will then be in the Finder. Even with outSPOKEN off, you can eject the disk via the keyboard command for Eject, which is Command-E. You can then unlock the disk, using the instructions below, if needed. Then reinsert the disk, and press Command-Menu. With the disk now unlocked, outSPOKEN can turn itself on.
Whether a floppy disk is locked or unlocked depends on the position of a small tab on the disk itself. If you hold the disk as if you were going to insert it, this tab is in the front left corner, on the underside. If the tab is slid to the near/outer position, the disk is locked. To unlock the disk, slide the tab to the far/inner position.
B.2. The Install operation was not successful.
When there is some condition about your setup that prevents outSPOKEN from installing, a message will be read aloud indicating the problem. These problems and the resulting messages are described in Section 4.3, "Installing outSPOKEN onto your disk."
B.3. outSPOKEN does not work at startup (it is silent).
If this happens immediately after you have installed outSPOKEN onto that disk, there may not have been enough free space on it for outSPOKEN to perform its tasks. On a newly-installed disk, outSPOKEN needs about 200K of disk space to start up successfully. To fix the problem, you would need to start up with a different outSPOKEN disk, and use it to free up some space on the first disk by deleting some files.
Another possibility is that the total memory needed by all the system software and utilities in your System Folder is so large that there isn't enough memory for outSPOKEN to load as well.
If neither of those applies in your case, the problem might be an incompatibility with a program in your System Folder. See also the next question, and also read Appendix C, "Compatibility notes," or contact us.
B.4. Sometimes after the Mac ejects a disk, outSPOKEN goes silent.
As it ejects a disk, the Mac displays a dialog box telling you which disk to insert. However, the operating system is in such an unusual state at this moment that outSPOKEN cannot read these "disk swap" dialogs. When outSPOKEN ejects one disk, insert the other. When the Install procedure is complete, outSPOKEN will be able to speak again.
B.5. Some information on screen isn't being read.
There are a few possible explanations for this.
For outSPOKEN to be able to recognize an object, it must be sourrounded by at least a small amount of blank space. If some part of a word or icon is obscured by another window, a scroll bar, another icon, the edge of the screen or the window, etc., outSPOKEN may not be able to read it.
You can often unblock the object. For instance, if the object is blocked at one edge of the window by the scroll bar, just scroll the window a bit in that direction. This especially applies to word processing programs, where the right end of a line of text may extend past the edge of your window. If this problem occurs in a Finder window viewed by Icon, view by Name instead, which prevents overlapping. Or, if a window isn't entirely on screen, as reported by the Option-Window feature, use the Resize Window feature to make the window be "all showing."
On rare occasions, the program you're running may get slightly out of sync with outSPOKEN regarding what's on screen at the time. Try turning outSPOKEN off and then back on again by pressing Command-Menu twice in succession.
Another possibility is that your monitor is set to display in color (or gray-scale). In this case, certain items, such as the Apple menu title, may be colorized. Even if an item has been defined in its black & white form in the outSPOKEN Dictionary, its colorized form may not be recognizable under that name. The solution to this is to turn the number of displayable colors to just 2 (black & white), which also makes outSPOKEN work faster.
B.6. My Mac seems to be running unusually slowly.
or
B.7. When I try to use a program, it tells me it needs more memory, or it "crashes."
Some applications require significantly more memory (RAM) than others. In the "System Requirements" section, we said outSPOKEN requires a Macintosh with a minimum of 1 Megabyte of memory. After the operating system and outSPOKEN take the memory they need, there's usually enough memory remaining to run most applications. But when you use utilities like outSPOKEN that take up some of the available memory, there may not be enough remaining for some applications to run properly. When a program is running low on memory, it could react by refusing to launch, by not allowing you to use some features, by slowing down, or, in the extreme case, by crashing.
In such cases, you could free up some memory by removing some other utilities from your System Folder, then restarting. Installing more memory into your Macintosh is another alternative.
A "crash" might also be the result of an incompatibility. Please see Appendix C, "Compatibility notes," or contact us.
B.8. When I try to type or pull down a menu, the Mac beeps or says "in menu."
