Table Of Contents SECTION ONE Introducing Window-Eyes 1.1: Welcome to Window-Eyes! 1.2: System Requirements 1.3: Window-Eyes Features 1.4: Package Contents 1.5: Getting Technical Support 1.6: How to Use this User’s Guide 1.7: Protecting Your Investment SECTION TWO Installing Window-Eyes 2.1: A Bit About Synthesizers 2.2: Quick Install 2.3: Custom Install 2.4: Window-Eyes and the Start Menu 2.5 General Installation Tips 2.6: Windows 95 Install Tips 2.7: Windows 98 Install Tips 2.8: Windows ME Install Tips 2.9: Windows 2000 Install Tips 2.10: Windows XP/2003 Install Tips 2.11: Advanced Install Options 2.12: Uninstalling Window-Eyes SECTION THREE Speaking of Windows 3.1: Where MS Windows and Window-Eyes Meet 3.2: What it Looks Like 3.3: How It Works 3.4: The Windows Desktop 3.5: The Dialog Box, the Property Sheet, and the Message Box 3.6: The Windows Display Screen 3.7: Some MS Windows Keyboard Commands 3.8: Understanding Windows XP/2003 SECTION FOUR An Overview of Window-Eyes 4.1: Just What is Window-Eyes? 4.2: Window-Eyes User Windows 4.3: The Window-Eyes Voice Control Panel 4.4: Colors, Video Attributes, and Highlight Tracking SECTION FIVE Globally Speaking 5.1: The Basics 5.2: How it Works 5.3: Global Versus Local Settings 5.4: Screen, Keyboard, and Mouse Voice 5.5: Verbosity Settings 5.6: The Rest of the Global Menu SECTION SIX Setting up the Voices 6.1: The Basics 6.2: How it Works 6.3: Turning the Screen, Keyboard, and Mouse Voices on and off 6.4: Setting Rate, Pitch, Tone, and Volume 6.5: Determining How Window-Eyes Reads Punctuation 6.6: The Rest of the Screen Menu 6.7: The Rest of the Keyboard Menu 6.8: The Rest of the Mouse Voice SECTION SEVEN Saving and Retrieving Speech Environments 7.1: The Basics 7.2: How it Works 7.3: Saving Set Files 7.4: Opening Set Files Manually 7.5: Supporting Associations 7.6: Keeping Track of Window-Eyes Active Files 7.7: Closing Associations 7.8: Converting Your Set Files to Text and Back 7.9: Changing Synthesizers 7.10: Changing Braille Displays 7.11: Window-Eyes and Multiple Users 7.12: Startup Type 7.13: Editing Dictionaries 7.14: Loading and Reloading Factory SET files 7.15: Exiting Window-Eyes SECTION EIGHT Introducing Window-Eyes Hot Keys 8.1: The Basics 8.2: How it Works 8.3: Reading Characters, Words, Lines, Sentences, and Paragraphs 8.4: Autodetect Caret 8.5: Reading from the Perspective of the Mouse Pointer 8.6: Assigning Your Own Hot Keys 8.7: Handling Duplicate Hot Key Definitions 8.8: Which Keys Work 8.9: Reading Parts of a Window 8.10: Identifying the Mouse Pointer 8.11: The Redraw Hot Key 8.12: The Bypass Hot Key 8.13: Reading User and Hyperactive Windows 8.14: Reading Text Up To and After the Caret 8.15: Reading a Full Document Nonstop 8.16: Reading Nonstandard Controls 8.17: Reading The System Tray 8.18: Time and Date 8.19: Field Name and Data 8.20: Speaking the Application Status Line 8.21: Adjusting Voice Parameters on the Fly 8.22: Speaking Progress Bars and Scroll Bars SECTION NINE Reading with Cursoring Keys 9.1: The Basics 9.2: How it Works 9.3: Practical Applications 9.4: The Cursoring Key Definitions 9.5: Cursor Delay 9.6: A Cursoring Key Bonus 9.7: Cursoring Keys in Standard Controls SECTION TEN Reading the Screen with the Mouse 10.1: The Basics 10.2: Moving the Mouse Pointer by Textual Units 10.3: The Mouse Directional Movement Keys 10.4: Moving by Windows Logical Units 10.5: Routing the Pointer and the Caret 10.6: Restricting Pointer Movement 10.7: Finding Things on the Screen 10.8: Using the Physical Mouse 10.9: The WE Cursor or the Mouse SECTION ELEVEN Performing Mouse Functions with Window-Eyes Hot Keys 11.1: The Basics 11.2: Single and Double Click Hot Keys 11.3: Moving the Mouse by Windows Controls 11.4: Mouse Toggle Hot Keys 11.5: Mouse Drag and Drop 11.6: Route Mouse to Window SECTION TWELVE Setting Up and Using the User Windows 12.1: The Basics 12.2: How it Works 12.3: Selecting and Adjusting the Current user window 12.4: Using the Mouse Pointer to Set Window Coordinates 12.5: The Offset 12.6: Window Logic 12.7: Confining your Reading to the User Window 12.8: The Status of the User Window 12.9: Getting User Window Status Reports 12.10: Reading User Windows 12.11: Show User Window Outline SECTION THIRTEEN Video attributes and Highlights 13.1: The Basics 13.2: How it Works 13.3: Detecting New Video Attributes 13.4: Highlight Tracking 13.5: The Window Definition Menu 13.6: Caret and Mouse ANSI/Attribute SECTION FOURTEEN Hyperactive Windows 14.1: The Basics 14.2: How it Works 14.3: The Hyperactive Window Definition Dialog Box 14.4: Window and Command Precedence 14.5: Turning Hyperactive Windows On and Off 14.6: Troubleshooting Hyperactive Windows SECTION FIFTEEN Float Windows 15.1: The Basics 15.2: How it Works 15.3: The Float Window Setup Screen 15.4: Setting the Position 15.5: Automatic Adjustment of Float Windows 15.6: Some Practical Examples SECTION SIXTEEN Pronunciation Dictionaries and More About the File menu 16.1: The Basics 16.2: How it Works 16.3: The Word-Exception Dictionary 16.4: The Key Label Dictionary 16.5: The Character Dictionary 16.6: The Graphic Dictionary 16.7: Mouse Pointer Descriptions 16.8: Clearing the Currently Loaded Dictionary 16.9: The Bubble Up Effect SECTION SEVENTEEN The General Menu 17.1: The Basics 17.2: How it Works 17.3: Turning the Voice, Hot Keys, and Cursoring Keys Off and On 17.4: Setting the Highlight Track Status 17.5: Tracking the Contents of Cells in a Spreadsheet 17.6: Include User Window with Box 17.7: Highlighted Text 17.8: Turning Pronunciation Dictionaries On and Off 17.9: Allow Speak Windows In Edit Boxes 17.10: Cursor Delay 17.11: Trigger Delay 17.12: Space Threshold 17.13: The Case of the Corrupted Screen 17.14: Auto Speak Tooltips and Flashing Applications 17.15: MSAA Application Mode 17.16: Re-Initializing the Synthesizer SECTION EIGHTEEN The Braille Menu 18.1: Scrolling Options 18.2: Control Information 18.3: Dot Patterns 18.4: Translation Tables 18.5: Hot Keys 18.6: Options 18.7: Graphics 18.8: Braille Window APPENDIX A A.1: Hot Keys – Quick Reference Guide A.2: Hot Key Definitions A.3: Default Keyboard Layout A.4: Laptop Keyboard Layout A.5: Vocal-Eyes Keyboard Layout APPENDIX B B.1: The Voice Control Panel B.2: File B.3: Screen B.4: Keyboard B.5: Mouse B.6: Hot Keys B.7: Cursoring B.8: Verbosity B.9: Braille B.10: Verbosity B.11: Global B.12: Help APPENDIX C C.1: Speech Synthesizers C.2: Accent PC / Mini / Messenger / SA / Artic Transport C.3: Apollo I and II Internal and Apollo I and II External C.4: Artic and Votalker C.5: ASP C.6: Audapter C.7: Blazie Synthesizers including Braille 'N Speak and Type 'N Speak C.8: BrailleMate C.9: DECtalk Access32 (Window-Eyes) C.10: DECtalk Access32 C.11: DECtalk Express C.12: DECtalk Original C.13: DECtalk PC C.14: DoubleTalk PC C.15: Echo PC and Echo GP C.16: Echo PC (New Model) C.17: Keynote Gold MultiMedia C.18: Keynote Gold PC C.19: Keynote Gold SA C.20: LiteTalk and DoubleTalk LT C.21: MultiVoice and PCKPR C.22: Personal Speech System Version A & B C.23: Portable DECtalk C.24: Prose-4000 C.25: Reading Edge C.26: SmarTalk C.27: SMP C.28: Sounding Board C.29: Speak-Out C.30: Speech Application Program Interface (SAPI) C.31: Speech Synthesizer Interface Library (SSIL) C.32: TextAssist C.33: Triple Talk PCI/USB C.34: VoiceCard C.35: Virtual (Citrix MetaFrame) C.36: Virtual (Microsoft RDP) APPENDIX D D.1: Braille Displays D.2: ALVA D.3: Braille Lite D.4: HumanWare D.5: Papenmeier Braillex D.6: BAUM DM80 D.7: Focus D.8: HandyTech D.9: Navigator D.10: PowerBraille D.11: Vario RBT40 (Rabbit) and Vario 80 D.12: Handialog APPENDIX E E.1: Working with the Internet E.2: What is MSAA? E.3: Access Keys E.4: Acronyms/Abbreviations E.5: Flash E.6: Forms E.7: Headings E.8: Languages E.9: Links E.10: Lists E.11: Longdesc E.12: Objects E.13: Paragraphs E.14: Quotes/Blockquotes E.15: Tables E.16: More Navigation Options E.17: More Verbosity Options E.18: Web Developers APPENDIX F F.1: Application Specific F.2: Adobe Acrobat F.3: Citrix MetaFrame XP F.4: Microsoft Terminal Services and Windows XP Professional Remote Desktop APPENDIX G G.1: Miscellaneous G.2: Using a DOS Screen Reader G.3: Reading Command Prompts in Windows 2000/XP/2003 G.4: SET2TEXT and TEXT2SET Utilities APPENDIX H H.1: Window-Eyes Troubleshooting Window-Eyes 4.5 Manual GW Micro, Inc. 725 Airport North Office Park Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Phone: 260-489-3671 FAX: 260-489-2608 WWW: FTP: E-MAIL: Window-Eyes Warranty Notice The purchase of this or any other GW Micro, Inc. software product does not constitute ownership of the software but only a license to use it. You may not sell or give away this or any other GW Micro, Inc. software product without prior written permission from GW Micro, Inc. Copy Protection The Window-Eyes program disk is not copy-protected in the United States and certain other countries. This doesn't mean you can make unlimited copies of it. Window-Eyes is protected by the copyright laws that pertain to computer software. It's illegal to make copies, other than a personal backup copy, of the program without written permission from GW Micro, Inc. In particular, it is illegal to give a copy to another person. Although Window-Eyes is not copy-protected, a unique serial number has been assigned to your copy and has been registered to you. The serial number can be obtained through the "About Window-Eyes" option from the "Help" menu. Your registration card also contains this serial number and is required to be returned to GW Micro, Inc. if you should ever require a future upgrade or support. Limited Warranty GW Micro, Inc. warrants that the original disks are free from defects in material and workmanship, assuming normal use, for a period of 30 days from date of purchase. If a defect occurs during this period, you may return your faulty CD-ROM to GW Micro, Inc., along with a dated proof of purchase, where it will be replaced free of charge. Notice Every effort has been made to make the following manual complete and easily understandable. We hope there are no errors of either fact or interpretation within. Any questions, corrections, comments or suggestions are naturally most welcome. Direct all correspondence to the Technical Publications Division of GW Micro, Inc. GW Micro, Inc. reserves the right to make improvements or changes in this manual and/or the product that it describes at any time without notice. This manual is copyrighted. All rights are reserved. This document may not, in whole or in part, be copied, photo-copied, reproduced, translated or be reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form without prior consent in writing from GW Micro, Inc. Copyright © 1995-2003 by GW Micro, Inc. SECTION ONE Introducing Window-Eyes This Section of the Window-Eyes manual provides you with the nuts and bolts of the Window-Eyes packaging. You will also learn how to contact our technical support department, as well as how to set up Windows to work the best with Window-Eyes. 1.1: Welcome to Window-Eyes Congratulations on your purchase of Window-Eyes, a screen reading program which allows access to Microsoft Windows and compatible applications through synthesized speech output and refreshable Braille displays. Window-Eyes is designed for computer users at all levels - novice to advanced. GW Micro has listened to screen-reader users and incorporated many of their suggestions into Window-Eyes. The result? A wide variety of speech features and the flexibility needed for running many of today's most advanced Windows applications. GW Micro has strived to find the ideal combination of flexibility and automaticity. That's just a fancy way of saying that we want you, our customer, to have a screen reader that is adaptable to your specific needs and likes, and yet work automatically enough for you to focus attention on your application program, not so much on operating the screen reader. After all, the purpose for having a screen reader in the first place is to gain access to computers, not to use computers to operate the screen reader. 1.2: System Requirements In order to install and run Window-Eyes successfully, you need to have at least the following: Window-Eyes Standard: * IBM Compatible (Intel Pentium/Celeron, AMD K6/Athlon/Duron) with a clock speed of 300 MHz or greater (200 MHz minimum) * 128 MB RAM or higher (64 MB RAM or less may cause system performance degradation) * Windows 9X, or Windows Millennium (Me) * 20 MB available hard-disk space * CD-ROM drive Window-Eyes Professional: * IBM Compatible (Intel Pentium/Celeron, AMD K6/Athlon/Duron) with a clock speed of 400 MHz or greater (300 MHz minimum) * 128 MB RAM or higher (64 MB RAM or less may cause system performance degradation) * Windows 9X, Windows Millennium (Me), Windows 2000, Windows XP Home, Windows XP Professional, or Windows 2003 (and greater) * 20 MB available hard-disk space * CD-ROM drive Additional Recommendations: * For software speech, a multi-channel sound card, such as the Sound Blaster Audigy or Sound Blaster Live, is strongly recommended (Note that increased RAM will assist in the performance of software speech). * Allow 10 MB hard-drive space for each additional Eloquence language installed * Allow 35 MB hard-drive space for each additional ScanSoft RealSpeak language installed * For Internet browsing, Internet Explorer 6 or greater (Internet Explorer 5.5 SP 2 for Windows 95 only) is strongly recommended * Requirements may vary depending on your system configuration and applications installed. 1.3: Window-Eyes Features Here is a summary list of Window-Eyes features: General: * Compatible with Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, and 2003 * Support for multiple users either on a stand alone machine, or across a network * Support for remote access with Citrix MetaFrame, Microsoft Terminal Services, and Windows XP Professional Remote Desktop * Support for over 50 speech synthesizers and 40 Braille displays. * Adobe Acrobat PDF support, including access to bookmarks and secure PDF documents * Breakthrough support for Macromedia Flash * Full command prompt support for Windows 2000, XP, and 2003 * Fast, reliable, accurate, W3C compliant Internet access with Internet Explorer 6 * Error Reporting feature to help developers increase "Rock Solid" performance and responsiveness * No need to learn or use complicated scripting * Label controls, reclassify controls, and obtain control information on the fly * Ability to read last known tool tip and last flashing application (for knowing when an application has changed in the background) * Extremely easy to configure to personal taste * Full support for Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA) * Support for all video systems * Easy access to Windows system tray * Exception dictionaries for altering the way words, graphics, key-labels, characters, and mouse pointers are pronounced * A Read to End feature for reading nonstop from the beginning to the end of a document * A WE cursor for reviewing the screen without disturbing the windows cursor or mouse pointer * Standard look, feel, and intuitive operations of the Windows environment * Flexible verbosity settings for hearing exactly what you want to hear * Over 170 factory hot keys at your disposal for reading desired information * 46 cursoring keys which allow speech to be added to normal application keystrokes * 50 user windows for reading/monitoring specified areas * 26 hyperactive windows for monitoring specified areas * Easy-to-use Window-Eyes manual presented in a tutorial format * Access to voice rate changes on the fly * Access to end task dialog (CTRL-ALT-DEL) with hardware synthesizers in Windows 9X/ME * Access to task manager in Windows 2000, XP, and 2003 * Eloquence, Microsoft Speech, DECTalk Access 32, and ScanSoft RealSpeak text-to-speech engines included free of charge * Easy to use talking install * Automatic labeling of graphics * Extensive information for standard Windows controls such as tree views and list views * No need to re-install to