INDEPENDENCE SERIES SCREEN READER/2 GETTING STARTED FIRST EDITION (JULY 1993) (C) COPYRIGHT INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION 1993. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Note to U.S. Government Users -- Documentation related to restricted rights -- Use, duplication or disclosure is subject to restrictions set forth in GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION TO SCREEN READER/2 . . . . . . . . 1 INSTALLATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Installing the Adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Installing the Keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Installing Screen Reader/2 . . . . . . . . . . 9 Prompted Installation Procedure . . . . . . . 10 Non-Prompted Installation Procedure . . . . . 17 TUTORIAL - PART 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Starting the Computer and Synthesizer . . . . 23 Displaying the Tutorial Screens . . . . . . . 24 Lesson 1 - Using the Keypad . . . . . . . . . . 26 Using the Number Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Stopping Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Using Key Sequences and Chords . . . . . . . 29 Reading the Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Getting Help for the Keypad Keys . . . . . . 31 Lesson 2 - Screen Reader/2 Settings . . . . . . 32 Hearing How a Word is Spelled . . . . . . . . 32 Using Screen Reader/2 Formats . . . . . . . . 33 Controlling Your Synthesizer . . . . . . . . 36 Lesson 3 - Getting Around in Screen Reader/2 40 Using the Cursor and Pointer . . . . . . . . 41 Finding a String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Finding the Next Occurrence . . . . . . . . . 51 Finding the Same String on a New Screen . . . 52 Reading a Specific Line . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Lesson 4 - Viewports and Autospeaks . . . . . . 55 Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Viewport Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Autospeaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Defining Autospeaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Autospeak Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 TUTORIAL - PART 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Terms and Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Notes about Selecting and Opening Objects . . . 66 Lesson 5 - Getting to the Desktop . . . . . . . 67 Lesson 6 - Selecting Objects . . . . . . . . . 68 Lesson 7 - Opening Objects . . . . . . . . . . 71 Opening a Device Object . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Opening a Data-File Object . . . . . . . . . 72 Opening a Folder Object . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Lesson 8 - Using OS/2 Windows and the Window List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Foreground Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 The Window List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Closing a Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Lesson 9 - Creating and Using the Screen Reader/2 Switch List . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 Lesson 10 - Using OS/2 Help . . . . . . . . . . 81 Lesson 11 - Using Online Books . . . . . . . . 85 Using the Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . 86 Reading a Page of Text . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Using Hypertext Words . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Using the Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Closing Online Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Lesson 12 - Using Pop-up Menus . . . . . . . . 93 Lesson 13 - Getting to an OS/2 or DOS Prompt 94 Lesson 14 - Shutting Down . . . . . . . . . . . 96 APPENDIX A. SYNTHESIZERS . . . . . . . . . . 101 Accent by AICOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Apollo by Dolphin Systems . . . . . . . . . . 103 Audapter by Personal Data Systems . . . . . . 104 Braille Blazer and Braille 'n Speak by Blazie Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 CallText 5050, Prose 2020 by Centigram Communications Corporation . . . . . . . . . 106 DECtalk by Digital Equipment Corporation . . 107 ECHO by Echo Corporation . . . . . . . . . . 109 ECHO-PC by Echo Corporation . . . . . . . . . 110 Keynote Gold by Pulse Data Systems . . . . . 111 Personal Speech System by Votrax Incorporated 113 Portable DECtalk/MultiVoice by Digital Equipment Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Reading Edge by XEROX Imaging Systems . . . . 117 VoxBox by InfoVox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 APPENDIX B. PROBLEM DETERMINATION . . . . . 123 Problems During Installation . . . . . . . 123 Problems During Screen Reader/2 Operation . 124 Running the Keypad Test Program . . . . . . 126 No Keypad Response after Mouse Support Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 No Port Available for Screen Reader Keypad Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130 INTRODUCTION TO SCREEN READER/2 Screen Reader*/2 Version 1.1 is a computer-access system which enables blind and visually-impaired people to use OS/2*, Windows**, and DOS applications, all running under Operating System/2(*) Version 2.1. Screen Reader/2 is available for users of IBM Personal Systems computers and PS/ValuePoint(*) systems. Screen Reader/2 is the first computer-access system to automatically read the title, selector, and other system information presented by the graphical-user interface in both OS/2 and Windows applications. Screen Reader/2 consists of the following items: Program and documentation diskettes Audio cassettes This printed Getting Started book Reference cards in braille Screen Reader keypad (optional) - Part Number 1393515 Keypad cable (optional) - Part Number 72X8537 Screen Reader adapter (optional) - Part Number 57F1588 (*) Trademark of IBM Corp. (**) Trademark of Microsoft. Documentation is provided on cassette tape, in braille, online, and in print: Getting Started Print, Cassette Tape User's Guide Online PAL Reference Online Keys Reference Cards Braille, Online Screen Reader/2 is similar to Screen Reader/DOS but works with OS/2 Version 2.1. Most of the basic Screen Reader/2 key sequences are similar to those of Screen Reader/DOS and Screen Reader/2, Version 1.0; however, new autospeaks, profiles, and key sequences have been added for Screen Reader/2 to support the OS/2 2.1 environment. Screen Reader/2 Version 1.1 has these additional enhancements to the Screen Reader product: Key definitions have been changed to allow more forms of keypad key sequences. Screen Reader/2 uses a concept known as chords to extend its capabilities. A chord is a combination of two keys that are pressed simultaneously. The way you install, start, modify, and view books for Screen Reader/2 is similar to other OS/2 applications. Screen Reader/2 is so flexible, you can even use it with a laptop computer. With the pop-up keypad, you can assign the keypad key sequences to your keyboard, so the keypad doesn't have to be attached. Screen Reader/2 works nicely with most of the OS/2 base and extended applications. It also works well with many popular OS/2 and Windows 3.1 software programs. Screen Reader/2 can announce mouse movements and you can use the keypad to simulate mouse functions. You can now use multiple serial output devices, like a Braille display and a synthesizer at the same time. INSTALLATION This section explains how to install the keypad, the keypad adapter (if it is necessary), and the Screen Reader/2 program. The following components are required before you begin the installation procedure: Keypad Cable Adapter (if necessary). The OS/2 Version 2.1 operating system and your synthesizer must be installed on your computer before you connect the keypad and adapter. Refer to Appendix A, "Synthesizers", for information about Screen Reader/2-supported synthesizers. If you are using a system that does not have a mouse port (pointing device port), such as an IBM Personal Computer AT* , you need to install the adapter. If not, skip the following section, Installing the Adapter, and go directly to Installing the Keypad. NOTE: The adapter card cannot be used in a computer with Micro Channel* expansion slots. INSTALLING THE ADAPTER To install the adapter: 1. Switch off your computer and all attached devices. 2. Disconnect all external cables. 3. Remove the computer's cover. 4. Choose an empty slot and remove the slot cover. 5. Find the adapter. The adapter is wrapped in an antistatic bag. To prevent damage to the adapter from static electricity, take the following precaution when removing it from its bag: Touch the static-protective bag to any of the metal expansion slot covers in the rear of the system unit. This reduces static electricity from the package. 6. Carefully remove the adapter from its bag, holding the adapter by the edges only. Avoid touching the components or connections of the adapter. Limit your movement, because movement can cause static electricity buildup. 7. Insert the adapter into the now-empty slot. 8. Use the holding screw to secure the adapter in its place. 9. Find the connecting cable and remove it from its bag. Pull the tab to open the bag. The cable is approximately nine feet long and has two plugs, one at each end. One is a round plug; the other is a rectangular plug with two wings, one on each side. The round plug fits into the 6 Independence Series: Screen Reader/2 Getting Started keypad adapter. The rectangular plug fits into the keypad. 10. Insert the keypad cable's round plug into the adapter's connector now because the plug and the slot opening are exactly the same size and it will be easier to line them up correctly with the computer's cover off. CAUTION: THIS PLUG HAS SEVERAL PINS THAT BEND EASILY IF YOU DO NOT INSERT THE PLUG CORRECTLY. YOU MIGHT WANT TO HAVE SOMEONE ASSIST YOU IN CONNECTING IT. IN ADDITION, THIS PLUG FITS ONLY ONE WAY. IF YOU HAVE DIFFICULTY, TURN THE PLUG UNTIL IT SLIDES INTO PLACE. 11. Replace the computer's cover. 12. Reconnect all cables. After the adapter is securely in place, install the keypad. INSTALLING THE KEYPAD To install the keypad: 1. Switch off your computer and all attached devices. 2. Remove the keypad from the box. The keypad is rectangular and has 18 keys. 3. Find the connecting cable and remove it from its bag. Pull the tab to open the bag. The cable is approximately nine feet long and has two plugs, one at each end. One is a round plug; the other is a rectangular plug with two wings, one on each side. The round plug fits into the keypad adapter or the mouse port. The rectangular plug fits into the keypad. NOTE: If you installed the adapter, you've already taken the connecting cable out of the bag and connected one end of it. 4. Hold the rectangular plug on the connecting cable. 5. Locate the rectangular socket at the rear of the keypad. 6. Hold the plug horizontally with the wings toward the top, and push it into the socket in the keypad. NOTE: This plug fits only one way. If you have difficulty, turn it until it slides into place and clicks. 7. Gently pull on the cable to make sure that it is securely connected to the keypad. 8. Plug the round plug into the mouse port. NOTE: You may have already plugged this into the Screen Reader/2 adapter. CAUTION: THIS PLUG HAS SEVERAL PINS THAT BEND EASILY IF YOU DO NOT INSERT THE PLUG CORRECTLY. YOU MIGHT WANT TO HAVE SOMEONE ASSIST YOU IN CONNECTING IT. IN ADDITION, THIS PLUG FITS ONLY ONE WAY. IF YOU HAVE DIFFICULTY, TURN IT UNTIL IT SLIDES INTO PLACE. 9. The keypad has a stand on the bottom that can raise the keypad on an angle. To raise your keypad, run your hand along the bottom of the keypad, from the thinnest end to the thickest. When you find the groove, use both index fingers to tilt the stand until it locks in the open position. 8 Independence Series: Screen Reader/2 Getting Started NOTE: If you experience keypad problems (for example, no response) refer to Appendix B, "Problem Determination," for instructions on running the keypad test program. INSTALLING SCREEN READER/2 Before you install Screen Reader/2, you need the following: Screen Reader keypad attached Synthesizer (attached to communication port only) Two Screen Reader/2 diskettes OS/2 2.1 installed NOTE: Some users perform an additional procedure before installing this version of Screen Reader/2. Skip this procedure, if: You are not running a previous version of Screen Reader/2. You are not using OS/2 prior to Version 2.1. Only perform this procedure (consisting of the following four steps) if: You are running a previous version of Screen Reader/2. You are using OS/2 prior to Version 2.1. 1. Start from an OS/2 Full Screen. You may need sighted assistance for this step. 2. Insert Screen Reader/2 Diskette 1 in Drive A and enter the following command before you install OS/2 2.1. A: SRD2UNDO 3. Wait for system activity to complete. Type exit from the OS/2 Full Screen. Remove the diskette. 4. Shut down and reboot your system. 5. Proceed with Screen Reader/2 installation. You can choose from two installation procedures: prompted or non-prompted. We recommend that you use the prompted installation procedure. Use the non-prompted installation only if you feel comfortable entering all parameters without prompted feedback. PROMPTED INSTALLATION PROCEDURE During installation you will be prompted to enter a sequence of command parameters: the install command, a synthesizer nickname, the baud rate for your synthesizer, the communication port, and the drive where you want to install Screen Reader/2. NOTE: To stop installing Screen Reader/2, press ESCAPE at any of the prompts. To install Screen Reader/2: 1. Start from an OS/2 command prompt. NOTE: You may need sighted assistance for this step. 2. Insert Screen Reader/2 Diskette 1 in drive A. 3. Make drive A the default drive by typing A: then pressing ENTER. 4. The install command starts the installation process. Type INSTALL then press ENTER. Wait until you hear one short beep. 5. When you hear one beep, you are ready to specify the synthesizer nickname. You have two options. If you have Screen Reader/DOS on your system and you have made changes you would like to keep, use option b. All other users should select option a. a. If you are installing Screen Reader/2 on your system for the first time, or do not choose to migrate existing Screen Reader/DOS synthesizer settings, enter the Screen Reader/2 nickname for your synthesizer. Type one of the following synthesizer nicknames, then press ENTER. For Accent, the nickname is ACC. For Apollo, the nickname is APOLLO. For Audapter, the nickname is AUD. For Braille Blazer and Braille 'n Speak, the nickname is BLAZIE. For DECtalk, the nickname is DEC1. For DECtalk Portable/MultiVoice, the nickname is DEC2. For ECHO, the nickname is ECHO. For ECHO-PC, the nickname is ECHOPC. For Keynote Gold, the nickname is GOLD. For Keynote Gold purchased after March 1993, the nickname is GOLD2. For Personal Speech System (Votrax), the nickname is PSS. For CallText 5050 or Prose 2020, the nickname is SP. For Voxbox, the nickname is VOX. For Xerox Reading Edge, the nickname is XEROX. For example, if you are using the Personal Speech System synthesizer, type: PSS You hear two short beeps. Skip option b and go to step 6. NOTE: If an error has occurred, you'll hear something other than two short beeps. Re-enter the synthesizer nickname. b. This second option is provided for Screen Reader/DOS users who have modified their spelling tables, messages, or synthesizer settings. To automatically convert the Screen Reader/DOS synthesizer settings and 12 Independence Series: Screen Reader/2 Getting Started configuration files, specify the drive and path where Screen Reader/DOS Version 1.1 or 1.2 is installed. For example, if you have Screen Reader/DOS 1.2 installed in the default directory on drive C, type the following, without spaces: /sC:\SRD12 C:\SRD12 is the path where Screen Reader/DOS Version 1.1 or 1.2 is currently installed. Press ENTER. You hear one long beep. NOTE: If an error has occurred, you'll hear something other than one long beep. Re-enter the location of the settings you want to save. If you hear one long beep, go to step 8. Because this process copies the settings for your baud rate and synthesizer settings, you can skip the next two steps. 