This will happen if you are in some outSPOKEN "mode." For instance, when you use the Menu key to move into the menu bar, you must either make a menu choice, or press Cancel to leave the menu bar "mode" and return to your window. Otherwise outSPOKEN will not accept any regular typing, although it will accept commands that use the Command key (like Command-Q for Quit). Another example is if you are dragging an item, you cannot scroll. If you try to Drag open a menu, but hear a System beep, there is probably a dialog box on screen that requires a response before you can continue. (See also the next question.)
B.9. outSPOKEN won't let me switch windows.
Only one open window can be active at a time. When changing windows, the newly-activated window is brought to the front, so it is not covered by any other windows. But there are two situations where the operating system (not outSPOKEN) will not allow this to happen. They are when a drag operation is in progress, or when there is a dialog box on screen. In these cases, you can use the Window key's menu or the Shift-Window command, but outSPOKEN only reviews those parts of the second window not covered by the first.
If the Windows list contains only "Desktop," this means there are no windows currently open. If you want to open a window, follow the steps described earlier.
If you are using MultiFinder, the Finder and each open application are handled separately. The Windows menu only includes open windows from the current application "layer." If you want to select a window from a different layer, use MultiFinder's procedures to switch to it.
B.10. The outSPOKEN keypad commands listed in this manual don't match those on my keyboard's keypad.
outSPOKEN assumes that your keyboard's numeric keypad has the same number and arrangement of keys as the Apple-brand keyboards (standard or extended). If yours differs from this standard, some outSPOKEN commands may not be accessible from your keypad, or the commands may not be in the positions listed in this manual. In such cases, you need to use the Tilde key equivalents on the main keyboard to execute those outSPOKEN commands. (See Section 4.6, "Using the main keyboard as a keypad," and Appendix C, "Compatibility notes.")
If you use a Macintosh Plus, but have one of the short keyboards that were originally made for the oldest Macintosh models (the 128 or 512), you don't have a keypad at all. In this case, you have two options. One, you could use the Tilde key to enable the main keyboard to function as the keypad (see Section 4.5). Or you could buy a new keyboard that has a keypad, or a separate keypad attachment (see Appendix D, "Useful accessories"). Either of these would be well worth the investment for their convenience.
B.11. My Preferences settings, like the voice speed and Dictionary entries, are different than they were before.
If you change the name of the outSPOKEN file for some reason, it becomes possible to have more than one Preferences file in your System Folder at the same time. They would have different names, because the operating system will not allow you to have two files with identical names in the same folder.
Normally you have files called "outSPOKEN" and "outSPOKEN Preferences" in your System Folder. But if you change "outSPOKEN" to "My outSPOKEN," for example, outSPOKEN will work properly, but it will create a "My outSPOKEN Preferences" file. This new file will be the active one, instead of your "outSPOKEN Preferences" file, and it will have the default settings that were originally programmed into it. To regain access to your pronunciations, icon definitions, etc., rename one so the program file and the desired Preferences file match (like "outSPOKEN" & "outSPOKEN Preferences").
B.12. When reviewing a pop-up menu in a dialog box, outSPOKEN reads words that don't belong in it.
or
B.13. outSPOKEN doesn't identify a button as a button.
There are a variety of ways to program these graphic tools. outSPOKEN works with the most common ones, but may not work in all cases.
outSPOKEN Keypad Functions:
A Quick Tutorial
Categories 1 and 2 present commands according to how frequently they are used. Category 3 lists dialogs used to customize outSPOKEN. Category 4 (Shortcuts) includes commands that have been added for convenience.
Notes: Words in all capitals are outSPOKEN keys. For key locations refer to the embossed card entitled "outSPOKEN Keypad Functions." Depress modifier keys (Command, Shift, or Option) simultaneously with their function key. Direction keys are UP, DOWN, LEFT and RIGHT. SAY equals SAY/STOP.
1. Getting Started
Find out the name of any key:
Hold down SAY and press any key.
Stop speech:
SAY/STOP.
Install outSPOKEN:
Command-Option-MENU.
Move pointer and read up or down one line:
UP, DOWN.
Move pointer and read by word:
LEFT, RIGHT.