add a synthesizer or Braille display Mouse: * Full keyboard access for moving the mouse pointer without having to use a physical mouse * Automatically reads mouse pointers as they change * Automatically reads information under the mouse as it is moved * Extensive search capabilities * Mouse pointer dictionary Voice Configuration: * Set up the speech rate, pitch, tone, volume and punctuation independently for screen, keyboard, and mouse * Capitalization alert for proofing capitalization errors * Format alert for proofing spacing errors * Numbers can be spoken as digits or full numbers * Keyboard can be used to speak characters or words, or disabled for silent typing * Allows speech to be silenced with the press of a key Braille Displays: * All major displays are supported * Pre-defined Braille display keys for optimal performance * Display key presses can easily be configured through a user friendly dialog * Several factory Braille tables for 6 and 8 dot Braille * Two user definable Braille tables for maximum flexibility * Full support for all attributes * Visual Braille window for visually displaying the information represented on the Braille display * Switch to any Braille display at any time * Full control over how and what information is presented on the display * Enhanced spacing modes for exact representation of screen information 1.4: Package Contents Please take a moment to inventory the contents of the Window-Eyes package. It should include: * One CD containing all the Window-Eyes components including an electronic version of this manual in ASCII text, MP3, and PDF formats, as well as a Windows Help version located in the Window-Eyes "Help" menu. The Window-Eyes tutorial will also be included in MP3 format. * Window-Eyes tutorial on audio cassette. * Print Installation Guide * Braille Installation Guide and Hot key Quick Reference Guide * A user registration card, containing the personal registration number assigned to you by GW Micro. Please take time now to complete and return this pre-addressed postage-paid card. Having a registration card on file at GW Micro is your only way of being assured technical support from factory staff, should you ever need our help. In addition, we will use your registration information to keep you informed about upgrades and new products. If you are unable to fill out the registration card, you may register online by visiting http://www.gwmicro.com/upgrade, and entering your serial number in the appropriate place. If your record is not found, you will be prompted to enter your registration information. Upon receiving your registration information, our sales department will update our records just as if they had received your registration card. You may also access this feature through the Window-Eyes Help menu, and selecting the upgrade option. Thank you for taking the time to register your purchase. Also, please notify us if you change your address. Note that copies of the Window-Eyes manual in print, Braille, or on tape can be purchased for an additional price. 1.5: Getting Technical Support Free and unlimited technical support on the current production version from factory-trained professionals is available over the telephone on non-holiday weekdays 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time. Call 260-489-3671. Our e-mail address is support@gwmicro.com. You also have the option of subscribing to the GW-INFO list via email. This list is for all GW Micro related questions. If you own a GW Micro product or are considering it, this list is an excellent resource. Several hundred users are already subscribed to this list. This list is run by the support staff at GW Micro. Every message is read by the support staff and if necessary a response is posted answering the specific questions but usually another user will answer your question first. If you have access to e-mail, you should strongly consider this resource. To subscribe to the GW-INFO list do the following: Send an email message to listserv@gwmicro.com. Leave the subject blank but in the body of the message include the following line: subscribe gw-info Now you can send and receive messages to gw-info@gwmicro.com. When you send a message to gw-info@gwmicro.com it will automatically be sent to all the other list members. GW Micro also offers a read-only email list, GW-NEWS, for announcements and important information about GW Micro and GW Micro products. Only GW Micro employees are allowed to post to the GW-NEWS list, so the traffic is substantially less than that of GW-INFO. To subscribe to the GW-NEWS list do the following: Send an email message to listserv@gwmicro.com. Leave the subject blank but in the body of the message include the following line: subscribe gw-news You can also subscribe and unsubscribe from both GW-INFO and GW-NEWS on the GW Micro website. Go to http://www.gwmicro.com/support and look for GW-INFO & GW-NEWS for more information. When you call or email for technical support, you may be asked for your Window-Eyes serial number. To obtain this number: 1. Press CTRL-\ to display the Window-Eyes Control Panel. 2. Press the ALT key to activate the menu bar and then press "H" for Help. 3. Press "A" for About Window-Eyes. This will display the version number and the serial number of your copy of Window-Eyes. 4. Press ESCAPE twice to exit the Window-Eyes Voice Control Panel. Many of Window-Eyes' features, some of the most basic and some of the most advanced, are the result of input from the GW Micro customer community, and that can include you. GW Micro is never completely happy until Window-Eyes features are made as flexible and adjustable as they can be, in order to satisfy the widely varying needs of our customers. Call or write us with your comments and suggestions. 1.6: How to Use this User's Guide Everything you need to know in order to add powerful and easy-to-use voice features to MS Windows is contained within this Window-Eyes manual. It is divided into eighteen sections and eight appendices. For the benefit of those reading this manual from audio cassette tape, we have made every attempt to organize the guide in narrative, rather than some cataloged form such as alphabetical order. However, no computer software works in narrative form, so some skipping around and repeat listening to the guide may be necessary if the information presented here does not meet your learning or user needs after your first reading. Section Two tells you how to install Window-Eyes to your PC system, using the installation program supplied on the Window-Eyes program CD-ROM. Section Three gives you a rundown of Window-Eyes features and functions. If you are new to MS Windows, you will definitely find this section indispensable. Though no manual for a Windows-based software product can hope to serve as a comprehensive training program for the MS Windows operating system, Section Three does tell you the bare essentials of Windows controls and gives you a few basics for using Window-Eyes to locate and operate these controls efficiently and effectively. Section Four introduces you to some basics of operating Window-Eyes. After reading Sections Three and Four, new users might find the tape tutorial useful. It talks you through the entire process, from installing Window-Eyes, to using Windows accessories and Windows applications. The tutorial will not only help you understand Window-Eyes; it will also help in understanding Windows in general. Sections Five through Eighteen explain the technical and practical workings of Window-Eyes, starting with techniques for reviewing the screen, and moving slowly to more advanced levels. Window-Eyes is under constant development and sometimes changes occur or new features are added before new manuals can be printed and recorded. So please be sure to read the Window-Eyes Read Me file. Simply choose the Read Me option from the Window-Eyes group in the Start Menu, or the Window-Eyes help menu. This will automatically display the current Read Me file. 1.7: Protecting Your Investment Before exploring Window-Eyes any further, please store the original Window-Eyes CD in a clean, dry place, not too hot or cold. Please remember that CDs are not indestructible. Be very careful when handling any CD. A single scratch mark could permanently damage the CD. SECTION TWO Installing Window-Eyes This Section of the Window-Eyes manual provides you with the Window-Eyes installation process. Installing Window-Eyes can be a simple and pain-free process if you follow the instructions provided in this manual. On the Window-Eyes CD is an easy-to-use installation program that will walk you through the install process, step by step. If you have the Windows CD autorun feature enabled (which is normally enabled by default), the installation program will startup automatically when the Window-Eyes CD is inserted in your CD-ROM drive. For information on turning autorun on, please consult your Microsoft Windows manual. As an added bonus, if you have a compatible sound card installed, you have the option of choosing the "Install With Speech" from the install menu. This will cause the installation program to speak the install to you through a temporary copy of Window-Eyes. This allows the install to be used without sighted assistance. How does the installation program speak? Your Window-Eyes CD comes with a free copy of the DECtalk Access 32 text-to-speech software synthesizer. When the "Install With Speech" starts, it immediately launches a temporary copy of Window-Eyes from the CD. Window-Eyes itself is actually speaking the installation program using the DECtalk Access 32 synthesizer. The "Install With Speech" is also smart enough to detect if another copy of Window-Eyes is currently running. If this is the case, the temporary copy of Window-Eyes will not be launched. If you are using a screen reader other than Window-Eyes, the installation program will not detect this and still launch the temporary copy of Window-Eyes. If you put the Window-Eyes installation CD in the drive and the installation program doesn't start after waiting one minute (which will be the case if the autorun feature is disabled) you will need to start the installation program manually. If the install did not start automatically after waiting 60 seconds from inserting the Window-Eyes CD, do the following: 1. Press CTRL-ESC to bring up the Start Menu 2. Type an 'R' for the Run option 3. Type "D:\SETUP" and press ENTER. If D: is not your CD ROM drive letter, replace the "D" with your actual CD ROM drive letter. The installation program will then begin. If the installation program does not begin after placing the CD in your CD-ROM drive, or after starting the installation manually, then please contact our technical support department at 260-489-3671 for troubleshooting tips. When the installation program starts, you will hear a recorded voice informing you of the different installation options. They are as follows: S = Install With Speech W = Install Without Speech T = Play Tutorial M = Play Manual R = Replay Verbal Message X = Exit Let's take a look at what each of these options entails. S = Install With Speech Selecting this option will launch a temporary copy of Window-Eyes, using DECtalk Access 32, to speak the rest of the install program. W = Install Without Speech Selecting this option will cause the installation program to continue without running the temporary copy of Window-Eyes. T = Play Tutorial Selecting this option will cause the installation program to launch an MP3 file containing the reading of the Window-Eyes Tutorial. Note that the installation program itself will exit. When the tutorial is complete, you will need to re-run the Window-Eyes installation to install the product. M = Play Manual Selecting this option will cause the installation program to launch an Internet Browser window displaying an index of the Window-Eyes manual sections in MP3 format. You will need a screen reader to read this index. You can select any section you wish in order to listen to that particular part of the Window-Eyes manual. Note that the installation program itself will exit. When the manual is complete, you will need to re-run the Window-Eyes installation to install the product. R = Replay Verbal Message Selecting this option will cause the initial recorded voice file to be replayed so that you can hear any information that you may have missed during the first playing. X = Exit Selecting this option will exit the installation program. 2.1: A Bit About Synthesizers Window-Eyes works with your speech synthesizer and its software to make a total speech-access system. Window-Eyes supports many different models of voice synthesizers. As stated above, the installation program for Window-Eyes uses the DECtalk Access 32 speech synthesizer. Unless you tell the installation program otherwise, your newly installed copy of Window-Eyes will default to using DECtalk Access 32. If, however, you are planning on using a different speech synthesizer that requires its own software, you will have to install the software according to the instructions that came with the synthesizer. At any of the installation dialogs you can press the TAB key to move between all the options in the current dialog or SHIFT-TAB to move backwards through all the options. If you are on a button, pressing the ENTER key will act on that button. If you are on a check box, pressing the SPACE BAR will toggle between selecting and unselecting the option. If you are on a radio button, pressing the UP or DOWN ARROWS will deselect the current option and select the new option. If you are in a list box or combo box, pressing the UP or DOWN ARROW will move you through the list of available options. Selecting Cancel at any of the dialogs will display a dialog asking if you are sure you wish to abort the installation. If you select the YES option from that dialog, the installation program will abort. If you select NO from that dialog, you will be returned back to the original dialog you were in before selecting the Cancel button. Most dialogs offer a "Back" and "Next" button. If you select the "Back" option, the previous dialog will be displayed again. This is nice if you change your mind and wish to change something in a previous dialog. If you select the "Next" button your settings for the current dialog will be accepted and the next dialog will be displayed. 2.2: Quick Install Once you have selected to install Window-Eyes with, or without, voice output, the installation program will then prompt you with a dialog asking if you want to use the quick install. If you choose the quick install by selecting the YES button in the Quick Install dialog the following will happen. 1. The User Information dialog will be displayed. You will need to type your name in the "Name" field and a company name if applicable in the "Company" field. Press the TAB key to move from option to option. Notice you may tab to the Serial Number field but you can not modify the serial number. This number has been registered to you at the factory. When you have typed your name and/or company, press TAB to move to the Next button and press ENTER. 2. If you are installing Window-Eyes with voice output under Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows 2003, you will be prompted to restart your computer at the beginning of the installation. If you are installing Window-Eyes under Windows 9X/Me, or are installing without voice output, the install will not prompt you to reboot. Once the installation continues, it will begin copying all the necessary files to your hard drive. 