There can be situations where you may wish to review a LeaseyText rather than edit it. This can be done using the JAWS Virtual Viewer.

Press the Leasey Key then V. Again, a list of all your LeaseyTexts will appear. Use the Up or Down Arrow keys to find the LeaseyText you wish to view, then press Enter. The text will then be displayed within the Virtual Viewer. Press Escape to close the LeaseyText and return to the application in which you were previously working.

If you wish to return to the reading of the LeaseyText in the virtual Viewer, press the Leasey Key then ALT+V. You will find that the LeaseyText is displayed again for you to read, and Leasey has usefully remembered your place. This method of recalling a LeaseyText is ideal for reading a set of instructions. You can always close it by pressing Escape, carry out a task on your computer, and then return to it and continue reading.

"Renaming a LeaseyText.

You may decide at a later date that you would like to rename one of your LeaseyTexts. This can be done in the "Renaming and Moving Centre", activated with the Leasey Key then Control+R.

Activating this keystroke presents you with a List Box. Each item in the list relates to a Leasey component you can name or move from one place to another. Go ahead and press Down Arrow, or the letter "T", to reach the item labelled "Texts". Then press Enter.

You are now presented with a list of LeaseyTexts which you can rename. Select one of them with the Up or Down Arrow keys, or by typing the first few letters of its name, then press Enter.

Finally, when prompted, type the new name for the LeaseyText and press Enter. You will hear the old name followed by the new one.

Deleting a LeaseyText.

A LeaseyText can be deleted as follows:

1. Press the Leasey Key then the letter L to bring into view a list of all LeaseyTexts previously stored on the computer.
2. Press the Down Arrow Key or use first letter navigation until you reach the LeaseyText you would like to delete.
3. Press the Leasey Key followed by the Delete Key. The LeaseyText will be deleted and this will be confirmed.

Creating an Abbreviation.

If you find that you are reproducing a LeaseyText on a regular basis, you may like to consider assigning it to an abbreviation. This means that you do not need to select the LeaseyText from the list, but rather, you will type a series of characters instead, followed by a Leasey keystroke. This will make the process of recreating the text passage extremely quick and easy. If you forget the text characters which make up the abbreviation, we have that covered as well. Please work through the following steps which will give you all the information you need.

1. Press the Leasey Key, followed by Windows Key together with Semicolon.
2. A list of all the LeaseyTexts previously stored will be presented to you. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys in order to move through the list.
3. When you reach the name of a LeaseyText to which you wish to assign an abbreviation, press Enter.
4. Type the new Abbreviation. For example, if you are attaching an Abbreviation to a signature, you might like to type the characters, sig.
5. When the Abbreviation has been typed, press Enter. JAWS confirms that the Abbreviation has been stored and it is spelled out character by character.

To reproduce an Abbreviation:

1. Focus within a text edit area, such as a Microsoft Word document or Email message.
2. Type the abbreviation, but do not press the Space Bar.
3. Press the Windows Key together with the Apostrophe (or single quote) key. Please do not preceed this keystroke with the Leasey Key.
4. If an Abbreviation is found which matches the series of characters you typed, the full text will be reproduced.

To review a list of all the Abbreviations created, press Control+Windows+Semicolon. Please do not preceed this keystroke with the Leasey Key. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through the list. You will hear the name of the LeaseyText followed by the Abbreviation, such as "Signature equals sig". Note that prior to reading the list of Abbreviations, you will be advised that pressing Enter on any of them will delete it, so please be careful!

As previously indicated, pressing Enter on any item in this list will delete the Abbreviation, but not the LeaseyText itself. Therefore, if you inadvertently delete one of your Abbreviations, you can simply work through the steps above to restore it at a later time.

Two final notes. If you delete a LeaseyText (as described above), any Abbreviation you may have assigned to it previously will also be removed.

Secondly, notice how the keystrokes pertaining to all aspects of managing Abbreviations are available when your fingers are close to the Home Row of keys on the keyboard. This is especially important for the keystroke which reproduces an Abbreviation, Windows Key+Apostrophe. The whole point about the reproduction of an Abbreviation is that it should be fast!

Renaming an Abbreviation.

You may decide at a later date that you would like to redefine one of your LeaseyAbbreviations. This can be done in the "Renaming and Moving Centre", activated with the Leasey Key then Control+R.

Activating this keystroke presents you with a List Box. Each item in the list relates to a Leasey component you can name or move from one place to another. Go ahead and press Down Arrow, or the letter "T", to reach the item labelled "Abbreviations". Then press Enter.

You are now presented with a list of LeaseyAbbreviations which you can rename. Select one of them with the Up or Down Arrow keys, or by typing the first few letters of its name, then press Enter.

Finally, when prompted, type the new series of characters representing the LeaseyAbbreviation, and press Enter. You will hear the new LeaseyAbbreviation spelled out character by character.

Assigning a Primary LeaseyText To a Shortcut Key.

There is an alternative method of reproducing a LeaseyText quickly. This is restricted to just one LeaseyText: perhaps a passage of text you wish to reproduce above all others.

Press ALT+Windows+F7. A list of all the LeaseyTexts appears. Press Down Arrow until you reach the one to which you wish to assign a shortcut key, then press Enter.

From this point forward, any time you wish to reproduce the LeaseyText in the future, focus in an edit area as usual and press ALT+Windows+F6.

To reassign a different LeaseyText to the ALT+Windows+F6 keystroke, just press ALT+Windows+F7 so as to select an alternative block of text.

LeaseyClips.

What is a LeaseyClip.

LeaseyClips are very much like LeaseyTexts except that they are more convenient to use for a quick text transfer as they do not require you to name them. LeaseyClips are for grabbing segments of text you just want to use on a temporary basis for pasting perhaps into an email message or another document.

For example, if you regularly write reports and you wish to always reproduce the same text time after time, use a LeaseyText to store it, give it a name so you can easily recall it in the future, and save it. It will always be there for you.

If, on the other hand, you are reading a web page on which you can see comparisons of five hotels you and a friend may wish to visit, use LeaseyClips to copy the five segments of text and paste them into an email to them in any order you like. LeaseyClips would be used because you are unlikely to want that information in the future.

Up to twelve LeaseyClips are available to you and the keystrokes for creating, pasting, reviewing or amending them are accessed using the function keys on the computer keyboard. The Function Keys are of course located on the top row of the keyboard. These keys are either pressed by themselves or in conjunction with other keyboard modifier keys: The Control, Shift or Windows Keys.

F1 is associated with LeaseyClip 1 and F12 is associated with LeaseyClip 12. That would make sense wouldn’t it?

In a moment, we will work through an example of how to use LeaseyClips. However in summary, pressing the Leasey Key followed by F1 through to F12 by themselves will copy text to a LeaseyClip. Pressing the Leasey Key then Control+F1 through to Control+F12 will speak the LeaseyClip. Pressing Shift+F1 through to Shift+F12 will paste the LeaseyClip. Finally pressing the Leasey Key then Windows+F1 through to Windows+F12 will amend a LeaseyClip.

All text to be copied to a LeaseyClip should ideally be selected first.
If no text is selected, an Edit Field may be displayed into which you can type or paste any text you like. Please keep reading to learn more about the LeaseyClips Edit Field.

In our example, we will focus upon using LeaseyClip 1.

1. Launch the Microsoft Word program.
2. Type this line of text:
   I am very much enjoying using Leasey.
3. Press the Home Key to move to the beginning of the line of text you have just typed. Because it is only a single line of text, we can simply press Shift+End to select it.
4. Press the Leasey Key followed by F1. An Edit Field will appear containing the text of the line you selected. If you wish to edit it, please go ahead and do so now, then press enter.
5. This text is now stored as LeaseyClip 1 and you will hear the words “LeaseyClip 1 copied”.
6. Unselect the text by pressing Right arrow.
7. Press Enter twice to create a blank line between the text you have typed and that which you are about to paste into the document from LeaseyClip 1.
8. To verify the text which is associated with LeaseyClip 1, press the Leasey Key followed by Control+F1. You will hear “LeaseyClip 1”, then a short pause, then the text copied to it, which is in this example “I am very much enjoying using Leasey”.
9. Press the Leasey Key followed by Shift+F1 to paste the contents of LeaseyClip 1 into your document. You will hear the words “LeaseyClip 1 pasted”.
10. If you review the text in your document, you will observe that there are now two instances of the sentence. Leasey is capable of pasting LeaseyClips with extremely long strings of text associated with them into documents very quickly.
11. Press the Leasey Key followed by Windows+F1. A Dialog Box will appear asking if you would like to delete LeaseyClip 1. Select the “Yes” Button by pressing the letter “Y”, or by pressing Tab until it is reached, followed by the Space Bar. You will be advised that LeaseyClip 1 has been cleared. It is not necessary to delete LeaseyClips before you use them again. What makes them convenient and easy to use is that they can just be overwritten at any point, but the functionality for deleting the contents from a LeaseyClip is available should you wish to use it.

If you press ALT+Control+Windows+Semicolon repeatedly, this will change whether or not an Edit Field is brought into view when you attempt to copy text to a LeaseyClip. If you enable this option, an Edit Field will appear containing the text you are about to copy. This is useful in order that you can review it, or even change it, prior to pressing Enter so as to store the text as a LeaseyClip.

If this option is enabled, and you have not selected text ready for copying, Leasey will display in the Edit Field the text which had previously been stored, if it exists.

To improve productivity however, you may wish to disable this feature. There is a strong possibility that, if you select text ready for copying, you know you have done so and you do not need to review it. In this circumstance, you can quickly copy the text and move onto the next job you have to do, such as copying text to other LeaseyClips.

There is another advantage of using LeaseyClips in conjunction with this second mode of operation, where the Edit Field is not displayed.

If text has not been selected prior to attempting to copy to a LeaseyClip, the data on the Windows Clipboard will be used instead. If no text exists on the Clipboard, and you have not selected any text, you are advised of this.

Amending LeaseyClips.

As yet, we have not discussed how you can delete or remove a LeaseyClip. In short, you don't need to. Simply overwriting it will cause the newly copied content to be the new LeaseyClip. However, it is possible to delete the content of LeaseyClips by using the Amend keystrokes, Leasey Key then Windows+F1 through to Windows+F12.

When you press one of these keystrokes, you will be presented with a list of three choices: Protect LeaseyClip, Unprotect LeaseyClip and Delete LeaseyClip.

Delete LeaseyClip, the final option, is self-explanatory.

If you were to press Enter on the option for protecting a LeaseyClip, this means that whenever you attempt to copy new content to the LeaseyClip, Leasey will prevent you from doing that. For example:

• Be sure you have some text copied to LeaseyClip 1.
• Press the Leasey Key followed by Windows+F1.
• From the menu which is revealed, choose the first option so as to protect the LeaseyClip. Press Enter to activate it.
• Now go ahead and select some new content and try to copy it to LeaseyClip 1 by pressing the Leasey Key then F1. You will find that the LeaseyClip cannot be overwritten.
• In the future, should you wish to unprotect the LeaseyClip, again press the Leasey Key followed by Windows+F1. This time, choose the second option which is Unprotect LeaseyClip. Press Enter to unprotect it and, once again, you are able to place new content onto it.

You now know everything there is to know about LeaseyClips. Easy wasn’t it? Have fun with them! It is surprising how useful they can be.

LeaseyNotes.

If you're a person who creates many notes to remind you of tasks to do, you'll appreciate this next feature, LeaseyNotes.

Within previous sections of this document, we've discussed creating LeaseyTexts to reproduce important items later. This involved opening a word processor prior to typing the text. But if you're working on something, maybe you are writing an Email or document, there are times when you just want to spontaneously write something down. Maybe it's an idea you've had for a project that you are working on and you just need a quick note to jog your memory in the future. This is the prime purpose of a LeaseyNote although there are others which will be described to you.

You do not need to open a word processor to create a LeaseyNote. From any application, press the Leasey Key followed by alt+windows+"N".

Focus is now automatically in Notepad, and you would compose the note in the same way you would usually compose a block of text. Type "Call John later this afternoon, 0987654321."
Press Control+Enter to save.

You are now asked what you would like to do with that note. Do you want to copy it to one of the twelve LeaseyClips? Do you want to store it as a LeaseyText? Pressing Enter on any of these items in the list will cause that action to be carried out, and previous Chapters have discussed the ways in which you would use those functions. If you press Enter on the item to create a LeaseyText, you do not need to open up a word processor and copy the text to the Windows Clipboard. The LeaseyText is created based on the note.

But the last item is "Store as Note Under Category". Recall the substance of this note. You want to call John later today, and in a short while, we'll see how we can view notes under a specific category. So this category might be called "Today's Tasks". When we review that category later on, we'll learn about all the things we still need to do today. Press Enter on this option to move into the category area.

If no categories exist, you are invited to type a new name for it. If you have previously stored notes under categories, you will find there is a list of these. Moving to a category by pressing Down Arrow, and then pressing Enter, will cause the note to be filed under the chosen category.

At the top of the list is an item, "Add New Category". Please select that item and press Enter.

You are asked for the name of the category. Type "Today's Tasks". Press Enter to move to the next stage.

You now need to give the note a title. This is about John's phone call, so type, John Call. The name in this instance should be an abbreviated form of what the note is about but with enough information to remind you of its purpose. Press Enter once more.

The saving process is now complete.

Time has moved on, and you need to review the list of tasks still outstanding for today. To do that, press the Leasey Key then Shift+L.

You are presented with your list of previously defined categories. Use the Down Arrow key to locate "today's Tasks" and press Enter.

As you would expect, you now have a list of notes under the category of "Today's Tasks". In a moment, we will ask you to find the required note and press Enter to read it to remind you of John's phone number. But if you change your mind, perhaps you have inadvertently chosen the wrong category, press Escape and you will find yourself back at the category list.

"today's Tasks" is the category you want in this example, so select that and press Enter.

Now, select the note regarding John's phone call, and press Enter.

You can now read the text, and call him. Because the text is in the JAWS Virtual Viewer, you are able to review it, one character at a time, making it easier to dial the phone number.

In the event you wish to edit the note, a link is available towards the bottom of the screen which allows you to do that. Press Enter on the link and you should now be able to edit the note. Press Control+Enter to save.

Renaming and Deleting a Note or Category.

You may decide at a later date that you would like to rename one of your LeaseyNotes or Categories. This can be done in the "Renaming and Moving Centre", activated with the Leasey Key then Control+R.

Activating this keystroke presents you with a List Box. Each item in the list relates to a Leasey component you can name or move from one place to another. Go ahead and press Down Arrow until you reach either Categories or Notes, then press Enter.

You are now presented with a list of Categories or Notes which you can rename. Select one of them with the Up or Down Arrow keys, or by typing the first few letters of its name, then press Enter.

Finally, when prompted, type the new name for the Note or Category and press Enter. You will hear the old name followed by the new one.

As you move through the Renaming and Moving Centre, you will have likely discovered an option to move a Note from one Category to another. Pressing Enter on this item will first ask you to select the Category in which the original Note appears. Select this with the Up or Down Arrow keys, or type the first characters of its title. Then press Enter.

Next, you are asked for the name of the Note. Select this with the Up or Down Arrow keys, or type the first characters of its title. Then press Enter.

Finally, you are asked which Category it should be moved to. Select this with the Up or Down Arrow keys, or type the first characters of its title. Then press Enter.

You will hear the details of the old Category followed by the new one it has been moved to.

To delete a note, press the Leasey Key then ALT+Control+L to bring into view the list of them. Locate the one you would like to delete and press the Leasey Key followed by Delete. Please be careful because once you do this it cannot be made available again.

LeaseyCuts.

Introduction.

Have you ever created a Microsoft Word document at your place of work and needed to save it in a specific folder which is located on a network drive several sub-folders deep? Is there a folder which you need to access regularly and you do not have the skills to create a Windows Shortcut on your desktop pointing to that folder? Have you created a thesis, essay, novel or document template which you need to access on a regular basis? Are there web sites you would like to access quickly but you don’t necessarily want to launch your preferred web browser to get there?

These are all very typical examples of situations for which LeaseyCuts can be used. We are sure you can think of many others. LeaseyCuts allow you to:

• Create convenient keyboard access to folders stored on your computer (or perhaps an external source such as a USB flash or network drive).
• Instantly open any file (again stored on your computer or externally).
• Launch web pages within your favourite web browser.
• Save documents (or files) in the folders to which LeaseyCuts have been assigned.
• Get instant access to folders when wishing to attach a document to an Email message.

Storing a LeaseyCut.

LeaseyCuts Pointing to Files and Folders.

Before you can assign a LeaseyCut to a file or folder, you need to learn about one of the most essential tools on your computer, File Explorer.

What is File Explorer?

Each computer contains a number of “drives”. These are the main storage areas which house your computer's files and folders. Each drive has a letter associated with it. You can store material in, and retrieve items from, a computer drive or any folders you create on the chosen drive.

Typically, the drive which has a letter of “C” associated with it contains important data necessary for your computer to run. However, it is possible to store folders located on this lettered drive into which you may decide to place documents or other files.

Another way of looking at this would be to envisage that each lettered drive is like a filing cabinet. You may use at least one of the filing cabinets into which to place folders. In a folder, you could place some documents, audio files or any other content.

The vehicle for the creation and examination of your folders is called “File Explorer”.

If you are already familiar with the concept of creating (and browsing through) folders on your computer you do not need to work through this exercise and you can skip to the next section.

To create a folder on drive “C” of your computer entitled “Letters” please follow these steps.

1. Press the Windows Key+E to enter File Explorer.
2. You should now be focused upon a vertical list of drives, with each one being denoted by a specific letter. Press the Up or Down Arrow keys to locate a drive. We are looking for drive "C".
3. When the chosen drive has been located, press Enter to move into it.
4. Now use the Up or Down Arrow keys to explore all the folders currently present on drive "C". There will be quite a number of them. You can also use first letter navigation to locate something more quickly. For example, on drive "C", if you press the letter "L" repeatedly, you will locate a folder called "LeaseyData". This is where a good deal of Leasey functionality lives. You do not need to be concerned with the content of this folder, but it will help you to understand the concept.
5. When a folder is located that you wish to examine, press Enter to move into it. You may then see a number of further folders or files. You will know the difference because, when you find a file, the name will be announced followed by what is known as a file extension. A good example would be "My First Document.txt", indicating that the title is "My First Document" and the extension for it is ".txt", meaning a text file. There are many such extensions which go way beyond the scope of this document.
6. To return to the previous folder, press the Backspace key. Focus will return to the folder list and the one you just entered will be selected.
7. To create a folder, press ALT+2 or Control+Shift+N. Into the Edit Field provided, type a name for the folder, such as "Letters" and press Enter.

Creating a LeaseyCut Pointing to a File or Folder.

Now we know a little about File Explorer, we can describe the process of creating a LeaseyCut pointing to a file or folder. Any file can be accessed through a LeaseyCut, such as a Microsoft Word document, Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or a simple text file created in Microsoft Notepad, which is a very basic word processor. So if you always have a shopping list you need to refer to, or maybe a form you need to complete at work, storing a LeaseyCut pointing to it is quick and easy.

Similarly, if you wish to attach a LeaseyCut pointing to a folder, such as that containing frequently used documents, this too is easily achieved. Once created, LeaseyCuts provide a highly efficient way of locating these items.

To store a LeaseyCut pointing to a file or folder:

1. Using File Explorer, locate the item to which you wish to attach the LeaseyCut. In summary, please find the file or folder, but do not open it.
2. Press the Leasey Key then Control+S. A Dialog Box will appear requesting that you type the name of the LeaseyCut. In time, this title will be reflected in a convenient List Box from which you will access your LeaseyCuts and so the object of this exercise is to ensure that a short name is given. You can either type a name into the Edit Field or accept the default text which is displayed, since Leasey has usefully captured the title of the file or folder. But in summary, this text is highlighted so you can type a new name immediately over the top of the old one. Tip: When you have typed the new name, press Insert+Up Arrow to have it spoken back to you. If it is not what you intended, you can always edit the text at this stage.
3. When the new LeaseyCut title has been entered, press the Enter key to move to the next stage.
4. An Edit Field will now be displayed containing the full path as to where the folder or file is located. Please review this with the Left and Right Arrow keys to ensure it is as you intended. When you are satisfied with the location, press Enter and the LeaseyCut will be saved. You will be advised of this.

Creating a LeaseyCut Pointing to a Webpage.

Now we will create a LeaseyCut pointing to a webpage. Please follow these steps:

1. Using your web browser in which you prefer to access the site, browse to the webpage to which you wish to attach the LeaseyCut. Please consider this step carefully. Some web sites are more responsive and usable with specific web browsers. For example, a page on YouTube is likely to respond more favourably with JAWS when used in conjunction with Google Chrome. Therefore, you should consider this before creating the LeaseyCut. When you launch the page in the future using the LeaseyCut you are about to create, the site will be opened in the browser you specify.
2. Using File Explorer, locate the item to which you wish to attach the LeaseyCut. In summary, please find the file or folder, but do not open it.
3. Press the Leasey Key then Control+S. A Dialog Box will appear requesting that you type the name of the LeaseyCut. In time, this title will be reflected in a convenient List Box from which you will access your LeaseyCuts and so the object of this exercise is to ensure that a short name is given. The edit field should contain no text so you must give the LeaseyCut a title. Tip: When you have typed the new name, press Insert+Up Arrow to have it spoken back to you. If it is not what you intended, you can always edit the text at this stage.
4. When the new LeaseyCut title has been entered, press the Enter key and the LeaseyCut will be created. You will be advised of this.

Using LeaseyCuts.

There are two distinct ways in which LeaseyCuts can be used. They can either be used to launch an item or to type the path of a folder.

Launching a LeaseyCut.

In order to launch the folder or document from any application using the LeaseyCut please follow these steps:

1. Press the Leasey key followed by Control+L for List of LeaseyCuts pointing to files or folders, or alternatively, the Leasey Key followed by Control+Semicolon to access a list of LeaseyCuts pointing to web pages.
2. A List Box appears containing all the LeaseyCuts you have previously assigned. Use the Up or Down Arrow keys to move through the List Box or, if you know the name of the item you wish to view, press its first letter. You will note that, if accessing the list of LeaseyCuts pointing to files or folders, alongside each item in the List Box is a description of what the LeaseyCut points to. This can be a document or folder. If you press Insert+Up Arrow (or Caps Lock+Up Arrow if using the JAWS laptop layout) when focused on a LeaseyCut, you will hear the name of the cut together with its path or location.
3. When the desired item has been located, press Enter to launch it. You will hear the announcement “please wait” and after a short pause the required item will be launched.

When within a LeaseyCut in any of the two lists mentioned above, when focused on an item you can press Control+C to copy the path or web page URL to the Windows Clipboard.

Entering a LeaseyCut Folder Path.

There will be situations where you wish Leasey to type the path of a folder to which a LeaseyCut is pointing. We will provide two examples of where you may use such an approach:

Example 1: Microsoft Word “Save As” Dialog Box

1. Create a document in Microsoft Word.
2. Press Control+S to enter the Microsoft Word “Save As” Dialog Box.
3. Press the Leasey key then Control+P (for “Path”).
4. A List Box of your LeaseyCuts will appear. Locate the correct LeaseyCut which will have the word “Folder” next to it. This is where the document will be saved.
5. Press Enter. The required path is inserted into the Microsoft Word “Save As” Dialog Box followed by a further “Backslash” character.
6. Type the file name and press Enter. The file is now saved in the correct folder.

Example 2: Browsing to a Folder within Microsoft Outlook

1. Create a new message in Microsoft Outlook.
2. Move to the “Attach File” Dialog Box. For example this should be achieved by pressing ALT+N, then A, then F.
3. When focused within the “File Name” Edit Field, press the Leasey key then Control+P (for “Path”).
4. A List Box of your LeaseyCuts will appear. Locate the correct LeaseyCut which will have the word “Folder” next to it. This is the title of the folder you will be browsing for a file to attach to your message.
5. Press Enter. The required path is inserted into the Edit Field.
6. Press Enter again and then Shift+Tab twice in order to start browsing the list of files within the folder you have selected.
7. When you locate the file you wish to attach to the message, press Enter to do so.

Deleting and Renaming a LeaseyCut.

You may decide at a later date that you would like to rename one of your LeaseyCuts. This can be done in the "Renaming and Moving Centre", activated with the Leasey Key then Control+R.

Activating this keystroke presents you with a List Box. Each item in the list relates to a Leasey component you can name or move from one place to another. Go ahead and press Down Arrow, or the letter "C", to reach the item labelled "Cuts". Then press Enter.

You are now presented with a list of LeaseyCuts which you can rename. Select one of them with the Up or Down Arrow keys, or by typing the first few letters of its name, then press Enter.

Finally, when prompted, type the new name for the LeaseyCut and press Enter. You will hear the old name followed by the new one.

To delete a LeaseyCut:

1. Press the Leasey key then Control+L to bring into view a list of LeaseyCuts. If you would like to delete a LeaseyCut for web pages, press the Leasey Key followed by Control+Semicolon instead
2. Navigate to the LeaseyCut you wish to delete.
3. Press the Leasey key followed by the Delete key. The LeaseyCut will be removed from the list and you will be advised of this.

LeaseyAlerts.

Introduction.

Have you ever been confronted with a situation where you've been to a website, and you always want to come back to the same place if it exists each time you visit it? Google would be a very good example, When you've searched for something, and the new page loads, you do not want to have to find where the search results start.

A LeaseyAlert will not only advise you that the text exists, but it will also set focus to the relevant area of the page. All you need do is set up the LeaseyAlert and then forget about it, unless you want to delete it.

Setting a LeaseyAlert.

Please note: while examples of LeaseyAlert creation and usage are given in relation to individual web sites, it is more than possible that the content of the web sites concerned will have changed following publication of this User Guide. The examples given therefore are just that: mere examples of hypothetical situations which will need to be adapted according to the individual web sites being used.

We will first create a LeaseyAlert to set focus to the Search results on Google.

1. Visit www.google.co.uk or www.google.com.
2. In the Search Edit Field, type the words "dog food" and press Enter to carry out the search.
3. When the new page loads, press the letter H until you hear the words, "Search Results".
4. Press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+A to set the LeaseyAlert. An Edit Field will be available to you containing the text of the current line on the page, in this case, "Search Results".
5. If this is correct, press Enter to save the LeaseyAlert.
6. Now, into the Google Search Edit Field, type "Cat Food" and press Enter to carry out the search.
7. Notice how, this time, you hear the LeaseyAlert sound and the JAWS virtual Cursor is placed on the words, "Search Results". You can now press Down Arrow to read them.

We will vary that example slightly now by setting a LeaseyAlert on the Amazon website.

1. Browse to www.amazon.co.uk or www.amazon.com.
2. In the Search Edit Field, type a search term, such as "The Beatles", and press Enter.
3. Look for the first Heading on the page which will read something like "1-16 of 69,238 results for the beatles."
4. Press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+A to set the LeaseyAlert. An Edit Field will be available to you containing the text of the current line on the page, in this case, "1-16 of 69,238 results for the beatles."
5. Please edit this text carefully and give it some thought. When you visit this page again, you are not going to be searching for the Beatles, nor are the number of results returned going to be the same. On this page, you are in the future going to search for the word "results". So please either edit the text until only that word is available, or just type the word "results" over the top of the text displayed. We will type the word, "results", without a capital letter "R".
6. Press Enter to save.
7. Now carry out a further search on amazon. This time, we will search for the movie, "Gone with the Wind". Please type it into the Search Edit Field and press Enter.
8. Notice how, this time, you hear the LeaseyAlert sound and the JAWS virtual Cursor is placed on the phrase containing the word , "results". You can now press Down Arrow to read them.

If you do not wish Leasey to speak the line when a LeaseyAlert is found, press the Leasey Key followed by Shift+dash (to the immediate right of zero on the desktop keyboard). Pressing this key combination repeatedly rotates between character, word, line, sentence, paragraph and SayAll. So, if you select line, the line of text will be announced. If you selected SayAll, JAWS will begin reading from the cursor position of the LeaseyAlert, either until the end of the document is reached or until you press the Control key. This setting is retained even if the computer is restarted.

Deleting a LeaseyAlert.

To delete a LeaseyAlert, simply focus upon the webpage to which it is attached, and press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+D.

LeaseyPoints.

Introduction.

The LeaseyPoints facility is an extremely powerful tool which will dramatically assist you while working with your documents and when navigating web pages on the Internet. LeaseyPoints allow you to locate passages of text upon demand.

LeaseyPoints can be created within Microsoft Word, Microsoft Edge, Brave or Google Chrome. Up to 10 LeaseyPoints can be set for each file, website or webpage. There is also the facility to set a global set of LeaseyPoints which can be used within any document or web page.

Using LeaseyPoints in Microsoft Word.

LeaseyPoints can be used while reading Microsoft Word documents (such as books, journals or reports) where the text is unlikely to be changed, and also when you are constantly interacting with a document you are working on. After all, Microsoft Word is a word processor isn’t it? Of course you are going to change the text in a document! LeaseyPoints have great value in either circumstance. LeaseyPoints can be used within Microsoft Word even if the JAWS “Quick Navigation Keys” have been enabled by pressing the JAWS Key and Z. There is no need to exit this mode prior to setting or retrieving a LeaseyPoint.

You can set LeaseyPoints by first pressing the Leasey Key followed by Control+1 through to Control+0 to represent the 10 LeaseyPoints which can potentially be set. So pressing the LeaseyKey followed by Control+1 will set LeaseyPoint 1 and pressing the Leasey Key followed by Control+0 will set LeaseyPoint 10.

1. Please open a blank Microsoft Word document and type two short paragraphs. For example, you might start the first paragraph with the words "I am very much enjoying using Leasey!"
2. Press Control+Home To make sure you are at the top of your document.
3. Press Control+Right Arrow until the word, "Much", is spoken.
4. Set a LeaseyPoint by pressing the Leasey Key and then Control+1. You will hear a low musical tone to indicate the LeaseyPoint has been set. The greater the LeaseyPoint number, the higher the tone. LeaseyPoints are designed to be quick and easy to use. There is no need to delete an existing LeaseyPoint before setting a new one of the same number in an alternative location. So, if you’ve already set LeaseyPoint 1 elsewhere in this document, it will be overwritten automatically.
5. Insure that you are still located on the first word of your first paragraph and type the following: “I’ll add a new paragraph to my document. As a result, the line of text that I set to a LeaseyPoint will be in a different location.”
6. Now press the ENTER Key twice to place a blank line between this new paragraph and the existing ones.
7. Press the Leasey Key and then press the number 1 by itself. Again, you will hear the sound indicating LeaseyPoint 1 and although the line of text you originally set the LeaseyPoint to is not in the same location as before, focus will move to the LeaseyPoint and speak the line. Not only that, but observe that the cursor is placed at the start of the word, "Much", which was the original location of the cursor prior to setting the LeaseyPoint.

If you do not wish Leasey to speak the line when a LeaseyPoint is found, press the Leasey Key followed by dash (to the immediate right of zero on the desktop keyboard). Pressing this key combination repeatedly rotates between character, word, line, sentence, paragraph and SayAll. So, if you select line, the line of text will be announced. If you selected SayAll, JAWS will begin reading from the cursor position of the LeaseyPoint, either until the end of the document is reached or until you press the Control key. This setting is retained even if the computer is restarted.

When you return to this document in the future, JAWS will announce that LeaseyPoints are available.

To bring into view a list of LeaseyPoints for the document, press the Leasey Key then ALT+Control+P. The list shows the text pertaining to each LeaseyPoint, with each one being preceeded by a number. The number denotes the LeaseyPoint assigned to the text in the list item and is designed so you can get to learn which LeaseyPoint is associated with each part of text. Use the Down Arrow key to move to the part of the text you wish to locate and then press Enter.

LeaseyPoints Using Brave, Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.

Now we will look at using LeaseyPoints on the Internet.

Please note: while examples of LeaseyPoint creation and usage are given in relation to individual web sites, it is more than possible that the content of the web sites concerned will have changed following publication of this User Guide. The examples given therefore are just that: mere examples of hypothetical situations which will need to be adapted according to the individual web sites being used.

If you do not wish Leasey to speak the line when a LeaseyPoint is found, press the Leasey Key followed by dash (to the immediate right of zero on the desktop keyboard). Pressing this key combination repeatedly rotates between character, word, line, sentence, paragraph, SayAll and Activate Link. So, if you select line, the line of text will be announced. If you selected SayAll, JAWS will begin reading from the cursor position of the LeaseyPoint, either until the end of the document is reached or until you press the Control key. This setting is retained even if the computer is restarted.

If the Activate Link option is selected, and if a LeaseyPoint is attached to a link, the link will be automatically activated. This saves you time if you wish to associate a LeaseyPoint to a link pointing to a web page. Activating the LeaseyPoint in the future will cause JAWS to move to that link and activate it, thus taking you to the selected page the link points to. A powerful feature!

In the event that the Activate Link option has been set, and you associate a LeaseyPoint to text which does not form part of a link, the current line is announced instead.

1. Please launch your web browser and browse to www.google.com or www.google.co.uk if you prefer.
2. Carry out a search for “Strawberry Picking”. Press Enter to begin the search.
3. On the new page which is loaded, please press the letter “H” repeatedly until JAWS says, “Search Results”. Our intention is to set a LeaseyPoint on this page so we can always locate the term “Search Results”, since in the future, this will take us quite near to where the results begin.
4. Press ALT+Windows+Control+Dash repeatedly until JAWS says "Domain Mode". There are two types of LeaseyPoints you can create on web pages, those specific to a domain (which relates to the entire web site), or for an individual page). In this example, we do need the LeaseyPoint set to a specific domain. If we do not put this in place, Leasey will not be able to locate the chosen phrase when you carry out a subsequent search on Google, as the address of the page is different each time. This setting remains in place even when you restart the computer and is in most cases the one you require.
5. Press the Leasey Key then Control+1. A sound will play and JAWS will announce that LeaseyPoint 1 has been set.
6. Now carry out another Google search, but this time, please search for “Delicious fruits”. Press Enter to begin the search.
7. When the new page has been loaded containing the search results, you will notice that, in addition to announcing the number of Headings and Links on the page, JAWS also speaks the term “Leasey Points”, indicating that at least one LeaseyPoint is available. press the Leasey Key followed by figure 1. Focus is moved to the position of the LeaseyPoint and the sound plays to indicate that LeaseyPoint 1 has been located.

To bring into view a list of LeaseyPoints for the page, press the Leasey Key then ALT+Control+P. The list shows the text pertaining to each LeaseyPoint, with each one being preceeded by a number. The number denotes the LeaseyPoint assigned to the text in the list item and is designed so you can get to learn which LeaseyPoint is associated with each part of text. Use the Down Arrow key to move to the part of the text you wish to locate and then press Enter.

Using Default LeaseyPoints.

This feature works in exactly the same way in which you have previously learned to set and locate LeaseyPoints, with one important difference. The default LeaseyPoints will always look for specific text in any document or web page.

Let us assume that you always want to look for the phrase, "Chapter 3", whichever document you happen to be within. This is a good case for using default LeaseyPoints. So lets learn how to use them with that term, "Chapter 3", in mind.

1. First, we need to switch to default LeaseyPoint mode. We do this by pressing the Leasey Key then Control+Dash.
2. Now open the first document containing the term, "Chapter 3", and set a LeaseyPoint by pressing the Leasey Key followed by Control+1.
3. Now open the second document containing the phrase, "Chapter 3".
4. Press the Leasey Key followed by 1. You should find the cursor is placed on the line containing the term, "Chapter 3".

Deleting a LeaseyPoint.

By far the easiest method for removing a LeaseyPoint is to simply overwrite it. For example, if you had set a LeaseyPoint on Google to look for the word, "Results", and you now decide that you want it to locate the word, "Search", instead, just overwrite the LeaseyPoint with the new term by recreating it. There is no need to delete it first, and indeed for Default LeaseyPoints, this is exactly what you should do.

Because you can set up to 10 LeaseyPoints per document or web page, we must take care to ensure that you are deleting the correct one.

1. Focus upon the document or web page on which the LeaseyPoint you wish to remove has been stored.
2. Press the Leasey Key then ALT+Control+D.
3. A list of all the LeaseyPoints you have set for the document or web page appears. Use the Up or Down Arrow keys to move to the LeaseyPoint you wish to delete, then press Enter to remove it. It should be easy to find which one you wish to delete because Leasey will always display the text associated with the LeaseyPoint.
4. You will also notice that at the bottom of the list is an option to delete all the LeaseyPoints for the focused document or web page. Press Enter to do this.

LeaseyStickyNotes.

Introduction.

As you read a book, document, web page or even an Email, you may like to be reminded of the importance of specific text contained within it in the future. Maybe you are browsing through your Email inbox, and you want to set a little note to remind yourself why you kept a particular message. If you are reading all the files in your music library, you may wish to attach a note to some of them to remind yourself that you would like to copy them elsewhere at a later date.

These are just a few examples of the power of a LeaseySticky Note. Many people annotate passages of text in books for example so they can be reminded of something which is important. As with all Leasey features, a LeaseyStickyNote is easy to set and delete if you wish to do so. Once set, and you reach the item in question in the future, you will hear the text you have typed into the LeaseyStickyNote.

Working with LeaseyStickyNotes.

To set a LeaseyStickyNote, please do the following:

1. Locate the line of text to which you wish to attach the LeaseyStickyNote.
2. Press the Leasey Key then S.
3. A Dialog Box will appear with an Edit Field in focus. Type the text you would like spoken when the line is focused in the future, such as, "This is the most important part of the document. I must quote it in my essay".
4. Now press Enter. You will hear the LeaseyStickyNote text you have entered being spoken back to you.
5. Press the Down Arrow key so as to move away from the line of text.
6. Press Up Arrow once more to focus upon the line of text you originally captured. JAWS will play a sound and will then speak the line, followed by the text you entered into the LeaseySticky Note. The LeaseyStickyNote text is spoken using the JAWS Message voice which, (if using the Eloquence speech synthesiser), is at a lower pitch by default. This is important so you can differentiate between text in the document and that which you have typed into the LeaseyStickyNote.

Now go ahead and find an Email in your Inbox, and again, attach a LeaseyStickyNote to it in the manner described above. Then, focus away from it, (perhaps by pressing Down Arrow), and move back to it with the Up Arrow key. You should hear the sound, the details of the message, followed by the text in the LeaseyStickyNote.

Note that if you move into the Dialog Box by pressing the Leasey Key then S, and do not type any text, press Enter, and you will receive a list of all the StickyNotes you have created. These are displayed in the JAWS Virtual Viewer so you can easily examine them. The line of text is presented followed by the StickyNote text.

Deleting LeaseySticky Notes.

In order to delete LeaseyStickyNotes, press the Leasey Key then D.

A list of all the LeaseyStickyNotes will appear. The list contains the various text items to which LeaseyStickyNotes have been attached. Press the Up or Down Arrow keys to move through the available items. You will notice that, as you move, you will hear the line followed by the text you have composed for the LeaseyStickyNote. In this way, you can be completely sure that you are focused on the correct item to be deleted.

When you reach a LeaseyStickyNote you wish to delete, press Enter. You will be advised that it has been deleted.

At the top of the list of LeaseyStickyNotes to delete, there is an option to delete all of them. Press Enter on this item to carry out this action.

X With Leasey.

Introduction.

X is a micro-blogging service which can be used to exchange quick frequent messages. Particularly in recent months at the time of writing, X has undergone many changes to the extent that there are now two levels of X access available. The standard usage is a free X account allowing you to compose messages of up to 280 characters in length. The second is X Premium allowing messages of up to 25 thousand characters and other features for subscribers.

For many years, a small number of specially developed applications were available to screen-reader users which made the management of X posts quick and easy. However, again due to recent changes, the majority of such X clients are no longer permitted to access the service. As far as access to X using the Windows operating system is concerned, it is therefore necessary to use either the X app from the Microsoft App Store or the web site at X.com. The access you will receive is exactly the same.

While many people would say that X itself provides a number of accessibility enhancements to allow people to use either of these methods of access, the reality is that it is not the most optimum experience. The output from the screen-reader is very verbose, since it delivers a great deal of information potentially you would not wish to hear. When using some versions of JAWS, it requires that the JAWS Virtual Cursor is disabled in order that the special shortcut keys can be used. Those shortcut keys are not particularly easy to remember. There are a number of other reasons. To this end, the X scripts provide some support so you can still access X fairly efficiently using any one of the above mentioned methods of access. The level of access is not going to be of the same high quality and efficiency as previously provided by the older specialist clients. That access is a thing of the past. But it is our hope that the assistance given here will at the very least allow you to keep up-to-date, especially with mainstream organisations who are present there. X is a thriving community of people with millions of users and it is important that you are not locked out of having quality access to it.

It is the view of Hartgen Consultancy that at the time of writing, you would not wish to use X for everyday conversation and interaction, despite the support which has been put in place here. If you are using a screen-reader with Windows, the days of doing that efficiently are gone. The purpose of what follows is to allow you to keep abreast of X activity which may be essential.

What follows is a brief summary of how you might accomplish tasks you may typically wish to work through on X. It is by no means exhaustive and improvements to this access will, if possible, be made over time.

It is also worth mentioning that this is not a tutorial on using X. It does not attempt to explain X terms. The below documentation sections summarise specifically how the X scripts can assist you in working with X and nothing more.

Let's Get Started.

When X is launched, at least for the first time, you will want to press Insert+Q (or Caps Lock+Q if you are using the JAWS Laptop Layout). If JAWS announces that the scripts for X are loaded, you can proceed.

A Note About the JAWS Virtual Cursor.

As previously indicated, in order for you to gain a meaningful experience with X, the JAWS Virtual Cursor needs to be disabled. In terms of The JAWS scripts for X, this occurs by default. As soon as you launch X from the web site or via the official app, the Virtual Cursor is switched off and, to a large extent, you can navigate X as if it was a standard application. However, there may be times when you wish to enable it, particularly when customising settings as an example. You can do this at any time by pressing Insert+Z (or Caps Lock+Z if you are using the JAWS laptop layout). This is a toggle action and will enable and disable the feature. Once enabled, X can be accessed in the same way as you would read (and interact with) a regular web page.

X Basic Principles.

From this point forward, when X is accessed, you will probably be on your Home timeline where you will see posts from the people and organisations you follow. Press Up or Down Arrow keys to move through the posts. You will probably hear the author name, the X username, the time the post was sent, the post itself and, if appropriate, statistical information such as the number of likes.

You may find that you wish to abbreviate some of this information. To do this, activate Abbreviated Mode. This can be toggled on and off with ALT+Windows+A. Once enabled, this setting will remain in effect until you disable it. Enabling Abbreviated Mode has the effect of reducing the output so you hear all the details with the exception of the X username and the time, so it makes navigation a lot less of a chore.

Should you wish to hear all of this information, you can use the JAWS command to read the current line, Insert+Up Arrow (or Caps Lock+Up Arrow if you are using the JAWS laptop layout). Pressing this keystroke twice quickly will allow you to read all of the information in the JAWS Virtual Viewer for closer examination, perhaps word by word. Press Escape to close.

There are two ways in which posts can be displayed: using the "For You" Tab or the "Following" Tab. The "For You" Tab is the default. The advantage of the "For You" Tab is that you can meet different people who share your own interests. The more posts you reply to or like influences the X algorithm and will display items which may match your interests. Using older Twitter clients designed for visually impaired people, users were forced to only receive posts from those people being followed. This meant that an important element of social media was lost.