6. When you hear two beeps, you have two options: a. If you are using the default baud rate for your synthesizer, press ENTER. b. If you are not using the default baud rate for your synthesizer, enter the baud rate that you want, then press ENTER. The default baud rates for supported synthesizers are: For Accent, the default baud rate is 9600. For Apollo, the default baud rate is 9600. For Audapter, the default baud rate is 9600. For Braille Blazer and Braille 'n Speak, the default baud rate is 9600. For DEC1, the default baud rate is 1200. For DEC2, the default baud rate is 9600. For ECHO, the default baud rate is 9600. For ECHO-PC, the default baud rate is 9600. For GOLD, the default baud rate is 9600. For GOLD2, the default baud rate is 9600. For Personal Speech System, the default baud rate is 2400. For SP, the default baud rate is 9600. For VoxBox, the default baud rate is 4800. For XEROX, the default baud rate is 9600. NOTE: An error has occurred if you hear something other than three beeps. Re-enter the baud rate. 7. When you hear three short beeps, specify the communication port (serial port). You have two options: a. If you are using default communication port 1 (COM1), press ENTER. b. If you are using a different communication port (COM2, COM3, or COM4), enter 2, 3, or 4. You do not need to press ENTER. You hear one long beep. NOTE: If you hear three short beeps instead of one long beep, an error has occurred. Re-enter the communication port number. 14 Independence Series: Screen Reader/2 Getting Started 8. Specify the drive where you want to install Screen Reader/2. To specify the drive, you have the following options: a. To install Screen Reader/2 on drive C, press ENTER. You do not need to type the letter C. b. To install Screen Reader/2 on a drive other than C, type that drive letter. You do not need to press ENTER. After a short pause in which Screen Reader/2 is initializing the synthesizer, you should hear a short beep, then the following spoken message: Screen Reader/2 installation program. Press ENTER to continue. Press ESCAPE to cancel. This signifies the installation procedure is proceeding successfully. Press ENTER. You hear: Copying Files. Please wait. Response time varies. It depends on such qualifications as the speed of your system or how much software you have loaded. This message may be repeated more than once. NOTE: If you do not hear the spoken message, press ESCAPE. You return to the A prompt. Verify your synthesizer nickname, communication port, and drive letter. Repeat the installation procedure starting with step 1. 9. When all files have been copied from Diskette 1, you hear a beep and then the prompt: Remove Screen Reader/2 Diskette 1 and insert Diskette 2. Press ENTER when ready. 10. Remove Diskette 1. Insert Diskette 2. Press ENTER. The system prompts: Copying Files. Please wait. NOTE: If you hear a previous prompt repeated rather than, "Copying Files. Please wait.", Diskette 2 may be defective, or you may have inserted the wrong diskette. Refer to Appendix B, "Problem Determination." When all files have been copied, the system prompts: Screen Reader/2 installation is complete. Remove Screen Reader/2 Diskette 2. Please shut down and restart your system. Screen Reader/2 will now start automatically each time the system starts. This message signifies you have successfully completed the installation procedure. Remove Diskette 2. NOTE: If you hear any other tones and do not hear this message, an installation error has occurred and an error message is displayed. Refer to Appendix B, "Problem Determination." 11. Close the OS/2 Full Screen by typing exit then pressing ENTER. 12. Shut down your system. Then press CTRL + ALT + DELETE to restart. 16 Independence Series: Screen Reader/2 Getting Started NOTE: Shutting down your computer is important because you can lose data and settings if you just turn the computer off. Make sure you shut down your computer when you are finished using it for the day. If you are unfamiliar with the OS/2 shutdown procedure, refer to "Lesson 14 - Shutting Down" for instructions or get sighted assistance. NON-PROMPTED INSTALLATION PROCEDURE You will not be prompted during this installation procedure. Before you start, decide on the drive where you want to install Screen Reader/2, the synthesizer nickname and its baud rate, and verify the system communication port number. To install Screen Reader/2: 1. Start a full-screen OS/2 session. NOTE: You may need sighted assistance for this step. 2. Insert Screen Reader/2 Diskette 1 in drive A. 3. Make drive A the default drive by typing A: then pressing ENTER. You must enter the install command to start the Screen Reader/2 installation program. The command has three required components: the install command, the drive where you want to install Screen Reader/2 followed by a colon, and the synthesizer nickname you are using. In addition, there are two optional components: the communication port and the baud rate. Options: a. To specify the communication port, enter /C, followed by the communication port number: 1, 2, 3, or 4. b. To specify the baud rate, enter /B followed by the baud rate for your synthesizer. NOTE: There are no spaces between the slash and C or B and the value you want to assign. There are spaces between the other command components. For example, to install a Personal Speech System synthesizer on drive C, attached to communication port 2, with a baud rate of 9600, type: install c: pss /c2 /b9600 INSTALL is the command that starts the installation. C: is the drive where you want to install Screen Reader/2 (This drive can be C, D, E, F, or any other drive available on your system.) PSS is the synthesizer nickname for the Personal Speech System by Votrax. /C2 is communication port 2. /B9600 is baud rate 9600. 4. Type all of the install command components, then press ENTER. After a small pause during which Screen Reader/2 is initializing the synthesizer, you hear a short beep and the following spoken message: Screen Reader/2 Installation Program. Press ENTER to continue. Press ESCAPE to cancel. Press ENTER again to confirm that you want to continue. You hear: Copying Files. Please wait. When all files have been copied from Diskette 1, you hear the following spoken message: Remove Screen Reader/2 Diskette 1 and insert Diskette 2. Press ENTER when ready. This confirms all parameters were correct. 5. Remove Diskette 1. Insert Diskette 2. Press ENTER. The system prompts: Copying Files. Please wait. When all files have been copied, the system prompts: Screen Reader/2 installation is complete. Remove Screen Reader/2 Diskette 2. Please shut down and restart your system. Screen Reader/2 will now start automatically each time the system starts. This message signifies you have successfully completed the installation. Remove Diskette 2. NOTE: If you hear any other tones and do not hear this message, an installation error has occurred and an error message is displayed. Refer to Appendix B, "Problem Determination." 6. Close the OS/2 Full Screen by typing EXIT then pressing ENTER. 7. Shut down your system. Then press CTRL + ALT + DELETE to restart. NOTE: If you are not familiar with the OS/2 shutdown procedure, refer to "Lesson 14 - Shutting Down" for instructions or get sighted assistance. TUTORIAL - PART 1 Welcome to the Screen Reader/2 tutorial. After Screen Reader/2 and OS/2 Version 2.1 have been installed on your computer, you are ready to start learning how to use them together. The tutorial instructions are presented in print and on audio cassette. Use these along with Screen Reader/2 and the screens presented on your computer. The tutorial has two parts: PART 1 introduces you to Screen Reader/2 and shows you how to read text in various formats. After reading and following the lessons on your computer, you'll know how to get the most out of your synthesizer, how to use the keypad to your best advantage, and how to read text by individual characters, line-by-line, or a full page at a time. PART 2 teaches you how to use some of the features of the OS/2. If you are currently a Screen Reader/DOS user, you will notice that Part 1 of this tutorial has many of the same lessons as the tutorial in Screen Reader/DOS. However, we suggest you use both parts of the tutorial, not just Part 2. There have been some enhancements to autospeaks in Screen Reader/2 Version 1.1, as well other refinements. This is a self-paced tutorial. Work with the lessons until you feel comfortable with them, then move on. You may find it helpful to practice with some lessons more than once. KEYPAD Screen Reader/2 uses a special keypad in addition to your regular keyboard. This keypad is much smaller than your keyboard. It measures approximately eight inches long by six inches wide. The keys on the keypad are arranged like a United States telephone keypad(1) with two additional columns of keys. There are sixteen keys on the left, arranged in a block of four rows and four columns. A small space separates these keys from a single column of two larger keys on the right side of the keypad. In the block of 16 keys, each row contains four keys. Starting from the upper left of the keypad, moving from left to right, the keys are as follows: First row: Keys 1, 2, 3, A Second row: Keys 4, 5, 6, B Third row: Keys 7, 8, 9, C Fourth row: Keys * (star), 0, # (pound sign), D If you put your hand on the keypad, you can feel raised marks on two of the keys, key 5 and key A. The raised marks provide points for orienting your hand. Key 5 is positioned in the middle of the number keys, and key A is located at the top of the column of letters. At the far right of the keypad, separated by a space from the main block of 16 keys, are two larger keys. (1) Telephone keypads in countries outside the United States might be different. If your telephone keypad is not like a U.S. telephone, take a few minutes to study this section and learn the Screen Reader/2 keypad layout. The Help key and the Stop key are positioned one above the other, forming a column of their own. The Help key is above the Stop key. Each key, or combination of keys, performs a specific function. You will learn many of the available functions as you proceed through this tutorial. STARTING THE COMPUTER AND SYNTHESIZER To start your system: 1. Turn your speech synthesizer on. Depending on what model you have, you might hear an indication that it is ready. 2. Turn on your computer and wait until disk activity stops. An initial screen is displayed and Screen Reader/2 announces the active window. For example, you might hear: Screen Reader/2 starting. Desktop. Independence Series. Depending on the software loaded on your system, you may hear a different message. You may start at a different window if someone shut down your system from a location other than the desktop. DISPLAYING THE TUTORIAL SCREENS NOTE: You can stop working on the tutorial at any time by pressing ESCAPE. If you press ESCAPE, you are returned to the Desktop. If you exit the tutorial for any reason, when you restart, press the PAGE DOWN key repeatedly until you get to the training screen you were working with before you exited. To display the tutorial screens on your computer, follow these steps: 1. On your keypad, the B key is the fourth key from the left in the second row. Press and hold down the B key, then press and hold down the key directly to its right, which is the HELP key, then release them both. You hear: Starting tutorial. Please wait. A screen of text appears. You'll hear several announcements. Listen for: This is training screen one. 2. Follow the instructions on the rest of the cassette or in the rest of the printed material that tell you how to use the tutorial screens, starting with Lesson 1. These instructions are displayed on your computer screen. NOTES: 1. In Part 1, when you are asked to press a key, press the key on the keypad, not on the keyboard. When you need to press a key on the keyboard, you are specifically instructed to do so. 2. During the first three lessons of the tutorial, most of the keyboard keys are turned off. You 24 Independence Series: Screen Reader/2 Getting Started can only use the following keys: PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN, ESCAPE, and the ARROW keys. 3. In addition, many of the keypad keys are turned off during the first three lessons. As keys are introduced in the tutorial, they become available for use. However, if you return to a previous screen, some keys might not be active. LESSON 1 - USING THE KEYPAD In the first lesson, you will learn: How to use the number keys on the keypad to read lines, words, and characters. How to stop speech. How to use key sequences and chords. How to read the entire screen. How to request help for the keypad keys. NOTE: Make sure you are in the tutorial. Remember, press the keys B HELP at the same time to start the tutorial if you haven't already. USING THE NUMBER KEYS The number keys on the keypad are the keys 1 through 9. You can orient your hand position by finding the raised mark on the 5 key. By using the number keys, you can request Screen Reader/2 to read the previous, current, or next location. For example, the top row (keys 1, 2, and 3) requests Screen Reader/2 to read a line; key 1, the previous line; key 2, the current line; and key 3, the next line. The first screen contains several paragraphs that give a brief description of Screen Reader/2. The cursor is on the first line of the second paragraph, which says: Right now, you are using the Tutorial. This is the current line. Practice using the number keys. 1. Press key 2 to hear the current line. When you press key 2, you hear: 26 Independence Series: Screen Reader/2 Getting Started Right now, you are using the tutorial This is the current line. 2. Press key 1 to hear the previous line. When you press key 1, you hear: Blank The line above the current cursor position is blank. 3. Press key 3 to hear the next line. When you press key 3, you hear the line below which reads: It allows you to explore Screen Reader/2's basics. The next keypad row works in the same way as the first row, but it reads the previous, current, and next word, rather than the previous, current, and next line. The cursor is on the word are; are is the current word. 1. Press key 4 to hear the previous word. When you press key 4, you hear the word: you This word is to the left of the cursor. 2. Press key 5 to hear the current word. When you press key 5, you hear the word: are That word is at the current cursor position. 3. Press key 6 to read the next word. When you press key 6, you hear the word: using That word is to the right of the cursor. The third keypad row works in the same way as the first two, but reads the previous, current, and next characters, instead of lines or words. The cursor is on r in the word are; r is the current character. 1. Press key 7 to hear the previous character. When you press key 7, you hear the character: a That character is to the left of the cursor location. 2. Press key 8 to hear the current character. When you press key 8, you hear the character: r That is the current character at the cursor position. 3. Press key 9 to hear the next character. When you press key 9, you hear the character: e That character is to the right of the cursor location. STOPPING SPEECH In the next exercise, you will be reading the entire screen; therefore, you need to know how to stop speech. When you want to stop speech, press the STOP key, which is the large key on the bottom right of the keypad. USING KEY SEQUENCES AND CHORDS A key sequence is a series of keys you press on the keypad to perform an action. When you use a key sequence, you press, then release, each key before you press, then release, each subsequent key. In this tutorial, when we want you to use a key sequence, we will say: Press key sequence. This will be followed by the keypad key names. For example, Press key sequence 0 THEN A to read the screen. In the following exercises, whenever you are supposed to press a key sequence, make sure that you release the first key before you press the second or third key. Key sequences can include chords, which consist of two keypad keys that you press at the same time. In this tutorial, when we want you to use a chord, we will say: Press chord. This will be followed by the keypad key names. For example, Press CHORD B HELP to start the tutorial. Although chords are limited to two keypad key names, key sequences are not limited in length. An example of a key sequence, which includes a chord, is chord 1 2 then keypad key B. You will hear, Press CHORD 1 2 THEN B. NOTE: If you press keys too quickly Screen Reader/2 may interpret the key press as a chord. READING THE SCREEN When Screen Reader/2 requires you to press more than one key (as in the "read a screen" key sequences), you must press the second or third key in a certain amount of time. Otherwise, Screen Reader/2 tells you the request is canceled. To demonstrate this: 1. Press key 0. 