brianhartgen's blog

Hi to all

This morning, the Dragon V15 series was released by its developers, Nuance. We're very pleased to say that this month, we will be releasing updates to both J-Dictate and J-Say to support this series in the product range.
This includes Dragon Professional Individual and Legal, the two products about which we've received the majority of enquiries.

We are aiming for 19 September as a release date and we see no reason why this cannot be met. It will mean that J-Dictate will support Dragon Home, Premium, and anything in the Professional range from version 13 onward. J-Say will support any product in the professional range from version 12.5 up to 15.

Since the launch of J-Say in 2003, this is by far the quickest time we have been able to support a new release of Dragon NaturallySpeaking so we're very excited about that.

In terms of access via J-Say to JAWS for Windows version 18, we are already working on compatibility for the release when it is available in October of 2016. JAWS version 18 support will be available to anyone who holds a J-Say Software Maintenance Agreement or those who wish to purchase a J-Say upgrade.

We look forward to bringing you increased access to voice recognition technology within this final quarter of 2016!

Hi to all

On Monday we will be releasing the first new build of Leasey for 2017 with, we hope, more to come during the next 12 months. We hope you enjoy the new features in this build. Remember, if you haven't told your friends about Leasey yet, please do spread the word. As one user put it, "There are lots of amazing tricks hidden inside!"

The Outlook 2016 Calendar.

Since changes within Microsoft Outlook 2016 were recently introduced, creating appropriate access to it has been, to say the least, challenging. At the time of writing, if Leasey is not used, there are a number of distinct disadvantages. If you live in a country other than the United States of America, you will not hear the day of the week spoken as you move through the items in the calendar, only the date. This makes planning appointments very difficult. Moreover, a lot of unwanted information is spoken which does not provide a rapid way of moving through appointments and dates. Appointments are not always shown in Braille. Finally, pressing the Tab key too many times can cause a user to move to appointments or events outside the scope of the current day and so he or she can become disorientated.

Leasey will assist with all of these difficulties. So you will hear:

1. The days of the week as you navigate the calendar, irrespective of the country in which you live;
2. Whether an item is an all day event or a timed appointment. If it is an all day event, JAWS will say, "All Day";
3. All information is displayed in Braille;
4. As you navigate day by day, you will hear information presented in a logical sequence, such as, day, then date, then the number of items for the day;
5. If you Tab through all of the appointments, Leasey prevents you from moving elsewhere in the calendar. You can then choose an alternative day or Shift+Tab back through the items.

A new Chapter of our documentation has been written which explains how to use the Outlook 2016 calendar.

Please note: One of the reasons this has been so challenging to accomplish is that Microsoft renders the information concerning dates and appointments differently. It not only depends upon the country in which you live but also the build of Microsoft Office being used. So please, if you work with Leasey and you find a problem, be sure to let us know because we are paying extremely close attention to this.

The HTML Assistant.

Many people are creating text for blogs, web pages and HTML documents. But in order for the presentation to look visually appealing and to enable a high standard of navigation by screen-reading software, it is important to include HTML markup. This enables you to create text at specific Heading levels, bulleted or numbered lists or even insert tables and pictures.

Remembering the HTML syntax however to include in your text can be tricky. If one important character is not included, chances are that your formatting will not be present when you read the document at a later date, or maybe a link you insert will not function correctly. This is where the HTML Assistant can help.

There are many advantages of the HTML assistant:

1. You do not need to remember the characters to insert for the HTML code.
2. There is only one keystroke to remember in order to carry out all the tasks the HTML Assistant is capable of doing.
3. The HTML Assistant is intelligent enough to know which task you are working on and will always guide you.
4. In some instances, you can apply the HTML syntax to text you have already composed, although the preference is that you should use it while you are writing the original document. In summary, try to get into the routine of using the HTML Assistant as you write rather than after the event.

What the HTML Assistant Can Do.

To bring into view the HTML Assistant, hold down all three keys to the left of the Space Bar on a standard desktop keyboard, (ALT+Windows+Control), and while doing so, tap the letter H, for HTML.

A list of 14 items appears. When you press Enter on any option, you will be asked at least one question, possibly more. Remember, this is the only keystroke you need to remember to perform all HTML-related tasks.