Move pointer and read by letter:
Shift-LEFT, Shift-RIGHT.
Move pointer to menu bar:
MENU.
Enter menu of open windows:
WINDOW.
Move pointer to top left of window:
TOP.
Spell current word or graphic:
SPELL.
Clarify pronunciation of letters by using words:
Option-SPELL.
Say current line:
SAY/STOP.
Say current word or graphic:
Shift-SAY/STOP.
Say rest of window from pointer:
Option-SAY.
Read font, size, and style of current word:
INFO.
Click mouse button:
SELECT.
Hold down or release mouse button:
DRAG/RELEASE.
Cancel a MENU, WINDOW, MARK, GOTO, FIND, SCROLL, DRAG/RELEASE or Say-On command in progress:
CANCEL.
Move pointer to & read next occurrence of text / graphic:
FIND, desired text string, then: DOWN searches past pointer; UP searches before pointer; RETURN searches entire window.
Scroll one window:
SCROLL, direction key.
2. Advanced Commands
Read window name and status:
Option-WINDOW.
Read pointer location on screen (horizontal by vertical) in tenths of an inch:
WHERE.
Read pointer location within window:
Shift-WHERE.
Read line number in current window:
Option-WHERE.
Scroll bar information:
Option-SCROLL.
Find insertion bar or last pointer position:
Shift-FIND.
Move to and read highlighted text:
Option-FIND.
Move pointer and read up or down one line in column:
Shift-UP, Shift-DOWN.
Move pointer to edge of window:
Command pressed with direction key.
Move pointer one-tenth of an inch:
Option pressed with direction key.
Scroll about one line:
SCROLL, Shift pressed with direction key.
Resize and move window:
Command-WINDOW, then direction key resizes & moves window to that half; TOP or SELECT moves window to fill whole screen.
Scroll to desired percentage:
SCROLL, GOTO, # (0-100), then DOWN or RIGHT.
Mark current screen position:
Press MARK to bring up dialog box. Type name of mark for current pointer position on screen. Press Return to exit dialog.
Mark current window position:
Shift-MARK. Then same procedure as above.
Go to any defined Mark:
GOTO, type name, Return.
Set temporary Quick Mark:
Option-MARK.
Go to Quick Mark:
Option-GOTO.
Go to screen coordinate:
GOTO, # representing tenths of an inch, then DOWN or RIGHT.
Go to window coordinate:
Shift-GOTO. Then same procedure as above.
Find attribute:
FIND, Command pressed with letter (e.g., h for highlight, g for graphic), then UP, DOWN or Return.
Say block of text with found attribute:
FIND, SAY.
Say text as it is written to screen:
Option-Command-SAY toggles on & off. Alternative: while SAY is depressed, says text until released.
3. outSPOKEN Dialogs
Turn off or on outSPOKEN:
Command-MENU.
Custom Settings Dialog:
Command-INFO.
Voice Settings Dialog:
Command-SPELL.
Word and graphic pronunciation dictionary:
Command-SAY/STOP.
4. Shortcuts
Move pointer to close box:
Command-TOP.
Move pointer to bottom of window:
Shift-TOP.
Cancel dialogs:
CANCEL.
Continue to scroll window until desired text is found:
FIND, SCROLL, text string, then UP or DOWN.
Scroll to end of document:
SCROLL, Command pressed with direction key.
Shift pointer to next window:
Shift-WINDOW.
Scan lines by number or first letter:
Command-GOTO, # or letter. Press Return to exit mode.
outSPOKEN Keypad Functions:
Alphabetical Reference
The following is an alphabetical listing of outSPOKEN's function keys, located on your keyboard's numeric keypad.
Notes:
Words in all capitals are outSPOKEN keys.
For key locations refer to the embossed card entitled "outSPOKEN Keypad Functions."
Depress modifier keys (Command, Shift, or Option) simultaneously with their function key.
ÒDirection keysÓ are UP, DOWN, LEFT and RIGHT.
CANCEL:
Cancels MENU, WINDOW, MARK, GOTO, FIND, SCROLL, DRAG/RELEASE, or Say-On commands in progress. Cancels dialogs.
