FSCast #170

May, 2019

 

LARRY GASSMAN:  Welcome to FSCast 170 with John and Larry Gassman.  In this edition of the podcast we’ll hear from Eric Damery, who will tell us all about the exciting offerings from Vispero during the upcoming summer shows.  Eric will also tell us about the latest enhancements in JAWS 2019 in the April edition.  And Mark Arnold comes back to FSCast to talk about what’s going on with his organization, American Blind Golf.  All that in this edition of FSCast 170.

Well, hello, and welcome to a very busy FSCast for May, 2019.  As always, we want to tell you how you can contact the show with your comments or questions.  And some of you have been doing that.  Perhaps you have a JAWS Byte that you’d like to share, or perhaps you have a question.  Or maybe a comment about something that we’ve said.  You can do that by contacting the show.

JOHN GASSMAN:  If you’d like to email us, you can do that by emailing fscast@vispero.com.  Or you can call us on the listener line, and that’s area code (727) 803-8000 and then extension 1010.

LARRY:  Thank you for all the great comments we received on the CSUN wrap-up, in particular our chat with Jonathan Mosen, who at the time of that recording was working with Aira.  That has since changed.  He was approached to become the new CEO of a company called Workbridge, which is based in New Zealand, and they help people of all disabilities gain employment.  So I think that’s a terrific opportunity for Jonathan.  We wish him nothing but the best again.  And I’m sure that from time to time we’ll hear from him as a listener to FSCast.  And thank you again for all of your comments.  We appreciate them very much, and keep them coming.

Also, before we get into FSCast, kudos to the training department, another terrific training webinar.  By the way, if you have not yet gone up to the website, go up to FreedomScientific.com/training/webinars.  They’re all free.  Did you hear me?  They’re all free.  They weren’t before.  They are now.  And the last one they did was a terrific webinar on PowerPoint, which is a subject I’ve been meaning to get into and want to get into and use for the work I do, et cetera.  And so I’ll definitely be taking all of that information to heart.  They did that last time.

Coming up on the third Thursday will be Skill Building with regard to PowerPoint.  If you have comments or questions, that’s the time to get them answered.  And next June, next month in June, Excel will be the topic of conversation.  So make sure you’re aware of that.  It broadens your whole horizon of knowledge concerning JAWS, Fusion, and ZoomText.  And thanks again to the training department for what they’ve brought to these terrific webinars.  Make sure you are part of them.

 

Interview with Eric Damery

 

LARRY:  Well, once again, after, oh, I don’t know, seven or 8,000 appearances on FSCast, he’s back once again.  Eric Damery, welcome back to FSCast.

ERIC DAMERY:  Guys, it’s good to be back on here.

LARRY:  Well, Eric, I know the shows are coming up – NFB, ACB, Sight Village, et cetera, in the next couple of months or so.  Maybe we can talk a little bit about what Vispero will be doing during those shows.

ERIC:  Sure.  So we’ve got the national conventions for NFB and ACB.  This year they’re kind of overlapping each other.  Most years these things occur one behind the other, and we can get to, you know, several of us from the company can try and attend both shows.  But this year they’re right on top of each other.  They start after the Fourth of July, so I’m actually going to be home for the Fourth of July for a change this year.  The NFB Convention is in Las Vegas, and I’ll be traveling there on Saturday, I believe, is the 6th of July, and the Convention really gets started on the 7th.  ACB Convention, I believe our group will be heading up there on the 5th of July, and they kick off on the 6th.

And as happens each year at these events, we’re going to try and do presentations; and I’ll be doing my presentation on Sunday morning the 7th, starting at 8:30.  And Douglas Gerry will be at ACB doing pretty much the same presentation, maybe a little more condensed because I think I go for about three hours.  But you guys know me.  I just talk forever.  And Douglas will get all that information out in about an hour and a half.  And I’m not sure of the date and time yet on his.

If you are attending the ACB Convention, it’s going to be in Rochester, New York this year.  I don’t know that we’ve ever been in Rochester.  I was actually kind of looking forward to that visit.  But I’m not going to make it to that show.  But if you are going, look up that presentation and check in with Douglas Gerry.

We’ll be talking about all things software and hardware, all the new stuff, and answering questions.  These are great user group meetings, and we get lots of people that attend.  The NFB show we usually have well over a hundred people come to that one.  And the ACB Convention I know I did – I think last year we were in St. Louis, and we had about 50 people arrive at that one.  So it was a great turnout.

