brianhartgen's blog

Hi everyone

I am wanting to obtain software in the Cakewalk Sonar range but I am hitting some problems regarding compatible software versions and JAWS scripts.

As I understand it, CakeTalk Sonar is available, but it only functions with Sonar version 8.5 and not the current release which is X1. Sonar 8.5 is very difficult to obtain here in the UK, and even if I could get it purchasing the added scripts is probably well out of our price range anyway.

JSonar seems like a good option, but I am confused about which currently available software packages it functions with. The site does refer to Cakewalk Music Creator, which may do what we want, but again, obtaining a supportable version doesn't seem to be easy.

Can anyone please let me know which programs are accessible in this range which are currently available?

Thank you.

In Episode 70 of its monthly FSCast, Freedom Scientific announced the upcoming JAWS 14 feature "Flexible Web". I happen to think this is a real breakthrough in making the web user experience more intuitive for people. Please note that all the information I am about to discuss is already in the public domain through FSCast.

Flexible Web will allow a JAWS user to:

• Hide content on a web page which may interrupt the reading experience. Many sites now contain Google Ad Frames or Links to social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter, allowing people to share a page with these sites. If placed in the middle of an article or news story for example, these Links and Frames can interrupt the flow of something interesting being read.
• Start reading at, (or set focus to), a designated point on a web page. Two basic examples would be as follows. When you carry out a Google search, instruct JAWS to start reading where the search results appear, bypassing the other content at the head of the page. Alternatively, when activating a Link to read more about a book on Audible.com, set JAWS to go straight to the summary so as to decide whether you would like to purchase it. Focus can also be set to other elements, such as Edit Fields, ARIA regions and Links.

These two features are governed by an intuitive Wizard which steps you through the process with helpful information along the way. You can create a "temporary customisation" initially, and if you decide you want to apply it you can create a permanent rule. The rules can contain a combination of "behaviours", such as to ignore content and start reading at a designated location. Options in the Wizard allow you to rename, edit and delete rules. Rules can be applied to all sites or to an individual one.

I really would advise you to listen to the FSCast on this subject. Jonathan Mosen does a first-class job of demonstrating all the options within Flexible Web.

One thing I learned from the podcast was that if you choose to hide content using Flexible Web, this also applies to MAGic if you have it running alongside JAWS. So as people are working their way through web pages, the visual focus tracks alongside JAWS. That is very cool indeed.

Not only do I think this will improve the browsing experience for people tremendously, but it will also add useful functionality for those using browser-based applications in the workplace. Together with Placemarkers and Custom Labels, Flexible Web will undoubtedly ensure people have the tools to become more efficient within the course of their work duties. JAWS does stand for "Job Access With Speech" after all!

When JAWS is officially released containing Flexible Web, there will be a number of ways you can get help to use it.

You can use the Context Sensitive Help already built into the Flexible Web wizard to give you useful guidance on how to use it.

You can take advantage of a webinar to be hosted by the Freedom Scientific Training department on 24 October.

Astec, (the company I work for), will remotely train anyone anywhere in the world on any aspect of using JAWS for 40 pounds per hour. This training is reinforced by the provision of documentation to support it. Note that this does not mean we will attend site but it is remote training using JAWS Tandem or similar software. For more information, please write to brian.hartgen@astec-at.co.uk

In summary, the introduction of Flexible Web just demonstrates why JAWS is a fantastic screen-reader. Using Flexible Web, Placemarkers and Custom Labels, Freedom Scientific really do give blind people excellent control of web pages, allowing people to find and read what they want very quickly. I wish them the very best of luck with this new feature.

Hi all

Well, we have now released our Team-FM iPhone app. If you haven't read about it, the internet radio station, Team-FM (owned by myself and my partner Lulu), now has an app available for iPhones, iPads and iPods. This is obtainable from the App Store if you search for Team-FM.

I have to say this has been a big learning curve for us. It means as an internet radio station we have a presence in the App Store and as a result there is expertise we can draw upon (and tools available) so as to encourage people to listen to Team-FM and we will be taking full advantage of those. The range of promotional tools available for developers is very impressive. I am very proud of the fact that we have this app available and also that a similar Android app is on the way very soon.