To change to the "Following" Tab, activate the Virtual Cursor with the JAWS Key+Z. Then, from the top of the page, arrow down until you reach the Tabs. You will find "For You" and "Following". JAWS does announce which Tab is selected. Press the Space Bar on the appropriate Tab.

The Navigation Experience.

You will notice that your most recently received posts are at the top of the list. In the majority of cases, as you enter the X platform, the top of the list is the focus. This means that you are reading your posts in reverse time order which is not the best experience and there is no way of changing it. We cannot think of anyone who, for example, would want to start by reading the concluding part of a news story coverage and to work backwards.

Every effort has been made to ensure that, as you move through a timeline, focus does not move away from the list of posts. Should this happen, press the Tab key once, then try moving through the posts again with the down Arrow key.

There is also an added difficulty in that it does not seem possible to stop the timeline from refreshing which causes focus issues.

If you think you may have more recent posts available than those displayed, press full-stop or period to refresh the timeline.

Should you wish to access a link referenced as part of the post, press the Tab key repeatedly until JAWS announces the link. Then press Enter. The page referred to should open up as a new tab in your web browser. When you have finished reviewing the page, press Control+F4 so as to return to X.

Keystrokes you may wish to use at this point are:

• ALT+Windows+H: Home timeline.
• ALT+Windows+M: Mentions timeline.
• ALT+Windows+N: Notifications timeline.
• ALT+Windows+D: Direct Messages timeline.
• ALT+Windows+K: Likes timeline.
• ALT+Windows+I: Lists.
• ALT+Windows+P: Profile.
• ALT+Windows+S: Settings.
• ALT+Windows+C: Change Account.
• L: Like a post.
• Forward Slash: Search.
• B: Block a user.
• Control+C, copy focused post to Clipboard. If Abbreviated Mode is enabled, only the output spoken is copied, removing the username and the time the post was posted. This is recommended.
• U: Mute.
• Enter: Open Post.

One of the most valuable aspects of using X is being able to scan and interpret images which are frequently posted. This especially means that you can join in conversations from which you may otherwise have been excluded. This can be an essential aspect of social media participation. This can be achieved using JAWS 2024 and Picture Smart AI.

Find a post containing an image. JAWS will announce if an image is present. Then, press Control+Windows+I. The image is scanned and the text presented. You are then able to read it and, if necessary, obtain a more thorough explanation using two AI chat services and even ask further questions. For example, if a general description is given of an outfit someone is waring, you can ask for more description about it.

Press Escape to exit the description. In the event that focus is now not located on the post you were previously reading, press function key F12. The X scripts will try to locate this for you.

Post Composition.

To compose a new post, press Control+N. Start typing your text into the Edit Field. If you wish to know how many characters have been typed, press Insert+T (or Caps Lock+T if you are using the JAWS laptop layout).

To send the message, press Enter or Control+Enter.

Should you wish to attach an image (such as a photo) to the post, press ALT+Windows+P. This takes you into a standard Windows "Browse" Dialog Box. Locate the image and press Enter. Fields are then available which you can move through by pressing Tab and Shift+Tab to allow you to tag the image with alternative text.

To reply to the focused post, press Control+R.

To resend a post without quoting, press Control+Shift+R.

To Resend a post with quoting, (adding a comment), press Control+Shift+Q.

Viewing a Conversation.

There is a strong likelihood that an X post which is focused will be a reply to a previous message. This is known as being part of a conversation thread. To open up the post so as to view other elements of the conversation, press Enter. You ought then to be able to use the Up and Down Arrow keys to explore the other messages. To return to the timeline with which you were previously working, press the appropriate keystroke to go back. For example, if prior to pressing Enter you were viewing your Home timeline, press ALT+Windows+H. Focus should return to the appropriate timeline and also to your previous position in the timeline.

Viewing a Profile.

In the event you wish to view a profile of a user, when you hear the post details press Tab to reach the user name, then press Enter.

From this point, activate the Virtual Cursor with Insert+Z (or Caps Lock+Z if you are using the JAWS Laptop Keyboard layout). From here, you can use the Up and Down Arrow keys to review the bio, number of followers, etc. Don't forget to deactivate the Virtual Cursor with the same keystroke once again to return to normal operation.

Playing a Video.

If the post contains an embedded video, open it up by pressing Enter, then press Tab to reach the "Play Video" Button and press the Space Bar. You can press the Space Bar again to pause and resume playback. Depending upon your settings, the video may already be playing. If this is so, and you cannot hear it, press Space Bar on the Unmute button.

Another way of achieving the same thing is as follows. Do not open up the post. Instead, press Tab repeatedly until you reach the total time of the video. This is displayed in the format of minutes colon seconds, such as, 3:11. From this point, press the Home key and the video should start playing. Press the Space Bar to pause and resume.

Switching Accounts.

If you have multiple X accounts, the chances are fairly high that you will wish to switch to a different one. To do this, press ALT+Windows+C. Then press the Tab key repeatedly to reach the account you wish to switch to. When the desired account is announced, press Enter.

Sending a Direct or Private Message.

Sending a direct message is one of the most difficult things you can do using the X's interface. This section of the documentation explains how you might go about it.

1. To begin a new message, or reply to an existing one, press Control+D.
2. You are now in a search Edit Field. Type the name (or part of it) into the text edit area. This searches X for names which match your requirements. If you know the full name, type that so as to narrow the search criteria.
3. Press the Tab key repeatedly. You will reach two items. The first is a Check Box pertaining to the name and the second is a button, again containing the name. Press the Space Bar on the button.
4. Focus returns to the search Edit Field. If necessary, you could add someone else to the conversation using the above procedure.
5. When you are ready to move to the next stage, press Shift+Tab to reach the "Next" Button, then press the Space Bar.
6. You are almost ready to compose your message, but focus is not in the correct location. To move to the "Start a New Message" Edit Field, press Control+Windows+S.
7. Now type your text and press Enter to send.

Searching.

To search for an X account to follow, press Forward Slash. Type what you would like to search for and press Enter.

A list of results is displayed. Press Down Arrow to move through the results. When you wish to follow an account, press Enter to open it.

Now, you can either press the Tab key once to reach the Button to follow the account and press the Space Bar, or to carry out other actions, activate the Context Menu by pressing ALT+Windows+F10.

Working With the Context Menu.

If a post is focused, you can activate the Context Menu on it by pressing ALT+Windows+F10. This allows you to follow or unfollow the user, mute the user so you will not see posts again, and other actions. Locate the item you would like with the Up and Down Arrow keys, and press Enter. There is in addition an item listed which is "Not Interested". This again influences the X algorithm described above.

Taking Advantage of Nicknames.

Many people do have usernames on X which do not reflect their individual names. They can also contain emoji characters or the term, "Verified Account". This means that it can take time for the screen-reader to announce. You can condense this spoken output through the assigning of a nickname; a short-form.

Focus on a post containing the username and press ALT+Windows+X. Check to ensure that the correct username is in the edit field and press Enter.

Next, type the abbreviated form and press Enter.

That's it. From this point, JAWS should announce (and display in Braille) the abbreviated form. To delete any of your nicknames, press ALT+Control+Windows+X to bring into view a list of these. Find the one you want with Down Arrow and press Enter.

If you wish to share your nicknames across computers, in your JAWS Settings/ENU folder, find the file TwitterNames.ini and just copy it to the other machine.

Checking for Updates and Getting Help.

You can press Insert+H to get a list of keystrokes for X. You will notice at the bottom of the Hotkey Help screen is a link entitled "Check for Updates." Press Enter on this link to check to see if there are any new X Script updates available.

The Old Reader.

As discussed in an earlier chapter of this documentation, RSS is a web feed which allows you to gain updates to online content. Websites usually use RSS feeds to publish frequently updated information, such as blog entries, news headlines, or episodes of audio and video series. Subscribing to a website RSS removes the need for you to manually check the website for new content. Instead, a program to read the RSS feed monitors the
site and informs you of any updates.

Leasey has its own method of retrieving the posts from RSS feeds. From the outset, it has been designed for people who want or need an easy way to retrieve the content of RSS feeds easily. However, it has limitations. The primary limitation is that you cannot synchronise the content between your computer and an alternative device such as a phone. It is also more difficult to import feeds from an external file derived from an alternative RSS application into Leasey's RSS interface.

Leasey now provides special scripting for a service known as The Old Reader which can be found at https://www.theoldreader.com.

The Old Reader will not only allow you to monitor RSS feeds in the traditional way, but it could also be used as a podcast client and even to monitor your favourite YouTube channels so as to always have access to the latest videos.
You will find the Old Reader to be a very robust and user friendly RSS platform.

Navigating The Old Reader is achieved through any one of Leasey's supported web browsers. There is also an app for mobile devices which achieves our primary objective of synchronisation. When everything is set up correctly, navigating it is very similar to the way in which you would have navigated Leasey's own RSS tool.

Prior to using The Old Reader, you will want to sign up for an account. This is the means by which The service displays the content of the feeds you have subscribed to. Signing up for an account can easily be achieved from the home page.
There are two types of account: free or paid. The free account gives you access to up to 100 feeds with displayed adverts. The paid version offers up to 500 feeds to monitor and no adverts. Given the cost of the paid version is minimal, we recommend a paid plan since Leasey's functionality will work more smoothly with this.

Navigation of the web site is straightforward. Leasey has been modified so as to provide the majority of text labels for various controls where the meaning was unclear. Many keyboard shortcuts have also been added together with a special Old Reader menu. This menu allows you to manipulate some features of the Old reader without the need to launch the web site.

The following paragraphs set out some common tasks you may wish to work through with the Old Reader.

The Old Reader Menu.

From within any application, you can press the Leasey key followed by Shift+O for Old Reader. This brings into view a list box of options.

Subscribing To An RSS Feed.

The easiest way to get started with the Old Reader is to enter an RSS feed manually. Ask someone to give you an RSS feed which may interest you. Here is an example:

http://feeds.bbci.co.uk/news/rss.xml

This is the RSS feed for the BBC's news service.
To subscribe to a feed:

1. Press the Leasey key then Shift+O to bring into view the Old Reader menu.
2. Select the option "Add RSS Feed Manually" and press Enter.
3. Into the edit field which is focused, type or paste the link to the RSS feed, then press Enter.

You are now subscribed to the feed in the Old Reader.

Searching for an RSS Feed.

It may be that you do not have an RSS feed containing content which interests you. To that end, go back to the Old Reader menu with the Leasey key then Shift+O. This time, select the option "Search For RSS Feeds".
Type a search term into the edit field and press Enter. A search term may be "Technology" or "Disney Parks".
JAWS will confirm that a search is being carried out with your search term.

A list of results appears matching your search term.
Move to the top of the page and press letter H to go to the first heading. As you move down the page, you will find a Subscribe link, the feed title and The URL for the feed. This order is important. The link to subscribe to the feed is first in the order of items.

Activate the appropriate Subscribe link for the feed of interest, the one immediately before the feed title.

Viewing All Posts.

To view all posts which have been updated regardless of the source, from the Old Reader menu select "All Posts" and press Enter. This takes you to a page containing all updated content.

The start of each post is denoted by a level 2 heading.
You will read the title of the post which is hyperlinked, and underneath, the originating feed title of the source from which it came, followed by a brief description of the post. There are other links below this which we will ignore.

Theoretically, you can keep pressing letter H to move through the posts by heading until such time as you find an item of interest. When you do find such an item, press Enter to move to the page containing the full text.
This opens up the item in a new tab in the web browser. When you have finished reading the item, press Control+F4 to close it and return to the Old Reader.

An alternative approach may be to press Shift+Enter on the link which will open up the item in a new window, whereupon pressing ALT+F4 will close it and return to the Old Reader.

How Does the Old Reader Know Which Posts I Have Read?

This is an important question. The Old Reader needs to know which posts you have read in order that it can show only updated content. Below each post, you will find a link entitled "Mark As Unread". However, activating this link on each item is frustrating. Fortunately, unless you change the behaviour in Account Settings, there is a useful feature of the site. JAWS has been instructed to scroll the screen as you move through the headings. Therefore, as you move through them, the Old Reader knows that you have read those items and you no longer wish to see them in updated content.

Viewing an Individual Subscription.

Chances are that you may not want to view all updated posts regardless of the source from which they came. It may be that you would prefer to view posts from an individual feed you have subscribed to. In order to do this:

1. When focused upon the Old Reader site, press ALT+Windows+S for Subscriptions, or alternatively, use the JAWS Find facility to search for the word "Subscriptions".
2. Below this link you will find further links, with each one pointing to the individual feed to which you are subscribed. Below these links, you will find a list of folders if any exist. Please refer to the later section of this chapter concerning folder management.
3. Press Enter on a feed title so as to view newly updated posts from the feed.

Saving a Feed As a Favourite.

Rather than working through the above procedure to locate an individual feed for later viewing, which seems very convoluted, Leasey gives you the ability to save this as a favourite. This means you can easily locate it without having to launch the Old Reader web pages.

1. Using the above steps, be sure you are located inside a feed, such as "BBC News" as given in a previous example.
2. When the posts for the feed are being displayed, Move into the Old Reader menu with the Leasey key then Shift+O.
3. Select the item to add the current feed or folder to your favourites, then press Enter.
4. When prompted, type a name for the feed. This name need not reflect the full name of the feed. You could type a short-form if appropriate. Press Enter.
5. Finally if necessary, close down the Old Reader web site by pressing ALT+F4.

To locate the previously stored favourite, again move into the Old Reader menu. This time, you will find an additional item on the menu reflecting the name of the favourite you created. Press Enter on this so as to launch the web page displaying posts relative to the feed.

Should you wish to remove an item from the favourites list, go back into the Old Reader menu, locate the name of the favourite and press the Leasey key followed by Delete.

Unsubscribing From a Feed.

If you wish to unsubscribe from a feed:

1. Locate the folder using any one of the methods listed above.
2. Open it up by pressing Enter on the link for the folder so you are viewing all the posts relating to the feed.
3. Locate the "Unsubscribe" link and press Enter.

Please note: If you have stored the feed you have just removed as a Leasey Old Reader favourite, you will need to remove it from this list as well by finding it in the Old Reader menu, then pressing the Leasey key followed by Delete.

Folder Management.

There is a possibility that you would like to group various feeds into folders. This has the advantage that you can view updated feeds from the folder as a whole rather than all posts or on a feed by feed basis.
For example, you may wish to have a folder containing RSS feeds pertaining to news organisations, or perhaps a folder containing podcast feeds. We will discuss working with podcasts later.

In order to set up a folder, please work through the following steps:

1. Using any method described above, open up one of your feeds you wish to add to a folder.
2. Press Control+Shift+V for "Move to Folder".
3. Press Down Arrow. You will find a list of folders to which the feed can be moved. You will also find a link entitled "Create New Folder". Press Enter for this example. If you did want to move the feed to one of your existing folders, just press Enter on the link pertaining to the folder.
4. If the "New Folder" link has been activated, an edit field will be available. Into this edit field, type the name of a new folder and press Enter. The feed will now be moved to the new folder.

Viewing Feeds In a Folder.

1. When focused upon the Old Reader site, press ALT+Windows+S for Subscriptions, or alternatively, use the JAWS Find facility to search for the word "Subscriptions".
2. Below this link you will find further links, with each one pointing to the individual feed to which you are subscribed. We will ignore these for now. Below these links, you will find a list of folders which have been created.
3. Press Enter on a folder name so as to view newly updated posts from all feeds which form part of the folder.

Saving a Folder As a Favourite.

Rather than working through the above procedure to locate an individual folder for later viewing, Leasey gives you the ability to save this as a favourite. This means you can easily locate it without having to launch the Old Reader web pages.
This is especially helpful for example if you have a folder containing all podcasts to which you are subscribed.

1. Using the above steps, be sure you are located inside a folder.
2. When the posts for the folder are being displayed, Move into the Old Reader menu with the Leasey key then Shift+O.
3. Select the item to add the current feed or folder to your favourites, then press Enter.
4. When prompted, type a name for the favourite. This name need not reflect the full name of the folder, although it probably will since you will have created the original name for it. You could type a short-form if appropriate. Press Enter.
5. Finally if necessary, close down the Old Reader web site by pressing ALT+F4.

To locate the previously stored favourite, again move into the Old Reader menu. This time, you will find an additional item on the menu reflecting the name of the favourite you created. The name of the favourite will relate to the folder. Press Enter on this so as to launch the web page displaying posts relative to the folder.

Should you wish to remove an item from the favourites list, go back into the Old Reader menu, locate the name of the favourite and press the Leasey key followed by Delete.

Removing a Folder.

If you wish to remove a folder:

1. Locate the link pertaining to a folder using any one of the methods listed above.
2. Press Enter to move into the folder.
3. Locate the "Unsubscribe" link and press Enter.
4. A warning dialog box is displayed, asking if you wish to unsubscribe from all the feeds in the folder. Press Enter to confirm.

Please note: If you have stored the folder you have just removed as a Leasey Old Reader favourite, you will need to remove it from this list as well by finding it in the Old Reader menu, then pressing the Leasey key followed by Delete.

Sharing Content.

As you read the posts related to the subscribed feeds, you will note below each item is a link to share it using social media. If you wish you can use this. However, Leasey provides a more convenient way to achieve this.

1. Open up the post in question by pressing Enter on the link.
2. Press ALT+Control+Windows+T. This copies both the page title and its corresponding URL to the Windows clipboard. This means that you can paste it into a post you are creating using your favourite social media platform, together with any explanatory notes. Indeed, this approach can be used on any web page, not just those derived from the Old Reader.

Working With Podcasts.

The Old Reader can be used as an extremely effective client for managing all aspects of podcasts. You already have most of the skills to manage this effectively. However, the following steps will assist you in setting up a podcast management tool. It will also describe how to play and download podcast episodes.

Subscribing to a Podcast Feed Method 1.

Locate an RSS feed. We will use the Living Blindfully podcast feed as an example which is:

https://pinecast.com/feed/livingblindfully

Be sure this feed is copied to the Windows clipboard.

1. Press the Leasey key then Shift+O to move into the Old Reader menu.
2. Select the item to add a feed manually, then press Enter.
3. Paste the previously copied podcast feed into the edit field, then press Enter. You are now subscribed to the podcast using the Old Reader.

Subscribing to a Podcast Feed Method 2.

1. Press the Leasey key then Shift+O to move into the Old Reader menu.
2. Activate the item to search for a podcast.
3. Type the term "Living Blindfully" and press Enter.
4. A list of results appears. There is only one podcast in the iTunes store with this name, so press Enter.
5. In the next screen which appears, activate the link to add the podcast to the Old Reader by pressing Enter on it.
6. You are now subscribed to the podcast using the Old Reader.

Moving the Podcast To a Dedicated Folder.

You will almost certainly wish to move all podcast feeds to their own dedicated folder. This is so that whenever you wish to see if there are new podcasts available from your favourite providers, you can move into this folder and check them.

1. When located on the Old Reader site, press ALT+Windows+S to locate "Subscriptions".
2. Arrow down to find our example which is "Living Blindfully". Press Enter on the link to open up the feed.
3. Press Control+Shift+V for "Move to Folder".
4. Press Down Arrow. You will find a list of folders to which the feed can be moved. You will also find a link entitled "Create New Folder". Press Enter.
5. Into the edit field which is now available, type a name such as "Podcasts", then press Enter.
6. The Living Blindfully podcast will now be moved into the "Podcasts" folder.

Setting Up Your Podcasts Folder As a Leasey Favourite.

1. When focused upon the Old Reader site, press ALT+Windows+S for Subscriptions, or alternatively, use the JAWS Find facility to search for the word "Subscriptions".
2. Below this link you will find further links, with each one pointing to the individual feed to which you are subscribed. We will ignore these for now. Below these links, you will find a list of folders which have been created. One of these will be entitled "Podcasts".
3. Press Enter to move into the folder.
4. When the posts for the folder are being displayed, Move into the Old Reader menu with the Leasey key then Shift+O.
5. Select the item to add the current feed or folder to your favourites, then press Enter.
6. When prompted, type a name for the favourite. This name need not reflect the full name of the folder, although it probably will since you will have created the original name for it. We will call it "Podcasts". Press Enter.

Subscribing to Further Podcasts.

Repeat the above steps to subscribe to as many podcasts as you like. Remember, after you have added each feed, you will want to move it to your podcasts folder by:

1. Opening up the podcast feed you have just subscribed to.
2. Pressing Control+Shift+V for "Move to Folder".
3. Arrow down to find the folder entitled "Podcasts".
4. Press Enter to move it into the "Podcasts" folder.

Viewing Updated Episodes From Your Podcast Providers.

We have now subscribed to some podcasts, we moved them into a folder entitled "Podcasts", and we've also created a Leasey favourite pointing to the folder in which they are contained.

1. Move into the Old Reader menu with the Leasey key then Shift+O.
2. Locate the podcasts item and press Enter.
3. You should now see a list of all recently updated episodes from your podcast providers with each one denoted by a new heading.
4. First you have the episode title, followed by the show notes.
   Below this is a "Play" button. You can press the Space Bar on this. You will note this is a very accessible way of playing the podcast. There are additional media controls here, such as a slider showing the elapsed time. You enter JAWS Forms Mode and manipulate this slider to adjust the point in the file you wish to play from, using the Left and Right Arrow keys. A volume slider is found just below the playback slider which can be manipulated with the Up and Down Arrow keys.
   Below the media controls is another button, "Show More media controls". Pressing the Space Bar on this reveals two more options: the first relates to downloading the file to your computer. The second brings focus to a menu whereupon you can adjust the playback speed.

Keeping Track of YouTube Videos.

The Old Reader can even keep track of the latest videos from your favourite YouTube channels.

1. Open up a web page containing a YouTube video.
2. Below the video title is the name of the channel which is hyperlinked. Press Enter on this link to move into the channel.
3. When the new page is loaded, press ALT+Control+Windows+C to copy the URL of the channel to the Windows clipboard.
4. Move into the Old Reader menu by pressing the Leasey key then Shift+O.
5. Select the item to add a feed manually to the Old Reader and press Enter.
6. Paste the URL from the clipboard into the edit field and press Enter.
   This is now treated like any other RSS feed. This means that you can move it to a folder of your choosing, or you can set a Leasey Old Reader favourite pointing to the feed.

Importing Feeds.

If you have previously used an alternative RSS client, there is a good possibility you can export the feeds saved within it to an OPML file. This file can then be imported into the Old Reader.

From the Home Page of the site, find the word "Import" which is hyperlinked. Press Enter to open up the importing page.

On the newly selected page, find the "Import" button and, when prompted, browse to the file name containing feeds you wish to import and press Enter.

The importing process may take a few minutes depending upon the number of feeds and folders therein. You will receive an Email notification when the process is complete.

Conclusion.

Leasey provides many more keystrokes to move to (and activate) other functions on the Old Reader web site. However, you should not need to use most of these provided you have followed the above instructions. You can retrieve a list of the keystrokes by focusing upon the Old Reader and pressing the Leasey key then H.

WhatsApp.

Introduction.

WhatsApp is a popular, free, multi-platform messaging app that lets users make video and voice calls, send text messages, share their status, and more with just a Wi-Fi connection. Part of what makes this app appealing is that it works on various phone and computer operating systems, so you can continue your conversation anytime, anywhere. It can also take advantage of Wi-Fi and cellular data to make one-to-one or group calls, reducing the need for expensive calling charges. You never miss messages, but even if you miss notifications while your phone is off, the app saves recent messages for when you re-open it.

WhatsApp can identify people in your contact list who currently use the app, so you typically don’t have to add them manually. You can also invite people who don’t have WhatsApp or connect with other users you know but who aren’t on your contact list.

This Chapter of the Leasey documentation does not consist of a full tutorial on how to use WhatsApp. It broadly outlines the support given specifically for use with JAWS and Leasey and the special functions which have been created. We will however describe the primary screen layout and how to carry out some simple tasks.

WhatsApp is downloadable (and can be installed) from the Microsoft Store. It is an official Microsoft app.

Starting WhatsApp.

WhatsApp is usually launched from the Start Menu. Into the Edit Field you can type "WhatsApp" and press Enter when JAWS announces it is in focus. When the app is launched, be sure to press Insert+Q or Caps Lock+Q. You will hear a build number of the WhatsApp scripts, followed by the fact that the WhatsApp settings are loaded. If you do not hear a build number, the Leasey support for WhatsApp is not being used.

Before You Begin.

When you start WhatsApp for the first time, there is a procedure where you need to link WhatsApp from your phone to the computer. However fortunately this is an accessible process. It involves using your phone number as the linking mechanism as follows:

1. Start WhatsApp on the Windows PC.
2. Press Tab to reach the Button entitled "Get Started" or similar, and press the Space Bar to activate it. Indeed it may already be the focused control.
3. On your phone, open the app, select "Settings" and then "Link Device". You may then be asked to enter your PIN or use Face (or touch) ID for identification.
4. On the computer, press Tab to the button labelled "Link with Phone Number" and press Space".
5. On the next screen, type your phone number using the international format into the edit field and press Enter. An example of such a format might be +44 7654 321987.
6. A code is then sent to the computer which you must type into the phone in order that the linking mechanism can take place. Press the Tab key repeatedly. You will find an item which states that the process for linking WhatsApp via your phone number has begun. Eventually, JAWS will speak the code we are wanting. In order to read the code a character at a time, press function key F9. This will place the code into the JAWS virtual viewer. Review each character and type it on the phone. As soon as the code has been entered, the link is complete and this screen will be dismissed.

Please note. We cannot assist you with, and do not provide any support for, the above process of linking your computer to your WhatsApp account.

Screen Layout.

The WhatsApp screen contains a number of controls through which you can press Tab and Shift+Tab. The primary components are:

• A series of Buttons such as "Create New Conversation", "Conversation Info", "Video Call" and so on.
• Two List Boxes. The first of these shows the conversation threads available. JAWS refers to this as the "Chats List". The second is a list of messages in that conversation. the scripts refers to this as the "Messages List".
• An Edit Field for typing a message to the person in the focused conversation.

Because there are quite a number of such controls to move through, keyboard shortcuts have been provided as part of the scripts to directly move to key areas of the application. Some of these are as follows:

• Typing edit field: ALT+T.
• Chats List: ALT+C.
• Messages list: ALT+M.
• Record a Voice message: F1. This does not have a pneumonic keystroke such as ALT+R and the reason for this will be explained later.
• Audio or voice call: ALT+A.
• Video call: ALT+V.

You can obtain a complete list of all keyboard shortcuts by checking the scripts's Hotkey Help, Insert+H.

Moving Through Messages in a Conversation.

There are three ways of working through messages in a conversation.

By far the easiest way is to press Control+Tab or Shift+Control+Tab. Each time you do this, a new conversation is focused and JAWS will set focus to the Edit Field for typing a new message to the individual. It will also announce the text label for this, such as, "Type to Laura, Edit". You will then instantly know you are chatting with the person you intend.

To move through the messages in the conversation, press Tab repeatedly to move to the Messages List, or press ALT+M from anywhere to move to it directly. You can then use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through the list to review activity. Note that when you do this, you will not be at the top or bottom of the list. the scripts contains special coding so that you are placed at the point in the list you last accessed. This is essential for efficient working and for voice messages referred to later.

The second method for moving to a conversation is as follows:

1. Press Tab until you reach the Chats List, or press ALT+C from anywhere. Alternatively press ALT+L. If you were previously focused in the Chats List, this latter keystroke will place you at the point in the list where you left off reading.
2. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to find the Chat required.
3. Press the Enter key to move into the Chat .
4. Press Tab to the Messages List or press ALT+M to move to it directly.

Finally, you can press Control+1 through to Control+9. This will allow you to switch between the nine most recent chats which have been accessed.

We should make mention of the Filter Edit Field, activated with Control+F. When the field is focused, you can type the name of the person whose conversation you wish to access. The purpose of this field is to ensure you only see the messages relating to that person in the Messages List. When the text has been entered, press Tab, and you should find a list of chats which match your search. Press Enter to move into the chat, and then press ALT+M to move to the messages list.

Should you wish to check the conversation name on which you are focused, press ALT+N for Name. This is especially helpful prior to sending a message to ensure you are in the correct conversation. JAWS will announce or Braille the name of the user and the status, such as "Laura Online". Press the keystroke twice quickly so as to send the details to the JAWS Virtual Viewer for closer inspection. If JAWS says that no status is available, try maximising the window with ALT+Space then X or press Insert+Escape.

Sending a Text Chat Message to an Active Conversation.

If a conversation is already in progress, you can send a text chat message to it. Prior to doing this, we highly recommend you enable the typing sound indicator. This can be done by pressing Control+F12 repeatedly. This feature has four options:

• No information is spoken when a message is being composed.
• You will hear a typing sound when a message is being composed.
• You will hear a typing sound when a message is being composed and the name of the person typing. This is the preferred option.
• You will hear the name of the person typing. Using this setting, no typing sound indicator is heard.

Regardless of the above typing indicator setting, you can always check if a person is typing by pressing F12.

Assuming the feature is not disabled, when someone is typing a message to you, if you are focused within the WhatsApp application you will hear a report of this, even if the conversation pertaining to it is not focused. In other words, if you are having a conversation with Mary, and you have pressed Control+Tab to move into another conversation, when she begins to type you will be notified through the scripts of what is happening.

Similarly, if you have pressed ALT+C to activate the Chats List, as you move through your chats with the Up and Down Arrow keys, JAWS will announce if a person who is part of the chat or group is typing or recording audio.

As soon as the message is sent by the other participant in the conversation, the scripts instruct JAWS to announce it automatically if the option is set in the scripts to announce the messages. This can be enabled or disabled by pressing Control+Shift+F12. You will notice that sometimes, the typing indicator sound will stop, but no message is announced. This is because the other person has stopped typing for a moment but has not sent the message. The typing sound indicator will pick up again when the person resumes typing. the scripts understands that a new message has not been added to the conversation and so does not cause JAWS to announce anything new.

You will note that, when automatic reading of messages is enabled, JAWS reads the message followed by the time the message was sent together with its status, such as "Sent". This additional information can be disabled by pressing Control+Shift+F11. This is a toggle action and will enable or disable this reduction of information. Ensuring that JAWS does not speak this information is good because the overall output is like having a real conversation with someone.

If you are focused in an alternative conversation, or if you are working in an application other than WhatsApp, you are notified of the incoming message through the playing of a sound and through a standard Windows notification. The easiest way to review the details of the message would be:

1. Press ALT+Tab to focus back on WhatsApp.
2. Open up the chat concerned.
3. Press ALT+1. JAWS reports the last message received. ALT+1 through to ALT+0 will report the most recent 10 messages in the list. These keystrokes can be used to read the most recent 10 messages in any WhatsApp chat. ALT+Windows+1 through to ALT+Windows+0 will report messages 11 through to 20. Press these keystrokes twice quickly for additional message actions described later.

To send a message yourself, press ALT+T to set focus to the typing Edit Field, type the message and press Enter. JAWS will announce the message which has been sent together with the status, such as, "Sent". You will also hear a sound play to advise you it has been sent.

Additional Message Actions.

As previously mentioned, pressing ALT+1 through to ALT+0 will report the details of the last 10 messages you have received. ALT+Windows+1 through to ALT+Windows+0 will report messages 11 through to 20. However, if you press any of these keys twice quickly, one of the following actions will take place.

If the item JAWS is reporting is an audio message, pressing the keystroke twice quickly will play it automatically.

If it relates to any other kind of message, such as text or a file attachment, details of the message are placed into the JAWS Virtual Viewer for closer inspection, perhaps word by word. At the bottom of the screen is a link to activate the "Context Menu" for the message. Pressing Enter on the link will activate the Context Menu for it. This is very useful for file attachments especially or to react to a message.
These actions should mean that in most cases, you should not need to browse through the messages list at all.

Finding a Contact to Chat With.

We have already described how to find a conversation which is ongoing. There are three ways.

Alternatively, you can:

1. Press Control+N for a new chat.
2. Type the name of the person you would like to chat with. This person must be in your contacts list.
3. Press Tab. A list of the people matching your search term should be displayed. Press the Up or Down Arrow keys to move through the list. If no results are found, focus is still in the edit field and you will hear that no results have been found.
4. When you have found the desired contact to chat with, press Enter. You can then verify the name again by pressing ALT+N, which has the added advantage of reporting the status, such as "Online".
5. You can then begin a text chat if you wish. Focus is immediately in the text entry field for this purpose.
6. You could if you wish press F1 to record a voice message. This is described in the next section.
7. Alternatively, press ALT+A to place an audio call or ALT+V to place a video call. While in a call, the controls are displayed in a separate window to the primary WhatsApp application. This is called the "WhatsApp Call" window. This is a simple Dialog Box containing only a few controls which are all self-explanatory. To query whether the microphone is muted or unmuted, press ALT+Windows+M. To query whether the camera is active, press ALT+Windows+C. To end the call, press ALT+Windows+E, or press Tab to reach the "End Call" Button and press the Space Bar.

When you have pressed Control+N for a new chat, you do not need to type anything into the Edit Field if you do not wish to. You could press Tab twice. This sets focus to the list of contacts. Press Down Arrow to move through the list. You will hear the name of the contact. Press Enter to start a new chat.

Sending a Voice Message.

It is possible to send someone a voice message. Upon careful research, it seems there is no limit as to the size of the voice message. Apparently people have sent entire church services for example as WhatsApp messages.

1. Locate a contact or conversation as described in previous sections.
2. Press Enter to move into the chat.
3. Press F1 so as to begin recording a voice message. JAWS has been programmed not to say anything to ensure that speech output does not intrude into the voice message. An ascending tone will play to indicate recording is about to start. We have ensured this does not intrude into the recording. Start speaking after you hear the sound.
4. Should you wish to pause the recording, press F1. A descending tone will be heard. We have ensured this does not intrude into the recording. If you explore the Dialog Box at that point with Tab and Shift+Tab, you will note that a "Play" Button is available which, when activated, will play back the Voice Message. Next comes a position slider. You can change the position of where the audio begins to play by pressing the Left and Right Arrow keys on the slider. Finally, there is a "Resume Recording" Button. Press Space on this Button to recommence recording or press F1 again. The voice message can be played back at any time by pressing F2 rather than having to Tab through the dialog. Press F5 to verify whether the recording has been paused or is ongoing.
5. Prior to sending the message, we suggest you press the Space Bar on the "Pause Recording" Button or press F1. Then, press Tab to reach the "Send" Button and press Space or press F3.
6. If you are creating a Voice Message, and you wish to cancel it, press F4. A Dialog Box will appear, asking if you are sure you wish to cancel. The focused Button is "Yes", so go ahead and press the Space Bar.

In summary, the keystrokes conveniently placed are:

• F1 Record, Pause and Resume Voice Message.
• F2 Play or Pause Voice Message.
• F3 Send Voice Message.
• F4 Cancel Voice Message.
• F5 verifies whether the recording is paused or ongoing.

Listening to Audio Messages You Have Received.

As you browse through your list of messages in a chat, (ALT+M), you may hear that someone has sent you a voice message. If this occurs, press Enter to play it.
You will know if this is the case since JAWS will announce the presence of an audio message and it will play an audio cue.

Alternatively, use ALT+1 through to ALT+0 to review the 10 most recently received messages, or press ALT+~Windows+1 through to ALT+Windows+0 so as to review messages 11 through to 20. These keys will cause JAWS to read any text associated with the message and its type, such as "Document" or "Audio". If you hear "Audio", press the keystroke twice quickly so as to begin playing it.

If while playing an audio message you wish to change the speed of playback, press function key F6. This will cycle through the available playback speed options.

If you have used one of the message reading keystrokes twice quickly to play the audio message, and you wish to pause playback, press ALT+M. This should set focus to the point in the message list containing the audio message. Press Enter to pause and play the audio.

Answering An Incoming Call.

When you receive an incoming call, assuming WhatsApp is running, a simple Dialog Box is available with three controls. These are: "Accept Audio Call", "Decline Audio Call" and "Device Settings". Press the Tab key to reach the appropriate Button and press the Space Bar to activate it.

Making an Audio or Video Call.

If you wish to make an audio or video call, first find the conversation relating to the person you wish to chat with or create a new one.

Press Enter so as to move inside the chat, then press ALT+A for an audio call or ALT+V for a video call.

While in a call, the controls are displayed in a separate window to the primary WhatsApp application. This is called the "WhatsApp Call" window. This is a simple Dialog Box containing only a few controls which are all self-explanatory. To query whether the microphone is muted or unmuted, press ALT+Windows+M. To query whether the camera is active, press ALT+Windows+C. To end the call, press ALT+E, or press Tab to reach the "End Call" Button and press the Space Bar.

Accessing a Phone Number of a Contact.

You can access the phone number of one of your contacts which is associated with the WhatsApp profile.

1. Focus on a conversation between you and the person whose phone number you need. Alternatively, you could create a new conversation with the person if you wish.
2. When focused upon the conversation, press Enter to move into it. Then, press Tab to reach the "Conversation Info" Button and press Space.
3. Press F8. This will place the details including the phone number into the JAWS Virtual Viewer for closer inspection.
4. When you have read the phone number, press Escape twice: once to exit the Virtual Viewer and a second time to close the profile information screen.

Changing the About Box Text.

The text in the About section of your profile is important. People see this text as they are browsing through contacts.

1. Press Control+P to move into "Profile and Settings".
2. Press Shift+Tab and focus should be on a Button entitled "About, Start Editing". Press Enter.
3. Focus is now in an edit field where the text can be edited or replaced. Type or edit the existing text and press Enter to save.

Working With File Attachments.

To attach a file from your computer to a message, ensure the relevant chat is open and press ALT+H. A number of options are presented to you, however the most likely one you will wish to access is the first of these which is "File". Press Enter. You are in a standard "Open" Dialog Box common to Windows applications. Browse to the relevant file and press Enter. Optionally, you can then type a "Caption" to explain the purpose of the file being sent. Finally, Tab to the "Send" Button and press the Space Bar.

A far easier way to attach a file however is to locate it using File Explorer. Copy the file to the Windows Clipboard with Control+C. Then, focus back on the WhatsApp message and paste it with Control+V. Optionally, you can then type a "Caption" to explain the purpose of the file being sent. Finally, Tab to the "Send" Button and press the Space Bar.

Setting a Nickname.

Have you ever been browsing through WhatsApp messages and you hear a long name or a phone number? If either of those belong to someone you chat with regularly, you want to hear the message as quickly as possible. Now you can by assigning a nickname to a WhatsApp user. So rather than hearing the phone number 001234567, you can hear the word John instead.

1. Open up a chat from the list. It is important you are inside the chat.
2. Press ALT+M so as to focus upon the message history. This can be within a group or individual chat.
3. Use the Up or Down Arrow keys to find a message containing the long name or phone number.
4. Press ALT+Windows_N for Name.
5. An Edit Field appears containing the name or phone number which has been captured. In nearly all cases this should be correct. If it is not, you can edit it, but only do so if you are sure there is a problem.
6. Press Enter and, when prompted, type the new name in its shortened form.
7. Press Enter and it has an immediate effect.

Should you wish to remove the name previously stored, from anywhere in WhatsApp press ALT+Control+Windows+N. A list of previously stored names appears. Press Down Arrow to reach the name you wish to remove and press Enter. The name is removed. If you focus back on a message from the WhatsApp user, you should find it is being spoken again in full.

Keystroke Summary.

You can read a list of the Leasey-specific keystrokes for WhatsApp by pressing the Leasey Key then H, or by searching Leasey's Hotkey Help for the term "WhatsApp".

Using Emoji.

What Is 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 Emoji characters on social media for example, JAWS is able to announce them. 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:

1. Place the cursor in the area where you would like to insert Emoji.
2. Press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+E.
3. You are now in a list of Emoji. You can either navigate the list with the Up or Down Arrow keys, type the first letter or two of the item you want (such as "SM" for "Smiley Face"), or press numbers 1 through to 0. Pressing any of these numbers will take you to each of the 10 categories.
4. When the desired item is located, press Enter to insert the sign.

The 10 categories are:

1. Animals.
2. Facial Expressions.
3. Entertainment and Technology.
4. Food and Drink.
5. Gestures and Signs.
6. People.
7. Sports.
8. Weather.
9. Fantasy.
10. Romance and Objects.

The LeaseyClock.

Introduction.

The LeaseyClock not only tells you the time! It contains very powerful and flexible stopwatch facilities as well as timer functions. It can also be set to play Westminster chimes at varying intervals which are controllable by you. Finally, you can even cause the minutes and seconds to be output to your Braille display regardless of the model of display you are using.

In this Chapter, we will walk you through all aspects of the LeaseyClock. All of the functions can be activated, deactivated and managed globally, so you can easily work within another program running on the computer and still use the LeaseyClock in whichever way you would like to.

Introducing the LeaseyClock.

If using LeaseyBasic, The LeaseyClock can be accessed through the Leasey Main Menu by selecting the item “Open the LeaseyClock”. Alternatively, you can press the Leasey Key then control+Shift+C to access it directly. Moreover, most of the LeaseyClock functions have shortcut keys associated with them so you can access them without working through the menu system. Please refer to this document or the Leasey Hotkey Help, (Leasey Key then H), to get a full list of the shortcuts.

We will work through all of the functions of the LeaseyClock in the order they appear on the menu. Global keystrokes will also be given. In many cases, the LeaseyClock keystrokes can easily be accessed by holding down the ALT+Control+Windows keys, (usually the three keys to the immediate left of the Space Bar), and while doing so, press any one of the function keys from F1 through to F9.

• Hear the Current Time, Insert+F12 or Leasey Key then Down Arrow. Simply causes the current time to be announced. Please also refer to the last item in this list for modification of the time announcement.
• Hear the time including seconds, Leasey Key then Windows+Down Arrow.
• Insert the time into your document or edit area, Leasey Key then Left Arrow.
• Start the Stopwatch, ALT+Control+Windows+F1. Will start the stopwatch counting up. This can run for an indefinite period, weeks if necessary.
• Stop the Stopwatch, ALT+Control+Windows+F2. Will stop the watch, however if it is restarted again using the option above, the watch is not cleared and continues counting from the time it was stopped.
• Insert the Stopwatch total time into your text edit area, Leasey Key then ALT+Control+Windows+F3.
• Hear Elapsed Time, ALT+Control+Windows+F3. Speaks the elapsed time for which the stopwatch has been running.
• Clear the Stopwatch, ALT+Control+Windows+F4. If the stopwatch has been stopped it is cleared. When it is restarted, the count begins at 0.
• Change the Number of Decimal Places, ALT+Control+Windows+F5. Changes the number of decimal places spoken by the stopwatch. It rotates between 0, 1, 2 or 3 decimal places.
• Set recurring sound for the stopwatch, ALT+Windows+F5. This brings into view an edit field so you can specify the number of minutes after which the sound will play. For example, if a figure 5 is typed into this field, and then you press Enter, Leasey will begin playing the sound at 5 minute intervals when you start the stopwatch with ALT+Control+Windows+F1. It will do so until you stop it with ALT+Control+Windows+F2. Note that if figure 0 is typed into this edit box the sound will not play.
• Set Countdown timer by entering the number of minutes, ALT+Control+Windows+F6. When prompted, enter a value between 1 and 59 to represent the number of minutes for the countdown timer. Press Enter to begin. When the desired minutes have elapsed, a chime sound will play. Press this keystroke a second time to stop the countdown timer.
• Set Alarm Time, ALT+Control+Windows+F7. When prompted, enter an alarm time, 2 figures for the hour, then a colon, followed by 2 digits for the minutes. Press Enter to set the alarm. When the alarm time is reached, a tune will play. Please press ALT+Control+Windows+S to stop the alarm sound.
• Hear How Many Minutes Remain on the Countdown Timer or Alarm, ALT+Control+Windows+F8. When the countdown timer or alarm is running, use this option to hear how many minutes remain .
• Customise Chime Sounds, ALT+Control+Windows+F9. Leasey can play Westminster chimes throughout the day. This is a very useful method of being able to keep track of time. If you press this keystroke repeatedly, you will cycle through the available options. These are "Chimes will be heard every 15 minutes", "Chimes will be heard every 30 minutes", "Chimes will be heard every hour", or "None" to disable chime sounds. When the option you would like is spoken, it is immediately set and will remain so even if you restart the computer. You can change it at any time by pressing the same keystroke, ALT+Control+Windows+F9. The chimes can be stopped by pressing either ALT+Control+Windows+S or, if you are listening to (or watching) a YouTube video, press the Leasey Key then ALT+Control+Windows+F9. In the latter case the chimes will stop and the video will continue to play.
• Time Monitor, ALT+Control+Windows+F10. Allows you to monitor for when the next minute point occurs. Please see the below description of the "Time Monitor".
• As previously stated there is one further item on this menu which deliberately does not have a shortcut key associated with it. This is an item which can be activated or deactivated by pressing Enter on it. It is disabled by default. When enabled, from that point pressing JAWS Key+F12 to hear the time will cause JAWS to announce it in hours, minutes and seconds format. This is preferred in rare situations.