Currently the HTML Assistant will help with creating headings at different levels, paragraphs, links, block quotes, bulleted and numbered lists, inserting images, and creating tables.

In respect of tables, Leasey's HTML Assistant will help in defining the column headers and rows. Leasey will also advise you when you are starting a new row of the table.

With pictures, Leasey guides you through specifying where the picture is located, alternative text for screen-readers, and the image dimensions. Leasey does also provide some guidance in terms of inches for the image, which gives you a greater understanding of what is required.

As an example of how to use the HTML Assistant, here is an extract from our documentation concerning creating a bulleted or numbered list.

This is one of the more complex parts of creating HTML code because not only is it necessary to insert characters to denote and terminate a list, but also it varies depending upon the type of list you wish to create. You would under normal circumstances have to place a tag at the start and end of each list item. Leasey takes care of this for you.

A bulleted list means that a bullet will be placed at the start of each list item. A numbered list means that the figures 1, 2, 3, etc, will be placed at the start of each list item. You will observe in our documentation that we always use numbered lists where step-by-step examples are given, but bulleted lists when highlighting a series of points to consider where you should not follow a particular routine.

From the HTML Assistant list, Go ahead and select a bulleted or numbered list option. You are asked for the first item to be placed on the list. Type it in and press Enter.

The text is inserted surrounded by the necessary HTML code.

You will also notice that characters have been placed above the text you have just typed, which indicates that a new bulleted or numbered list has begun.

Press the HTML Assistant key again. Rather than taking you back into the list of options with which you will already be familiar, Leasey knows that you are in the middle of creating a list, so she just asks you for the next item to be placed on it. Type it in and press Enter. Repeat the process as many times as necessary so as to complete your list.

You will notice each time you are asked for the next list item, you also hear this prompt: "Please Type the next Item of the Numbered List, then press Enter. To end the list, type the word, end."

So, as instructed, when you wish to end the list, into the Edit Field type the word, "end", and press Enter. Your list is now created and Leasey has terminated it with the necessary tag.

End of Documentation Extract.

In summary, we wanted to make it easier for people to create smart web pages without having to understand the series of characters to type in each situation. We do hope it helps!
Many features in Leasey are concerned with improving productivity while making computing easy for people at the same time. This new feature certainly fits those requirements.

Naturally, there is a lengthy chapter in our documentation which explains how to use this feature. We expect many enhancements to be made to this over time.

Other Enhancements.

Leasey can now be set to load the Facebook Mobile site as opposed to the larger regular version. Moreover, Leasey has been adjusted to make even using the mobile site easier. There is a full Chapter of our documentation to train you how to use the Facebook mobile site.

Two new radio stations have been added. The Accessible Friends Network radio station can be found in the Variety category and we're pleased to have Now Country back in the Country category.

One of the most popular features of last year in Leasey was the introduction of reproducing Emoji. We have added a number of new items to the Emoji list.

The new release of Leasey will be available on Monday and we hope you find it, and all the other features she has, useful!

We have experienced this week an issue where a customer's computer would not successfully upgrade from J-Say 12.0 to the latest release. This occurs as a result of the way in which the installer for J-Say 12.0 and earlier functions which is completely outside of our control. However unfortunately we still have users who are working with this technology.

This situation only exists in an exceptionally small number of cases, but it is absolutely essential that if you are in the following position you read this information:
1. You are using JAWS 15.0 or 14.0.
2. You are trying to upgrade from J-Say 11.0, 11.1, 11.2 or 12.0.

If you are in this situation, please do not attempt the upgrade process yourself. Please write to:
brian@hartgenconsultancy.com
whereupon details of our remote access software will be sent to you. We will then connect to your computer and undertake this upgrade process.

To say again, updating from any other version of J-Say to the current release causes no difficulty whatsoever as the installation is handled in a completely different way and conforms to Freedom Scientific best practice. However, we want to be sure that our customers experience the highest level of support, and under no circumstances do we wish for anyone to be in difficulty. So please be sure to contact us in the event you are in this position.

Thank you for reading.

