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jayboi2005
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Postby jayboi2005 » Mon 31 Jul 2006 8:58 pm

Good luck! I have problems with computers myself, i have to concentrate that hard that i end up feeling sick. So i don't spend so much time with them anymore i had to finish my job as i just couldnt do it every day all day. :roll:

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rosemary johnson
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Postby rosemary johnson » Tue 01 Aug 2006 6:44 pm

Hi.
Doesn't entirely surprise me someone has mentioned the name "Dragon" - i've found out that ther eare a large number of people out there who hear the mention of "speech output" software - as in screenreaders such as HAL/Supernova or Jaws - and their brains somehow transform this into "speech *input*" and they immediately start saying "Oh yes! dragon!"
Duh!
I have come across one person who does use both a screen reader/speech output *and* speech input and has got it working OK.
Personally I wouldn't, because
1. isn't the Dragon spech input just going to start inputting whatever is coming out of your screenreader's speech output?? (unless you wear headphones all the time, but who wants to?)
2. prevents me listening to the radio while I'll going through the emails (unless I want to send out emails with half of the day's edition of The Archers included).
Rosemary

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Andrew MacLean
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Postby Andrew MacLean » Wed 02 Aug 2006 6:09 am

I use the Mac text-to-voice system, but it is built into the Operating System.

I like it very much. there is a choice of voices (I use "Fred" who is male, 50 years old and mid western American). I'd prefer a slightly more Scottish voice, but I don't think that the nice people at Apple Computers have got round to that yet.

Andrew
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Matthew_
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Postby Matthew_ » Wed 02 Aug 2006 8:04 am

I wasn't really thnking like that - linking input with output. I wish windows had built in an application into their OS. I am surprised they haven't thought of bundling something in and making sure nobody else is compatible!
Anyway Microsoft aside, I was aware that Dragon was an input application, I just thought it would save my eyes a bit if I could dictate rather than type. Similarly a visikeys keyboard would just be easier, I tend to slip off the keys all the time because I can't really switch focus from the screen to the keyboard that quickly. I could of course just learn to touch type and it would help if I didn't have hands like shovels!
I was more interested in the magnification side of the software than speech output. I find that although I have altered the DPI settings and font size and so on, the PC still seems to decide for itself what needs to be magnified and e-mail messages seem to remain in the font they were typed in. I am assuming the magnification software would resolve this?
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Andrew MacLean
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Postby Andrew MacLean » Wed 02 Aug 2006 8:19 am

Matthew

Mac users have an easy magnification system, also built into the OS.

I preset my computer to magnify down to a particular detail in the text etc and just tap one key so that the text magnifies until I can see it easily. This is very hand for the end of a titring day.

Somebody who understands these things once tried to explain how this works, but I am an old man and, although I think I understood each of the words he used, when the words were joined jop in the conjunction he used, he might as well have been texting in greek (except that I read Greek!).

So your answer is simple: get the Navy to ditch Windows and step up to the 21st century with an Apple Mac :D

Andrew Mac
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Matthew_
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Postby Matthew_ » Wed 02 Aug 2006 9:48 am

Andrew,
If it was down to me we would be using LINUX anyway!
That facility on Mac sounds ideal since you can magnify the bit you need instead of blowing the whole document up so you can only see three words at a time!
English is hard enough for me, so I am impressed with the Greek. I also like your picture (Monsieur L'Evique) thing at the end of the text, how do you do that?
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Andrew MacLean
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Postby Andrew MacLean » Wed 02 Aug 2006 10:17 am

You go to "Profile" at the top of the page. Once there you find all sorts of goodies, one of which is a signature window.

Knight (another user) designed a couple of sig pics for me. I change them from time to time. The pictures are stored remotely on my server and I just post an http link within the img box you get by clicking the button provided by John.

John is a bit fussy about the sizes of pictures we display within our sig files. He will give you any guidance, but as a rule of thumb my sig pics are about as high and wide as he allows.

The l'eveque nonsense came about a long time ago when some of us were playing. somebody suggested that it would be good to have a complete workforce made up of people with KC. You will see lots of people with spurious job titles (Louise is Director of Sci fi and silliness, etc).

I chose M l'Éveque (French for Bishop) because we don't have them in my part of the Church, so I could not be accused of usurping anybody else's dignity.

I guess its a whimsy that is passing its sell by date!
Andrew MacLean

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rosemary johnson
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Postby rosemary johnson » Wed 02 Aug 2006 6:55 pm

The two "big name" magnification packages are :
Lunar from a firm called Dolphin in Orcester (Lunar in a bundle running together with Hal sppech output and I think the Braille driver programme is called SuperNova)
Zoomtext

I'm sure you can find these, and quite likely time-limited demo vrsions on the web.
Otherwise, either the companies on one of their "roadshows" or the local RBIN should be able to arrange a demo.

I think the general idea i you set the "normal2 magnification level you want, and then have a hot ey so you can bum up (and down) the magnification as required if there is a hard-to read bit (or you want to get an overall view).
Good luck.
Rosemary

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Matthew_
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Postby Matthew_ » Wed 02 Aug 2006 7:59 pm

Hey guys,
I feel a bit foolish now because I have discovered that windows does indeed have a built in magnifier which is OK actually. Still not as good as the MAC systems sounds but very useful nevertheless! It also has a "narrator" programme which is actually not that great, especially since I cannot get it to translate anything yet, I just get to hear all my key strokes in very rapid succession which is just a blur even at my very low speed typing. Still, I am better off than I was this morning!
Thanks Rosemary for the advice on software; I will be getting some of these through our occy health guys.
Thanks Andrew for the info on OS software, you made me think about what we can do without buying software; maybe Microsoft aren't so bad (did I really say that?) Thanks for the background on Mnsr L'eveque aussi.
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rosemary johnson
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Postby rosemary johnson » Thu 03 Aug 2006 7:40 pm

And there I was, thinking I should have pointed you to the Windoze "Accessibility options", and you've found them!
Unfortunately, they seem to be not always loaded on all computers, so glad theyw ee on the one you were using.
The setting you want to adjust in Narrator - I'm sure it must have such a thing! = is to change "key echo" to "word echo". My HAL came with the default set to ey echo, and it was about the first thing I changed.
As for keyboards - I think it was on another thread I posted this, so you may not have read it, but: before you invest in a new keyboard, try investigating what the RNIB or similar can do in the way of high contrast stick-on labels for the keyboard. That is, sticky-backed plastic (!! - in good Blue Peter style) squares with large letters in bold colours that contrast well with the background - eg. yellow on black. you stick these onto the keyboard, and Bob's your uncle. Far cheaper than a whole new keyboard, at least that's the idea.
Another thing I've got is a pack of "bumpons" - sticky=backed bobbles to provide a tactile "dot" as a marker you can feel for particularly important landmarks. Actually, the bumpons also come in bright colours and different shapes (round blob, square blob....) but I just use the transparent ones to mark F1, f5 and F9 - and when I find the envelope again, I'm going to mark 1.5.9 in the numbers row too.
If your keyboard has dots on the f and j keys, to guide touch typists, you'll know the idea but these are bigger.
(SOme DIY stores may sell similar things for sticking on the inside edges of cupboard doors so they don't bang shut.)
Rosemary


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