3. When all components have been installed, the "Setup Complete" dialog will be displayed. There are three buttons on this dialog. "Restart Computer Now," "Restart Computer Later," and "Cancel." It is strongly suggested you accept the "Restart Computer Now" button as your newly installed copy of Window-Eyes will probably not function until you restart your computer. Only select the "Restart Computer Later" button if you do not plan on using your newly installed copy of Window-Eyes until after you restart your computer at a later time. Note that if you installed with speech under Windows 2000, XP, or 2003, you will receive a different dialog allowing you to continue booting without having to restart. Once your computer restarts, Window-Eyes will come up automatically and start speaking. The following settings have been chosen for you automatically by choosing the quick installation: * Window-Eyes is installed in C:\WINEYES or whatever drive Windows is installed on. * The ASCII version of the Window-Eyes manual is installed in the C:\WINEYES\MANUAL directory. * The latest SET files for all applications in your current operating system have been selected and installed. * Window-Eyes has been placed in the STARTUP group meaning it will startup automatically whenever Windows is started for any user. * If your system has a compatible sound card then the Eloquence (US English) and DECtalk Access 32 text-to-speech engines have been installed. * If your system has a compatible sound card, Window-Eyes has been configured for the DECtalk Access 32 text-to-speech engine. * If you do not have a compatible sound card, Window-Eyes will be configured for the synthesizer you selected during the quick install. * By default, no Braille display has been selected. You can easily change the Braille display and speech synthesizer selection at any time. * CTRL-ALT-W has been setup as a shortcut key. * A Window-Eyes group has been added to the Start menu under Programs 2.3: Custom Install If you do not choose the quick install by selecting the NO button in the Quick Install dialog, the following will happen. 1. The User Information dialog will be displayed. You will need to type your name in the "Name" field and a company name if applicable in the "Company" field. Press the TAB key to move from option to option. Notice you may tab to the Serial Number field but you can not modify the serial number. This number has been registered to you at the factory. When you have typed your name and/or company, press TAB to move to the Next button and press ENTER. 2. The Choose Destination dialog will be displayed. This allows you to select the directory you wish to install Window-Eyes into. By default this will be "C:\WINEYES" if C: is the drive Windows is installed on. If you wish to change this option, tab to the Browse button and press ENTER. This will bring up the Choose Folder dialog. You can either type in the new path manually or use the other options in this dialog. Once you have specified the new location press ENTER on the OK button. This will return you to the Choose Destination dialog but your new location will be displayed. If this is acceptable, TAB to the Next button and press ENTER. 3. The Synthesizer Selection dialog will be displayed. There are several options on this dialog but only those options that are relevant to the synthesizer you have selected will be available. By default the DECtalk Access32 (Window-Eyes) synthesizer will be selected. If this is not the synthesizer you wish to use, press the TAB key until you get to the Synthesizer list box. Arrow up and down until you get to your synthesizer. Depending on which synthesizer you select you may or may not have to select more information. So after selecting your synthesizer press TAB to move through the options and change them if necessary. For example, if you select the DECtalk Express and you press TAB you will be in the Ports list box. You would need to tell the installation program what COM port the Express is connected to. Again, several other options may or may not be required depending on your synthesizer. Take the time to TAB between all the options and set them correctly. Refer to Appendix C for a complete description of all synthesizers and options necessary for each. When you have selected all the necessary choices, press ENTER on the Next button. 4. The Software Synthesizer Installation dialog will be displayed. You will be presented with a list of check boxes to select which languages of Eloquence, ScanSoft RealSpeak, and the Microsoft Speech Engine you wish to install. Use your TAB and SHIFT-TAB to move through the list, and press the SPACE BAR on the item that you wish to install. If you decide that you want to unselect a language, simply highlight the selected item, and press the SPACE BAR to uncheck it. Note that US English Eloquence will automatically be installed when using the Install With Speech option. Once you have selected the languages you wish to install, TAB to the Next button and press ENTER. 5. The Braille Display Selection dialog will be displayed. Using your UP and DOWN ARROW keys, you can select the Braille display that you currently have installed. After selecting your display, press the TAB key to go to the Ports list box. Here you can choose whether your Braille display is attached via a serial port (COM 1 to COM 8), a parallel port (LPT 1 to LPT 4), or USB. After selecting how your Braille display is connected, press ENTER to continue. If you have no Braille display installed, choose none and press ENTER. 6. The SETS Selection dialog will be displayed. This allows you to select which Window-Eyes factory configurations you wish to have installed. You should select all the options for any application you plan on using with Window-Eyes. You should also take care to make sure you install the correct versions for your applications. For example with Microsoft Word there are several versions. You must select the version that matches what you will be using. By default the latest versions of all applications have been selected. You can TAB through all the choices and press the SPACE BAR to select or unselect each option. There is an Unselect All SET Files button. If you press ENTER on this button, all check boxes will be unselected. If you later found you did not select something you should have or you upgrade an application and need the newer SET files you can use the Window-Eyes "Select SET File" option to later install the factory SET files for any or all of the applications. After you have made all your selections TAB to the Next button and press ENTER. 7. The Window-Eyes manual dialog will be displayed. This dialog asks if you wish to install the ASCII text version of this users guide in the subdirectory MANUAL off of your WINEYES directory. If you do, select the YES button. If you do not, select the NO button. 8. The Shortcut Key dialog will be display. This dialog allows you to set the shortcut key used to launch Window-Eyes manually. TAB to the Shortcut Hot key field, and press the hot key combination you want to use for launching Window-Eyes manually. By default, the shortcut is CTRL-ALT-W. You can press the DEL key to disable the shortcut feature. Note that only operating system key strokes can be used with this hot key field. Once you have defined the shortcut to be used, press ENTER. 9. The Window-Eyes Startup Selection dialog will be displayed. This dialog offers a radio button with three choices. You can have the installation program have Window-Eyes startup automatically every time Windows is started by using one of two options or you can tell the installation program to not automatically startup Window-Eyes when Windows is started. If you plan on using a Network and wish to have the network login dialog speak, you should select the Before Startup option. If you just want Window-Eyes to startup but you do not use a network, you should select the Windows Startup Group option (See Section 7.12 for more information). If you do not wish Window-Eyes to startup automatically, select the Do Not Start Window-Eyes Automatically option. Regardless of which option you select CTRL-ALT-W (or the hot key you have defined) has been setup as a shortcut to launch Window-Eyes. This means if Window-Eyes is not currently running at any point, you can press CTRL-ALT-W (or the hot key you have defined) and Window-Eyes will startup immediately. After choosing the option you want, press ENTER on the Next button. 10. The installation will begin copying all the necessary files to your hard drive. When all components have been installed, the "Setup Complete" dialog will be displayed. There are three buttons on this dialog. "Restart Computer Now," "Restart Computer Later," and "Cancel." It is strongly suggested you accept the "Restart Computer Now" button as your newly installed copy of Window-Eyes will probably not function until you restart your computer. Only select the "Restart Computer Later" button if you do not plan on using your newly installed copy of Window-Eyes until after you restart your computer at a later time. Note that if you installed with speech under Windows 2000, XP, or 2003, you will receive a different dialog allowing you to continue booting without having to restart. 2.4: Window-Eyes and the Start Menu Once the installation of Window-Eyes is complete, you can access the Window-Eyes program group from the start menu. The program group's contents will be different depending on which version of Windows you are running. Windows 9X/ME * Advanced Options o Virtual Channel Maintenance * Readme shortcut * Window-Eyes shortcut * Window-Eyes Manual Windows 2000/XP/2003 * Advanced Options o Video Support Maintenance o Virtual Channel Maintenance * Readme shortcut * Window-Eyes shortcut * Window-Eyes Manual Each of these items are described in detail below: Advanced Options This pull down menu provides you with specific advanced options, depending on what operating system you are using. If you are using Windows 2000, XP, or 2003, you will be presented with two options: Video Support Maintenance, and Virtual Channel Maintenance. If you are using Windows 9X/Me, you will be presented with one option: Virtual Channel Maintenance. Video Support Maintenance (Windows 2000/XP/2003)- Allows you to enable or disable video support for the local system, a remote Citrix MetaFrame XP session, or a remote Microsoft Terminal Services session. Upon selecting this option, you will be presented with a warning, reminding you that this is an advanced feature, and should only be used by advanced users. Selecting no to the warning will close the dialog, and return you to the desktop. Selecting yes to the warning will present you with four buttons: * Enable/Disable Main Video Support - Enables or disables main Window-Eyes video support. * Enable/Disable Citrix ICA Video Support - Enables or disables video support for use with Citrix MetaFrame XP. For more information, refer to Appendix F.3. * Enable Microsoft RDP Video Support - Enables or disables video support for use with Microsoft Terminal Services. For more information, refer to Appendix F.4. * Cancel - Closes the dialog without making any changes. The current state of any of the above options will be reflected by the text of the button. For example, if the main Window-Eyes video support is currently enabled, the Main Video Support button will state, "Disable Main Video Support." If the main Window-Eyes video support is currently disabled, the Main Video Support button will state, "Enable Main Video Support." Note that if the main Window-Eyes video support is disabled, speech will not be available until video support is enabled. Virtual Channel Maintenance (Windows 9X/Me/2000/XP/2003)- Allows you to enable or disable the Window-Eyes virtual channel for use with a remote Citrix MetaFrame XP session, or a remote Microsoft Terminal Services session. Upon selecting this option, you will be presented with a dialog containing two buttons: * Enable/Disable Citrix Virtual Channel Support For Window-Eyes - Enables or disables virtual channel support for a remote Citrix MetaFrame XP session. For more information, refer to Appendix F.3. * Enable/Disable Microsoft Virtual Channel Support For Window-Eyes - Enables or disables virtual channel support for a remote Microsoft Terminal Services session. For more information, refer to Appendix F.4. * Cancel - Closes the dialog without making any changes. The current state of any of the above options will be reflected by the text of the button. For example, if the virtual channel support for Citrix is currently enabled, the Citrix Virtual Channel Support button will state, "Disable Citrix Virtual Channel Support For Window-Eyes." If the virtual channel support for Citrix is currently disabled, the Citrix Virtual Channel Support button will state, "Enable Citrix Virtual Channel Support For Window-Eyes." Readme Shortcut This is a shortcut to the Window-Eyes readme file. This file contains important information regarding the version of Window-Eyes that is installed. Activating this icon will cause the readme file to be opened by Notepad. You can also access the readme by pressing CTRL-\ to bring up the Window-Eyes Voice Control Panel, following by ALT-H for Help, and R for Window-Eyes Readme. Window-Eyes Shortcut This is the program shortcut that is associated with Window-Eyes. If Window-Eyes is not running, activating this icon will cause Window-Eyes to launch. The Window-Eyes installation will also place a copy of the Window-Eyes shortcut on your desktop. Window-Eyes Manual This shortcut will launch the Window-Eyes Manual in Windows Help format. You can also access the manual in this format by pressing CTRL-\ to bring up the Window-Eyes Voice Control Panel, following by ALT-H for Help, and W for Window-Eyes Manual. When the manual opens, in the contents, arrow down to the topic you want to read, press ENTER, followed by F6 to load the topic. Press F6 again to return to the contents. The Window-Eyes Icon This icon, used to visually identify Window-Eyes, is a small 16 pixel by 16 pixel (or 32 pixel by 32 pixel, depending on your start menu icon size) image of an application dialog with a white background, complete with miniature title bar that contains a miniature system icon, and a miniature minimize icon. On the white background sits a small pair of wire rimmed glasses with a pair of bright red lips underneath. This icon can be seen in a number of places including the Window-Eyes program group in the start menu, the system menu on the Window-Eyes title bar, and the Window-Eyes entry on the task bar. 2.5: General Installation Tips Colors To maximize the graphic speaking capability of Window-Eyes, we recommend setting your display colors to 16 bit. While each operating system is different, the following are the general steps to change your color settings: * Open the display control panel * Open the Settings tab in the display control panel * Find the combo box that lists the colors available on your system * Choose 16 bit, and press ENTER Note that there is a big difference between 16 bit (65,536 colors), and 16 (16 colors). Resolution While you are in the area of changing colors, you might want to take a look at your screen size (also known as resolution) too. The screen size setting is located in the same place as the color settings. It is usually a track bar found near the color combo box. This track bar ranges in smallest resolution (640x480 depending on your video adapter and monitor combination) up to the largest resolution (varies depending on your video adapter and monitor combination). You will want, at the very minimum, to have your screen resolution set to 800x600. It may help, however, to increase the resolution to 1024x768. The higher the resolution, the easier it is for Windows to display more items on the screen, thereby allowing Window-Eyes access to more information. Loading Window-Eyes If you opt to install Window-Eyes using the quick install, note that the Window-Eyes Startup Type will be set to Window-Eyes Startup group. This will allow Window-Eyes to run automatically after your system has loaded. If you choose the custom install, you have the option of loading Window-Eyes in one of two ways, or not at all. You can read more about the Startup Type in Section 7.12. The important thing to remember is that you only have one of these options enabled at a time. 2.6: Windows 95 Install Tips If you are using Windows 95 you will not need to make any system adjustments in order for Window-Eyes to be fully compatible. 