If you find that the alarm or chime sounds are not at an acceptable volume, press ALT+Control+Windows+Up or Down Arrow to change the level. If an alarm or chime sound is not playing, you will hear a tune instead so you can adjust the volume to your requirements. When the desired level has been reached, and if the tune is playing, press ALT+Control+Windows+S to stop it, although it will automatically be stopped after one minute. If you reach 100 per cent of the volume level, you will be advised of this. If the lowest level at 0 per cent is reached, you will be advised of this, followed by the words, "Not Recommended".

The Time Monitor.

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".

Press ALT+Control+Windows+F10 to begin the "Time Monitor". This can also be found on the LeaseyClock menu as described above, activated by pressing the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+C. You will hear the words, "It is", followed by the time, such as "It is 10:55".

If only ten seconds or less remain in the current minute, you will be advised of this and that Leasey will begin monitoring the next minute. We assume that if there are less than 10 seconds to run, you will not have time to set the clock correctly.

If you press the keystroke, or activate the menu item, and there is less than 50 seconds to run before the minute point, you will hear how many seconds remain prior to this.

When Leasey is monitoring a minute of time, a soft tick sound will play every second. You will also hear an announcement every 10 seconds to advise you of the progress.

When 55 seconds is reached, you will hear an announcement every second.

When the minute point is reached, you will hear the word "Stop", followed by the new time.

Sending the Time Each Second to Your Braille Display.

You may encounter a situation where you are needing to know exactly when you reach a specific point in time, such as the top of an hour. This may be to end a broadcast precisely or to stop hosting a presentation in a conference.

If you have a Braille display, you can ensure the computer's system clock is sent to it, so as to show the time including seconds. The display is updated each second until you stop it, which can easily be achieved by pressing any key on the keyboard. Note that a Braille display containing status cells is not required. You should be able to use this with any display of your choosing.

1. Press ALT+Windows+F10. Deliberately, no speech output has been put in place when this keystroke is pressed.
2. You will be able to read the system clock output on your Braille display second by second.
3. Press any key to stop it.

Progress Indicators.

A Progress Indicator is generally given in percentage terms to advise a user of the progress of an event which is taking place in Windows. This could be the installation of a program, but it could also be the downloading of a file from the internet, or perhaps copying a large folder from one storage location to another.

JAWS does give a good indicator as to the percentage of most progress bars. However, Leasey does have a sound scheme, (activated by pressing the Leasey Key then letter O). This has three states: Off, which means speech only. Sounds On, which is self-explanatory, and Sounds with Speech, where you hear both the sounds and the speech; a tutorial mode if you will. The Sounds Scheme allows sounds to represent specific events rather than speech output, for example when a web page loads or when text is being highlighted or selected.

Assuming the Sounds Scheme is enabled, and when JAWS is in contact with a Progress Bar, you will hear tones which represent 5 percent increments, with the lowest tone representing 5 percent and the highest 100 percent.

During other percentage increments, you will hear a soft tick sound. While we could have just stopped at the 20 tones, we wanted users to know that progress was occurring at the other percentage points in a discrete way. For example, if a large video file is being copied from an iPhone to a computer, this can take several minutes. The tick sounds will indicate that things are progressing, but if there is a pause in the tick sounds, this should let you know that no further progress is being made.

Naturally, we want users to learn what the sounds represent, so there is a tutorial mode which plays the tones from lowest to highest, together with the soft tick. Press the Leasey Key followed by Windows+P.

Two further notes. There is a setting within JAWS to change the frequency of the progress indicator reports. This is honoured by the Sounds Scheme.

Secondly, in the case of downloading files using Google Chrome, there is no progress bar as such. But with Leasey, you will hear a sound to indicate that a file is downloading, and there is also a mechanism by which you can ascertain the amount of a file which has been downloaded together with the total size of the potential download. Press the Leasey Key followed by Windows+P to learn this information.

LeaseyTags.

Introduction.

LeaseyTags is an intelligent application which allows you to manage files within File Explorer. You can also tag messages in Microsoft Outlook for manipulation, described below.

For example, if you wanted to select files 1, 3 and 25 in a File Explorer list, perhaps for copying, cutting or deleting, this could be difficult. It can be done using the keyboard but there is the potential for mistakes to be made. LeaseyTags makes this and other similar functions simple!

Using LeaseyTags in File Explorer.

LeaseyTags allows you to assign a tag to any file within File Explorer. If necessary, this can be from multiple folders. Simply focus upon the file you wish to tag, then press Control+Shift+Space. When you tag a file, you hear a LeaseyTag sound.

If at any time you wish to change your mind and cancel the processing of tagging, press the Escape key. All tags will be removed. The files themselves are not removed.

To verify which files are tagged, either:

1. Move through the list of files by pressing Up or Down Arrow keys. As focus moves to a file which is tagged, you hear the LeaseyTag sound. Alternatively, you can use first letter navigation in order to move to a file directly. Again, you will still hear the LeaseyTag sound.
2. Press Control+Shift+T. Each file which has been tagged is announced. This would be the most appropriate way to verify tagged files from multiple folders.

You can press ALT+Windows+N to verify the number of files which have been tagged.

In the event you wish to remove one of the LeaseyTags from the list, simply locate the file pertaining to the tag to be removed. This will be indicated by the LeaseyTag sound. Then, press Control+Shift+Space to remove it.

When all files have been tagged, a number of actions can be performed:

• Control+C will copy all the LeaseyTagged files to the Windows clipboard ready for pasting elsewhere with Control+V.
• Control+x will cut all the LeaseyTagged files to the Windows clipboard ready for pasting elsewhere with Control+V.
• Control+Shift+D will remove a LeaseyTag from the focused file. Press this keystroke twice quickly to delete all LeaseyTags.
• Delete key or Shift+Delete will delete the tagged files from the computer. A Dialog box will appear, asking if you would like to delete the files. Please press the letter "Y" for yes or "N" for no.
• Control+Shift+P will add all the tagged files to a LeaseyPlaylist. Please refer to the next chapter relating to LeaseyAudio for a further discussion on playlists.

As an example, if you wanted to copy files 1, 3 and 5 from a folder, and paste them into an alternative location, please follow these steps:

1. Locate the folder in File Explorer containing the files to be copied.
2. Press the Down Arrow key to focus upon the first file and tag it with Control+Shift+Space.
3. Move to the next file in the list, (it can be several files down), and again tag it with the same keystroke.
4. Repeat the procedure for the third file.
5. Press Control+Shift+T and the file names of all those you have tagged will be spoken back to you.
6. Press Control+C to copy the tagged files to the Clipboard ready for pasting elsewhere.
7. Browse to the second folder and press Control+V. If you have copied more than 10 items, you will receive a progress indicator letting you know periodically how many have been copied. You will be advised when the copying is complete. If any files could not be copied for any reason, a screen will appear using the JAWSVirtual Viewer, indicating which files could not be copied. Press Escape to close the window and return to File Explorer.

LeaseyTag Confirmation.

When you perform actions on LeaseyTagged files, (such as copying them to the Windows clipboard), you will hear a sound, followed by the word, “Complete”. When this is done, all LeaseyTags are removed from files. This is to ensure that LeaseyTags are not stored for a long period of time.

Using LeaseyTags in Microsoft Outlook.

This section of the documentation requires very careful reading.

LeaseyTags allows you to assign a tag to any message within a Microsoft Outlook mail folder. A good example would be the Inbox where all incoming messages live. Many people have an Inbox containing thousands of messages! This is not particularly efficient if you wish to find messages quickly. The best approach is to move messages you wish to keep into folders for the purpose.

In summary, you will tag messages you wish to manipulate. Once tagged, there are three things you can do with them:

1. Move them to an alternative folder, Control+Shift+V.
2. Copy them to an alternative folder, Control+Shift+Y.
3. Delete them, by pressing the Delete key.

Note that when messages are tagged, you cannot open them. The process of tagging them therefore should only be used in a situation where you have previously read the messages and you wish to tidy up your mailbox folder.

Simply focus upon the message you wish to tag, then press Control+Shift+Space. When you tag a message, you hear a LeaseyTag sound.

If at any time you wish to change your mind and cancel the processing of tagging, press the Escape key. All tags will be removed. The messages themselves are not removed.

To verify which messages are tagged, either:

1. Move through the list of messages by pressing Up or Down Arrow keys. As focus moves to a message which is tagged, you hear the LeaseyTag sound.
2. Press Control+Shift+T. Each message which has been tagged is announced.

You can press ALT+Windows+N to verify the number of messages which have been tagged.

In the event you wish to remove one of the LeaseyTags from the list, simply locate the message pertaining to the tag to be removed. This will be indicated by the LeaseyTag sound. Then, press Control+Shift+Space to remove it.

LeaseyAudio.

Introduction.

LeaseyAudio allows you to enjoy your music, books and any other audio in exceptionally high quality.

In order to take advantage of the LeaseyAudio playback, particularly the hot keys which can be used from within any application, you will need to install Foobar2000. The developers of Foobar2000 are particularly keen to ensure that the audio output from this application is second-to-none, so undoubtedly this is a player which deserves serious consideration when listening to audio.

If Foobar2000 is not installed, you can still use much of what LeaseyAudio has to offer in terms of creating, managing and listening to songs from playlists. Winamp and VLC Media Player for example can be used to good effect.

In this Chapter, we will walk you through all aspects of creating a playlist based upon files in your audio library. This will include editing and playing songs from it. We will also describe all the global hot keys which can be used with Foobar2000.

In order to make it easier for you to create playlists, if using LeaseyBasic we suggest you include the path to the start point of your audio library in LeaseyManager. However, this is by no means essential, and provided you know how to use File Explorer, creating a playlist will not be difficult. This simply gives you a useful starting point for browsing the audio library. You will, however, need to have read and understood the previous Chapter concerning LeaseyTags.

The LeaseyAudio Menu.

The leaseyAudio menu is located on the Leasey Main Menu by selecting the option “Launch LeaseyAudio”. Alternatively, press the Leasey Key followed by the letter “A” to access it directly.

The LeaseyAudio menu contains several items and we will work through them in the order in which they appear.

Create or Change a Playlist.

Activating this option on the LeaseyAudio menu will bring into view an Edit Field. You will be asked for the name of the playlist. Whether this is a new playlist, or an existing one you wish to add to, please type its name and press Enter.

Assuming you have instructed LeaseyManager where your primary audio folder is located, you will be taken to it automatically. If not, please browse to a folder containing audio files within File Explorer.

If LeaseyBasic is active, a list of folders is presented to you. You cannot press Tab or Shift+Tab to move outside the confines of the list. Pressing Enter will of course enter a folder, while pressing Backspace will return to the previous folder.

As described in the previous Chapter, please assign LeaseyTags to each file you wish to add to the playlist by pressing Control+Shift+Space when focused upon it. To repeat, this can be from multiple folders, however you can always add to a playlist later.

When all the tags are in place, press Control +Shift+P and the playlist will be created very quickly. You will hear the word, “Complete”.

If you wish to add to the current playlist at this stage, you can go ahead and tag more files from different folders and then press Control+Shift+P once again. Leasey remembers which playlist you are creating and will do so unless you change a name by selecting option 1 from the LeaseyAudio menu, “Create or Change a Playlist”.

Work With Your Playlists.

Activating the second option from the LeaseyAudio menu will let you “Work With Your Playlists”. Pressing Enter on this item will present you with a list of playlists you have previously saved. Press Enter on a playlist in order to work with it.

Managing a Playlist.

When within a playlist, four options are available:

• Listen to the Playlist. Pressing Enter here will begin playback of all the songs in the playlist in sequential order, unless you choose to shuffle its contents, (See Below).
• Listen to a Song from the Playlist. This option will present you with a list of all files in the playlist. Press Enter on an item to listen to it.
• Edit the Playlist. This option will bring the playlist into a file for easy text editing. If you wish to rearrange the order of items in the playlist, or delete from it, this is the option you need. Simply cut, copy, paste or delete items to suit your listening preference. Press Control+Enter to save.
• Delete the Playlist. Pressing Enter here will remove the playlist from the computer.

Listening to Audio.

When listening to any audio content, please hold down all three keys to the left of the Space Bar. These are the ALT, Control and Windows Keys. While doing so, press:

• P to pause and restart audio playback.
• Left Arrow skips back through the audio.
• Right Arrow skips right through the audio.
• F12 increases the volume level.
• F11 decreases the volume level.
• N skips to the next track in the playlist.
• B skips back a track in the playlist.
• U shuffles the content of the playlist.
• N resumes playback in the normal order of play.
• R repeats the current playlist.

Listening to an Audio CD.

If an audio CD is placed within the CD-ROM drive of your computer, from within any application press ALT+Control+Windows+O. A list of CD drives which are part of your computer will appear.

Press the Up or Down Arrow keys to select the drive in which the CD is located. There may only be one drive. Press Enter to start playing the CD.

When the disc is playing, use any of the playback keys above in order to move through (or listen to) the items.

Sound Card Properties.

Advanced users of Windows may wish to jump directly into the properties so as to manipulate various sound sources. In order to do this, from the LeaseyAudio menu select "Sound Card Settings". This will move directly into the Windows dialog box for controlling such devices, whereupon adjustments to levels and other characteristics of input and output for each device can be made.

VLC Media Player and Additional Winamp Functionality.

Despite our previous comments about Foobar2000 being preferable due to its global hotkeys, many people enjoy using Winamp or VLC Media Player. This section discusses the use of VLC and an additional function you can use in conjunction with the Winamp player.

VLC is an extremely widely used player which will handle just about any audio or video file you throw at it. It also gives you the ability to play CD's and DVD's if you have a necessary drive attached and that includes audio description content.

First of all, you are going to download VLC Media player. It will not take a degree in computer science to find it. Just google the term, download VLC media player, and you will be there.

Keystrokes and Concepts.

There are many keystrokes in VLC. Leasey interacts with a good many of them so as not to provide conflict with JAWS native commands and also to ensure that in certain conditions it speaks or sends to Braille appropriate information. You can activate or deactivate "Verbosity Mode" by pressing Control+Shift+V. When enabled, this mode will announce additional information, such as the file name when you move to the next track, the cursor position as you move through the item, etc.

So first of all, we will load a folder into VLC.
You can do this by pressing Control+F. If you want to open a file it is Control+O, or of course you can just launch it from File Explorer.
CTRL + D : Opens disk, such as a DVD

The first item begins to play. Here are some keystrokes you may care to use.

• Space equals Play and Pause.
• Control+Up and Down Arrow will change the volume level.
• N moves to the next track.
• P moves to the previous track.
• S stops item from playing.
• Left bracket next to P: Decrease playing speed. If verbosity is on, speedh is announced.
• Right bracket: Increase playing speed. If verbosity is on, speedh is announced.
• Left and Right Arrow: 10 seconds forward or back.
• Shift with Left and Right Arrow: 3 seconds forward or back.
• CTRL + RIGHT or Left ARROW : 1 minute forward or back.
• ALT+Shift+T: Announce elapsed time.

VLC has an interesting concept applied to it. You can either gain the remaining time of a playing song, or the total length of it. It is one or the other which is displayed. We have tried to provide a mechanism for toggling this. The keystroke for doing this is Control shift c for change time.
Once you have applied the setting how you would like, press Control+Shift+T.

Other keystrokes worthy of note for now.

• B: Cycle through available audio tracks, for example on a DVD.
• M: Mute sound on and off
• Shift+A: cycles through all the audio devices available.
• Control+L: switch to playlist or back to media.
• Control+T Go to Time. Listen to the instructions provided and type the format exactly as described.
• Control+V followed by Enter, launch a specific URL. This can be a YouTube video, SoundCloud audio, radio station and so on. If you have the URL for a video or audio source you can use that too.
• Alternatively, you can press Control+N to open a network stream, paste it in and press Enter.

Locating a Previously Saved Position in Winamp or VLC.

You may well be interested in hearing audio books in MP3 format or similar. In this event, you may wish at a later time to pick up from the point where you left off reading.

1. Pause the playback of the book by pressing the Space Bar.
2. Close the program down by pressing ALT+F4 in the usual way.
3. Open up the file again at a later time and it will begin playback.
4. Press ALT+Windows+K so as to move back to the previously stored position.

Please note that the storing of the saved position is file specific, that is to say that the position is retained relative to the file you were previously playing.

Setting And Locating Bookmarks in VLC.

It is possible to set bookmarks in VLC Media Player so as to return to strategic points within the audio at a later time.

1. Locate the point in the file where you wish to set the bookmark.
2. Press the Leasey key then Control+1.
3. Type a name for the bookmark and press Enter.

To locate a bookmark, press the Leasey key then 1. A list of bookmarks relative to the current file is available. Select the one you wish to move to and press Enter. The audio should then begin playing at the desired location.

To delete a bookmark, press the Leasey key then 2. A list of bookmarks relative to the current file is available. Select the one you wish to remove and press Enter.

LeaseyRadio.

Introduction.

The LeaseyRadio player makes it possible for you to listen to radio stations from around the world, provided they are broadcast on the internet. Thousands of radio stations exist playing a wide variety of music covering many genres. Speech content is also very popular for news, sport and discussion of current affairs.

When compiling our LeaseyRadio directory, we have chosen what we feel are some of the most popular and high quality music and speech radio stations covering ten specific genres. You can listen to any station of your choosing, add it to a list of favourites so as to hear it again, or assign it to one of the ten presets which can be accessed from any application. Listening to your favourite station could not be easier! If on the other hand you would prefer to access a wider range of stations, you can now browse the Shoutcast radio directory, or the Radio Browser directory, both of which contain many thousands of radio stations to choose from.

Accessing LeaseyRadio.

LeaseyRadio can be accessed from the Leasey Basic Main Menu by selecting the option, “Listen to the Radio”. Alternatively, press the Leasey Key followed by the letter R, to access it directly.

The LeaseyRadio menu contains 18 items:

• Listen to the Most Recent Station You Were Hearing. As the name suggests, pressing Enter to select this option will begin playing the station you last heard. You will hear the announcement, “Connecting to”, followed by the station name.
• There are ten categories of radio stations. These are: Public and Community, classical, country, Dance and Electronic, Oldies, Pop, Praise and Worship, Smooth, Soul/R&B, and Variety.
• You will next find two other items in this list pertaining to radio station access. These are "Search the Shoutcast Directory for a Station Name, Artist or Song Title" and "Browse the Shoutcast Directory by Station Genre". These will be described fully below.
• Next comes "Search Radio Browser" described below.
• You will then find an option to add the currently playing station to your LeaseyRadio Favourites. You can store as many favourite stations as you like.
• The next item in the menu allows you to View your LeaseyRadio Favourites. Pressing Enter here will take you into a list of the stations stored in your Favourites. Press Enter on any one of the station names in order to listen to it. You will hear the announcement, “Connecting to”, followed by the station name.
• The next choice in the menu is Delete a LeaseyRadio Favourite. Pressing Enter will again take you into a list of stations you have stored as Favourites. However, this time, pressing Enter on a station name will cause it to be removed from the list. If this has been done in error, please don’t worry. You can always relocate the station again from the category in which it was originally found and add it to your favourites once more.
• The final item in the menu is to set an audio player so as to play radio stations, described below.

Setting An Audio Player.

If you have associated M3U audio playlist files with your favourite media player through Windows, you may feel that there is nothing further to do. When you listen to one of the radio stations through Leasey, the chosen player should begin playing the station automatically.

However, if you are unsure how to go about this, or you want to guarantee that your chosen player will be used for radio streaming, please activate the last item in the menu; "Choose Radio Player". This menu has five choices:

1. Winamp.
2. Foobar.
3. VLC.
4. Leasey Radio Player.
5. Windows Assignment of M3U Files. This is the default option.

Press Enter on one of these options. The chosen player should then be used. You should only need to set this option once.

A few words about the Leasey Radio player. This radio player has no visible interface. You can control it by pressing ALT+Control+Windows+S for Stop, and ALT+Control+Windows+Up and Down Arrow to change the volume.

Viewing a Station from the 10 Categories.

If you press Enter on any one of the 10 LeaseyRadio categories, you will be able to view a list of all the stations contained within it. Press the Up or Down Arrow keys to move through the stations, or type the first letter of the one you are looking for.

When you find the station you wish to listen to, simply press Enter to begin listening to it. You will hear the announcement, “Connecting to”, followed by the station name.

Assigning a Station to a Preset.

While it is true that you can store as many LeaseyRadio Favourites as you like, there will be stations that you would like to hear more frequently. To this end, you can set up to 20 presets which will allow you to quickly start playing 20 stations of your choice from within any program, without having to work through the menu system.

1. Choose a station from any one of the 10 LeaseyRadio categories, the Shoutcast directory or Radio Browser.
2. When the station begins to play, you may care to reduce the volume slightly or stop the playback by pressing ALT+Control+Windows Key+S. Then you can hear the speech a little more clearly.
3. Press the Leasey Key then Windows+Dash. The LeaseyRadio Preset Dialog Box appears.
4. When prompted to do so, please type a value between 1 and 20 to assign the station to a preset between 1 and 20.
5. Press Enter to save the preset. You will be advised that the station has now been assigned to the chosen preset. Note that if a station has already been previously assigned, a Dialog box will appear, reminding you of the existing station name. Leasey will ask you if you would like to replace the previously stored station with the new one. Press the letter “Y” for yes or “N” for no as appropriate. If you have chosen to replace it, you will be advised that the new station has been assigned to the preset. If "no" was chosen instead, the previously stored station name will be announced as still being assigned to the preset.

To access any of the 20 presets directly, press the Leasey Key followed by Windows+1 through to Windows+0 for the first 10 presets, with Windows+1 representing preset number 1 and Windows+0 representing preset number 10. To access presets 11 through to 20, press the Leasey key followed by ALT+1 through to ALT+0. Simply press any one of the preset keystrokes to begin playing the assigned station. You will hear the announcement, “Connecting to”, followed by the station name.

When a station is assigned to a preset, it is also added to your LeaseyRadio Favourites list, so it can be accessed from there if desired.

Listen to the Most Recent Station You Were Hearing.

While this option can be accessed from the LeaseyRadio menu, (indeed it is the first item), a keystroke also exists to begin playback of this automatically. Press the LeaseyKey followed by ALT+Dash. You will hear the announcement, “Connecting to”, followed by the station name.

Search the Shoutcast Directory for a Station Name, Artist or Song Title

Activating this option will allow you to search the Shoutcast radio directory for a station name, artist or song title. If you know the name of the station you are looking for, you can type it into the Edit Field and press Enter. A list of stations matching the search criteria will be returned. As you browse through the list with the Up and Down Arrow keys, you will hear the name of the station and, if it is broadcasting, the name of the song currently playing. If you do not hear a song title or artist, this could mean that the station is temporarily unavailable. If you are browsing the Shoutcast directory in this way, and the station is not available, please do not contact us as we will be unable to fix the problem.

As an example, type Team-FM into the search Edit Field and press Enter. This is a station which we know is in the Shoutcast directory and should be available 24 hours a day. When the list is available, you should find an entry similar to this one:
Team-FM UK. Carole King - It Might As Well Rain Until September. The Time Machine.
Press Enter to listen to the station.

A similar approach is taken when you type a song title or artist into the Edit Field. For example, if you typed "Madonna", a list of stations will be returned which are playing songs by that artist. You will be able to read the song titles as you move through the list. Press Enter on any station name to listen to it.

Browse the Shoutcast Directory by Station Genre.

Pressing Enter on this option will bring into view a list of the many station categories Shoutcast has available. Press Enter on a category to move into it.

A list of all stations in the chosen category will be available to you. Move through the stations with the Up and Down Arrow keys. You will hear the name of the station followed by the song that is playing. A good example would be:
The 1920s Radio Network 99.3 Virginia Beach / Chesapeake 64M. Luis Russell - Don't Take Your Love from Me
Press Enter to listen to the station. If you do not hear a song title or artist, this could mean that the station is temporarily unavailable. If you are browsing the Shoutcast directory in this way, and the station is not available, please do not contact us as we will be unable to fix the problem.

"Working With Radio Browser.

At the time of writing, Radio Browser contains close to 40 thousand stations for you to enjoy. You can either use the "Search Radio Browser" option on the LeaseyRadio menu or use its dedicated shortcut key, Leasey Key then Shift+R.

When you enter this screen, you are prompted to type what you would like to find. The search is fairly broad, so you can type the full name of a station, or a key word, such as "Jazz". Leasey will then return a list of stations which match your search term. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to locate a station you would like to hear and press Enter.

Special Note: Radio Browser is a community driven project. You do not need to be the owner of a station to add it to the directory. This means that you can receive multiple entries for the same station or indeed the same station with a slightly different spelling. Leasey is just returning the items in the database and so we are not responsible for duplicate or inaccurate entries. Please do not contact us about inaccurate data. Every effort has been made to filter out links which do not contain a valid audio source.

If you have accessed a radio station from a search term, and you wish to return to the list of stations, press the Leasey Key then ALT+Left Arrow.

It is possible to access a list of recent search terms. Having entered the Radio Browser search screen, type the word "Recent", then press Enter. A list of recently accessed search terms is displayed. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to locate a previous search and press Enter. The list of results is retrieved and displayed.

If you wish to clear your list of recent searches, into the Radio Browser search edit field, type the word "Clear".

Conclusion.

We hope very much you enjoy using the LeaseyRadio player. When doing so, we would ask that you please remember the following:

• We are not responsible for any of the audio content you may hear on a station. If you find something is not to your liking, please switch to an alternative station which may be more suitable.
• We are not responsible for the audio quality of the output from radio stations. We have chosen stations which we feel offer maximum quality audio output, however this can fluctuate wildly - not only between stations but from one broadcaster to another. Many internet radio stations are run by volunteers who may not always adopt professional broadcasting standards.
• If the audio output from a station stops working periodically, it may be that the broadcaster is experiencing problems with streaming content to the internet or there may be a difficulty with your own internet speed or connection. If this occurs, perhaps try choosing another station to listen to, or the same one again at a later time. If the problem persists, and the station is unavailable, please let us know. If an alternative stream is unable to be found which serves the station, we will remove it from the radio directory. Please note that this point does not apply if you are browsing the Shoutcast directory.
• If no audio output occurs after 10 to 15 seconds following your selection of a station, one of two things may have happened. First, have you turned the volume all the way down? Alternatively, the station may not be broadcasting at the time. All the stations we have chosen claim to broadcast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, internet connectivity problems can occur, and as a result we suggest you try an alternative station to ascertain whether the problem is with the broadcaster or your own internet connection.
• While our LeaseyRadio directory contains a reasonable number of stations in each category, many stations do exist. If you know of a radio station you would like to be included in the directory, please write to support@leaseycentral.com, and let us have the details. The radio station must broadcast in the English language. We do need please the name of the station, preferably a link to the stream where it can be heard, and confirmation that it broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The station should broadcast at 128K or higher. If you are unsure what this means, or whether the station meets that requirement, please do not be concerned. We will make enquiries regarding this.

LeaseyTunes.

What is LeaseyTunes?

Leasey provides full support for the itunes program from Apple. This is known as LeaseyTunes. In addition to allowing a person to copy material to an iPod, iPhone or iPad, iTunes itself is a complete music management system. Indeed iTunes contains its own Store from which items can be purchased or previewed, a music player and a way to transfer music from your existing audio CD collection into digital files stored on your computer. When the music tracks have been converted or purchased, they can be organised into Playlists. Finally, iTunes allows you to listen to or download content from the Internet including Podcasts and radio stations.

Apple have invested a lot of time and commitment in order to ensure that iTunes is accessible. However, there are still areas of the program which could be considered as being inaccessible, and certainly, many keystrokes are required to perform specific tasks. LeaseyTunes provides a special interface and many shortcut keys so that iTunes is a pleasure to use.

With LeaseyTunes you can:

• Locate frequently used areas of iTunes from a vertical list, ideal if you find it difficult to remember shortcut keys. The menus are divided into categories for easy location.
• Move to specific areas of the program quickly and easily.
• Examine the spelling of individual items.
• Change metadata (or details of songs) in an accessible manner, such as the artist name or song title.
• Find what you are looking for in the iTunes Store in an intuitive way.
• Listen to item information (such as the name, artist, time elapsed and time remaining) upon request. Numerical values are converted to minutes and seconds.
• Provides screen-reader users with terminology and procedures they are used to when working with Microsoft Windows applications.
• Full Hotkey Help facility allowing you to learn the shortcut keys if required and they can be performed from the help system itself.

This Chapter does not teach you everything about the iTunes program. However, it will give a broad overview of what can be achieved, and we focus to a large extent on the specific support given to users of Leasey with iTunes. We suggest for the best learning experience, you should consider purchasing our extensive audio tutorial in the use of working with iTunes and JAWS. This can be found from the Training page of our company website.

Starting iTunes for the First Time.

Assuming iTunes has been installed onto the computer, we strongly recommend that you consult the Configuration and Setup section of this User Guide so as to ensure your version of the program is optimally configured.

iTunes can be launched from the Leasey Main Menu. The item is entitled Start LeaseyTunes. After a short pause, the iTunes program should launch.

It is worth baring in mind that there are times when iTunes can be processing information concerning the songs you are playing and/or retrieving data from the internet, particularly when you are working within the iTunes Store. Should this happen, your computer and your screen-reader may not be as responsive as you would expect. Do be patient. Just wait a moment, and try working through the task you are trying to achieve again when computer resources maybe in a position to deal with your request. The specification of the computer and your internet connection may also play a part in how the system functions with iTunes.

The LeaseyTunes Application Menu.

Pressing the Application Menu key will bring into view all the items you can control. This makes it very quick and easy to find what you want. As and when you get to learn the items, you can use first letter navigation in order to find what you are looking for.

Terminology

Before we describe how to use iTunes, it is important to understand a little terminology.

Within this User Guide, we will refer to the term, “Item”. An Item can be a song on which you are focused, a movie or maybe a podcast. In most cases, it is a song, however because of the nature of the above, we refer to this as an Item. Such Items are displayed in what we call the “Item List”.

A “Playlist” is a group of songs collected together for listening to one after another. Years ago, you may have made up cassette tapes of your most favourite songs. In the iTunes context, this is known as a Playlist. We will fully describe how to create Playlists later.

Navigating Around.

We strongly recommend that, at least in the first instance, you use the LeaseyTunes Menu to select areas of iTunes you wish to visit, or alternatively, the shortcut keys listed in the Leasey Help System, Leasey Key then H. Pressing Enter on any item from either of these menus will cause focus to be set to your chosen area.

If you prefer, you can navigate through various aspects of iTunes directly using its native keystrokes for systematically moving through elements. In no way does Leasey prevent you from accessing anything you wish within iTunes.

Pressing the F6 key will move through each of the primary areas of iTunes in turn. For example, when examining your music, pressing this key repeatedly will cycle between the Item List, an Edit Field into which details of an item you wish to find can be entered, possibly a Tree View containing a list of Playlists and maybe a Status Area which is visible if iTunes is processing data or playing an item. Shift+F6 is used to move sequentially back through these elements.

Similarly, pressing Tab or Shift+Tab will move through other important items within iTunes. While we will return to these keystrokes later, for day-to-day usage of itunes used with Leasey, they should not be necessary in the most part.

Moving Directly to the Music section of your iTunes Library.

Lets start by learning how we examine the music which is within your iTunes Library, if you have any. During the setup process, iTunes may have given you the option to import music from specific folders if you already have audio files on the computer.

To move to the Music section, press Control+1 or select Music from the LeaseyTunes Menu. Focus will automatically be set to the Item List pertaining to music, and if all has gone well, you should hear the first item announced. Press the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through the available items. Press the Home key to move to the top of the list and the End key to go to the bottom.

Additional Keystrokes.

Let’s introduce some more keystrokes in order that you can move to different components of the iTunes main screen more quickly.

We already know that you can use the LeaseyTunes Menu and Help System menus will allow you to set focus to specific areas, but lets introduce some more keyboard shortcuts you may like to use. These will allow you to work with items more quickly. Every item we will be describing however is available from the menu system.

If you ever need to return to the Item List from wherever you are within iTunes, press Control+Shift+L.

Pressing Control+F will set focus to the Search Edit Field from anywhere on the primary screen unless the Virtual PC Cursor is active, such as when viewing parts of the iTunes Store. In such a situation, please press Control+Shift+F.

To return to the Source List or iTunes Side Bar, press Control+Shift+T.

Adding Material to your iTunes Library.

It is advisable at this stage to add one or two tracks of music to your iTunes Library in the following way:

Use the iTunes Keyboard shortcut to deploy the Add to Library function, Control+O, or select the item from the LeaseyTunes menu. This reveals a standard Windows application “Open” Dialog Box, whereupon the conventions for locating a file should be used. Once the file is located, press Enter, and the file will be added to iTunes. You can also add entire folders, including any subfolders they might contain, using the Add Folder to Library option, Control+Shift+O. Again, this is available on the LeaseyTunes menu. To reiterate, go ahead and add at least two files to your Library.

Exploring the List of Tracks Added to the iTunes Library.

To view all the tracks in your iTunes Library:

1. Select Music from the LeaseyTunes Menu or press Control+1. Focus will be set to the Item List.
2. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through the tracks. JAWS will read each track as you move to it. You may also hear other information, such as the album name, the length of time the track would take to play, music genre and how many times the song has been played.
3. If you have a large number of tracks in your Library, you may find it helpful to type the initial letter or few letters of the alphabet of the Artist or track name. This is known as first letter navigation.
4. In addition, pressing Page Down will move down through the list by several songs. Pressing Page Up will move up through the list by several songs.

Searching for specific tracks or Artists.

To search for something specific in your iTunes Library, such as a track title:

1. Press Control+1 to move to the Music section of the iTunes Library. Alternatively, select it from the LeaseyTunes Menu .
2. Press Control+F and you will hear JAWS announce the words Search Library, edit.
3. Type in the search term, such as a track name and press Enter.
4. Press Shift+F6 or Control+Shift+L. Focus will be set to the Item List and you should see the results. Pressing the Down Arrow key repeatedly will in time allow you to locate the desired song. You can then press Enter to play it.
   Note that if iTunes does not find the desired song the first time you carry out a search, you should repeat the process and in most instances it should be located correctly.
5. If only one song is in the search results list, you may need to use the JAWS Say Line command, Insert+Up Arrow, to read the item.

The Interact Command.

The Interact command is available from the LeaseyTunes Menu, or by pressing the shortcut key ALT+Control+Windows+Enter.

If you would like to check the spelling of any item on which you are focused, (or perhaps listen to the information at a slower pace), activate the Interact feature. In this context, when focused on an item it places the details of it into the JAWS Virtual Viewer for closer inspection, perhaps character by character or one word at a time. When you have finished examining this, press Escape to return to the item with which you were previously working.

Obtaining and Modifying Track Information.

It may be helpful to learn more about the music track which has focus, for example the full title, Artist, year of release, track number on the album, the total number of tracks on the album, etc. You can also modify any aspect of a track if iTunes has made an error or the details have been incorrectly entered previously. This can be achieved by focusing upon a music track and pressing Control+I to bring into view the Information Dialog Box.

When the Information Dialog Box is in view, JAWS will set focus to the first logical field which is usually Song Name and this will be announced. Press Tab repeatedly to move through the fields. First, the heading is spoken (such as Song Name), pressing the Tab key once more announces the title of the music track. So in summary, pressing Tab once focuses upon the field label, pressing it a subsequent time causes the value pertaining to the field to be announced.

If you wish to change any aspect of what is displayed, this can be achieved by editing the text in a specific field. When an editable field is available, JAWS will say "Edit". For example, if you wish to change the artist of a song:

1. press Tab until JAWS says the word Artist.
2. Press Tab once more and JAWS will speak the name of the artist.
3. You are now focused in an Edit Field. Use standard navigation techniques, such as Right Arrow or Control+Right Arrow to move through the text. You can edit the text (or type new information) as appropriate.
4. Press Insert+Up Arrow to verify the text is correct. This is important. Sometimes, iTunes will attempt to complete the artist field particularly if it determines that you have made an error in the spelling, so be sure that what you intend is correctly displayed.
5. Press Tab when the text is as you want it, which will save the information within iTunes.
6. Press Enter to close the Dialog Box or keep pressing Tab and repeat the process so as to modify other properties of the track.

Selecting Tracks.

You now need to learn how to select tracks for manipulation.

Selecting an Individual Track

From your music library, press Control+Shift+L so as to focus on the Item List, if you need to.

Use the Up or down Arrow keys to move to the track you wish to select.
Whenever you move to a track, it is automatically selected.

Selecting Tracks in a Continuous Range.

When focused upon a list of tracks, simply hold down the Shift Key and use Up or Down Arrow. JAWS will announce each track as you move to it together with the word selected. You can also press Shift with the Home or End key to select all tracks between the current item and the beginning or end of the Item List.

To verify the details of the tracks which have been selected, press Shift+Insert+Down Arrow.

Selecting All Tracks.

To select all the tracks in a list, simply press Control+A.
Please be careful here! If you are viewing your entire music library, and it contains thousands of songs, this could cause your screen-reader to become unresponsive for a while. This keystroke should only really be used when selecting all items in a Playlist. We will refer extensively to Playlists later.

Deleting Tracks.

When tracks are selected using any one of the above described methods, they can be deleted from your iTunes Library. Here is an example you can follow to delete a track.

1. From within your music library, press Shift+Control+L and you will focus upon the list of items. Alternatively, select Item List from the LeaseyTunes Menu.
2. Press Down Arrow until the track you wish to delete is selected.
3. Press the Delete Key to erase the item.
4. You will be asked if you would like to remove the selected item. The default button is Yes, so go ahead and press the Space Bar to activate it. The selected track will be deleted. If the track is in your iTunes library folder, you will be asked if you would like to move it to the Recycle Bin. If you do, Tab to “Remove” and press Space Bar.

If you wanted to delete multiple items, you would first use any of the selection methods listed above in order to highlight the tracks for deletion. Then press the Delete Key.

Importing Tracks from your CD Collection into your iTunes Library.

To import tracks from a CD into your iTunes Library, follow these steps:

1. Place an audio CD into the CD-ROM drive of your computer.
2. Within a few seconds, the CD Lookup Results Dialog Box appears with an “OK” Button in focus. Press the Tab key twice so as to focus upon the list of possible results retrieved from the iTunes database on the internet.
3. Press Down Arrow until the correct title and artist of the CD is selected.
4. Press Tab to reach the "OK" Button and press the Space Bar.
5. By default, you will now be asked whether you would like to import the CD. If you want to import all the tracks, press Y to confirm this. If you would rather import only some of the tracks, type N. If you said “No” or were not asked whether you wanted to import the CD, do the following:
1. Within a few seconds of inserting the CD into the computer’s CD-ROM drive, the list of songs on the CD should appear automatically.
2. Use the Up or Down Arrow keys to move through the tracks on the CD.
3. Remember that as you move to a track it is automatically selected for importing; however you can use any of the selection methods previously described to select more than one track. For example, shift+Down Arrow will select tracks in a continuous range.
   Press Shift+F10 (or the Context Menu Key), and Arrow down to the Convert Selection item.
4. Press Enter to begin the importing process.

While the importing is taking place, press F6 repeatedly to hear the time remaining before the importing of the current track or CD is concluded. Each time you press F6, you will hear different information, such as the current song being imported or the total length of the album. Useful tip. If JAWS announces the title of the song being imported, stop pressing F6 and, each time iTunes moves to a new song on the CD to import, its name will be announced so you can keep track of progress. iTunes is very fast at importing songs, so each title should take approximately six seconds.

When the importing process for all tracks has been completed, a “musical jingle” will be heard.

Rating a Track.

You’ve often seen situations where movies are individually rated. Now, you can rate songs too, with 1 star being applied to songs you do not particularly enjoy and 5 stars to those you love.

Why would you want to rate songs? One good reason is that you can use a Smart Playlist which iTunes can generate based upon songs with a specific rating. We will describe the process of creating a Smart Playlist later in this User Guide.

To rate a song, first find it within the Item List. Then, press Control+R or select the Rate Song item from the LeaseyTunes Menu. You will be taken into a menu through which you can browse with the Up or Down Arrow keys. You will hear JAWS read out the individual rating values. Press Enter to select the one you want.

As you move through the Ratings menu, you may hear the word “Checked” spoken with its value. This indicates that a rating has already been applied to a song. It can easily be changed by pressing Enter on the newly desired rating value in the list.

In a later section of this User Guide, we will be discussing how to change the viewing preferences so that when you move through the items (such as your music tracks), you can hear the individual rating values applied to songs.

The Status Area.

As you move through the various controls within the iTunes primary screen by pressing the Tab Key or F6, you will eventually locate the Status Area. JAWS identifies this by saying “Read Only Edit”.

The Status Area gives additional information relating to your iDevice and iTunes. It is always worth pressing Tab or Shift+Tab to reach the Status Area whenever you are focused within details relating to your iDevice, your Music Library, the iTunes Store or other functions of iTunes. The Status Area will give you information such as the number of tracks available, how much storage space is needed to accommodate them on your computer’s hard disk and how long the items would take to play if they were listened to continuously.

When you reach the Status Area, JAWS will identify that this item is available and will automatically speak the information contained within it. If you wish to review the information within this area more carefully, use the Interact key, ALT+Control+Windows+Enter. You are now able to use the Arrow Keys to move through the information in more detail. When you have finished examining the data, press the Escape Key to return to the Status Area.

Moving Around the iTunes Application.

If you choose to, as previously described you can move through the iTunes application by pressing F6, Shift+F6, Tab and Shift+Tab. While doing this, you may encounter the following controls and terms:
Read Only. As described in the previous section, when you hear the term “Read Only”, this is a static block of text which iTunes displays to convey important information. We have already described how to work with such a situation. In short, press the Interact key if you would like to review it more carefully.
Radio Button. Because you are using LeaseyTunes, the way in which you interact with Radio Buttons almost adopts a traditional approach of Windows navigation. Press the Up or Down Arrow keys to move through the Radio Buttons. JAWS will announce each in turn, advise you whether it has been selected and when you reach the top or bottom of the list. To select a Radio Button, press the Space Bar.
Combo Box. Because you are using LeaseyTunes, there is a type of control iTunes would otherwise refer to as a “Button Dropdown”. Leasey however refers to this as a “Combo Box”. When such a control is encountered, simply press Down Arrow to move through the available choices. Press Enter to select the one you want.