So after the presentations, of course, the shows happen.  And I always try and get to the U.K. for their Sight Village show, if I can.  This year Sight Village is also in the same week as the NFB Convention and the ACB Convention.  So I won’t be able to attend Sight Village, but I will be traveling from Las Vegas over to England after the NFB show, and I’ll be in Dublin on Monday following the NFB, and Glasgow on Tuesday.

And I’ll be there with the Sight and Sound group.  We’ve been doing these presentations each year for the past few.  One is at a location in Dublin that Sight and Sound has selected.  You’ll have to see their website if you’re there or going to be coming to Dublin.  Make sure you come by and see us at that event in Glasgow.  It’s at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, and they have a good turnout for that one.  And Sight and Sound does a really nice England version of the home use program.  So for all the people that attend that show, there’s always some great specials for them to get.  Make sure you come by and see us.

LARRY:  And of course everybody, when we talk about the shows, wants to know what special goodies are going to take place.  And of course this year we do have the special Home License that everybody in the United States can take advantage of.  How is that going to be distributed at the show?

ERIC:  Yeah, you know, we’ve been talking about these Home Annual Licenses.  And last year at the conventions we actually brought some users in to do a little bit of a consumer study to see how people reacted to it, how it worked for them.  And we appreciated that.  And the program, of course, released in October.  So this is our first summer convention with the Home Annual Licenses sold through the portal that people can manage their license and move keys on and off computers.  And this is where we’re going to kick it off with JAWS and ZoomText this year.

So for all of the consumers that attend in the United States at those national conventions, they’re going to be able to come by the booth, and we’re going to offer them, at the booth, 20 percent discount coupon codes that they can pick up.  And these codes will allow them to go on to the eStore, the Freedom Scientific eStore, and purchase a one-, three-, or five-year Home Annual License of JAWS or ZoomText or both, if they would like.  And they’ll be able to get 20 percent off on that purchase when they make it.  And they’ll have about 60 days to make the purchase after the trade show, or the code will expire.  So they’ll want to take advantage of that.

In the event they already have a license, and they just wish to renew their SMA that they’ve been doing each year or every two years, they’re welcome to come by and renew the SMA there at the booth also.  If you don’t have a JAWS license, or if you have an older version, we’re going to ask that you now move into the Home Annual License instead of the home use program.

We still have some products that aren’t in there yet, OpenBook and of course the hardware product.  So we will be offering substantial discounts on the software that we don’t have in Home  Annual yet, and 20 percent off I believe on all hardware products.  So people will want to check that out.

LARRY:  So again, there will be a 20 percent off on the software products for the Home Annual Licenses when people come to the booth; correct?

ERIC:  That’s right.  And they don’t have to make their purchase at the booth.  They can just come by, pick up the discount codes, it’ll be in Braille, and it’ll have the code right on the card.  And if they want some help, we can go online with them right there.  We’ll have somebody in the booth, and we can go online and help them make that purchase.  And it’s a great program.

Now, we’re going to do you one better.  We’re going to make a little more of a special offer for folks.  So when I do my Sunday morning session, and people come by that show, I think what we’re going to do is for the first 100 people that come to the NFB presentation that Sunday morning, we’re going to hand out 50 percent discount coupons for the Home Annual License.  So you can always come by the booth and get the 20 percent discount.  But if you’d like to get a 50 percent discount, come to that presentation.  Be one of the first 100 people in the room.  At ACB I think the room will hold about 50.  So I think we’ll have it for the first 50 people that attend.  Remember, these discount codes work for the one-year, three-year, or five‑year.  So an example here.  A five-year JAWS Annual License is $450 for home use.  And if you are going to get a 50 percent discount for attending that session, that’s $225 for keeping current on JAWS for the next five years.  That’s a great deal.

So I hope people will be able to come by and take advantage of that.  Again, if you’ve got a perpetual license, if you’ve got an SMA already, you can continue renewing your SMA.  Pick up the discount card anyway.  Take it back for your local chapters or for a friend.  You can certainly take it back and hand it over to somebody there and let them take advantage of that offer.

LARRY:  Good.  I know I gave the one that I received at CSUN to a friend of mine at work who has had his license lapse and was all – he’s using it at work, but he wanted to use it at home.  So now he can because of the Home Annual License.  So it’s a great, great license.  And I’m sure people in the United States are enjoying it; and of course people outside of the United States are hoping that they’ll be able to enjoy it sometime soon, as well.  So I’m assuming nothing new on that yet, but eventually.