2.7: Windows 98 Install Tips If you are using Windows 98, you may need to make a few adjustments in order for Window-Eyes to be fully compatible. These adjustments are for Windows 98 and not Window-Eyes itself. You will need to disable the active desktop and disable certain animation features. Please take the time to do the following. If necessary you can have Window-Eyes loaded while you make the following adjustments. Do the following to setup the folder view settings: 1. Press CTRL-ESC to pop up the start menu 2. Press ESC to remove the start menu 3. Press TAB until you are at the desktop 4. Press the letter "M" until My Computer is selected 5. Press ENTER to activate My Computer 6. Press ALT-V to activate the View menu 7. Press "O" to activate the Folder Options dialog 8. Press CTRL-TAB to activate the View tab 9. Press TAB twice to activate the Advanced Settings tree view 10. Press the DOWN ARROW until you get to the "Remember each folder's view settings" check box. If the item is on, press the space bar to turn it off 11. Press ENTER 12. Press "Y" if you are presented with a Folder Views dialog 13. Press ALT-F4 twice to return to the desktop Do the following to disable the active desktop: 1. Press CTRL-ESC to pop up the start menu 2. Press "S" until the Settings pull down is activated 3. Press "A" to activate the "Active Desktop" pull down 4. Press the DOWN ARROW until you get to "Customize My Desktop..." and press ENTER 5. If the check box for "View my Active Desktop as a web page" is checked, press your SPACE BAR to uncheck it 6. Press TAB until you get to the Folder Options button 7. Press your SPACE BAR to open the Folder Options dialog 8. Press "Y" to save and close the Display Properties 9. Once the Folder Options dialog opens, press "C" for Classic View 10. Press ENTER Do the following to disable window animation: 1. Press CTRL-ESC to pop up the start menu 2. Press "S" until the Settings pull down is activated 3. Press ENTER to activate the Control Panel 4. Press "D" until you hear Display 5. Press ENTER 6. Press SHIFT-TAB once to focus the Background tab control 7. Press the RIGHT ARROW until you hear Effects 8. Press TAB until you hear the check box "Animate windows, menus and lists" 9. If the check box is checked, press your SPACE BAR to uncheck it. 10. Press ENTER 11. Press ALT-F4 to close the Control Panel 2.8: Windows ME Install Tips If you are using Windows Me you may need to make a few adjustments in order for Window-Eyes to be fully compatible. These adjustments are for Windows Me and not Window-Eyes itself. You will need to disable the active desktop and disable certain transition effects. Please take the time to do the following. If necessary you can have Window-Eyes loaded while you make the following adjustments. Do the following to setup the folder view settings: 1. Press CTRL-ESC to bring up the Start Menu 2. Press "S" to activate the settings pull down 3. Press ENTER to open the Control Panel 4. Press "F" until you hear Folder Options 5. Press ENTER 6. Press "U" for "Use Windows classic desktop" 7. Press "I" for "Use Windows classic folders" 8. Press CTRL-TAB once to View 9. Press TAB once to Advanced Settings 10. Press the DOWN ARROW until you hear "Remember each folder's view settings." If this option is on, press your SPACE BAR to turn it off 11. Press ENTER 12. Press "Y" to answer the Folder Views dialog question 13. Press TAB until you hear OK 14. Press ENTER Do the following to turn off transition effects: 1. Press CTRL-ESC to bring up the Start Menu 2. Press "S" to activate the settings pull down 3. Press ENTER to open the Control Panel 4. Press "D" until you hear Display 5. Press ENTER 6. Press SHIFT-TAB to focus the Background tab control 7. Press the RIGHT ARROW until you hear Effects 8. Press TAB until you reach "Use transition effects for menus and tooltips." If the check box is checked, press your SPACE BAR to uncheck it 9. Press ENTER to close the Display dialog Do the following to turn off the pop up descriptions for folders and files: 1. Press CTRL-ESC 2. Press 'S' for Settings 3. Press 'C' for Control Panel 4. Press 'F' for Folder Options, and press ENTER 5. Press SHIFT-TAB to focus the General tab control 6. Press RIGHT to the View tab 7. TAB to the Advanced Settings list box 8. Press 'S' for Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items 9. Press SPACE to turn off this item 10. TAB to OK and press ENTER 2.9: Windows 2000 Install Tips If you are using Windows 2000 you will not need to make any system adjustments in order for Window-Eyes to be fully compatible. Instead, Window-Eyes will make the following changes for you automatically: * Disables the slide-open effect for combo boxes. * Disables a shadow around the cursor. * Disables the gradient effect for window title bars. * Disables hot tracking of user-interface elements such as menu names on menu bars (Hot-tracking means that when the cursor moves over an item, it is highlighted but not selected). * Disables the smooth-scrolling effect for list boxes. * Disables menu animation. * Enables the underlining of menu access key letters. * Disables the selection fade effect. The selection fade effect causes the menu item selected by the user to remain on the screen briefly while fading out after the menu is dismissed. * Disables Tool Tip animation. * Disables Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing Note that these changes are only made when Window-Eyes is launched. They will revert back to their default state when Window-Eyes is closed. Window-Eyes will not make permanent changes to your system without your knowledge and consent. Although Window-Eyes will handle any system changes that are required, you may want to disable the web folder view for ease of use (this option is not required by Window-Eyes). Do the following to setup the folder view settings: 1. Press CTRL-ESC to bring up the Start Menu 2. Press "S" to activate the settings pull down 3. Press ENTER to open the Control Panel 4. Press "F" until you hear Folder Options 5. Press ENTER 6. Press "I" for "Use Windows classic folders" 7. Press TAB until you hear OK 8. Press ENTER Please note that we require the latest available service pack for Windows 2000 for the best Window-Eyes Professional performance. To download the latest Windows 2000 Service Pack, go to the following location: http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000 2.10: Windows XP/2003 Install Tips If you are using Windows XP/2003, you may need to make a few adjustments in order for Window-Eyes to be fully compatible. These adjustments are for Windows XP/2003 and not Window-Eyes itself. Please take the time to do the following. If necessary you can have Window-Eyes loaded while you make the following adjustments. It should be noted that the changes below are not necessary for Window-Eyes to function correctly. Window-Eyes will work with both the default Windows XP/2003 view as well as the Windows XP/2003 classic view. In fact, Window-Eyes will make its own changes to the visual items (listed in Section 2.9), such as menu animation, on the fly when it launches and will then put the settings back to their previous state when it closes. Users may want to make this change manually for faster performance. Regardless of what view is used, many users are comfortable with the classic view. These steps are, therefore, included primarily as a quick reference guide. Do the following to change the start menu to classic view: 1. Press CTRL-ESC 2. Press ESC 3. Press SHIFT-F10 4. Press 'R' 5. Press ALT-M for "Classic Start menu" 6. Press ALT-C for Customize 7. TAB to the "Advanced Start menu options" tree view 8. Arrow down to "Use Personalized Menus" 9. Press SPACE to turn off this item 10. TAB to OK and press ENTER 11. TAB to OK again and press ENTER The steps for the settings listed below assume that Windows XP/2003 is set for classic start menu. Do the following to change the folder options to classic view: 1. Press CTRL-ESC 2. Press 'S' for Settings 3. Press 'C' for Control Panel 4. Press ALT-T for the Tools menu 5. Type 'O' for Folder Options 6. Press ALT-I for "Use Windows classic folders" 7. TAB to OK and press ENTER Do the following to change the color scheme to classic view: 1. Press CTRL-ESC 2. Press 'S' for Settings 3. Press 'C' for Control Panel 4. Press 'D' for Display and press ENTER 5. Press 'W' until you find "Windows Classic" 6. TAB to OK and press ENTER 7. TAB to OK again and press ENTER Do the following to turn off the pop up descriptions for folders and files: 1. Press CTRL-ESC 2. Press 'S' for Settings 3. Press 'C' for Control Panel 4. Press 'F' for Folder Options, and press ENTER 5. Press SHIFT-TAB to focus the General tab control 6. Press RIGHT to the View tab 7. TAB to the Advanced Settings tree view 8. Press 'S' for Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items 9. Press SPACE to turn off this item 10. TAB to OK and press ENTER 2.11: Advanced Install Options When the initial dialog of the Window-Eyes install is displayed (where you can select to install with speech, without speech, etc.), one button that is not mentioned verbally is the Advanced button. Please note that these options are for advanced users only. If you do not understand the purpose of these utilities, or are not comfortable running them, please call our technical support department for assistance. You will also need to have speech running when you access this dialog; it will not speak automatically. A = Advanced Options Selecting this button will present you with a dialog containing the following options: Synthesizer to Install - Select the synthesizer engine that you want to install from this combo box, then TAB to the Install Selected Synthesizer button, and press ENTER. You can choose to install any of the following synthesizers: * US English Eloquence 5.0 * UK English Eloquence 5.0 * Castilian Spanish Eloquence 5.0 * Mexican Spanish Eloquence 5.0 * French Eloquence 5.0 * Canadian French Eloquence 5.0 * German Eloquence 5.0 * Italian Eloquence 5.0 * Portuguese Eloquence 5.0 * US English ScanSoft RealSpeak (Jennifer) * UK English ScanSoft RealSpeak (Jane) * Spanish ScanSoft RealSpeak (Isabel) * French ScanSoft RealSpeak (Sophie) * German ScanSoft RealSpeak (Vera) * Italian ScanSoft RealSpeak (Bianca) * US English Microsoft For more information on selecting one of these new voices, or for more information on switching between languages, see Section 7.9. * Uninstall All Eloquence 5.0 Synthesizers * Uninstall All RealSpeak Synthesizers You may run into an instance where your Eloquence or ScanSoft RealSpeak voices are not working as expected. These utilities will remove all Eloquence and/or ScanSoft RealSpeak files from your hard drive, and all Eloquence and/or ScanSoft RealSpeak entries from your system's registry. * Install Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 Selecting the above option will install Internet Explorer 6.0 SP 1 on your system. Please note that Internet Explorer 6.0 SP 1 will not install if you are using Windows 95. We recommend using Internet Explorer 6 if possible. But if you are using Windows 95, you will need to install Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 (available from www.microsoft.com). * Install Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 Selecting the above option will install Adobe's Acrobat Reader for reading PDF files. For more information on using the Adobe Acrobat Reader, see Appendix F.6. Please note that Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 will not install if you are using an operating system older than Windows 98 SE. We recommend using Adobe Acrobat 6.0 if possible. But if you are using an operating system less than Windows 98 SE, you will need to install Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.05 (available from www.adobe.com). * Window-Eyes Emergency Removal If you attempt to remove Window-Eyes from the Add/Remove Programs control panel, and are not able to do so, then you can use this utility to remove your Window-Eyes installation. If you have not tried so, please attempt to remove Window-Eyes from the Add/Remove Programs control panel before using this utility. This utility will remove all Window-Eyes files from your hard drive, and all Window-Eyes entries from your system's registry. Again, this utility should only be used as a last resort in the case that the Add/Remove Programs uninstall is not working correctly. The final two options in this dialog deal with installing Window-Eyes on a client machine for use on a network. S = Install Client With Speech Select this option to begin the client install with speech. W = Install Client Without Speech Select this option to begin the client install without speech. Network Installation Prior to attempting a network installation of Window-Eyes you will need to make sure that your network connections are working correctly. The installation process will take place in two steps: The Server Installation In order to have a successful installation of Window-Eyes on the server, you will need to be logged in either as administrator or as a user with administration privileges. After you have successfully logged in, place the Window-Eyes CD in the CD-ROM. Once you are presented with the initial installation dialog, select how you want to run the installation process (with or without speech, custom or quick install). The installation processes are described in detail in Section 2. Once Window-Eyes is installed, you will need to make sure that the Window-Eyes folder hierarchy is shared with appropriate restrictions. For maximum security, we recommend the following folder settings: * Window-Eyes Program Folder (c:\wineyes by default) Read Only Access * Window-Eyes User Folder (c:\wineyes\users by default) Read Only Access * Individual User Folders (c:\wineyes\users\user0100 for example) Read/Write Access Depending on the operating system you are working with, you should be able to assign permissions to specific user folders for specific users. The Client Installation Once you have successfully completed the server installation of Window-Eyes, proceed to the client machine to perform the client installation. In order to successfully complete the client installation, you must be logged into the client machine as either administrator or as a user with administrator privileges. Before you begin the Window-Eyes client installation, you will need to make sure that the path to the Window-Eyes server installation has been mapped to a local drive on the client machine. For example, map the server path (\\server\wineyes) to local drive s for the client installation. The mapped drive must remain constant to ensure Window-Eyes is available for use at all times, and for any Window-Eyes user. You may, however, change the mapped drive letter between client machines. Once you have verified that you are logged in as either administrator or as a user with administrator privileges, and have verified that the path to the server installation of Window-Eyes has been mapped to a driver letter, place the Window-Eyes CD in the CD-ROM. When the initial installation dialog appears, either TAB to the Advanced button and press ENTER, or press ALT-A to access the advanced setup options dialog. In the advanced setup options dialog, you have two options concerning the client installation: 1. Install Client With Speech 2. Install Client Without Speech Each install will prompt for the following information * Remote Location * Server Location * Software Synthesizer Selection * Manual Installation * Startup Selection (Note that Before Startup will be disabled for security purposes) All Window-Eyes files will be stored and accessed from the server except for the Window-Eyes video driver, the enable/disable video driver utility, and the Window-Eyes program group icons located in the start menu. The program group icons (or shortcuts) will point to the Window-Eyes server installation located on the mapped drive you designated before the client install. It is important to recognize that the speed of the network may impact the performance of Window-Eyes. On a slower network, more time may be necessary to access files such as Window-Eyes core components and set files. Multi-User Installation After you have completed both the server installation and client installation of Window-Eyes, and have verified that the software is running correctly, you will need to set up accounts for all users who need access to Window-Eyes. For more information on setting up multiple user accounts, please see Section 7.11. 