Note that it is also possible to use the traditional Menu Bar of iTunes if you wish, (by pressing the ALT key, or when focused on an item, the Context Menu key (or Shift+F10). Particularly when using the Context Menu, you are likely to find a lot of hidden gems which may be useful!

Changing the Viewing and Sorting Preferences.

As you move through your music library, you may have found that too much information is being spoken by JAWS, or you wish to change the order in which the items are displayed. If either of these is true, you will wish to use the iTunes Viewing and Sorting Preferences Dialog Box, activated by pressing Control+J, or through the LeaseyTunes Menu. You will also wish to use the LeaseyTunes “Column Identification” feature, activated by pressing F7.

Note that the Viewing and Sorting preferences is relative to the area of iTunes in focus, so to change such settings for your music library, first activate this by pressing Control+1 prior to activating the Viewing and Sorting Preferences Dialog box with Control+J.

Activating this option using any of the above described methods places focus in a Dialog box, through which you can move by pressing Tab or Shift+Tab.

You are now on the first control, Change View, which JAWS announces. This List Box allows you to change the way in which the display for your music library is shown. Press Up or Down Arrow keys to move through the list. You can choose to select by Songs, Artists, Albums, etc.

Press Tab twice to reach a Combo Box labelled Sort By. This will determine how iTunes will sort the view previously selected. Press Down Arrow to enter the Combo Box and select the item you would like, for example Artist or Title. Press Enter on the desired option to save. Note that you can always determine what has already been selected by repeatedly pressing Down Arrow to listen to each option in turn. If JAWS announces the word Checked in addition to the item name, this is the current sorting criteria. When all the options have been worked through, the menu will wrap back to the top. You cannot get lost in this menu.

Note that this Combo Box can be entered a number of times by simply pressing Down Arrow on it repeatedly. For example, if Artists was selected in the previous step by pressing Enter, you can select whether they are sorted in an ascending or descending order. Press Down Arrow to open the Combo Box, press Down Arrow until Ascending is spoken and press Enter.

Press Tab now to reach the next Combo Box relating to albums. Again, press Down Arrow to open the Combo Box, followed by repeated presses of Down Arrow so as to hear the current selection. You will be notified of this as JAWS will say the word Checked in addition to the item name. Simply press Enter on the item you would like for the sorting preference, such as Album Artist.

Pressing Tab once more sets focus to a Check box entitled Show Artwork. In order to improve computer performance with your screen-reader, you may care to uncheck this box.

The final stage in this particular process is to press Tab one more time, whereupon you will return to the list of views to display, which was the focused item when you entered this Dialog box initially. Press Enter on this List Box to save the settings. If you have made significant changes to the view, (such as to display your library by album), it could be some time before the new display takes effect and the computer and screen-reader may be slightly unresponsive. Do not be alarmed by this. We tested a view containing over 300,000 songs and it did take at least two minutes for the new display to be available.

Having changed our view to our preferred settings, we now need to customise it a little further so we only hear the columns we need to know about as we move through the Item List. To do this:
Press Control+Shift+L so that the Item List is in focus.
Press F7. You are now in a very similar menu to the Combo Boxes we have been working with previously. Use the Up or Down Arrow keys to move through the choices. Press Enter to select the one you want. If JAWS announces that an item is Checked, press Enter to deselect it. You can check or uncheck as many columns as necessary. As you check or uncheck an item, you will drop out of the menu, so you will need to press F7 again to move into the list of columns.
A useful tip is to deselect all the columns first. Once this is done, if you move through the Item List with the Up or Down Arrow keys, you will hear that only the song titles are being announced. Now, you can press F7, and add which columns you like by pressing Enter on each one, but you should do this in the order you would like to hear them. For example, we suggest that if you do want to hear details of items which have ratings, or the time of each track, you may like to add these last. In this way, if there are times when you are not interested in these, when moving through the Item List you can press Down Arrow so as to stop speech and move to the next one.

In summary, think about what information you really do want to hear and customise this view accordingly.

Using Itunes As An Audio Player, Playlists And Books from Audible.

Using Itunes To Play Music.

You can use iTunes to play your favourite music, either in ordered play, (the order in which the tracks appear in your Library) or using specially designed Playlists.

Ordered Play.

To play all the tracks in your iTunes Library from the focused position onward:

1. Select your music library by pressing Control+1.
2. Press Down Arrow or use first letter navigation to reach the item where you want the playback to begin.
3. Press Enter to commence playback.

You can also play a particular album or number of tracks by an Artist by typing the appropriate keyword or keywords into the Search Edit Box before locating the first track you want to play. You can in addition shuffle this list of tracks by pressing Control+Shift+S, (which is a toggle keystroke to enable or disable the mode), or by choosing it from the LeaseyTunes Menu.

As the track plays, use the following Keystrokes to manipulate playback.

• Pause/resume playback, Space Bar.
• Start playing current track from the beginning, Enter.
• Increase/decrease volume level, Control+Up or Down Arrow. Very useful as this is independent of the JAWS speech system. Note that through Leasey, JAWS has been instructed to not speak while these keystrokes are being pressed, so you should be able to focus on the volume level.
• Move forward and back by track, Right and Left Arrow.
• Speak the track title, artist, time elapsed and remaining time, ALT+Control+Windows+T.
• Skim forward through the track when it is playing, ALT+Windows+Control+Right Arrow.
• Skim back through the track when it is playing, ALT+Control+Windows+Left Arrow.
• Move focus back to playing song, Control+L.

Up Next.

If you are playing songs, you may decide that you want to hear a specific track after the currently playing item. This can be achieved by adding one to the Up Next queue.
First, find a song in your music library that you would like to play. This can be done by browsing the Item List or by searching for it as described previously.]
When it is located, press Control+Shift+A to add it to the Up Next queue. This is also available on the LeaseyTunes Menu.
If you would like to view a list of upcoming songs, press Control+Shift+U. You will now be focused in a list which you can examine by pressing the Up or Down Arrow keys. This list can also be reached using the LeaseyTunes Menu.
Should you wish to return to your music library at any time, press Control+1.

Ticking or Unticking an Item.

If you are listening to the contents of a Playlist (described below), an album, or any part of your music library, you may not wish to hear the songs which are scheduled to play after the current one. If this is the case you can Untick items by pressing Control+Enter on each one. This item can also be selected from the LeaseyTunes Menu. When the action is performed, JAWS will announce if the song is ticked or unticked.

Playlists.

There is one other option you may care to use, and this is a Playlist. Imagine preparing an audio cassette tape or CD of popular tracks for a party you are hosting, or containing suitable music to accompany you when undertaking an exercise routine! Creating a Playlist is based around the same concept.

Tracks from a Playlist can be transferred to your iDevice rather than the contents of your entire iTunes Library, they can be played using iTunes, or burned to a CD.

Creating a New Playlist.

Press Control+N on the Keyboard, type in a title for the new Playlist, and press Enter. Alternatively, you can access this item from the LeaseyTunes Menu.

Importing Tracks Manually Into A Playlist.

Use the following procedure to add tracks manually to an empty Playlist or to an existing Playlist at a later date.

1. Press Control+1 to move to the Music section of your iTunes Library.
2. Locate the track you wish to add to the Playlist.
3. Press ALT+Control+Windows+P to activate the option Add to Playlist, or activate the option from the LeaseyTunes Menu.
4. You are now in a list of all your playlists. Use the Arrow keys or first letter navigation to locate the playlist you want to add the song to and press Enter. If there is only one playlist that starts with a particular letter, the track is added when you pres that letter, without your needing to press Enter, so do be careful!

Importing Selected Tracks Into A Playlist.

When focused upon the Music section of your iTunes Library:

1. Press Control+Shift+L to focus upon the list of tracks.
2. Select a track or tracks in whichever way you prefer.
3. When all the tracks have been selected, press Control+Shift+N to activate New Playlist from Selection. This can also be activated through the LeaseyTunes Menu.
4. Give the Playlist a meaningful title by typing it into the Edit Field, and press Enter.

Importing An Album Directly Into A Playlist and Using the Column Browser.

You may want to create a Playlist of an entire album. In order to do this, you could put the album title and/or artist name in the search box so that only the tracks from the desired album are in the Item List. Another option is to activate the Column Browser. The Column Browser allows you to view all tracks in your iTunes Library by Artist, , genre or album title, and it is the album title you need to select to create the Playlist. It is possible during the setup process that iTunes has already created Playlists of all your albums, in which case this section is unnecessary.

Weneed to activate the Column Browser to transfer your chosen album into a Playlist. Don’t worry, you can de-activate this for normal operation if you wish.

Control+Shift+B can be used to activate and deactivate the Column Browser. It is a toggle action. JAWS will confirm whether the Column Browser is available or not. This option can also be activated from the LeaseyTunes Menu.

The first time you activate the Column Browser, you need to ensure that it displays the columns you want. To do this, go to the View menu with ALT+V, and press Enter on the Column Browser submenu. This submenu includes several columns which you can choose to show or hide. Pressing Enter on any of them toggles it between being shown or hidden; if it's checked, it will be shown. Revisit the Column browser submenu as often as needed to check all the columns you wish to appear in the Column Browser.

Once the Column Browser is visible, the layout of the screen changes to reflect the new status.

If you press Control+Shift+L repeatedly, you will cycle between all the lists now on screen, some of which you will not have seen before. These reflect the items previously selected under the View Column Browser menu item, and typically are:
Genres;
Artists;
Album Titles;
Track List of selected album.

When you find a list you wish to examine, press Down Arrow to move through it. For example, when focused upon the Album Titles, press Down Arrow to move through all those pertaining to a particular artist. It is the album Titles section we need for this exercise.

To create a Playlist based upon an album:

1. Press Control+1 to set focus to the music library.
2. Press Control+Shift+L until the list of artists is displayed.
3. Press Down Arrow to reach the Artist you want.
4. Press Control+Shift+L to move to the list of albums by the chosen Artist.
5. Press Down Arrow until the chosen album is selected.
6. Press Control+Shift+N to activate the New Playlist from Selection option. This is also available from the LeaseyTunes Menu.
7. The Edit Field in focus now contains the album title.
   Press Enter to create the playlist.

Smart Playlists.

iTunes includes a Smart Playlists feature that allows you to create Playlists based on certain search criteria. iTunes automatically updates the Playlist if new material is added to your iTunes Library that fits the search criteria. You could create a Ssmart Playlist of music tracks by your favourite Artist, for example, and any new tracks by the Artist you added to your iTunes Library would be added to this Playlist automatically.

To create a smart Playlist, press ALT+Control+N or choose the option from the LeaseyTunes Menu.

Now press Tab repeatedly to move through the Dialog Box. Most of the options should be self-explanatory, however we will work through the process of creating a Smart Playlist based upon songs we have rated with five stars.

Focus does not land on the first control in the Dialog Box, however it is arguably the most important. When you create a new Smart Playlist, you are creating a new rule for iTunes to obey based upon specific criteria. The Edit Field is the most important control because it is here where you will enter a value, such as an artist name or, in our case, a rating value.

Given that you can move through the Dialog Box by pressing Tab and Shift+Tab, lets explore the controls in the order in which they appear.

• “Match the Following Rule” is a Check box. Ideally, this should be checked which instructs iTunes to match the criteria.
• Next is a Combo Box from which you will select the criteria. Artist is the default option, so if you wanted to create a Smart Playlist of all songs in your library by one artist, this is the option you need. You would then type the artist name into the aforementioned Edit Field. We will select “Rating” by pressing the letter "R".
• The next Combo Box gives a list of parameters, the default one being “equal to”. This is likely to be what you want. If you need to change it however, press the Up or Down Arrow keys.
• Next comes the Edit Field mentioned previously. In our example, type a figure 5 here to represent a five star rating.
• Next is the Add Button which would be used if you wanted to add more than one rule to the Smart Playlist, for example, all songs by Roy Orbison with a rating of five.
• If you press Tab to move further through, you will see that you can limit the items generated to 25, and enable Live Updating. If, in our example, you later give songs a rating of five, they will be automatically added to your new Smart Playlist. Similarly if you had created a Smart Playlist based upon an artist, and new songs were purchased containing material from him or her, those too would be added automatically.
• Finally, press tab to reach the OK Button and press the Space Bar. You will be asked to give the Smart Playlist a name. Type it in and press Enter. The process is now complete.

Listening to Songs in Your Playlists.

To find all your Playlists, press Control+Shift+P. You will also find this option on the LeaseyTunes Menu. JAWS will say, “Fetching Playlists”.

You will then be presented with a Tree View containing all your Playlists. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through them or first letter navigation.

When you have located the Playlist you would like to listen to, press Control+Shift+L or from the LeaseyTunes Menu , choose Item List.

To begin playback from the start of the new Playlist, press Enter on the first item. You will notice that they are all sequentially numbered.

To begin playing tracks from any point in the Playlist, (not the beginning), from your list use the Up and Down Arrow keys to locate the track which will be the starting point of the playback, and press Enter to begin.

Renaming A Playlist.

To rename a Playlist, find it in the list of Playlists previously described. Then press F2. You will be placed in an Edit Field with the text of the current Playlist title highlighted. Type in a new name for the Playlist and press Enter.

Re-Ordering Tracks Within A Playlist.

By default, the tracks within Playlists are arranged in the order in which you added them. However it is possible to change the order of tracks in a Playlist using four simple steps.

1. As you move through the Playlist, you will hear the item number first followed by the details of the focused track.
2. Locate the track in the Playlist you wish to move with the Up or Down Arrow keys and, when the track is located, press Control+X. You can also find the Cut option on the LeaseyTunes Menu. This will mark the track for moving elsewhere. Note that by default, a Dialog Box appears, asking if you are sure you would like to “remove” the item from the Playlist. Do not be concerned by this as we will be pasting it back into the Playlist shortly, however you may like to press Tab until you reach the option not to display such a message again, and press Space Bar to Check it. Then, Tab to “OK” and press the Space Bar. This is a one time process.
3. Using the Up or Down Arrow keys, move to the part of the Playlist containing the track you would like to appear after the track you are about to move.
4. Press Control+V to move the track. Again, the Paste option can be found on the LeaseyTunes Menu.

Creating An Audio CD Based Upon A Playlist.

You can burn a CD in audio format containing the tracks in a selected Playlist. This CD can be played using a conventional CD player you may have in your home or the car.

Follow these steps to burn an audio CD based upon a chosen Playlist.

1. Insert a blank CD into your computer’s CD-ROM drive.
2. Use Down Arrow (or first letter navigation) to locate the desired Playlist.
3. Press the Context Menu key or Shift+F10.
4. Press the Down Arrow key and in time you will reach Burn Playlist to Disc.
   Press Enter on this item.

Activating this option takes you into a very accessible Dialog Box to control all aspects of creating an audio CD and how the resulting content on the CD will sound. One term that might be confusing is “Sound Check”. This option attempts to ensure that all the tracks will play at the same volume level. It is useful if you are burning a CD with tracks from multiple albums. If all the tracks come from the same album, however, it's best to turn Sound check off, as it makes the tracks on the CD play at a needlessly soft volume.

When all the options in the Dialog Box have been set to your liking, press Tab until you reach the “Burn” Button and press the Space Bar to commence the CD burn process.

Deleting A Playlist.

To delete a Playlist, just locate it from within the list of Playlists and press Delete. You will be asked if you would like to delete the Playlist. Press the letter Y to confirm.

Using Books From Audible.

To transfer a book to your iDevice from audible, it must of course first be included within your iTunes Library. Use the Control+O Keystroke to add a file to the Library, locate the file, and pres Enter. Alternatively, it is possible to download a plug-in from the Audible web site (called Audible Download Manager) which, when the book has been downloaded to your computer, will automatically ensure a link to it is placed in your iTunes Library.

To play the book in iTunes, locate, select and play the book as you would play a music track except that you start from the Audiobooks section rather than the Music section of your iTunes Library. This is located by pressing Control+6 or from the LeaseyTunes Menu .

When the book is playing, to move to the next or previous section, press Control+Shift+Right or Left Arrow.

Radio Stations.

Browsing Through and Listening to Radio Stations.

iTunes allows you to browse through a variety of radio stations by genre, and then select a radio station within the category of your choice. You must have an Internet connection to take advantage of this functionality.

To access radio stations:

1. Press Control+9 or select Internet Radio from the LeaseyTunes Menu .
2. Focus is automatically set to the list of radio station categories. Press the Up or Down Arrow keys to select one.
3. When you reach a category you would like to expand to reveal radio stations for the genre, press the Right Arrow key. JAWS will speak the name of the category again. It is suggested that you wait a few seconds until after JAWS has finished speaking this information before you proceed to the next step.
4. Depending upon your Internet connection speed, within a few seconds the list of radio stations will be expanded. JAWS will announce the name of the category together with the total number of streams therein. Use the Arrow Keys to explore the list. You will hear the name of the radio station and a brief description relating to the content available.
5. Press Enter to listen to a radio station. There will be a pause while the radio station is located, and some may not work at all due to the time they are broadcasting.
6. Press Space Bar to stop the radio station playing. The volume can be adjusted independent of the screen-reader in the way you would usually adjust the playback volume, Control+Up Arrow or Control+Down Arrow. If it is available, you can hear information about the track being played by pressing ALT+Control+Windows+T.

To close a list of radio stations:

1. Press Up or Down Arrow as needed to move to the category you wish to close.
2. Press the Left Arrow key twice - once to move to the head of the category and then again to close it.

Using The Itunes Store.

Introduction.

As the name suggests, the iTunes Store allows you to purchase music tracks or complete albums and have them downloaded to your computer automatically. You can also buy or rent movies, purchase TV episodes and subscribe to podcasts from the iTunes Store. The files are imported into your iTunes Library. It is possible to browse the iTunes Store without signing into an account and if you wish to do this, please skip the section of this User Guide relating to account setup. If you have registered an iDevice, you have already created an account, so you can skip this section as well. In order to use the iTunes Store, you will need an Internet connection.

General Notes On Account Creation.

The key to your success with the iTunes Store (or when using any iDevice) is to have an Apple ID. In order to create this, you should:

1. Press Control+Shift+H to visit the iTunes Store, or select the appropriate option from the LeaseyTunes Menu .
2. Wait a few seconds for a connection to be made to the iTunes Store, whereupon you will hear a “swishing” sound.
3. Press ALT+S for the Store menu, and from here press Down Arrow until focus is set to the item Create an Apple ID. Press Enter on this menu item.

You are now able to complete the Apple ID in exactly the same way as you would browse any other webpage. In most cases, using the Arrow keys, or pressing Tab repeatedly, will allow you to work through the process. However, on an occasional basis, it may be helpful to disable the JAWS virtual Cursor by pressing Insert+Z, then continue to Tab through. Note that Insert+Z is a toggle action, so when you have completed a page, be sure to enable it again by pressing the same keystroke.

Using The iTunes Store.

In order to browse to the iTunes Store, press Control+Shift+H or select the option from the LeaseyTunes Menu . You will hear the term Browsing to iTunes Store.

After a few seconds, you should hear a “swishing” sound which lets you know that the iTunes Store Home Page is in view. If you press Control+Home at this stage, you should hear the term, iTunes Store. You are now at the top of the iTunes Store Home Page.

When you browse the iTunes Store, it is a little like working with a web page on the internet. All the navigation keys within JAWS which you should be used to when using web pages should function, so you can move through Links and Headings etc. Leasey also provides some additional keystrokes and menu items to make working with the iTunes Store easier, and of course you will also find these on the LeaseyTunes Menu.

Searching For Individual Tracks Or Artists.

The easiest procedure in respect of searching for a track of music would be as follows:

1. When focused within the iTunes Store, press Control+Shift+F. In this context, Control+F would allow you to find specific text on an iTunes Store page rather than carry out a search for an item within it, so you should not use Control+F now.
2. When you have typed what you wish to find, press Enter to execute the search. When the search results have been computed, A swishing sound will be played to indicate that the iTunes Store page has been refreshed.
3. A useful tip is to press Insert+Escape in order to refresh the JAWS virtual environment for viewing an iTunes Store webpage. Indeed, every time you visit a new page in the Store, we suggest you press this keystroke to ensure that the text you are about to read is accurate.

Of course, when reading the pages in the iTunes Store, activating any one of the Hyperlinks can be achieved by pressing Enter whenever JAWS says the word Link. When a Link is activated, you may need to wait a few seconds until you hear a new instance of the swishing sound. This is your indication that a new page is in view.

You can buy or preview tracks using buttons, so pressing B repeatedly to move between the buttons is a good way to get a quick idea what your search results are. Pressing the letter H also helps as this moves from one major division of the iTunes Store to the next, for example from albums to singles. Please read the next section concerning previewing music tracks.

Playing And Purchasing Music Tracks.

There is a sample of each track within the music store so you can determine if what you are purchasing is your desired piece of music. When exploring the web page structure of the Store, you will notice a Preview Button for each track. Press the Space Bar to activate the Button. You will hear a 30-second sample of the music track.

However usefully, Leasey provides a method through which you can quickly and easily skip through the results found in the Store. This is because after each result found, there is a good deal of unnecessary intervening text which can be bypassed using this method. She will also allow you to return to the track you are previewing.

Please work through the following example where we will search for a music track in the Store.

1. Ensure that the iTunes Store Home Page is in view by pressing Control+Shift+H.
2. Wait a little while for the swishing sound, and press Control+Home to verify that you are at the top of the iTunes Store Home Page. If necessary, press Insert+Escape to refresh the JAWS virtual environment.
3. Press Control+Shift+F to find a track in the Store.
   Type the phrase, “Take Me to Church”, or a song title of your choosing.
4. Press Enter.
5. Wait for a few seconds until you hear the swishing sound and, again, press Control+Home to move to the top of the page, followed if necessary by Insert+Escape.
6. Press the letter H repeatedly to move through the Headings. You may encounter the term Albums or Songs. It is Songs we are looking for.
7. Press F4 to move to the next result. JAWS announces the next result found from the cursor position which if you recall was from the term Songs.
8. If you wish to preview the item, press the Space Bar. Alternatively, keep pressing F4 until you find what you are looking for. If you are not sure that the result is what you want, press Down Arrow to move through the text for each song. However, the keystroke F4 to move to the next result is a good one, as there is a lot of explanatory text and options below each item, so pressing this key provides a quick method of moving to each result in turn. Pressing Shift+F4 will move to the previous result. These options can also be found on the LeaseyTunes Menu.

Previewing Tracks.

When a track sample is being heard, many of the keystrokes used for listening to audio playback with iTunes will function. Control+Up or Down Arrow for example will change the volume level. ALT+Control+Windows+T will cause information about the track to be spoken.

While listening to a song sample, you can move the cursor elsewhere in the iTunes Store, perhaps to explore different results or read text on the page. Should you wish to return to the original position of the preview, press the Leasey Key then 1.

It is also possible to set a temporary LeaseyPoint on an iTunes Store page. This is temporary because the layout of iTunes Store pages varies considerably, so it is unlikely you would ever want to save it on a permanent basis.

To set a LeaseyPoint, move the cursor to the position you wish to return to and press the Leasey Key followed by Control+1. To return to the position again, press the Leasey Key then 1.

All of the above options can be found on the LeaseyTunes Menu.

Purchasing Tracks.

To purchase a track, assuming the cursor is first focused upon the result found, again from the same web page locate the Button to buy the track which will also advise you of its price. Press Space Bar to activate the Button. A Dialog Box may appear asking if you would like to purchase the item or items. Confirm this by activating the appropriate button. It’s that simple! Once the Space Bar is pressed the track will then be downloaded to your computer and imported into your iTunes Library. Note that if you have not previously signed into the music store you will be given the opportunity to do so prior to the purchase confirmation Dialog Box being displayed. A “musical jingle” will indicate that the song has been downloaded to your computer.

Should you wish to sign into your iTunes account prior to purchasing a music track, you will find that if you press ALT+S, this will take you to the Store menu. Now if you press Down Arrow repeatedly, an option will be available called Sign into My Account. Press Enter, and complete the fields as necessary, pressing the Tab key to move to each one.

Purchasing Albums.

This is very similar to the way in which you would purchase a song. This time however, when you have typed in your search term and pressed Enter, you will be looking for the Heading entitled albums. Once located, you may like to press Down Arrow twice and activate the See All Link by pressing Enter.

press F4 to look for the first album result. If this is what you are looking for, press B to reach the Buy Button, or Enter to activate the link for the album.

Once inside the album, press the letter H to move to the next Heading, (the album title), and then F4 repeatedly to move through each track on it. Alternatively you can select “Next Result” from the LeaseyTunes Menu.

To purchase the album directly from within it, move to the top of the page by pressing Control+Home, then press the letter B to reach the Button containing its price. Pressing the Space Bar will allow it to be purchased.

Should you wish to return to your search results, press ALT+Left Arrow or, from the LeaseyTunes Menu, select the option to move back to the previous page.

Finding Movies.

As well as finding music content in the iTunes Store, you can also rent and purchase movies. If the movie does not have a Button labelled Rent alongside it, it is not possible to rent the movie.

There are many ways to find movies in the itunes Store and here is just one of them.

1. Into the Search Edit Field activated with Control+Shift+F, type “Harry Potter” and press Enter.
2. After a short pause, the swishing sound should occur. As usual, move to the top of the page with Control+Home, and possibly press Insert+Escape.
3. This time, we are looking for the Heading “Films” or “Movies”, so go ahead and press the letter H until it is located.
4. Press F4 until the desired movie about Harry Potter is located.
5. Press Enter to activate the link for the movie.
6. You can now read the page for the movie. Don’t forget if you want to purchase or rent it, you need to press Control+Home to move to the top of the page, and then the letter B repeatedly to locate the correct Button with the price for the movie. JAWS will announce both the rental and purchase prices. Press the Space Bar to activate.

Should you wish to return to your search results, press ALT+Left Arrow or, from the LeaseyTunes Menu, select the option to move back to the previous page.

The Movies Home Page and iTunes Store Buttons.

There is a great deal of information on the Home Page of the iTunes Store for any category, such as Music or movies. For example, if when the iTunes Store is focused you do not type anything into the Search Edit Field but just read the page, you are then presented with the iTunes Store Home Page from which you can select a category if you wish. For example, bringing into view the list of Links with Insert+F7, and then selecting Films (or Movies depending upon your country) by focusing upon it and pressing Enter, will give you a page giving the top 20 most downloaded movies and other useful information.

You can always move back to the Home Page by pressing Control+Shift+H.

Browsing the iTunes Store.

You may have thought until this point that you have been browsing through the iTunes Store. This is not completely the case. iTunes does give you the ability to browse through genre, artists and albums as though you were in a CD store! Here is one way in which this can be done.

1. Ensure you are focused within the itunes Store.
2. Press Control+Shift+B to activate the Column Browser.
3. You will immediately be placed in a list of categories, such as Apps, Music and so on. Press Down Arrow to reach the item you want. We will select Music.
4. Press Control+Shift+L to move to the next list. You should find a list of music genres through which to browse. Again, select one from the list.
5. Press Control+Shift+L again to move into either a list of sub-categories or artists.
6. In summary, keep pressing Shift+Control+L and browsing the various lists. You can drill down as much as you like until you reach an album, or even individual songs which are part of it.
7. If you find something you wish to purchase, press the Context Menu key or Shift+F10. From here, you can preview a song or, if you press Down Arrow repeatedly, purchase it. The price will be given alongside the purchase information. Press Enter to do this.

What Happens After a Purchase Has Been Made?

A number of things will happen once a purchase has been made.

First of all, your purchase (for example a movie, music track or album) will begin to download.

While the purchased item is downloading, press Control+Shift+3. This will take you into a list of items currently downloading which you can explore with the Up or Down Arrow keys. A musical jingle will indicate that the items have been downloaded. You should now be able to search your music library to find them, or alternatively, from the Playlists area, find the Playlist entitled Purchased which will display your items.

Prior to looking at playlists however or browsing your library, you may care to close iTunes down and restart it, otherwise you could have difficulty exiting the Store.

Podcasts.

Introduction.

Podcasts are radio- and TV-style shows you can download from the Internet. You can download free Podcasts from the iTunes Store.

Podcasts are different from Internet radio stations, which stream live content over the Internet. Each Podcast is divided into a number of episodes. The frequency of episode delivery varies according to the authors or distributors of the Podcast, but each episode resides within its own unique audio file. Podcast episodes are downloaded to iTunes on your computer-and you can add them to your iDevice so that you can play them when you're not connected to the Internet. When you subscribe to a Podcast for the first time, the most recent episode is automatically downloaded.

Subscribing to Podcasts.

It is possible to subscribe to free Podcasts using the iTunes Store. Note that the term “Subscribe” in most cases does not mean you will pay any money to receive the episodes. It merely indicates that you wish to receive them.

If you move into the iTunes Store, you can either:

1. Press Control+Shift+F to locate the Find Edit Field and type the name of the Podcast.
2. Press Enter to search, or
3. Select the Podcasts Link from the list of Links Dialog Box, Insert+F7.
4. Find the Link and press Enter to activate.
5. You will now be in the Podcast directory which you can browse through in the usual manner in which a web page would be read.

If you have chosen to search directly for a Podcast, you will find a Heading on the Store page entitled Podcasts. Press the letter H to move to it. A good Podcast to start with would be “FSCast” from Freedom Scientific.

Once the Podcasts Heading has been located, you can browse through each result by pressing F4. When you find one you wish to subscribe to, press Enter on the appropriate Link.

When the new page is loaded, press Control+Home to reach the top of the page, followed by the letter B to reach the “Subscribe” Button. Press Space Bar to activate. Note that a Dialog Box may appear shortly after with a further “Subscribe” Button in focus. Go ahead and press Space Bar on this as well.

Viewing Details of Podcasts.

Press Control+4 in order to move to the Podcasts area or choose the option from the LeaseyTunes Menu .

You will find a list of all the Podcasts to which you have subscribed. When you reach a Podcast, you can find the list of episodes by pressing the keystroke Control+Shift+L, or by selecting Next List from the LeaseyTunes Menu .

You can now press Down Arrow to move through the Podcasts. If you wish to play an episode, press Enter. Press the Space Bar to pause audio playback as usual.

You will also find that activating the Context Menu on each Podcast episode, (or main Podcast title), options exist which you may like to take advantage of. These include the ability to download more episodes, settings to configure how often episodes should be downloaded, to Unsubscribe to a Podcast, and more.

Checking for New Podcast Episodes.

Under most circumstances, iTunes will automatically display new Podcast episodes as and when they are available. Should you wish to refresh or update the list of displayed episodes to check for new updates, press F5. You can also update an individual podcast by locating an episode, pressing the Context Menu key or Shift+F10, and choosing Update Podcast from the Context menu.

Working With Your iDevice.

During 2015, we do intend to significantly improve upon the interaction you receive when using iTunes in conjunction with your iDevice, be it an iPod, iPhone or iPad. However, the following keystrokes we hope will at least ensure that you can access the core components quickly. In addition, we have in this chapter also provided you with some strategies to navigate iTunes screens, notably using Tab or F6.

Pressing Control+Shift+I will locate the iDevice options assuming the item is connected to the computer and is available to iTunes. This is also available on the LeaseyTunes Menu.

When the relevant iTunes section has been activated, press Control+Shift+L to move to the Tree View of iDevice focusable areas. These can be moved through with the Up or Down Arrow keys. Press the Tab key repeatedly when focused on an area of your choosing so as to explore it further. Alternatively, you can quickly skip to the next iTunes Table, as described below.

When focused on an area relative to your iDevice, you may wish to move to the next "iTunes Table". iTunes Tables can contain details of preinstalled apps for example, or apps which can have documents transferred to them. To move to the next iTunes Table, press Control+Shift+t. To move through an iTunes table, (which is announced as a "Tree View"), press the Up or Down Arrow keys.

There are at least two areas of your iDevice which are worthy of important note.

The first item in the focusable areas relating to your iDevice is "Summary". Having located "Summary" with the Up or Down Arrow keys, if you press Tab to move through the options, you will be able to view information about your iDevice, such as its name, the storage space available and perhaps the telephone number it is linked to. On any of these items, you can press ALT+Control+Windows+Enter to interact with it, thereby allowing you to read the details a character or a word at a time. Press Escape to return to the iTunes screen.

The category "Apps" is also very useful. From here, press Control+Shift+T to move to the table of apps stored on the computer. As you press Up or Down Arrow to move through them, you will hear the name of the app, followed by whether it is Checked or Unchecked. The purpose of these Check Boxes is to control the apps which are automatically synchronised to your iDevice. If you uncheck an item by pressing the Space Bar, when the "Sync" Button is pressed, the app will be removed from your iDevice. Conversely, if you know that an app you have purchased on your computer is not currently installed on your iDevice, you can check the box pertaining to it, and again, when the "Sync" Button is pressed, it will be transferred to the device.

When all the relevant apps are checked or unchecked as appropriate, press the Tab key to move to the "Sync" Button and press the Space Bar.

LeaseySpotify.

Introduction.

Spotify gives you millions of songs at your fingertips. The artists you love, the latest hits, and new discoveries just for you. It allows you to stream songs over the internet and listen to them as if they were stored on your computer. Imagine being let loose in a music store with permission to play anything you want, old and new. You can play any song, any time! There are also hundreds of playlists other people have created to suit any mood or music genre. Why search for songs when someone else has done the work? Whether you want to relax, have music to exercise to or hear the latest hits, Spotify has you covered.

Sometimes only your favourite artist will do. You can play all their music on shuffle, for free.

There are two types of Spotify account, “Free” and “Premium”. Among other considerations, “Spotify Premium” allows you to play all the music you want without the interruption of commercials. If you enjoy listening to music, particularly albums in their entirety, it is worthwhile purchasing a monthly subscription to “Spotify Premium” for this useful addition alone.

Using LeaseySpotify and the Leasey Help System.

As usual with Leasey, there are several common factors to using the LeaseySpotify interface.

• Pressing the Leasey Application Menu key while focused within the Spotify program will cause the LeaseySpotify menu to appear from which all the options we will discuss can be selected.
• The Leasey Help system also contains a list of all the LeaseySpotify functions together with their corresponding shortcut keys should you choose not to use the LeaseySpotify menu. Moreover, as usual pressing Enter on any one of the keystrokes listed will cause the function to be carried out without you having to remember it.

Signing Up for a Spotify Account.

Even if you wish to use “Spotify Free”, this does require the creation of an account. Visiting the website at www.spotify.com will allow you to create one.

There are two ways in which an account can be created. The first is to log in with your Facebook cridentials if you have a Facebook account. If this is selected, then many of your details will be retrieved from your Facebook profile directly. This includes your Facebook Email address and password. You will use the Email address as your username.

The recommended option however is to create an account using your Email address, since you will be able to choose the username and password in order to use Spotify. The password can be something which is memorable to you.

When the account is created on the Spotify website, you can then elect to choose “Spotify Premium”, submitting your credit card information. Indeed the company may give you a trial of “Spotify Premium” at no cost if you would like to evaluate the experience.

When Spotify loads, you will be asked for your username and password. With Leasey installed, it is not necessary to enter “Forms Mode”.

1. Focus is automatically set to the “Username” field. Please type it in and press Tab.
2. Type the password for your account and press Enter.
3. Note that if you press Tab rather than Enter, focus will now be set to a Check Box. At the time of writing, it is not possible to toggle this Check Box by pressing the Space Bar and the status is always reported as being “Unchecked”. The purpose of the Check Box is to allow automatic log into Spotify each time it is started. However by default, the Check Box is set to allow automatic log in, so press Tab once more.
4. You are now on the “Sign In” Button. Press the Space Bar, not Enter, on this Button.
5. You should now be logged into Spotify. press Insert+T which will cause JAWS to announce the account type you have access to, such as “Spotify Free” or “Spotify Premium”. If JAWS announces “Spotify”, you are not logged in.

Using Spotify.

Having logged into Spotify, we can now begin to find music to listen to!

When working through the rest of the tasks in this Chapter, please pay particular attention to the instructions and carry them out precisely in order that LeaseySpotify will work correctly for you.

To the average user, Spotify appears as a series of web pages. So any techniques you have learned in order to browse content on the internet can be used here, together with the additional keystrokes and methods of navigation which will be detailed below. Pay particular attention to moving by Heading (by pressing the letter "H"), accessing a list of Links (Insert+F7), and using the JAWS Find facility (Control+F).

Searching for Songs.

Let us start with a simple task, searching for a song. Working through this procedure should introduce you to the concept is a good training ground.

There are two methods in respect of searching for a song. There is a method you can use from within LeaseySearch, or alternatively, the more traditional way. If you are using the LeaseySearch method, Spotify does not need to be running at this point. However, we will first relate the traditional method.

1. Press Control+Shift+F to find a song.
2. Type a song title such as “Thinking Out Loud”.
3. Press Enter.
4. The search is carried out and in a second or two you should be focused upon the first search result. JAWS will speak the title of the song assuming it exists.
5. Focus is now in a list of results. You can press the Down Arrow key to review them. First you will see what Spotify deems to be the "Top Result", followed by a list of the most popular songs matching the search criteria.

Song Details.

As you press the Down Arrow key to move through the songs which have been found, you are likely to discover a number of elements.

• A Button inviting you to play the song.
• The song name as plain text.
• A hyperlink to the artist. Pressing Enter on this item will take you to the artist page from where you can view their catalogue.
• A Button to save the song to your library.
• The length of the song.
• A Button entitled "More". Activating this Button will reveal options such as to share the item, add it to your playlist, and more. We will return to this later.

Press Enter on any of the Buttons to perform the desired action.

Note that when songs are playing, you can use the following keystrokes to control the playback.

Browsing Around.

Within this Chapter, we are going to describe some specific strategies you can use to get the most from Spotify when reading the pages. However, you may wish to explore the individual pages yourself, given that it has been made very accessible for you in the most part. You can read any of the text on the pages and activate the Links and Buttons in order to move to different sections of Spotify.

Here are some useful tips when navigating:

• Press Enter on any Link or Button, not the Space Bar.
• Use the list of Links, (Insert+F7), for fast navigation through sections.
• When focused on a new page, press Control+Shift+R (for “Results”), and Leasey will try to set focus to the starting point of the text on the page, bypassing any repeated Links or sections at the top.
• Press the letter “H” to move through Headings if needed.
• While every attempt has been made to instruct JAWS to refresh the new page when it is loaded, particularly with older versions of JAWS this is not always achieved. If you have loaded a new page and you feel that the text displayed is not what you expect to see, press Insert+Escape to refresh the Virtual Buffer, then try reading the page again.
• You can listen to songs continuously in Spotify while safely navigating to other sections. Playback will not stop unless you choose to terminate it.
• To move back to the previous page, press ALT+Left Arrow.
• To move to the Spotify “Home Page”, press Control+Shift+H.
• If you wish to search for a word or phrase on the page, press Control+F.

Using LeaseySearch to Find Items on Spotify.

This method is useful if you quickly want to find a song on Spotify and you may not have the application running or if you wish to locate an item fairly quickly. The concept is that you will find the item in a List Box, press Enter, and the relevant page on Spotify will be loaded into the application. You will then need to do a little work in order to begin playing the item.

1. Move into LeaseySearch by pressing the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+S.
2. Select Spotify and press Enter. If the Spotify application is already in focus, you can go straight to this method of search by pressing Control+Shift+S without the Leasey Key.
3. Type a song title and press Enter. Note it is important to be as specific as you can if possible, so if you are searching for a song, include the artist or group name to ensure the results are to your taste. You could also type an artist or group name by itself, or with the album name, etc.
4. A list of results will be displayed. Press Down Arrow to find the result you want. Note that the list contains anything Spotify holds including this term, such as songs, albums or playlists with this title. Find something which may interest you by pressing Down Arrow and press Enter. If you have searched for a song, and you have entered the artist or group name as well, in the vast majority of cases the first result will be the one you want.
5. The Spotify application will then run if it was not previously launched and the page for the item will be available. Hopefully, the song will begin to play if that is what you have searched for and focus should be on the "Pause" Button.

Now you should use any browsing techniques discussed above.

To return to your search results list, you can press the Leasey Key then ALT+Left Arrow.

Selecting an Artist.

You will have noticed while browsing the list of results in our song search that the artists are displayed as Hyperlinks. You can press enter on any one of the Links so as to display the artist page. Press Insert+T to verify that the artist page is loaded and you should find the name of the artist reflected there.

Having done this, press number 2 on the keyboard, above the letter keys. This takes you to the first level 2 heading where the results start, whereupon you can explore the page. This is usually under Spotify’s Heading of “Popular”, meaning that they are played by users more frequently. If you want to examine songs under this Heading, press Down Arrow repeatedly.

If on the other hand you wish to move through albums of the artist selected, press H to move through the Headings. Each album is denoted by a hyperlink. Press Enter to move to the album page. Again, the window title reflects the album which has been selected.

Moving to the first table by pressing the letter T will show all the tracks on the album. The layout is a very similar arrangement to search results, except that the items also contain statistical data, such as the number of times the item has been played. You can press the Space Bar on any item to play it.

You will find just above the songs listed on the album details of the number of tracks, the total playing time and, crucially, a Button labelled "Save". Pressing Enter on this Button will save the album to "Your Music" if desired.

Selecting Playlists.

We will now introduce you to the concept of Playlists. Playlists are a compilation of tracks a person has prepared, usually to reflect a particular musical style. These can make for good listening and, if you are not tempted to look at the track list, you can get a surprise when you listen to the music and perhaps one of your favourites is played. “Shuffle Mode” is also very appealing when listening to music in a Playlist.

From the Home Page, the easiest way to find your Playlists is to press the letter B to reach the Button "Create a Playlist". Just below this you will find your Playlists with each one denoted by a hyperlink. Press Enter to move into it.
However, if you explore the home page, you will find plenty of Playlists advertised for you based on those songs you have played recently.

When you find a Playlist you would like to hear, press Enter on the Link containing its name.

When inside a Playlist, there are a number of things you can do:

1. Press Control+Home to move to the top of the page.
2. Press letter "H" to move to the first Level 1 Heading which is the Playlist title.
3. Press Down Arrow to read the page. You will first find a “Play Pause” Button. Press Enter to play all the songs from the beginning or in a random order of “Shuffle Mode” is on.
4. Next comes a “Follow” Button. If you are already following the Playlist, you will hear the word “Following”. Press Enter to unfollow or conversely, if you are not following the Playlist and you would like to do so, press Enter to follow it.
5. Next comes the name of the Playlist creator, the total number of songs and the running time.
6. The results are displayed in a table, so you can always move straight to this by pressing the letter "T".
7. If browsing through the results, you can play a track by placing the cursor on the "Play" Button relative to the track and pressing Enter. But in most cases, the purpose of selecting a Playlist is to hear a collection of songs and to enjoy them!

Creating Your Own Playlists and an Introduction to the Context Menu.

For each individual music track you search for, it is possible to activate a Context Menu so as to interact with it. You can add the song to a Playlist, start a radio station playing based on the track, add it to the playing queue, and more. In this section, we will work through how to use the Context Menu.

Before we do this, we need to create a new Playlist.