It just shows that, if you set your mind to something, you can achieve it. Last year, I knew absolutely nothing about Drupal setup or administration. But we needed a nice accessible website using Drupal as a platform. I learned it and built the site. We needed a way of people being able to listen to our programmes when they wanted to. We went out and found a way of doing it. We needed pictures not only for the website but certainly for the new app. We got them created. We knew nothing whatever about creating apps for the Apple and Android platforms. We're doing it. Who knows what else we could do.

My message is, don't give up. If you want something, go and get it if you can.

I must say that the app evaluation and review process from Apple seems to be very thorough and that is as it should be. The app submission process and documentation for developers is all there for anyone to use and it is accessible. Go for it!

We've received some amazing comments and encouragement as a result of launching the app and thank you so much. Please do keep your suggestions coming. We've already received a number of suggestions for improvement and features, and we are already very actively looking at moving forward from version 1 of the app to improve the user experience. This is only the beginning. We will keep improving.

If you have comments to make, (for example if you are having a problem with the app), do let us know. We cannot possibly improve anything if we don't know about it. If you have questions or suggestions, do send them to info@team-fm.com and we will do our very best to improve the app. We can only learn, but I think what we have is a very good start and something to build on.

Have a good day everyone!

I am very pleased to be able to bring to you version 5 of the StationPlaylist Studio scripts for JAWS. These scripts are distributed free of charge for anyone to use.

Before continuing, I would like to thank Ross and his team at StationPlaylist for providing magnificent support through the process of creating the scripts. I could not produce them without the tremendous co-operation given.

Please read these notes through carefully before upgrading.

If you plan to upgrade to SPL Studio version 5, you will need the new scripts which are available from
www.hartgen.org/studio

If you are already using a version of the scripts, my advice is to download the zipped archive of them for 5.0, and extract the contents of the archive to your JAWS Settings/Enu folder, replacing the files which already exist.

Then restart the JAWS program.

If you wish to install them using the installer method, this is also available for you from the same page. Again you should restart JAWS following the conclusion of the installation.

When StationPlaylist Studio version 5 loads, you can press Insert+Q. This will hopefully tell you that version 5 of the StationPlaylist Studio scripts are running and that you are using build 1. If jaws does not output this information then clearly there is a problem with the installation.

The scripts support JAWS version 10 through to 14 public beta.

If you are using what might be described as a "cracked" copy of JAWS, you should under no circumstances install the scripts.

If you have questions prior to updating to the new scripts, have questions about installation, or you encounter a problem with them, this is what you should do. Send an email to
jaws@hartgen.org
clearly stating the problem that you have and the Windows operating system you are using. I will then do my best to resolve the problem for you. Please note that a resolution (or fix) may not come right away. I will do my best to fix the problem as quickly as possible, when time permits. Problems with script installation or JAWS configuration will always be pushed to the top of the support list. Thank you for your understanding.

The best way of keeping up-to-date with build changes, (which may occur frequently in the initial stages of release), is to follow me on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/brianhartgen
or friend me on Facebook
www.facebook.com/brianhartgen

Here are the features and changes in this version of the scripts and I hope you enjoy using them.

• Changed a keystroke to read the elapsed time of a playing item from Control+Windows+- to StationPlaylist Key then - (dash).
• Added a keystroke, StationPlaylist Key then V, to output the "popup information" relative to a track in the JAWS Virtual Viewer. The "popup information" displays information on the screen when the mouse is moved over a track icon in a Playlist. Note that the information which is output is controlled from within StationPlaylist's "Options/Track Info and Logging" Dialog Box.
• Added a keystroke, StationPlaylist Key then Control+T, to read the total length of tracks which have been selected or checked.
• Keystrokes have been added to enable or disable metadata streaming. When any of the keystrokes are pressed, you are asked if you would like to enable or disable metadata streaming. Please refer to the section of the scripts User Guide relating to metadata streaming.
• Added an option to automatically disable metadata streaming when you exit StationPlaylist Studio by pressing ALT+Control+X.
• Added an option to warn you if metadata streaming is enabled when StationPlaylist Studio is launched.
• Added a keystroke, ALT+Windows+6, to announce the song pitch status.
• Added a keystroke, ALT+Windows+7, to announce whether the playlist has been modified since it was previously saved.
• Changed a keystroke from StationPlaylist Key then Y to ALT+Windows+8, to announce the playing status of StationPlaylist Studio, whether the playback has stopped, is in Live Assist, Automation or Paused.

