brianhartgen's blog

We've recently discovered what we consider to be quite a flaw in the use of Microsoft Edge.

When storing a site as a Favourite, you can no longer access it from the Favourites folder within File Explorer. A lot of people like to do this for several reasons. It is much easier to navigate the list, the Favourites can be searched, renamed, deleted, and you can just pull one of them out and put it on the Desktop if you use it very frequently. If you know how to use File Explorer, you can manage your Favourites.

If you have our Leasey or J-Say products, of course you have good solutions already in the form of LeaseyCuts and J-Say Shortcuts. They are working with Edge.

However, if you have purchased our new training course on the use of Microsoft Edge, you will also get some JAWS scripts which bring back this very useful utility of creating Favourites to web pages. Not only will they allow you to create the Favourites, but you can choose which folder they are saved into. We're thinking ahead here because if Microsoft decided to remove the default Favourites folder at any time, you can still use this feature. We've also given you a keystroke to quickly access your Favourites folder.

We can confidently advertise this feature because we have it working!

Enjoy it when it comes along!

Introduction.

At Hartgen Consultancy, we have become well-known for the products we sell, our JAWS or ZoomText Fusion scripting services and our online training courses. A strand of our business which is being frequently used however is our on site training facility. We thought it was time we wrote a little about how that works.

How It Works and Where It Happens.

We can visit you at your home, place of study or place of employment to train you in all aspects of using JAWS for Windows or ZoomText Fusion. While there used to be a raft of such companies available offering training, these seem now to be few and far between. In any event, people who purchase training from Hartgen Consultancy will receive the very best level of training and support. That is why a number of companies selling access technology products do not deliver training in their use. They commission us to do the work for them instead.

What We Offer.

So, why choose us for your JAWS or Fusion training needs?

• First and foremost, we are visually impaired. That is critical. Not only do we know these products inside out but we're used to both talking to people and listening to screen-readers. When you're blind, effective communication is key to everything. If JAWS is not speaking using your preferred voice, or it is not reading information you are expecting to hear, we truly understand not only why this is essential, but, more importantly, how to put it right. Maybe you are upgrading your copy of JAWS or Fusion or migrating to a new computer. Speech rate, typing echo and other settings need to be honoured when that happens so you feel comfortable using the new hardware or software. When working with us, that is something which is taken into account as a matter of routine.
• We are Braille users. If Braille is essential for you, you want to be trained by people who not only understand how Braille displays function but who can also read it! Anyone can connect a Braille display to a computer and say, "OK", great, it's working". But is it really? Is it using your preferred Braille code? What about the large number of Braille preference settings? Is the output as you expect? You could tell someone training you that it isn't right, but because we are fluent Braille readers, we have the ability to confirm what you are saying.
• Our trainers are well versed in using JAWS with all manner of different applications. These range from those focusing upon word processing, Email, web browsing, through to using programs such as Microsoft OneNote, PowerPoint and creating complex audio projects. When we receive a booking, we make a decision as to who is best suited to deliver the training so you receive the highest quality tuition available.
• Again, when a booking is taken, we'll find out about your previous experience with JAWS or Fusion and what you would like to achieve. If you need to use an application with which we are unfamiliar, we'll do our best to research how it functions, how JAWS interacts with it and necessary shortcut keys prior to visiting site. The last thing you want is for someone training you to be unsure how the program functions with a screen-reader. That doesn't exactly inspire confidence. During training, we'll also try to teach you about aspects of JAWS or Fusion you do not know about. In that way, you come away with something above and beyond your initial expectations.
• Whether you need someone to train at your bedside as you are too ill to move, in a school classroom or in an exceptionally busy office environment, we are very experienced and used to working in those situations. We pride ourselves on dressing appropriately for the environment in which work is being delivered and adopt a professional manner at all times. Where possible, we also arrive equipped with replacement hardware and software which can be used during training, such as headsets, headphone splitters, speakers, keyboards, offline installers for various packages, etc. In short, anything we anticipate we may need to ensure the training runs smoothly.
• During training, many people prefer to make their own training notes. They find them easier to digest and refer to at a later time. However, we have the facilities to create training notes in text or audio formats: plain text, Microsoft Word format, MP3 audio, DAISY or a BRF Braille file.
• Over the years, we have built up an impressive library of training courses in MP3 audio format. Anyone who purchases training from us is able to have two of these courses at no additional cost. For example, if you were being taught how to use Microsoft Word, obviously our Word training course would be a good candidate, serving two purposes. First, it reinforces what has been taught. Second, you are likely to learn topics which the training time did not allow for. Moreover, anyone who purchases training in the use of our J-Say voice recognition software will benefit from our audio training class which is regularly updated. We know of no other access technology training company who offers anything remotely similar in this regard.
• Are you part of a group of people requiring training in the use of JAWS or ZoomText Fusion? Again, that is something we can assist with. Having delivered online presentations, training sessions to small groups, through to large audiences at international conferences, we are used to tailoring the training to your specific requirements. What's more, when demonstrating important screen-reading concepts, we ensure if necessary that they are demonstrated both from a visual and auditory perspective. For example, when explaining how access technologies interact with web pages, seeing individuals need to be able to hear the spoken output while appreciating the visual content simultaneously.
• Finally, we always try to be on time for the training. Indeed nine times out of ten, we are at least 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled start time.