1. From any Spotify page, press the letter "B" repeatedly until you reach a Button entitled "Create New Playlist".
2. Press Enter on the Button, (or press Control+N), and an Edit Field will be in focus.
3. If necessary, activate Forms Mode by pressing Enter. Type the name of the Playlist into the Edit Field. We will use the title "Leasey" as our example.
4. Press Tab to reach the "Create" Playlist" Button and press Enter. You will note that there is a field for adding a description. This is optional.
5. Our Playlist is now created. We will add a song to it. Press Control+Shift+F and type a song title you know to be on Spotify. When this is done, press Enter. Alternatively you can use the LeaseySearch method of access.
6. After a short pause, you will be placed within the search results. Press the Up or Down Arrow keys until the song you wish to add is spoken.
7. Press Enter on the appropriate Button to play it. This is for two reasons: first because you can determine if it is the correct version and second because this loads up the appropriate song or album page.
8. Press letter "B" to reach the "More Options For" Button and press Enter. Tip: If you do not find this Button right away, it could be that the Button is not visually available. To work around this issue, press Control+End to move to the bottom of the page and press Shift+B repeatedly. Then press Enter.
9. You are now in a Context Menu. Arrow down to the item "Add to Playlist" and press Enter.
10. A list of your Playlists is displayed. Move to the name of the Playlist by pressing Down Arrow. In our example, this is, "Leasey".
11. Press Enter, and the song is now in the Playlist. JAWS says "Added to Playlist".

Note that if you wish to add other songs, you should repeat the procedure.

To be thorough, we should check that the song is in the Playlist, however when adding multiple songs it is unlikely you will carry out this process. It is worth describing however because at some point, you are going to want to listen to it.

1. From the Home Page, press the letter "B" until you reach the Button "Create a Playlist".
2. Press Down Arrow, and you will find all your Playlists. Press the Down Arrow key repeatedly to move through the available Playlists. When you reach one you would like to select, Press Enter.
3. PThe procedure for listening to the content of the playlist is exactly the same as that which we have already explored. In summary, press the letter "T" to reach the table of song titles and locate the song.
4. Underneath the Playlist title is a "Play Pause" Button. Press Enter to listen to the songs in the Playlist.
5. If you wish to activate the Context menu for the playlist, Press Enter on the "More" Button for it.
6. Press Down Arrow to move through the options on the Context Menu. The options include:
   1. Start Playlist Radio. Starts a radio station based upon the content of the Playlist, containing similar songs to those listed.
   2. Share. Allows the sharing of the Playlist on social media. This includes copying the URI to the Clipboard. This is a link which can be shared in order that anyone can listen to it on Spotify.
   3. Copy Playlist Link. Copies a Link to the clipboard of the Playlist which can be shared with someone else, perhaps in an Email. When the second user activates the Link, the Spotify web player will load in the browser, and will play the songs in the Playlist.

   li>Collaborative Playlist. Activating this option means you can then copy the Playlist URI (as above), and send it to a friend. When he or she opens the Playlist in Spotify, songs can be added, with them being available then to you and your friend.

7. Make Secret or Make Public. This is simple. If made secret, the Playlist is not visible to the public. If Make Public is selected, it will be available to everyone potentially.
8. Rename. Allows you to rename the Playlist. An Edit Field is made instantly available. Edit the existing name, or type a new one, then press Enter.
9. Delete. This displays a new window with a "Delete" Button at the bottom of the page. Press Control+End, and you should be focused on the "Delete" Button. Press Enter to remove the Playlist.

To activate an item on the Context Menu, press Enter.

Deleting a Song from a Playlist.

If you wish to delete a song from a playlist:

1. Be sure you are located on the Playlist page as described in the previous section.
2. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move to the song you wish to delete.

Press Enter to play the song to be sure it is the correct one.

3. Press ALT+Control+Shift+P to pause the playback.
4. Find the "More Options" Button underneath the song and press Enter to activate the Context Menu.
5. When the Context Menu is displayed, press Down Arrow until you reach "Remove from Playlist".
6. Press Enter to remove the song from the Playlist.

Context Menu Items Relating to Tracks.

We have already explored the Context Menu relating to tracks, as we used it to add to our Playlist. However, there are other items on the Context Menu which are useful. These are very similar to the options we've just worked through when exploring a Context Menu for the Playlist. However, we have not covered:

• Add to Queue. If you are listening to a song, and you have a sudden need to hear a piece of music which comes into your mind, you can find the song on Spotify and use this menu item to add to the playing queue. It will be played when the currently playing song finishes.
• Start Song Radio. This is similar to the above option in relation to a Playlist, except that a radio station will be created based upon the selected song. This is excellent as it introduces you to new music of a similar genre.

Sharing a Track or Playlist With Others.

You may talk about music with your friends and family. They may well be Spotify users and hear songs you might enjoy. Now, they can send you Links to songs or Playlists they may have created and you can listen to them. How cool is that?

As we briefly described earlier, Spotify contains what is known as a "U R I". This is a Link pointing to a music track or Playlist on Spotify. When the Link is activated, the appropriate song or Playlist is automatically available in the application.

Leasey makes it easy for you to open such Links directly, whereupon you can then follow a Playlist or listen to the music track.

When activating either the Context Menu for a track or Playlist, you will see the option "Copy URI". Press Enter on this. It is then available on the Clipboard, which you can verify by pressing the Leasey Key followed by X. It can then be pasted into a tweet, Email or other text edit environment and sent to someone else for listening.

If on the other hand someone sends you a Spotify U R I, as you are using Leasey you can first copy the U R I to the Clipboard, then press Control+Shift+U, or activate the appropriate option on the LeaseySpotify Menu. An Edit Field is available, with a prompt requesting that you paste the U R I there. Please do this, then press Enter. Spotify will load the appropriate item.

If the U R I points to a Playlist, you will be taken to the page relating to it, whereupon it can be played or followed. Please refer to the earlier section concerning viewing a Playlist page.

If you have been sent a URI for a song, it is likely Spotify will take you to the album on which it appears.

Now you have the ability to run a Spotify URI easily, ask your friends to share their Playlists or favourite songs with you, and, enjoy the music!

Choose the Device to Play On

You may care to use your mobile device on which to listen to Spotify. If you have a number of Playlists which you are following, you have a large collection of songs in “Your Music”, or you just want to hear songs which can be quickly found using LeaseySpotify, you can hear these on your mobile device. Particularly if you have an external speaker or speakers, this can make for a wonderful listening experience as you can hear your music independent of the computer.

Certainly, the app for Spotify on I O S devices is particularly accessible and indeed using that, it is possible to create Playlists and add tracks to them yourself, then listen to those on the computer if you wish, in a simlar way to that described above.

If you are using Spotify on the computer, and you wish for your mobile device to immediately take over and start playing the music output, follow these steps:

1. Open the Spotify app on your mobile device and ensure it has an internet connection.
2. Using the computer, press Control+End to move to the end of any Spotify page.
3. Press Shift+B to reach the “Choose the Device to Play On” Button.
4. Press Enter.
5. Press down Arrow repeatedly and you should see a list of devices detected, including your computer and the name of your mobile device.
6. Press Enter on the name of your mobile device. It may take a second or two but the audio playback should begin. If it does not, exit “Browse Mode” by pressing F12, then press the Space Bar. All being well, you should hear the music from your mobile device.

If while the mobile device is connected, and you carry out any of the steps described in this Chapter such as playing a song by pressing the Enter key, communication will be sent to your mobile device as this is now the primary source for audio output. This means that all the control of Spotify can be carried out using the computer while you are listening to the music and it is reflected on the mobile device. It’s like magic!

If while browsing any page you press Control+End, you should be able to read the line of text stating that you are listening on a mobile device.

To re-enable your computer as the output source, work through the procedure described above. In summary, select the “Choose the Device to Play On” Button by pressing Enter on it, but this time, select “This Computer” in the list of devices which appears. Assuming a song is playing, playback should cease on the mobile device and you should hear it through the computer’s sound source instead.

Spotify Radio.

LeaseySpotify supports the ability to be able to listen to the SpotifyRadio “Genre Stations”. You can select a radio station pertaining to a genre and Spotify will play many songs matching the category.

1. From any page, press Insert+F7 to bring into view the list of Links.
2. Press the letter “R” for “Radio”.
3. Press Enter.
4. Press Control+End to move to the end of the page.
5. Press Shift+H to locate “Genre Stations”.
6. Press the letter “B” repeatedly in order to move through the genres.
7. Press Enter to select the one you want. You should now begin to hear the radio station.
8. Optionally, press ALT+Control+Windows+T to hear the current song title.

The HTML Assistant.

Introduction.

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, create 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 19 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.

The choices presented to you are:

1. Heading 1 through to Heading 6.
2. Line.
3. Paragraph.
4. Link.
5. Email Link.
6. Numbered List.
7. Bulleted List.
8. Block Quote.
9. Table.
10. Image.
11. Title Including New Document.
12. Create an Item in the Table of Contents.
13. Build the Table of Contents.
14. Clear the Table of Contents and Start Again.

Before using any of the options described below, be sure that the cursor is placed in a text composition area where you would like the code to be inserted. This could be a plain text document such as in Microsoft Notepad, or something more elaborate, for example a form field in a blogging platform or web page.

When you use any of the items in the HTML Assistant, going back into the menu will set focus to the place in the menu you had previously worked with. So if you had selected to insert a Heading at level 2, going back to the HTML Assistant will ensure that your focus is at the Heading Level 2 item in the menu.

Heading Levels 1 through to 6.

Pressing Enter on any one of these options will ask you for the text you would like to appear on the Heading. Simply type it in and press Enter. The text is inserted surrounded by the necessary HTML code.

If text has been highlighted or selected prior to choosing one of the Heading level options, it is assumed that you would like the text to be the title of the Heading and so you will not be asked for it.

Line.

Activating this option includes a line break in the HTML.

Paragraph.

Pressing Enter on this option will invite you to type the text for the paragraph. Please do so and press Enter. The text is inserted surrounded by the necessary HTML code. Note that if you wish to create a line break in your paragraph, press the Leasey Key followed by Enter. You will hear that a line break has been inserted and a new blank line is focused in the display area for the paragraph so it is easier to read.

If text has been highlighted or selected prior to choosing this option, it is assumed that you would like the text to comprise the paragraph and so you will not be asked for it.

Creating a Link.

Selecting this option asks for two pieces of information.

You are first asked for the full URL (or web page address) of the Link you wish to create. You should type it and press Enter to move to the next stage. A good example would be http://www.mydomain.com/test.

Leasey Tip: If the URL of the page you wish to point to is a long complicated one, it may be an idea to ensure this is on the windows Clipboard first, prior to invoking the HTML Assistant. In that way, you can paste the URL into the first Edit Field when prompted.

The next question asks for the text you would like to be placed on the Link. A good example might be, "Please activate this link to contact me".
Please type this and press Enter. The text is inserted surrounded by the necessary HTML code.

Creating an Email Link.

Selecting this option asks for two pieces of information.

You are first asked for the Email address to be contained on the Link. You should type it and press Enter to move to the next stage. A good example would be support@hartgenconsultancy.com.

The next question asks for the text you would like to be placed on the Link. A good example might be, "Please Email me".
Please type this and press Enter. The text is inserted surrounded by the necessary HTML code.

Numbered and Bulleted Lists.

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.

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.

You could encounter a situation where you have already composed text and you would like it to be formatted as a list. In that case you should work through the following procedure:

1. Select the line of the prepared text you would like to use as the first list item.
2. Press the HTML Assistant key and choose one of the list types. Press Enter to select.
3. When asked for the first list item, type the word, "text", instead. Indeed Leasey prompts you to do this if you wish. Press Enter.
4. You should now see that the text which had been previously selected is now surrounded with HTML code and the tag to commence a list item is also just above the cursor in the document.
5. Go ahead and select the next line for the list.
6. Press the HTML Assistant keystroke again. Review the text in the Edit Field, which should consist of the text you had previously selected, then press Enter. Repeat as many times as necessary.
7. When you wish to terminate the list, press the HTML Assistant keystroke once more, and this time, type the word, "end", then press Enter.

Tables.

A table consists of information presented in rows and columns. Initially, you need to insert column headers. Underneath the column headers you should insert information for each column in the row.
This sequence is repeated until you have included all items you wish to appear in the table.

Choose the Table option from the HTML Assistant and press enter.

You will first be asked for the Table Caption. This information is important particularly for screen-reader users and should be used as a summary for the data which appears in the Table. Type in the caption and press Enter to move to the next stage.

When prompted, type the first column header and press Enter. When you press the HTML Assistant key again, Leasey knows that you are creating a table and will ask you for the next column header. Type it in and press Enter.
Repeat as necessary until you have typed all your column headers. When you have completed this task, press the HTML Assistant key, and this time, type the word, "stop". Then press Enter.

You are now asked for the first item to appear at row 2, column 1, of the table. Type it in and press Enter.
Press the HTML Assistant key, and type the data for row 2, column 2, etc.
Keep repeating this process. Leasey is clever enough to know when you are starting a new row of the table and will remind you this is happening as you add more and more items.

When you have completed all the items in the table, press the HTML Assistant key and, when prompted, type the word, "end". Then press Enter.

Creating a Block Quote.

Pressing Enter on this option will invite you to type the text for the Block Quote. This is generally used to emphasise a point or to quote from a particular source. Please type the text and press Enter. The text is inserted surrounded by the necessary HTML code.

If text has been highlighted or selected prior to choosing this option, it is assumed that you would like the text to comprise the block quote and so you will not be asked for it.

Image.

An image presented on a web page can be a logo or maybe a photograph. When you select the Image option from the HTML Assistant, Leasey asks you for four pieces of information. You can move through each step by pressing Enter.

First you are asked for the path to the image on your web server. Usually, images are stored in a separate folder, such as in a folder called "Images", and so you would type, "forward slash images", like this: /images

Next you are asked for the alternative text you would like to be included for the image caption. This is critical for screen-reader users. Type it in and press Enter.

Next, you are asked for two pieces of information concerning the dimensions of the picture. First you are prompted to enter the width of the image and then the height. These values are entered in pixels, however Leasey gives you some guidance in terms of how many pixels equate to 1 inch.

When the dimensions have been entered, Leasey will enter the necessary code into your text and will give a measurement approximation in inches as to the width and height of the image so it is easier to understand.

Leasey Tip: We strongly recommend that when your web page is uploaded containing images, you should ask a sighted person to visually check that the presentation is satisfactory. Hartgen Consultancy are not responsible for the content or presentation of images on web pages. If the image is not as you intend, you might try changing the dimensions.

Title Including New Document.

This option should be selected in a new document containing no text. The purpose of this option is to create a new HTML document or web page with the necessary code so as to establish the page title and body text. You are prompted to enter the title. Please type it in and press Enter. You will note that the cursor is placed at a point in the document prior to the tag which terminates the body text.

This option should only be used when creating web pages outside a blogging platform, content management system, or similar. In most cases, such environments require that you enter the title in a completely different way.

Creating a Table of Contents.

A Table of Contents, as far as a webpage is concerned, is where you have a long document or web page, and you wish to create what you might call same page links to strategic points within it. This not only assists users of screen-readers to get to where they need to be, but it also means that sighted people can click on one of the links as well, which saves a good deal of scrolling.

The concept is that you will have a series of links close to the top of the document reflecting the items in the Table of Contents. In addition, each strategic point in the document will have some corresponding HTML code alongside it. When a person clicks the appropriate link in the Table of Contents, focus is moved to the anchor point within the document.

If you would like to see an example of such a Table of Contents, you can visit the J-Say page of our website at www.hartgen.org/j-say.

Move through the document and find the first heading you wish to include in the Table of Contents. We are going to ensure that each of our Table of Contents items sets focus to just below each heading.

Select the text of the heading to appear in the Table of Contents.

Go into the HTML assistant with alt control windows H, and select the option to Create an item in the Table of Contents.

The index marker is created, just below the heading.

Find the next block of text which will form an entry in the Table of Contents and select the text.

Again, go into the HTML Assistant and activate the Create an item in the Table of Contents option.

Keep repeating this process until all the headings are included in the Table of Contents

When you are ready to build the Table of Contents, move to the point in the document where this is to be displayed, probably near the top of the document.

Now go back into the html assistant, and this time, select the item, build the Table of Contents. It will be created and you will be advised when it is complete.

There is one other item on this menu, Clear the Table of Contents. Sometimes, you may want to start again with building the Table of Contents. If this applies to you, that is the item you will need.

Leasey Custom Help.

Introduction.

Along long time ago, we mentioned Leasey Custom Help which forms part of the Leasey Hotkey Help system. But what exactly is it?

Leasey Custom Help allows you to create notes to help you when working with computing applications or environments. We all need a reminder from time to time as to how to work with a program. Perhaps you may care to create a list of shortcut keys you can use for it. Maybe you need to note some reminders as to the best ways of navigating it; quick shortcuts and tricks to assist you in doing things that little bit faster. You can make notes of them to be accessed wherever you are on the computer, or perhaps associate them with the application for which the notes are intended.

If you are training a Leasey or JAWS user, Custom Help is the ideal tool for you to create text notes for your student. You then have confidence that he or she can access the notes at any point in the future. You can even create them if you are away from the student and Leasey is not installed if you know the format to use to create the file.

We will now work through some examples of how to create Custom Help, accessing it and managing it.

Working with Custom Help.

Leasey Custom Help can be accessed from anywhere by pressing the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+H. Think of it as help which you are controlling!

This takes you into a menu containing a number of choices.

• Read Custom Help. Read the Custom Help which is global or for the application which has focus prior to initiating this function.
• Search Custom Help. Search for a word or phrase which may be in your Custom Help.
• Create or Edit Custom Help. Create Custom Help notes globally or for an individual application. You can also edit them here.
• Deleting Application Custom Help. Deletes the Custom Help for the application which has focus prior to executing this function if it exists.
• Delete Global Custom Help. If you've created notes to be used anywhere, this function allows you to delete them all.
• Browse to Custom Help folder. Using File Explorer, this takes you into the folder where the training notes live. You could paste additional files in this folder if you wish which correspond to the file format described below.
• The last three items on the menu allow you to manage all aspects of the Custom Web Text feature described in the next section. They are placed here for convenience so that everything relating to creating custom notes is in the one central location.

Creating Global Custom Help.

First of all, we will create some notes that remind us how to launch an application from the Windows Start menu. This is something potentially you would carry out from any location which is why it should reside as part of Global Custom Help.

1. Press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+H. The Custom Help menu appears.
2. Find the third option, "Create or Edit Custom Help".
3. Press Enter. You are asked if you would like this to be associated with the focused application.
4. In this example, because we want the help to be available anywhere, we will press letter N for no.
5. A special Help file is created. You can write anything you like in this file and edit it in the same way in which you would manipulate any text file. Write something like this:

To launch a program such as Microsoft Word:

1. Press the Windows key to bring into view the Start Menu.

2. Type part of the program name, such as Word.

3. Press Enter.

***

Now press Enter so as to create a new line of text, and we will create another exciting set of instructions!

"To bring into view a list of running applications, press Windows+Tab".

***

Press Enter again to create a new line. Note how we are presenting this text. You can create as many lines as you like; ideal for step by step examples. However, the end of each instruction must end with three asterisk characters ("***"). This will ensure that when you are searching your Custom Help, the entire text of the result will be available to you. You will observe in our second example, we only have one line of text as an instruction. This is fine, provided you terminate it with the three asterisk characters.

We now have our Custom Global text so we can save it. You can change or add to it at any time. Press Control+Enter and the notes will be saved and the text editor will close.

Creating Application Specific Help.

Now we will create notes for an application. Let us assume we would like to instruct someone how to move through a list of messages in Microsoft Outlook.

First, launch Microsoft Outlook. The location as to where you are within the application is not important.

1. Press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+H. The Custom Help menu appears.
2. Find the third option, "Create or Edit Custom Help".
3. Press Enter. You are asked if you would like this to be associated with the focused application.
4. In this example, because we want the help to be available only for Microsoft Outlook, we will press letter Y for yes.
5. A special Help file is created for Microsoft Outlook. If you read the title bar of your text editor with Insert+T or Caps Lock+T if using the JAWS laptop layout, you will notice that it contains the name of the application, Microsoft Outlook. You can write anything you like in this file and edit it in the same way in which you would manipulate any text file. Write something like this:

"To move through messages, press Up or Down Arrow.

***

Now press Enter so as to create a new line of text, and we will create another exciting set of instructions!

"When composing a message, if you wish to change the Email account from which the message will be sent:

1. Press ALT+M.

2. Press Down Arrow to reach the account of interest, then press Enter.

***

Press Enter again to create a new line. Note how we are presenting this text. You can create as many lines as you like; ideal for step by step examples. However, the end of each instruction must end with three asterisk characters ("***"). This will ensure that when you are searching your Custom Help, the entire text of the result will be available to you.

We now have our Custom application specific text so we can save it. You can change or add to it at any time. Press Control+Enter and the notes will be saved and the text editor will close.

Note that if you launched a web browser, such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, and then you decided to create application specific help, this will apply to the entire browser. So any notes should pertain to general web page navigation. If you do this, you are presented with a short message within the JAWS Virtual Viewer, stating this and advising you that you can use the Custom Web Text feature to create notes for specific sites and pages.

Reading the Global Custom Help.

So at some point in the future, you may like to read everything that is in the Global Custom Help.

1. Press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+H. The Custom Help menu appears.
2. You are on the first option, "Read Custom Help".
3. Press Enter.
4. The help for all applications is displayed. It is shown in the JAWS Results Viewer which is a separate application. You can keep this window open, move to another application if you wish by pressing ALT+Tab, work in the program, and then move back to your notes again by pressing ALT+Tab.

Reading the Application Specific Custom Help.

Now we will examine the application specific help we created for Microsoft Outlook.

1. Launch the Microsoft Outlook application.
2. Press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+H. The Custom Help menu appears.
3. You are on the first option, "Read Custom Help".
4. Press Enter.
5. The help for Microsoft Outlook is displayed. It is shown in the JAWS Results Viewer which is a separate application. You can keep this window open, move to Microsoft Outlook if you wish by pressing ALT+Tab, work in the program, and then move back to your notes again by pressing ALT+Tab.
6. You will notice that the Global Custom Help is displayed underneath the application specific text. This is displayed for two reasons. First, whenever you want to read any help text at all, whether it is for a specific application or not, all you need to do is focus on the first option in the Custom Help menu, "Read Custom Help". That is the only thing you (or your student) really needs to be concerned with. Second, it could be that you need reminding of global help procedures while you are focused within an application for which help has been created. The Global Custom Help begins with a levelled heading.

Searching Custom Help.

Let us assume you have lots of notes you have created in Custom Help. You may wish to search for something specific rather than reading either the application specific (or global) help right the way through. Leasey allows you to search for a key word or phrase to bring back the necessary results.

The way Leasey works with search is as follows. If there is application specific help for the program which has focus, it is assumed that is the help you wish to search through. If the chosen word or phrase is not found there, she will search the global help instead. It is possible that you may have forgotten where you placed the help text; whether it was application specific or global. It does not matter. Leasey will find it anyway.

In this example, we would like to find the details relating to how to send messages from specific accounts in Microsoft Outlook.

1. Launch the Microsoft Outlook application.
2. Press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+H to launch custom Help.
3. Select the second option, "Search Custom Help".
4. Press Enter. You are asked what you would like to search for. Type the word "Account" and press Enter.

The following text is displayed using the JAWS Results Viewer so you can keep the window open.

"When composing a message, if you wish to change the Email account from which the message will be sent:

1. Press ALT+M.

2. Press Down Arrow to reach the account of interest, then press Enter.

Searching Global Help.

Now we wish to search Global Custom Help instead. The procedure is almost identical to that described above.

1. From within any application, press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+H to launch custom Help.
2. Select the second option, "Search Custom Help".
3. Press Enter. You are asked what you would like to search for. Type the word "running", because we want to remind ourselves how to bring into view a list of running applications. Press Enter.

The following text is displayed.

To Bring Into View A List Of Running Applications, Press Windows+tab".

Editing Application and Global Custom Help.

If you wish to edit any aspect of the application or global Custom Help, this can be achieved easily.

If the help you wish to edit belongs to a specific application, be sure you have launched it first and that it is focused. In our example, this is Microsoft Outlook.

1. Press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+H to bring into view the Custom Help menu.
2. Select the option "Create or Edit Custom Help".
3. Press Enter.
4. You will be asked if the help is for the focused application. If you press letter Y for yes, then you will be editing your Custom Help for that application. It will be launched in a text editor such as Notepad. You can then edit it. If there was no Custom Help for the application, it will have been created.
5. If you had pressed N for no in the above step, you will be editing Global Custom Help. It will be launched in a text editor such as Notepad. You can then edit it. If there was no Global Custom Help, it will have been created.

Deleting Application and Global Custom Help.

Deleting all the notes in Global Custom Help is self-explanatory. Having activated the Custom Help menu with the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+H, select the item to delete the Global Custom Help.

Press the Enter key and you are asked if you are sure you wish to do this. Press letter Y for yes and the Global Custom Help is removed.

If you wish to delete Custom Help for a specific application:

1. Open up the application of interest. In our example, this is Microsoft Outlook.
2. Press the Leasey Key followed by Control+Shift+H to enter the Custom Help menu.
3. Select the option "Delete Application Custom Help".
4. Press Enter. You are asked if you are sure you wish to do this. Press letter Y for yes. The application specific Custom Help is removed.

Creating Custom Help When Away From The Computer on Which Leasey is Installed.

If you wish to create Custom Help if you are away from the computer on which Leasey is installed, please follow these steps:

1. First, you need to make a decision as to whether this is Global Custom Help referring to training concepts which can be used anywhere or for a specific application.
2. If it is Global Custom Help, you should create a text file containing the instructions, with each set of instructions separated by three asterisk characters. This has been illustrated above.
3. The file name should be CustomHelp.txt.
4. If it is application specific Custom Help, you should create a text file containing the instructions, with each set of instructions separated by three asterisk characters. This has been illustrated above.
5. If it is application specific help, you need to know how JAWS interprets the name of the application. For example to do this, from within the focused application press Insert+Q (or caps lock+Q if you are using the laptop keyboard layout) twice quickly. The following is displayed on screen and in the JAWS Virtual Viewer. "Microsoft Outlook settings are used in the OUTLOOK.EXE application." The key to this is the part which comes before ".exe", in this case, "Outlook". So your text file will be named "OutlookCustomHelp.txt".
6. When you are next at the computer where Leasey is installed, you will press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+H to bring into view Custom Help.
7. Select the option to browse the Custom Help folder.
8. Press Enter. This is where all the Custom Help files live. Paste your newly created files into this folder.

Leasey Custom Web Text.

Introduction.

Much earlier in this document, we discussed some useful tools we can use when navigating the internet. These included LeaseyPoints and LeaseyAlerts. Using the internet is one of the best things in life, there's so much you can do. But sometimes, you need a reminder of good strategies for navigating the site itself. After all, the web is a very unpredictable place to be.

When you visit a web site initially, the first thing you are going to do is to explore the page, so as to hopefully gain some navigational techniques you can employ in the future. Are there headings on the page which will take you to strategic points within it for fast navigation? Does the page contain tables, in which case it may be helpful to turn on the JAWS Smart Navigation mode so that it is easier to read? Do you need to use the JAWS Find facility to locate a word or phrase as a useful starting point?
There are many more examples, and whichever trick works for you on a web site, you'll want to remind yourself what you did to get to where you need to be, so that the next time you go back there, you can do it all over again. Let us introduce you to Leasey's Custom Web Text.

How to Use Leasey's Custom Web Text.

When you visit a web site or a specific page, you have the opportunity of creating some custom notes for it. When you revisit the site again, you'll be told that there is custom text available, and to press a keystroke to read it. Remember, Leasey puts you in control, so she is not going to automatically speak the text, or place it into the Virtual Viewer thus interrupting your web browsing. You decide when you want to read it.

The first thing we need to decide is whether we want to create custom text for a domain or a specific page. This can be changed at any time. Lets just expand on that.

When we talk about a domain, we mean that the Custom Text will be applied to the entire website. So if you create Custom Text for
http://www.hartgen.org,
if Leasey is set to store Custom Text for the domain, she is going to tell you that it exists on every page of that site.

For this documentation, we will choose to create text for specific pages because that is probably the most useful. Most Home Pages of web sites for example are quite straightforward to navigate. Often the tricky part is how to access specific forms or tables which could be located on other pages as you delve deeper down into the site.

To change to specific pages, we're going to focus on a web site, and press the Leasey Key followed by ALT+Windows+C.
So go ahead and open up a page in your web browser. The title of the page is irrelevant at this point as we're just setting up what we want to do in the future.

Pressing this key combination brings into view a screen using the JAWS Virtual Viewer. Because we haven't created any custom text for this web site as yet, Leasey assumes that you either want to create some, or you want to change modes. Press Enter on the appropriate Link to switch between options. The link is called, "Change between Page Mode and Domain Mode ." Keep pressing Enter on this link until you reach the mode you want. In this case, you should be listening out for, "Custom Text Will Apply to the Webpage".

Page Mode is now set, so press Escape to close the screen and return to the web site.

We now need to enable the Custom Web Text feature. As usual, it is off by default. To enable it, press the Leasey Key then ALT+Windows+W. It is a toggle keystroke. If you decide you no longer want it, press it again to disable it. But in most cases, once you've set it, you will probably want to keep it switched on.

Now we're going to create some Custom Text. Please browse to this page.
This document is all about how to read tables on the internet with JAWS for Windows.
It would be useful to set a reminder to use the JAWS Smart Navigation feature on this page. Smart Navigation allows you to read web page elements more easily including tables. When Smart Navigation is on, we can use the up, down, left and right arrow keys to move through the cells in a table. It saves holding down the ALT and Control keys as well as pressing the Arrow keys. So it sounds like a good piece of advice and we'll remind ourselves to take advantage of it.

Press the Leasey Key then ALT+Windows+C when you are on the page we've pointed you to.

A screen using the JAWS Virtual Viewer appears. Activate the first link to create some Custom Text.

Now, type the reminder text for yourself. For example, you might type: turn on smart navigation for this page by pressing Insert+X. JAWS will say, "Controls and tables". When I leave this page, I mustn't forget to turn it off!

When you have typed this text, press Control+Enter to save it.

Now navigate to this page.
This page contains a useful form for practice purposes.

Press the Leasey Key then ALT+Windows+C when you are on the page we've pointed you to.

A screen using the JAWS Virtual Viewer appears. Activate the first link to create some Custom Text.

Now, type the reminder text for yourself, and press Control+Enter to save it. For example, you might type: Press the letter F to move from one form field to another, or I can press Insert+F5 to bring into view a list of form fields and press Enter on the one I want.

When you have typed this text, press Control+Enter to save it.

Our Custom Text is now created for both pages. To test it, revisit this page.

Notice that JAWS says "Custom Text", alerting you to the fact that Custom Text is available. To read it, press the Leasey Key then ALT+Windows+C, as we have done before. The following text is displayed using the JAWS Virtual Viewer, which you can read with the Arrow keys.
turn on smart navigation for this page by pressing Insert+X. JAWS will say, "Controls and tables". When I leave this page, I mustn't forget to turn it off!

Then there are three links:

1. Edit Custom Text . Pressing Enter on this item will open up your Custom Text notes and allow you to edit or add to them.
2. Delete Custom Text . Pressing Enter on this Link will of course remove the Custom Text associated with this page only.
3. Change between Page Mode and Domain Mode . This has already been documented earlier.

As a final note, JAWS contains a feature called Custom Labels. If there are elements of a web site where the accessibility could be improved upon, you can label those elements to speak something more useful. Form controls are a good example as to where this may occur. If at Hartgen Consultancy we have created any custom labels to improve the web experience for users, they are not only downloaded in the background, but installed in the correct location on your machine. So the next time you visit the site, it should be a more pleasant experience for you. This only occurs if, and only if, Custom Web Text is enabled. You have to make the decision first that you would like this additional support.

A Note About Custom Web Text Options.

If you cannot remember the keystrokes to work with any aspect of the Custom Web Text feature, the options can be manipulated through Leasey's Custom Help utility explored in the previous main section of this documentation, Leasey Key then Control+Shift+H. There are three options. The first two of these relate to enabling and disabling the automatic reporting of whether Custom Web Text is available. The last option takes you into the main interface for customising and reading Custom Web Text described above.

WordWeb.

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.

WordWeb can be launched by selecting it from the Windows Start Menu in the same way that you would launch any other Windows program.
Note that in WordWeb's Settings dialog, (activated by pressing ALT+O then P), an option exists to start WordWeb when Windows is launched, if you wish to activate it.

One way of using WordWeb is as follows:

1. Find a word for which you wish to know its meaning. This can be done from within any application.
2. Copy it to the Windows Clipboard by selecting it first and then pressing Control+C. Note that in many cases, selecting the text is sufficient. However, JAWS often presents text in a virtual environment, such as when browsing web pages. Therefore, the safest option is to copy it to the Windows Clipboard.

When copied, press the shortcut key for WordWeb, ALT+Control+W. This brings the WordWeb program into focus and the first definition will be announced automatically now Leasey has been installed.

3. Press the Down Arrow key repeatedly to work through all the definitions for the word. These will be announced.
4. You do have the option of pressing the Tab key to move through the choices. JAWS has been scripted so as to read all the information, including the series of tabbed pages available. For example, if you press the Tab key to readh the Tabbed Pages, you may find the Synonyms Tab, the Antonyms Tab, and so on.
5. When any Tabbed Page is selected, press the Tab key once more to focus on a list of words relative to the Tabbed Page which are associated with the original word.
6. Use the Up or Down Arrow key to move through the list. When you reach the desired word, press Enter, and again you will be automatically focused in the list of definitions.

You may like to work through the following example:

1. In a document, type the word, "ridiculous".
2. Select the word so it is highlighted, and then copy it to the Clipboard with Control+C.
3. Press ALT+Control+W so as to launch WordWeb.
4. The list of definitions is available. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through (and hear) them.
5. Press the Tab key. You will note you are focused on the Synonyms Tab. You can if necessary press Tab once more to focus upon a list of Synonyms.
6. Press Enter on a word to review the definitions for that word.
7. Alternatively, while on the series of Tabbed Pages, press Right Arrow. You will find that focus is now on the Antonyms Tab.
8. If you wish, press Tab to move into this Tabbed Page. As before, locate the desired word with the Arrow keys and press Enter to explore the definitions.
9. To close the WordWeb window, press ALT+F4. This does not exit WordWeb. You can repeat the above procedure at any time by copying a word to the Clipboard and pressing ALT+Control+W so as to browse definitions.

TinySpell.

Introduction.

Checking your spelling is one of the most difficult things you can do from a screen-reading standpoint. There is no consistency between the spell checking interfaces of many programs. For example, the spell checker in Microsoft Word is completely different to that in Mozilla Thunderbird. This in itself causes confusion for new computer users, because they have to adopt different procedures depending upon the program being used.

Finally, there's the scenario of checking the spelling of a word that you potentially wish to write in the future. You might want to write the word "catastrophe" in a blog post, but you don't know how to spell it.

We've tried to overcome this by employing the services of a small program called TinySpell. A version of this is free to download and some JAWS scripting and setup instructions which we have already provided in this document ensure you can get the most from it. Please consult the earlier section of this document relating to TinySpell setup instructions.

Using TinySpell.

There are two ways we envisage this being used. The first is to have TinySpell check the spellings of words as you type them. When you press the Space Bar, TinySpell will alert you to incorrectly spelled text by playing a sound. This can be a sound of your choosing.

For example, launch Microsoft Word or any word processing application and type the word "test" as "t t e s t". Then press the Space Bar.
You will hear the sound. We can check the alternative suggestions for it, and we will show you how to do that in a moment.
This feature can be disabled if you wish.

The primary reason for us using this program however is to check the spelling of words, either when they have been typed or those which you would like to check in advance of writing a document. The best way of handling this situation is this.

1. Type the word as you think it should be spelled. Type the word "Catastrofee".
2. Place the cursor on the word and select it with Control+Shift+Right Arrow.
3. Copy it to the Clipboard with Control+C. Selecting the word is important because in a moment, we're going to choose a word from a list of suggestions. That word will replace the original and so it needs to be selected in order that it can be overwritten. Copying to the Clipboard is also important because we'll ask TinySpell to check the contents of the Clipboard for any spelling errors.
4. Now, press the keystroke to bring up my list of spelling suggestions. You can choose which keystroke you like as we discussed in our setup instructions for TinySpell, but in development we chose ALT+Control+F9.
5. JAWS reads the first suggestion and spells it. Usually, the first choice is the one you want, so you can go ahead and press Enter. If it's not, press Down Arrow repeatedly.
6. You will notice an item in the list, "Add to Dictionary". So if TinySpell does not recognise a word you use frequently, you can add it to the dictionary so it will not be flagged as incorrect in the future.
7. When you have the correct spelling, press enter.

If you are in the situation where you are just checking the spelling of a word for future use, clearly you don't need to replace it in your document. You can just press Escape to exit the list as hopefully you'll now remember how to spell it.

Lets go back now to our situation where we have the sound enabled to alert us to an incorrectly spelled word. When you hear the sound, you do not need to go back, select the word, and copy it to the Clipboard. Just bring up your list of suggestions.
Provided it is the last word you typed, TinySpell assumes that is the text you would like to correct.

TinySpell works in almost every application where you might want to check spelling. So what we've learned is that you can use it as an immediate spell checker, but also to check the spelling of the occasional word which you just want to know how to spell correctly.

It's a tiny program, but with Leasey's help, it becomes accessible and usable!

Using the Microsoft Outlook Calendar.

Introduction.

The wide ranging functionality offered within the Outlook Calendar as part of Microsoft’s Office suite allows people to create Appointments, All Day Events and Meeting Requests to suit a range of need both personal and within employment. Leasey will allow you to easily and accurately obtain information regarding scheduled Calendar items using the same Outlook program interface enjoyed by sighted friends and colleagues. Please note that the below functionality is only available in Microsoft Outlook 2016, 2019 or 365.

Leasey is extremely responsive and performs well within a local Calendar (stored on the computer itself), or within an Exchange Server environment (often referred to as a Shared Calendar as potentially other people can view it if permission has been assigned).

At this time, the Leasey calendar functionality can be used in the Day View only.

Before You Begin.

Prior to getting started, a decision must be made as to whether you would like to use the Leasey functionality for the Outlook calendar or not. From within Microsoft Outlook, press ALT+Windows+D. This is a toggle action. It will enable or disable the special functionality for the calendar. We're going to assume you want it enabled, so press the keystroke repeatedly until you hear that it is so. This setting will be remembered even if JAWS is restarted.

An Introduction to Creating Appointments.

Before you learn about the primary functions available as part of Leasey within the next section, you may not be aware how to create Appointments or All Day Events. An All Day Event occupies an entire day or a number of days, while an Appointment lasts for a specific period within the day, for example 2 hours.

The process of creating an appointment is quite straightforward and presents no accessibility challenges. Therefore, Leasey does not add any special functionality in this regard. Nevertheless, we will describe how to create a simple Timed Appointment.

Creating a Simple Appointment.

Please use the following example to create a Timed Appointment to remind you of a dinner you are going to attend at a restaurant on 4 October 2019 between 8 PM and 11 PM.

1. Having launched Microsoft Outlook, press Control+2 (figure 2 on the main QWERTY Keyboard) to enter the Calendar. JAWS announces the day and date, such as Tuesday 9 July 2019. That is all it should say if you are in the Day View. If JAWS announces other information, such as "Month View, , , 14 total events, 00:00 Monday, 1 July 2019 to 00:00 Monday, 5 August 2019", then you are within a different view. If this is the case, please press ALT+Control+1 to switch to Day View.
2. Press Control+G to activate the Microsoft Outlook “Go to Date” Dialog Box.
3. Type the date you would like to move to, which you can do in the form relative to your regional English language. Microsoft Outlook is quite flexible about the method by which you can enter dates. For example, within the United Kingdom or many other countries you might enter “4 October 2019” or “04/10/2019”, however within the United States of America you could type “October 4 2019” or “10/04/2019”, etc.
4. Once the date has been typed, press the Enter Key.
5. Press Insert+Up Arrow to verify that the desired date has been selected. JAWS speaks the day and date.
6. Press Control+N to create a new Calendar Item. After a short pause, Outlook presents you with the “Subject” field for it. As of later releases of Office, Microsoft now refer to this as the appointment title. The “Subject” field should contain a one line summary of the nature of the Item, such as “Dinner at restaurant”.
7. Once this has been entered, the Tab Key can be used to move from one field to the next. Note that most of the fields are self-explanatory, for example “Start Date” and “Start Time”. Indeed the “Start Date” field will already contain the 4 October 2019 date we previously selected.
8. For the purposes of this appointment, you need only complete the “Subject”, “Start Time” and “End Time” fields. When the details have been entered, press ALT+S to save the Calendar Appointment and return to the day View Window. The Insert+Up Arrow keystroke can be used to verify this fact and if successfully returned to the Day View Window JAWS will announce the day and date.

Moving Through Days of the Week.

There are various methods for locating a specific day of the week.

• You can use the Left and Right Arrow Keys to move through the days.
• Alternatively, Press Control+G to bring into view the Microsoft Outlook “Go To Date” Dialog Box. Type a date in the format appropriate to your country and press Enter. Entry of dates into this Dialog Box was described within the previous section.

However you have chosen to move to a date, JAWS announces (and displays in Braille):

• The day of the week on which the date falls.
• The calendar date and month.
• If no appointments or all day events exist, (and if the Leasey Sounds Scheme is enabled), a sound will play. This is especially useful if you wish to locate days where there is no activity. You can quickly press Left or Right Arrow repeatedly until the sound is heard.
• If all day events or appointments exist, you will hear the total number of these, such as, "3 items".

Here are some other keystrokes which may be useful when navigating through the days.

• Press ALT+Down Arrow to move to the next week and ALT+Up Arrow to move to the previous week.
• Press ALT+Page Down to move to the next month or ALT+Page Up to move to the previous month.

Moving Through Calendar Items.

To reiterate a point from an earlier section, Leasey defines Calendar Items in one of two ways:

• An All Day Event is a Calendar Item which occupies the entire day or spans a series of days.
• An Appointment is a Calendar Item occupying a specific period within the day, for example two hours.

If JAWS had advised you that Calendar Items exist for a given day, and you wish to hear details about them, press Tab. JAWS will announce information pertaining to the Calendar Item which has focus.

Condensed Mode.

As you press Tab to move from one appointment or event to the next, Condensed Mode allows you to hear appointments or event details in an abbreviated form.
JAWS will announce the time range the appointment occupies, (such as "2 PM to 3 PM"), followed by the appointment subject. To enable Condensed Mode, press ALT+Windows+C. This setting is remembered across Windows sessions.

Here is an example of an appointment with Condensed Mode disabled.

"Call Jane at home, , , 14:00 to 14:30 Monday, 8 July 2019, Time Busy, Organizer Brian Hartgen. 2 of 3.".

Here is the same appointment with Condensed Mode enabled.

"14:00 to 14:30. Call Jane at home, Has Notes, 2 of 3."

If an All Day Event has focus occupying one day only, JAWS announces the event details without reference to time.

If an All Day Event has focus occupying several days, JAWS will advise you for how many days the event spans. For example, you will hear "11 days". It will also alert you if notes are attached to the item.

If Condensed Mode is disabled, and you press Tab:

• If an All Day Event has focus occupying one day only, JAWS announces the event details without reference to time.
• If a Timed Appointment has focus, JAWS will announce the start and end time of the Appointment, for example, “from 12 PM to 2 PM".
• The Calendar Item subject is then announced.
• JAWS will inform you of any other relevant information concerning the Calendar Item, including the Organiser (the person who has created it), the Status (such as “Busy”, “Free” or “Tentative”), and the location (such as a meeting room number or office).

In addition to the announcement of appointments in full, you will notice that disabling the Condensed Mode does not advise you of whether the appointment has notes. Moreover, it does not let you know if an event spans more than one day.