2. Then wait six or eight seconds. You hear the message: Canceled. An additional key was expected. In Screen Reader/2, two key sequences read the screen for you. You can read the screen from the top to the bottom or you can read the screen from the current position to the bottom of the screen. Key sequence 0 A reads the screen from the top to the bottom. The cursor is still at the word are in the second paragraph, which means that the cursor is 30 Independence Series: Screen Reader/2 Getting Started not at the top of the screen. Even so, you hear the entire screen. You can press the STOP key at any time. 3. Press key sequence 0 THEN A. The entire screen is read. Key sequence 0 B reads the screen beginning at the current position on the screen. The cursor did not move when you read the screen using KEY SEQUENCE 0 THEN A. You hear the screen from the word are, which is your current position, to the bottom. 4. Press key sequence 0 THEN B. GETTING HELP FOR THE KEYPAD KEYS HELP tells you what the keypad keys do. The HELP key is the large key in the upper right of the keypad. The HELP key is a toggle key. Press it to enter Help mode. While Screen Reader/2 is in Help mode, you can press a key to find out what that key does. When you finish listening to the descriptions of the keys, press the HELP key again to leave Help mode. (The HELP key toggles on and off.) The following exercise demonstrates Help. 1. Press the HELP key. You hear: Entering Help mode. 2. Press key 2 to hear the help message: Current line. If you press the HELP key again, you hear: Leaving Help mode. Then your keys operate as they normally do. 3. Press the HELP key again. You exit Help mode. 4. Press key 2 to hear the current line. LESSON 2 - SCREEN READER/2 SETTINGS In this lesson, you learn: How the previous, current, and next words are spelled on the screen. Four methods of reading information. How to control your synthesizer from the keypad. To begin Lesson 2, press the PAGE DOWN key on the keyboard. You hear: This is training screen two. On this training screen, line one reads: A Few Words About the IBM Operating System/2. This title is followed by two paragraphs of text and two lines of instructions. HEARING HOW A WORD IS SPELLED When you hear a word that you cannot understand or you think is misspelled, it helps to hear the spelling of the word as it appears on the screen. To have each letter of a word spoken, use the * key in combination with the 4, 5, or 6 keys. Keys * 4 spell the previous word, keys * 5 spell the current word, and keys * 6 spell the next word. 1. Press key sequence 0 THEN A to read the screen. 2. Press key 2 to hear the current line. You hear: That means no matter what program is active, Screen Reader/2 The cursor is on the word is; is is the current word. 3. Press key sequence * THEN 5. You hear is spelled. 4. Press key sequence * THEN 4. You hear program, the previous word, spelled. 5. Press key sequence * THEN 6 to hear active, the next word, spelled. Note that Screen Reader/2 reads the comma at the end of the word active. This is because you are using spell format. USING SCREEN READER/2 FORMATS This part of the lesson uses the same screen of information. You learn about the four formats Screen Reader/2 has for reading text from the screen. Screen Reader/2 has four formats, or methods, of reading the screen for you. They are: Text Pronounce Spell Phonetic Each format is assigned to a different sequence of two keys. The format key sequences start with the * key, followed by the *, 0, #, or D key. Tutorial - Part 1 33 When you press the key sequence to enter a reading format, Screen Reader/2 uses that format until you request another. TEXT FORMAT: In text format, Screen Reader/2 reads without punctuation, just as people do when reading material aloud. This format is useful when you want to read a lot of text in a format similar to listening to a "talking book", or when you are checking documents for content errors. Try text format now: 1. Press key sequence * THEN *. Screen Reader/2 announces "Text Format." 2. Read the current line by pressing key 2. Note that the line was read without punctuation. NOTE: Until now in the tutorial, you have been reading from the screen in text format. PRONOUNCE FORMAT: In pronounce format, Screen Reader/2 reads each word and says the punctuation and blank lines. This format is useful when you need to know the exact content of a line or when you are checking a document for punctuation errors. Try pronounce format now: 1. Press key sequence * THEN 0. 2. Press key 2 to hear the current line. This time, the line was read with punctuation. SPELL FORMAT: In spell format, Screen Reader/2 spells each word, includes punctuation, and announces blank lines. This format is useful when you want to check for misspellings or for those instances when the synthesizer is difficult to understand. Try spell format now: 1. Press key sequence * THEN #. 2. Press key 6 to hear the next word in spell format. Notice that, in spell format, Screen Reader/2 reads the comma at the end of the word active. PHONETIC FORMAT: When Screen Reader/2 uses phonetic format to read, you hear each letter represented by a word that begins with the same letter. For example, the word cat is read "charley alpha tango." You also hear the punctuation and blank lines announced. This format is useful if you have difficulty understanding one or two letters. Try phonetic format now. 1. Press key sequence * THEN D to enter "Phonetic Format." 2. Press key 6 to hear the next word, active, in phonetic format. Again, notice that in phonetic format, the comma was read. 3. Press key sequence * THEN * to return to text format. Tutorial - Part 1 35 CONTROLLING YOUR SYNTHESIZER Usually, you can control three factors of your speech synthesizer. These are pitch, rate, and volume. Pitch is the frequency or tone of the voice you hear. Rate is the speed, in words per minute, at which words are spoken. Volume is the loudness of the speech. The next three sections explain how you can set pitch, rate, and volume if your speech synthesizer lets you control these factors. You do this from the keypad using Screen Reader/2. PITCH: The key sequence A THEN 1 indicates that you want to change your synthesizer's pitch. Then, a keypad number key specifies the pitch. Try setting the speech synthesizer pitch now: 1. Press key sequence A THEN 1 THEN 1. This is the lowest pitch. 2. Read the current line by pressing key 2. 3. Press key sequence A THEN 1 THEN 9. This is the highest pitch. 4. Read the current line by pressing key 2. 5. Press key sequence A THEN 1 THEN 5. This sets the pitch in the middle range. 6. Read the current line by pressing key 2. If you want to try the rest of the pitch values, press key sequence A THEN 1 then each number key. When you find a pitch setting with which you are comfortable, keep that setting. NOTE: Some synthesizers allow only a few changes for pitch. If you press key sequence A THEN 1 and a number key, but there is no pitch change recognized by your particular synthesizer, you only hear "Pitch" and the number repeated. RATE: The key sequence A THEN 2 indicates that you want to change your synthesizer's speech rate. Then, a keypad number key specifies the rate. Try setting the speech synthesizer rate now: 1. Press key sequence A THEN 2 THEN 1. This is the slowest rate of speech. 2. Read the current line by pressing key 2. 3. Press key sequence A THEN 2 THEN 9. This is the fastest rate of speech. 4. Read the current line by pressing key 2. 5. Press key sequence A THEN 2 THEN 5. This sets the speech rate in the middle range. 6. Read the current line by pressing key 2. If you want to try the rest of the rate values, press key sequence A THEN 2 then each number key. When you find a rate setting with which you are comfortable, keep that setting. NOTE: Some synthesizers allow only a few changes for rate. If you press key sequence A THEN 2 Tutorial - Part 1 37 then a number key, but there is no rate change recognized by your particular synthesizer, you only hear "Rate" and the number repeated. VOLUME: The key sequence A THEN 3 indicates that you want to change your synthesizer's volume. Then, a keypad number key specifies the volume. NOTE: For some synthesizers, the key sequence demonstrated next might not work. The volume for these synthesizers can only be adjusted manually with a control knob. Try setting the speech synthesizer volume now: 1. Press key sequence A THEN 3 THEN 1. This is the quietest volume. 2. Read the current line by pressing key 2. 3. Press key sequence A THEN 3 THEN 9. This is the loudest volume. 4. Read the current line by pressing key 2. 5. Press key sequence A THEN 3 THEN 5. This sets the volume in the middle range. 6. Read the current line by pressing key 2. Each of the keypad number keys has a volume value associated with it. If you want to try out the rest of the volume values, press key sequence A THEN 3 then each number key. When you find a volume setting with which you are comfortable, keep that setting. NOTE: Some synthesizers allow only a few changes for volume. If you press key sequence A THEN 3 then a number key, but there is no volume change recognized by your particular synthesizer, you only hear "Volume" and the number repeated. LESSON 3 - GETTING AROUND IN SCREEN READER/2 In Lesson 3, you learn: Two ways to get around the screen, the differences between the two, and how to use each. How to search the screen for words, characters, and symbols. How to read a specific line. 1. Move to the next screen of text by pressing the PAGE DOWN key on your keyboard. You hear: This is training screen three. The two screens for this exercise contain a business letter and an information sheet that might be attached to the letter. The letter begins with a business address at lines 4 to 6. The salutation begins with the word "Dear." The rest of this line, line 8, is left blank for the exercises that follow. The body of the letter begins at line 10 and is made up of three paragraphs separated by blank lines. Finally, the author's name appears on line 22 and the author's title is directly below on line 23. The cursor is at column 3 of line 23. 2. Press key sequence 0 THEN A to hear the letter read. USING THE CURSOR AND POINTER There are two methods you can use to initiate read requests when you are using Screen Reader/2. You can use the computer's cursor or the Screen Reader/2 pointer. The cursor is a standard part of your computer. It marks the place where text appears as you type. You control the cursor using the keyboard. The cursor moves when you type or use the cursor movement keys. If you ask Screen Reader/2 to read a section of text for you, the cursor does not move. You use the cursor mostly for editing and writing data to the screen. The pointer is a unique part of the Screen Reader/2 software. Unlike the cursor, it does not appear on the screen. However, like the cursor, it is a marking device. The pointer marks the character, word, or line just read. The pointer follows the speech as you read from character to character, word to word, or line to line. In Lessons 1 and 2, you used the cursor position to determine where Screen Reader/2 should start reading. But you can also use the pointer position as the basis for read requests. For instance, if you press key 6 to hear the next word, as you will in the following exercises, you hear the word to the right of the pointer. More importantly, the pointer moves to that word. So, if you continue pressing key 6, you can hear the entire line a word at a time. You use the pointer mostly when reading and finding text. All of the cursor and pointer key sequences that you learn in this lesson begin with the # key. CURSOR AND POINTER POSITIONS: At any time, you can determine the position on the screen of either the cursor or pointer. When Screen Reader/2 announces the position of the cursor, you hear the line and column where it currently is. 1. Press key sequence # THEN C to hear the cursor position. The cursor is at the author's title at the last line of the letter. When Screen Reader/2 announces the position of the pointer, you hear the line and column where it currently is. 2. Press key sequence # THEN 8 to hear the pointer position. The pointer is on line 10, column 1, at the beginning of the body of the letter. Being able to tell the location of these two marking devices on your screen is important. Even though the response is the same each time, practice each of the two key sequences, # C and # 8. CURSOR AND POINTER MODES: Screen Reader/2 has two different modes: cursor and pointer. The mode tells Screen Reader/2 which marking device to use for reading. Screen Reader/2 is in one mode or the other, and you control which one. Up to this point in the tutorial, you have been using cursor mode. CURSOR MODE: When you are in cursor mode, read requests are relative to the cursor position. For example, if you ask Screen Reader/2 to read the current line, it reads the line the cursor is on. If you ask for the next word, you hear the word to the right of the cursor. The cursor does not move when you make read requests in cursor mode. The pointer does not move either. The key sequence # D tells Screen Reader/2 to use cursor mode. POINTER MODE: When you are in pointer mode, read requests are relative to the pointer. In this case, if you ask Screen Reader/2 to read the current line, it reads the line the pointer is on. If you ask for the next word, you hear the word to the right of the pointer. In pointer mode, the pointer moves to characters, words, and lines as they are read. The pointer always stops at the last item spoken. If you are reading one character at a time, the pointer stops at the last character read. If you are reading words, the pointer stops at the beginning of the last word read. When reading entire lines, the pointer movement is dependent on your synthesizer. If your synthesizer has indexing, a way for the synthesizer and Screen Reader/2 to keep track of the words spoken, the pointer moves and stops at the beginning of the last word spoken. However, when you are reading complete lines or the entire screen, if your synthesizer does not have indexing, the pointer stays at the beginning of the line or the first line spoken. If you are reading a character or word at a time, the pointer moves to the last word or character spoken, regardless of indexing. The key sequence # 0 tells Screen Reader/2 to use pointer mode. NOTES: 1. In Lesson 1, you pressed key sequence 0 THEN B on the keypad to read the screen beginning at the current position. This, too, is relative to the mode. Because you were in cursor mode, you heard the rest of the screen read from the cursor position. If you had been in pointer mode, you would have heard the screen read from the pointer position. 2. When Screen Reader/2 is in pointer mode, your keyboard is still active. You can still move the cursor around the screen or perform any keyboard function. CURSOR MODE EXERCISE 1. Check the position of the cursor again, using the key sequence # THEN C. 2. Press key sequence # THEN D to enter cursor mode. 3. Press key 2 to read the current line. You hear the author's title, which is the last line of the screen. 4. Check the pointer position; press key sequence # THEN 8. It is still at line 10, the line that begins the body of the letter. Remember that, in cursor mode, the pointer does not move. Neither the cursor nor the pointer moves when reading occurs in cursor mode, as the following steps demonstrate. 5. Read the current word using key 5. 6. Read the next word using key 6. 7. Attempt to read the next word again by pressing key 6. You heard the same word, because the cursor did not move. The next word is the same word, unless you move the cursor. 8. Move the cursor by pressing the UP ARROW key on your keyboard three times. 9. Read the current line using key 2. 10. Read the previous line using key 1. 11. Press key 1 again. You heard the same line twice. Because the cursor does not move when you read, the current line and the previous line are always the same lines until you move the cursor. 12. Check the pointer position now, using key sequence # THEN 8. The pointer does not move when you are in cursor mode, even if you do a lot of reading. POINTER MODE EXERCISE 1. Press key sequence # THEN 0 to tell Screen Reader/2 that you want to use pointer mode. 2. Read the current line using key 2. The pointer has moved across the line and is in the same row, but in a different column. 3. Press key sequence # THEN 8. NOTE: If the pointer is at the same position as it was before you read the line, your synthesizer does not have indexing. Now try steps similar to the ones using cursor mode; reading the next, current, and previous lines and words, using pointer mode. 4. Read the next line using key 3. 5. Read the current line using key 2. The current line was previously the "next line." When you asked for the next line, the pointer moved to that line. Because you are in pointer mode, Screen Reader/2 now considers it to be the current line. To move the pointer back to the line it was originally on, you must read the previous line. 6. Press key 1. The original current line is the current line once again. 