Please feel free to contact us if you would like to discuss on site training in the UK.

In summary, training is very important when working with access technology. It always helps if someone is sitting alongside you, who is knowledgeable concerning what you are trying to achieve, giving you the confidence to do what you need to do. We have the skills and experience to provide an excellent training experience. And, above all, we want you to enjoy using the technology we're so passionate about!

Introduction.

For years, many of us have been using Microsoft Internet Explorer to shop online, read the news, work with social media sites and much more besides. In terms of using access technologies, there is a view that there are some sites which are still rendered slightly better in this browser, and in some places of employment, it is still a necessity.

But we must look to the future. While there are other browsers which provide a high level of accessibility support, the fact remains that if you do not wish to install anything special, Microsoft Edge will be the way to go. It seems like the right time for us to at least begin to understand what the new release of Microsoft Edge can do or even use it as our full-time browser and there are compelling reasons as to why you may want to do the latter.

In summary, there are very distinct advantages as to why you may wish to use Microsoft Edge. Moreover, the learning curve when transitioning from Internet Explorer to Edge is less steep than trying to use other browsers. Despite what you think, Microsoft Edge is not a copy of Google Chrome and there are some improvements when using this browser.

We cover everything Edge-related in our training course: The Inside Edge!

What Will I Learn?

The course is divided into three sessions and covers many topics including:

• An introduction to the advantages of using Microsoft Edge as opposed to other browsers. In particular, how can you easily transition between Microsoft Internet Explorer and Edge.
• How to make Edge the Default browser.
• Customising Edge for ease of use with JAWS for Windows through browser Settings.
• Keyboard shortcuts for web browsing and getting to where you need to be.
• Working through relevant options in the JAWS Quick Settings.
• Working with the Edge Address Bar.
• Good web browsing and screen-reading strategies for getting the most from web pages.
• Creating and managing your Favourites in two distinctly different ways.
• Downloading files: where they go and how to control them. It's not as straightforward as you think.
• Listening to audio content.
• Tabbed Browsing: what is it and getting the most from it.
• Reading PDF files.
• Opening pages in a new window.
• Settings not related to accessibility and optimisation.
• Migrating Favourites from Internet Explorer.
• Getting Help.
• Edge and Chrome Extensions.
• The Immersive Reader.
• Working with Settings.
• Search Engines and Abbreviations.
• Internet Explorer Mode.
• Browsing History.

Please note: this training course also offers JAWS scripts to allow you to save sites you wish to revisit in your Favorites folder or any other folder of your choosing. Currently this is a function not offered in Microsoft Edge.

Who is the Course For?

This course is suited to anyone who has a basic knowledge of how to undertake working with the web with JAWS for Windows using any browser and who wishes to learn how Microsoft Edge can be used. It would also be suitable for anyone who is currently experimenting with using Microsoft Edge but who wants to learn more to get the most from it.

We highly recommend the use of JAWS version 2020, however JAWS 2019 would be acceptable.

What Will I Receive and How Much Does it Cost?

The training course is priced £40 which is approximately $52, and will give to you:

• A recording of each of the three lessons in MP3 audio format which you can download whenever you want. The links to the files will not expire. The course duration is close to four and a half hours.

Alternatively, please send an email to
brian@hartgenconsultancy.com
whereupon an invoice can be sent to you so that you can pay for the training course online.

Conclusion.

