[Blindapple] textalker review commands

Fri Oct 16 19:04:45 EDT 2020

What is the little key to the right of the caps lock key? 

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: A B 
  To: Blind Apple Discussions 
  Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 3:46 PM
  Subject: Re: [Blindapple] textalker review commands

  That is correct for the Apple IIe. Open apple on the left side of the space bar and closed apple on the right side. 

  The earlier versions of Apple II and Plus did not have these keys

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  From: BlindApple <blindapple-bounces at bluegrasspals.com> on behalf of Tiny Puppy-butchb <butchb at fairpoint.net>
  Sent: October 15, 2020 11:18 PM
  To: Blind Apple Discussions <blindapple at bluegrasspals.com>
  Subject: Re: [Blindapple] textalker review commands 

  Thanks very much.  If I knew this stuff, I've forgotten.  What are the keys on very bottom row?  I think open and closed apple to left and right of the space bar.  There is the caps lock key, but I don't recall the key beside it.  

  Thanks again. 

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: joseph.norton at gmail.com 
  To: 'Blind Apple Discussions' 
  Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 2:09 PM
  Subject: Re: [Blindapple] textalker review commands

  Hi:

  Also, if you are in review and want to read the screen, or a portion thereof, press a letter from A to X, then press the comma, “Echo says “to:”, then type the line letter you want to read to.

  So, if you wanted the whole screen, type the letter A, press Comma, press X and it’ll do it.

  Thanks to CiderPress, Here is some text from the DOSTalk disk which seems to do a good job:

                                    SCREEN REVIEW

       Typing a CTRL-L (not preceded with a CTRL-E) puts the Echo into

  line review mode. This feature allows the blind user to access

  any line of material on the screen through speech. The CTRL-L

  may be entered either while the computer is waiting for input

  from the user or while text is being spoken.

  Line review mode employs a special "audio review cursor" which

  keeps track of the last place the user read material from the

  screen. This audio review cursor moves along as material is

  reviewed. The following commands provide means of controlling

  the audio cursor.

  Selecting the line to Review

  There are two steps required for using the review feature.

  One must first enter review with the CTRL-L then he must select

  the line on which he wants to begin reviewing. After pressing

  the CTRL-L, the user hears "REVIEW." This is TEXTALKER's way

  of informing him that it has, indeed, entered the review mode.

  The user then selects which line is to be reviewed by typing a

  letter from "A" to "X". The letters "A" through "X" are the

  first 24 letters of the alphabet. Each one represents that

  line on the screen. In other words, pressing "A", the first

  letter, selects the top line of the screen and pressing "X",

  the 24th letter, selects the bottom line. (The Apple's display

  contains 24 lines.)

  When the user presses a letter from "A" to "X", TEXTALKER

  reads that line and then positions the audio cursor at the

  beginning of that line.

  The user may, in addition to selecting a line from 1 to

  24, after entering review, press the "Z" key. Pressing "Z"

  immediately after entering review selects the current place

  where the cursor rests. In other words, if the cursor were

  located on line "P", the 16th line from the top of the screen,

  and the user pressed the "Z", the audio review cursor would be

  placed on line 16. The "Z" command also maintains the

  horizontal cursor position.

  Moving the Audio Cursor

  When the user selects the line to review (by pressing a

  letter from "A" to "X"), TEXTALKER reads the selected line.

  One may use the up arrow and the down arrow keys to move the

  audio review cursor up and down the screen. Note that earlier

  versions of TEXTALKER also required the user to press the

  RETURN key after selecting the line. TEXTALKER version 3.1.1

  does not require the RETURN key to be pressed but, instead,

  reads the line immediately.

  Older versions of TEXTALKER used the ";" to move up and

  the "/" to move the audio cursor down the screen. These two

  old commands have been retained for compatibility.

  Once a line has been selected or moved to, the user may

  have the currently selected line repeated by pressing RETURN.

  Moving the Cursor along a Line

  While in review mode, the user may hear the lines on the

  screen in several different ways. Pressing the RETURN key

  indicates that he wants the entire line spoken. One may also

  read each line word by word, by using the left and right arrow

  keys to move the audio cursor along the line.

  Reviewing Character by Character

  Using the right and left arrows permits the user to review

  a line word by word. He may also read a line of material

  letter by letter. Pressing "L" selects letter mode. Once

  letter mode is selected, pressing the left and right arrows

  read and move the audio cursor letter by letter along the

  selected line. To return to word mode, press the "W" key.

  Experienced TEXTALKER users will recognize that the

  process of switching between letter and word mode was

  accomplished, in earlier versions of TEXTALKER, by pressing the

  "T" key to toggle between the two modes. This command has, for

  compatibility, also been preserved. One may, in short, either

  use the "L" and "W" or the "T" to toggle between letter and

  word mode.