7. Press key 2. NOTE: If your synthesizer does not have indexing, you will find that the pointer is not at the end of the line, but at the beginning, and the following steps will not work exactly as stated because of the difference in position. However, you can read across the line using key 6 until you are at the end of the line. Then the steps will work for you. Personal is the last word on this line. Remember when you were using cursor mode and you read the current and next words? The current word always stayed the same and so did the next word. 8. Read the current word using key 5. 9. Read the next word using key 6. "Right" signifies that you are at the end of the line and the right edge of the screen. There is no "next word." 10. Read the previous word using key 4. Now the word that was just the previous word, "IBM," becomes the current word because the pointer moved when you read it. 11. Press key 5. 12. Read back to the word "Thank" using the previous-word key, key 4. If you go one word too far, you hear "Blank." "Blank" is spoken because there are two spaces between the left edge of the screen and the beginning of the text. Screen Reader/2 thinks of that blank as a word, a blank word. Then, if you press key 4 again, you hear "Left." This signifies that you are at the left edge of the screen. There is no "previous word." Your pointer is still at the correct position. HOW CURSOR AND POINTER WORK TOGETHER: This section demonstrates how to use the cursor and pointer together. As mentioned earlier, you will probably use the cursor for typing and editing and the pointer for reading. In this exercise, you do both. CURSOR TO POINTER: The salutation line is empty after the word "Dear." To fill in the blank, you would need both the cursor and pointer. You would probably use the pointer mode to read until you found the space for the name. Then you would move the cursor to that space and fill in the name. Because these training screens are for reading only, you cannot actually fill in the name, but you can practice using the cursor and pointer together. 1. Press key sequence # THEN 0 to tell Screen Reader/2 you want to use pointer mode. 2. Press key 2 to hear the current line. You hear: Thank you for purchasing our newest IBM Personal You know that the salutation must be above this line because this line begins the letter. You also know that to move the pointer to the lines above, you need to use the previous-line key. 3. Press key 1 to hear the previous line. The line above the current pointer position is blank. If you read the line, you hear: Blank. 4. Press key 1 again. You hear: Dear. This is the line you want. Now you need to move the pointer over to the space for the name. 5. Read over to the second blank space following "Dear", using key 9. The problem is how to get the cursor to this space. You could find the cursor and pointer positions and calculate how many times you need to press the cursor-movement keys. Or, you could use the functions that Screen Reader/2 includes for this type of situation. 6. Press key sequence # THEN * to move the cursor to the pointer position. 7. Check the positions of both cursor and pointer using key sequence # THEN C and key sequence # THEN 8. You can be in either cursor or pointer mode when you move the cursor to the pointer. However, when you move the cursor to the pointer, Screen Reader/2 automatically changes to cursor mode. Now, if this were not a training screen, you could fill in the customer's name. NOTE: The cursor-to-pointer feature might not work if you are using a non-IBM system. POINTER TO CURSOR: You now want to move the pointer to the cursor. You are in cursor mode and want to read a line word by word. If you try to use the keys that read the current and next words, you find that you keep hearing the same words over and over. To begin this exercise, move the cursor to the beginning of line 10 by pressing the DOWN ARROW key on your keyboard twice and the LEFT ARROW key five times. Remember, you are in cursor mode because you moved the cursor to the pointer. 1. Read the line you just moved to, using key 2. 2. Try to read across the line, word by word, using key 6. Once again, because the cursor does not move with the reading, you hear only the word "you" repeated. Screen Reader/2 provides an easy way to bring the pointer to the cursor. 3. Press key sequence # THEN # to move the pointer to the cursor. You hear: Pointer to cursor at row 10, column 3. 4. Press key 6 again repeatedly. Now you hear each word on the line, word by word. You can be in either cursor mode or pointer mode when you move the pointer to the cursor. However, when you move the pointer to the cursor, Screen Reader/2 automatically changes to pointer mode. FINDING A STRING Using Screen Reader/2, you can find a specific string on the screen. A string is a word, a character, a symbol, or a group of words. This capability is especially useful in word-processing applications and when you have a lot of text on the screen. After you enter the search string, Screen Reader/2 tells you what string it's looking for. If it finds the string, Screen Reader/2 tells you the location, moves the pointer to the beginning of that string, and switches you to pointer mode so you can hear the string immediately, by using the current-line or current-word keys (key 2 or key 5). If it does not find the string, Screen Reader/2 still switches to pointer mode, moves the pointer to position line 1, column 1, and announces "Not found." If you make a mistake when you are typing the string, you can use the BACKSPACE key on your keyboard to move the cursor left so you can retype the string. Try a search now: 1. Press key sequence # THEN 1. Screen Reader/2 asks you for a string. The word you enter appears on the screen. First, try a search that does not find the string. 2. Type your name using the keyboard and press ENTER. Now try a search that does find the string. 3. Press key sequence # THEN 1 again. 4. Type thank and press ENTER. 5. Read the line using key 2. Remember that Screen Reader/2 moves the pointer directly to the location of the found string and switches you to pointer mode so you can hear the line right away. FINDING THE NEXT OCCURRENCE If the word thank that was found in the previous exercise is not the occurrence for which you were searching, you can repeat the search as many times as you want. 1. Press key sequence # THEN 2 to find the next occurrence of thank. 2. Press key sequence # THEN 2 again to make sure that the word thank does not appear again on this screen. You hear: Continuing search. Not found. FINDING THE SAME STRING ON A NEW SCREEN Next, you will find the first occurrence of thank on a new screen. Any time you move to a new screen of text, the pointer stays in the same relative position as it was on the last screen. In this case, the pointer is at position line 18, column 3, and would stay there even if you moved to a new screen of text. If you were to search for the same string using the key sequence # THEN 2, the search would begin at line 18, column 3. 1. Press the PAGE DOWN key on the keyboard. You hear: This is training screen four. 2. Check the pointer position by pressing key sequence # THEN 8. You hear: Pointer, line 18, column 4. 3. Search for the word thank by pressing key sequence # THEN 2. Notice that the word thank is not found. Screen Reader/2 contains a key sequence that moves the pointer to the top of the new screen and searches for the same string that you typed on the previous screen. This sequence is key sequence # THEN 3. 4. Press key sequence # THEN 3. Screen Reader/2 now searches for thank from the top of the screen and finds it. READING A SPECIFIC LINE Pressing the keypad key 0 followed by a 2-digit line number tells Screen Reader/2 that you want to read a specific line: For lines 1 to 9, use keys 001 to 009. For lines 10 to 19, use keys 010 to 019. For lines 20 to 25, use keys 020 to 025. Like searching, reading a specific line sets the mode to pointer mode. This allows you to use a specific line as the starting point for reading, using the "read the previous, current, and next line" keys. Listen to the entire screen first, before experimenting with the specific line keys. 1. Press key sequence * THEN * to use text format. 2. Press key sequence 0 THEN A to read the entire screen. When you read the entire screen, you heard that the Technical Reference contained information about interfaces and specifications. You might want to listen again to this paragraph. To locate this paragraph, use the specific line keys as a start for the pointer. 3. Press key sequence 0 THEN 0 THEN 9. Line 9 is approximately in the middle of the screen. This sentence is part of the paragraph about the User's Guide, not the Technical Reference. 4. Press key sequence 0 THEN 0 THEN 4 to read line 4. Line 4 begins the paragraph about the Technical Reference. Now you know that the sentence you want is between line 4 and line 9. The pointer is on line 4 and the current mode is pointer mode. You can now search down the screen using the next-line key, key 3, to find the line that has the words interfaces and specifications in it. 5. Press key 3 three times in succession. Be sure you pause between each key press to listen to the lines. You can read each line on the screen using this method; try as many as you like between 001 and 025. Try reading the previous and next lines from the new locations. NOTE: Screen Reader/2 can read specific lines up to line 69. If you have a display that handles more than 25 lines, you can use the 0 key with the specific number to read those lines. LESSON 4 - VIEWPORTS AND AUTOSPEAKS In this lesson, you learn about two additional Screen Reader/2 functions. These functions are: How to set reading boundaries around areas in a text-based session. How to use autospeaks. To demonstrate both of these functions, you will be using a full screen that contains a recipe for chocolate cookies. The recipe takes up line 3 to line 13 on the screen and is presented in two columns: ingredients on the left, instructions on the right. There is also an area near the bottom of the screen where a message can appear. VIEWPORTS A viewport is a specific area of the screen within which Screen Reader/2 confines its reading. You can use Screen Reader/2 viewports to create reading boundaries in text-based sessions, either full screen or in a window. You use them because screen information is often presented in two (or more) columns. Screen Reader/2 viewports come in handy in this case. You can define the area within the column as a viewport. Then all of your read requests are related to the information within that viewport. If you choose to read the screen using key sequence 0 THEN A, for example, you hear only the information within the viewport boundaries. To define a viewport, you need these things: A number between 1 and 9 for the viewport. If you want the viewport read automatically when you start it. Whether you want to use the cursor or pointer to mark the viewport boundaries or whether you want to use the keypad to specify the boundaries. If you want to use the cursor or pointer, you need: - To be in the correct mode, either cursor or pointer, respectively. - To start with the cursor or pointer at the top left of the viewport. - To know where the bottom right of the viewport is and to be able to move the cursor or pointer there. If you want to use the keypad to enter the boundaries, you need: - To know the four boundaries: top, left, bottom, and right. In the following exercises, you practice using the cursor, the pointer, and the keypad to tell Screen Reader/2 the position of the viewport. VIEWPORT EXERCISE 1. To begin defining a viewport, you assign the viewport a number between 1 and 9 and define the upper-left corner and the lower-right corner. This is done by moving the cursor or pointer to those positions. Or, you can specify all four viewport boundaries (top, bottom, left, right) using the keypad. You control if you want the viewport read automatically when you start it. In this lesson, you practice using the cursor and pointer position to indicate a viewport's position. Then, you practice using the keypad to define the position. 2. To display the cookie recipe, press the PAGE DOWN key on your keyboard. You hear: This is training screen five. 3. Read the screen by pressing key sequence 0 THEN A. You probably noticed that the information is difficult to understand. You might have heard some of the ingredients and some of the instructions. This is why you should create a Screen Reader/2 viewport. You will actually create two viewports, one for the column of ingredients, and one for the instructions. To create the first viewport, use the cursor to set the reading boundaries. When you want to use the cursor for this step, you must be in cursor mode. You can also use the pointer to indicate the viewport position. If you want to use the pointer, you should first enter pointer mode. 4. Press key sequence # THEN D to enter cursor mode. 5. Press key sequence B THEN A to start defining the viewport. At any time, you can press the STOP key to cancel the viewport definition. Screen Reader/2 prompts you to press 1 if you want to enter the screen coordinates or press 0 if you want to use the cursor coordinates to define the viewport. 6. Press key 0 to use the cursor. You hear that the cursor is at line 5, column 1. This is the beginning of the column of ingredients and will be the top-left corner of the viewport. 7. Enter the number that identifies this viewport by pressing key 1. Choose whether or not to speak the viewport when it is started. The number 1 indicates that you want it spoken and 0 indicates that you do not want the viewport spoken. 8. Press key 1. 9. Move the cursor to the bottom-right corner of the viewport by pressing the DOWN ARROW key on your keyboard 8 times and the RIGHT ARROW key on your keyboard 30 times. This moves the cursor to the bottom of the ingredients, line 13, and to the right edge of the ingredients, column 31. NOTE: You can press key sequence # THEN C to determine the cursor position and adjust accordingly if the cursor is not in the correct starting position. 10. Press key sequence B THEN C to tell Screen Reader/2 that you moved the cursor to the bottom-right corner of the viewport. The viewport is now defined. In the next step, you make the viewport active and have it automatically read, by using key sequence B THEN B and then the viewport number. 11. Start the viewport by pressing key sequence B THEN B THEN 1. The viewport was automatically read to you because that's the way we set it up. 12. Try reading the whole screen again by pressing key sequence 0 THEN A. Note that you heard only the ingredients for the cookies. Now, set a viewport around the instruction area of the screen. In this part of the exercise, you enter the viewport coordinates from the keypad. 1. Press key sequence B THEN A to start defining the viewport. Remember that, at any time, you can press the STOP key to stop defining the viewport. Screen Reader/2 prompts you to press 1 if you want to enter the screen coordinates or press 0 if you want to use the cursor coordinates to define the viewport. 2. Press key 1 to use the keypad. Next, you must type the number that identifies this viewport. 3. Press key 2. Choose whether or not to read the viewport when it is started. 4. Press key 0. The instructions for the cookies appear from line 5, column 34, to line 13, column 65. You specify each of these as the edges of the viewport. 5. Press key sequence 0 THEN 5 to specify the top of the viewport. You must enter a two-digit number. Therefore, always precede a one-digit number with a zero. 6. Press key sequence 1 THEN 3 to specify the bottom of the viewport. 7. Press key sequence 3 THEN 4 to indicate the left edge of the viewport. 8. Press key sequence 6 THEN 5 to indicate the right edge of the viewport. The viewport is now defined. To start using the viewport, you press key sequence B THEN B then the viewport's number. 9. Start the second viewport and turn off the first by pressing key sequence B THEN B THEN 2. Note that the viewport is active, but not read automatically. 10. Try reading the whole screen again by pressing key sequence 0 THEN A. This time you heard only the instructions for baking the cookies. 