Hi to all

We’re always trying to improve upon the level of assistance we give to our customers to provide the very best support available. While we have been using a facility to remotely connect to a customer’s computer and troubleshoot difficulties, this has had some limitations. There are people who simply cannot make use of this service at all for a variety of reasons, and that isn’t putting it too high. There are also times when, following computer modifications, we need to restart the machine, whereupon the whole process needs to be undertaken again.

To that end, we are transitioning to an alternative solution from Serotek which in time will include some additional modifications to ensure the process of connection is easier for those who require it, or for sighted assistants working with visually impaired people.

If you think in the future you may need technical support from us, allowing us to connect to your computer, we would ask please that you Download and Install the remote access client. This will stay in the background on your computer until needed. The install process is very straightforward, just press Enter three times to work through the various screens.

Thank you for reading and, in turn, helping us to help you!

Introduction.

During the last few months, Nuance have rebranded a number of their Dragon NaturallySpeaking-related products. In this blog post, we'd like to explain some of the differences and where our products to assist blind screen-reader users fit into the range.

Our J-Dictate product, allowing a person to dictate into the computer without control by voice commands, works with all of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking products in the current range without exception.

Until now, J-Say, providing complete hands free control of the computer, functioned with Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 13 Professional, Legal and Medical. However, this product in time will not be available.

J-Say has not functioned with Dragon 14 Professional Individual, Legal and Group editions. This is the currently shipping and recommended series of products. The reason J-Say has not worked alongside these products is a restriction placed upon the Pro 14 series by Nuance, the developers, meaning the commands we can offer when the microphone is "Asleep" cannot be used.

While the command limitation is still the same at present, the reality is that as a company we do need to move forward and offer what functionality we can for people purchasing these products. So we now have a version of J-Say to support the Dragon Pro 14 series with a limited range of commands available when the microphone is not listening to most speech content.

What does this mean for new customers?

For the vast majority of users, it means they will not need to purchase Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional to make use of J-Say. The cost of this product was £550. Dragon Professional Individual, the new version for most people, is £295, so it is quite a saving. New customers have access to the J-Say functionality using this version.

What is the difference between Professional Individual and Group?

Dragon 14 Group is predominantly for people working in corporate environments. You would need Dragon Group if:

• A user dictates across multiple computers and wishes to synchronize their Dragon user profile, avoiding additional work and ongoing maintenance.
• A user needs to use Dragon across a Remote Desktop connection without Dragon being locally installed.
• A user wishes to dictate with Dragon but not proofread their own dictation, thereby needing an assistant to perform this task.
• The need for administrative deployment and updating of custom words and commands across multiple users.
• MSI installation requirements within an organization.

To say again, it is extremely unlikely that an individual would want to purchase Dragon 14 Group.

What about Dragon 14 Legal?

The new release of J-Say functions with Dragon 14 Legal. However, you should bare in mind that Dragon 14 Legal is currently not available in the UK, and our understanding is that the Canadian release contains US spelling.

If I have J-Say now, with Dragon Pro 13, should I upgrade or do anything?

The only real advantage in upgrading to the 14 series would be to take advantage of additional support for Windows10 and Office 2016. On balance however, we have found that Dragon Pro 13 works extremely well in this environment. If you are considering upgrading, please talk to us first. If you did decide to upgrade to the Dragon 14 series, you can have the J-say equivalent at no additional cost, assuming you are using the latest J-Say release.

Summary.

We're very pleased to have released J-Say to support the Dragon 14 series. There certainly is a huge price reduction for new users who need to have hands-free control of the computer with speech output.

Again, the whole area of voice recognition currently is a minefield, so please talk to us if you are in any doubt as we can discuss your individual requirements and find a solution which works for you.

Hi to everyone

The convention and exhibition season rolls round again, and as we did last year, we're very pleased to offer substantial discounts on two of our products, Leasey and J-Dictate! You don't need to be attending a convention to get these discounts, but if you do, you'll find you can receive huge, (and we do mean huge), reductions on JAWS for Windows too.

What's On Sale?

Between now and 29 July 2016, you can receive a 50 percent discount on these popular products:

• Leasey Total Package is now £75 (which is approximately 99 American dollars). Buy Leasey Total Package.
• Leasey Advanced is just £50 (approximately 67 American dollars). Buy Leasey Advanced. With a new Leasey update being developed shortly, this really is a good time to grab your copy! Read More About Leasey!
• Our J-Dictate product, of which more later, during this special offer period is £40 (approximately 53 American dollars). Buy J-Dictate. Read More About J-Dictate!