2.12: Uninstalling Window-Eyes If you wish to remove Window-Eyes from your machine you should use the Add/Remove Programs option located in the Control Panel. Simply select Window-Eyes and select the Add/Remove button. Window-Eyes will automatically be removed from your hard drive. The specific steps are as follows: Windows 9X/Me: 1. Press CTRL-ESC to bring up the start menu 2. Arrow down until you get to the Settings option and press ENTER 3. Press ENTER on the Control Panel option 4. Press "A" until the Add/Remove Programs option is selected and press ENTER 5. Press the TAB key until you get to the list box which contains all the installed applications 6. Arrow down until you find the Window-Eyes entry 7. TAB to the Add/Remove button and press ENTER 8. A confirmation dialog will be displayed. Simply press "Y" to confirm the removal 9. At this point the removal process will begin. If not, follow any directions Windows gives you Windows 2000: 1. Press CTRL-ESC to bring up the start menu 2. Arrow down until you get to the Settings option and press ENTER 3. Press ENTER on the Control Panel option 4. Press "A" until the Add/Remove Programs option is selected and press ENTER 5. Arrow down until you find the Window-Eyes entry 6. TAB to the Change/Remove button and press ENTER 7. A confirmation dialog will be displayed. Simply press "Y" to confirm the removal 8. At this point the removal process will begin. If not, follow any directions Windows gives you Windows XP/2003: 1. Press CTRL-ESC to bring up the start menu 2. Press "C" for Control Panel 3. TAB to Add or Remove Programs, and press ENTER 4. Arrow down until you find the Window-Eyes entry 5. TAB to the Change/Remove button and press ENTER 6. A confirmation dialog will be displayed. Simply press "Y" to confirm the removal 7. At this point the removal process will begin. If not, follow any directions Windows gives you SECTION THREE Speaking of Windows This Section of the Window-Eyes manual provides you with some basic information about how the Windows operating system works. Let us begin our presentation of Window-Eyes by exploring some MS Windows conventions that this manual will refer to extensively. Then, we will move on to learn several keyboard commands for operating Windows controls, allowing Window-Eyes to access these controls. Finally, we will briefly introduce a few Window-Eyes operations, including some you can use to operate the system mouse from the keyboard. Note that this section refers primarily to Windows 9X, Me, and 2000. For information on the layout of Windows XP, please refer to Section 3.8. If you are new to Windows, and especially if you are new to the world of personal computing, please do not be concerned if much of the material in this section seems overwhelming. Verbally understanding MS Windows' multidimensional nature requires some specialized vocabulary, much of which the average visual-access user does not need to know. So just go on reading this section; reread it later to learn it better; and then go on to explore the rest of this manual. Numerous examples of MS Windows operations will be given throughout. It is safe to say that as you learn the essentials of operating Window-Eyes, you will consequently be learning much about MS Windows as well. As you reread this section, you may find value in booting up your computer and exploring many of the concepts and trying several of the tasks discussed here. Again, do not be concerned if you find yourself lost at first. This section is only introductory. Window-Eyes will be explained in greater detail throughout the sections that follow. Because this manual cannot possibly tell you everything you need to know to take full advantage of MS Windows' rich array of features, we recommend you also read other publications and consult the MS Windows manual to learn the finer points of Windows. Several publications about MS Windows, including the manual itself and many other Microsoft publications, are available in various formats from Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic and other providers of literature in alternate formats. Taking personalized training or an introductory course in MS Windows operations may also be an idea worth considering. 3.1: Where MS Windows and Window-Eyes Meet The Windows Cursor and the Mouse Pointer MS Windows has what can loosely be thought of as two cursors: the windows cursor, also called the insertion point, and the mouse pointer. In places where you can enter text from the keyboard, as in the editor of a word processor or in an edit box, Windows normally displays a blinking vertical line immediately to the left of the place where the application program displays keyboard input. As you type, one character at a time is inserted to the right of the cursor, and Window-Eyes announces each character as you type it. After each keystroke, the cursor moves forward, indicating the place where the next character will go. When it gets to the end of the line, the application program automatically starts a new line for you; you do not have to press the ENTER key to make a new line. Use the ENTER key, instead, to make a new paragraph. You can find out if a cursor is present by pressing the Window-Eyes Cursor Position hot key, CTRL-NUMPAD-+. If no cursor is present, Window-Eyes beeps. If a cursor is present, Window-Eyes announces the cursor position in X and Y coordinates relative to the application window. Nearly always present on the display screen is the mouse pointer, which may take several different shapes, according to what the application plans to be able to do with the mouse in a given area of the display screen. When the mouse pointer changes shapes, Window-Eyes announces the new shape. So, for example, when out of nowhere you hear the word "hourglass" being spoken, you will know that Windows has changed the shape of the mouse pointer to an hourglass. Soon, however, the mouse will return to the shape of a pointing arrow or I-beam or whatever, and Window-Eyes will so inform you. More often than not, the mouse pointer takes the form of a little arrow, pointing left and upward. This feature is only available in Windows 9X/Me. You can move the mouse pointer around the whole display screen by moving the physical mouse around on its pad or-when running Window-Eyes-by using the numpad, with NUMLOCK switched off. Window-Eyes reads text that the mouse pointer crosses. When the mouse pointer is situated on a Windows control, pressing one of the mouse buttons causes Windows to perform some task. Which mouse button to press and how many times to press it is determined by the application software and the task you want the mouse to perform. To find out where the mouse pointer is, press the Window-Eyes Mouse Position hot key, CTRL-INSERT-NUMPAD-+. If the pointer is present, Window-Eyes announces the mouse pointer's position in X and Y coordinates relative to the mouse boundary. The Window-Eyes Clip Window-Eyes boasts a unique way of determining how the screen is laid out, and how items on the screen differ from each other using a method known as clip. A clip is a unit of information that shares a common characteristic among its combined elements. Graphics are the simplest example of a clip, as each individual graphic is a clip. Textual elements are more complicated, and can best be described through example. In a word processor document, each continuous line of text (moving left to right) of the same attribute is considered a clip. If a given line contains a word or words that have a bold characteristic, then that line which used to be one clip now becomes three separate clips: the normal text before the bold text, the bold text itself, and the normal text after the bold text. Bold is only one example of an attribute that can split one line into multiple clips; font family, font color, font size, italic, underline, strike through, subscript, etc. all have the same effect. Another example of multiple clips is the Window-Eyes Voice Control Panel menu bar (or any menu bar). Although the words File, Edit, Screen, Keyboard, etc. appear on the same line, they are separated into individual menu items. Each individual menu item is a unique clip. This is because the items are not separated by spaces. There is simply a gap left between each menu option causing each entry to become its own clip. Moving by clip is a great way to determine how the information is being displayed. Window-Eyes has three hot keys for reading clips in the vicinity of the mouse pointer. In the Window-Eyes default speaking environment these are: Clip Prior = Insert-Numpad-Home Clip = Insert-Numpad-Up arrow Clip Next = Insert-Numpad-Page up You can use your thumb to press and hold the NUMPAD-INSERT key as if it were a shift key and press the HOME, UP ARROW or PAGE UP keys three rows above. Previous and Next Clip keys move the mouse pointer backward or forward to the previous or next clip. The Current Mouse Clip key does not move the mouse pointer, and the pointer must be situated precisely on a clip for this key to work. If this is not the case and you press this key, Window-Eyes beeps. 3.2: What it Looks Like Think of a wooden desktop-MS Windows is a virtual desktop. Think of your display screen as the work area of your desktop. Launching applications and opening files puts information and work onto the desktop. These information and work items are known as windows. They are shaped in squares and rectangles, and they come in varying sizes-from tiny windows in the center of your work area to large, complex windows covering the entire work area. On a real desktop you might have a couple books open. You might have an open notebook and some loose pages of notes. You may have a few smaller note cards sitting under a book. You might also have a telephone, a tape recorder, and talking calculator. No drinks please: spilling them in your keyboard makes the keys stick and rusts the wires. Perhaps you are a neat worker and keep just one or two items on your desktop, or perhaps you like to have five or six projects out at the same time. You can actually use just one at a given moment, however, paying no attention to the rest, and you only focus on one part of the work item you are using. You can shift attention from item to item if you wish, but if your desktop gets too cluttered and messy and you try to take on too many new projects before putting old ones away, your work pace will slow. Technically, any number of windows can be open on your desktop at the same time, and you can move them in and out of your work area. They may cascade, tile, or overlap (where the top window only reveals two sides and a joining corner of the window underneath). One window may even fully cover others, hiding them from view. So the desktop and your work area on the desktop can become a very full and cluttered place. Windows programmers have the power to put images onto your display screen almost freehand, and they do take advantage of that power in order to create a visually appealing and intuitive user interface to Windows, exploiting Window's graphical capabilities to the fullest and giving your computer's processor-and indeed Window-Eyes-a run for their money. Window Relationships and Appearance Two types of windows are application windows and document windows. When you launch an application program, such as Eudora for reading your e-mail, you are opening an application window. When you open a file within the application window, you are opening a document window under the application window. Application windows and document windows are often referred to as parent and child windows. Parent-child relationships also carry over into menus and dialog boxes. Windows are said to contain elements, such as title bars, menu bars, control menus, icons, tool bars, and scroll bars. The Title Bar Nearly always, a title bar is present at the top of a window, displaying various information, depending on the particular window-such as the program name, the name of a dialog box, etc. The title bar of an active window is displayed in different colors or shades from the title bar of any inactive windows that may remain visible on your desktop. The Menu Bar The typical application window has a pull-down menu bar located just below the title bar, with various main menu headings appearing in a single horizontal row. System and Document Control Menus To the left of an application window's title bar can be found a system pull-down control for displaying MS Windows' system control menu. The control is a miniaturized version of the application program's icon. Icons are explained later in this section. Many Windows application programs also give you an almost identical control, located immediately below the system pull-down and to the left of the application's pull-down menu bar. This is known as a child system pull-down. Generally speaking, the system pull-down lets you issue a few MS Windows commands for maximizing, minimizing, resizing, and closing application windows, while the child system pull-down lets you execute commands that generally do the same things for document windows. Different application programs, however, use the child system pull-down control differently, and many others do not have one. To the right of the title bar and menu bar, typically, you will find tiny controls for using the mouse to perform the same operations available on the control menus. They are mentioned here for the sake of completeness but have little or no value to the average speech-access user. The Icon Icons are small, nontextual, graphical designs that represent an action you can take in Windows, usually by clicking on them with the mouse, but sometimes by focusing on them with arrow keys and pressing the ENTER key. The idea of having icons is to save the computer user from having to memorize so many keyboard commands to launch a program, open a file, etc. Inside application programs a row of icons known as the tool bar is usually located immediately below the menu bar. These help the user operate the program without having to memorize shortcut keys, function keys, etc. For example, an icon to start the spell checker might be a symbolic representation of an open dictionary. The artistic quality of a program's icons are part of the program's appeal. The Window-Eyes program icon, for example, resembles a pair of open glasses from the vantage point of a slightly upward and right profile and a pair of red lips where they would be on a face, relative to these glasses. The background is white, like the background of a Windows display work area. Across the top is a thin blue line resembling a title bar. To the left of this title bar is a fashion of a drop-down control, and on the right of the title bar is a fashion of a minimize control. The whole icon, as is typical, measures less than a square inch on a 15" display. It is a symbolic representation, then, of an open window containing a face wearing glasses. Section 16.6 of this manual tells how you can easily construct a Window-Eyes graphic dictionary for pronouncing the names of icons as you run the mouse pointer across them. Scroll bars Scroll bars, when present, are situated vertically on the right side of a window and horizontally across the bottom. A scroll bar allows you to use the mouse to move (or scroll) an open window two-dimensionally on the desktop-up and down through a document window, for example, or left and right when the window is too wide to fit into the space allowed for it on the display. 