[Blindapple] textalker review commands

Jayson Smith jaybird at bluegrasspals.com
Fri Oct 16 20:59:02 EDT 2020


On an IIe with the older keyboard, no numpad, the key right next to the 
caps lock is the grave accent key.

Jayson

On 10/16/2020 7:04 PM, Tiny Puppy-butchb wrote:
> What is the little key to the right of the caps lock key?
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     *From:* A B <mailto:cmelloni at hotmail.com>
>     *To:* Blind Apple Discussions <mailto:blindapple at bluegrasspals.com>
>     *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
>
>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>     *From:* BlindApple <blindapple-bounces at bluegrasspals.com
>     <mailto:blindapple-bounces at bluegrasspals.com>> on behalf of Tiny
>     Puppy-butchb <butchb at fairpoint.net <mailto: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 <mailto:joseph.norton at gmail.com>
>     *To:* 'Blind Apple Discussions' <mailto:blindapple at bluegrasspals.com>
>     *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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