11. Set the viewport back to the full screen by pressing key sequence B THEN B THEN B. AUTOSPEAKS Autospeaks are a powerful Screen Reader/2 function. Autospeaks are used to tell Screen Reader/2 to monitor important areas of a text-based full screen or window and announce a message when that area changes. An autospeak monitors an eight-character area of the screen. (These eight characters must be in an unbroken sequence.) When the area changes, either the text from the beginning of the monitored area to the end of the line, or the text from a previously defined viewport, is read. You will use them in this lesson because, in this cookie recipe, a warning message appears if you press the F1 key on your keyboard. You can define an autospeak to monitor that message line. When that area changes from blank, you can have Screen Reader/2 read the warning message. DEFINING AUTOSPEAKS To define an autospeak, you need to know four things: A number between 1 and 9 for the autospeak. NOTE: The key sequences that start viewports and autospeaks are different so you can use the same numbers for autospeaks that you did for viewports. The starting position you want the autospeak to monitor. If you want the line that the autospeak watches, or a viewport you defined earlier, to be read. If you want it to interrupt other speaking. You can use the cursor, pointer, or keypad to tell Screen Reader/2 the position of the autospeak. In this exercise, you use the pointer to enter the autospeak position. AUTOSPEAK EXERCISE A message in the recipe can appear on line 20. 1. Read line 20 by pressing key sequence 0 THEN 2 THEN 0. Remember, reading a line using its number also puts you in pointer mode. Note that the line is presently blank. However, this is the line on which a warning message can appear. The message begins in column 1. 2. To define an autospeak that watches line 20, press key sequence B THEN 0. NOTE: You can press the STOP key at any time to stop defining the autospeak. Screen Reader/2 prompts you to press 1 to use the screen coordinates or 0 to use the pointer coordinates to define the autospeak. 3. Press key 0 to monitor line 20, columns 1 through 8. 4. Enter the number to identify this autospeak by pressing key 3. The autospeak can interrupt any previous messages or can wait until these messages end. 5. Press key 0 to wait for messages to end. Choose whether to announce the line the autospeak watches or a predefined viewport when you start it. The number 1 indicates that you want the line spoken and 0 indicates that you want a predefined viewport spoken. 6. Press key 1. The autospeak is now defined. Now that the autospeak is set up, you need to start the autospeak to hear the warning message. 7. Press key sequence B THEN D THEN 3 on the keypad. Key sequence B D tells Screen Reader/2 to start the autospeak and key 3 is the number you chose to identify the autospeak. 8. Press F1 on the keyboard to display the warning message. Because the autospeak that monitors the warning message line is on, that message was automatically read. 9. Press F2 on the keyboard to cancel the warning message. 10. Press key sequence B THEN D THEN 3 to turn the autospeak off. 11. Press F1 on the keyboard to display the warning message again. Note that this time the warning message was not spoken. To read it, read line 20 using key sequence 0 THEN 2 THEN 0. You have now completed Part 1 of the tutorial. Press ESCAPE on the keyboard to quit this part of the tutorial. TUTORIAL - PART 2 This is Part 2 of the tutorial. It gets you started using Screen Reader/2 with OS/2 Version 2.1. Although this is not intended to be an exhaustive course, you'll learn about basic OS/2 terms and concepts, selecting and opening objects, the window list, the Screen Reader/2 switch list, and OS/2 online books. At the end of the tutorial, we provide a list of where you can find more information on OS/2. TERMS AND CONCEPTS OS/2 is an operating system that uses a graphical user interface. A graphical user interface (GUI) enables you to interact with pictures that represent the items you want to work with, such as application programs, data files, and printers. For example, in a GUI, you can drag a picture representing a document across the display screen and drop it on a picture representing a printer to print it. This replaces issuing the print command at a command line. Presentation Manager(*), or PM, is an IBM OS/2 implementation of a graphical user interface, just as Windows is a Microsoft(**) DOS implementation. PM enables you to launch, or start, programs. OS/2 and DOS programs can be launched in windows or in full screens. Microsoft Windows programs and programs written specifically for PM can also be launched in OS/2. PM presents a Desktop for you to work on. It is called the Desktop because it resembles a work surface like a desk. As you work in OS/2, you can move items around on the Desktop, retrieve and put away items (as if in a drawer), and perform your other day-to-day tasks. Items on the Desktop are called objects. Objects fall into a number of categories including folders, application programs, devices, and data files. Objects are represented by icons that consist of a picture and, optionally, a label. These icons indicate the function of the object. For instance, printing functions can look like printers and deletion functions can look like shredders. In general, any time you perform any kind of input, such as opening an object, Screen Reader/2 detects and automatically announces the important information for you. This, combined with the common interface presented by the GUI, makes learning programs easier. NOTES ABOUT SELECTING AND OPENING OBJECTS Most OS/2 users work with a mouse. The mouse directs a pointer on the computer screen and enables you to perform computer operations. For instance, you can use a mouse to highlight and open objects and to select options from menus. Visually-impaired users, however, will probably not be using OS/2 in this way. The good news is that in OS/2, most things you can do with a mouse, you can also do with the keyboard keys. You can use the directional arrow keys and OS/2 accelerator keys. In addition, you can use the Screen Reader/2 keypad to perform mouse functions. You will often hear, in OS/2 documentation and in other places, about clicking (or single clicking) and double clicking with the mouse. Pressing a mouse button once is considered clicking and it is generally used to highlight an object like a program or folder. Double clicking is pressing a mouse button twice in rapid succession; for example, in order to start a program or open an object. In this tutorial, the word select is used in place of single click or click. It means to move a selector (or selection cursor) to an object, thus highlighting it. The word open is used in place of double click. It means to select an object and press ENTER. This will generally cause an action to take place, such as opening a new menu or starting a program. You will find this substitution pattern useful later when you are reading OS/2 documentation. LESSON 5 - GETTING TO THE DESKTOP To start Part 2 of the tutorial, your computer must be displaying the Desktop. If you are continuing in the tutorial from Lesson 4, the Desktop should already be displayed. You can press the "Where Am I?" key sequence, CHORD 7 8 THEN 8, on your keypad to hear if the Desktop is displayed. If it is not, follow these steps to display the Desktop: 1. Press the key sequence CHORD 7 8 THEN C on your keypad. This key sequence accesses the Desktop and its pop-up menu no matter what OS/2 program you are using. This is a key sequence to remember - it will be useful to you when you use Screen Reader/2 and OS/2 after you complete this tutorial. NOTE: "Lesson 12 - Using Pop-up Menus" has information on using pop-up menus. 2. Press the ESCAPE key on the keyboard. This removes the Desktop's pop-up menu and leaves just the Desktop displayed. LESSON 6 - SELECTING OBJECTS In this lesson, you will learn two ways to select objects. Both ways are really quite simple. Use this first method of selecting objects when you are learning about the OS/2 system and what kinds of objects are displayed on the screen. In addition, this method will work in all areas of the OS/2 system - on the Desktop, in pop-up menus, in submenus, and in objects that have been opened. 1. Press the DOWN ARROW key several times. Make sure to wait in between key presses to listen to what Screen Reader/2 announces. You should hear object names like, "Templates, Minimized Window Viewer, Information, OS/2 System, Independence Series, Start Here, Shredder, Master Help Index, and Drive A." 2. Press the UP ARROW key too. 3. You can also use the "cursor/selector" key sequence C THEN C on the keypad. It always tells you the current selection. When you press the UP and DOWN ARROW keys, the selector moves to a new object and selects it. Screen Reader/2 automatically tells you what is selected. If you press an arrow key and you do not hear anything, it means you are at the top or the bottom of a list. Lists in OS/2 2.1 are not circular - that is, if you press the DOWN ARROW key at the bottom of the list, the selector does not automatically go to the top of the list. When you are at the end of a list, you can use opposite arrow keys to move the selector in the other direction. You can also use the "cursor/selector" key sequence C THEN C on the keypad. You can use a shortcut to select objects on the Desktop. On the Desktop, you can type the first letter of the object name, and that object will be selected. If two or more objects have names beginning with the same first letter, typing the letter more than once will select the next object. Try this method now: 1. Type the letter S on the keyboard. You should hear "Start Here," "Shredder," or another object that begins with an S. 2. Type S again. This time, you hear another object that begins with an S. If these are the only two objects that begin with an S, if you type S again, you'll hear the first S object over again. 3. Now, type the letter I on the keyboard. You should hear "Independence Series," "Information," or another object that begins with an I. 4. Type I again. This time, you hear another object that begins with an I. 5. Type I until you select "Independence Series." If you press a letter and you do not hear anything, there is no object that starts with that letter. Or, there is only one object that starts with that letter and it is already selected. You can use the "cursor/selector" key sequence C THEN C on the keypad to check. Remember, we use the word select as the equivalent of the words single click that you will encounter in the OS/2 documentation. LESSON 7 - OPENING OBJECTS After you select an object, you can open it. A device object represents a physical device, such as the printer object on the Desktop. Opening a device object causes the device to be accessed. A data-file object contains information. If you open a data-file object, OS/2 automatically displays the data file using the system editor or an application program associated with the data file. A folder object groups objects together logically. It contains other objects, which can be other folders, device objects, application programs, or data files. A folder is really the graphical equivalent of a menu. Opening a folder object reveals the other objects it contains. A program object represents an executable program, such as a database, word processor, or spreadsheet. When you open a program object, the program is started. In this lesson, you will practice opening a device object, a data file, and a folder. OPENING A DEVICE OBJECT Finding out what is on a diskette in Drive A is an example of opening a device object. To open the Drive A device object: 1. Check the title of the current window by pressing the "Where Am I?" key sequence, CHORD 7 8 THEN 8. You'll hear the title of the currently active window, the name of the program file, and the type of window. For example, you might hear: Desktop. Shell. Presentation Manager. NOTE: The OS/2 Desktop should be the active window. If it is not, access it by pressing key sequence CHORD 7 8 THEN C on the keypad to display the Desktop and its pop-up menu. Press ESCAPE on the keyboard to remove the pop-up menu and leave the Desktop displayed. 2. Insert Screen Reader/2 Diskette 1 in Drive A. 3. Press the "cursor/selector" key sequence C THEN C to hear if Drive A is already selected. 4. If it is not already selected, press the UP or DOWN ARROW key or the D key repeatedly until you hear Drive A. 5. When you have selected Drive A, press ENTER to open it. In this case, opening the device object displays the file structure on Drive A as if you had issued the dir a: command in DOS. You hear: Drive A and the currently highlighted file NOTE: If you hear only "Drive A" press ENTER again. TUTOR.SCR is a data-file object on the diskette and, in the next exercise, you will open it. OPENING A DATA-FILE OBJECT A data-file object contains information. If you open a data-file object, OS/2 automatically displays the data file, using the system editor or an application program associated with the data file. To open and read the contents of the sample data file TUTOR.SCR on Drive A: 1. Press the "cursor/selector" key sequence C THEN C to hear if TUTOR.SCR is already selected. If it is, press ENTER to open the file. 2. If TUTOR.SCR is not already selected, select it by pressing the UP or DOWN ARROW key or the T key repeatedly until you hear TUTOR.SCR. Then press ENTER. OS/2 automatically uses the system editor to display the file. 3. If you accidentally press keys that change the displayed file, don't worry. This file is for practice only. In fact, press the DOWN ARROW key twice. Then, type your name. Later, when you close the file, you will hear the message that asks if you really want to close the file. Please continue with this exercise. Leave the file TUTOR.SCR open. OPENING A FOLDER OBJECT The Independence Series object on the Desktop is a folder. Let's open that to find out what's inside. 1. First, display the Desktop again by pressing the key sequence CHORD 7 8 THEN C on the keypad. This displays the Desktop and its pop-up menu. 2. Press ESCAPE on the keyboard to remove the pop-up menu and leave the Desktop displayed. 3. Select the Independence Series object by typing the letter I on the keyboard until you hear "Independence Series." 4. Press ENTER to open the folder. Screen Reader/2 reads the folder name and the currently highlighted object. You can use the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys to explore the contents of the Independence Series folder. Remember, we use the word open as the equivalent of double click in the OS/2 documentation. It means to select an object and press ENTER. LESSON 8 - USING OS/2 WINDOWS AND THE WINDOW LIST When you open an object, as you have in the previous lesson, the contents of that object appear on the screen in a separate area called a window. For example, when you open a program object, the running program appears in a window. Most windows have titles. Screen Reader/2 automatically announces the title when the window is displayed. In addition, Screen Reader/2 announces the name of the highlighted object or text inside the window. Right now, you have four windows open: Independence Series Drive A OS/2 System Editor with the TUTOR.SCR file OS/2 Desktop FOREGROUND WINDOW Even though you have four windows open simultaneously, you can interact with only one at a time. This one window is the foreground window. Of the four windows you currently have open, the Independence Series window is the foreground window. The other three windows are in the background. You can use the "Where Am I?" key sequence, CHORD 7 8 THEN 8, to verify this. THE WINDOW LIST The Window List displays the titles of all open windows. As you open windows, OS/2 automatically adds their names to the Window List. Conversely, as you close windows, OS/2 automatically deletes their names from the Window List. A sighted person would usually access a window by visually locating it and clicking in it to bring it to the foreground. He would only use the Window List to access windows that were not visible. Because you are not using a mouse, you will use the Window List to find out which windows are open and to switch between windows. In addition, in Lesson 9, we'll show you a Screen Reader/2 shortcut that makes accessing windows as easy for you as clicking on them with a mouse. DISPLAYING THE WINDOW LIST: 1. Press CTRL + ESCAPE. The Window List appears. 