Edge into better web browsing with the new release of Microsoft's browser. With a raft of keyboard shortcuts built into the application, together with the support available within JAWS for Windows, you'll have the edge on your friends and colleagues. You are the one who will be browsing like a pro!

A very happy new year to everyone from Hartgen Consultancy. We hope you all had a good holiday.

This blog post hopes to keep you updated with what is happening with various projects including our training courses and products.

Before we get to that, thank you for all your complements on our advent calendar deals we had running throughout December. We are very glad people gained quite a lot from it.

So, what's happening?

StationPlaylist Product Suite. A problem appeared with the Remote Voice Tracking and Creator scripts which caused difficulty with voice tracking. We were alerted to this early in the new year and got straight onto it. This has now been fixed.

Leasey. A new version of Leasey is now available with a number of improvements and changes, most of which were suggested by Leasey users.
We're also in discussions with the provider of the Leasey TV guide past and present about including audio described movies and TV shows, but that could take some time.

OneNote Wonder. Our training course on the use of Microsoft OneNote for Windows is about to begin. There's still time to register if you would like to.

J-Say It. Our series of training modules for J-Say and J-Dictate are about to start being distributed as of early next week. Again, you can purchase this at any time.

J-Say. We'll soon be getting into developing the next major update to J-Say, free to all V18 users. Because of all our other product and course development going on, and a large amount of JAWS scripting taking place during the next two to three months, work on this is slightly behind. We're also getting a lot of requests for on site training at the moment throughout the UK. But we expect to begin testing towards the end of this month with a hopeful release scheduled at the end of February. There are quite a few new features planned, and again, the focus will be on features which we know people want, evidenced by the training that is taking place at the moment.

GoldWave. We've received a few suggestions from people who wonder if the JAWS scripts for GoldWave can be made available without the training course. This is possible, but when we do something, we always do it properly. In this case, that means producing good documentation to support the scripts and time does not allow for that quite yet. But it is on the agenda.

That brings you all up-to-date. Have a good weekend!

Introduction.

You will find these days in professional radio environments that many shows are "voice tracked". The presenter is not live in the studio. Instead, she can record the speech links between the songs and upload them via the internet to the station. If the presenter has lots of tricks up her sleeve, you may not be sure when listening if the show is live or recorded.

It is these "tricks" that are a large part of the focus of our training course "Let's Track It". But the course is also for people who have never hosted a radio show using this format before. If the station is equipped with StationPlaylist's remote server, you do not need to invest in software which you will not use. The financial investment is minimal. It is only necessary to purchase a high quality microphone (and naturally, this training course!)

There are two types of voice tracking. Remote voice tracking means that you will connect to a computer at the station and record your programme links. However, limitations may be imposed on you by station management and maybe the software itself.

On the other hand, with local voice tracking (and if you have StationPlaylist Studio Pro), you are responsible for the entire show which will be streamed from your computer. This gives you a good deal more control and means that station management can book you to produce a radio show and you are entirely responsible for the way it sounds.

One of the advantages people often advocate in favour of voice tracking is the speed at which a show can be prepared. While this is true, our view is that investing the necessary time for programme preparation and recording makes for a better sounding and entertaining show. The training course will discuss some of the many ways you can do this and give your programme that extra special polish.

We'll also discuss the differences between local voice tracking and remote voice tracking outlined above. Which is better? The truth is that there are an equal number of advantages for both types which will be explained.

While our previously produced training course "the StationPlaylist Workshop" discussed voice tracking to some extent, technology has moved on considerably since then to include far superior facilities in this area. In the most recent version of the client and server, that functionality is extended even further. So the time is right to host this training course.

Finally, we focus on the administration of this from the server side. If you are responsible for the technical aspects of a station, how are you going to set up the software so your DJ's and presenters can do what they need to do?
Note that additional JAWS scripts are included with the training course to make the administration of users much easier.

What Else Will I Learn?