Regardless of whether Condensed Mode is enabled or disabled, you can keep pressing Tab to move through all your appointments for the focused day. Notice as you do so, JAWS speaks the appointment number followed by the total number of appointments. This is helpful: first because you can be reminded how many appointments or events exist for a given day. Second, you know when you have reached the end of the list. An example of such a count would be, "2 of 3".

If you continue to press the Tab key past the total number of appointments for a date, you will be taken to the next appointment for a date in the future regardless of how far forward that is. Should this occur, and if the Leasey sound scheme is enabled, a sound will play, indicating that you have crossed a boundary and that a number of dates may have been bypassed. As an alternative rather than doing this, on the last appointment or event, press Right Arrow instead to advance to the next date.

Using the JAWS Virtual Viewer.

So far, you have listened to your Calendar Item details and will have noticed there is a great deal of information to absorb. It is likely that even the most experienced JAWS users may wish to examine the contents of the Appointment or Event more thoroughly or slowly. In addition, you may wish to copy the Item details to the Windows Clipboard, perhaps for pasting into an alternative source such as an email message.

Leasey provides a convenient method for accomplishing all of these things which involves placing the Calendar Item into the JAWS Virtual Viewer. Once the Item is in the Virtual Viewer, the Arrow Keys or your Braille display can be used to move through it as thoroughly as you wish.

There are two places in which you may care to work with the Virtual viewer:

• When focused on a day of the week. Press Insert+Tab. The details of all appointments and all day events for the day will be placed there. Use the Arrow keys to explore the information. Press Escape to return to the calendar.
• When focused on a specific appointment, having pressed Tab to reach it first. Press Insert+Tab. The details of the appointment will be displayed, together with any notes which may be associated with it. Use the Arrow keys to explore the information. Press Escape to return to the appointment or event.

Time Slots.

When creating a Calendar Item, rather than entering a value into the “Start Time” Edit Field, it is possible to pre-select this by means of moving through Time Slots for the focused day as follows:

1. First, locate the date upon which you wish to create the Appointment.
2. Press Down Arrow repeatedly in order to move through Time slots for the current day. JAWS will announce a Time slot as you move to it. Each Time Slot occupies a 30 minute segment within the day by default.
3. When the appropriate Time Slot has been reached, press Control+N to create a new Calendar Item. Pressing Tab repeatedly will show you that the “Start Date” and “Start Time” fields are now populated with the pre-selected values.
4. If you wish to enter a simple appointment at the designated Time Slot, (containing just the subject only), do not press Control+N. When focused on the Time Slot, type the subject and press Tab to exit and save.

When you are focused on a specific date, you can now press Up or Down Arrow Keys to move through the available Time Slots. When you reach the time for which you set the appointment, the word, "Appointment", is spoken. Continual presses of down Arrow will cause JAWS to announce this word until the end time has been reached. This method of navigation is ideal if you wish to ascertain when free time in your day exists.

Similarly, if the sound scheme is enabled, Leasey will play a sound whenever you are inside a time slot where there is activity. This allows you to quickly move down the list of time slots to ascertain where available time exists.

Moving Through Appointments, Time Order Versus Actual Time.

If you press Tab repeatedly to move through appointments and events, you will notice that they are presented to you in a logical order. As you navigate to a date, then press Tab, you will find that each timed appointment particularly is presented to you in the order at which it occurs. This gives you a good understanding of how your day is structured and is highly recommended.

However, those people who have worked with the Outlook calendar prior to using Leasey may well find the transition of working in this way a little difficult to get used to. Leasey therefore tries to be flexible, and you can disable this feature by pressing ALT+Windows+T. This is a toggle action, and the setting will be retained, even if you restart the computer.

When this feature is disabled, you can work through the following steps:

1. Press Tab to move to a scheduled appointment. The appointment for example may be at 1.30 PM.
2. Press Down Arrow. You are now at the 2 PM Time Slot.
3. Press Control+N and create the appointment, or alternatively, start typing the subject now.

To repeat, while it can be an advantage to work in this way, our preference is to create appointments using the manner described elsewhere in this Chapter, where the appointment start and end times are entered manually. This ensures that the structure of the day is far easier to understand.

There is a further advantage in using our preference. If focus was at the 1.30 PM appointment, and you felt that you wanted to examine the details of an earlier one, this would require pressing Shift+Tab instead of Tab. A new computer user may well find themselves mystified if the earlier appointment is not sequentially presented in the Tab order.

Creating an Appointment with More Detail.

While not directly related to Leasey functionality, it is worth describing the purpose of some of the fields which are available within the "New Appointment" Dialog Box, activated by pressing Control+N. This Dialog Box is moved through by pressing Tab.

• Location. When in this field, you have a choice. You can type a location, such as "At client's home", or, "Hospital". Alternatively, press Down Arrow to access a list of previously entered locations. When the desired location is selected, press Tab to move to the next field.
• The Start Date, Start Time, End Date and End Time fields are self-explanatory, but particularly if you are adopting our recommendation of presenting the appointments in a sequential manner, do pay attention to the Start Time and End Time fields. You can either type 12 or 24 hour values into the Time fields, and Microsoft Outlook again is quite flexible about how you do this. You might type "2:00 PM" or "14:00". Alternatively, you can press the Up or Down Arrow keys to move through the time slots sequentially. Clearly, if you are preparing an all day event, the fields do not need to be completed.
• Date Picker Buttons. These appear next to the Start and End Date fields. Pressing the Space Bar on any of these buttons causes a grid to appear. You can use the Up, Down, Left and Right Arrow keys to navigate the grid. The Up and Down Arrow keys move by week, while the Left and Right Arrow keys move by date. Leasey has been customised to read these dates in a logical way, such as "09/07/2019, Tuesday". Use the Arrow Keys to find a date and press Enter to accept.
• All Day Event Check Box. Check this box by pressing the Space Bar if the event occupies the entire day.
• Notes. This is where you can type as many paragraphs as you wish so as to attach notes to the appointment. Having reached the Notes field, pressing Tab will cause you to insert a Tab character into your notes, so do be careful. You will know if you have done this because JAWS will report the new cursor position in inches or centimetres. To retrace your steps, press Shift+Tab.

Saving, Deleting and Editing an Appointment.

To save an appointment, press ALT+S. To delete an appointment, press Tab to reach it and press Control+D.

Should you wish to edit an appointment, locate it first by pressing Tab, then press Enter. If the "Location" field has not been previously completed, the focus is likely to be placed there. But given all fields in this Dialog Box are spoken by JAWS as you press Tab to move from one control to the next, this should not be a problem. When the editing is complete, press ALT+S to save.

Additional Calendar Options.

The Microsoft Outlook program provides a vast array of features, and many of these relate to the scheduling of appointments and events in the calendar. They go way beyond the scope of the Leasey documentation. However, you may like to take a look at the Context Menu, activated by pressing the Context Menu key (usually three keys to the right of the Space Bar), or Shift+F10.

In particular, you may like to visit the option for creating a new recurring appointment. This brings into view a Dialog box where there is a good deal of flexibility, available by pressing the Tab key. Most of the options are self-explanatory and it is quite an accessible Dialog Box. Certainly, creating less complex recurrences is very achievable.

LeaseyGames.

Introduction.

While many functions of Leasey relate to carrying out tasks which are essential to everyday computing, the product also provides a considerable amount of entertainment. This includes aspects of LeaseySearch, LeaseyAudio, LeaseyRadio and so on. The entertainment value of the product is very much strengthened through the inclusion of the LeaseyGames Module.

Leasey contains many games which can be played either alone, online with other people, or against the computer. The LeaseyGames are divided into three broad categories:

• Online Games, those played over the internet.
• Traditional easy-to-play games, where you can take your time in terms of play.
• Arcade Games, requiring either strategic game play or quick reaction to events.

This Chapter will describe each of the three categories of games together with how to access them and obtain help which is specific to the individual game being played.

Common Factors in LeaseyGames.

All the games contained in the LeaseyGames Module have several common factors associated with them:

• They can all be accessed from the LeaseyGames menu described below.
• All games are completely accessible using just a few easy-to-remember keystrokes. Many of the keystrokes you will be familiar with already, such as the Up and Down Arrow keys, the Space Bar, Enter and Escape. While other keyboard commands are introduced depending upon the complexity of the game being played, they are very easy to locate and will not present any challenges. All games have been chosen specifically because of their ease of navigation.
• While the approach to keyboarding is straightforward, this does not in any way mean that all of the games are easy to play. In line with Leasey's philosophy of learning and building confidence, many of the games will not only make you think, but will also improve both your listening and keyboard coordination skills.
• Many of the games have been provided for users of Leasey by external sources. There are several exceptions to this:
  • The games Treasure Troll and Truffle Troll, (developed by Hartgen Consultancy in cooperation with Elias Software).
  • Q9 Action Game, developed by Blastbay Studios, for which Hartgen Consultancy now own the rights.
  • My Country Place, developed by Hartgen Consultancy in collaboration with VGStorm.Com.
  • Matchmaker, developed by Hartgen Consultancy in collaboration with Giggajoy Creations.

In addition to the providers already stated, we would like to thank RS Games, NA Soft and Spoonbill Software for their kind generosity in allowing us to bring you an extremely wide range of games as a springboard for future developments.

Please note: In terms of fixing any problems with the games stated below, Hartgen Consultancy are responsible for, (and are in a position to remedy), difficulties with games which are exclusive to Leasey. However, where we have been given permission to distribute games at no additional cost from external providers, we cannot accept responsibility for any bugs which may be found within them. We will do our best to work with the game developers to resolve them, however we are providing these merely as a service to users and as a convenient platform for easy access and distribution.

Before You Begin.

In order to play any games, the LeaseyGames module must be downloaded and installed. We strongly recommend that you refer to the "Setup" chapter of this User Guide and install the LeaseyGames Module according to the instructions given in the appropriate sub-section. Note that if you have previously downloaded the LeaseyGames Module for Leasey version 2, you will need to do so again in order to take advantage of our complete range of games now available.

If the LeaseyGames Module is not installed, when attempting to play a game for the first time you will be advised of this and will be asked if you would like to install it. Again, please refer to the "Setup" Chapter which will describe precisely what to expect in this regard.

We must now spend some time discussing how the games make it possible for you to play them with appropriate speech output. These fall into two specific categories:

• Where the text is announced by JAWS. No interaction is required on your part to facilitate this.
• Which are self-voicing. This means that the games were designed to speak using your Microsoft Windows Text to Speech voice. Such voices are often referred to as being "SAPI Compliant". Windows has a number of text to speech voices pre-installed, and these can be individually selected through the Windows Control Panel under the option "Text to Speech Preferences". We would describe these voices as "Adequate". However, many people prefer to purchase additional higher quality voices which you may care to think are more natural and "human sounding". If you require advice or assistance with installation of such voices, please contact us.

We will describe into which of the two above categories each game falls.

Accessing LeaseyGames.

LeaseyGames can be accessed in one of two ways:

• From Leasey's Main Menu through the option "Play Games". Press Enter to select this item.
• By pressing the Leasey Key then G, where you will be taken into LeaseyGames directly from any application.

The LeaseyGames Menu.

At the time of writing, there are 44 possible options which can be selected from the LeaseyGames menu. These are arranged in alphabetical order. Use the Up or Down Arrow keys to select a game to play or use first letter navigation to locate the one you want. Press Enter to play one of the games.

When the Enter key is pressed, (and if using Leasey Basic), Leasey will let you know that she is loading the game and to please wait while this takes place. The loading of the game should only take a few seconds.

While we will not describe how to play each game provided, we suggest you read the below sections carefully prior to playing any one of them.

Playing Leasey Games.

Online Games.

Online games are provided via the RS Games client. To access online games, please select the option "RS Games Online". All prompts are announced by JAWS.

RS Games is a revolutionary game client that allows people to
play games against each other through a central server hosted by the organisation. In addition to making available a number of games, (which can be played alongside your friends or against a "bot" or a computer), a social element to the client means you can chat with people or listen to radio stations while you play.

The most important aspect of the RS Games client is the menu. Menus are used when choosing from several options. For example, each game has a main menu, with options such as "New Game", "Join Game" and "List Games". You might also use menus to choose from a hand of cards or answer "Yes" or "No" to a prompt.

To select an item from a menu, use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through the options, and press Enter to select. Further keyboard commands are specific to each game, and are referred to in the individual documentation for it.

Logging In.

Prior to playing any of the games, you will need to create an RS Games account. If you don't yet have an account, you should choose "Create a New Account" from the main menu. You will be asked to enter your desired username, together with an email address. The email address you supply must be valid, since a temporary password will be sent to it. We strongly recommend you change your password to something you can remember. You can do this by choosing the "change password" option from the main menu.

If you already have an account, choose the first option in the menu, "Login with an Existing Account", and enter your username and password.

Auto Login.

When you login to the server for the first time, you will be asked if you'd like to enable auto-login. This feature allows the game to remember your login information so you do not have to type it in each time you play. If you'd like to enable this feature, choose "yes". Once it is enabled, an option will appear
in the main login menu. For example, if your username is BobCat, you will see an option entitled "Login as BobCat". Simply choose that option and you will be automatically logged in.

When within the main menu, moving through the options will allow you to view all the games provided. Press Enter to select a game to play. If the game sounds have not been downloaded to your computer, the RS Games client will do this and advise you that it is taking place. This should only take a few seconds.

Other important keystrokes to note are:

• To exit a game, a menu or the RS Games client at any time, press the Escape key.
• To view game documentation, press the Leasey Key then H. Please note that an internet connection is required to access game documentation.

Spoonbill Software Games.

Leasey includes a large number of SpoonBill Software games, all of which are self-voicing, meaning that the output is generated by your default Windows Text to Speech Voice, (see above). Keys usually associated with Leasey, such as to access the Leasey Main Menu, cannot be pressed when accessing these games.

The catalogue of Spoonbill Software games included is as follows:

• Aces Up
• Battleship
• BG2048
• Boggle
• Brainiac
• Chess
• Code Breaker
• Cribbage
• Cribbage Solitaire
• Crossword
• Draw Dominoes
• Elevens
• Fifteen
• Fives Dominoes
• Freecell
• Hearts
• Klondike
• Lap
• Mastermind
• Mine Sweeper
• Nomination Whist
• Penguin
• Poker Solitaire
• Pyramid Solitaire
• Scorpion Solitaire
• Scrabble
• Simon
• Spider Solitaire
• Sudoku
• Tri-Peaks Solitaire
• Uno
• Word Builder
• Word Jumble
• Word Solitaire
• Word Target
• Word Yahtzee
• Yahtzee

As game play progresses, you will be advised which keystrokes to use when appropriate. However, in order to close a game at any time, press the letter Q. To access help for the game being played, press F1. When you do this, JAWS will reload and you will be taken to a page where you can read help for it. Use standard text reading commands in order to work through the help. Press ALT+F4 to return to the game.

The above games in this category can be played at what we might describe as a "leisurely pace", meaning that you can take your time. To this end, Leasey Advanced users can switch to an alternative program and return to the game later, perhaps to process Email or carry out any one of a number of other activities. To do this, launch your chosen program from the Start Menu or Desktop, press ALT+Tab, or press Insert+F10 to access a list of running applications.

Park Boss.

The aim of Park Boss is to build an amusement park from the ground up. As the boss everything regarding your park is under your control. The rides you add, the staff you employ and how much you pay them, the types of meals you serve, how much to charge for them, the advertising, dealing with situations which arise and balancing the need to keep your visitors happy with making money. Remember that unless you make money you can’t build new attractions.

There is no end to the game. You can keep playing and building as long as you like. There are over 70 attractions you can build along with 15 different zones which can be setup. Every so often you’ll get an offer to by the park. This is equivalent to selling up and taking the money. When you do sell then you invest all the funds in to purchasing new land and you start all over again.

The output from Park Boss is delivered as a mix of human narrated audio and speech emanating from your default Windows Text to Speech voice. Keys usually associated with Leasey, such as to access the Leasey Main Menu, cannot be pressed when accessing this game.

Almost all of the game play is delivered through menus. Use the Up or Down Arrow keys and Enter to select a choice. Pressing Escape will save the current setting and moves back a level in the game play.

Spoken assistance is required throughout the game so there is little need for the provision of help information. However, the following may assist you:

• The Control key silences speech.
• F1 announces the week number and what day it is. Weeks start on a Monday. Park state is assessed at the beginning of the week so expect emails and your customers view of the park to change at that time.
• F2 reports your current bank balance.
• F3 brings into view your Email window, which can also be accessed from the office. Use the Delete key to remove emails you’ve dealt with, press Escape to leave your inbox.
• F4 pauses the game. Pressing f4 again or Escape resumes game play. By pausing the game you stop time but cannot interact with Park Boss.

Treasure Troll: a Simple Arcade Game for Beginner and Intermediate Gamers.

As stated previously, Treasure Troll is part of a series of games developed exclusively for Leasey. Treasure Troll combines quality and fully orchestrated music (which changes depending upon how effective you are at game play), original sound effects and vocal production. The music emanates from the Elias engine. Used in specialist and mainstream gaming products, through Elias the music is just as dynamic and flexible as the corresponding composition would have been in a movie. Simple yet challenging, as with all the Leasey Games the interface is easy to use with few keystrokes to remember.

The output from Treasure Troll is delivered as a mix of human narrated audio and speech emanating from your default Windows Text to Speech voice. Keys usually associated with Leasey, such as to access the Leasey Main Menu, cannot be pressed when accessing this game.

Story.

You are a troll who, while walking through a forest, finds the ground suddenly disappearing beneath your feet. You fall into a cave where a vast golden treasury is guarded by a hoard of sleeping fairies. Fairies and trolls are on notoriously bad terms and if they find you in their cave, stealing their treasure, the consequences for you are likely to be painful! Can you play through ten levels of increasing difficulty, and steal the treasure from under their noses without waking them?

Main menu.

The game begins with a main menu. Use your Up or Down arrow keys to navigate through it. To choose an option, press Enter. At the end of each game you will be automatically returned to the main menu.

Game play.

This game is purely sound driven with no graphics, so you must use the sound effects and audio environments within the game to move from place to place and to avoid enemies and obstacles.
For this you will need either a pair of stereo headphones or speakers that are positioned so that it is possible to hear what comes from the left and right, as this plays a crucial role in the game's navigation.

The game takes place inside the fairies' cave. Listen to the ambience and you will hear quiet breathing in the far left and far right of your stereo field. This will tell you where the walls are. You begin in the center of the cave, moving right or left with your arrow keys. You may repeatedly tap the Arrow keys to walk or hold them down continuously to run.

Treasure.

Every few seconds you will hear treasure. It will appear in a random place and begin sliding along the floor until it hits a wall, when it will disappear. The treasure is represented by the sound of coins. You must collect it before it reaches the wall. To do this, walk or run until the treasure is centered in your sound field then press the Space Bar to pick it up. You will hear a chime when a treasure is successfully collected and a soft thud if it has hit the wall.

Hazards.

You must not bump into the walls. If you do, the fairies will awaken and the consequences will cost you a life, you only have three to begin with. Walls can be avoided by listening to the breathing and by getting a feel for the game space.

Every now and then boulders will fal from the ceiling. These will fall more often and faster as you progress. You must take care they don't hit you, or the noise you make will awaken the fairies which will result in you losing a life.

We all know that caves harbour bats. now and then a hungry bat will fly down from the roof. The bats come more often and get faster as you progress. These bats are inteligent and will come after you. You must take care they dont' land on you because if they bite you will be frozen for five seconds, which will make you miss treasure. If you miss too many treasures you will get frustrated and make too much noise which will awaken the fairies, resulting in you losing a life.

Bonuses.

From time to time bonuses will fall from the ceiling, making a distinctive sound. You need to catch them before they shatter. Center them in your sound field and press the Space Bar to collect them. The bonuses are as follows:

• Sleep spell: gives you fifteen seconds in which the fairies will not notice any noise you make. When the Sleep Spell is in progress, you will hear a ticking clock sound. When the time has elapsed, this is represented by an alarm clock sound.
• Extra Life: Very useful, especially if you manage to collect severall of these.
• 500 extra points: a useful addition to any score.

Scoring.

You are given your score at the end of each level and at the conclusion of the game. There is also a menu option to view your top ten best scores so you can keep a record of how well you are doing!

The scoring system is based upon many factors, for example the time taken to collect treasure, how quickly you collect bonuses, whether you hit a wall, whether a bat bites you, and so on. While you may eventually be successful in beating all 10 levels, you can improve your game play by developing your quick reactions and dodging skills so as to improve your overall score!

Keystrokes.

• Hold down the Left or Right Arrow to move.
• Space Bar collects an item.
• Letter P pauses and resumes game play.
• Letter T speaks the remaining number of treasures that must be picked up in the current level.
• Letter L speaks remaining lives.
• Page Up and Page down will adjust the music volume.
• Enter key will skip introductory cut scenes and other audio.
• Escape will go back a level in menus or will cancel the current game round.
• ALT+F4 pressed at any time will exit the game.

Truffle Troll: The Tantalisingly Tasty New Game from Elias Software and LeaseyGames!

As with Treasure Troll (referred to Above), The output from Truffle Troll is delivered as a mix of human narrated audio and speech emanating from your default Windows Text to Speech voice. Keys usually associated with Leasey, such as to access the Leasey Main Menu, cannot be pressed when accessing this game.

Story.

Have you met our bumbling but lovable troll, who, at the end of our last game, was catapulted out of the fairies' cave with a heap of stolen treasure with which he went on a huge spending spree? One of the things he bought was an ice cream parlour.

Unfortunately, though trolls might be good at making ice cream, they're not terribly good at keeping staff, so now he has to run it all by himself. He must run to the freezer, collect bowls of ice cream on his tray, then run back and deliver orders. Unfortunately his customers aren't the most patient people in the world, so he needs to be quick or the customers will get angry and start wrecking the place. Over five minutes the action gets faster, more flavours are ordered and there's less time before the customers get irate. Can you deliver enough orders to make a profit? Can you also manage to serve the luxurious rum truffle ice creams for premium prices?

Main menu.

The game begins with a main menu. Use your Up or Down arrow keys to navigate through it. To choose an option, press Enter. At the end of each game you will be automatically returned to the main menu. Please note that there are two modes of game play: "Easy" and "Expert". The differences are described below.

Game play.

This game is purely sound driven with no graphics, so you must use the sound effects and audio environments within the game to move from place to place and to locate your customers.
For this you will need either a pair of stereo headphones or speakers that are positioned so that it is possible to hear what comes from the left and right, as this plays a crucial role in the game's navigation.

The game takes place inside the ice cream parlour. When the game begins, you are advised which flavours of ice cream can be sold. More flavours are added as the game progresses. As your ice cream parlour grows in popularity, the more flavours people will wish to buy!

The freezer containing your current stock of ice creams is located on the extreme right. You will hear a sound when you reach the freezer door. In order to open or close it, press Enter. With the freezer door open, use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through the available stock, and press the Left and Right Arrow keys to adjust the quantity of those items you wish to carry on the tray. The more bowls of ice cream you carry, the greater the chance of you being able to serve your customers quickly. However:

• Within "Easy" level, only ten bowls of ice cream can be accommodated on the tray at any time. It is possible to run to your customers and serve them in this mode, however you will need to frequently return to the freezer so as to replenish your items on the tray.
• In "Expert" mode, your tray can hold an unlimited number of items. But be careful! If you are carrying too many bowls of ice cream and you are running, you may drop the tray, causing bowls to be smashed, profits lost, and many angry customers!

As the game progresses, each customer will ask you for a choice of icecream. You need to be fast as more and more customers will enter the store. In order to serve a customer, use the Left or Right Arrow keys to locate him or her in the centre of the stereo field and press the Space Bar. Hold down the Left and Right Arrow keys to run, tap each key to walk.

Should you wish to check your stock levels, press the letter S. To hear the time remaining in the game, press the letter T.

Game Objective and Scoring.

The objective of the game is to make as much profit as possible. At the end of each game, you are told how much money was made in sales, whether costs were incurred in replacing broken furniture your angry customers had damaged, and, (when appropriate), whether icecream bowls needed to be replaced due to them being dropped. Money is deducted to replace furniture or bowls. Hopefully, you will hear how much profit has been made overall. There is also a menu option to view your top ten best scores so you can keep a record of how well you are doing!

Keystrokes.

• Hold down the Left or Right Arrow to run, tap each key to walk.
• Enter opens and closes the freezer door.
• With the freezer door open, Up and Down Arrows Move through available stock in the freezer.
• With the freezer door open, Left and Right Arrows change the quantity of bowls to be carried on the tray.
• Space Bar serves a customer.
• Letter P pauses and resumes game play.
• Letter T speaks the remaining time within game play.
• Letter S speaks the current stock.
• Page Up and Page down will adjust the music volume.
• Home and End will vary the rate of speech.
• Enter key will skip introductory cut scenes and other audio.
• Escape will go back a level in menus or will cancel the current game round.
• ALT+F4 pressed at any time will exit the game.

Q9 Action Game.

Finger numbing action, stunning audio imagery and a touch of morbid comedy is combined in this game, promising hours of thrilling and challenging game play.

The game features pristine sound effects and original orchestral music, carefully combined to create a truly unique gaming experience. Fight your way through four virtual worlds filled to the brim with all kinds of murderous monsters, treacherous traps and other surprises, and finally attempt to defeat the boss who is patiently waiting for you at the very end.

This game is what is called a "side-scroller" which means you control Q9's direction by using the Arrow keys on your keyboard; moving him left and right to navigate through the levels.
This game is purely sound driven with no graphics, so you must use the sound effects and audio environments within the game to move from place to place and to avoid enemies and obstacles.
For this you will need either a pair of stereo headphones or speakers that are positioned so that it is possible to hear what comes from the left and right, as this plays a crucial role in the game's navigation.

The output from Q9 is delivered as a mix of human narrated audio and speech emanating from your default Windows Text to Speech voice. Keys usually associated with Leasey, such as to access the Leasey Main Menu, cannot be pressed when accessing this game.

Story.

You assume the role of the little alien Q9 who has had the misfortune to crash on Earth, managing to lose his spaceship somewhere in the process. Now it's your job to guide him through numerous dangers and exciting adventures so that he can, with some luck, find his spaceship in order to return home again.

The Main Menu.

The game begins with a main menu. Use your Up or Down arrow keys to navigate through it. To choose an option, press Enter. At the end of each game you will be automatically returned to the main menu.

How to Play.

To move Q9 left and right, hold down the respective arrow keys, i.e. Left arrow moves Q9 to the left and Right arrow moves him to the right.

To run, first hold down the Ctrl key along with either one of the directional arrows. If you change direction by pressing the opposite arrow key to the one you are holding, you will quickly change direction without taking a step. This is a good way of spinning around when you need to attack something quickly, without wasting time.

To jump, press the up arrow. Holding this key down results in continuous jumping and pressing an arrow key whilst in the air enables you to move faster or slower, depending on the speed at which you press the arrow keys. You have to press the arrow keys in quick succession to move, rather than holding the key down.
You can use this key combination to avoid falling into the pits and jumping over certain enemies.

Q9 is armed with a number of weapons from the start. The default weapon is a Large wooden club which is always available and can be used an unlimited number of times. However, using the club forces you to be close to the enemy you are attacking and does less damage than your other weapons.

You also have a slingshot equipped with rocks - use this to hit enemies from a greater distance. Be careful though as the slingshot has a limited amount of ammunition (you will need to pick up rocks along the way).

Finally, you have a weapon with a difference; the Deus Shield. This weapon acts as both attack and defense by protecting Q9 for a short time and also by hitting enemies with their own attacks twice as hard. Obviously your Deus Shields are limited, but like the rocks, you have the opportunity to collect more as you move through the worlds.

You are automatically equipped with the club from the beginning.

To change weapon, use the number keys 1, 2 and 3.
1 is the Large wooden club, 2 is the slingshot and 3 is the Deus Shield. There is also a fourth weapon somewhere, but we shall conveniently forget to mention how to access it...

You may also press the ALT key to quickly switch between the weapons, which is good when you are hard pressed in a battle and need to activate a Deus Shield at lightning speed for example.

To hear how much ammunition you have left for a particular weapon, select it either with one of the number keys or the ALT key and then press "A".

During the game you will run across (literally in some cases!) pits here and there. You'll have to jump over these unless you want to see poor little Q9 hurtle down hundreds of feet to his death! These pits are represented by a howling wind (you can of course learn this sound in the "Learn Game Sounds" menu). Around the edge of each cliff are two small, muddy patches which will help you clear the gap. To do this, it is best if you approach the mud slowly and walk onto the second patch and jump from here.
Remember! You have to press the arrow key quickly whilst airborne for you to cover enough distance and avoid falling.
The distance between each cliff increases depending on which difficulty level you are playing, so if you are on Easy the pits will be smaller while on Insane, well good luck!

Every so often you'll hear a constant "blip" sound which you should run after wildly as these are bonus items. To get your bonus just run to the place you hear the "blip" and once the sound is in the centre, you should get your bonus item. The various bonus items you can get are:

• Extra strength
• Extra lives
• Extra points
• More rocks for the slingshot
• Deus Shields.

If you're not fast enough the bonus items will hit the ground and shatter, so run run run! How quickly they fall depends on the difficulty level set.

As you are running along, you will eventually find yourself faced with a strange something that makes a peculiar humming sound that rises and falls in pitch. This, without a doubt, is a fortune field. Tread carefully around these as they may have quite drastic results. Whenever you step on a fortune field it will either take away, or give you 50 strength. This means that you can either be extremely lucky, or find yourself a tad closer to the grave... You may simply jump over these if you are not feeling brave enough. The fortune field will have exactly the same effect on any enemy that runs over it, though of course they will also jump over the fields at times.

Once Q9 reaches the end of a level safely he will come across the Level Portal which transports him to the next level or world.
All you need to do to move on in the game is move so that the portal sound is centralized in your headphones/speakers and wish Q9 good luck in the next stage of his quest!

Worlds & Levels.

There are 4 worlds which Q9 must complete before he can go home and these are as follows:

• The Jungle World
• The Cave World
• The Mountain World
• The Death World.

Every time you transport to the next world you will encounter 1 or more new enemies. The only exception is the aptly named "Death World" which features every enemy from every level! (excluding the gorillas) All of the worlds, however, contain pits and bonus items and of course, the Level Portal at the end.

In each world there are 3 levels which gradually increase in difficulty. For example, the 1st level of the Jungle World is the easiest while the 3rd level of the Mountain World is a nightmare and the entirety of the Death World is, let's just say - very very difficult!

When you lose a life you will be taken back to the beginning of the level at which you died, and once you run out of lives you have to start all over again.

Between Levels 2 and 3 in each world, there is a rather nice bonus level which gives you the chance to try and pick up as many bonus items as possible in a roughly 30 second time limit.
These bonus levels are located near waterfalls, as you will hear, and when the allocated time is over, Q9 falls through the water and down into the next level.

NOTE: Navigation is slightly different in the bonus levels. All you have to do is run left and right by tapping the arrow keys (no Ctrl this time) as fast as you can and collect the falling bonus items. There is no speed limit, so try and press those buttons with lightning speed! Each keystroke moves you 1 step.

Enemies.

What would an action game be without enemies? There's certainly a nasty bunch ready to make Q9's life difficult in this game, so make sure you learn how to recognize them in the "Learn Game Sounds" menu.

Below is a list of the enemies you're going to encounter and a brief description of what they do:

• Gorillas - You'll find these grumpy apes in both the Jungle and Cave worlds. They may be pretty stupid, but they like nothing more than bashing little aliens on the head, so be careful! They don't inflict too much damage, (apart from a headache) and they are relatively slow when attacking.
• Leopards - These only inhabit the Jungle World and the Death World. Being faster and smarter than the gorillas, you may find them a bit more difficult to kill. Keep on your toes, as leopards love to dodge Q9's attacks and then strike for a tasty morsel of alien meat.
• Rhinoceros - Keep an eye, or an ear out for these stampeding creatures as they'll quite easily flatten you where you stand if you don't jump quickly over them! There is no way to kill the Rhinos, just jump and if you should run into the front end of one, just hope you have some lives left! Luckily, these are only found in the Jungle and Death Worlds.
• Bats - Ugh! These squeaking, irritating little things can be found flapping around in the Cave World and the Death World. Whilst Q9 stays on the ground the Bats just fly around his head and are a general annoyance, but if you jump into the air they might give you a nasty bite. To kill them, jump up and quickly strike out (preferably with your club), otherwise they can distract you so you might not hear the wind howling around the pits...
• Bears - In the Cave World, Mountain World and Death World, you're better off keeping your distance from these as they are very hard to kill and do a huge amount of damage in a few strikes. Stay away and take them down with your slingshot or activate a Deus Shield and let them do the attacking for you!
• Wolves - Found in the Mountain World and the Death World, wolves attack in a pack, hitting you from in front and behind and running around to avoid your attacks. When they attack you, they take a medium amount of your strength away, making them even more of a nuisance to kill, but you didn't think this would be easy, did you?
• Boars - Easily one of the most dangerous animals you'll meet throughout your quest, however they are also quite vulnerable. In the Mountain World and Death World, these enraged pigs will run at you much like the Rhinoceros, and like the Rhinos, Q9 can simply skip over these, or, if you're feeling particularly sadistic or angry, you can kill them with one blow!
• Mini Demons - Look out! In the death world, these devilish little fiends are more than happy to sneak up on you to steal a large chunk of your health and then quite conveniently teleport somewhere else as soon as you try to defend yourself. They are not very strong but they do a fair amount of damage per hit and so should certainly not be dealt with casually...

Saving.

The game automatically saves itself whenever you complete a level. This means that you are able to resume from the last level that you arrived at, with exactly the same number of lives and rocks and other properties as when you left off. The saved game file is automatically deleted when you complete the game, as well as when you lose your last life.

Survival Mode.

In survival mode you start with twice your usual resources (which is to say 200 strength, 100 rocks for the slingshot and 4 Deus Shields). However, you only have one life and you cannot get any extra ones by grabbing bonus objects. This means that you have to make your way through the adventure in a slightly more realistic manner. If you die once, then you are dead and that's the end of it. Good luck!

Keystrokes.

• Left arrow key moves Q9 to the left.
• Right arrow key moves Q9 to the right.
• Hold down Ctrl with either of the above keys to run in each direction.
• Up arrow makes Q9 jump.
  When airborne, you can press the Left and Right arrow keys to move in that direction, and there is no speed limit unlike when you're on the ground.
• Space Bar press to use your currently selected weapon.
• Number keys 1, 2, 3 and 4 switch between your weapons.
• ALT switches between your weapons in order.
• Letter P pauses the game. Press again to return to the game.
• Letter S tells you how many points you have on the current level.
• Letter T tells you how much strength you have remaining.
• Letter L tells you how many lives you have left.
• Letter A tells you how much ammunition is left for your selected weapon.
• Page Up and Page Down adjusts the background music volume.
• Escape exits the active game and takes you to the Main Menu.
• Enter skips introductory, cut scenes and some other messages throughout the game.
• ALT+F4 closes the game.

My Country Place, the Ultimate Farm Simulation Game.

Overview.

My Country Place is a farming sim game. You are responsible for a farm consisting of twenty plots of land and a large house. You can lay your farm out in any way you like, raise a large variety of crops, buy animals, build farm buildings, buy farm machinery to improve crop yields, and furnish your house with the best that money can buy. Each year there will be tasks to perform together with new challenges to meet. You will see your farm grow and improve as you play.

This game is purely sound driven with no graphics, so you must use the sound effects and audio environments within the game to assist in moving from one location to another. The output from My Country Place is delivered using speech emanating from your default Windows Text to Speech voice. You will need either a pair of stereo headphones or speakers that are positioned
so that it is possible to hear what comes from the left and right, as this plays a crucial role in the game's navigation.
Keys usually associated with Leasey, such as to access the Leasey Main Menu, cannot be pressed when accessing this game.

Please note that the game events do not correspond exactly to a farm's conventional calendar.

Story.

You have lived most of your life in the big city but have always dreamed of getting away from the heat and noise, escaping to the country. You’re not afraid of hard work and you think a house and a plot of land would just suit you. Suddenly you receive a windfall. This, together with the money you’ve saved enables you to buy a good piece of land and a sound, sprawling old ranch house. You even have $100,000 over to give you a start. You clear away your old life, pack the bare essentials and head off for your country place.

The Main Menu.

When you first launch the game you will enter the Main Menu in which there are four options.

• “New Farm” will enable you to create a new farm containing no crops or animals.
• “Load Farm” will load a previously saved farm. Please note that there is only one saved game possible, so starting a new farm will destroy the existing one.
• “Configure your text to speech settings” will be discussed in the next section.
• “Exit” will terminate the game.

As with all List Boxes within the game, the Main Menu is navigated by pressing the Up or Down Arrow keys.

Configuring Text to Speech Settings.

Before you begin your first farm you may like to configure your text to speech settings. Do this by pressing Enter on the appropriate item in the main menu. This will bring into view a List Box.

To change the voice, press the Up or Down Arrow keys. Doing so will cycle between all of the Text to Speech voices installed on the computer. Selecting a voice will cause sample text to be spoken using the selected Text to Speech engine.

To adjust the rate of speech, press the Left and Right Arrow keys.

To adjust the volume press the letters V to increase and Shift+V to decrease the level.

To adjust the pitch of speech, press the Left Bracket to decrease and the Right Bracket to increase. Typically, these keys are situated to the immediate right of the letter P on a standard QWERTY keyboard.

Press Enter at any time to save the settings.

Before Setting up a new farm.

Before beginning to set up your farm you may need to give it some thought, as when the game begins you have only a limited time to get your first crop sewn. Failure to do this on time means you will have a year with your fields lying fallow. Bills still have to be paid whether you are making money or not, so fallow fields are not a good thing. So consider the following.

Do you want your farm to be arable or mixed? If you intend to buy animals you will need to build a barn to house them, plus a grazing pasture so that they can eat grass for most of the year. You will also need to purchase some fodder for them or they will starve before you can get them out to graze. Fodder is not cheap, but buying too little can have disastrous consequences very fast. You can check fodder at any time by pressing letter F.

Decide which crops you want to plant. Fruit costs more money to plant and maintain but fetches more. If you’re going to have animals you need to grow at least four fodder crops, these are all the grains plus sugar beet, clover and hay. Do you need to have clover and hay or is one better than the other? Fresh flowers and salad vegetables both grow in greenhouses. They are both expensive but is one better than the other? Are you going to have one or both greenhouses?

Here is a list of crops and their planting costs. Please note other costs will be incurred during the year.

• Apples: $1,500.
• Barley: $1,000.
• Black-eyed peas: $500.
• Cherries: $1,500.
• Clover: $750.
• Corn: $1,000.
• Fresh flowers: $3,000.
• Grapes: $3,000.
• Hay: $500.
• Lemons: $2,000.
• Mixed Vegetable Market Garden: $1,000.
• Oats: $1,000.
• Oranges: $2,000.
• Peaches: $1,500.
• Peanuts: $500.
• Pomegranates: $2,000.
• Potatoes: $500.
• Rapeseed: $500.
• Salad Vegetables: $3,000.
• Strawberies: $1,500.
• Sunflowers: $500.
• Sugar Beets: $1,000.
• Watermelons: $1,500.
• Wheat: $1,000.
• Grazing Pasture. $500.

You may only plant one field of any type of crop on your farm.

There are three kinds of animals you can buy. They are:

• Cow: $5,000.
• Angora Goat: $3,000.
• Sheep: $2,000.

You are allowed to buy five of each type of animal.

You also have a chicken field containing five chickens. This is a great way to make money in spare moments as will be discussed later.

Setting Up a Farm.

To start a new farm, use your Up and Down Arrow keys to focus on New Farm in the Main Menu and press Enter. After the introductory scene has been played, you will be asked to name your farm. Type in a name and press Enter. You will immediately hear music and your farm’s ambience. To adjust the music volume, use the Page Up and Page Down keys. The game can be paused and resumed at any time by pressing the letter P.

Layout.

You are standing on the farm’s main thoroughfare. Behind you is the front door to your house, you can hear it, that buzzing type of sound. To your left is a rustling hedge with ten openings in it which lead into ten fields. Across the path to your right is a similar rustling hedge with openings into ten large fields.

The fields are arranged vertically. It is important to note that the bottom lefthand field for example is considered to be “the first field on the left”. It will be useful to know this information when you begin to plan your farm and for later exploration.

If you walked straight up the middle of the farm you would come into the chicken field. We’ll have time to explore later, right now we have work to do.

The Management Menus.

To access the Management Menus you can press F1 from anywhere on the farm. These menus give you access to planting, building, buying, selling and more.

There are several points to bare in mind when navigating the Management Menus.

Pressing Enter on any item from the Management Main Menu will take you into a sub-menu relative to the item you have chosen. For example, if you select the first item relating to planting crops, the sub-menu for this will appear. Pressing the Escape key will return you to the Management Main Menu, a Leasey concept with which you should already be familiar. You will be advised that you are back in this menu. Pressing Escape once more will return focus to the farm, which is not confirmed through speech output.

Planting crops.

Crops can only be planted from the beginning of September to the beginning of November. To check the date at any time, press letter Y. To plant crops, press F1 to bring up the Management Main Menu”, focus on “Plant Crops” and press Enter. You will find an alphabetical list of crops together with their planting costs and which type of field it requires. It is not possible to use first letter navigation in this menu, so please press the Up or Down Arrow keys instead.

Some crops, for example fruits and greenhouses, can only be planted on large fields. Press Enter on a crop you would like to plant and you will be asked where you would like to plant it, together with a list of available fields. Use your Up and Down arrow keys to find the one you would like and press Enter.

Managing Buildings.

If you are planning on raising animals on your new farm, one of the first things you will need is a barn. Make sure you have left a field free for it. To build a building, press F1 to open the “Management Main Menu”, focus on “Build a Building” and press Enter. Here you will see a list of buildings together with their costs. Find the one you want to build and press Enter. You will be asked where you would like to place it. If there is more than one space free you can use your Up and Down Arrow keys to cycle through them till you find the one you want, then press Enter.

As your farm grows richer you may want to build more buildings to improve the yield of your farm. Fruit juice brings in much more money than the raw fruit, the dairy comes with all kinds of exciting upgrades for you to buy and if you make enough to build the winery well, who doesn’t like a nice glass of wine? You’ll really see your profit margins spiral!

Of course it may happen that you fall on hard times or want to change things around. You may need to put building land back out to crops again. If you need to tear down a building simply open up the “management Menu” by pressing F1 and press Enter on “Tear Down Building”. You will be asked which building you wish to tear down. The appropriate building can be selected with the Up and Down Arrow keys and press Enter to select. You will get back a small per centage of the price you paid to build it and your field will be usable for crops again.

The Farm Year.

The new farm year always begins in September. In game time a day runs for about 6 seconds, so a year lasts about 36 minutes. This gives you ample time to perform farm tasks, explore, make improvements, buy upgrades for your house and grab some spare cash by playing mini games.

Throughout the year you need to perform set tasks to care for your crops and animals. Failure to do anyone of a number of things can result in your crops or animals dying. You also need to keep a close eye on your cash. Check how much is in the bank from anywhere on the farm by pressing letter C. You have money going out all year: household bills, crop maintenance, etc, if you have cows and goats you may have income during the year but your main income is at harvest time. You need to manage your money so that you have enough to pay for everything through the year as well as your new crop planting. You start with $100,000. You are permitted an overdraught of $20,000 but this has to be repaid within three months or your farm will go bankrupt.

Basic Orientation.