2. Use the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW keys on the keyboard to find out which windows are open. TIP: You can use the HOME and END keys on your keyboard to move quickly to the start or end of any list. SWITCHING TO ANOTHER WINDOW: Earlier, the Independence Series folder was the foreground window. Let's try making the sample data file, TUTOR.SCR, the foreground window. Follow these steps: 1. Select TUTOR.SCR - OS/2 System Editor from the Window List. 2. Press ENTER. The window containing the OS/2 System Editor and the TUTOR.SCR data file is brought to the foreground. CLOSING A WINDOW When you close a window, you are indicating that you are finished using the object. The window is removed from the display and from the Window List. There are several ways to close windows. In this lesson, you will learn two of those ways. We are going to close the window that contains the OS/2 System Editor and the TUTOR.SCR data file. Because you changed the file earlier by typing in your name, you hear a message before the window is closed. The message is in a DIALOG BOX. It's called a dialog box because OS/2 is giving you a message. In this case, the message asks if you want to save the changes. You must "reply," usually by making a choice from several pushbuttons, before you can do anything else. When you select a pushbutton, the action indicated by the button occurs immediately. Here is an example. 1. Close the window that contains the OS/2 System Editor and the TUTOR.SCR data file by pressing keys ALT + F4. 2. Listen to the message. Notice that the Cancel pushbutton is selected. 3. Find out what other pushbuttons are available to you by pressing the RIGHT or LEFT ARROW key. This time, the list of pushbuttons IS circular; when you get to the right side of the list and press the RIGHT ARROW key again, the selector moves to the first pushbutton on the left. This is also true in the opposite direction. So, you can listen to all of your choices simply by pressing the RIGHT or LEFT ARROW key repeatedly. 4. To discard the changes you made and close the window, choose the pushbutton DISCARD by pressing either the RIGHT or LEFT ARROW key until you hear "Discard." Then, press ENTER. Now, close the Drive A window by using the Window List: 1. Press CTRL + ESCAPE to start the Window List. 2. Select Drive A - Icon View. 3. Press the DELETE key on your keyboard. This closes the window for you without having to re-access it. 4. Don't forget to remove the diskette from Drive A. LESSON 9 - CREATING AND USING THE SCREEN READER/2 SWITCH LIST The Window List is convenient and you will use it often. However, it involves a lot of keystrokes including CTRL + ESCAPE, selecting, and entering. The Screen Reader/2 Switch List is a specially designed "fast path" for accessing windows. It is comparable to locating a window visually and then clicking in it to bring it to the foreground. You use the Switch List from the Screen Reader/2 keypad. You assign a keypad key number to any window; then, you use a key sequence to bring that window to the foreground. The Switch List assignments are saved for you even if you turn off your computer. This enables you to always use the same keypad keys to switch between the windows you use most frequently. In this lesson, you will practice creating two Switch List entries and then using the Switch List to bring each of the windows to the foreground. The Desktop is an object that you will use often, so it makes sense to add it as an entry in the Switch List. Follow these steps: 1. Open the Desktop by using the Window List or the CHORD 7 8 THEN C. If you use the CHORD 7 8 THEN C, don't forget to press ESCAPE on the keyboard to remove the Desktop's pop-up menu. 2. To add the Desktop to the Switch List, use your keypad. Press CHORD 7 9. You hear: Press a key to save the window, or Help to clear the Switch List. 3. Press keypad key 1. This assigns the keypad key number 1 to the Desktop and you hear: Saved Desktop as keypad 1 key. The Independence Series folder is another object that you will use often as you become more familiar with Screen Reader/2. It contains the Screen Reader/2 program object and the Screen Reader/2 online books. Why don't you add it as an entry in the Switch List now? 1. Press CTRL + ESCAPE to start the Window List. 2. Use the I key on your keyboard to select Independence Series - Icon View and then press ENTER. 3. To add the Independence Series window to the Switch List, use your keypad. Press CHORD 7 9. You hear: Press a key to save the window, or Help to clear the Switch List. 4. Press keypad key 2. This assigns the keypad key number 2 to the Independence Series window and you hear: Saved Independence Series as keypad 2 key. HERE ARE SOME RULES ABOUT CREATING YOUR SWITCH LIST: 1. The window you want to add to the Switch List must be in the foreground. 2. You can use any keypad key except Help and Stop. That means the number keys 0 through 9, the letter keys A through D, and * and #. 3. Use only one key as a Switch List assignment; chords are not allowed. 4. You can change Switch List assignments by pressing CHORD 7 9 then a number to overwrite the current assignment with a new one. Now, use the Switch List to switch between the two entries you have set up: 1. Press CHORD 8 9 on the keypad. You hear: Press a key to switch to a window, or press Help for the Switch List settings. 2. Press keypad key 1 to bring the Desktop window to the foreground. Screen Reader/2 announces the window title and the currently highlighted object in the window. In this case, you hear "Desktop" and the currently highlighted object, if there is one. 3. Press CHORD 8 9 on the keypad. You hear: Press a key to switch to a window, or press Help for the Switch List settings. 4. Press keypad key 2 to bring the Independence Series window to the foreground. Screen Reader/2 announces the window title and the currently highlighted object in the window. In this case, you hear "Independence Series" and the currently highlighted object. HERE ARE SOME TIPS ABOUT USING THE SWITCH LIST: 1. If you forget a window number in the Switch List or don't know what number to assign next, you can hear your current list assignments. To hear the current assignments, press CHORD 8 9 THEN HELP. 2. The Switch List switches to windows that are currently open. If you try to switch to a window that is not open, Screen Reader/2 will announce that the window is not open. BONUS: Even though this was practice, the Desktop and Independence Series are set up in the Switch List as windows 1 and 2. You'll be able to switch to them using the key sequence CHORD 8 9 THEN 1 OR 2 during the rest of the tutorial and afterward too, even after you turn off your computer and turn it back on again. LESSON 10 - USING OS/2 HELP OS/2 supplies several varieties of online help: 1. When you request contextual help, OS/2 can recognize the current location and access appropriate help information. 2. When you want to study in-depth information in book format, use online books. These are specific to a topic and they offer the structures of a printed book - Table of Contents, pages, and an index. 3. When you want help specifically about the OS/2 system, use the general help information. One of the most important sections in general help is keys help. In this lesson, you'll learn how to request contextual help and you'll read some of it. In the next lesson, you'll learn about online books. In "Lesson 12 - Using Pop-up Menus," there's a section on general and keys help. 1. Bring the Desktop to the foreground using the Switch List. HINT: You assigned the 1 key to the Desktop earlier. The CHORD 8 9 is the "switch" key sequence. 2. Select the OS/2 System object. 3. Press F1 to request contextual help. Screen Reader/2 automatically reads the help information to you. In this case, it is specifically about the OS/2 System object. Let's explore the help panel. On help panels, there is a text area which Screen Reader/2 automatically reads to you. There are also two lines you should know about: the action bar the pushbuttons. The action bar is horizontal and it lists actions you can take when you are working with the help panel. You might also hear the action bar referred to as the menu bar. To move the selector to and from the action bar, you can press the ALT key or the F10 key. To move the selector on the action bar, you use the RIGHT and LEFT ARROW keys. Try that now: 1. Press the F10 key. The selector moves to the action bar and Screen Reader/2 automatically reads the current action. In this case, you hear: Services, press v. 2. Press the RIGHT ARROW key twice, making sure to wait between key presses to listen to Screen Reader/2. When the selector stops on an action, Screen Reader/2 announces the name and tells you the OS/2 accelerator key. For example, the accelerator key for Services is V. NOTE: Accelerator keys enable you to perform the actions of selecting AND entering. For example, on the action bar, you can use the accelerator key to open the submenu for the actions. You could also select the action and press ENTER to perform the same task. The most common places you'll find accelerator keys are the options on menus and pushbuttons. We want to make clear that when you used the first letter of an object earlier, it was not an accelerator key. This shortcut only selects an object. It does not perform the additional step of opening. 3. With all of that said, press the accelerator key for Services, V. Services is automatically selected and a vertical pull-down menu appears. Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to move the selector through this menu and hear the selections. If you hear a short beep before a menu item, that item is not available from the menu. 4. Press ESCAPE to close the Services submenu. 5. Press the ALT key to move the selector into the text area. You hear the screen read again. The other line of interest to you is the line of pushbuttons. When you select a pushbutton, the action indicated by the button occurs immediately. On this help panel, the pushbuttons are Previous, Search, Print, and Index. 1. Press the F7 key to move the selector to the line of pushbuttons. 2. Use the RIGHT ARROW key to move the selector to each of the pushbuttons and hear how Screen Reader/2 announces them. 3. Open the Index by moving the selector to the Index pushbutton and pressing ENTER or use the letter I as an accelerator key. When the Help Index appears, you can use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to listen to the topics in the index. 4. Press ESCAPE twice to close the Help Index and then the help window and redisplay the Desktop. Try getting contextual help for another object: 1. Select the Start Here object. 2. Request contextual help by pressing F1 on the keyboard. Notice that the help information you hear is specifically about the Start Here object and that Screen Reader/2 reads it automatically. 3. Now, press ESCAPE to close the help window and return to the Desktop. LESSON 11 - USING ONLINE BOOKS When you installed OS/2, online books about OS/2 were installed as well. Similarly, when you installed Screen Reader/2, online books about Screen Reader/2 were installed. These online books are specifically formatted for use with OS/2. They are all formatted the same way. So, when you learn to use Screen Reader/2 to read one, you'll know how to read them all. In addition, the online books are formatted very much like the help panels that you explored in the previous lesson. Online books feature an action bar, the text area, and the line of pushbuttons that you practiced with in the previous exercise. We have included a sample online book for you to read. The concepts that you learn while using it can be carried over to all of the online books you'll be using with OS/2. First, you need to open the sample online book: 1. Open the Independence Series folder by using the Switch List. HINT: The "switch" key sequence is CHORD 8 9 and the keypad key assigned to the Independence Series folder is 2. 2. Open the Online Books - Screen Reader/2 folder. 3. Now, select the Sample Book object by using the RIGHT ARROW key or the shortcut S. Press ENTER. When you open the sample book, the Table of Contents is displayed. Screen Reader/2 reads the section: Contents. You may also hear the highlighted item and the name of the book. USING THE TABLE OF CONTENTS The Table of Contents lists the book's topics. You can select a topic and press ENTER and the page of information is automatically displayed. 1. Press ENTER to open the first topic in this sample book. HINT: The first section is already selected - that's why you only had to press ENTER to open the topic. You can use the "cursor/selector" key sequence, C THEN C on the keypad, to check. 2. Press CTRL + C to redisplay the Table of Contents. 3. Press the DOWN ARROW key to select the second topic in this sample book. 4. Press ENTER to open the topic. Screen Reader/2 automatically reads the page of text for you. Online books formatted for use with OS/2 have a special feature in their tables of contents. In order to make the table of contents more readable, topics that contain subtopics can be COLLAPSED or EXPANDED. If a topic is collapsed, it is shown with only the top-most level of heading and it has a plus sign in front of it. If a topic is expanded, it is shown with all of the lower level topics and it has a minus sign in front of it. If a topic is collapsed, you press the + key to expand it. To collapse an expanded topic, you press the - key. To illustrate this, we have placed one topic in the Table of Contents that is collapsed. It is Sample Section Three. 1. Press CTRL + C to redisplay the Table of Contents. 2. Press the DOWN ARROW key to select the third topic in this sample book. Notice that Screen Reader/2 read the topic and plus to expand. 3. Now, press the + key on the numeric keypad of your keyboard to expand the topic. Notice that Screen Reader/2 read the topic and minus to collapse. 4. Press the DOWN ARROW key to listen to the one lower-level topic included with the third topic. 5. Press the UP ARROW key to move the selector back to the third topic and press the - key to collapse the topic. You can check that is has been collapsed by pressing the "cursor/selector" key sequence C THEN C on the keypad. Screen Reader/2 will announce the third topic and the + in front of it. Now you know how to use the Table of Contents. You open topics by selecting them and pressing ENTER. If you want to redisplay the Table of Contents, press CTRL + C. Use the + key to expand a topic and use the - key to collapse a topic. READING A PAGE OF TEXT As we mentioned earlier, online books are formatted very much like the help panels that you explored in Lesson 10. Online books feature an action bar, a text area, and a line of pushbuttons. Because you already practiced with the action bar and the pushbuttons, there's no exercise on using them. Just remember that to move the selector to and from the action bar you can use either the ALT key or the F10 key. To move the selector to and from the pushbuttons, use the F7 key. In this exercise, you'll learn about the text area on help panels. You have already read several pages of text just by opening the topics from the Table of Contents. Screen Reader/2 read them automatically because of a feature called page browse. Page browse is set on when you start Screen Reader/2, but you can turn it off and on. Use the key sequence C THEN B on the keypad. Try it now: 1. Open the First Sample Section. HINT: Use the UP ARROW key to move the selector. Notice that Screen Reader/2 read the page automatically for you. 2. Now, press the key sequence C THEN B on the keypad. Screen Reader/2 says: No page browse. 3. Press the F7 key to move the selector to the pushbuttons. 4. Press the RIGHT ARROW key several times until you hear: Pushbutton. Forward. NOTE: If a pushbutton is unavailable, Screen Reader/2 will beep to let you know that you cannot use the pushbutton. You might encounter this if you select the Print pushbutton and you don't have a printer attached to your system. In that case, the Print pushbutton is unavailable. 5. Press ENTER. The second topic in the book, Second Sample Section, is displayed, but the page is not read to you automatically because you turned page browse off. 6. Turn page browse back on by pressing the key sequence C THEN B on the keypad. 7. Press the F7 key to move the selector to the pushbuttons. 8. Press ENTER to go to the previous topic. This time Screen Reader/2 reads the page to you. NOTES: 1. If a topic has more than one page in it, after reading an entire page, Screen Reader/2 will announce: More. 2. In addition, if a topic has more than one page in it, you can use the PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys to read previous and subsequent pages. However, to read previous and subsequent topics, use the BACK and FORWARD pushbuttons. 3. The accelerator keys for BACK and FORWARD are B and F, respectively. If the selector is on the line of pushbuttons, or you are reading in the text area, you can read from topic to topic by pressing B or F. If you are using the action bar, press F7 then the accelerator key. USING HYPERTEXT WORDS Hypertext words are among the unique features of online books formatted for use with OS/2. Hypertext words are highlighted in the text area and are associated with other sections in the book that contain related information. You can open the hypertext word, and the section of the book related to the hypertext word is displayed. When you display a new page, Screen Reader/2 usually reads the first hypertext word. You can use the TAB key repeatedly to read the rest of the hypertext words on a page if more than one are there. This sample book contains one hypertext word - in the third topic. Let's try using a hypertext word: 1. Display the Table of Contents. HINT: Remember, you can press the keys CTRL + C to redisplay the Table of Contents. 