The training course is divided into two lessons, each of which is approximately 90 minutes. In addition to the subjects described above, the topics will include:

• Installing the voice tracking remote server and client.
• Administration. Adding users, viewing the timetable and setting permissions.
• Viewing the days and hours.
• Which option is best? Manual Outgoing/Incoming, Manual Outgoing, Manual Incoming, No Overlap, or Automatic.
• Searching for songs in the station's library.
• Uploading your own songs or jingles and the warning associated with it.
• For Administrators. The intro, the outro and the importance of both.
• Why it may not be necessary to mark the intro and the outro.
• What constitutes an intro and an outro. The station Administrators are not always correct.
• A reminder of the outgoing and incoming songs.
• Recording your voice breaks while listening to the songs or as individual items. The former gives you far more control.
• Adopting the appropriate tone for your voice break.
• Pausing the recording and previewing the finished item.
• Recording a voice break using an external sound editor and the advantages of doing so.
• Talking over a music bed.
• Saving and uploading voice breaks.
• A discussion of time. Consideration of your location within the hour and what it means.
• Rearranging items.
• What you cannot do with songs in the station's library despite allegedly having full permissions.
• Keystrokes to quickly get you to where you need to be.
• For Administrators. Adjusting the volume of music and spots against voice breaks.
• The Recorder. Manipulating the settings.
• Replay Gain and how it can be used to good effect.

Alternatively, please send an Email to brian@hartgenconsultancy.com, whereupon a PayPal invoice can be sent to you. This can also be paid using any major credit or debit card.

Conclusion.

This training course is for people who have always wanted to host a radio show but may not necessarily wish to invest in tools such as StationPlaylist Studio in order to do it or perhaps those who are not confident enough to broadcast live. However, it is equally useful for seasoned broadcasters who undertake voice tracking on a regular basis. We're very confident you will find in the course some things which you did not know about the software and moreover, perhaps some approaches to this method of broadcasting you had not previously considered. Dive into the world of voice tracking and we'll show you the best ways of ensuring your radio shows sound as good as they can be.

Hi to All

Each year as we approach Leasey's birthday, we always try to produce an update for our users containing new features. This year is the same, and you will find a summary of most of them below.

All New Weather App in LeaseySearch.

Lots of people like to know about the weather, and we've had a weather app for quite some time. However it has now been redesigned to include the following features:

• Extremeley fast and responsive.
• Does not require gaining information from a specific website so should be reliable.
• Search by place name, postal code, zip code or region.
• If you are unsure of the correct spelling for a place name, type the first few letters to get a list of possible matches.
• Type the word, Nearby, to get a weather report based on your location.
• The opening screen summary page can be easily navigated and contains:
  • confirmation of location.
  • the local time (useful for determining the time in a specific region for example).
  • The current temperature (either in Celsius, Fahrenheit or both, you choose. LeaseyWeather is highly configurable.
  • Weather summary in text form.
  • Wind speed in Kilometres per Hour, Miles per Hour or both, you choose.
  • Humidity.
  • Feels like temperature.
  • Immediate upcoming forecast for the day.
  • Minimum and maximum temperatures across the day.
  • Average temperature across the day.
  • A seven day forecast is given. You can quickly and easily move through the days of the week to get the forecast.
• Hour by hour forecast for a day which contains:
  • Temperature.
  • Summary in text format.
  • Chance of rain as a percentage.
  • Chance of wind as a percentage.
  • Chance of overcast as a percentage.
  • Chance of clear skies as a percentage.
  • Chance of snow as a percentage.
  • Chance of thunder as a percentage.
• It is easy to navigate to a specific hour in the daily forecast.
• Astro information is given including sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset,
  moon phase and moon elumination.

TVMaze in LeaseySearch.

TVMaze is a huge database of TV shows past and present. Using Leasey, search for a TV show which is airing now or which has done so in the past. Simply type the name of the show and press Enter. It is useful to learn about shows of the past and those which are airing now. This app is extremely responsive.
It will return:

• Confirmation of the show name.
• The genre of entertainment.
• The status, such as whether the show is airing now.
• The running time of each episode.
• The transmission dates for the entire show, such as 1986 to 2019.
• The time the show was scheduled.
• The day the show was scheduled.
• A summary of the show content.
• A link which will allow you to see the entire episode list of the show.
• A link which will allow you to see most popular cast members in the show together with the character played.
• A link to search for a specific episode by date.

If you choose to retrieve the episode list, you will get:

• The name of the episode.
• The season number and episode number.
• The transmission date.
• The transmission air time.
• A summary of the episode.

Please note. If a particular program is not listed, or there is a missing episode summary for example, please do not contact us. When we introduced support for Last.FM, we were sometimes receiving technical support queries stating that an item was not listed. All Leasey is doing is ensuring the way in which you access these services is easy to use and accessible. We are not responsible for the content contained within them.