3.3: How it Works Selecting and Choosing The part of the active window that accepts keyboard input (and, often, mouse input as well) is said to have focus. If you are running a word processor, for example, the active window would display the arrangement of elements as described above, and the greater part of the rest of the display screen would be taken up by the word processor's editor, where you would do your writing. The bottom of the display might also contain a status line, showing the name of the open file and the cursor position by page, line, and position. If you are typing in the editor, the editor has focus. If you are using the pull-down menu bar, the item that is highlighted in different colors and waiting for you to act on it has focus. This type of active application window, such as the one that would contain Microsoft Word or Corel Word Perfect, would normally cover the entire visible portion of the desktop. Notepad might come up in a smaller window, leaving other portions of the desktop visible, both to the eye and to Window-Eyes. If you want to know what the active window contains, presuming it contains text, press the Window-Eyes Active Window hot key, CTRL-SHIFT-W. Likewise, to read the text of the element that has focus, press the Field Data hot key, CTRL-SHIFT-D. Giving focus to a Windows element is known as selecting it. This can ordinarily be done with either the mouse or the keyboard. Putting the mouse pointer on the menu bar, for example, and pressing the left mouse button once and immediately releasing it activates the menu bar, selects the item being pointed to, and pulls down a new menu from that item. The top item on the pull-down menu has focus. Selecting an element in this manner is also called clicking it. When you are through with a menu or help screen, for example, you can clear it from your work area simply by moving the mouse pointer away from it and clicking once again. In most application programs, the ESC key also clears menus and Help screens. Executing a Windows control is known as choosing it. As with selecting, choosing is done in various ways. You can set the mouse pointer on a focused control and click it, or you can just press ENTER to choose a selected menu or list item or icon, for example. Pressing the ALT key and immediately releasing it activates your application's menu bar as well; and gives focus to the left-most item-which would be either the child system drop-down if one is present or the File menu. You do not have to use the mouse for that task. You can then move back and forth along the menu bar with the RIGHT and LEFT arrow keys selecting and deselecting items along the way. Pressing ENTER chooses the selected menu item and pulls down a new menu. The menu does not know if you have selected it with the mouse or with the keyboard; the effect is exactly the same. You can then move around in the pull-down menu with UP and DOWN arrow keys. Again, ENTER chooses the focused menu item. As you move up and down a pull-down menu with either arrow keys or mouse pointer, focus changes from one item to the next. If you come to a menu item that is the parent of a submenu, the submenu branches out to the left or right of the parent item, depending on which side has more room, and the top item of the submenu has focus. Shortcut and Accelerator Keys As a Windows convention, menu items on a menu bar have shortcut keys, which are indicated by an underlined letter within the name of the menu item-'F' for File, 'E' for Edit, 'm' for Format, etc. Shortcut keys are known to Window-Eyes and are announced either when their items gain focus or when a whole menu bar is read. Instead of activating the menu bar by means of pressing the ALT key alone, then, you can execute a combination keystroke by holding down the ALT key while pressing the appropriate shortcut key. Pressing ALT-F, for example, would activate the File menu and select the top item. Many drop-down menu bars also have shortcut keys you can use, once the new bar has been dropped down from its parent menu. Several items of a pull-down menu also display a keystroke notation on the right side of the menu item to indicate an accelerator key. You can bypass the menu bar altogether and go straight to the program feature simply by pressing the accelerator key. For example, you can go straight from working on a file to opening a new file or closing the one you are in with just one keystroke. Usually CTRL-F4 closes a child window, while ALT-F4 closes an application window. Shortcut keys and accelerator keys are merely for convenience; you can just use the arrow keys to move through menu items and select them by pressing ENTER to choose the focused item if that is the method you prefer. Possibly Windows' greatest virtue is that it gives you several different ways to accomplish a given task, which allows you to interact with your computer software in ways that best suit your experience, taste, and computing needs. Window-Eyes keeps up with the work you do and tells you what is happening. Opening the Word Perfect File pull-down with the ALT-F key as in the above example would result in Window-Eyes saying in one long phrase, "F File pull-down N New Dialog." This tells you that File is the active menu, that a menu pull-down has also been activated, that N is the shortcut key for choosing New from this menu once it is active. Scroll Bars Scroll bars operate differently; you don't select and choose them. You point with the mouse to the arrows at either end of the scroll bar, then click and hold the left mouse button to scroll the window in the direction of the arrow. Releasing the mouse button stops the scrolling. List boxes (to be discussed later in this section) commonly offer scroll bars for moving up and down through the list. Scroll bars are mentioned for the sake of completeness. They generally have little value to the speech-access user. Mainly they are offered as a convenience to the visual-access user who would rather use the mouse than the keyboard to scroll through a document window or list. The speech-access user of course can scroll vertically through a document with UP and DOWN arrow keys. 3.4: The Windows Desktop Featured is a Taskbar, which is located at the bottom of the screen. A few icons for accessing programs and features within Windows itself are displayed vertically on the left side of the desktop. Among these are My Computer, for working your way through your system's drives and folder system, and Recycle Bin for storing deleted files and giving you a second chance to keep files after you have deleted them. Depending on how your system was set up, various program and file short-cut icons may also be present for launching some of your application programs. To the right of these icons and above the Taskbar is a large blank area, unless it has been filled with program or file icons (which are referred to as shortcuts in Windows). The background for all these icons is referred to as the Desktop and it is the area being referred to if you ever receive instructions to click on the desktop. A Start button is located at the far left side of the Taskbar. To the right of the Start button lies the Quick Launch bar which houses application shortcuts. Moving to the right, past the Quick Launch bar, along the Taskbar, you would find the names of any running programs and open files. Farther to the right is the System Tray. See Section 8.17 for instructions on how to access the System Tray with Window-Eyes. At the far right of the Taskbar is the time of day. You can choose the Start button from the Taskbar in various ways when the Taskbar has focus: you can point and click, press the Windows key, or press CTRL-ESC anytime. When the Taskbar becomes active, Window-Eyes announces "Taskbar." At this point you can arrow left and right through the currently active applications. Pressing ENTER on any of them will bring that application to the foreground. This is similar to pressing ALT-TAB. Choosing the Start button pops up the Start menu, which extends upward from the left of the Taskbar. Depending on how your system was set up, the Start menu may feature several of your application programs for launching just by choosing them from the Start menu. Most items on this menu open submenus, which branch off to the right of their parent menu items. The Start menu also has several items you can choose to take advantage of widely varying Windows operations. Here is a brief and limited description of the standard items on the Start menu: Programs Programs displays a branching submenu that you can use to start many of the programs in your system. If you have upgraded from previous versions of Windows, your former groups are listed in folders by their group names. Folder, by the way, is a Windows term for directory and subdirectory. When you install Windows, several programs of the operating system itself also get included on this menu. Choosing a folder item from the Programs menu either launches a program or opens a branching submenu that lists the programs in the folder. Select and choose one of these program names from the submenu to launch the program. Documents Documents displays a menu of the last 15 documents that have been opened in your system. Choosing any of these documents launches its parent application program and loads the document into it. Settings Settings displays a submenu for using Windows to control your computer system. Find Find displays a branching submenu for finding folders or files. Help Help launches the Windows help system. Run Run lets you run any program in your system or install new programs by typing the drive, path, and filename of the program or installation program. Shut Down Shut Down opens a dialog box of radio buttons for preparing your system for total shut down, restarting, or restarting in DOS mode. 3.5: The Dialog Box, the Property Sheet, and the Message Box The dialog box is so named because it is a box and because it lets you communicate with your application software in a somewhat more conversational style when compared to mere menus and icons. Choices you can make are presented in various forms and formats, located in various areas of the box. For example, if a dialog box contains a tab control, it is considered to be a property sheet. Dialog boxes display all the options you might need to know about and all the choices the program allows you to make on a given feature. For example, let us say you want to open a file. You would choose File from the menu bar and then choose Open from the File drop-down. The Open File dialog box would open, giving you a place to type the drive, path, and name of the file you want to open. Or, if you prefer, you could move on to the next control to scroll up and down a list of files in the currently logged directory to select and choose a file or even a group of files, instead of typing the name of the desired file. Choosing a file or files to open would close the Open File dialog and open the file or files you have chosen. In still another area of the dialog you might find a list of the last several files you have worked on recently, in case you wanted the last file you worked with but did not happen to recall its name or path. More sophisticated applications even let you move, copy, delete, and rename files right within the same dialog box. Convenience is also of key importance in MS Windows. You can change focus from one control to another in a dialog box in several different ways: You can point and click, rotate through the controls with TAB and SHIFT-TAB, or press one of the shortcut keys that Window-Eyes announces when it first reads the pop up dialog. To read the selected item of the focused control in a dialog box, press the Speak Summary hot key, CTRL-SHIFT-S. Here are some brief discussions of the various controls commonly found in dialog boxes: The Edit Box In an edit box you have free rein to type more or less any text you wish. Ordinarily edit boxes control how long your answer can be, and sometimes they are programmed to reject certain characters. When you select an edit box, Window-Eyes says Edit Box and then reads the prompt and anything that has already been filled in within that edit box. The prompt is usually displayed to the left or above the space where you are allowed to type and there is usually a cursor within the box. You can edit text by moving with arrows or deleting with BACKSPACE or DELETE. Windows also allows read-only edit boxes. A minor contradiction in terms, the read-only edit box looks exactly like an edit box. You can move the cursor around in one, however, read-only edit boxes do not accept keyboard input. Window-Eyes recognizes read-only edit boxes and tells you when you are in one. The Button The button, sometimes called a push button or button bar, is a very small control, ordinarily distinguished from other text by brighter or deeper colors and by a frame drawn around the text within the button. The text usually consists of one word, such as OK, Help, Options, Cancel, etc. Buttons can be chosen by pressing ENTER or the SPACE BAR when the button has focus. You can ordinarily point and click to select and choose a button all in one operation. Application programmers often choose which button you are most likely to use and so often have set one button in a dialog as the default (or selected) button. Pressing ENTER chooses the default button. When Window-Eyes reads you the dialog box, it tells you which button is the default button and tells you the shortcut keys you can press to choose any of the buttons. You can also press the Default Button hot key, NUMPAD-DELETE, to have Window-Eyes tell you the default button name in the current dialog box. If Window-Eyes beeps, there is no default button. Some buttons open new dialog boxes; others execute some action such as canceling the changes made to the information in the dialog box. The OK button conventionally saves the choices you have made in the dialog and closes it. The Cancel button restores the settings that were in place before you opened the dialog and, it too, closes the dialog for you. In most dialog boxes, ENTER automatically chooses the OK button or the selected button. The ESCAPE key chooses the Cancel button. Most feature-rich dialog boxes also have a Help button, which gives you access to the program's help system. Generally, the system is context sensitive, that is, the help screen that pops up gives you information about the dialog you are in. The simplest of dialog boxes sometimes do no more than ask you a very basic question that calls for a yes or no response. You can respond by choosing the Yes button or the No button. Again, the button you are most likely to need will have focus initially when the dialog box opens. The Radio Button Imagine a car radio. You get to choose one and only one station at a time by pushing buttons arranged in a row, but even if the radio is shut off, one of its station buttons is selected, and that corresponding radio station will play when you turn the radio on. Radio Buttons in MS Windows operate the same way, but they are typically displayed vertically instead of horizontally. Each radio button is depicted as a tiny hollow circle with a textual label to the right of the circle, describing the function of the button. One of these buttons is selected, as indicated by the circle being filled in for the benefit of the visual-access user. You tab to get into the array of radio buttons. When the first radio button gains focus, Window-Eyes tells you if it is checked or unchecked. You then move through them with arrow keys. As you move, you select the button you move to and, in so doing, deselect the previous one. After selecting the radio button you want, you can move on to the next area of the dialog box once again with the TAB key. You can also select a radio button by pointing and clicking