2. Open the third topic, "Third Sample Section." 3. Verify that hypertext is highlighted by using the "cursor/selector" key sequence, C THEN C on the keypad. 4. Press ENTER to display the information about the highlighted word hypertext. 5. After you read the information about hypertext words, press the ESCAPE key to display the previous page of text. USING THE INDEX Online books also include indices. These list words and topics that are included in the book. If you open an index entry, the page on which it is discussed is automatically displayed. You can open the index in two ways. You can press CTRL + I on the keyboard or you can use the pushbutton for the index. In this exercise, you will display the index and search for the word pushbuttons. Then, you'll open that index entry and read the displayed page. To display the index for the online book: 1. Press CTRL + I. The first page of the Index appears. You hear: Index. Action bar. The first index entry listed alphabetically for this book is "Action bar." 2. To begin searching for the page that talks about pushbuttons, press P, the initial letter of the index item pushbuttons. You hear: Page down. That is the first index entry that begins with the letter P. 3. Now, press the DOWN ARROW key repeatedly until you hear: Pushbuttons. 4. Press ENTER. The page of text that contains the discussion of pushbuttons appears and is read. NOTE: The explanation of the pushbuttons is not the only topic on this page. Pushbuttons are discussed in the fifth paragraph. Now, to try the other way to display the Index, use the accelerator key for the Index pushbutton, I. 1. Press F7 to move the selector to the pushbuttons. 2. Press I on the keyboard. You don't need to press ENTER; the index is displayed again. CLOSING ONLINE BOOKS Now you know how to read an online book. You just need to know one more thing - how to close an online book. Press ALT + F4. LESSON 12 - USING POP-UP MENUS In OS/2, each object has an associated pop-up menu. Pop-up menus list operations that can be performed for the specific object. These menus are displayed only if you request them. Some common operations listed on pop-up menus are: Open, Help, Copy, Move, and Delete. Pop-up menus can also list actions that are specific to an object. For instance, the pop-up menu for the Drive A object has Check Disk and the pop-up menu for the Desktop object has Shut down. You use SHIFT + F10 to display a pop-up menu. Pop-up menus are vertical lists of items, so you use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to hear the selections. As you move the selector among the menu items, you will sometimes hear, for example, "press O." O (for open) is an accelerator key. Using an accelerator key is the equivalent of selecting the action and pressing ENTER. The Help listed on a pop-up menu is the general help that we mentioned earlier. You can access it from any object's pop-up menu. Right now, you have the Screen Reader/2 Online Books folder open. We'll use that to get to the general help. 1. Press SHIFT + F10 to open the pop-up menu. 2. This is a vertical menu, so use the DOWN ARROW to select Help. Some pop-up menu choices have submenus with additional choices. This is denoted visually by a right arrow. Screen Reader/2 will announce submenu after announcing the name of the entry. In this case, Help has a submenu. 3. Press the RIGHT ARROW key to display the Help submenu. 4. Use the accelerator key, K, to display the Keys Help for OS/2. NOTE: The information contained in Keys Help is also available as a Screen Reader/2 online book. 5. When you are finished reading about the keys, press ESCAPE to close the help window and redisplay the Online Books - Screen Reader/2 folder. Pop-up menus are easy to use. Remember that you access them by pressing SHIFT + F10. Use the arrow keys to move the selector to the different menu items that Screen Reader/2 will read automatically. Finally, use the RIGHT ARROW key to access any submenu you need. Keep this lesson in mind. In the following two lessons, you'll need to use pop-up menus again. LESSON 13 - GETTING TO AN OS/2 OR DOS PROMPT Often, you will need to be able to get to an OS/2 or a DOS prompt. For instance, programs that you want to use may require you to start or install them from an OS/2 prompt. This lesson will show you how to get to an OS/2 or a DOS prompt. 1. Close the Screen Reader/2 Online Books folder and the Independence Series window by pressing ALT + F4 twice. Now, the only open object is the Desktop. You can check by using the "Where Am I?" key sequence, CHORD 7 8 THEN 8. 2. Open the OS/2 System object. HINT: The shortcut for the OS/2 System object is O. You'll still have to press ENTER to open the object. 3. Now, open the Command Prompts object. Use the arrow keys this time. 4. Select and open the OS/2 Window object. This is an OS/2 command prompt. You could also open a DOS window, or a Windows window from this Command Prompts object. 5. You close OS/2 and DOS command prompt windows by typing EXIT and pressing ENTER. Do that now. The OS/2 Window is an object that you may need to use often. Therefore, it is advantageous to copy it to the Desktop so that you can avoid opening the OS/2 System and Command Prompts objects every time. This process uses the pop-up menu for the OS/2 Window object. 1. Select the OS/2 Window again. HINT: It may be currently selected. Use the "cursor/selector" key sequence, C THEN C, on the keypad to check. 2. Press SHIFT + F10 to display the pop-up menu. 3. Select Copy and press ENTER. You have told the system that you want to copy the OS/2 Window object. Now, you have to choose where you want to copy the OS/2 Window. 4. Press the DOWN ARROW until you hear "Desktop." Press ENTER. The OS/2 Window object is copied to the Desktop and from now on you can open it from there. You can check by closing the Command Prompts object and the OS/2 System object and moving the selector around the Desktop until you hear: OS/2 Window. HINT: Use the shortcut O. LESSON 14 - SHUTTING DOWN In this last lesson, you learn how to use the Desktop's pop-up menu to shut down your computer. Shutting down your computer is important because you can lose data and settings if you just turn the computer off. So, you should shut down your computer when you are finished using it for the day. Here's how you do it: 1. Display the Desktop's pop-up menu, by pressing CHORD 7 8 THEN C on your keypad. 2. Use the DOWN ARROW key to select the Shut down option in the pop-up menu. After you select Shut down, press ENTER. You hear: Desktop. HINT: The accelerator key for Shut down is D. Then you hear a message that asks if you are sure you want to shut down your system. The shutdown window contains the pushbuttons: OK, Cancel, and Help. The OK pushbutton is selected. 3. Press ENTER to indicate OK, you want to continue the shutdown process. 4. As shutdown continues, you might hear additional messages asking you to confirm that you want to close programs currently running. The No pushbutton is preselected as the default. Type Y to specify Yes. When you hear: Please wait, shutdown still in progress ... Screen Reader/2 is no longer active. Unfortunately, you will no longer hear messages. The system continues the shutdown process. Another message appears on the screen. This message is not read: Shutdown has completed. It is now safe to turn off your computer, or restart the system by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del. Even though Screen Reader/2 is no longer active, you will hear system activity continue from the disk drive. You should wait about 30 seconds after the first message before restarting or turning off your system. NOTE: If you are using a non-IBM computer system, this shutdown process may not work for you. You should use the Window List to open the Desktop. Then, press CTRL + \ to make sure no object is selected. Press SHIFT + F10 to display the Desktop's pop-up menu. Select Shut down from the pop-up menu. This concludes the tutorial. You have learned a lot about OS/2 and Screen Reader/2. Probably the most important thing to know is that Screen Reader/2 reads most of the information you need AUTOMATICALLY. In addition, you now know many key sequences that will help you use OS/2 and Screen Reader/2 effectively. Remember: Get Help by pressing F1. Move the selector to a line of pushbuttons by using F7. Use F10 or the ALT key to move the selector to and from action bars. Access pop-up menus for objects by pressing SHIFT + F10. Use the keypad key sequence CHORD 7 8 THEN C to access the pop-up menu for the Desktop. (Press ESCAPE to remove the pop-up menu and leave just the Desktop.) Display the OS/2 Window List by pressing CTRL + ESCAPE. Use ALT + F4 to close a window. Create a Screen Reader/2 Switch List entry by pressing the keypad CHORD 7 9 and then another keypad key. Switch to a window in the Screen Reader/2 Switch List by pressing the keypad CHORD 8 9 and the keypad key assigned to the window. Find out "Where Am I?" by using the keypad chord 7 8 THEN 8. Determine what's selected using the keypad key sequence C THEN C. Use OS/2 ACCELERATOR keys to quickly select and open menu items and pushbuttons. You should read the Screen Reader/2 User's Guide. You can find it under the Independence Series object, in the Online Books - Screen Reader/2 folder. You'll find interesting new Screen Reader/2 topics to explore, like: 1. The Edit facility Learn how Screen Reader/2 can echo your typing - by character, word, or line. In addition, you'll discover how you can browse a file by moving the cursor. 2. Screen Reader/2 mouse functions Learn how you can use the Screen Reader keypad to perform mouse functions like single and double-clicking. 3. Levels of talking Learn how you can control the amount of information Screen Reader/2 announces for you. 4. Windows environment Learn what you need to do to run Windows programs. Other online information you might be interested in: Start Here This is an online, alphabetic list. It provides a quick path to information about some common tasks you might do on a daily basis. We highly recommend that you explore this information. OS/2 Keys This online book lists all the OS/2 keys you can use to navigate the OS/2 system, help, and online books. It is also provided as a Reference Card printed in braille. You can find it in the Online Books - Screen Reader/2. Master Help Index This online, alphabetic list contains all of the information you need to use OS/2. You can find it on the Desktop. Glossary This is also an online alphabetic list. It contains computer and operating system terms and definitions. You can find it under the Information object on the Desktop. PAL reference Contains information for the Screen Reader/2 programming language, Profile Access Language (PAL). This reference is useful for people who want to modify Screen Reader/2. You can find it under the Independence Series object, in the Online Books - Screen Reader/2 folder. APPENDIX A. SYNTHESIZERS This section contains technical data about the Screen Reader/2-supported synthesizers. Included are the default Screen Reader/2 settings for each synthesizer and the required switch settings, if any. NOTE: To use a synthesizer not listed in this Getting Started manual, contact either your synthesizer manufacturer or the place where you purchased Screen Reader/2 to determine support and setup procedures. ACCENT BY AICOM SOFTWARE SETTINGS The following are the values in the ACC.TTS file. You can use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to change them. COM PORT. COM1. BAUD RATE. 9600. PARITY. None. LENGTH. 7 bits. STOP BITS. 1 stop bit. RATE. Active. VOLUME. Active. PITCH. Active. SPECIAL. Active for voices 1 to 9. STOP DELAY. 0. ACKNOWLEDGE STOP. No. ALWAYS STOP. Yes. PROTOCOL. Clear to Send. INDEXING. Yes. CHARACTER SET. Lower. (C) Copyright IBM Corp. 1993 101 HARDWARE SETTINGS The following are the switch settings for the Accent: SWITCHES. 4 and 8 are On; all others are Off. NOTE: If you turn off the Accent synthesizer after starting your system, you should restart Screen Reader/2 after you turn the Accent on again. Otherwise, you might experience sluggish response. APOLLO BY DOLPHIN SYSTEMS SOFTWARE SETTINGS The following are the values in the APOLLO.TTS file. You can use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to change them. COM PORT. COM1. BAUD RATE. 9600. PARITY. None. LENGTH. 8 bits. STOP BITS. 1 stop bit. RATE. Active. VOLUME. 1 to 6 active for changing voices. PITCH. Active. SPECIAL. 1 to 8 active for changing languages. STOP DELAY. 0. ACKNOWLEDGE STOP. No. ALWAYS STOP. Yes. PROTOCOL. Clear to Send. INDEXING. Yes. CHARACTER SET. Full. NOTES: 1. The Apollo synthesizer changes baud rate by using different cables. If you already have an Apollo synthesizer, set the baud rate to 1200. If you have the latest ROM chip from Dolphin Systems, the baud rate in the APOLLO.TTS file is correct. 2. This synthesizer supports several languages. A different language ROM chip is required for each language. Make sure that you have the correct ROM chip for the language you want. 3. On this synthesizer, an On/Off knob controls volume. AUDAPTER BY PERSONAL DATA SYSTEMS SOFTWARE SETTINGS The following are the values in the AUD.TTS file. You can use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to change them. COM PORT. COM1. BAUD RATE. 9600. PARITY. None. LENGTH. 8 bits. STOP BITS. 1 stop bit. RATE. Active. VOLUME. Active. PITCH. Active. SPECIAL. 1 to 9 active for changing voices from low (1) to high (9). STOP DELAY. 0. ACKNOWLEDGE STOP. No. ALWAYS STOP. Yes. PROTOCOL. Clear to Send. INDEXING. Yes. CHARACTER SET. Lower. BRAILLE BLAZER AND BRAILLE 'N SPEAK BY BLAZIE ENGINEERING SOFTWARE SETTINGS The following are the values in the BLAZIE.TTS file. You can use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to change them. COM PORT. COM1. BAUD RATE. 9600. PARITY. None. LENGTH. 8 bits. STOP BITS. 1 stop bit. RATE. 1 and 9 active. VOLUME. Active. PITCH. Active. SPECIAL. Not active. STOP DELAY. 0. ACKNOWLEDGE STOP. No. ALWAYS STOP. Yes. PROTOCOL. XON/XOFF. INDEXING. No. CHARACTER SET. Lower. CALLTEXT 5050, PROSE 2020 BY CENTIGRAM COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION NOTE: The manufacturer of these synthesizers was formerly named Speech Plus Corporation. SOFTWARE SETTINGS The following are the values in the SP.TTS file. Note that these values are the same for the CallText 5050 and Prose 2020. You can use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to change them. COM PORT. COM1. BAUD RATE. 9600. PARITY. None. LENGTH. 8 bits. STOP BITS. 1 stop bit. RATE. Active. VOLUME. Active. PITCH. Active. SPECIAL. Not active. STOP DELAY. 0. ACKNOWLEDGE STOP. Yes. ALWAYS STOP. Yes. PROTOCOL. XON/XOFF. INDEXING. Yes. CHARACTER SET. Lower. DECTALK BY DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION This is one of two DECtalk synthesizers described in this section. The other synthesizer is Portable DECtalk/MultiVoice. Be sure you are using the correct synthesizer settings. SOFTWARE SETTINGS The following are the values in the DEC1.TTS file. You can use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to change these values. COM PORT. COM1. BAUD RATE. 1200. PARITY. None. LENGTH. 8 bits. STOP BITS. 1 stop bit. RATE. Active. VOLUME. Volume is controlled by a thumb wheel on the unit. PITCH. 1 to 9 active. SPECIAL. 1 to 9 active for changing voices (refer to note). STOP DELAY. 0. ACKNOWLEDGE STOP. No. ALWAYS STOP. Yes. PROTOCOL. XON/XOFF. INDEXING. Yes. CHARACTER SET. Lower. BUFFER MANAGEMENT. Yes. NOTE: The DEC1.TTS file is set with Special 1 to 9 active for changing voices. These are the voices: 1. Perfect Paul. 2. Beautiful Betty. 3. Huge Harry. 4. Doctor Dennis. 5. Kit the Kid. 6. Rough Rita. 7. Uppity Ursula. 8. Frail Frank. 9. Whispering Wendy. HARDWARE SETTINGS A thumb wheel on the back of the synthesizer controls volume. NOTE: You might notice halting speech or pauses you do not expect. If you want to smooth that speech (at the expense of responsive Stop), toggle both Buffer Management and Smart Talk to No. ECHO BY ECHO CORPORATION NOTE: The manufacturer of this synthesizer was formerly named Street Electronics. SOFTWARE SETTINGS The following are the values in the ECHO.TTS file. You can use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to change them. COM PORT. COM1. BAUD RATE. 9600. PARITY. None. LENGTH. 