Other New Features.

A keystroke can be pressed to report the number of files tagged with LeaseyTags in File Explorer.

The ability to create a new Outlook Email message, a new Outlook appointment, and a new Outlook task from any application. Microsoft Outlook does not need to be running initially to use this feature.

For a while, we have had the ability to unprotect a Microsoft Word document with a keystroke. This functionality has now been extended to unprotect Excel spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations.

When using LeaseyDiary, it is now possible to set an alarm to sound when (or before) an appointment is due.

Support for the WordWeb dictionary. WordWeb is a dictionary which can be downloaded to the computer. The program has a full dictionary and thesaurus for American, British, Canadian, Australian, Indian, and global English. The WordWeb program does not form part of the Leasey installer, but it can be downloaded at no cost from the organisation's website. Leasey ensures that the program is very accessible.

Radio Stations. We've made a change to the way in which the LeaseyRadio directory is managed. There are often situations where the links to radio streams change. When this occurs, assuming we know the location of the new radio server for the station, we can make a change so you immediately can start listening to the station once again without the need to produce a new build of Leasey.

All of the above features were requested by Leasey users.

Alternative Location for Leasey Configuration Files.

Most people will not notice any difference relating to this subject, but we've spent a lot of time reorganising Leasey's file structure.

In the event that JAWS is uninstalled, there was a possibility that Leasey settings could be lost. While Leasey has always had the ability to backup settings, not everyone takes the opportunity of doing this. We've therefore made it possible for Leasey to reference these files from another location. If JAWS is completely removed therefore and reinstalled, the Leasey settings will still be there. It also means that if you install Leasey into more than one JAWS version, she can take advantage of exactly the same settings.

When you install the new version of Leasey, the new migration process is transparent and you should not need to do anything special to ensure everything works correctly.

Don't forget as demonstrated in a LeaseyBite audio tutorial, Leasey does have the facility to merge Leasey settings from an alternative JAWS version into a new one. So, when you install Leasey into JAWS 2020, (and yes she is ready for JAWS 2020 now), you can bring across your Leasey settings and other JAWS scripts to version 2020 without a problem, as you always have been able to do.

Conclusion and Spreading the Word.

As you can see, a great deal of work has been taking place for the new update and we hope you enjoy using it when it comes along.
We'd be grateful if you could please tell more people about Leasey. If Leasey is to include more new features, there is a cost implication for each new feature added. In order to keep the price of Leasey as low as possible, Leasey needs more people to use the facilities she has available.

The new update will be released on 30 October, probably just before JAWS version 2020 is available.

Have a great day!

A new release of J-Dictate will soon be available. J-Dictate is our product to provide enhanced functionality to Dragon NaturallySpeaking for those who wish to dictate text, but who are quite content to use the keyboard for computer input and control.
Please see a full description of J-Dictate.

This new version contains a huge number of stability and performance improvements together with the following:

• Ready for JAWS 2020. We highly recommend this version if you plan to use JAWS version 2020 when it is released later this year.
• Considerably changed and updated documentation.
• When the microphone is activated or deactivated, the appropriate sound will play only rather than letting you know that the microphone is on or off.
• When inside the Correction Box, you can set all options to be echoed immediately or not at all, presenting them in a logical numbered sequence so you can choose the one you want.
• When inside the Correction Box, press a keystroke to announce the options in a logical numbered sequence or place them in the JAWS Virtual Viewer.
• Enhancements to backing up and restoring Dragon User Profiles and JAWS Settings.
• Modification of support for audio transcription from a digital file.

Version 2 of J-Dictate will be released on 9 September 2019. There will be a cost for this upgrade. We have not levied a charge against J-Dictate for five and a half years.
The cost is £50 or 62 American Dollars.
Purchase or Pre-Order J-Dictate Version 2.

Important: What You Need to Know.

If you purchased J-Dictate during 2019, we will not charge for this upgrade.

The new release of J-Dictate relies upon Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 15 series. If you do not have Dragon version 15, we will of course support you in the best way that we can, as we always have.

What Happens If I Do Not Wish to Upgrade?

J-Dictate will not stop working. You can continue using it as you always have. However, a number of our users have let us know aspects of the program they would like correcting, and any future changes will apply to J-Dictate version 2 moving forward. To repeat, we also recommend J-Dictate version 2 for use with JAWS 2020.