ERIC:  Not yet, but we are working in that direction, and there will be some news about the APH deal that we’ve done.  And the APH licenses will be able to be purchased directly from APH.  And the students or schools or vision teachers will be able to make the purchases there at APH and get emails and be taken right onto the portal to get Student Annual Licenses for computers at school at a really great price.  So watch for more information on that.

Of course in the U.S. there’s also a fantastic program for college students.  If you’ve got a college email address, and your school has an up-to-date multiuser license of one of our products, well, your school is already now enrolled in a program that allows those college students with those email addresses to get a Home Annual License for free on their home computers.  And so visit portal.freedomscientific.com.  If you’ve got a college email address, you’ll want to go to that portal.freedomscientific.com and plug in your school email address and find out if you’re already signed up because of your school’s participation.

LARRY:  Thank you, Eric, for outlining some of the things that are going to go on during the summer shows.  And we’ll be back in a little while to talk about the newest updates for the April JAWS release.

 

Interview with Mark Arnold

 

LARRY:  Mark Arnold is the co-director of American Blind Golf and has been a contributor because he’s been talking to Jonathan Mosen in the past about American Blind Golf.  He’s been on FSCast about four times.  This is number five.  But it’s been a while.  It’s been 2014, 2014 since he was on last.  So first of all, we’re going to talk about a couple of events coming up very soon that you may want to be a part of.  But first, let’s say welcome to Mark Arnold to FSCast.

MARK ARNOLD:  Well, thanks for having me on.  I really appreciate the opportunity.

LARRY:  Talk for a little bit to those especially who are new, who don’t know you, about being able as a blind person to play golf.  What does it entail, and how well has it worked for you?

MARK:  Well, fortunately I did learn to play golf when I had much better sight.  I’m 62, and I have Stargardt’s, which is a kind of a juvenile form of macular degeneration.  So I was fortunate enough to learn to play golf.  My father was an avid golfer.  And through the years, as I lost my sight, I began to kind of play more with friends who sort of helped follow the ball.  And as sight continued to deteriorate, I stumbled upon blind golf actually around 2000.  And blind golf is played, we are able to play with the assistance of a coach.  And our logo, if you folks have taken a look at our website, you can see that there is a person kind of kneeling down behind the ball, lining up the club, lining up the individual playing golf.

So I was fortunate enough to play golf when I was better sighted.  And most of our members did learn to play when they had better sight, with the one exception of Phil Blackwell, who is our numerous time over reigning totally blind champion, who Phil never touched a club until after he lost his sight.  So he’s just – I call him a freak of nature, he does so well.  But coaches give us the information to the shot we’re beginning to hit.  So I’ll kind of just run through an example.  A coach may say, “Okay, we are 120 yards from the green.  There is a bunker that’s short.  We want to make sure we clear the bunker.”  There are techniques to line us up, to get us in position.

I participate as a B2 golfer.  And for listeners who are familiar with blind sports, there are three categories that individuals compete.  A B1 competitor can have no vision whatsoever other than some light perception.  And a B2 golfer can have a little bit better than light perception, up to around 20/600 here in the states.  And then a B3 golfer, their vision must be less than 2200 down to 2600.  So each different site category goes through a little bit different technique in setting us up into position.

But the coaches are then – my coach, for example, will take the head of the club, place it directly behind the ball.  From that standpoint I’m getting myself in position.  He then steps behind.  Once he sees that everything is in alignment, and he’s clear for me to swing, he just says, “Looks good.”  And from that point on it’s in my hands.  But up until that point it’s all in his hands.

LARRY:  So when did American Blind Golf actually start?

MARK:  American Blind Golf was actually founded as American Blind and Disabled Golf Association, back in the late ‘90s.  And my fellow co-director Bruce Hooper and I played blind golf with other organizations up until 2010.  And we reformed the American Blind and Disabled Golf Association and renamed it simply American Blind Golf.  And we sort of wanted to turn the focus of what our blind golf organization was all about.  And we wanted to accomplish two things.  We wanted to spread the word about blind golf, and we wanted to use our skills and use our tournaments as a means to support charities, and specifically blind charities.