Please note that these discounts only apply if you purchase directly from Hartgen Consultancy.

What's Happening with J-Dictate?

Our J-Dictate product, allowing you to use all releases of Dragon NaturallySpeaking to dictate text and improve your productivity, has a new update.

If you've purchased J-Dictate in the past, you can get the update absolutely free, simply by downloading the product again and installing it. A link will have been provided in the Email which was sent to you at the time of purchase. If you do not have that, please send an email to jaws@hartgen.org containing your JAWS for Windows serial number, and we can trace the order and send it along. No problem!

There are two exciting things about this release of J-Dictate.

• You can now create what we call a J-Dictate Text Note. Reproduce a few paragraphs or several pages with a single voice command. A signature would be a good example. The text can include graphics too, such as a handwritten signature.
• Create commands to send mentions or direct messages to your friends on Twitter. Dragon NaturallySpeaking does not always understand the names of people you speak, so this considerably helps the process.

Both features are not only explained in our updated documentation, but they can also be used with Dragon NaturallySpeaking Home edition, which is the lowest price voice recognition product in the Nuance range. How about that?

You may like to read our Voice Recognition FAQ.

What Else is New?

As we said earlier, we are about to begin work on a new update to Leasey, again available free of charge to existing users of the product. A new version of our StationPlaylist Scripts for JAWS are being tested by some willing volunteers, and when a final release is available, there will be functionality for StationPlaylist Creator and for remote voice-tracking. Want to know what that is? You'll be able to read our documentation which will explain it. We're still improving that, but we hope the new release will be available next week.

The number of companies and organisations in the UK who are asking for our training and scripting services is very much on the increase too. So there's a lot happening.

For those who are attending conventions in the US and UK this month, safe travels to you and have a wonderful time!

Introduction.

Now we are just a few weeks off from the release of J-Say version 14.1, we're in a position to let people know about the exciting new features which will be included as part of this release. J-Say of course allows you to control your computer by voice while at the same time gaining speech feedback from it. Our low-cost product, J-Dictate, is used for dictating text only, and there is news about that too within this blog post.

Remember, Remember.

By far the majority of our customers work to some extent in Microsoft Word and, as a result, read large documents within it. While we do have commands to find a place within a document, we've made locating the position within it far easier.

If the new feature is enabled, and the document is subsequently closed and opened again at a later time, J-Say will automatically set focus to the last point in the document which had been read or worked upon.

The Elements.

J-Say 14.1 contains support for inserting, moving through and deleting FootNotes, EndNotes, and Comments in Microsoft Word. When you've finished inserting one of these elements, just say, "Go Back", and the cursor is returned to the body of the document where you were dictating. Part of the text is also spoken as a reminder, so a user can pick up the thread of the dictation.

In addition, full support exists for document collaboration through Revisions. You can control the spoken output when a revision is encountered, (such as hearing the author, type of revision and date). Each Revision can be moved to systematically, rejected or accepted.

Finally, a list of all of the Elements mentioned above can be selected by voice and any of these moved to directly from it.

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words.

In version 6.1 of J-Say, (which seems a long time ago), we introduced J-Say Text Notes. The concept is that a voice command can be associated with reproducing a block of text, such as a few paragraphs or entire pages. However, the Text Note was restricted to plain text rather than incorporating special formatting or graphics.

This limitation has now been overcome. Imagine scanning your handwritten signature into the computer and being able to have the image with appropriate text reproduced with a voice command? This is now available with the command, "Store Text with Graphic". This will ensure our customers are more independent and is also a feature which will be available to J-Dictate users later this year.

Follow You, Follow Me.

Last year, we introduced a series of commands for users to work with Facebook, so it seems only natural that we provide a way for people to use Twitter as well.

There are a number of Twitter clients available which could be worked with. As a starting point, we have chosen to create voice commands for the Chicken Nugget application, but it is our intention to support a number of other clients in a future update.