StationPlaylist Studio version 5 has now been released, so I thought very quickly I would post information about my favourite features. Studio, Creator and Streamer have all been updated with new improvements. We use all of them.

Studio has two internal audio players, each of which will play a song alternately. You can now assign each player to output via a different soundcard. This means you can assign two soundcards for use as the audio playback. If you have a sound mixer, and you use Studio through that as I do, you can assign a channel on your mixing desk to each audio player, making for some very nice cross-fading. It works really well.

Next is a feature which allows you to change the properties of an item you have inserted into your playlist. So if you've inserted a spot group in error, you can change that to a manual track or any other item, such as voice intro.

Multiple tracks can be selected for copying or deleting for example by pressing Shift+Down Arrow repeatedly.

Here's a cool one, probably my favourite. In the track preview player, you can hear the last 10 seconds of a track so you can find out how the song ends. I love that! Gets you ready for those cold endings.

"Unsaved playlist warning" is a new option in the General Options. When checked, if a playlist has been manually altered and not saved, Studio will display a warning when exiting Studio or clearing all playlists.

There are stacks of other new features too. Creator has been completely redesigned and has some great options, such as a break note which disables cross-fading, something I particularly asked for.

The JAWS scripts for Studio V5 have been completely rewritten and they differ substantially from V4.33. We do have some new features, and I'll post the changes along with the scripts.

Enjoy your new products if you decide to upgrade!

Hi everyone

It's been a little while since I've posted anything to my blog, but I thought I would write a quick entry here in relation to the forthcoming app which is to be released entitled AccessNote.

Before we get to that, I have to say that I took delivery this morning of an Apple wireless keyboard I bought it from Amazon, and although it was quite expensive at around 60 pounds, it is definitely a worthwhile purchase.

When Apple produce something, it just works! That's the great thing about anything from them. Once I found the On/Off switch, I turned on the keyboard, paired it via Bluetooth which was a very straightforward process, and started using it!

It is a beautiful design and resembles a standard laptop computer keyboard which is exactly what I was hoping for. I can type at the same speed on this keyboard as I can a regular desktop. I also like the fact that it slopes up at the back which makes for a lovely ergonomic design.

There is a very good summary on this web page of VoiceOver and navigation keystrokes. But for me, this keyboard has turned the iPhone into a mini computer rather than just a phone. Fleksy is wonderful, the mini bluetooth keyboard I have is good too because with both of those things, they can be used when I do not wish to carry another device or if I need something really portable respectively. However, this keyboard is just going to be so brilliant for email composition and particularly when taking thorough and accurate notes, which leads me to my next topic.

What I want is an excellent app for notetaking, giving me similar functionality to that available on more specialist notetakers for the blind. I sent a tweet out, saying I was really looking forward to the new notetaking app, AccessNote being developed by the American Foundation for the Blind. I very much support AFB in terms of what they are trying to do here and if you read it's description you may understand why.

But the reaction I received back by way of mentions is, to put it mildly, unehthusiastic. There's the usual moaning about over pricing (which was also applied to Fleksy when it first appeared on the market until people started to realise how absolutely brilliant it was). But also I am receiving the comment that it duplicates what other notetakers do. But people do not seem to be able to answer my basic question, which is, please tell me the name of the app which replicates precisely what AccessNote is trying to do? Sure, there may be notetaking apps, indeed there is a basic app built into the iPhone as it stands, but AFB's app also boasts convenient keyboard shortcuts to achieve common tasks which blind people want to be able to do, comprehensive search facilities, accurate VoiceOver navigation, and Dropboxing syncing to name but a few items. AFB say this will be priced under $30 which is reasonable given the high cost of app development and time investment.