And as a business model, it has worked extremely well for us.  Our tournament here that will be hosting the National Match Play Championships in a couple months, we support the Adaptive Technology Scholarship Fund, which Eric Damery and Vispero and Freedom Scientific have been extremely supportive of us and have helped us.  I think to this point we’ve gone over 60 students through the years that we’ve been able to assist, as well as we support wounded veterans.  And so every year the moneys we raise, we use our tournament as an impetus to raise funds for those charities.

And I certainly don’t want to speak for my fellow co-director Bruce Hooper, but I think what’s most important to us is we wanted to turn around some old stereotypes.  And what I mean by that is we didn’t want to have golf tournaments and say, “Hey, would you come help us out and give us some money so some vision impaired and blind guys can come in from around the country and play golf?”  We wanted to turn around and say, “We are having a national championship for our vision impaired and totally blind players.  And, oh, by the way, in the last 10 years we’ve raised $1.3 million in support of Adaptive Technology Scholarships, wounded veterans associations, and the San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind.”

And so in that respect, I don’t know if I’m coming across the way I want to.  We just didn’t want to say, oh, here, we’re these blind individuals that need some help and money from you.  We’re doing it for other people.  And it has been a tremendous business model for our organization.

LARRY:  The events you talked about are both in Ohio and San Antonio.  Tell us a little bit more about when they will occur.  And also I know that there are some little goodies that Vispero is going to be giving so that anybody who actually attends might find the license for JAWS in their hands.

MARK:  Sure.  Our National Match Play Championships of American Blind Golf will take place June 25th through the 28th here in Northeastern Ohio.  It’s in the Cleveland/Akron area.  And competitors will come in from all across the United States and Canada.  This year we do not have anyone from Europe, but in the past we’ve had competitors from Scotland that have come in and taken part in the tournament.  But they will come here and compete for their titles in their specific sight categories.

And at the end of the tournament we will have our charity scramble, which local sponsors and golfers will have an opportunity to either play 18 holes with one of the blind or vision impaired golfers or one of the honored Wounded Warriors that we will have in town.  And in the past Eric Damery, when I met him back in 2007 outside Philadelphia, I know Eric played in the scramble that year.  He’s hoping to come to our second event, which is our National Stroke Play Championship.  That will be in San Antonio, Texas.  I believe it’s always over the weekend of Columbus Day.  I think it’s October 14th.  I’d have to check my records.

But the same situation would take place there.  Players from across the U.S. and Canada and hopefully from Scotland again may come down and play.  And then they have a charity scramble at the end of their tournament.  And those are events that raise a tremendous amount of money for our charities.  And as I’m rambling on, you made mention of some of the certificates that Eric has been so gracious and generous to donate to us.  I’m sure we will utilize those with a couple of our players at some of our meetings during the week, and possibly some of the visitors that may come and watch us play.

It’s certainly not like a tour event.  We don’t have hundreds and hundreds of people that watch us participate.  But there are people that come out to the course, and they’re very curious on how we play the game.  But primarily we will utilize the certificates to continue our Student Adaptive Technology Scholarship, which is the dearest to my heart.  I was an educator for 35 years.  And on the occasions when I worked with students who had visual disabilities, you know, the schools may provide some software and some hardware for them to utilize at school.  But they’d go home, and they didn’t have access to it.  And that’s sort of a hole that we try to plug here with the charitable moneys that we raise.

LARRY:  You made an interesting comment in the introductory email that Eric sent us about you.  And you said at the bottom of that email that Freedom Scientific at the time helped prolong your career.  Tell us about that a little bit; would you?

MARK:  Absolutely.  On a little bit of a personal note, Freedom Scientific and JAWS and the adaptive technology truly saved my career back in 1999.  And in those days many coordinators within the school districts had access to clerical services and secretarial services.  And the advent of the computer came around, and the very short story is I was told, you know, “You’re going to need to do all of your own work from now on.  And so you’re going to have to learn how to use a computer.”

And the assistive technology trainer that I worked with, I remember the first day I met him.  I said, “I don’t even know where to put gas in these things.  I know nothing about computers.”  And the long and the short of it was, because of JAWS at that time, because of the MAGic software, I just fell in love and became just nuts about technology.  And I’m an avid JAWS user.  I don’t use MAGic very much anymore because I don’t have as much residual vision as I used to.  But I use all the websites.  I design all the websites.  I handle all the correspondence for the organization.  And I’m just an avid user of JAWS.