All aspects of the application are controllable by voice, such as being able to move through tweets, examine their details, compose tweets and reply to them, the kind of things you would expect to be able to do. However, there is an additional feature which can be used irrespective of the Twitter client being worked with

Many Twitter usernames are difficult to say or even type on the keyboard. We've created the ability for a person to associate a real name with a Twitter username. This will allow a person to say the word, "Direct", or, "Mention", prior to the person's real name, such as, "Mention Brian". When the phrase is spoken, the relevant syntax is transcribed into the text edit area, such as, "@BrianHartgen". The tweet can then be dictated as usual. This feature will be available to J-Dictate users later this year as well.

Finally, you will be able to add Emoji to tweets and Facebook messages, as you can with our Leasey product. It's a feature which has been very successful and we're glad to be bringing it to J-Say users.

Living By Numbers.

One of the features often asked for is support for Microsoft Excel. This release will contain that support. Users can easily dictate into cells, quickly move to any cell of their choosing, set up monitors for cells together with automatic column and title reading. There are many commands you can speak in Microsoft Excel to gain the most from it.

Walk Right Back.

We're very glad in this release of J-Say to be offering full voice control and support of Sendero PC Maps and GPS.

With an intuitive user interface and the power of the PC, accessible maps and GPS are at your fingertips. Just type or dictate a destination, select a route and you are on your way. It can be used while travelling or, of equal benefit, to plan a route before setting out on your journey.

Sendero PC Maps and GPS enables you to:

• Explore rural roads or city streets, intersection-by-intersection. Teachers, family, friends, anyone can follow along with the integrated visual maps.
• Record personal Points of Interest (POI) and add rich audio content like restaurant menus or museum descriptions. Effortlessly share these POIs in real-time when you sync with the Sendero servers or your Sendero GPS or Sense Navigation product.
• Hear your direction of travel. Check the odometer for distance traveled.
• Search the database of millions of Points Of Interest in many countries for everything from airports to zoos and choose one as your destination.
• Create and follow a route to that destination. Or turn on the manual route creation and create the route while you explore the maps.
• Easily save and print or emboss routes to take with you or to share.
• Create longer more complex routes on the PC and then transfer them to your Sendero GPS or Sense Navigation product.

Within our extensive J-Say documentation, we provide not only the voice commands for this program but a quick summary of each function together with its corresponding keystroke.

You've Got to Feel the Music!

If you have a Sonos device, you can now even control that with your voice too!

Sonos produce a range of sound systems, which are capable of streaming internet radio and online music services, such as TuneIn Radio, Apple Music and Spotify. You can also configure the players to use your own music library. In order to control all aspects of the devices, you need to use the Sonos Controller program for a Smartphone, tablet or PC. J-say makes the Sonos Controller for Windows accessible by voice and the keyboard.

Sonos devices are an ideal complement to J-Say. While we already have a radio player and the ability to listen to audio content on the PC, these devices take the music away from the computer so the speech output is not spoiling your enjoyment of the audio. They are especially ideal for anyone who has physical difficulties in terms of manipulating radios, CD players or other audio equipment. J-Say allows these devices to be controlled from the computer which could make a world of difference to anyone who is struggling in this way.

And That's Not All.

There are a number of other voice commands we have introduced. These include, "Save as PDF", (inserted into J-Say by customer request to save a Word document as a PDF file), "What Did I Say", (which repeats back the last phrase or command spoken), and commands to speak the remaining and total time of an audio file being played in Foobar 2000. Again, this was a customer requested feature.

New Chapters will be added to our documentation explaining all of the new features in detail and remember, this is a free upgrade to all users of J-Say 14.0. We hope our customers enjoy and benefit from it, and we look forward to bringing future updates in the months to come. We have lots of plans for new features!

We would very much like to thank our beta testers once again for their ongoing support and commitment to J-Say. Without their testing and ideas for features and refinements, the product would not be what it is today.

Since we launched our company in late 2014, our products have been available to purchase online. This is critical for us, our product distributors and our customers. However while the online store was accessible, it contained some areas of difficulty for customers and it wasn't bringing back to us all the information we need. We wanted to improve the experience for customers and we took note of every comment we received. It was just a question of finding the right solution.