When you begin playing for the first time, your farm house will be behind you, (slightly to the right), and the chicken field some distance ahead.

If you press the Left Arrow once or twice, you are likely to hear the sound of the hedge. The hedge is your guide for navigating to different farm locations.

When located at the hedge, press the Up or Down Arrow keys to move through the farm. Periodically, you will hear the sound of an opening, indicating that a field can be examined. Press the Left Arrow key to determine the field’s existence, and if appropriate, any crop or building which may be situated within it.

You are now inside the field. Press the Right Arrow key, and the word, “Farm”, will be announced, indicating that you are once again located on the main farm thoroughfare rather than the field previously entered.

A corresponding number of fields are located on the righthand side of the farm, which can be reached by pressing the Right Arrow key several times. You will know that you are on the righthand side as you will once again hear the sound of the hedge.

Naturally, when navigating through the fields with the Up and Down Arrow keys in this situation, you would press the Right Arrow key when focused on an opening, so as to determine the field and anything which may be found there. The Left Arrow key will, in this scenario, return you to the farm.

Tip: When wishing to interact with a field as discussed in later sections, you only need to take one or two steps into it. Taking further steps could result in you losing orientation on the farm.

SMS Text Messages.

As you walk your farm you’re always accompanied by your trusty cell phone. This is a very good thing as you will receive periodic SMS reminders which let you know what needs to be done next.

To access your SMS messages, press F5. Your messages will appear in a list with the most recent first. Press Enter to open and read a message. Press the Delete key to delete it. Press Escape to exit the SMS list. Press F6 to hear the most recent SMS message.

The Context Menu.

We now need to introduce you to the Context Menu. As the name suggests, the Context Menu is context sensitive, and will provide you with a list of choices you can make relative to where you are located.

To access the Context Menu, press the Space Bar. All tasks which you can perform with the Context Menu are discussed in the next few sections.

Fertilization.

The first task of the year is fertilization. All the crops need fertilising or they will die. You need to walk to each field in turn. Once there, press the Space Bar to bring up the Context Menu. You will be asked if you’d like to perform the task, simply press Enter and you will hear a sound to let you know the task is going ahead.

Animals Out to Grass.

In the spring your animals, if you have them, can be turned out to grass. Do this by walking to the barn, entering it and pressing the Space Bar to bring up its Context Menu, finding the item “Take Animals Out to Graze” and pressing Enter. It’s a good idea to check how much fodder is left in the barn at this stage too.

Spraying and pruning.

From March to May the crops are sprayed and pruned, but not all in one go. Watch your phone so that you know which ones have to be done next. Perform each task by entering a field and pressing the Space Bar to bring up the Context Menu. If you enter a field where nothing needs doing that particular month, and press the Space Bar, no menu will appear. If you’re unsure you’ve done everything, walking the farm and checking each field in this way sets the mind at rest.

Watering.

It’s a hot summer and some of the crops need water. Keep a close eye on your phone so that you know which ones need doing. Enter the relevant field and press Space Bar to bring into view the Context Menu. Take particular care with the grapes during the summer if you have them.

Dipping Sheep and Goats.

In July the sheep and goats have to be dipped or they will get scab and the wool will be lost. Worse, you will incur a hefty vet’s bill. When you receive the SMS text message, go to the grazing pasture, press the Space Bar to bring up the Context Menu, find “Manage Animals” and press Enter.

Harvest.

It’s harvest time, hurray! Go to each field in turn, press the Space Bar and reap the reward for your hard work. Once the crop is harvested you’ll be asked if you’d like to replant the same crop in that field. If you’d like to change things around simply press Down Arrow to the option “No”, and press Enter. You will then have an empty field to plant or build on as you like.

Don’t forget, the grazing pasture is a part of your harvest if you have sheep and goats, so walk into it, press the Space Bar and select “Manage Animals”. Wool fetches a good price.

Placing Fodder.

Before you go to market it’s a good idea, if you have animals, to make sure they have plenty to eat for the winter. Go to the barn and press the Space Bar to activate the Context Menu. The first item you’ll hear is “Place Fodder”, together with how many pounds of fodder you have. Press Enter on this and you will be given a list of fodder to select from, together with how many pounds you have of each. You need to work out how much your animals are going to eat during the winter, check on it closely and buy more if you have underestimated.

Visiting the Market.

There are a few things to remember when visiting the market.

Firstly, prices vary, so if your top crops are getting bottom prices you might want to wait a few minutes and try again.

Secondly, crops go bad. You can’t leave them for more than two months before selling or you won’t have anything to sell. If something is about to go off you will hear a warning, a series of peremptory tones which sound every five seconds or so. When you hear this, immediately press F1 to open the “Management Menu” and press Enter on the item “Visit the Market”. You will be asked what you would like to sell, together with a list of available crops and the prices they are fetching. Press Enter on the one you’d like to sell. You will be asked for confirmation. Press Enter and you will hear a cash register ring to confirm the sale has been made.

If you have cows and goats or have chicken eggs to sell you will grow used to visiting the market roughly once a month. These three things are good to have and can really help with the bills.

Fetching In the Animals.

Before the farm shuts down for the winter the animals must be brought safely into the barn. You will receive an SMS message mid-November telling you that it is time. Go to the grazing pasture, press the Space Bar to open the Context Menu, and press Enter on “Bring Animals into the Barn”. Be sure to check during the winter that they have enough fodder. If the fodder runs out they will immediately starve.

Exploring the House.

Before we discuss the benefits of purchasing upgrades for your house, lets learn how to explore it.

As previously stated, you can hear the door of the house as you navigate with the Down Arrow key, since it is located at the opposite end of the farm to the chicken field.

Be sure that the sound of the front door is located in the centre of the stereo field and simply press the Down Arrow key to walk through it.

You are now in the main hallway and you will note that the sound of the music has changed. As you would expect from a hall, at either side of you are rooms which can be entered. On the left can be found the Master Bedroom, Bedroom 2, and the Bathroom. On the righthand side is located Bedroom 3 and the Living Room. Entering the Living Room does reveal further rooms which will be explored later.

The concept of walking into each room can be explained in the following way. Use the Arrow keys until you hear the loudest part of the door’s entry point on either the left or right. This may take some practice. When it is located, press the corresponding Left or Right Arrow key to locate the door and walk through it with the Up or Down Arrow keys.

For example:

1. Press the Down Arrow key from the farm thoroughfare to enter the house.
2. Press the Left Arrow key so that you walk a step or two to the left.
3. Press the Down Arrow key repeatedly, and in time, you will hear the door which indicates the Master Bedroom. This is the room we wish to enter.
4. When the opening of the door is in view, indicated by listening for the loudest indication of the door, press Left Arrow repeatedly to locate and walk through it.

If you explore the Living Room, you will find that it contains the Sun Room straight in front of you, located by pressing Up Arrow, and the Dining Room behind you and to the right. You need to walk through the Dining Room in order to reach the kitchen area.

As described in the next section, you will certainly want to spend money upgrading your house to include the best luxuries money can buy. When you do buy the items, you will want to find out what they look or sound like.

Locate the item you have bought with the Arrow keys. It will be denoted by either an ambience or beep sound if it is furniture. Ensure it is located in the centre of the stereo field and press Enter to read its description.

Buying Upgrades.

The winter is a time for taking stock, exploring and, if you have the money, buying upgrades. If you open the “Management Menu” by pressing F1 you will see two kinds of upgrade, “Farm Upgrades” and “House Upgrades”.

For your farm you can buy machinery such as a tractor, a sheller harvester, a combine, an oil press and, once you have it, all kinds of nice things for your dairy. Each upgrade affects a different crop and will dramatically improve its yield. Some upgrades affect more than one crop. There’s even an upgrade for the animals.

The house upgrades are arranged by room. Nothing is cheap, but then you are not planning on moving anywhere, so you want everything for your home to be the very best you can get. Once you have it you can explore the house, find where it is within the room, it may have its own special sound, and each and every item has its own unique description.

Mini games.

“My Country Place” comes with four mini games. One of these is a way to make extra money in your spare moments while the other three come up randomly as part of the annual challenge.

The Challenges.

As we know, things don’t always run smoothly and once a year, in August, there is a crisis. You will receive an SMS message informing you that there is a problem and telling you which field is in danger. When you enter the field you will be plunged into a fun mini game. Instructions on how to play will be automatically given to you. If you win, the crop will be saved. If you lose, you fail and the crop will die. No crop is safe so take care!

The Chickens.

At the back of your farm is a field containing five chickens. When you enter this field they will run around you then bounce away. They lay eggs which you can collect and sell, they fetch $15 per egg, but it’s not so easy! The eggs make a bleeping sound and they are not all pitched the same. The bleep gets lower when the egg is behind you. You must get the eggs in the center of the stereo field and then walk over them to collect them, whereupon you will hear an “egg cracking” sound. It is likely that you will need to use all four Arrow keys to achieve this. And there’s one thing more. You can only find these eggs while they’re warm. After a while they go cold and you can’t hear them anymore. Practice makes perfect, however, and the quiet winter’s a great time to make a good stash of egg money before it’s time to start the year’s tasks again.

Saving the Game.

The game is automatically saved every time you exit. Just press ALT+F4 and the game will close. When you wish to reopen the game, select “Load Farm” on the Main Menu. You should hear the message “Welcome to …” and your farm name. You will be placed at the exact location where you were when you exited the game. For example, if you exited in the chicken field, that is where you will be when you restart. If you are not quite sure of game time, simply press letter Y to check the date.

Backing Up and Restoring a Farm.

We hope that you are going to spend many hours building up your farm, gaining profit, and purchasing items for your new home. It could well be therefore that you will want to take a backup of your farm and restore it if software needs to be reinstalled for any reason. You also may wish to copy your farm for playing the game on another machine without having to start again. This section will show you how you can do these things.

In order to backup a farm:

1. Be sure that the “My Country Place” game is not running, even in the background.
2. Using Windows (or File) Explorer, browse to the folder in which you wish to place the backup. This could be an alternative drive, (such as a USB storage device), a folder using Dropbox, or elsewhere. Be sure you are located inside the folder by pressing Enter on it.
3. Press the Leasey Key, then ALT+B. An Edit Field will be presented to you containing the path of the potential backup. This can be amended if you change your mind or if it is inaccurate in any way. When the Enter key is pressed, you will be advised that the backup is taking place and it should take less than a second.

To restore the backup, perhaps to an alternative location:

1. Be sure that the “My Country Place” game is not running, even in the background.
2. Using Windows (or File) Explorer, browse to the folder where the backup of the farm was previously stored. This could be an alternative drive, (such as a USB storage device), a folder using Dropbox, or elsewhere. Be sure you are located inside the folder by pressing Enter on it.
3. Press the Leasey Key then ALT+R. The farm will be copied to the correct location for Leasey to use.

Keystrokes.

• Arrow keys: Navigate game board and menus.
• Page up and Down: adjust music volume.
• P: Pause and resume game.
• F1: Open the Management Menu.
• F5: Open SMS Text Message list.
• F6: Hear most recent SMS Text Message.
• Delete: delete SMS Text Message.
• Escape: Exit SMS Text Message list or menu.
• Space Bar: Open the Context Menu.
• Enter: Skips introductory cut scene, reads text descriptions of house items and is used in the mini games.
• C: check cash.
• F: Check Fodder.
• Y: Check Date.
• Alt F4: Exit and save game.
• Leasey Key then ALT+B: Backup farm.
• Leasey Key then ALT+R: Restore farm.

Matchmaker, the Perfect Tile Matching Puzzle Game.

Overview.

Matchmaker is a simple matching tile puzzle game which takes its inspiration from a multitude of matching games, among them Candy Crush, Pudding Pop, BeJeweled etc. It is meant to be fun, relaxing and unstressful.

Where our game differs from most is that it is infinitely customisable. Instead of playing on one size of board with one set of tiles, or only a limited choice, you can customise the board to be as large or as small as you like, you can also customise the levels to be as simple or as challenging as needed, plus there are a large number of tile sets, with more being frequently added.

This game is purely sound driven with no graphics, so you must use the sound effects and audio environments within the game to assist in moving from one location to another. The output from Matchmaker is delivered using speech emanating from the JAWS screen-reader.

The Puzzle.

The puzzle consists of a board laid out with tiles. Each tile contains a value according to which set you are playing with, it might be fruits, gems, colours, numbers etc. You need to match a line of three or more tiles to clear them from the board. You may make lines of tiles vertically or horizontally but not diagonally. As tiles are cleared, tiles from the row or column above slide down to fill the empty places on the board and new tiles are added at the top, you will never see an empty space on the board. The more tiles you clear, the more points you score, you also earn bonus points for making more than one match at a time. When you have cleared a certain number of tiles you complete a level and can move up to the next, which scores higher, but the number of tiles you need to clear each level usually increases. The object of the puzzle is to make as many matches and score as many points as possible before all the matches run out.

The main menu.

When you first open Matchmaker you will be placed in the main menu. This contains three options:

• Play: Takes you into a new game or your saved game.
• Configure: Takes you into the customisation options.
• Exit: Leaves the game.

Configuring speech.

To make any changes to your speech configuration, select “Configure" from the Main Menu, then select “Configure speech Verbosity”. We recommend initially however that the settings in this menu are left at their default values at least while you are becoming used to playing the game, although you will almost certainly want to change one of the options as and when you become more accomplished.

Pressing Enter on this option allows you to configure whether you would like JAWS to announce cleared tiles, announce clearing score, announce multi-match bonus scores and announce total score. Pressing Enter on any item in this menu will cause a further sub-menu to appear, containing the options "On" and "Off". Press Enter to select an item, whereupon you will be returned to the "Speech and Verbosity" configuration menu.

Configuring the game.

Matchmaker comes preconfigured and ready for you to play with an eight by eight board and the fruit set of tiles. You may, however, want to customise the game further. It is worth noting that changing any of the settings overwrites all the game configuration settings you have, so do make sure to go through the game configuration thoroughly or Matchmaker will not play properly.

Configure Board.

First you need to decide what size of board you would like to play on. Follow these steps.

1. Select “Configure” from the Main Menu, then “Configure Game”. You will be warned your saved settings will be overwritten.
2. Select “Configure Board Size” and press Enter.
3. You will be asked to select board length. Enter a number between five and twenty and press Enter.
4. You will be asked to select board width. Enter a number between five and twenty and press Enter.
5. You will be asked to select object variants to scatter on the board. You will be prompted to enter a number between 5 and the maximum number of values your list contains. Press Enter to complete.

Your board is now configured, you will be returned to the configuration menu. Note, a square board, for example length 10, width 10, object variants 10 is easier to play on than an irregular board.

Configuring Board Values.

You’re still in the “Configure Game” menu. You now need to decide which set of tiles you want to play with. To do so, follow these steps.

1. Select “CONFIGURE BOARD VALUES” and press Enter.
2. Depending on how you have configured your board you will see the number of tile sets which are available for you to play with. Some sets have only a small number of tiles, some are a full set of twenty tiles. You will only see the ones which are available to you.
3. Choose the set of tiles you want and press Enter.
4. You will be returned to the “Game Configuration” menu.

Configuring Round.

Next you need to configure how many tiles need to be cleared before a level is complete. To do this, follow these steps.

1. Select “CONFIGURE ROUND” and press Enter.
2. Select “CONFIGURE MINIMUM CLEARED TILES TO PROCEED TO NEXT LEVEL”, and press Enter.
   This takes you into a choice of numbers of tiles to clear between 20 and 100. Press Down Arrow to reach the one you want and press Enter.
3. Select “CONFIGURE SUBSEQUENT DIFFICULTY FACTOR”, and press Enter.
4. This takes you into a list of choices between no change and 100. Press Down Arrow to the choice you want and press Enter.
5. You will be returned to the “Game Configuration” menu.

Configuring the Timer.

You do not need to configure the timer unless you are planning to play a timed game. If you would like to configure the timer, follow these steps.

1. Select “CONFIGURE TIMER” and press Enter.
2. You will be asked to choose how long you are allowed before tiles are taken away from your score.
3. You will then see a list of time choices. Press Down Arrow to reach the one you want and press Enter.
4. You will be returned to the “Game Configuration” menu.

Important! On completing Configuration.

Important! On completing game configuration, tap the Escape key once to exit the “Game Configuration” menu. You will find yourself in the main “Configuration Menu”. Press Up Arrow to reach the ”Save Settings” option and press Enter. You will then be returned to the “Main Menu”. If this last part is not completed your settings will not be saved and you will have to begin again.

Playing The Game.

To begin playing matchmaker, select “Play” from the “Main Menu” and press Enter. You will be asked to select a difficulty level. There are three difficulties, but as game play is the same whichever level you work with we will discuss the levels in a later section.

When the game starts you are placed at the top lefthand corner of your board which is laid out with tiles. You can now move around the board using all four Arrow keys, exploring either in horizontal rows or vertical collumns. When you see two tiles of the same value together, for example two apples, that is the start of a potential match. Explore till you find a third apple. It does not have to be on the same row or in the same column, it can come from anywhere. When you find a match, select it using your Space Bar. You will hear a symbol sound to tell you it has been selected.

Now, navigate back to where you saw the pair of tiles and move to where you want to put the third one to make a line of three either vertically or horizontally. There will be a different tile already there. Press your Space Bar to swap that tile for the one that will make a match. You will hear a tambourine sound if the swap is valid and the game will tell you if the match has been made and how many tiles have been cleared. A swap is only valid if it will make a line of three or more matching tiles. If you have made an invalid swap you will hear a double buzz sound, your tile will be de-selected and you will need to try that match again.

If, at any time, you wish to cancel a swap, you can do so by pressing the Delete key. If you would like to check how many tiles you have cleared, press T. To find out your score, press S. To check what level you are on, press L. To adjust the volume of the music, press page up or page down. To adjust the volume of the sound effects, press control page up and control page down.

Strategy and Bonuses.

If, by the sliding down of tiles and the swapping of others, you manage to find several matches with one swap, you will earn bonus points. The more matches you make with one swap, the more bonus points you will earn. Also if you can visualise in your head what your board looks like you may be able to employ strategy to manage your swaps so that large numbers of matches can be made at one time.

Saving The Game.

You can always exit the game quickly by pressing ALT+F4. If you exit this way your game will be saved. You can also tap Escape from inside the game to return to the “Main Menu”. If you do this your game will be terminated and you will be warned to this effect.

Difficulty levels.

Beginner: In this difficulty there are always moves to make, tiles may be added in pairs or triplets. If you always save your game you can go on playing it for as long as you want to.

Normal. The standard game, the tiles are added at random and finding matches, particularly on the larger boards, is not quite so easy. It is possible to run out of matches.

Timed Game. The most difficult. You play against the clock. Make matches as quick as you can, because every few seconds items are removed from the board. The less tiles there are, the less matches you can find.

Keystrokes.

• Four Arrow Keys: Navigating the board and menus.
• Enter key: Select menu items.
• Space Bar: Select and swap tiles.
• Delete: Cancel Swap.
• T: check cleared number of tiles.
• S: Check Score.
• L: Check level.
• Page Up and Page Down: Adjust music volume.
• Control+Page Up and Control+Page Down: Adjust Sound Effects volume.
• ALT+F4 or Escape: Save and Exit.

Studio Recorder.

Studio Recorder is a seriously underrated software package from APH, the American Printing House for the Blind, and is ideal for anyone who wishes to record speech perhaps for podcasting, to produce and edit the reading of a book, or some other purpose. While not widely recognised, it also can be used to mix music with speech. Indeed we would go as far as saying that unless you want to use multi-track software, it beats every other mainstream product hands-down for mixing sound on sound for some very compelling reasons! We have a training course available for purchase relating to how to use Studio Recorder.

Some JAWS scripts were created for the training course mentioned above. In addition to providing additional spoken information when visiting some fields within Dialog Boxes, there are some additional utilities.

Ordinarily, pressing the Space Bar will activate the Play and Pause function of Studio Recorder.
Pressing Enter will stop the audio playing, relocating the cursor back at the point where play had commenced.
However, some people used to working with other audio editors would prefer that pressing the Enter key paused playback. For very precise editing on extremely small fragments of audio this makes the process easier.
Should you require this functionality, press ALT+Windows+F12. This is a toggle action and will enable and disable this special setting.

Other keystrokes you may find helpful in Studio Recorder are:

• To report the current time press Shift+control+M.
• To report the total file length press Insert+Delete or Caps Lock+Delete if using the laptop layout.
• To report the selection length press Shift+Insert+Down Arrow.
• To hear a sound indicating whether recording is in progress press ALT Grave Accent next to number 1 ALT+`.
• To toggle whether the time is announced when the Enter, Escape or Space Bar is used press Alt+Windows+F11.

Markdown With Leasey.

Introduction.

Markdown is a lightweight markup text language that can be used to add formatting elements to documents and other text areas. Created by John Gruber in 2004, Markdown is now one of the world's most popular markup languages.

When you create a Markdown formatted file, you add syntax to the document which represents the attributes or formatting you wish to create. There are special codes for applying bold text, headings, even tables. However, it is not always possible to remember the syntax or spacing to use in order to gain the effect you want. The precision of how Markdown is applied is essential so that when it is converted to an alternative format, such as a Word document, the conversion tool interprets it correctly and can apply the necessary formatting.

Markdown can be used when composing web sites, Microsoft Word documents and even podcast Show Notes in some cases. There are also other tools to create journals which support Markdown. To repeat, it is widely used and accepted.

Why would you want to create a Markdown document rather than use a tool such as Microsoft Word? Markdown is cross-platform. If you create a Markdown document, then it is likely it will be accepted whichever application you try to import it into. Admittedly in some cases, a small amount of adaptation is sometimes required, but it does make sharing documents much more viable. It is also completely accessible since you can read the necessary code with your screen-reader. Once you become familiar with reviewing it, you will know that the required formatting has been applied and you can ensure the end result will be of a good standard.

How Does Leasey Help With Markdown?

Leasey gives you three ways to assist with composing Markdown text. Before these are described, Leasey contains what is referred to as the Markdown key. This is similar to the Leasey key in operation. You press a key on the keyboard, release it, and then press a number or letter key. The Markdown key is the ALT key and the Leasey key pressed together.

The ways of accessing Leasey Markdown functions are:

1. Through a menu system. Press the Markdown key then M. All the items described in this Chapter can be found on the Markdown menu.
2. Through shortcut keys. While using the Markdown menu is good, we hope you will over time begin to use the shortcut keys. Using these keys mean that the flow of writing is not interrupted.
3. Through BrailleEas. When using BrailleEas mode on a Braille display, described in its own Chapter of this documentation, you can enter abbreviations to carry out the formatting. This is one of the features which really makes Markdown stand out; the fact that, without using any complex key sequences, you can create some very well formatted documents with not too much effort.

Viewing The End Result.

Creating a beautifully formatted document using Markdown can be done as described above, but how can you as a blind person check the finished result to ensure it is what you intend? One possible method if you have Microsoft Word is to use a Plugin called Writage which can be found at writage.com. This is a tool which can be easily installed once downloaded. Once done, and you open a document with an >MD extension, Word interprets such a file as a Markdown document and Writage will convert it for you as if you had created it in Microsoft word. You ought then to be able to use any technique within JAWS to verify formatting has been correctly applied. Pressing Insert+F (or Caps Lock+F if using the JAWS laptop layout) is a good starting point.

Note that writing requires a nominal fee of approximately $30 US.

Composing and Saving a Markdown File.

A Markdown document can be created and saved using any text editor. Notepad or EdSharp would be good examples of text editors with no frills which can be used to compose a Markdown compatible file. You do not need anything special in order to create or save it. You save the file with its name and an .MD extension. The title of this document for example might be Leasey.MD. You would type that into your text editor's "Save As" Dialog Box.

How To Apply Formatting.

You can use any of the Leasey Markdown functions before you type text or you can apply it to text you have already composed. In order to do the latter, you will need to select it first. For example, if your document contained the sentence "This is my first Markdown document", and you wanted to embolden the word "First", you would select that word and then apply the command for bold. You either do that through the Markdown menu, (Markdown Key then M), through one of the provided shortcut keys, or using an abbreviation typed into BrailleEas. Don't forget that the Markdown key is Leasey Key together with ALT. Think alternative Leasey commands.

Creating a New Paragraph.

To create a new paragraph in a Markdown document, just press Enter twice.

The Markdown Menu.

Press the Markdown Key then M.

Eloquence Abbreviation: menu.

This contains a list of all the items you can apply in Markdown. Use first letter navigation or the Up or Down Arrow keys to find the item you want. Then press Enter. The Markdown menu also contains a reminder of the shortcut keys in the hope you will over time remember them for more efficient use.

Headings.

Press the Markdown key then numbers 1 through to 6.

Eloquence Abbreviation: headinga through to headingf, where the word heading followed by letter A represents heading 1.

To create a new heading, just activate this item before the text for the heading. For example, press Markdown key then 1 followed by the text "This Is My Heading". Then press Enter twice to create a new paragraph which terminates the heading.

Bold.

Press the Markdown key then B before and after the text to be emboldened.

Eloquence Abbreviation: bold.

If text is selected, the necessary characters to indicate emboldened text are placed before and after the selection.

Italics.

Press the Markdown key then I before and after the text to be italicised.

Eloquence Abbreviation: italic.

If text is selected, the necessary characters to indicate italicised text are placed before and after the selection.

Bold and Italics.

Press the Markdown key then L before and after the text to be italicised.

Eloquence Abbreviation: both.

If text is selected, the necessary characters to indicate bold and italicised text are placed before and after the selection.

Block Quote.

Press the Markdown key then Q before the text to be included in the block quote. Pressing Enter twice terminates this.

Eloquence Abbreviation: quote.

If text is selected, the necessary character to indicate a block quote is placed at the start of the text to be included in the quotation.

Creating a Link.

Press the Markdown key then K.

Eloquence Abbreviation: link.

Selecting this option asks for two pieces of information.

You are first asked for the full URL (or web page address) of the Link you wish to create. You should type it and press Enter to move to the next stage. A good example would be http://www.mydomain.com/test.

Leasey Tip: If the URL of the page you wish to point to is a long complicated one, it may be an idea to ensure this is on the windows Clipboard first, prior to invoking this item. In that way, you can paste the URL into the first Edit Field when prompted.

The next question asks for the text you would like to be placed on the Link. A good example might be, "Please activate this link to contact me".
Type this and press Enter. The text is inserted surrounded by the necessary Markdown code.

Note that if text was selected prior to invoking this option, the second screen will not appear, since the selected text is assumed to be the link title.

Numbered or Ordered List.

Eloquence Abbreviation: ordered.

There are two ways of approaching the creation of a numbered list.

Method 1.

1. Prior to creating the numbered list, first activate the item by pressing the Markdown key then O.
2. Item 1 is created with a number at the start.
3. Type the text for item 1 and press Enter.
4. The moment you press Enter, item 2 is created. You do not need to enter the new numbered value for this and any subsequent paragraph which requires it.
5. When you reach the final item in the list, do not press Enter. Use the same command again so as to terminate the list, such as Markdown key then O. You can then proceed by pressing Enter twice so as to create a new paragraph.

Method 2.

1. Write each item first but do not include the actual numbers for the text to be included in the list. Be sure to separate each item with a line break by pressing Enter.
2. Using any text selection method of your choosing, select all of the text you have just written.
3. Use the item to create a numbered or ordered list, such as the Markdown key then O.
4. Leasey works through all of the items within the selection and preceeds each of them with a number.

Bulleted or Unordered List.

Eloquence Abbreviation: unordered.

There are two ways of approaching the creation of a bulleted list.

Method 1.

1. Prior to creating the bulleted list, first activate the item by pressing the Markdown key then U.
2. Item 1 is created with a bullet at the start.
3. Type the text for item 1 and press Enter.
4. The moment you press Enter, item 2 is created. You do not need to enter the character to represent a new bullet for this and any subsequent paragraph which requires it.
5. When you reach the final item in the list, do not press Enter. Use the same command again so as to terminate the list, such as Markdown key then U. You can then proceed by pressing Enter twice so as to create a new paragraph.

Method 2.

1. Write each item first but do not include the bullet signs for the text to be included in the list. Be sure to separate each item with a line break by pressing Enter.
2. Using any text selection method of your choosing, select all of the text you have just written.
3. Use the item to create a bulleted or unordered list, such as the Markdown key then U.
4. Leasey works through all of the items within the selection and preceeds each of them with a bullet sign.

Tables.

Press the Markdown key then T to create a new table.

Eloquence Abbreviation: table.

Whether Microsoft Word or an alternative text editor is used, the creation of tables is one of the more difficult word processing tasks. Using Leasey and Markdown it should be super easy!

Prior to creating your table, you may like to give some thought as to how many columns will be required for it. The number of rows does not matter as much but you will want to think about the number of columns. If you have a table recording a person's name and the number of points in a match that person has obtained, this would be a three column table: First Name, Last Name and Total.

1. Start the table creation process from the Markdown menu or by pressing the Markdown key then T.
2. You are guided through the process of creating the table. Type the first column title, such as First Name, then press Enter.
3. When you are ready to type the next column header, press the Markdown key then T again. Type it in, such as Last Name, then press Enter.
4. When you are ready to type the next column header, press the Markdown key then T again. Type it in, such as Total, then press Enter.
5. Now we need to tell Leasey that we have finished entering column titles. Press the Markdown key then T again, but this time, type the word Stop, then press Enter.
6. It is now necessary to type the cell data for each of the columns. Press the Markdown key then T. JAWS announces the title of the first column so as to remind you of what it is you are meant to be typing in this space. Type the person's first name, such as Joe, then press Enter.
7. Press the Markdown key then T again, type the word Johnson, and press Enter. If you forget which row and column you are in, press the Markdown key then C. Eloquence Abbreviation: column. You will hear the column number together with the column title.
8. Press the Markdown key then T again, type the number 200 to represent the total, and press Enter. If you forget which row and column you are in, press the Markdown key then C. Eloquence Abbreviation: column. You will hear the column number together with the column title.
9. Now we will move to the next row of the table. Press the Markdown key then T again. Before being prompted for the next item to be placed in the First Name column, JAWS announces that you are starting a new row of the table.
10. Repeat as necessary until all of the information in the table is entered.
11. To complete the table, press the Markdown key then T a final time. On this occasion, type the word End, and press Enter. This is a very important step so that the table can be concluded.

Footnotes.

Press the Markdown key then `F.

Eloquence Abbreviation: foot.

Footnotes are notes that are placed at the end of a document and used to reference parts of the text (generally using superscript numbers). Writers use footnotes for several purposes, including citations, parenthetical information, outside sources, copyright permissions, background information, and more.

Now that you understand what footnotes are, you might be wondering: why use them? The truth is, long explanatory notes can be difficult for readers to work through (especially when they occur in the middle of a paper). Providing this information is necessary, but doing so in the main text can disrupt the flow of the writing.

There is a specific procedure within Leasey you need to follow in order to create Footnotes.

1. Write the text in the document. If the text has already been written, place the cursor at the point in the text where you wish the Footnote to appear. For example you may have this sentence:
   I use a screen-reader.
2. This is where we want the Footnote. Invoke the Leasey option for this, for example, press the Markdown key followed by F.
3. This takes you into a list of three items. Select the first option, Create Footnote, and press Enter.
4. Type the number for the Footnote. In our example, this will be achieved by typing number 1, just above the letter keys. Then press Enter. Why don't we number the items for you automatically? Simply because Footnote references do not need to be numbered. If you wanted to, you could call it, "My Wonderful Footnote Number 1", if you were so inclined. But 1 will do just fine for now.
5. Having pressed Enter, you are asked for the text to represent the Footnote. This will be placed at the end of the document. We will come to that later. Type it into the Edit Field. We will type, It is called JAWS for Windows. Then press Enter.
6. In the document, you will now see the Footnote reference number but not the text relating to the Footnote.
7. Now write this sentence: It is used to help blind people.
8. Invoke the Leasey Footnote item once more by pressing the Markdown key then F.
9. This takes you into a list of three items. Select the first option, Create Footnote, and press Enter.
10. This time, type the number 2 to represent the Footnote reference number and press Enter.
11. Type the text to represent the Footnote. We will type, like me. Then press Enter.
12. Continue to work through this procedure as necessary.
13. When you have completed the document, you need to insert all your Footnote explanations. Be sure that the cursor is at the end of the document. press the Markdown key then F once again.
14. This takes you into a list of three items. Select the second option, Insert Footnotes, and press Enter.
15. All your Footnote references are then entered into the document.
16. Finally, go back to the Footnotes area, Markdown key then F. This time, select the third item down, "Clear Footnotes From Leasey", and press Enter. If you do not do this, the next time you create a document containing Footnotes, the old Footnotes will be inserted into the new document together with any newer items.

ALT Codes.

Introduction.

You may have come across a situation where you need to enter a character into your text edit area which is not present on your keyboard. As a basic example, what if you need to enter a pound sign and your keyboard layout does not accommodate it? This is where ALT codes come into play.

In some situations, there is a very nice and efficient way of entering such special characters by pressing and holding the ALT key, and simultaneously entering the character’s decimal value on the numeric keypad. This is where the term ALT codes comes from. For example, to enter the ellipsis, you could press and hold the ALT key, and enter 0133. This would give you the appropriate character. For the • character, you could enter the code 0149.
However, this requires you to turn NumLock on, (not intuitive for screen-reader users needing the NumPad), and this also presupposes that either there is a NumPad on your keyboard, or at least you can turn the central part of your keyboard into a numPad.

Unfortunately, on some modern notebooks, there are keyboards that do not have these possibilities. There is no NumLock key, and there is no mode to enter numbers, other than on the regular number row.

Sighted people experience this issue of being unable to enter ALT codes on modern notebook keyboards. There are two solutions to this one, and none of them works efficiently if you are blind. The solutions require you to use the Character Map application, or, alternatively, to use the On-Screen Keyboard to simulate NumLock.

What Can Leasey Do To Help?

Leasey has a special tool for entering the ALT codes available. Pressing the key to start the process, (Leasey Key then ALT+C), asks for the ALT code to be typed. For those who are very familiar with this practice, it is simply a matter of typing the code, pressing Enter and the relevant sign is inserted into the text area.
If the user presses the same key combination again, Leasey Key then ALT+C, the edit field contains the same code as previously entered in the event the sign needs to be repeated.

For those who are not familiar with the codes, if the edit field is vacant, pressing Enter will bring into view a list of all the ALT codes available. The description is given together with the code number. This serves two purposes. First, a code can be selected from the list and the Enter key pressed to insert the relevant sign. Second, giving the code values in this way helps anyone in learning them so that they can be entered manually at a later time, bypassing the list.

In the event a person prefers to use the list of codes constantly, focus never returns to the top of it each time it is entered. The option just used gains focus automatically in the event that the sign needs to be repeated.

Additional Utilities.

There are several additional utilities which do not fall into other categories but which nevertheless are worth documenting here. All of them are going to provide you with an enhanced level of accessibility to applications.

Maximising Windows Automatically.

In many applications, JAWS is able to provide a greater level of speech and support if a window is maximised, where it fills the entire screen. But it's a question of remembering to use the keyboard shortcut for it each time.

Leasey has a function which will automatically do this for you when you are within an application. Press the Leasey Key then ALT+Space to enable or disable this feature. Once it is set, the setting is remembered, even when you restart the computer. If enabled, the application window will be maximised each time.

Windows Notifications

Controlling how much your computer speaks when specific events occur is always a good thing to know about. Quite often, you will receive Windows notifications or application alerts which vocalise (or display in Braille) far more information than you need. This section of our documentation explains a way in which this can be customised.

Starting in JAWS 2022, Vispero have introduced into the screen reader a utility called the notification history list. The term "notification" in this context is a very broad one. It could be an announcement emanating from a proper Windows notification, such as that sent out by WhatsApp, Outlook or Teams, but it could also be what we call an alert, and that is a message sent by an application to the screen reader to convey information, such as in Microsoft Edge.
Have you ever been in Microsoft Edge and it said, for example, "Loading page", "Load complete"? That is what we call an alert. It's not an official Windows notification.

Regardless of what kind of alert or notification it is, you can press the insert key or the caps lock key if you're using the laptop layout together with space. Then the letter N for notification.
This shows a list of the last 500 entries comprising notifications and alerts. You can leave this list open all day if you really wanted to because it's constantly going to refresh with the most recent notification at the top. You can always alt-tab over to it if you want to review the last few notifications that you've received.

If you are using JAWS version 2023, you can create "special" rules so as to manage some of the speech and braille output when a notification is captured by JAWS. Because this process is somewhat unwieldy and not particularly easy to understand, you can import our own special rules so as to handle these notifications more efficiently.

Rules are available at present for Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Edge and the FileZilla FTP client.

1. Press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+B so as to move into the Backup and Restore Manager.
2. Select the option to "Import Leasey Notification Rules".
3. You will be asked if you are sure you want to import the rules. This question is important. If you have created notification rules yourself, we cannot merge the Leasey rules with those you have previously created. You can create rules afterwards if you wish, but if you choose to import those created for Leasey, at least initially any previously defined rules will be overwritten.
4. Assuming "Yes" is activated, the latest set of rules will be downloaded from the Leasey Central web site and you can start using them right away.
5. You are free to remove or modify any of the Leasey imported rules and use them as you see fit, assuming you have the skills to do that.
6. In the event you wish to remove the Leasey rules and reinstate those you previously created, return to the Backup and Restore Manager, and this time, select the option to Reinstate Old Notification Rules. Again, you will be asked if you would like to proceed. Select "Yes". The Leasey rules will be removed and your old rules reinstated.

Miscellaneous.

Pressing the Leasey Key then P will cycle between the various options concerning how JAWS announces punctuation. The options are none, some, most and all.

Pressing Control+Windows+Shift+Up or Down arrow keys will increase or decrease the computer's system volume. This is ideal especially if you have purchased a new laptop computer and have no idea how to change the volume settings.
Pressing Control+Windows+Shift+Left or Right Arrow will change the volume level in smaller increments.

Press the Say Window Title keystroke twice quickly, Insert+T or Caps Lock+T, to place the title of the Windows application into the JAWS Virtual Viewer for closer inspection.

Pressing the Leasey Key then Down Arrow will read the time.

Pressing the Leasey Key then Up Arrow will read the date.

Pressing the Leasey Key then Windows+Down Arrow will read the time including seconds.

Pressing the Leasey Key then Left Arrow will insert the current time into your document or edit area.

Pressing the Leasey Key then Right Arrow will insert the current date into your document or edit area.

Pressing the Leasey Key then Left Bracket, (to the immediate right of letter "P"), will speak the Leasey version and build number currently running.

Pressing the Leasey Key then Right Bracket, (two keys to the immediate right of letter "P"), will speak the JAWS version currently being used.

Pressing the Leasey Key then Control+Left Bracket will speak the Windows version number being used.

Press the Leasey Key then letter U to hear the JAWS serial number being used. This information is also copied to the Windows clipboard.

Pressing the Leasey key then Windows+Delete will delete the current line of text.

Pressing the Leasey key then Control+Delete will delete all text from the cursor position to the start of the line.

Pressing the Leasey key then ALT+Delete will delete all text from the cursor position to the end of the line.

Pressing the Leasey Key then ALT+D will report the status of your Dropbox activity if it exists. Pressing the Leasey Key then Control+D will open the Dropbox Preferences, while the Leasey Key then Windows+D will launch the Dropbox folder. When entering the Dropbox Preferences Dialog Box for full customisation of this service, you will find that this is now much more accessible than it otherwise would have been. Press Tab to move from one field to another, or Control+Tab to move through Tabbed Pages.

Pressing the Leasey Key then ALT+G will report the status of your Google Drive activity if it exists. Pressing the Leasey Key then Control+G will open the Google Drive Preferences, while the Leasey Key then Windows+G will launch the Google Drive folder.

Pressing the Leasey Key then ALT+O will report the status of your Microsoft OneDrive activity if it exists. Pressing the Leasey Key then Control+O will open the Microsoft OneDrive Preferences, while the Leasey Key then Windows+O will launch the Microsoft OneDrive folder.

Pressing the Insert Key with figure 2 on the main QWERTY keyboard will cycle through the JAWS "Typing Echo" modes. Unlike JAWS default behaviour, the setting is permanently stored.

If you wish to hear useful information about the document or webpage, (such as the number of characters, words or lines), press the "Speak Information" keyboard shortcut, Leasey Key then I. Important notes:

• If text is selected prior to pressing the above keyboard command, the number of items reported relates to the selected text.
• If focused on a webpage and you execute this keystroke, in addition to other useful information you will hear whether the JAWS forms Mode is active or not.

Pressing ALT+Control+Windows+Page Up will increase the JAWS speech rate. Pressing ALT+Control+Windows+Page Down will decrease the JAWS speech rate. Both settings are permanently stored.

If you have a Pearl camera attached to your computer, pressing the Leasey key then ALT+P will cause the item under the camera to be scanned automatically.

Obtaining a Computer Report.

Leasey contains a feature which can produce a detailed report of your computer for you. In order to carry this out, press the Leasey Key then Control+Right Bracket, two keys to the right of the letter P. You will receive results similar to this which are displayed in the JAWS Virtual Viewer:

Computer name.

Windows version and build number.

Original install date of Windows.

The last time the system was re-booted.

The computer manufacturer.

The model of the computer.

The processor.

The default Windows folder where the operating system files live.

The drive the computer boots from.

The default Windows language.

The current time zone.

Amount of memory capacity.

Available memory.

Network card being used.

IP addresses.

File Explorer File or Folder Properties.

Anyone familiar with File Explorer will know that it is possible to access the properties of a file or folder. Properties include details of the size of the item, together with when it was last updated. If focused on a folder, the number of files contained within it is displayed there.

JAWS provides no easy way to read the information in the properties Dialog box. Leasey however allows you to access it.

1. When focused on a file or folder in File Explorer, press ALT+Enter to bring into view the Properties Dialog Box.
2. Press ALT+Enter once and you will hear the size of the folder or file together with the last modification date.
3. Press ALT+Enter twice quickly to place the above information into the JAWS Virtual viewer, together with how many files are contained within the folder, assuming a folder was selected prior to invoking the Properties Dialog box.
4. If you are reading the information in the Virtual viewer, as prompted on the final line, press Escape to return to the Properties Dialog Box.
5. Press Escape to exit the Properties Dialog Box.

Converting a Scanned PDF to a Text File.

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 onwards 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. To carry out such a scan, with the file loaded press Insert+Space, then D. After a short pause, you should be able to read the results of the scan.

If you would like a text file containing the contents of the file, with the scanned document in focus press the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+F. When prompted, type in the full path where you would like the file saved and press Enter. The full path may look like, "c:\temp\phone information.txt", although you do not need to include the ".txt" extension. The file should now be present on the machine with the required output.

Audio Splitter.

If you are using stereo headsets or speakers, you can route all JAWS or Fusion speech to one ear while routing audio from all other applications to the other ear. This helps make it easier to continue getting work done with JAWS while following along during a Zoom or Teams meeting, a Skype call, or a YouTube video.

To split audio, press Insert+Space, (or Caps Lock+Space if using the JAWS Laptop Keyboard Layout), then:

1. Left Arrow to route JAWS to the left and audio to the right.
2. Right Arrow, to route JAWS to the right and audio to the left.
3. Up Arrow, to restore sound balance.

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Note: Before attempting to split your audio, make sure your headset or speakers are properly oriented. For instance, if you route JAWS speech to the left and instead hear it in your right ear, your headset is most likely reversed.

Once you split your JAWS speech and application audio, it remains in effect until you restart JAWS, or use the command to restore the audio balance.

Press Insert+Space or Caps Lock+Space then Down Arrow to move through soundcards.