I tried at least one free app which was recommended, and from a VoiceOver performance perspective it was really bad. There was lots of extraneous speech I really didn't want to hear, the focus kept moving from where I wanted it to be, and various other niggles which do not make it a pleasure to use. But this would be the case, it is a free app. You get what you pay for. People need to understand that not everything in this world is going to be free or less than a pound of UK currency. This atitude is really irritating me.

So, let me end by sayingI completely support AFB's initiative and I hope it will not be too long before the app is available to us. Go AFB!

Two new apps have recently appeared in the iTunes Store, dedicated specifically for blind people. The first is Fleksy, the second is Text Detective.

There are many audio demos and reviews of Fleksy, but it is a subject we may come back to either in a later blog entry or podcast.

Text Detective allows a visually impaired person to scan paper-based text using the i-device's camera, have it converted to sensible text output using OCR (optical character recognition) technology and have its contents either automatically read by VoiceOver or made available for review.

What follows is not a review of TextDetective, but it is a few thoughts on the app which I could not condense into a tweet. But first, a description of the app from the iTunes Store.

Text Detective finds and reads text in printed documents within seconds using your iPhone’s camera. The detected text can easily be read, edited, copied and pasted into documents, emails or other apps. It even stores all the scanned text in a history, which allows you to refer to it later. Every step is accessible. Text Detective works best with the clean and crisp text you find in documents, and at a distance of about the length of a forearm. You can use it wherever you go, and you don’t need to worry about network coverage – it even works on the plane. The app is optimized for iPhone 4S, but can be used
with iPhone 4 and iPod touch. If you want to use Text Detective on an iPad, please be aware that the camera position is different to the one on the iPhone/iPod, which might require additional training and practice to align the camera lens and align the text.

I have tried a number of such apps on Nokia phones and the iPhone, and I feel this app works just as well as any other. It is important to support the development of this app because it has been developed for us and it is hoped it will be improved over time.

Here are some reasons why you may want to consider purchasing it:

• It is only £1.49 in the UK Store. Compared to some apps, that is inexpensive, although I am not one for begrudging developers of specialist apps for trying to recoup some of the costs involved in both product development and technical support to users.
• It is completely accessible with VoiceOver as you would expect.
• There are a lot of spoken prompts which help a great deal. The way the app works is briefly this. You hold the camera a little distance away from the page you try to scan. There is no need (unlike some other apps) to activate a "Take Picture" Button because the app uses video streaming technology. This means you do not need to disturb focus while you locate the Button and double tap it, a nice feature. TextDetective will then try to repeatedly scan the text. If no results were found, this is spoken by VoiceOver. You then are immediately able to do something about it, such as raising your arm to a greater height to give the app more of an opportunity of scanning the text. If it then subsequently finds text capable of being interpreted, a percentage count of the OCR progress is given. That spoken guidance is invaluable and is reason enough by itself why this app stands out from the rest.
• The other major advantage is that there is plenty of well written help available. The developers (BlindSight) have naturally realised that the majority of people using this app will have never taken a picture before, and they go to great lengths to give as much help as possible concerning how you might go about that. Short of someone showing you how to take a photograph of a page, the help in this app is the next best thing.

In summary then, I think this is an excellent app. But I would respectfully suggest that people consider the quality of recognition results they receive within the context of similar applications of this nature. With even the most expensive of these, the quality of results will only be good if the person taking the photograph is very accurate and it may take several attempts to get satisfactory results from a single page. I think while the concept of being able to sit on a plane or in a restaurant for example to scan a menu is good in theory, the reality is it may not be quite as simple as that.

In terms of reading mail, I feel such apps are useful to get the sense of a document which has arrived for you to read, and will allow you to sort out what may be "junk mail" or something you really need to deal with. But I don't think anything at this point is going to compete in terms of accuracy with a scanner connected to a computer with high quality OCR technology. As long as we keep that in mind when we purchase such apps, our expectations will not be set too high.

Hi everyone

During any part of your week, if you do make use of the StationPlaylist scripts for JAWS, please consider donating to the project if you can, even a small amount would be very worthwhile.

For the past three years, I have written the code for, and provided technical support for, the StationPlaylist scripts. This has taken many many hours of time. There has been no charge for the project over the years. A new set of scripts is on the way and of course I intend to maintain the existing set.