with the left mouse button. When Window-Eyes reads an entire dialog box containing radio buttons, it reads the selected radio button as "checked" and all others as "unchecked. A good example of radio buttons can be found in the Windows 9X Shut Down dialog. The dialog asks the question: Are you sure you want to: Shut down the computer? Restart the computer? Restart the computer in MS DOS mode? You can select one of these three radio buttons, or you can TAB out of the radio button and then choose the OK, Cancel, or Help button bars. OK selects the selected radio button. Cancel returns you to where you were before you opened the Shut Down dialog. Help opens the Windows Help dialog with a description of what the Shutdown dialog does. The Check Box Check boxes are displayed in groups of one or more in their own areas of a dialog box, in a similar manner to radio buttons. Here, you can select none, one, more than one, or all the check boxes in a given set. Instead of being represented by tiny circles, check boxes are represented by tiny squares. Selecting a check box places a check mark inside the square. Slightly different from the procedure of selecting radio buttons you select a check box by clicking on it or by moving through the check boxes with the TAB key and pressing the SPACE BAR as each desired check box comes into focus. Window-Eyes tells you if the selected check box is checked or unchecked. A good example of check boxes can be found in the property sheet of the taskbar. Press CTRL-ESC, press ESC, tab to the taskbar, press SHIFT-F10, arrow down to properties, and press ENTER. As you tab through the check boxes, notice how you can select none, one, more than one, or all the check boxes presented in this dialog. The List Box Many dialog boxes include a list of items from which to select or choose. This might be a list of file names, file types, fonts, or other choices. The list is usually displayed vertically, and one item in the list is indicated as the selected item by being displayed in a different color from other items in the list. You can move among the listed items by pressing up and down arrows or by pressing the first letter of the item you are looking for. Either way, Window-Eyes reads each newly selected item. When you move into a list box, Window-Eyes announces, "List box," and reads you the selected item. Then it tells you the number of the selected item in the list and how many items are in the list. If there is no selection, Window-Eyes tells you that as well. Some list boxes allow more than one selection to be made at a time. For example, you might want to select several files for deletion. In cases like this, Windows application programmers normally designate the list box as a multi-selection list box. When you go to a multi-selection list box, Window-Eyes tells you so and, of course, reads you the selected item if one is selected. You may make multi-selections either by pressing and holding the left mouse button and moving it through the list of items you want to select or by holding down the SHIFT key while moving through the list with arrow keys. In keeping with a Windows convention, many applications let you switch to multi-selection mode in a list box, with a pressing of the SHIFT-F8 key. Once in this mode you can usually use the SPACE BAR to select or deselect multiple items. The Combo Box Combo boxes are not wholly different from menu or list boxes, in that they contain several items you can select and choose. The difference is that in a combo box only the selected item is visible, much as the case with button pull-downs. Pressing up and down arrow keys moves you through the choices from top to bottom. With many combo boxes, you can press ALT-DOWN ARROW to let the combo box be shown as a drop-down menu. You can still move through the items in the combo box by using the arrow keys. You can typically choose the selected item in the combo box with the ENTER key or the ALT-UP key. Once an item is chosen, the drop-down disappears, showing only the chosen item in the combo box. After selecting a new item in a combo box or allowing the current item to remain selected, you can TAB to the next area in the dialog or press the OK or Cancel buttons to close the dialog. Combo boxes are not rotors; they stop at a bottom and a top choice. You have to go the other direction if you come to either end before finding the item you are looking for. Combo boxes often let you select an item in the list by typing its first letter. You may notice what sounds at first like a lot of chatter when you type in a combo box. For example, let us say that your application program uses a combo box to present its list of available files you can open. You know the name of the file you want so you just start keying its name. With each keystroke, your application moves down the list, changing focus to the file closest to what you have typed so far. Thus if there were three files-Jackson, Johnson, and Jolson-and you wanted Jolson, you would hear "Jackson" when you typed the J, "Johnson" when you typed the O, and "Jolson" when you typed the L. Some combo boxes only allow you to type the first letter of the item you want; then, you have to use the arrow keys to move up and down the list of items that begin with that letter. The Combo Edit Box Sometimes a small edit box, known as a combo edit box, appears just above a list box. You can type in the combo edit box and, if there is an item in the items in the list box that corresponds to what you are typing, Windows selects that item for you. Window-Eyes tells you when you are in a combo edit box. The Tab Control Imagine a notebook with tabbed dividers sticking out past the edges of the notebook's pages. The subject matter within each tabbed section is different from the other two, per its tab label. Flipping through the notebook from tab to tab reveals pages that are very different from those in the previous tabbed section of your notebook; but being all in the same notebook, they surely have something in common. Windows tab controls are similar. Visually, they somewhat resemble a row of push buttons at the top of some dialog boxes. Like radio buttons, one and only one tab control can be selected at a time. There is no difference between selecting and choosing a tab control. The one that is chosen causes the rest of the dialog box beyond the tab controls to display its tab page. As you move to select a new tab control, you flip to a new tab page. You can get to the tab controls by pressing SHIFT-TAB. Then you can move back and forth through the tab controls with left and right arrows. When you get to the one you want, you can press the TAB key to move into the controls for that page. Pressing TAB repeatedly will eventually take you back to the tab controls. The advantage to tab controls is that they allow dialog boxes to contain more information and options, while saving space and lessening clutter. The Windows Accessibility dialog has a good example of tab controls. You can get to this dialog as follows: Choose Settings from the Start menu. Choose Control Panel from the resulting submenu. Choose the Accessibility icon, which is located at the top left of the Control Panel's box of icons. The five tab pages are: Keyboard Sound Display Mouse General The List View This control is similar to the list box. In appearance, the list view is not unlike a list box; however, all list views let you make multi-selections. You can change the view of most list views to be either iconic, which is similar to the desktop or to a list view, which is similar to the list box. In Explorer, for example, you can make this change through the View menu. You can press SHIFT-F10 or press the right mouse button to bring up a context menu for items in a list view. This menu allows you to perform specific operations on the selected item in the list view. For example in dial-up networking, the context menu for each connection allows you to connect, get status, disconnect, etc. To select multiple items in a list view, you need to move to the first entry and hold the CTRL key down (do not let it up). Press the SPACE BAR, and the first item will be selected. While still holding down the CTRL key, arrow to the next entry you wish to select. Once there, press the SPACE BAR. The space bar will select the item if it is currently unselected or unselect the item if it is currently selected. Continue this procedure until you have selected all the items of interest. Once they are all selected, you may let up on the CTRL key. Once you arrow with the CTRL key up, you will loose all your selections. You may also use the SHIFT key in conjunction with the arrow keys to select multiple, contiguous items. The Tree View The tree view control is used in Windows to present a tree-type view of folders and their sub folders. A good example of this control is in the Windows Device Manager, which can be found under the System section of the Control Panel. Items in a tree view can be closed or opened. When tree views are closed, sub folders are hidden from view. You can open a tree view by clicking on it or selecting it and then pressing the RIGHT arrow key. If an item is opened, pressing the DOWN ARROW will give focus to the sub folders in the tree, which are displayed downward and to the right of their parent folder. The Up/Down Edit Control Windows introduces the Up/Down Edit Control, which is not functionally unlike a vertical scroll bar that runs items up and down in an adjacent list box. The Up/Down Edit control, however, is adjacent and linked functionally to another control which contains information that can be increased or decreased in value. An excellent example can be found in the Date Time section of the Control Panel. Here are provided Up/Down controls for changing year, date, time, etc. You can point, click, and hold, while values for these items increase or decrease, depending on which end of the control you are using. You can use the UP and DOWN ARROWS to change the value in this control. The Rich Edit Control Windows offers an enhanced form of the edit box called the rich edit. This control allows the application designer to do more complicated operations which have no impact on the speech access user. As far as Window-Eyes is concerned, rich edit controls behave exactly like edit boxes. Read-only rich edit controls are also available. Track Bars Windows also offers the track bar. This is a slider control. Use the UP and DOWN arrows to make the selection. Some track bars work opposite of the way that you would logically think that they should. For example a volume track bar might tell you that you are on "0 of 255" when you are actually at the loudest volume setting. Some experimentation might be necessary when working with track bars to make sure that you have set the setting that you intended. Custom Controls When software developers design dialog boxes, they usually choose from among the above Windows controls to direct your responses. Programmers can, however, create their own mini-interfaces to interact with you, or they can modify existing controls to better fit their needs. When Window-Eyes encounters one of these controls, it announces that you are in a custom control. On their own, some custom controls speak through Window-Eyes better than others. But some would not speak at all if it were not for Window-Eyes' Reclass feature, which lets Window-Eyes access many custom controls as if they were standard controls. Section 8.16 of this manual tells how to use this important speech feature when you encounter custom controls that don't speak well on their own. When you use application programs that are supported by set files that came on your Window-Eyes program CD, all known custom controls will already be reclassed for you, so in that case you needn't be concerned with using the Window-Eyes Reclass hot key. But if you are having difficulty with getting a control in a dialog to speak well, you should refer to Section 8.16 for a complete explanation of reclassing custom controls. Message Boxes Message boxes are very similar to dialog boxes. However, usually message boxes display messages and simply wait for you to acknowledge the message. Usually, an OK button has focus and this is the only control in the message box. Choosing it removes the message box from your desktop. Error messages, for example, are commonly displayed in message boxes. 3.6: The Windows Display Screen Video Resolution The Windows screen is made up of a matrix of dots, called pixels. The term resolution is used to express the number of pixels from left to right and from top to bottom on the screen. The resolution of your screen is determined by the video card you are using, the video driver Windows is using for your video card, and the resolution that was selected when MS Windows was installed in your system. Distances from the left edge of the display screen are expressed as X pixels. Distances from the top are expressed as Y pixels. If the mouse pointer is positioned at the top left corner of the display screen and you press the Window-Eyes Mouse Address hot key, CTRL-INS-NUMPAD-+, Window-Eyes announces, "X0 Y0," assuming that the mouse boundary is set to full screen. If the screen is 640 pixels wide, the center of the top edge is expressed as X320 Y0. A quick way to find out the resolution of your system is to position the mouse pointer in the lower right corner of the display screen and then press CTRL-INS-NUMPAD-+. Window-Eyes announces the mouse' pointer's position, which happens to equal the total value of pixels across and down from the top left of the display. To accomplish this task: 1. Press CTRL-SHIFT-B until Window-Eyes announces, "Full Screen." This allows you to use the keyboard to move the mouse pointer freely around the entire display screen. 2. Press NUMPAD-PAGE DOWN, to move the mouse pointer to the lower right corner of the display screen. 3. Press CTRL-INS-NUMPAD-+. Window-Eyes announces a position such as X639 Y479. This would indicate that your system's resolution is 640 X 480 pixels. The top left corner, by the way, is X0 Y0, not X1 Y1. Colors Six values are necessary to express Windows colors, three for the foreground and three for the background. The foreground color comprises varying amounts of red, green, and blue (often called RGB values). Each of these three primary colors can have a value 0-255. R255 G255 B255 makes white. The opposite, R0 G0 B0, makes black. The background color is formed the same way. Other colors are formed by using various RGB values. Section 13 of this manual tells in detail how Window-Eyes lets you work with Windows colors. 