We hope you enjoy using the new release of J-Dictate!

Introduction.

Microsoft OneNote is your digital notepad & note taking app. Everyone needs to write down information. It could be a shopping list, thoughts you might want to present at an important meeting, or maybe lecture notes. But how do you get to your notetaking program quickly to write down those spontaneous ideas you've had? Where do you save them? How can you share them with other people? And, most importantly, how do you find them again?

Microsoft OneNote can help you with all of this, but it can do much more.

OneNote is ideal for storing unstructured information — not just the notes you take in lectures or meetings, (or digital versions of Post It notes), but also photos, videos, web pages, PDFs, presentations, the frequency for your favourite radio stations in cities to which you travel. In short, anything you might need to refer to one day.

You don't need to get the perfect structure straight away. Instead, the first step of making OneNote useful is to put as much information that you might need later as possible in there, so that you can search for it.

Back in 2019, the original OneNote Wonder training course was produced. Things have moved on since that time to the point where OneNote has become a very different application to the version used at that time. OneNote in an accessible form is now more widely available. It is included with Windows11 as standard, as part of Microsoft Office 2019 or as part of a Microsoft Office 365 subscription. This training course takes that into account and highlights other recent changes. The JAWS scripts to support OneNote have been updated. Still don't have OneNote? No problem; you can download it separately to run it on Windows10.

Our training course OneNote Wonder, will help you to get started with what is a powerful application. You will learn about the terminology used within the application, accessing the program in an accessible way and how you can verify that your actions have been carried out successfully. Moreover in addition to making the application even more accessible, the JAWS scripts provide considerable additional spoken and Braille-based feedback in many areas to ensure OneNote is a pleasure to use.

What Will I Learn?

The training course is divided into two lessons.
The topics will include:

• Introduction to OneNote.
• Getting started and script installation.
• Launching OneNote and signing in.
• Checking the JAWS scripts are working.
• Creating our structure and navigation.
• Adding a second notebook.
• Composing text and spell checking.
• Preliminary formatting: bold, italics, underlining, bulleted lists, headings etc.
• The To Do tag.
• Potentially critical Tabs adjustment.
• Adding a second Microsoft account.
• A note on tables.
• Working with external sources: Email, Word document and Excel spreadsheets etc.
• Finding a note in any notebook.
• The Immersive Reader.
• More on tags.
• Changing font style and size, Tell Me.
• Moving sections and pages.
• Transcribing audio to text.
• Quick Notes.
• Deleting notebooks.
• Sharing notebooks.

Course Requirements.

In order to take part in this training course, you will need to have access to the Microsoft OneNote app, but as previously explained, this is easy.
You will also need JAWS for Windows version 2021 or later in order for the scripts to function.

What Will I Receive and How Much Does it Cost?

The training course is priced £50 which is approximately $62, and will give to you:

• The JAWS scripts for the Microsoft OneNote app.
• A recording of each of the two lessons in MP3 audio format which you can download whenever you want. The links to the files will not expire. Full text transcripts are available.

Alternatively, please send an email to
brian@hartgenconsultancy.com
whereupon an invoice can be sent to you so that you can pay for the training course online.

Conclusion.

Wonder about OneNote no more. The goal of this training course is to provide you with knowledge and skills to empower you to remember, think and organise in the ways which work for you. Learn how to use Microsoft OneNote in an accessible way! Gather your thoughts and then make them even better!

Hi to All

We are very pleased to bring you the next major update to our Leasey program which will be version 4.1. This will be released towards the end of next week. Best of all, it is free to all Leasey version 4 users. We can't say fairer than that.

We hope you will enjoy using the new features and improvements. In addition to smaller updates this year, we intend to produce another major feature update during 2019 to celebrate Leasey's fifth birthday towards the end of the year.

We would like as always to sincerely thank our beta testers for all the hard work they have done in testing the many builds of Leasey there have been this time and to suggest features and refinements as we move forward. Beta testing is not easy. While every effort is made to make testing as smooth as possible, sometimes things do not go to plan. Moreover, occasionally, as happened this time, a feature is planned and it simply isn't good enough at the moment for prime time. If we don't think anything is good enough for you, it doesn't go into the product until we're all comfortable with it. That's what good testing is all about. You deserve the very best we can offer.

We will announce when the new update is ready to download.

Changes and Features.