8 bits. STOP BITS. 1 stop bit. RATE. 1 and 9 active. VOLUME. Active. PITCH. Active. SPECIAL. Not active. STOP DELAY. 0. ACKNOWLEDGE STOP. No. ALWAYS STOP. Yes. PROTOCOL. Clear to Send. INDEXING. No. CHARACTER SET. Lower. ECHO-PC BY ECHO CORPORATION NOTE: The manufacturer of this synthesizer was formerly named Street Electronics. SOFTWARE SETTINGS The following are the values in the ECHOPC.TTS file. You can use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to change them. COM PORT. COM1. BAUD RATE. 9600. PARITY. None. LENGTH. 8 bits. STOP BITS. 1 stop bit. RATE. Active. VOLUME. Active. PITCH. Active. SPECIAL. Not Active. STOP DELAY. 0. ACKNOWLEDGE STOP. No. ALWAYS STOP. Yes. PROTOCOL. XON/XOFF INDEXING. Yes. CHARACTER SET. Lower. BUFFER MANAGEMENT. No. KEYNOTE GOLD BY PULSE DATA SYSTEMS SOFTWARE SETTINGS The following are the values in the GOLD.TTS file. You can use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to change them. COM PORT. COM1. BAUD RATE. 9600. PARITY. None. LENGTH. 8 bits. STOP BITS. 1 stop bit. RATE. Active. VOLUME. Not active. PITCH. Active. SPECIAL. Active (refer to notes). STOP DELAY. 0. ACKNOWLEDGE STOP. No. ALWAYS STOP. Yes. PROTOCOL. XON/XOFF INDEXING. Yes. CHARACTER SET. Full. NOTES: The GOLD.TTS file is set with Special 1 to 4 for different languages (if they are installed). The languages are: 1. English. 2. Spanish. 3. French. 4. German. Special 5 is not set. Special 6 to 9 are set to control the intonation as follows: 6. Reverse intonation. 7. Normal intonation. 8. Emphatic intonation. 9. Very emphatic intonation. The Keynote Gold synthesizer requires a special EPROM in order for it to work with Screen Reader/2. Please contact the manufacturer or the local dealer. If you bought your synthesizer before March, 1993, the indexing feature might not work correctly. Contact the manufacturer or dealer for an updated ROM chip. If you bought your synthesizer before March, 1993, use the GOLD.TTS file. If you bought your synthesizer after March, 1993, use the GOLD2.TTS file. PERSONAL SPEECH SYSTEM BY VOTRAX INCORPORATED SOFTWARE SETTINGS The following are the values in the PSS.TTS file. You can use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to change them. COM PORT. COM1. BAUD RATE. 2400. PARITY. Odd. LENGTH. 7 bits, parity ignored. STOP BITS. 1 stop bit. RATE. 1, 2, 3, 5, 9 active. VOLUME. Active. PITCH. 1, 2, 5, 9 active. SPECIAL. Not active. STOP DELAY. 4. ACKNOWLEDGE STOP. No. ALWAYS STOP. Yes. PROTOCOL. Clear to Send. INDEXING. Yes. CHARACTER SET. Lower. HARDWARE SETTINGS The communication switch is set for parallel. You must change this switch from parallel to serial communications. Also ensure that the switch settings on your synthesizer are set to 2400 baud. SWITCH-BANK LOCATION One switch bank for the Personal Speech System is located inside the unit. The switches are accessible through a slot in the back-right corner of the unit. Use a ballpoint pen or a similar tool to set the switches. SWITCH SETTINGS For serial communications and 2400 baud, set all switches Down except switch 2. That switch should be in the Up position. PORTABLE DECTALK/MULTIVOICE BY DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION This is one of two DECtalk synthesizers described in this section. The other synthesizer is DECtalk. Be sure you are using the correct synthesizer settings. SOFTWARE SETTINGS The following are the values in the DEC2.TTS file. You can use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to change them. COM PORT. COM1. BAUD RATE. 9600. PARITY. None. LENGTH. 8 bits. STOP BITS. 1 stop bit. RATE. Active. VOLUME. 1, 2, 3, 4 reduce the volume (1=maximum reduction, 4=slight reduction). 6, 7, 8, 9 increase the volume (6=slight increase, 9=maximum increase). PITCH. 1 to 9 active. SPECIAL. 1 to 9 active for changing voices (refer to note). STOP DELAY. 0. ACKNOWLEDGE STOP. No. ALWAYS STOP. Yes. PROTOCOL. XON/XOFF. INDEXING. Yes. CHARACTER SET. Lower. BUFFER MANAGEMENT. Yes. NOTE: The DEC2.TTS file is set with Special 1 to 9 active for changing voices. These are the voices: 1. Perfect Paul. 2. Beautiful Betty. 3. Huge Harry. 4. Doctor Dennis. 5. Kit the Kid. 6. Rough Rita. 7. Uppity Ursula. 8. Frail Frank. 9. Whispering Wendy. HARDWARE SETTINGS The On/Off knob in the front of the MultiVoice unit also controls the volume. NOTE: You might notice halting speech or pauses you do not expect. If you want to smooth that speech (at the expense of responsive Stop), toggle both Buffer Management and Smart Talk to No. READING EDGE BY XEROX IMAGING SYSTEMS SOFTWARE SETTINGS The following are the values in the XEROX.TTS file. You can use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to change them. COM PORT. COM1. BAUD RATE. 9600. PARITY. None. LENGTH. 8 bits. STOP BITS. 1 stop bit. RATE. Active. VOLUME. Active (refer to notes). PITCH. Active. SPECIAL. Active (refer to notes). STOP DELAY. 0. ACKNOWLEDGE STOP. No. ALWAYS STOP. Yes. PROTOCOL. XON/XOFF INDEXING. Yes. CHARACTER SET. Lower. BUFFER MANAGEMENT. Yes. NOTES: 1. The XEROX.TTS file is set with Volume 1 to 9 for levels of intonation as follows: Volume 3 to 7 are set to control the intonation as follows: 3. Intonation is 0% of normal. 4. Intonation is 50% of normal. 5. Normal intonation. 6. Intonation is 150% of normal. 7. Intonation is 200% of normal. 2. The XEROX.TTS file is set with Special 1 through 9 to control voices as follows: 1. Perfect Paul. 2. Beautiful Betty. 3. Huge Harry. 4. Frail Frank. 5. Kit the Kid. 6. Rough Rita. 7. Uppity Ursula. 8. Doctor Dennis. 9. Whispering Wendy. 3. You might notice halting speech or pauses you do not expect. If you want to smooth that speech (at the expense of responsive Stop), toggle both Buffer Management and Smart Talk to No. VOXBOX BY INFOVOX SOFTWARE SETTINGS The following are the values in the VOX.TTS file. You can use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to change them. COM PORT. COM1. BAUD RATE. 4800. PARITY. None. LENGTH. 8 bits. STOP BITS. 1 stop bit. RATE. Active. VOLUME. Active. PITCH. Active. SPECIAL. 1 to 9 active for changing languages and response modes (refer to note). STOP DELAY. 0. ACKNOWLEDGE STOP. No. ALWAYS STOP. Yes. PROTOCOL. XON/XOFF. INDEXING. Yes. CHARACTER SET. Convert. NOTE: The Special settings for the InfoVox are as follows: 1. The language in ROM slot 1. 2. The language in ROM slot 2. 3. The language in ROM slot 3. 4. The language in ROM slot 4. 5. The language in ROM slot 5. 6. The language in ROM slot 6. 7. The language in ROM slot 7. 8. Changes to the normal response mode; improves prosody. 9. Changes to the fast response mode; default. HARDWARE SETTINGS You must set some of the InfoVox switches for it to work with Screen Reader/2. SWITCH-BANKS LOCATIONS The unit contains three switch banks. These are located, if the back of the synthesizer is facing you, in the lower mid-section of the panel and to the right of the parallel and serial connectors. Use a ballpoint pen or other similar tool to set the switches. If the switches are pushed toward the bottom of the synthesizer, they are On. If they are positioned toward the top of the synthesizer, they are Off. SWITCH SETTINGS The settings for the three banks follow: For Bank 1 (left): 1=On. 2=Off. 3=On. 4=On. 5=On. 6=On. 7=On. 8=Off. For Bank 2 (middle): 1=On. 2=Off. 3=On. 4=On. 5=On. 6=On. 7=On. 8=Off. For Bank 3 (right): 1=Off. 2=Off. 3=Off. 4=Off. 5=Off. 6=Off. 7=Off. 8=On. NOTE: Ensure that you have the correct cable and that you connect the synthesizer cable to the computer correctly. The correct cable has female connectors on both ends. Connect the cable to the host-computer connector on the synthesizer (the male connector leftmost at the back of the synthesizer unit, if it is facing you) and to the serial connector on your computer. APPENDIX B. PROBLEM DETERMINATION Appendix B contains problems that you may encounter and the actions you should take to correct them. You can get technical support for Screen Reader/2 over the telephone. A package describing the group who provides this support and the types of support they provide is included with your Screen Reader/2 software. Be sure to read through this package. PROBLEMS DURING INSTALLATION NO MESSAGES SPOKEN If you do not hear any messages during the installation process, do the following: 1. Verify that the synthesizer has been turned on and is operating. Most synthesizers will speak an opening message when first turned on. 2. Check that the cable between the synthesizer and the communication port (serial port) is of the correct type and is firmly seated at both ends. 3. Make sure that you purchased the correct cable for your synthesizer. Remember to tell your synthesizer dealer the type of computer you are using and the pin configuration of your communications port (serial port). 4. Verify that the communication parameters, such as baud rate, match the synthesizer settings. Refer to the section "Problems During Screen Reader/2 Operation" for more information on synthesizer problems. (C) Copyright IBM Corp. 1993 123 TONES PRIOR TO SPOKEN MESSAGES If you hear any tones prior to hearing spoken messages, an installation error has occurred and an error message is displayed. The error message indicates the failure encountered and you may need to contact the technical support group for Screen Reader/2 for assistance in resolving the problem. OTHER FAILURES DURING INSTALLATION Contact the technical support group for Screen Reader/2 for assistance. PROBLEMS DURING SCREEN READER/2 OPERATION NO STARTUP MESSAGE Each time Screen Reader/2 starts, you should hear "Screen Reader/2 started." If you do not hear the message, do the following: 1. Shut down your system. Then, switch off your computer and all attached devices. 2. Make sure you specified the right synthesizer nickname, communication port (serial port), and baud rate to Screen Reader/2 during installation. If you change synthesizers or any setting on the synthesizer, you may need to use the Screen Reader/2 Synthesizer Settings notebook to update the .TTS file for the synthesizer. Refer to the Screen Reader/2 User's Guide for information on how to change synthesizer settings. 3. If your synthesizer has a volume control, make sure it is turned up loud enough for you to hear the synthesizer. 4. Make sure that the synthesizer's switches, if any, are set to the correct positions. NOTE: Synthesizer settings are discussed in Appendix A, "Synthesizers." After checking these items, restart your system and synthesizer. If you are sure that your synthesizer is connected and set up properly but you still do not hear the messages, your synthesizer might be defective. TONES INSTEAD OF STARTUP MESSAGE When Screen Reader/2 starts, if you hear three short tones instead of the message, "Screen Reader/2 started," your synthesizer may not be working properly. To correct the problem, do the following: 1. Shut down your system. Then, switch off your computer and all attached devices. 2. Make sure that your synthesizer is connected to your computer's communication port (serial port). 3. Make sure your synthesizer is plugged into an appropriate power source and is turned on. 4. Restart your system and synthesizer. If you still do not hear "Screen Reader/2 started" and you are sure that the synthesizer is connected and set up properly, your synthesizer might be defective. KEYPAD NOT FOUND If you hear the message, "Keypad not found," and there is a keypad attached to your computer, check the keypad and connecting cable by doing the following: 1. Shut down your system. Then, switch off your computer and all attached devices. 2. Make sure the connecting cable is attached to the keypad and to the mouse port (pointing device port) on your computer or to the Screen Reader adapter card. 3. Turn on your computer and restart your system. 4. Run the Screen Reader keypad test program. NOTE: If you are using a non-IBM machine and the adapter does not work, try using an IBM Screen Reader/2 adapter card. RUNNING THE KEYPAD TEST PROGRAM 1. Start from an OS/2 Window or OS/2 Full Screen. 2. Make the Screen Reader/2 directory the default directory on the disk drive where you installed Screen Reader/2. For example, the directory Screen Reader/2 is installed in by default is: c:\srd21 3. At the prompt, type: srdktest and press ENTER. (srdktest stands for Screen Reader's keypad test.) You can run the keypad test program with or without Screen Reader/2 running. NOTE: If Screen Reader/2 is running when you run this test, the test program takes exclusive control of the keypad. Normal keypad key sequences will not work with Screen Reader/2 and, for all practical purposes, the keypad can be considered to be "disconnected" from Screen Reader/2. You must exit the test program to return control of the keypad to Screen Reader/2. 4. You hear eight musical tones and the following messages: Screen Reader/2 Keypad Test Program. Press the Enter key on the system keyboard to end the test. 5. If the keypad was detected and passed its self-tests, one of the following messages is heard: The keypad is attached to a Micro Channel pointing device port. The keypad is attached to an ISA pointing device port. The keypad is attached to the Screen Reader adapter card. If one of the messages above was displayed and spoken, the following is heard: Keypad self-tests were successful. Press a keypad key and verify the audible response is correct. If a different message is displayed, an error was detected. To obtain more information on the cause and possible actions to take, type: help SKTnnnn where nnnn is the number of the error message displayed. 6. If you hear a single tone followed by seven musical tones or the message: Leaving the keypad test program there is either a cabling error or a problem with your Screen Reader keypad or adapter. Check your cabling to make sure it is correct. Check the Screen Reader adapter to ensure that it is seated properly in the computer. Retest the Screen Reader/2 system. Then, if you are sure your cabling is correct and the adapter is in place but you still have a problem, call the technical support for Screen Reader/2 for assistance. 7. If you hear eight musical tones and the following message: Keypad self-tests were successful. Press a keypad key and verify the audible response is correct the keypad test is ready for you to use. Follow these instructions: a. Wait for the messages to finish before testing the keys. Remember that the test program has taken control of the keypad from Screen Reader/2. Pressing the STOP key while a message is being spoken will not stop the message from completing. b. Press each key. Each key has a distinct tone associated with it. If you press each key and hear a single tone for each and the value spoken corresponds to the key you pressed, your keypad is working properly. NOTE: The tone and message are heard when you press and release a key. Holding down a key will not generate a tone. You must release the key to complete the test for that key. c. If you press a key and do not hear a tone, your keypad or cable (or both) are defective. Call the technical support group for Screen Reader/2 for instructions. 8. Press the ENTER key to end the test. You should hear seven musical tones and the message: Leaving the keypad test program. If you hear anything else, contact the technical support group for Screen Reader/2 for instructions. NO KEYPAD RESPONSE AFTER MOUSE SUPPORT INSTALLATION If you installed Screen Reader/2 and the keypad was working, and then you installed mouse support by using OS/2 Selective Installation, the keypad may not operate. Some versions of the mouse device driver disable the keypad when it is attached to the mouse port (pointing device port). However, the keypad is not disabled if it is attached to the Screen Reader adapter card. If the keypad is not working, try editing CONFIG.SYS and move the keypad device driver statement to the end of the file. The keypad device driver statement is: d:\SRD21\KEYPAD.SYS d is the drive on which you installed Screen Reader/2. Make sure you have only one keypad device driver statement in your CONFIG.SYS when you are finished editing. After you have changed CONFIG.SYS, restart your system. If the keypad does not work after this change, call the technical support group for Screen Reader/2 for assistance. NO PORT AVAILABLE FOR SCREEN READER KEYPAD INSTALLATION If OS/2 is already installed on your computer and is configured to use a mouse attached to the mouse port (pointing device port), you will not be able to attach the Screen Reader keypad without reconfiguring OS/2. If you want to use the Screen Reader keypad attached to the mouse port, you should perform a Selective Installation of OS/2 and specify no mouse, before you install Screen Reader/2. Reboot as directed by the Selective Installation program, then install Screen Reader/2.