3.7: Some MS Windows Keyboard Commands As indicated earlier in this section, MS Windows and most Windows-based applications allow you to operate the controls with the keyboard instead of the mouse. Here is a review of keystrokes you can take to accomplish many of the tasks discussed in this section: ALT Press and release the ALT key by itself to activate the drop-down menu bar. The child drop-down control menu or the File menu may have focus, depending on your application program. From any place in the menu bar or drop-down menus, press and release the ALT key a second time to deselect the menu bar and restore focus to the place where you were in your application program before you went to the menu bar. ALT-TAB Press Alt-TAB to display an information box containing the program icon and label for the application window that was open immediately before the current application window. Holding down the ALT key and repeatedly pressing the TAB key rotors through all application windows, displaying their program icons and labels along the way. Window-Eyes reads the contents of the information box as new information is displayed. ALT-SHIFT-TAB does the same thing, but rotors backward through the list. Releasing these keys simultaneously activates the application window whose program icon is currently shown in the box. Window-Eyes voices the contents of the active title bar. ALT-ESCAPE ALT-ESCAPE rotors through all open application windows. Each open program in turn becomes the active application window. Window-Eyes reads the title bar of each window as the window is activated. CTRL-ESCAPE CTRL-ESCAPE simply displays the Start Menu. ALT-SPACE ALT-SPACE activates the system drop-down. You can operate this drop-down through the same means as all other menus. ALT-HYPHEN ALT-HYPHEN activates the child drop-down in the same manner. When either of these menus is displayed, pressing and immediately releasing the ALT key closes the menu and restores focus to the element that had focus before the control menu was activated. Pressing ESCAPE while the control menus are displayed removes the menu. TAB In an editor, TAB moves the cursor to the next tab stop. In a dialog box, the TAB key places focus on the next of control in the box. SHIFT-TAB, in an application window, normally moves the cursor back one tab stop or enters a hanging indent. In a dialog box, SHIFT-TAB places focus on the previous of control in the box. Windows Key Commands If you are using a keyboard that supports the Microsoft Windows key, then you can use the following keyboard commands. Note, the Windows key is located between the ALT and CTRL keys on newer keyboards. Windows-E Windows-E will open a single copy of the Windows Explorer to let you browse the contents of your files and folders. Windows-M The Windows-M command will minimize all applications that are currently running. Windows-D Like Windows-M, the Windows-D command will minimize all applications, plus add focus to the desktop. Windows-TAB Windows-TAB is related to the ALT-TAB command; it rotors between all applications that are running. Windows-TAB, however, doesn't bring up a message box. Rather it rotors through the applications by focusing the respective application's entry on the taskbar. Press the SPACE BAR to activate the application that you've selected by using the Windows-TAB command. 3.8: Understanding Windows XP/2003 Although Windows XP and Windows 2003 are similar in terms of functionality to their predecessors, they do warrant their own section in order to explain the re-designed layout of the graphical user interface components (ie. the start menu, task bar, desktop, etc). Unlike Windows 9X, Me, and 2000, Windows XP and Windows 2003 are designed to be "task oriented." In other words, performing a task in Windows XP/2003, such as changing video resolution, is much easier, and more user friendly, than it was in previous versions of Windows. An example is included later in this section which will help demonstrate the user friendly-ness that Windows XP boasts. The Start Menu The start menu of the past usually consisted of a list of applications that were installed on the machine. In Windows XP/2003, the start menu has been redefined to display the most commonly used tasks and applications, rather than a list of every application available (although that list is still available by selecting the All Programs menu item). The start menu in Windows XP/2003 is divided into two parts: the pinned programs list (programs that are always visible and available for action), and the most frequently used programs list (programs that are used most frequently). The most frequently used programs list contains a fixed number of entries. When that number of programs is reached, program entries that you haven't used recently are replaced with program entries that you used last. This makes for a more dynamic menu list. The Task bar The Windows XP/2003 task bar is very similar to previous versions of Windows' task bar with two noticeable differences: the ability to group similar icons, and the ability to hide unused icons in the system tray. For example, if you have a number of miscellaneous windows open, and three of them happen to be Internet Explorer windows, the three Internet Explorer windows will be grouped together in a single button titled "Internet Explorer." Selecting this button will present you with a list of the related windows, allowing you to choose the one you want to activate. If icons exist in the system tray that have not been used in a certain amount of time, they can be hidden from view. If any icon in the system tray becomes "unused," an arrow will appear to the left of the system tray. Activating this arrow will cause all hidden icons in the system tray to be displayed temporarily. Activating a hidden icon will return it to its visible state. This feature should be avoided due to the fact that focus will no longer go to the system tray while tabbing around the desktop, and will cause problems with the Window-Eyes system tray access feature. While the Window-Eyes mouse keys could be used to traverse the screen, and click on the show icons button, it tends to be more work than the feature is worth. The Desktop In previous versions of Windows, the desktop contained several icons including (but not limited to) My Computer, My Documents, Recycle Bin, Network Neighborhood, and Internet Explorer. The Windows XP/2003 desktop (by default), however, contains only the Recycle Bin. All of the items that were commonly known as existing on the desktop now exist in the Windows XP/2003 start menu. The purpose in this reduction of icons is to create a more organized, less cluttered work area. The Control Panel True to the idea of task orientation, the Windows XP/2003 control panel has a new layout that makes system specific tasks much easier than previous versions of Windows. The newly designed control panel (located in the start menu) displays the items most commonly used organized by category. Selecting a category causes a list of tasks that can be performed as well as a list of individual control panel items (such as the ones listed in previous versions of Windows). The example below demonstrates the use of the control panel in further detail. The Folder View By default, when a folder is opened, a list of tasks that can be performed on that folder are listed on the left side of the folder window. The most common tasks listed, grouped in their respective categories, are as follows: File and Folder Tasks Make a new folder Publish this folder to the web Share this folder Other Places My Computer My Documents Shared Documents My Network Places Details Hard Disk Name Hard Disk Type File System Type Free Space Total Size The contents of these categories will change depending on whether a file is selected, a folder is selected, or whether the contents of the folder warrant different categories (such as folders that contain music or movies). Comparing the old and the new The best way to understand the significance of the new task oriented view is to examine a procedure in both Windows XP/2003 and an older version of Windows. This example includes the steps for changing the screen resolution in both Windows 9X, and Windows XP/2003. Note that these steps are listed to display the simplicity of the task oriented view, and may not be comprehensive enough to follow for actually completing the task. Windows 9X 1. Press CTRL-ESC to bring up the start menu 2. Press "S" until the Settings pull down is activated 3. Press ENTER to activate the Control Panel 4. Press "D" until you hear Display 5. Press ENTER 6. Press SHIFT-TAB once to focus the Background tab control 7. Press the RIGHT ARROW until you hear Settings 8. Press TAB until the track bar is focused 9. Arrow LEFT or RIGHT to decrease or increase the screen resolution respectively 10. Press ENTER Windows XP/2003 1. Press CTRL-ESC to bring up the start menu 2. Press "C" for Control Panel 3. Tab to "Appearance and Themes" 4. Tab to "Change the screen resolution" 5. Press TAB until you hear the track bar labeled "Screen Resolution" 6. Arrow LEFT or RIGHT in decrease or increase the screen resolution respectively 7. Press ENTER While steps still exist for changing the resolution under Windows XP/2003, they tend to be easier to understand and easier to access than in previous versions of Windows. Although all of these options make the task of changing system components easier, Windows XP/2003 still allows the display to be returned to the classic view, similar to that of Windows 9X, Me, and 2000. Please refer to Section 2.10 for more information on reverting to the classic view in Windows XP/2003. SECTION FOUR An Overview of Window-Eyes This Section of the Window-Eyes manual provides you with the basic features of Window-Eyes. 4.1: Just What is Window-Eyes? Window-Eyes is an application program that monitors the activities of other application programs and reports textual information to speech synthesizers designed to receive text from screen readers. Window-Eyes monitors keyboard, screen, and Windows activities and acts on information it needs, such as screen text changes, opening and closing windows, the appearance of dialog boxes, changes in focus, the pressing of its own hot keys, etc - all the while allowing other applications to run normally. Your application program - spreadsheet, word processor, whatever - does not even know Window-Eyes is running. What does Window-Eyes look for as it does this monitoring? That depends on what you, the computer user, ask it to look for - characters or words, whole numbers or individual numerals as you type them, cursor keys and function keys as you press them, information on the screen, changes in color attributes as they occur, pop-up boxes - and much more. Window-Eyes processes this information and sends it as electronic text to your speech synthesizer software for conversion into audible speech. Dozens of Window-Eyes settings and functions, which can be saved and recalled automatically, allow you to operate application programs interactively and without pause. For example, while creating a document in your word processor, Window-Eyes announces the letters you type, reads the dialog boxes that appear, and reads menu items as you move from one to another, all without your needing to press extra keys or enter any special mode. Window-Eyes lets you correct words your speech synthesizer mispronounces, and even lets you decide through character dictionaries how to pronounce individual characters such as punctuation marks and ANSI graphic characters. 4.2: Window-Eyes User Windows Window-Eyes Windows Not to be confused with Microsoft Windows, Window-Eyes user windows are user definable, rectangular portions of the display screen. You define them in terms of coordinates relative to the active window. For example, a window defined as the full active Window would have a left edge 0 pixels from the left edge of the active window, 0 pixels from the top edge of the active window, 0 pixels from the right edge, and 0 pixels from the bottom of the active window. As the active window is resized or moved, Window-Eyes user windows adjust to accommodate the changes. Two Kinds of Windows Window-Eyes has two kinds of windows, standard and hyperactive. Standard user windows are for reading portions of the display screen while ignoring other portions. They can be set to any size, from one character to the entire display screen. You can read the contents of any of the first twenty standard windows with the press of a hot key. Windows 0 through 9 can be read with ALT-0 through ALT-9. Windows 10 through 19 have their hot keys undefined by default. Any of the 50 standard windows can be read with the Any Window hot key, undefined in the default Window-Eyes speaking environment. Though fifty standard user windows are available, few speech-access users ever need to use all, or even most of them. A bit more complicated than standard windows but no less important, hyperactive windows help automate Window-Eyes. Once set, a hyperactive window watches constantly for user-specified changes on the display screen and then instructs Window-Eyes to carry out some pre-selected task. For example, a hyperactive window might be set to watch for any change on your application program's status line and then instruct Window-Eyes to read the line. Ordinarily located at the very bottom of the application window, a status line is a line of information about the status of a program where the cursor is in a document, the name of the currently open file, etc. Meanwhile, another hyperactive window might be set to watch for a certain color to pop up, and then trigger Window-Eyes to beep or maybe make some announcement. 4.3: The Window-Eyes Voice Control Panel A brief tour of Window-Eyes first reveals the Voice Control Panel, which can be accessed any time Window-Eyes is running. This Voice Control Panel is operated from a menu bar. To access the Voice Control Panel, hold down either CTRL key and then press the BACKSLASH (\) key. Release them together. The Voice Control Panel is activated, and its title bar and menu bar are displayed at the top of your display screen. Window-Eyes reads its title bar, which includes its own program name, the name of the set file currently running, and the name of the set file currently associated with the active application window. Set file associations are discussed thoroughly in Section 7. The Voice Control Panel runs in its own application window, just as any other application program. Thus, though the CTRL-\ key has been provided as a convenience for you to access the Voice Control Panel, you can activate it through the same means you would use to activate any of the applications you are running. In Windows, for example, you can press and hold the ALT key while repeatedly pressing the TAB key to rotor through your application programs until you get to Window-Eyes. You can activate the Taskbar by pressing CTRL-ESC followed by ESC and then tabbing until you get to the task bar. Once you get to the task bar you can then arrow through the programs displayed there until you come to Window-Eyes, then choose it. After activating the Voice Control Panel's menu bar with a press and release of the ALT key, you can move focus across the menu bar from one item to the next by repeatedly pressing the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys. Menu item names will be read by Window-Eyes, along with their shortcut keys and what they will activate if chosen, thus: F = File pull-down S = Screen pull-down K = Keyboard pull-down M = Mouse pull-down O = Hot Keys pull-down C = Cursoring dialog G = General pull-down B = Braille pull-down V = Verbosity pull-down L = Global pull-down H = Help pull-down Once you learn the shortcut keys, you can use the ALT key along with any of them as a combination keystroke to go straight from the Voice Control Panel to activating the pull-down menu from the menu bar. Since all of the pull-downs and their branching submenus have shortcut keys in turn, you will add to your speed and efficiency by learning and using them. If you do not use a shortcut key, preferring instead just to get to a desired menu item with the arrow keys, you have to press ENTER to choose that item once you get there. When you choose an item from a Window-Eyes pull-down menu, one of three things will occur, depending on which menu item you choose: If the menu item is a toggle, for turning the voice on and off for example, choosing the item will select the opposite option and deactivate the entire menu bar. You have to reactivate the menu bar every time you want to make an adjustment through the pull-down menus. Window-Eyes announces, "Menu closed." The menu item may lead to a branching submenu. For example, if you choose Save from the File menu, a branching submenu offers several options. Window-Eyes calls branching submenus pull-downs. When you come to a pull-down from within a pull-down, you can use the ENTER key to make the new pull-down appear. Some menu items open dialog boxes, which contain several different kinds of controls, as discussed in Section 3.5. Window-Eyes Files The Window-Eyes File menu is used primarily for manually opening and saving Window-Eyes files. These include speaking environments constructed through the Voice Control Panel (which you will also learn about in this section