In addition, scripts for StationPlaylist Creator are in development, again at no cost to the user.

If you would like to donate to the project, I would be extremely grateful and thank you very much indeed. Please use the Button on this page in order to do so.

Thank you so much for reading.

Hi everyone

I am very pleased to release the next update to the StationPlaylist Studio scripts for version 4.33.

I did not plan to produce any further script updates for this version of SPL. But given we are still running Creator and Studio V4.33 on two of our machines, and given I had completely rewritten the scripts for V5, it made sense to port them to 4.33 as well.

To say again, these scripts were completely rewritten to accommodate the upcoming SPL V5. While every effort has been made to test them as widely as possible, problems may occur. If you experience a problem, please email
jaws@hartgen.org
and I will attempt to resolve it in an update within the next two weeks.
Please explain clearly how to reproduce the problem you are having, giving step by step examples.

If you are using the existing scripts, the fastest way to update is to download the zipped archive from the page at
www.hartgen.org/studio
and extract its contents to the Settings/ENU folder of the version of JAWS you are using relative to your Windows account. Go to the Start Menu, All Programs, JAWS X (where X is the JAWS version number you are using), Explore JAWS, Explore My Settings. When prompted by Windows whether you wish to overwrite the files, select "Yes to All" (or similar). You then must restart JAWS for the changes to take effect.

If you are using an existing version of the scripts, and you wish to use the installer, no harm will be done. It is quite OK to do that.

I would like to thank you for all your suggestions for script improvements. You will find many of them included in the next script update for SPL V5. Ross (from StationPlaylist.com) has been extremely helpful in assisting me trying to implement some of them, and so they are only available in version 5.

Regarding support, I will only be supporting this release of the scripts and the upcoming V5 set. The scripts are free, so there is no reason I can think of why you shouldn't be updating. In addition, I will now only support versions of JAWS as far back as V10. I think that four years worth of JAWS upgrades is enough to work with.

That said, I hope very much you get a lot of use out of the V4.33 scripts. Please find below a list of the changes.

Very best wishes to everyone!

• The Script Internet Update facility is back, so you can always obtain the latest updates containing new features and fixes.
• The User Guide for the scripts is now available through a link within Hotkey Help, activated by pressing Insert+H. It has been considerably updated and is in HTML format. The Hotkey Help, activated with Insert+H, is also in HTML format so you can read it in a browser window while keeping StationPlaylist Studio open at the same time.
• Changed the keystroke for Cart Learn Mode from Control and the StationPlaylist Key to StationPlaylist Key then C.
• Added a function, controlled with StationPlaylist Key then X, to read the status of Check Boxes appearing in a Playlist first instead of last.
• Added a keystroke, Control and the StationPlaylist Key, to provide a new function entitled Enhanced Arrow Keys. When activated, you can move through columns in a Playlist with the Left/Right Arrow Keys, such as artist, title etc. When the desired column is reached, simply arrow down to hear only the information in the column. Home equals move to first column, End equaals move to last column, Control+Home equals move to top of list and speak desired column, Control+End equals move to bottom of list and speak desired column.
• When setting a bookmark in a Playlist, it is retained when the computer is restarted.
• Changed a keystroke from StationPlaylist Key then Y to ALT+Windows+8, to announce the playing status of StationPlaylist Studio, whether the playback has stopped, is in Live Assist, Automation or Paused.
• Added a keystroke, StationPlaylist Key then Control+Shift+R, to toggle the Request Notification Status through each of its three modes. This was previously only available through the Adjust JAWS Options Dialog Box.
• A new feature allows you to be notified of the progress of scanning a music library, either when the scan has concluded or periodically. You do not need to be focused within StationPlaylist Studio to hear the progress indicator, nor does the Insert Tracks Dialog need to be opened. In addition, from within any application press the StationPlaylist Key then ALT+T to hear the total number of tracks scanned.

Hi everyone!

As the subject of this blog post outlines, there is what I think is some extremely good news on the way! However, with a lot of good news often comes bad, and so it is with regret that Lulu and I have decided to resign from the Global Voice internet radio station.