Following a lot of research, we came across SquirrelCart. This not only appeared to offer everything we needed, but it allows for considerable expansion as we grow. The level of accessibility wasn't perfect, but we felt confident that with assistance from the developers and our own coding knowledge we could ensure it was the best experience available. We were particularly keen to ensure that the system could be incorporated into our existing site framework, and inexperienced screen-reader users were not confronted with speech output which was unimportant to the purchasing process.

We would very much like to thank everyone at SquirrelCart for their amazing support, incredible patience in answering our many questions and for their attention to detail. It was very encouraging that they wanted to learn about screen-readers and how they interpret the content of web pages.

Features include:

• Checkout as a guest or create an account. As with many modern sites, you can optionally sign in using Twitter or Facebook or create an account with your own unique cridentials.
• In most instances, a screen-reader will announce if it is essential that you complete a form field. If you still forget, we'll tell you which fields you've missed.
• You can submit a testimonial for a product if you wish.
• Purchasing pages are kept simple.
• An accessible order receipt is given at the end of the purchase process which is emailed to you. If you've mislaid your receipt in the future, don't worry, we have a copy of it.

There are many features we have not implemented as yet, but we hope to do so in the future. Feel free to check out our Online Store now and we hope it is a pleasure to use!

Hi everyone

We are very pleased to bring you another Leasey update. Recently, we brought you version 3.1 of Leasey, and hot on the heels of that comes another update.

Included in this release:
1. Added support for the Goodreads book reading site is included as part of LeaseySearch. You can search by book author, title, subject or Goodreads username.
2. When a Link is activated on a webpage or HTML document, and new content is added to the existing page, JAWS now provides notification of its existence. This is particularly important on the Goodreads site where content is dynamically updated, however our testers have also found it helpful on Microsoft Windows help pages and Dropbox as examples. Moreover, JAWS sometimes has difficulty in presenting the newly updated page to the user without the Virtual Buffer being refreshed. This release of Leasey should make things much easier in that regard too.
3. Fixed a problem where some LeaseyAlerts were not being deleted.
4. Fixed a problem where LeaseySticky Notes could not be saved in Microsoft Word. This was working fine up to the initial release of Leasey version 3.1.
5. Added a keystroke in Tween, Control+Shift+V, which will set focus to an HTML area in a quoted retweet. Pressing the keystroke a second time causes focus to return to the list of tweets.
6. Improved the internet updating facility.
A. Leasey will automatically announce when a new update is available at startup.
B. When Check for Updates is activated through LeaseyHelp, if an update is available the user is able to read what is new before downloading and installing the update. A Link is present at the bottom of the What's New screen in order to do this.
7. Improved support for the Context Menu in the Amazon Kindle application. An announcement is given relating to the book being manipulated.
8. Fixed a problem where users could not change the Mood Text in later versions of Skype.
9. Fixed a problem where you could not press F5 in the RSGames client.
10. Fixed some problems in respect of LeaseyBasic reciting incorrect prompts when using JAWS version 17 only.
11. When you wish to backup a My Country Place farm, an Edit Field now appears containing the path of the backup which can be confirmed by pressing Enter. This means it can be amended if necessary.
12. Fixed a problem where it was not possible to press Control+Enter to open a Youtube page in a new tabbed window.

To obtain this update, you will either need to Download Leasey Total Package or Download Leasey Advanced.

In conclusion, there are two further points. First, we are aware that a small number of radio stations under the Abacus banner are not streaming the correct content. We have temporarily removed some of these and they will be reorganised at a later date.

Lastly, we've had a number of requests now for a version of Leasey working alongside the MAGic screen-reader/magnifier software. We're glad to say that we are now very actively working on this, and hope to have some positive news to share later in the year in this regard.

Do enjoy the update!

Introduction.

It's already been a good year for Leasey so far. We recently launched the exciting new game, My Country Place, which has already generated a lot of feedback and comment on social media. We're also working on a system which will make it possible for users to download individual games rather than the complete LeaseyGames module, allowing for easier updating. This will become more important as the year progresses as another game has already been commissioned and is in development.

However, based on suggestions from users, Leasey 3.1 provides some new features which again we'll add to throughout 2016.

Now, You Too Can Use Emoji!