And when I spoke a little bit about our student Adaptive Technology Scholarships that we give, that’s just really dear to my heart.  It truly, truly enabled me to complete my 35-year career.  So I owe Eric and all the folks just a huge debt.

LARRY:  One more time, let’s talk about if people want to know more about the organization or about just learning how to play golf, how can they do that?  Where can we send them?

MARK:  Okay.  A couple of things folks can do if they are interested in picking up the game of golf and learning how to play.  And I’ll say right up front, as crazy as it sounds to sighted people, and maybe how crazy it sounds to individuals who are dealing with sight loss to learn to play golf, it is actually a very adaptable game.  And when I say “adaptable,” I don’t mean, you know, there’s tricked-up rules and tricked-up techniques and things.  There are not.  But the golf swing, although maybe complicated, is very simple.  And if you take the golf club back, you’ve got to bring it back to where you started from.  It will return to there, and you can hit the golf ball.  So it is a game that folks that are dealing with sight loss can play.

The main thing that individuals need is a coach.  It can be a spouse.  It can be a buddy.  It can be a relative.  And they don’t even necessarily have to be a golfer.  But they would need to work with you with a teaching professional or a golf teacher that can teach the basics of the game.  Our two main websites, if folks would like to visit, very simple.  The main website is AmericanBlindGolf.com.  And our tournament website here in Ohio is another pretty basic name, is OhioBlindGolf.

LARRY:  Mark, thanks so much for being with us.  Thanks for telling us about American Blind Golf.  It’s obviously a passion with you.  And we hope perhaps that some will come to the events and some will even take up the game of golf.  And thank you so much for being on FSCast.

MARK:  Well, thank you for giving me the opportunity.  And I hope maybe we get some interest.  And please pass along again to Eric what he’s meant to me and certainly what he’s meant to the organization.

LARRY:  I certainly will, and thanks for being with us.

 

April JAWS Update

 

LARRY:  Eric Damery is back with us again, and recently of course we just had our April JAWS Update.  A lot of new things being added in this latest update.  Eric, first of all, let’s talk a little bit about Google Chrome.

ERIC:  Right.  So Google Chrome, and we talked about this in the March Update, that it was going to be able to, like in IE, select text on Google Chrome with the keyboard, copy it to the clipboard, and paste it somewhere, and get the markup.  So you would get all the fonts.  You’ll get live links.  You’ll get live tables.  And you can paste those things right into an email message.  So it was in the March Update.  And of course that’s working now in JAWS releases.

And I know that the new Chrome build is finally released.  So if you have Chrome on your computer, go to your About box.  You should be at Build 74.  And if you’re not, it should update to 74 automatically for you.  Then if you, using the JAWS 2019 latest updates, select anything in Chrome and copy it to the clipboard, you’ll find that you get markup with it.  So that’s a great advantage in that we’ve had that in IE for some time, and I’ve really missed it as I’ve gone over to Chrome because getting all of that markup stripped out when you copy and paste – and I grab a lot of things off the Internet, take it with me – I’ve really missed that, that I had in IE, with the Chrome.  So it’s good.

And I should also mention that there’s a brand new version of Microsoft Edge being worked on.  And there’s an engineering version, a developer’s version, that is now available for consumers if they’d like to install it.  And this new version of Edge is based on Chromium.  So it feels very much like the Chrome browser.  And it is using currently Iaccessible2, which is the accessibility API we use to get access to this information.  And it’s very fast, and it works really well right out of the box.

So if you are interested in taking a look at that new version of Edge that’s going to be replacing the old one, you can google that, look for “new Microsoft Edge on Chromium,” and I’m sure you’ll find a link to be able to download and install it.  It will not interfere with your existing Edge.  It won’t interfere with the Chrome that’s on your computer, if you have that installed also.  So you can have one more browser on your computer and give it a try.

LARRY:  I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but I’m looking forward to doing that relatively soon.  So we’ll talk more about it later on, of course, but it’s coming.  And I think it’s really going to be another nice choice with regard to browsers.

ERIC:  It will.  So we’ve also got another big change that has come in the last update here of JAWS for Windows 2019 and Fusion, with support for something called MathType.  This is technology developed by a company named Design Science, and it has since – Design Science was acquired by Wiris, W I R I S, dot com, Wiris.com.  And MathType is a solution that can be installed on your computer and allows you to have math equations in Microsoft Word that JAWS and Fusion can now navigate and read those equations.