Often when this kind of thing happens, people jump to conclusions and wonder what went wrong. The truth is, absolutely nothing at all. You could not work with nicer people than can be found among the Management and Presenters on the Global Voice. They were very accommodating to us and we would like to thank them for all the help they gave to us. The Global Voice is a station which has just dcelebrated its third birthday and they do have such a lot to offer in terms of music and also speech-based radio. We both wish them so much luck for the future.

So, why are we leaving?

When you have created a radio station yourself, and for whatever reason you have to close down temporarily quite suddenly, you just long to get back to doing it. It wasn't just the broadcasting I missed on Team-FM with our jingles, sweepers, innovative promos etc, but it was the work that went on behind the station too. I loved developing the website particularly, finding out about new ways we could attract listeners through it, and plenty more besides. To me, owning a radio station is so much more than the broadcasting. I have to work at something very hard, that is how I am made and I cannot change that. I love it! Apart from all that, we invested a lot of money in Team-FM and would like to continue to get something from it. I know too that Lulu loves audio production and she needs a vehicle where she can put that talent to good use.

We've taken a very hard long look at Team-FM and I have to say we did achieve a great deal. But we also found a lot of things we could do better, and that's fine, life is a learning process.

As we stated originally in the summer of 2011, we will only ever be a small station, and that will very much continue. But, Lulu and I both love (and know a lot about) music. We do have an exceptionally large music library, and we want to share the good music, (and our love of it), with other people. There are so many internet radio stations on the air now, especially in this community. So many people are giving internet broadcasting a try, even if (like us) they are a small station, and that is to be very much encouraged. You don't have to be a large station to be good at what you do. What we hope is that, from time to time, you will come over to our station, Team-FM, and find out what we are offering. Maybe stay for a while, hear some good music and have a chat with us. There's absolutely no pressure at all, just come along if you want to.

So, when we launch in a few weeks time, what exactly will we be offering?

1. There will not be an official launch. One launch day is enough for anyone. When you wake up one day, we'll be there. We'll tell you about upcoming shows and what we're doing, but we will just be there!

2. We are extremely proud to be operating legally! A number of presenters at the time, (and listeners to some extent), really wanted to be able to download Team-FM shows, and of course that was high testimony to what we were achieving. But it doesn't matter how much people want it. Certainly in the UK and US, making downloadable podcasts of music which is under copyright is illegal. We cannot get away from that. Having said that, we are very proud not to be offering downloadable content and to be staying within our licencing regulations. For anyone interested, our licencing details will be available on our new website, of which more in a moment.

We do recognise the need however for shows to be available for people who cannot listen live, so we have spent a long time finding a legal solution to the problem. You will be glad to know we have. In addition to being able to hear shows repeated on the station during the week, you will be able to listen again to programmes directly from the Team-FM website, on demand. Please see our new website for details when the station has relaunched.

3. As far as possible, you will not hear any explicit content, bad language or sexual innuendo on our station. That is just not what we are about. We do not like it. There are places for that, but when you tune into Team-FM, you won't hear it.

4. When there are no live shows (or repeated programme replays), we will provide automated music content. While lots of stations offer this, I would ask please that you give us a listen. I personally think we have the best automated music available. I certainly haven't heard anything like it. Using the very latest technology, we have put together a carefully planned and sophisticated automated music service which we hope you will really enjoy, spanning music from the past 90 years. We've spent a long time preparing it, so do give it a try if you are interested. It really is awesome!

5. Our earlier website has been completely removed and a new one constructed. You will see many of the same features as before, but definitely some new ones too! As with the station, the website will always continue to develop.

6. In addition to our regular programming, do be prepared for unscheduled content too. It wouldn't be at all unusual for a presenter to produce a spontaneous show for you to enjoy! On Sundays incidentally, there will be a slight emphasis on praise and worship.

In addition to that, we are looking at the possibility of sharing some shows with one or two other internet radio stations. We can then help each other.

So in summary, we are both so very excited about the return of Team-FM. We've had help from some amazing people who really want Team-FM to succeed. We've made sure that any presenter who does join us has the very best technical environment to work in, much better and completely different to how it was before, and that too has cost a lot in terms of additional time and money to set up. But best of all, we look forward to being with anyone who would like to hear us, and we'll certainly keep you updated as to how things progress.