The changes and features include:

Currency Converter. Use Leasey's lightening fast tool to convert from one currency to another, either by selecting from lists or the advanced feature where abbreviations can be typed. Exchange rates are updated every 60 seconds. As with our news and weather apps, not only does this produce fast results but it has a 99.9 percent uptime.
A LeaseyBite is available on this topic.

Last.FM Database. Use the extensive database from Last.FM with Leasey to learn about music, including lyrics of tracks, artist and group biographies, track listings on albums, tracks recorded by artists and more. You can even hear songs you have searched for on YouTube.

A LeaseyBite is available on this topic. One difference to the functionality demonstrated in the LeaseyBite is that the results are now displayed in the JAWS Results Viewer rather than the Virtual Viewer. While the Results Viewer takes approximately two seconds longer to load, on balance we collectively decided that there was a good case for the window containing the text staying open, particularly if you were reading the data while wanting to use other applications at the same time. So the sacrifice regarding time we thought was worthwhile.

RSS Reader. Keep updated with the latest content from RSS feeds using the RSS Reader. Content is presented using the JAWS Results Viewer to preserve HTML formatting and so you can easily return to the feed when a story has been read in the web browser. There is even an Import tool to import feeds from a file previously exported from another reader. This is our first attempt at this feature and we look forward to improving it over time.
A LeaseyBite is available on this topic.

Spotify. This update to Leasey will contain significantly revised scripts to access Spotify with JAWS.
Prior to the release of the new update, a LeaseyBite will be available on this topic.

Time Monitoring. You may wish to manually synchronise a clock you have access to. Becoming aware of when you have reached the start of a minute can be troublesome. Leasey helps with this by providing information as to when the next minute commences. This is called "Time Monitor".
Prior to the release of the new update, a LeaseyBite will be available on this topic.

Get Days From Dates. This allows you to specify two dates and Leasey will advise you how many days are between them. For example, find out how many days there are between 1 July and 23 August 2019, or 5 May 1948 to 12 October 1962.
Prior to the release of the new update, a LeaseyBite will be available on this topic.

Days of Future and Past. Let us assume someone wishes to book an appointment with you in 14 days from today. You may not be sure on which date that falls. This feature allows you to find out. Similarly, you can learn what the date was a number of days prior to today.
Prior to the release of the new update, a LeaseyBite will be available on this topic.

In the LeaseyDiary, in the feature "What Day is This", the day is now displayed in the JAWS Virtual Viewer in the event you did not hear it the first time around. You can read it with the Arrow Keys.

Scala Radio has been added to LeaseyRadio under the Clasical section. You can hear it directly by pressing the Leasey Key then ALT+7.

In the LeaseyAudio menu, Leasey Key then A, you can now activate an option which takes you directly into the settings for your sound sources for recording and playback properties.

We fixed a problem where the Recent Documents list of Microsoft Word was storing more than 25 documents.

We've hopefully fixed a feature which could not be reproduced in-house but was confirmed via external beta testing, where pressing control+Shift+I in Microsoft Outlook was taking two or three seconds to set focus to the Inbox.

We've hopefully fixed a problem where in some circumstances the path set for the LeaseyAudio Music Library was not being run when requested.

We've fixed a problem where the radio station CJOB,680AM was producing audio of a very unusual quality.

When searching for goods via Amazon, for the time being we removed the facility to search by department. However you can still carry out a global search which is country specific as it was before. We are not finished with the Amazon component of LeaseySearch yet.

Conclusion.

It goes without saying, but our documentation has been extensively updated to cover all of the new features.

We wanted to produce more features for this version, but if we don't stop now, you may not have got the update for a while.

We're very pleased with all the feedback we receive to Leasey and we hope people continue to use the product. We're particularly glad to have increased the number of tools available in LeaseySearch this time. Our intention is to continue changing the ways in which we gather information rather than relying on web-based sources. We've made tremendous strides in this area over the last year or so and, before 2019 is over, we will have done a great deal more regarding this. We suggest you watch out for some Leasey birthday surprises later in the year! Meanwhile, enjoy the new update next week!

Introduction.

Within the March 2019 JAWS for Windows and Fusion updates, a new feature is available called Picture Smart. This has the promise to be fantastic technology. Currently as suggested above it is in its early stages of development, but nevertheless it is a useful feature.