  Determining the Cursor Position

  While in review, pressing the space bar makes the Echo

  announce the current line and column of the audio cursor. This

  information is provided by announcing the line as a letter and

  the column as a number. If the audio cursor were in the top

  left corner of the screen, for instance, Echo says "A,00" when

  the space bar is pressed.

  Reviewing a Group of Lines

  One may command TEXTALKER to review a group of lines on

  the screen. This command is executed by pressing the ","

  (comma) followed by the ending line to read. If, for instance,

  the user wishes to read the lines from "G" to "L", he would

  move the audio cursor to line "G" then press the "," and the

  "L". This command reads lines "G" through "L" and leaves the

  audio cursor on line "L".

  Altering Speech Characteristics

  If the user wishes to switch to another punctuation mode

  from within review, he may do so by pressing the command

  character exactly as if he were issuing one of the CTRL-E

  commands except without the CTRL-E. In other words, to change

  to all punctuation mode from within review, the user presses

  the "A". To change to some punctuation mode, he may press the

  "S". To select most punctuation mode, press the "M". The

  speech rate may also be controlled from within review mode.

  Simply press "E" to select expanded rate or "C" for compressed

  speech.

  Column Review

  The TEXTALKER review mode now supports reviewing material

  displayed on the screen in columnar format. The user may

  select one of nine different columns in which to review. The

  columns are selected by pressing one of the number keys from

  "1" to "9". Pressing the "0" reverts back to the normal full

  line review mode. When the user has selected a column from "1"

  to "9", he may hear the entire contents of that column by

  pressing the RETURN key. If he wishes to hear the entire line,

  while in a column, he may press the "R".

  Altering a Column's Boundaries

  The user may change the boundaries of a column in one of

  two ways. To extend the current boundaries, he should hold

  down the open apple key, to the left of the space bar, while

  pressing the arrow key in the direction to extend the edge. In

  other words, to extend the right edge of a column, he would

  move to the right edge of the column with the right arrow key

  then, when he reaches the edge, hold down the open apple key

  and press the right arrow until he reaches the desired new

  boundary.

  To reduce a column's edges, the user simply moves the

  cursor to the new desired edge and presses either the "-"

  (dash) to set the new left edge or the "=" to set the new right

  edge.

  Columns may overlap each other and even be contained

  within another column. TEXTALKER remembers the last column

  used upon an exit from review mode so that same column is

  selected the next time review mode is entered. If, however,

  the user uses the "Z" to select the current position of the

  cursor, TEXTALKER automatically reselects the normal full line

  review mode.

  Exiting Review

  There are three ways to exit the review mode and return to

  the work at hand. If one presses the space bar immediately

  after entering review mode (without selecting a line to

  review), the synthesizer announces the position of the cursor

  and exits review automatically. One may also exit the review

  mode, if he has already selected a line, by pressing the escape

  key. When he does, Echo announces, "EXIT." When one exits

  review,in this fashion, the real cursor will be in the exact

  place the user left it when he first entered review mode. The

  new TEXTALKER program also allows one to exit review in a very

  special way. If he presses "x" to leave review, the real

  cursor will be moved to the position of the audio cursor.

  TEXTALKER will announce "EXIT" and then confirm the position of

  the cursor by adding "AT" and the new cursor position to the

  message. This feature lets the blind user take full advantage

  of the Apple's built in editing features. One may, for

  instance, use it when examining a catalog of the disk. When he

  sees a file he wants to load, he needs simply move the review

  cursor up to that file name, exit with the "x" command, and use

  the right arrow to copy the file name onto the input line.

  Changing the Command Character

  One needs to be careful not to press another control

  character after typing the CTRL-L. If he does, the command

  character to enter review is changed to the second control

  character typed. This feature permits the user to temporarily

  redefine the command character so he may type a CTRL-L for

  another purpose. If the command character is altered, it may

  be changed back to the CTRL-L by typing the new command

  character then typing the CTRL-L.

  Overview of Review Commands

  A selects all punctuation mode.

  C selects compressed speech rate.

  E selects expanded speech rate.

  L selects letter mode.

  M selects most punctuation mode.

  R repeats the entire current line even if in column mode.

  S selects some punctuation mode.

  T toggles between letter and word mode.

  W selects word mode.

  X exits review mode with the real cursor moved to the position

  of the audio cursor.

  , (followed by another letter) reads all lines from the current

  line to the selected line.

  1-9 selects columns 1-9.

  0 reselects full line review mode.

  - resets the left edge of a column.

  = resets the right edge of a column.

  ESC exits review mode.

  SPACE announces the position of the audio cursor.

  RETURN repeats the current line.

  UP ARROW moves the audio cursor up one line and reads the new

  line.

  DOWN ARROW moves the audio cursor down one line and reads the

  new line.

  LEFT ARROW moves the audio cursor left one word. If the user

  has selected letter mode, the left arrow moves left one

  character.

  RIGHT ARROW moves the audio cursor right one word. If the user

  has selected letter mode, the right arrow moves the audio

  cursor right one character.

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