So people have been waiting for this to be able to read math in Word for a long time.  And this is the answer.  You do have to purchase MathType.  But schools will tend to have that available to them, teachers creating assignments or tests in a Word document with math problems that have been done in MathType.  JAWS users will be able to read those now.  Whether you have the Home Annual License, the Student License, or a Professional License, you’ll be able to navigate through those.

Once you get into an equation, the keystroke to be able to drill into it and navigate it, read it in detail is INSERT+SPACEBAR, the layered command, followed by the EQUALS key.  And that pops the equation right into the Math Viewer.  Just like we did with MathML on the web, you can move onto a math equation and press ENTER on it, and it would pop you up into the Math Viewer.  So in Word, instead of ENTER, you’ll use INSERT+SPACEBAR and the EQUALS sign.  So there’ll be more information on a document on our web page you can get to from – directly out of the What’s New in JAWS 2019.  So if you want to learn more about it, look at that.

LARRY:  And moving along to another application that has made a few changes, there are some new things to talk about in Skype.

ERIC:  Yeah.  So Skype has changed, as most of us that use it on a regular basis know.  It’s changed over the years.  And seems like it’s been going backwards.  It used to have great keyboard accessibility and was much easier to use.  And it’s become a little more difficult.

Well, we’ve made some steps in the right direction, I think, to help make that easier.  You do need to use the desktop version of Skype.  So if you download it, make sure you get the Skype for Windows desktop version, and install that on your computer.  And at the time of this recording, the current release I believe is 8.42.

So if you have that 8.42 and the latest JAWS installed on your computer, the big change we made was the ability to answer or hang up a Skype call without being in the Skype window, using a keystroke.  So if you’ve got Skype running on your computer, and you’re happily working along in Outlook or Word or Excel, and someone calls you on Skype, you don’t have to fumble to find the application and then try and find out how to answer it.  You can just press the keystroke INSERT+SPACEBAR+Y.  Y will be the layered level for Skype.  So INSERT+SPACEBAR+Y, and then press the UP ARROW, and it’ll answer the call automatically.  And when you’re done, if you’re in some other application, and you finish talking, and you want to hang up, it’ll be INSERT+SPACEBAR+Y+DOWN ARROW.  So it’s a great addition.  And for those of us who use Skype a lot, this has been a nice, welcome change.

LARRY:  That’s a very welcome change.  I do miss that answer, that automatic answer which we used to have back in Skype 7, I think it was.  It was a Skype keystroke.  So nice to have a new one back again that we will definitely make use of in answering and hanging up on Skype calls.

We have one more thing to talk about, brand new to the April Update.  We’ve had headings for quite a while, but this is a new addition to navigating by headings.  Eric?

ERIC:  Yes.  So while on web pages, no matter what browser you’re in, you’ve been able to move by headings in this virtual environment by pressing the letter H.  You can move from heading to heading to heading and skip through it.  But we’ve also always had the opportunity to move by particular heading level.  So headings can present themselves on a web page as Heading Level 1, 2, 3, all the way up to 6.  And they usually use these to break them up by category, so generally you’ll have one Heading Level 1 at the top, and then under that there’ll be multiple Heading Level 2s.  And inside those Heading Level 2s you might find some Heading Level 3s or 4s.  And we make those navigational quick keys of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 to be able to move to and find the next heading level at that number and move you to it and read it.

But if it goes out of a section, so let’s say you have Heading Level 2, and then there’s three Heading Level 3s, and then there’s another Heading Level 2 after that.  If you press the number 3, you’d land on that first one, the second one, the third one.  And then when you press 3 again, it’ll just say no more Heading Level 3s at this section.  That’s what we’ve always done.  And so in the new release we give you the ability to, if you hit the number 3, and you move to another Level 3 that’s in a different section, it’ll actually move you there.  It’ll then read the ancestor for that Level 3.  So it’ll tell you the new Heading 2 that you’re in, followed by the Heading Level 3 that you just landed on.

So it’s a nice change.  You can find this thing in the Settings Center by searching for the word “heading.”  You’ll find that option, and you can change it back to the way it used to be if you preferred that.  But I think most people who have been asking for this will really like it.  And hopefully you guys can give a little demonstration of this when we finish up here.

LARRY:  We definitely will.

