New Build of Leasey 3.2 is On It's Way!

Hi to all

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

The Outlook 2016 Calendar.

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

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

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

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

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

The HTML Assistant.

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

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

There are many advantages of the HTML assistant:

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

What the HTML Assistant Can Do.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The text is inserted surrounded by the necessary HTML code.

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

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

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

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

End of Documentation Extract.

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

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

Other Enhancements.

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

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

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

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