We haven't seen much information at all regarding Picture Smart, and there is no help topic available in JAWS or Fusion to support it. So lets walk you through it.

So what is it?

Picture Smart allows you to choose an image on your computer and submit it over the internet to be analyzed. A description of the image is then displayed in the JAWS Results Viewer window. This is a window which overlays the current application or environment in which you are working, allowing you to examine the text without causing any disturbance to your normal working condition. It's the more modern version of the JAWS Virtual Viewer.

Descriptions of pictures might include details such as the number of people in the photo, recognizable landmarks, landscape details such as "outdoors with a blue sky and green grass," if there are vehicles such as cars or trains, and more. If there is text in the picture, it will scan the text using Optical Character Recognition technology and provide that as well.

How Do I Use It?

The following is a list of keystrokes found within the JAWS or Fusion products, together with voice commands which can be used with our J-Say product as of 15 April this year.

To use Picture Smart, press INSERT+SPACEBAR followed by P. JAWS says "Picture Smart". Once the Picture Smart keyboard layer is active, the following keystrokes are available. J-Say users of course do not need to press Insert Space then P.

• A - Open the Picture Smart dialog box where you can acquire an image from a flatbed scanner or the Freedom Scientific PEARL camera. Voice command: "Picture with Camera".
• F - Describes the currently selected image in File Explorer. Supported images include BMP, JPEG, GIF, TIF, or PNG. Voice command: "Picture with File". Note that you must have located an image on your computer first, such as within File Explorer, prior to executing this command or keystroke.
• C - Describes an image associated with the current control. For instance, a graphic on a web page or in an email message. Voice command: "Picture with Control". Note in our experience this is a feature which does not work particularly well at present. If it finds a picture at all, often surrounding text on the page is encapsulated within the description.
• B - Describes the contents of the Windows Clipboard if it contains an image. Voice command: "Picture with Clipboard".
• QUESTION MARK - Displays help for the Picture Smart layer.

There is also a new PictureSmart folder where you can save an image and have it automatically submitted for analyzing and display the resulting description. To access this folder, press WINDOWS Key+E to open File Explorer, open the Pictures folder, and then open the PictureSmart folder.

It is our suggestion that this should be placed on the JAWS Utilities menu for easier access. While JAWS does a good job of monitoring this folder for changes, the only way of examining the description at a later date is to remove the picture and place it back in the folder.

What Kind of Information Does Picture Smart Give You?

Doubtless the information returned by Picture Smart will be refined over time. However, because the results are being collated by using two scanning recognition services, it could be that you will experience some duplication of information. Our view however is that it is better to have duplicated information than none at all.

Prior to scanning a picture, JAWS will advise you that "Picture Smart is in Progress".

Here is a sample of what you might expect, taken from the JAWS Results Viewer.

Caption is a man holding a golf club.
This object appears in the photo

Person.

This object probably appears in the photo

Man.

These tags describe the photo

athletic game, golf, Golf club, Golf course, Golf equipment, Golfer, grass, Grassland, Highland, mountain, outdoor, Pitch and putt, Professional golfer, sky, sport, Sport venue.

This tag probably describes the photo

person.

If there are famous people which form part of the image, JAWS may return the name of that person. I'm obviously not famous at all as it doesn't recognise me! But nor should it.

Conclusion.

To use Picture Smart, the "submit annonymous usage data" option must be enabled in the JAWS Settings Center. This sends encrypted information to Vispero. The images from Picture Smart are then submitted to the various services (such as Microsoft and Google) which analyze the images and return the descriptions back to them. As has been described, these descriptions are then displayed in the Results Viewer. If you attempt to use Picture Smart and this setting is off, a message displays prompting you to turn it on. Simply press Tab to reach the "Yes" Button and press the Space Bar.

Note that the "Anonymous Usage Data" sending is also controllable via the "Startup Wizard" when JAWS or Fusion is first installed, or it can be reached via the JAWS Window by pressing ALT+H then Z.

We do hope this technology continues to evolve, particularly in the area of describing images on web sites such as Facebook. For those people who purchased our thorough training course in the use of Microsoft PowerPoint, an audio demonstration of this feature together with comments are available as part of Lesson 5. Picture Smart is of course closely associated with PowerPoint, since you can verify your pictures prior to placing them into presentations.

We hope you have found this blog post useful! If you would like to find out more about our archived online Training Courses, or on site training within the UK, please visit our Training page!