ERIC:  Okay.  Well, I think there’s a lot of other things.  I hope people are taking advantage of reading through the What’s New.  We put an enhancement section in those documents.  You can get it to it right on the Freedom Scientific home page under Software Updates.  You’ll find the link for the JAWS What’s New, the ZoomText, and the Fusion.  And you can read through the enhancements and all the things that have been added.  And I think that’s about it for me this time.  And I’ll look forward to seeing everyone at the shows this summer, I guess.

LARRY:  Very good.  And we will look forward to having you back again on a future FSCast, probably with the next JAWS release.

ERIC:  Very good.  Thanks, guys.

JOHN:  Thank you, Eric.

 

JAWS Demo:  Headings

 

LARRY:  We’re going to go ahead and demo the new headings feature in just a moment.  But first I want to remind you that, if you go back to 2018 or earlier, when the heading feature was available, you could take a look at levels, say a Level 3, Level 3, Level 3, but you would never know if a Level 2 was coming up.  It would just keep going at Level 3 until JAWS said no more Level 3s in this section.  So you really never knew what you were missing if you were going by the number row.

Now, if another level comes up in that section, say a Level 3, and then there’s a Level 2 and then back to a Level 3, you’ll know because of the new behavior of the brand new enhanced settings for moving by heading.  And if you don’t like that, if you want to go back to the earlier one, you certainly can.  Just go into Settings Center.  In the Edit box you would go ahead and type Headings, press ENTER, and DOWN ARROW till you found the default, which is by level.  And if you were to hit the SPACEBAR there, that would cycle you through your choices.  So you’d have the original choice that we used to have with prior versions of JAWS.  Hitting the SPACEBAR again will take you to the current default.

You also have in there the ability to play a sound when a new heading level comes up, or listen to a different voice tell you that information.  And of course if you tab one time, you’ll get the Help message on there.  Here’s what the Help message says, and then we’ll go and demonstrate the headings on a web page.  Okay, I’m going to do a Say All here, so it’ll just read the entire Help message.

JAWS VOICE:  Use the radio buttons in this group to specify if headings are not announced, announced as headings only, announced with the heading level indicated, announced using the WAV file sounds instead of speech, or announced using the Headings voice.  By default, headings are announced with the level indicated.  When used properly, headings indicate the relationship of each section of the page to the page as a whole.

LARRY:  I’m now sitting on the BARD page, which is of course Braille Audio Reading Download.  We’ll use the current April version of JAWS 2019.  I’m at the top of the page.  We’ll hit Level 1.

JAWS VOICE:  BARD main page Heading Level 1.

LARRY:  And I know that to demonstrate the demo, there are several great examples at Level 3.  So I’m going to start pressing the 3 on the numbers row.

JAWS VOICE:  Recently added books and magazines, Heading Level 3 link visited.  Most popular books, Heading Level 3 link.  Find books, Heading Level 2.  Search the collection, Heading Level 3.

LARRY:  So you notice there it said...

JAWS VOICE:  Find books, Heading Level 2.  Search the collection, Heading Level 3.

LARRY:  So it literally put those two together, and you saw them one after the other.  Let’s continue with Level 3s.

JAWS VOICE:  Browse by author’s last name, Heading Level 3.  Browse by book title, Heading Level 3.  Browse by subject, Heading Level 3.  Link foreign language collection, Heading Level 3.

LARRY:  There’s one more coming up here.

JAWS VOICE:  Find music books and stores, Heading Level 2.  Music collection, Heading Level 3 link.

LARRY:  Great.  And JAWS 2018 didn’t have that capability.  So this is a terrific new feature.  I mean, for years I used H and Shift H to go back and forth, and I think that’s what a lot of us did.  But this is just another good way of doing it.  So experiment with it.  Take a look at it, and I think you’ll really enjoy it.

 

Join Us for FSCast 171

 

JOHN:  Well, that brings us to the close of another FSCast.  Hope you’ve enjoyed it and that you’ll join us in June when we return.  And we expect to have more news about the ElBraille and about the APH Vispero partnership of things that are going on throughout the summer months.  If you’d like to contact us, again, you can do so by emailing us.  And that email address is fscast@vispero.com.  Or you can leave a message on the listener line, and to do that call (727) 803-8000.  Until June, John speaking for Larry, thanking you very much again for listening to another edition of FSCast.

Transcript by elaine@edigitaltranscription.com

 

 

 

edigitaltranscription.com  •  05/13/2019  •  edigitaltranscription.mobi