Emoji characters are graphical images which are used in electronic messages and on webpages. They exist in various genres, including facial expressions, animals, common objects, the weather, and so on. They have become increasingly popular as a result of their use on portable phones and similar devices.

If someone posts an Emoji character on social media for example, JAWS version 17 is able to announce it. This makes it very easy for you to understand the true meaning of the person's intentions. Leasey provides you with a list of Emoji you can use anywhere you like, particularly on social media. You can bring into view a list of Emoji signs, divided into 10 categories. Pressing Enter on any item will insert it into the text edit area. It's very easy!

If you are using JAWS versions earlier than 17, you can still insert the Emoji. However, those releases of JAWS are not capable of announcing them, so you will need to trust JAWS and Leasey that the correct item has been inserted.

In order to use Emoji, press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+E. You will find that you can quickly locate a sign you wish to enter using first letter navigation or by selecting from the ten categories provided, which comprise facial expressions, romance, people, sport, weather, animals, fantasy, entertainment and technology, food and drink, gestures and signs. Please refer to the section of the updated Documentation for more information on this feature!

Remembering the Position in a Document.

It's frustrating isn't it? You read a long document in Wordpad, Notepad, HJ Pad, the Jarte word processor or Microsoft Word. You close it down, and when you re-open it the next day, you may struggle to locate your place? Not any more.

Leasey has the ability to remember your place when you close a text file or document. As soon as you launch it again, focus is automatically set to the previous location.

To enable this feature, press the Leasey key then Control+Shift+R.

Conversion of Scanned PDF to Text.

Have you ever had a PDF file which is a scanned image of a document? You will know if you have such a file because when you launch it and try to read its contents, JAWS will say, "Document is empty".

JAWS versions 16 and 17 provide a facility where the document can be scanned and the results are delivered back to you within the Results Viewer, a webpage-like environment allowing you to read the text. Once scanned, the output can be sent to a text file for future reference! Please refer to the section of the documentation entitled "Converting a Scanned PDF to a Text File".

Other Improvements.

For people purchasing new laptop computers, one frustrating element is finding how to increase or decrease the volume. Its probably one of the first things you want to know. Forget about that and use the Leasey keys instead. Press Control+Windows+Shift+Up or Down Arrow to change the volume level.

LeaseySelect, where you can mark the beginning and ending of text you want to select, has been improved in two ways. First, by request we've extended it to include the QRead program, so students can easily select passages from any book. Second, again by request, we included a keystroke to move back to the start of a potential selection. So if you begin selecting, and you wish to return to the start, this can now be done by pressing the Leasey Key then Control+Comma.

The Twitter client TWBlue is now one of the supported Twitter clients, especially helpful for new computer users. In addition to a menu of common choices being available, you can easily add the Twitter username of the focused tweet to LeaseyConnect, our Contact Management system.

When you attach a LeaseySticky Note to text, and it is subsequently located, a sound will play in addition to the text being spoken. This means Sticky Notes can be quickly located by skimming down the lines of text.

In the leasey backup and restore manager, leasey key then control shift B, you can now backup your leasey settings to a folder, rather than just a drive. This could include a dropbox folder.

LeaseySelect now functions in Google Chrome.

Leasey Is On Sale!

That's right. From Monday 14 March through to Thursday 31 March, Leasey is on sale. This is to celebrate the CSUN annual international conference in San Diego which takes place between 21 and 26 March.

You can Buy Leasey for 50% of the usual price. There is no better time to get a copy of Leasey because updates after that are free! So all new features we develop and upcoming games are free from the time you purchase.

Leasey Total Package is at the lower price of £75 which is $107. If you would prefer Leasey Advanced, the cost is £50 which is $72. These are American dollars.

Are you heading to CSUN? Do come along to our Leasey Presentation!
You can also check out the Freedom Scientific presentations for the event.

Conclusion.

Don't forget that the best way of getting support is to join our support email list by sending a message to leaseylist-subscribe@hartgen.org
You can then meet other Leasey users and obtain support from them and ourselves too. This list is not high traffic.

In order to update your copy of Leasey, you will need to Download and Install Leasey Total Package or Download and Install Leasey Advanced. You will not lose any Leasey settings.

We very much hope you will enjoy using this new version of Leasey!