DRAG/RELEASE:
Same as holding down mouse button. Press again to release.
DOWN:
Moves pointer and reads down one line.
Shift-DOWN: Moves pointer and reads down one line in column.
Option-DOWN: Moves pointer down 1/10 inch.
Command-DOWN: Moves pointer to bottom edge of window.
FIND:
Moves pointer to and reads nearest occurrence of text or graphic. Press FIND followed by desired text string then: DOWN searches past pointer; UP searches before pointer; Return searches entire window.
Replace text string with Command key plus letter to find attributes. FIND then SAY/STOP reads block of text containing found attribute.
Followed by text string, SCROLL, then direction key continues to scroll until text is found.
Shift-FIND: Find insertion bar or last pointer position.
Option-FIND: Moves to and reads highlighted text.
GOTO:
Followed by number (representing tenths of an inch), then: DOWN moves pointer to vertical position on screen; RIGHT moves pointer to horizontal position.
Followed by text string, then Return moves pointer to previously defined mark.
Shift-GOTO: Goto position within window. Same procedure as GOTO screen position.
Option-GOTO: Goto Quick Mark set with Option-MARK.
Command-GOTO: followed by number reads that line; letter reads line beginning with that letter. Press Return to exit this scanning mode.
INFO:
Gives font, size, and style of current word.
Command-INFO: Brings up outSPOKEN Custom Settings Dialog.
LEFT:
Moves pointer and reads left one word.
Shift-LEFT: Moves pointer and reads left one character.
Option-LEFT: Moves pointer left 1/10 inch.
Command-LEFT: Moves pointer to left edge of window.
MARK:
Brings up dialog. Type name of mark for current pointer position on screen. Exit with Return.
Shift-MARK: Marks position within window. Same procedure as marking screen position.
Option-MARK: Sets temporary Quick Mark.
MENU:
Moves pointer to menu bar.
Command-MENU: Toggles outSPOKEN off and on.
Option-Command-MENU: Brings up Install Dialog.
RIGHT:
Moves pointer and reads right one word.
Shift-RIGHT: Moves pointer and reads right one character.
Option-RIGHT: Moves pointer right 1/10 inch.
Command-RIGHT: Moves pointer to right edge of window.
SAY/STOP:
Says current line if outSPOKEN is silent. Stops speech. Pressed with any key, says that key. While depressed, says text as it is written to the screen.
Shift-SAY/STOP: Says current word or graphic.
Option-SAY/STOP: Says window from pointer to end.
Command-SAY/STOP: Brings up the outSPOKEN Dictionary.
Option-Command-SAY/STOP: Say-On. Toggles on or off voice output of text as it is written to the screen.
SCROLL:
Followed by direction key scrolls one window in that direction.
If Shift is held down with direction key, scrolls window by about 1 line (1/4 inch).
If Command is held down with direction key, scrolls to end of document in that direction.
Followed by GOTO, number (0-100), then direction key scrolls to percentage position in document.
Option-SCROLL: Scroll bar information.
SELECT:
Clicks mouse button.
SPELL:
Spells current word or graphic.
Option-SPELL: Spells current word using whole words to clarify pronunciation of letters.
Command-SPELL: Brings up outSPOKEN Voice Settings Dialog.
TOP:
Moves pointer to top of window.
Shift-TOP: Moves pointer to bottom of window.
Command-TOP: Moves pointer to close box.
UP:
Moves pointer and reads up one line.
Shift-UP: Moves pointer and reads up one line in column.
Option-UP: Moves pointer up 1/10 inch.
Command-UP: Moves pointer to top edge of window.
WHERE:
Says pointer location on screen (horizontal by vertical) in tenths of an inch.
Shift-WHERE: Says pointer location within current window.
Option-WHERE: Says line number in current window.
WINDOW:
Brings up menu of open windows.
Shift-WINDOW: Shifts pointer to next window.
Option-WINDOW: Reads window name and status.
Command-WINDOW: Followed by direction key moves and resizes window to corresponding half of screen; followed by TOP or SELECT resizes window to fill whole screen.
More information about the BlindApple
mailing list