The LeaseyBackup and Restore Manager.

Introduction.

The LeaseyBackup and Restore Manager is extremely powerful. It not only allows you to backup and restore your JAWS settings but it also makes it possible for you always to keep your Leasey settings and configuration files safe. Moreover, it always means that your settings can instantly become available on multiple machines you may have access to. If you use a number of computers with Leasey installed, all your preferences you may have customised in the program on one machine will be available to Leasey on the other devices. This includes any LeaseyTexts, LeaseyClips, browser favourites, LeaseySearch customisations, LeaseyCuts, audio bookmarks you may have created for VLC Media Player, LeaseyAlerts, LeaseyPoints, LeaseyDiary entries and so much more.

It is likely you will be synchronising files with a cloud storage service, such as Dropbox, OneDrive or Google Drive, although if you wish, you could use it in conjunction with another drive internal to your computer or a shared storage device. For this reason, we refer to this part of the Backup and Restore Manager as LeaseyCloud.

You may think that this section of the documentation does not apply to you. But it could do. If you really want to keep your settings and configurations secure so you can go back to them if the worst happens, it would be an advantage to you to go through this setup process now.

This chapter of the User Guide is comprehensive and we hope it covers most scenarios in terms of using this utility. It is likely that you will only carry out the below setup routines on a very occasional basis. We recommend that you follow the directions given in this User Guide as closely as you can to ensure that everything is configured correctly.

Please note: you do not need to use the utility described in this chapter at all if you do not wish to. Leasey will function as she always has in previous versions. It is not essential that you follow the guidance below.

Why Would I Want to Use the Backup and Restore Manager?

Here are some common situations why you would want to use this tool rather than relying on your computer's hard disk to preserve your settings.

• If your computer's hard disk develops a fault, you've potentially lost everything you have previously customised.
• You can have access to all your configurations on multiple devices. This is ideal especially if you rely extensively on tools such as LeaseyTexts for both work and home use.
• If Leasey needs to be re-installed at a later time, perhaps due to a repair of JAWS, files which Leasey needs to install as a consequence will not be overwritten.
• All your JAWS settings (as well as those belonging to Leasey) can be stored in a safe location and can be used again, perhaps when you upgrade to a new version of the screen-reader, or if a repair is required. It can take some time to customise JAWS speech and Braille settings, so it makes sense to have them backed up safely.

Please note that this service works best using OneDrive and Dropbox. Using Google Drive or an alternative network source can be used but we recommend you discuss this with us first. JAWS can have difficulties when it is started as a service in terms of accessing the Leasey files; in other words, if it is set to start speaking after Windows logon. There is a way of managing this but some users may find the setup procedure complex.

Setting Up Leasey On Machine 1.

While the process for setting up Leasey to work with a cloud storage device is almost the same for each machine, for the avoidance of doubt we are giving you some examples of how you might go about using this tool on multiple devices.

1. Using File Explorer, browse to a primary folder where the necessary Leasey folder structure is to be created. This could be the root of your Dropbox folder, or in the case of Google Drive, it would be Google Drive/My Drive.
2. Ensure that you have pressed Enter so as to move inside this folder.
3. Press the Leasey Key then ALT+S for Storage. Leasey will bring into view a Dialog Box containing an edit field. The edit field displays the full path of the folder where the Leasey files and sub-folders will live, such as d:\Dropbox (Joe Thompson), or G:\My Drive.
4. Examine the content of this Edit Field carefully and be sure that the path to the folder is accurately reflected there. If it is, press Enter. If it is not, you can change it so that it is accurate. Please be careful if you are going to make such a change.
5. When the Enter key is pressed, Leasey creates the necessary folders and then you will be asked for a Machine Name. There are two groups of files which are specific to the machine you are using and can not be shared between multiple devices. The first group is the LeaseyCuts pointing to files and folders. Because the paths the LeaseyCuts are pointing to can vary from one machine to another, it is important that these are computer specific. LeaseyCuts pointing to web pages are shared. The second group is the JAWS settings for the machine. Not only can JAWS preferences vary from one machine to another, but the JAWS serial number on each device may be different.
6. Type a Machine Name, such as "Desktop", and press Enter. The name you give to the machine does not need to be your computer's official name. It can be whatever you want it to be.
7. Leasey will confirm the name of the machine she is now using.
8. Leasey completes the setup process and JAWS is restarted.
9. Finally for this step, press ALT+F4 so as to close File Explorer. Then optionally, work through the procedure in the next section denoted with a level 2 heading entitled "Migrating Settings".

If you are using the Dropbox service for storage, there may be an additional step which needs to be taken. This depends upon your current Dropbox configuration. The Smart Sync service must be disabled for the LeaseyCloud folder.

With Dropbox Smart Sync, you can see and access every file in your account and every folder that’s been shared with you, directly from your desktop, without taking up your hard drive space. Normally, synced files are downloaded fully to your computer and they take up hard drive space. With Smart Sync, you can make files and folders "online only". Online-only files use a small amount of hard drive space to store information such as the file name, size and thumbnail, but the full contents of the files are stored securely in the Dropbox cloud. You’ll always see your online-only files on your computer, so when you need them, you can open them.

Leasey will not function if this feature is applied to the LeaseyCloud folder which has now been created as she is frequently checking for, and updating, configuration files.

1. Using File Explorer, navigate to the point in your Dropbox folder structure where Leasey has created the folders for use. This is likely to be the root of your Dropbox folder you found in the previous set of steps.
2. Locate the folder entitled "LeaseyCloud" but do not press Enter to open it.
3. Activate the Context Menu by pressing the Applications Menu key or Shift+F10.
4. Press Down Arrow until you reach the option "Smart Sync" and press Enter.
5. This presents you with a sub-menu containing two options: "Local" and "Online Only". You can press the Down Arrow key to move to each choice.
6. As you move through each option, JAWS will say which one is checked. Hopefully, JAWS is reporting that "Local" is checked rather than "Online Only". If "Local" is checked, you can press Escape to exit the menu, since the configuration is as we need it to be. However, if "Online Only" is checked, use the arrow keys to find "Local", and press Enter. The configuration is now complete.

Migrating Settings.

Next, we're going to bring over all your settings and customisations you may have carried out in respect of Leasey from a previous version. If you have not used Leasey before you can ignore this step.

1. Press the Leasey key then Control+Shift+B so as to select the Backup and Restore Manager.
2. Press the Down Arrow key repeatedly until the option "Migrate Old Leasey Settings to an External Drive, Folder or cloud source" is selected. Then press Enter.
3. Leasey migrates the settings in a very short period of time and JAWS is restarted.

In summary, you have now set up the first machine and you have brought over any customisations from it. This does include LeaseyCuts pointing to files and folders you may have had on that machine.

Setting Up Leasey On Machine 2 and Subsequent Machines.

Assuming Leasey is installed on Machine 2, please work through the following procedure.

1. Using File Explorer, browse to a primary folder where the necessary Leasey folder structure has been created. This could be the root of your Dropbox folder, or in the case of Google Drive, it would be Google Drive/My Drive. Note: It does not make any difference if the path of the cloud storage varies from one machine to another. For example, on the first machine, the contents of the Dropbox or other Cloud Storage may be on drive D. But on the new machine on which we are working now, it may be located on Drive C. What is important here is that you point Leasey on each machine to the same Dropbox account.
2. Ensure that you have pressed Enter so as to move inside this folder.
3. Press the Leasey Key then ALT+S for Storage. Leasey will bring into view a Dialog Box containing an edit field. The edit field displays the full path of the folder where the Leasey files and sub-folders will live, such as d:\Dropbox (Joe Thompson), or G:\My Drive.
4. Examine the content of this Edit Field carefully and be sure that the path to the folder is accurately reflected there. If it is, press Enter. If it is not, you can change it so that it is accurate. Please be careful if you are going to make such a change.
5. When the Enter key is pressed, Leasey creates the necessary folders and then you will be asked for the Machine Name described above.
6. Type a Machine Name, such as "Laptop", and press Enter.
7. Leasey will confirm the name of the machine she is now using.
8. Leasey completes the setup process and JAWS is restarted.
9. Finally for this step, press ALT+F4 so as to close File Explorer.

In terms of configuration, that should be all you need to do. You should not need to migrate settings from a previous version onto this machine as they are already in place and can be used. You would repeat the steps in example 2 for any subsequent machines you may have access to. The only exception to this would be if you wanted the LeaseyCuts you were using on the second machine to be available to you. If that is the case please follow these steps.

1. Press the Leasey key then Control+Shift+B so as to select the Backup and Restore Manager.
2. Press the Down Arrow key repeatedly until the option "Migrate Old Leasey Settings to an External Drive, Folder or cloud source" is selected. Then press Enter.
3. A Dialog Box will appear with the following prompt: "Migration Already Exists. Leasey has detected that you have already carried out migration of
   settings from one machine. Are you sure you wish to remove these and
   copy settings from this machine? Select No to just copy LeaseyCuts".
   Press the letter "N" and only the LeaseyCuts will be copied.

If you really did want to remove all the settings and use those from the second machine, you would press the letter "Y" for "Yes". But this would be in a very exceptional circumstance.

What To Do If Leasey Has Been Removed From Your Machine And Reinstalled.

Absolutely nothing. Provided the folder c:\LeaseyData has not been removed from your machine then everything should neatly fall into place. This can be checked by going to the Backup and Restore Manager. If the item "Run Development Report" is at the bottom of the list, then Leasey is linked to the cloud storage.

If you did not remove Leasey, and you just re-installed over the top of the existing version, you should not need to do anything further since she should still be linked to the external or cloud storage.

If you re-formatted your computer's hard drive however, you will need to link Leasey back to the original cloud storage drive and use the same machine name as before.

1. Using File Explorer, browse to a primary folder where the necessary Leasey folder structure is to be created. This could be the root of your Dropbox folder, or in the case of Google Drive, it would be Google Drive/My Drive.
2. Ensure that you have pressed Enter so as to move inside this folder.
3. Press the Leasey Key then ALT+S for Storage. Leasey will bring into view a Dialog Box containing an edit field. The edit field displays the full path of the folder where the Leasey files and sub-folders will live, such as d:\Dropbox (Joe Thompson), or G:\My Drive.
4. Examine the content of this Edit Field carefully and be sure that the path to the folder is accurately reflected there. If it is, press Enter. If it is not, you can change it so that it is accurate. Please be careful if you are going to make such a change.
5. When the Enter key is pressed, you will be asked for a Machine Name.
6. Type exactly the same machine name you used before. This is a critical step. If the machine name is different to that used previously, the linking mechanism will not work correctly.
7. Leasey will confirm the name of the machine she is now using.
8. Leasey completes the setup process and JAWS is restarted.
9. Finally for this step, press ALT+F4 so as to close File Explorer.

Additional LeaseyCloud Options in the Backup and Restore Manager.

There are other options remaining in respect of Leasey settings directly.

Unlink External Drive, Folder or Cloud Storage From This Machine.

If you have previously linked your copy of Leasey on a machine to an external drive or cloud storage location, and it is not functioning as you expect, you can unlink it so as to cause Leasey to behave with the old configuration settings you were using before you went through this process. Press Enter on this option. JAWS will restart.

Run development report.

When you press Enter on this item, a report concerning information about the Machine Name, and various paths to folders, will be copied to the Windows Clipboard. You can send this to us if we ask for it by pasting the contents into an Email message.

Options Relating to Notifications and Alerts.

These options relate to the importing of our rules to abbreviate the output from JAWS when a Windows Notification or application alert is available. Please refer to the "Additional Utilities" Chapter for details.

Backing Up and Restoring JAWS Settings.

We will now discuss how to backup and restore your JAWS settings. Please note that these are not settings belonging to Leasey, such as those we have discussed up until now. These are all JAWS script files, configuration and dictionary files, voice profiles (such as those for various speech synthesisers), and rules for the JAWS Notification History feature.

It may sound obvious but we will spell it out anyway. You should only make a backup of your JAWS settings if it is working the way you want it to.

If Leasey is linked to an external drive or cloud storage location, press the Leasey Key followed by Control+Shift+B to enter the Backup and Restore utility.
Select the option "Backup JAWS Settings" and press Enter.
A copy of the settings is made, relative to the machine you are using. Leasey confirms that the JAWS settings are being backed up and the Machine Name you are working with. This means that, should the need arise, you can restore the settings specific to that machine.

Please note: not all JAWS files are copied. There is a specific list of files which is excluded from the copying process. These are core files of Leasey which are likely to be updated in the future. This means that you can quite safely restore the settings without any concerns about whether older files will overwrite those which are more recent.

Now we will learn how to restore the JAWS settings. You should only need to do this in the following situations:

• If JAWS has been uninstalled, reinstalled and then you have carried out a fresh install of Leasey.
• If you are upgrading from one JAWS version to another.

If you have repaired JAWS, re-installed it, or you are upgrading from one JAWS version to another, follow these steps.

1. Install JAWS and be sure that it is functioning correctly.
2. Install Leasey and ensure it is activated.
3. Using File Explorer, browse to a primary folder where the necessary Leasey folder structure has been created. This could be the root of your Dropbox folder, or in the case of Google Drive, it would be Google Drive/My Drive.
4. Ensure that you have pressed Enter so as to move inside this folder.
5. Press the Leasey Key then ALT+S for Storage. Leasey will bring into view a Dialog Box containing an edit field. The edit field displays the full path of the folder where the Leasey files and sub-folders will live, such as d:\Dropbox (Joe Thompson), or G:\My Drive.
6. Examine the content of this Edit Field carefully and be sure that the path to the folder is accurately reflected there. If it is, press Enter. If it is not, you can change it so that it is accurate. Please be careful if you are going to make such a change.
7. When the Enter key is pressed, you will be asked for a Machine Name.
8. Type exactly the same machine name you used before. This is a critical step. If the machine name is different to that used previously, the linking mechanism will not work correctly and your JAWS settings will not be restored. Remember that the JAWS settings are linked to the individual machine name and cannot be shared among machines. So if you get this wrong, then you cannot restore them.
9. Leasey will confirm the name of the machine she is now using.
10. Leasey completes the setup process and JAWS is restarted.
11. Press ALT+F4 so as to close File Explorer.
12. Press the Leasey key then Control+Shift+B to enter the Backup and Restore Manager.
13. Check the bottom of the list. If the item "Run Development Report" is present there, then Leasey is linked to the cloud.
14. Select the option to Restore JAWS Settings and press Enter.
15. The necessary files will be brought across from your copy of JAWS and the screen-reader will restart.

Backing Up and Restoring JAWS and Leasey Settings If Leasey is Not Linked to an External Drive or Cloud Storage Location.

In the event you have not linked Leasey to an external drive or cloud storage location, you can still enter the Backup and Restore Manager by pressing the Leasey Key then Control+Shift+B. There are four options if this is so.

• Backup JAWS Settings
• Restore JAWS Settings
• Backup Leasey Settings to a Local Drive or Folder
• Restore Leasey Settings from a Local Drive or Folder

In respect of all of these options, you will be requested to type the drive letter or path where the backup will be made to, or the restoration will come from. This could be a drive letter such as D, then a colon, or it could be a folder on the drive such as D colon Backslash Test.

When the drive letter or path is entered, press Enter and the appropriate action will be performed.

Note that if you have linked Leasey to a Cloud Storage location, you cannot make a backup to a local drive or folder. That is why you cannot see the options for that in the Backup and Restore Manager.

Reviewing Speech History.

JAWS Speech History enables you to review previous announcements spoken by JAWS. It is a very useful feature for reminding yourself of previously spoken messages, such as Windows notifications or the contents of a dialog box.

Ordinarily, Speech History can be brought into view by pressing JAWS Key+Space then H. It is rendered in the JAWS results viewer which is a separate application window, taking focus away from the application in which you were working. It can take a number of seconds for the results viewer to display the last 500 entries spoken by the synthesiser.

Leasey makes it possible for you to have access to your Speech History without leaving your currently focused application.
You can move back and forth through the history items, review individual items and copy any number of them to the Windows clipboard.

The concept is as follows:

Press the Control and Grave Accent keys together then release them. We call this the History Key. Once you have done that, you are taken into a special history browse mode, whereupon a number of other keys can be pressed by themselves. These will be described in the paragraphs below.

Changing the History Voice.

As you scroll through your speech history items, you will hear them using a special voice which you can customise. You may like to adjust the voice so you can differentiate between those items in the Speech History and the speech JAWS uses to report on-screen activity. Press the History Key then:

• ALT+Up Arrow by itself repeatedly.
• ALT+Down Arrow by itself repeatedly.

Pressing the first of these keys raises the pitch of the voice while the second lowers the pitch. JAWS will speak some text using the newly selected pitch so you can hear what it sounds like.

As you use these keys, you will at some point reach the default pitch. This is referred to as "pitch 0". A sound will play and you will be advised this is the regular pitch.

When you have adjusted the pitch to your liking, press Escape to save. The setting will be saved even if you restart JAWS and is available on all machines if you use LeaseyCloud.

Using Speech History.

When the History Voice has been set, for day-to-day use you can press the History Key followed by either Up Arrow, Down Arrow, Left Arrow, Right Arrow, Shift+Left Arrow, Shift+Right Arrow or Space by themselves.

Let's go through the keys one by one.

History Key then Up Arrow, This captures the Speech History. You have to start with this one. Whenever you want to examine the Speech History entries, press this key combination. Anything which the speech synthesiser says subsequently is not part of your Speech History capture until you press this key combination again.
JAWS announces the most recent entry. You may decide that is enough as you have reviewed the item spoken most recently, in which case, press Escape to exit out of history browse mode and continue on with your work in your current application.

From this point, assuming Speech History has been captured as described above, you are already in the Speech History layer. Press Left or Right Arrow keys by themselves. You'll probably want to start with Left Arrow repeatedly, which will take you back through the Speech History items one by one. JAWS will speak and Braille each item. The item will be spoken using the special history voice you have previously set. Because you are in the special history browse mode, you can quickly skim back and forth through the items to find the one you want. Press Escape to stop browsing.

Having heard a Speech History item, press Down Arrow. This will copy it to the clipboard.
You can do this for as many segments as you like. Each one will be separated by a blank line on the clipboard. So if you want to copy the most recent, the third most recent, and the fifth most recent, you can do that.

If you wish to review an item in the JAWS Virtual Viewer you have heard, perhaps to check spelling, press Space. You have now left history browse mode and can continue to examine the text in the Virtual Viewer a character or word at a time.

Some points to note.

The Speech History you have captured will stay available to you until you restart JAWS or until you reset it by pressing History Key then Up Arrow. This means, if you wanted to, you could examine something from the Speech History, continue with your work, then go back to it in about an hour to remind yourself of important information which had previously been spoken. It should still be there. In that event, just press History Key then Left Arrow to enter the special history keyboard layer and start browsing with Left or Right Arrow keys by themselves.

Examples of Using Speech History.

1. Browse your Inbox and Microsoft Outlook by moving through the messages with the Up and Down Arrow keys.
2. You find a message from Mary Domingo and you would like to review the spelling of her last name which JAWS has just spoken together with the subject line of the message.
3. Press History Key then Up Arrow to capture the Speech History.
4. Press Left Arrow repeatedly until Mary's name is spoken.
5. Press Space to review it word by word or character by character.
6. Press Escape to exit the Virtual Viewer and return to Outlook.

Now we will move into the JAWS Help/About Dialog Box. We want to copy our JAWS serial number and the JAWS version number to the clipboard so as to send it to someone.

1. Having moved into the About dialog box, press History Key then Up Arrow to capture the Speech History.
2. The serial number was the last item spoken. Copy it to the clipboard with Down Arrow.
3. Press Left Arrow repeatedly. Each time you do this, JAWS will announce the item previously spoken. Keep doing this until you hear the JAWS version and build number, then press Down Arrow to copy it. The version number is likely to be some way back, but because you only need to press Left Arrow by itself repeatedly, you can skim through the items quickly.
4. When you reach the version number, press Down Arrow to copy it to the clipboard.
5. Press Escape to exit history browsing mode.
6. If you now press Leasey key then X to read the clipboard contents, you should hear the two items of information spoken.

Finally, you've just received a Windows notification. You were talking to someone at the time JAWS announced it, so you missed hearing the details.

1. Press the History Key then Up Arrow to capture Speech History.
2. JAWS announces the notification text because it was the last item spoken. Even that has enormous value. The keystroke used in JAWS by default to repeat the last spoken notification, JAWS Key+Space then Shift+N, does not obey any special Notification Manager rules you have set up, so you are going to get the notification in full including plenty of verbal clutter. Using the method just demonstrated here, you will just have the notification repeated including any special condensing of speech which may have been applied by a notification rule.
3. But it gets better. You can now press Space to review that text which is presented in the form you would like it to be. The only way in which you could review that notification in native JAWS is either by going into Speech History or the Notifications Manager which are both separate applications. Even then, the Notifications Manager will not allow you to review that text using your preferences.

Copying Items in a Continuous Range.

There is a possibility that you may like to copy items from the speech history in a continuous range.
Here is an example of how you might like to go about that.

1. Press the History Key then Up Arrow to capture the speech history.
2. Press Left Arrow repeatedly until you reach the first segment you would like to copy.
3. Press Shift+Right Arrow. JAWS reports the segment of speech history has been copied to the clipboard.
4. Continue to press Shift+Right Arrow. Each time you do this, the next segment of speech history is automatically copied to the clipboard. JAWS will always inform you of this while speaking the copied segment so you can monitor your progress. It's like selecting one character at a time.
5. If you press Shift+Right Arrow too many times, you can move back by pressing Shift+Left Arrow. Each time you do that, the last copied segment is removed from the clipboard. Again, JAWS advises you which segment is no longer on the clipboard. It's like unselecting a character.
6. When all required segments have been copied, press Escape to stop browsing.

BrailleEas.

Introduction.

As you can imagine, the ability to command the functions of the Windows operating system using a Braille entry keyboard, usually integrated into a Braille display where the regular Windows keys are not at your disposal, is not easy. While a concept built into JAWS can make this possible, it is not particularly easy to learn. Moreover, the ability to easily find text in documents is not straightforward. We hope that all of these issues are addressed in Leasey and will be described here.

BrailleEas has been tested using the Focus range of Braille displays, the Humanware Brailliant range and the BrailleSense. However, BrailleEas can be modified to work alongside almost any display with a Braille input keyboard. If you have an unsupported model, please ask us to work with you so that BrailleEas can work with your particular model.

Controlling Windows With a Braille Entry Keyboard.

Braille displays give you a lot of flexibility in order that you can use your favourite Windows applications while on the go. However imagine using only 8 keys to perform all those Windows functions you take for granted. The concept on the Focus line of displays is that you press various keyboard combinations to effect Windows keystrokes. So if you want to execute ALT+F4 to close a program down, you hold down dot 8 with space which says to the display "I want to do a Windows keystroke now", and you also press dot 6 which represents "ALT", and dot 1, which means "A function key is now going to be pressed". Release those keys, and press letter "D", representing 4. Furthermore, if using the BrailleSense connected to your computer, it is completely impossible to control all Windows functions or screen-reading commands using the Braille entry keyboard alone. This is likely to be the case with other models of display.

Leasey makes this much easier. We call this functionality BrailleEas. It gives you complete control of your device without the need to remember complex key sequences, and it also means you can do so within a matter of minutes. That is how it should be. You've purchased a sophisticated device and you want to get up and running as quickly as possible. BrailleEas allows you to do this while you get to learn the more complex Braille input keys, if that is what you wish to do.

The concept is that you press a key on the keyboard which is "Of-Sign Chord", or dots 1-2-3-5-6 with the Space Bar.

You are now in a Dialog Box entitled "Keystroke?" BrailleEas is now waiting for you to control the device with an appropriate command.

Type a command, such as :
windows D
That is windows space d, and press the Enter key. When you press the Enter key, in our example this sets focus to the Windows Desktop. Now use the same procedure to run a windows application. Press Dots 1-2-3-5-6 with the Space Bar, wait for the dialog, and type windows R, that is Windows space R, and press Enter.
The Run dialog box appears, into which you can type Notepad and then press the Enter key to launch it.

Please note that when you are typing instructions into the Edit Field, computer Braille is required.

Here are some other commands you may like to enter. You can of course substitute these strategies for other keyboard commands.

Control Space F4.

ALT Space F4.

Control Space Shift Space P.

Windows Space E.

ALT+Windows+RightArrow.

You can also carry out any JAWS screen-reading command. Provided you know the keyboard action to perform the command, you can enter it on the device. Here are some examples.

Insert Space F7. Brings into view a list of links on a web page.

Insert Space UpArrow. Reads the current line.

Insert Space F11. Brings into view a list of icons in the System Tray area of Windows.

It is possible to abbreviate any one of the above keystrokes. This saves a great deal of time when controlling your device, since the full word of the keyboard action does not need to be spelled out, such as Windows. The abbreviations are:

Windows equals W.

ALT equals A.

Control equals C.

Shift equals S.

I equals Insert.

Here are some examples of how you might use these abbreviations.

W Space R. Brings into view the Run dialog box.

I Space F7. Presses the keystroke Insert+F7 so as to bring into view the list of links dialog box.

Finally, Leasey-related keystrokes can be entered by substituting the Leasey key for the abbreviation, L E. Here are some examples:

LE Space Control+L. This brings into view the list of LeaseyCuts.

LE Space Control Space Semicolon. This brings into view a list of LeaseyCuts pointing to web pages.

LE Space F1. Copies text to LeaseyClip 1.

There are a small number of utilities built into Leasey which can be accessed in this way.

If you enter the word "Start", the Leasey Start Menu appears. Please refer to the section of this documentation relating to the Leasey Start Menu.

If you type the word "AddStart" into BrailleEas, the focused application will be added to the Leasey Start Menu.

BrailleEas also contains a number of commands specifically for use with Markdown. Please see the relevant section of this documentation in relation to using Markdown to create text documents.

Advanced Functionality of BrailleEas.

Now we have outlined the basic principles of using BrailleEas for BrailleSense, we will go onto describing how it can become more sophisticated and how you can make it do tricks.

The above discussion is all very well if you are content to type out the various keystrokes in full, but this can be a little time consuming. However BrailleEas gets a little better, because you can customise your own shortcuts and abbreviations to carry out a number of tasks.

This is done by launching BrailleEas using dots 1-2-3-5-6 with the Space Bar and typing the word, braille, then press Enter.
This opens up a file in notepad, a simple text editor. We have provided a sample file for you. You can delete or change any entry in this file, and we encourage you to create your own entries so the device will do what you want it to do with the minimum of effort.

The concept is that you specify the abbreviation you would like to type, then write an equals sign, and follow it up with the action you would like to carry out as a result.

Below, you will find contents of the sample file provided, and we will go through it with you here so that you can see some of the actions which are possible. It will also teach you how this file should be constructed so you can create your own abbreviations and shortcuts.

Conventional windows keystrokes.

desk=windows+d

run=Windows+R

close=alt+f4

What does this all mean? Simply this. If you add such an entry to the Elegance file, in the future you can just type the abbreviation to carry out the task. You do not even need to press Enter so as to terminate the special mode. In the above examples, if you pressed dots 1-2-3-5-6 with the Space Bar, then the term Desk, you would automatically be focused on the Windows desktop.
If you pressed dots 1-2-3-5-6 with Space, and typed the word Run, the Windows Run dialog box would appear.

Let us now look at some other examples.

JAWS keystrokes

sp=Control+NumPad5

If you used this abbreviation, pressing dots 1-2-3-5-6 and Space Bar, followed by the characters SP, would cause JAWS to read out the current paragraph. The default command for that on an display device by the way is LEFT SHIFT+RIGHT SHIFT+DOTS 2-3-5-6-7-8, so it's quicker and easier to do it this way.

links=insert+f7

If you used this abbreviation, pressing dots 1-2-3-5-6 and Space Bar, followed by the word Links would cause the list of links dialog box to appear.

For the TWBlue Twitter client

rt=alt+windows+rightarrow

lt=alt+windows+leftarrow

Whenever you press Of-Sign Chord followed by RT, you would advance to the next buffer in a Twitter application, such as TWBlue.

It is even possible to run specific files if you care to create abbreviations for them.

For ElNotes

ElNotes=C:\Program Files (x86)\Elita Group\ElNotes\ElNotes.exe

This means whenever you type Of-Sign Chord followed by the word ElNotes, the ElNotes application will launch.

What we are doing here is specifying in our elegance.ini file the abbreviation, an equals sign, then the full path of the file to be launched.

Finally, if you have created LeaseyAbbreviations which are attached to LeaseyTexts, you can even type those through this feature. For example, if you had an abbreviation assigned to the characters SIG, this may type your signature, such as name, company position, etc. There is a LeaseyBite audio tutorial on how to create abbreviations.
In this example, you would press Of-Sign Chord, followed by the characters SIG, to reproduce the signature.

When you have added your various abbreviations, press Control+S to save the file, followed by ALT+F4 so as to close it.
As soon as the file is saved, you can begin using the abbreviations.

Concluding Notes on BrailleEas or Brilliance for BrailleSense.

It could be that you enter Elegance or Brilliance Mode with Of-Sign Chord, and then change your mind. For example, you may enter the mode and misspell the word Control, to represent the control key. That is not a problem. Just press Z-Chord, or Z with Space, and this mode is terminated. You will hear a sound to indicate it has been terminated.

Finally, there is a conventional Windows Desktop keyboard shortcut which allows you to enter Elegance or Brilliance mode. This is ALT+Windows+F12. This allows anyone to test this functionality using a standard Desktop keyboard if necessary.

Word Processing, display or Focus Display Only.

If you prepare files in a word processor, you are going to want to find text quickly. There will always be words or phrases you need to locate. Using the display by default, you would have to press the keystroke for Control+F, (dot 8 with space and dot 3), then F, type in the phrase, press Enter, then Z chord for escape.
You then should be on the correct instance of the word. If you are not, you will either need to press Shift+F4, remembering you need to locate the Braille equivalent first, or maybe F3, depending on the word processor. We can just press F with Shift 1 on the display.
Type what you wish to search for, press Enter, and the cursor is on the desired line and it is spoken. If that is not the correct instance, press letter N together with Shift 1 for next.

Still in a word processor, delete the current word with D chord, or D with space.
Delete the current line by pressing shift 2 with letter D.
Select text by pressing dots 2 3 4 5 6, or With sign chord to mark the beginning of the selection, move to the end of the text, and then press Of sign chord or dots 1 2 4 5 6, whereupon you can manipulate it in whichever way you wish.

Finally, if you have created LeaseyTexts and associated them with LeaseyAbbreviations, you can type the series of characters and then press Shift 2 with dots 4 5 and 6. This is the Abbreviation Lookup key. This means that you can create your own Braille shorthand, reproducing even long passages of text with the minimum number of keystrokes.

Leasey Virtual Notes.

Introduction.

It is more than possible that you would like to work in one application while referring to notes in another one or within a series of applications. Here are some examples.
You may be writing a report in Microsoft Word, but you've made notes relating to a client which are stored in a text file which would typically be opened up in Notepad or another text editor. To get to those notes, you may have to press alt with tab a number of times to find it, especially if you have several applications open.

alternatively, you may be a person who does quite a lot of audio recording, and you need to read text which you have compiled from a number of documents or web page sources. You would need to start the recording, and then press alt tab often several times in order to move to the web page or document of interest.

Leasey Virtual Notes makes referring to text a very easy process. You can stay within the primary application, such as Microsoft Word or your recording application, and still have access to your important text. It's a bit like a sighted person having two monitors side by side: one containing the document and the other displaying the text notes. Best of all, these notes can be from a variety of different sources.

How It Works.

The first thing we probably should do is to clear any existing notes we have previously stored. This is because, even if JAWS is restarted, your notes are still in place. Press the Leasey Key followed by Shift+B for Buffer.

1. Move into the application from which you wish to copy text to add to your notes. Mark the start point of the text you wish to copy with the same keystroke you would use to mark the beginning of text you wish to select, Leasey Key then Comma.
2. Move to the end point of the text you wish to add to the notes, and press the Leasey Key followed by full-stop or period.
3. The text is now added to the notes.
4. You can repeat this process as many times as necessary in order to add more notes. Each time you work through the above procedure, the text is added separated by a new line.

To access your notes, move into the primary application you wish to use. For example, if you are writing a report based upon the notes, you may like to open Microsoft Word.

Now, either press the Leasey key followed by letter B, or ALT+Control+Windows+Forward Slash.

The notes are available. If you have not accessed the notes previously, you will be on the first line.

If you had accessed the notes before, you will be placed on the line where you left off reading.
If you are using a Braille display, you should find that the line you were last reading on the display is the one which should now be in focus.

You can use the panning keys on your Braille display, or the arrow keys on your keyboard, in order to move through the notes. Should you wish to return to your primary application, press Escape.

Two further points to note. You know them already but we are spelling them out.

To resume reading your notes, either press the Leasey Key followed by letter B, or ALT+Control+Windows+Forward Slash.

To clear the notes buffer, press the Leasey Key then Shift+B.

Mapping Drives to Folders.

Introduction.

If you are fond of typing a folder path into the Windows Run, Open or Save As dialog boxes, you could find yourself entering something which is quite lengthy. If the path to a folder location is reasonably difficult to get to, and you use it regularly, it would be good if you could save yourself some time in order to save items there more quickly. A feature available in Leasey allows you to map folders to drive letters.

Your Windows computer already has specific drive letters assigned. Almost certainly one of these will be drive letter C, containing your operating system and program files. But you might have drive D which takes you to a secondary drive you may have installed. This means that if you want to save a file to a folder on the drive, you can type "D Colon Backslash Folder Name Backslash File Name".
But if you want to save a file in a folder several sub-folders deep, such as "D Colon Backslash Dropbox Hartgen Consultancy Backslash Jim Jones Backslash Documents", it can take a while to type that into an appropriate Edit Field.
Wouldn't it be better if we could assign a vacant drive letter to that folder or a similar one, so that all we have to do is type the drive letter colon backslash, then the document name?

How It Works.

Let us assume you have a folder on a drive called Leasey. We are going to assign drive letter L to it.

1. Using File Explorer, browse to the folder you wish to assign to the drive letter. In our example, that is "Leasey". Don't press Enter to open up the folder.
2. Press the Leasey Key then Windows+M.
3. You are asked for the name you would like to assign to this mapped drive. This is for your reference only. It is only used in the event you wish to remove the newly mapped drive in the future so you are aware of which one you are removing. In this case, we will type the word "Leasey" and press Enter.
4. You are now given the location of the folder to which the drive letter will be assigned. This is in an Edit Field, so you can change this if Leasey has detected an incorrect path. It must look something like "D Colon Backslash Leasey". It should not be "Backslash Backslash Leasey" as occurs with some network sources.
5. If you are satisfied with the location, press Enter to move to the next screen.
6. Finally, you are asked for a drive letter. Type it without a trailling colon character, such as, "L".
7. Press Enter. If the drive has already been assigned, Leasey will advise you of this and you will need to repeat the process. Otherwise, you will be advised that the process is complete.
8. The drive is instantly mapped. You can always try it by pressing Windows+R to move to the Windows Run dialog box, type "L Colon", and press Enter. You should now be in the folder you assigned to the drive letter.

Important Notes.

When the computer starts, the drive must immediately be accessible for the mapping to take place.

On some machines, JAWS may give some extraneous speech output for a second or two while the mapping of the drive takes place.

If you have assigned a Dropbox folder to a drive letter, and you wish to access items on the Context Menu, such as to copy a Dropbox link, you will find these are not available in such a situation. Should you wish to do this, you would need to browse to the Dropbox folder using the older method.

The convenience of mapping drives in this way however far outweigh these slight disadvantages.

Deleting a Mapped Drive.

Should you wish to remove one of the mapped drives from being used, from anywhere press the Leasey Key then Windows+D. to repeat, you do not need to be in File Explorer to do this.

You will be presented with a list of your mapped drive names. Use Down Arrow to find the one you wish to delete and press Enter.

You are asked if you are sure you wish to remove the mapped drive association? Press Enter, since the "Yes" Button is in focus. The association is then removed. Note that this does not in any way remove the original folder from your computer. All we are doing is removing the association between the drive letter previously assigned and the folder.

Mastodon Address Book.

Introduction.

Mastodon is a social network which has become popular in recent months. One of its attractions is that you can express yourself more fully, as some of the server providers allow you to send messages comprising thousands of characters. after all, if you have to condense a message into a small number of characters, this can lead to misunderstanding and frustration. But one problem can occur, and this relates to how to remember the different addresses of the people you would like to write to. Meet the Mastodon Address Book which can help.

How It Works.

If you want to mention someone on Mastodon, you use the at sign followed by the address. This is a little like an Email address in structure. So if you wanted to write to our company, you would type an at sign followed by hartgenconsult at tweesecake.social.

Now, that is a fairly simple address, but some of them can be far more complex than that. what you really want to do is to type a person's name, even in abbreviated form, so you can get on with writing the message.

This is what the mastodon address book allows you to do. You can use it in any text edit area, so in this context, that means a special client designed for the visually impaired to serve this purpose, a web site, etc.

To set up each entry, we need to get the address of the user on the clipboard. The procedure for how you do this will vary according to the environment in which you are working. For example, you might obtain it from the profile of the user. Certainly if you are using a Mastodon client such as Tweesecake or TWBlue, which are freely available, then it is easy enough to do. If you know the address already, you could type it out in a Notepad document.

When the address has been selected and copied to the Clipboard:

1. Press the Leasey Key then Control+K.
2. When prompted, type a name for the entry. The end result of this is that you are going to type this entry, so you want something which is quick and easy. The name is not going to be shared with anyone else. It is only important to you. So if you were typing to Laura Smith, you could type the abbreviation LS. Provided you know what those letters represent, that is acceptable. The word "Laura" could be used if you are sure you are only ever going to send a message to one person with that name.
3. Press Enter.

To reproduce an entry, within a Mastodon message composition field, type an At sign followed by the name you gave the Mastodon address in the previous steps, such as, @LS. Then, without typing a space, press the Leasey Key followed by the letter K. You will hear that the name has been inserted. If you then read the current line, you should hear the full address after the At sign.

There could be situations where you cannot remember the names or abbreviations you have stored. If that is so, press the Leasey Key followed by Control+Shift+K. A list of all your entries will appear.

From this point you have some choices:

1. You can examine the list with the Up or Down Arrow keys, just to remind yourself of those you have, and press Escape to close.
2. You can press Enter on one of these entries, and the full address is inserted into your current location.
3. You can focus on any entry and press the Leasey Key followed by Delete, so as to remove the entry.

The Leasey Start Menu.

Introduction.

The Leasey Start Menu serves two purposes. It allows you to access computing applications you may wish to frequently launch. But it also allows you to open common utilities in Windows it may be more difficult to get access to.
One could assume that such a feature is designed for computer beginners. However, we already know that experienced users of JAWS are benefiting from it.

How It Works.

In order to bring into view the Leasey Start Menu, you press the Leasey Key then Windows+S. Leasey ships with a number of links to tools and utilities you may want on the special Leasey start menu, although as can be seen later, you can remove these if you wish.

Once launched, it is simply a case of using first letter navigation or the Up and Down Arrow keys to move to the item you want, then press Enter. The associated program or utility will be launched.

As previously explained, we have provided a number of suggested items you may wish to use. This include links to word processors, web browsers and so on. Below all of these, you will find a collection of links to tools, such as to move into your Windows System Volume settings, the area of Windows where you can uninstall programs, the Task Manager, Shut Down the Computer, and more.

The items are not arranged in alphabetical order. This is by design. It could be that you would like to rearrange the order of the items, or remove those you know you are never going to need. As will be seen in the next section, you can do these things yourself and they will be displayed in the order of your choosing.

At the bottom of the Leasey Start Menu, you will find two special items: Configure the Leasey Start Menu and Restore Leasey Start Menu to the defaults.

Choosing the "Restore" option will do just that. It will reinstate all the shortcuts we provided you with originally. You will be asked first if you are sure you would like to restore to the defaults? If this is what you want, press Enter as the "Yes" Button is focused.

We will now turn our attention to the "Configure" option.

Configuring the Leasey Start Menu.

Pressing Enter on this item takes you into a simple text file, known as an INI file. This contains, in order, all the items the Leasey Start Menu gives to you. Configuring this file is not for the novice computer user, although some guidance appears below. If you corrupt the file in some way, you can always restore it back to the way it was by activating the last item on the Leasey Start Menu.

The structure of the file looks like this:

First you have the name given to the program or utility, then an equals sign, followed by the executable which launches it. Here are some examples:

File Explorer=Explorer.exe

notepad=Notepad.exe

In the case of Notepad, the file which launches this is called Notepad.exe. If you are familiar with the Windows "Run" Dialog Box, you will know you can type "Notepad.exe" into it, press Enter, and Notepad will launch. The procedure to configure this is exactly the same.

You can do a number of things here if you wish to add further items:

You can add a new entry to the file anywhere you like. For example, if you would like the Wordpad word processor in the menu, which we have not included, you can type:

Wordpad=Wordpad.ex

Then save the file with Control+S.

To be a little more adventurous, if you really wanted to, there is nothing stopping you adding the path to a document or other kind of file. For example, if you regularly wish to access a document called My Template.docx, and it is located in D Colon Backslash Documents, you can add an entry as follows:

My Template=d:\documents\My Template.docx

Adding an Application to the Leasey Start Menu Automatically.

A tool is built into Leasey which will attempt to add an entry to the Leasey Start Menu automatically. Each new entry is added to the very bottom of the file so it will be easy to find. You will want to check the newly added entry in a moment.

1. Open up the application you wish to add, such as Wordpad.
2. Press the Leasey Key followed by Windows+A for "Add".
3. The entry is automatically added.

Now, go back to the Leasey Start Menu with the Leasey Key then Windows+S, and take a look at the last application entry, just above the Configure and Restore to Default options. You should find the name of your application there.

It could well be that Leasey has misinterpreted the name. This particularly occurs with some Twitter clients or similar, which are prepared using a commonly used programming platform. If this is so, you will want to go to the option to configure the Leasey Start Menu, and edit the text associated with the application name, so it conforms to something which is more suitable.

When configuring the Leasey Start Menu configuration file, you can:

1. Remove any entry which does not appeal to you. Just delete the relevant line associated with the application.
2. Change the application name to something which is more memorable. For example, with the entry relating to Microsoft Outlook, you might choose to change the name from "Outlook" to "Email" instead. This would be especially helpful if you are assisting computer beginners.

Bookmarking Windows.

You can bookmark up to 10 application windows to return to at a later date. These are likely to be applications you wish to return to frequently. Good examples might be Microsoft Outlook, the Winamp audio player or your social media client.

To bookmark up to 10 windows, ideally focus upon the application you wish to return to and then press JAWS Key+Space then Windows +1 through to Windows+0.
When you do this, an Edit Field appears. The title of the application is placed in the Edit Field for verification purposes.
In the vast majority of cases however, the title is unsuitable. For example, if you do this within Microsoft Word, the text which is likely to be displayed in this Edit Field would be "Microsoft Word Document 1". It is extremely unlikely that you would want to return to Document 1 each time, so you will want to edit this to reflect a generic title for this application, such as "Microsoft Word". This term is always displayed no matter the document being worked upon.
Always try to find a word or phrase which will appear in the window title no matter the circumstances. Change the text as necessary and press Enter.
This application is now set to your preferred keyboard shortcut and will be available even if you restart JAWS or your computer.

To return to the previously bookmarked windows press JAWS Key+Space then ALT+1 through to ALT+0.
Assuming the application assigned to the slot is running then it will be focused.