@Freedom Scientific Newsletter
Freedom Scientific Sessions and Daily Drawings at the 2009 CSUN Conference
Join us at the Hilton for Wednesday Afternoon Open House - March 16, 1:30 PM- 4 PM
Wouldn’t it be great if there were one place you could go to meet with key product management, development, and localization staff? This year at the CSUN conference, there is, and it’s a great way to start your 2009 CSUN experience. Freedom Scientific will kick off our participation in the 2009 CSUN Conference in Los Angeles, California, with a Freedom Scientific Wednesday Afternoon at the Hilton Open House. |
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Join Freedom Scientific and friends from 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM at the Hilton Los Angeles, 5711 West Century Boulevard, Second Floor, in the Los Angeles B/C room. Meet the product managers who make the decisions about the features in the products you use every day, as well as other key people from the Freedom Scientific team. Get the very latest info on your favorite products, give us an idea that might end up in a future release, share hints and tips with other users, and enjoy a little refreshment.
Some of our friends who will be there include T&T Consultancy and Next Generation Technologies, makers and distributors of J-Say, Say-MAGic, J-Tunes, and more. David Pinto from Yes Accessible! will be there to hand out demos of his products, including TypeAbility and music-related products.
Put this one on your calendar now, it’s an event you won’t want to miss.
Freedom Scientific sessions:
Wednesday, March 18, 9:20 AM - 10:20 AM - PAC Mate Omni™ 6.1, the Next Generation Accessible Pocket PC
Presenter: Jonathan Mosen
St. Louis Room at the Marriott
Thursday, March 19, Noon - 12:30 PM - JAWS® 10, JAWS Tandem™, and AutoForms Mode Features
Presenter: Eric Damery
Denver Room at the Marriott
Note: Due to overwhelming demand, CSUN has moved the JAWS session to the Denver Room, which accommodates 80 people. If you tried to register for this session and were told that it was booked to capacity, try again. If you cannot get into this session, make sure to visit us Wednesday afternoon, at our Open House at the Hilton.
Friday, March 20, 2009 - 1:50 PM - 2:50 PM - LRN-1019 - Text-to-Speech from the Start – A Primary Support for Lifespan Learning
Presenter: Ira Socol, Michigan State University, on behalf of the Freedom Scientific Learning Systems Group
Register for Drawings at Booth #250 at the MarriottFreedom Scientific products will be on display at our booth during exhibit hours. Take advantage of this opportunity to get one-on-one demonstrations of our technology and also to register for prize drawings. During the conference, Freedom Scientific will give away a SAPPHIRE™ handheld video magnifier – the newest addition to our growing line of low vision solutions – MAGic® screen magnification software, and 10 FSReader DAISY players with a $25 iTunes® gift card. Access iTunes with JAWS, and download music, movies, TV shows, applications, podcasts, audio books, university lectures, and more. |  |
Updates for JAWS 10 and MAGic 11
In addition to the major new releases of our software products, Freedom Scientific offers regular software updates. There is no additional charge for these updates if you are running the current version.
In March, we will release updates for JAWS 10 and MAGic 11.
From the JAWS or MAGic window, go to the Help Menu and choose “check for updates”. If a new version is available, you can download and install it right from the Update Dialog. Details about what’s new will be posted to our Web site once the updates are released.
If you prefer to keep the full installation file for backup purposes, these can also be downloaded from our site.
64-Bit Versions of JAWS, MAGic and OpenBook™
When you visit a computer store, it’s now likely you’ll be offered a computer running a 64-bit operating system. In December, we began what has been a very successful beta program for a 64-bit version of JAWS 10. A beta of MAGic 11 for 64-bit operating systems soon followed. The beta versions run on Windows Vista® 64-bit, as well as Windows Server 2008.
We are about to complete the release of 64-bit versions of JAWS, MAGic, and OpenBook. Watch the Freedom Scientific home page for links to download these.
If you own the current version of these products (JAWS 10, MAGIC 11 and OpenBook 8), you’re good to go. Download the 64-bit version of either MAGic or JAWS, and use your existing authorization. If you’re an OpenBook user, you’ll be able to request a CD.
Certificates of Completion and CEUs for Paid Webinars
In our last newsletter and our January FSCast, we introduced new Freedom Scientific Webinars from our Training Department. People the world over are enjoying the convenience of upskilling from their home or office. Now there’s an easy way to have those skills recognized and obtain a qualification to add to your resume.
Testing capabilities and Certificates of Completion are now available for any paid Webinar. Participants attending any one of the paid Webinars offered by the training department will receive a Certificate of Completion at the conclusion of the Webinar. Paid Webinar training requires attendance at the time of the Webinar. Review of Webinar archives is necessary if you are unable to participate in the Webinar due to time-zone, employment, or other considerations.
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Short online exams are available during the series of lessons for paid Webinars. Also, a final exam is available at the conclusion of each paid Webinar. The online exam tests the knowledge you have gained as a result of attending the Webinar. Exams must be completed with a total passing grade of at least 80% to earn a Certificate of Completion. |
Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are also listed on the Certificate of Completion that the Webinar participant earns. Contact your Professional Board for clarification before you register to ensure that your professional organization accepts our CEUs.
Choose the following link if you would like to take a practice sample JAWS exam. For more information about our paid Webinars, online exams and certificates of completion, please contact the training department:
Freedom Scientific Training Department
800-444-4443. ext. 1004 or 1016
Phone outside of the US and Canada 727-803-8000
Online Learning Web Page at Freedom Scientific
The Reading Goes on with Bookshare and Freedom Scientific
In early January, Benetech unveiled a new version of their popular Bookshare Web site, providing accessible books for individuals with print disabilities. Freedom Scientific was ready for the change.
Within the day, an update to OpenBook was released, ensuring the continuation of seamless searching and downloading of Bookshare content from within OpenBook itself.
While users of some proprietary notetaker products still wait for their manufacturers to restore Bookshare service to them, all PAC Mate™ users could take advantage of the new site the moment it went live. With Bookshare having moved to the industry standard Zip format, PAC Mate users were able to install any number of Zip packages for Windows Mobile®, and keep on reading.
From the Technical Support Department:
Using Heading Levels with JAWS 10
In this issue, we will explain the concept of using HTML heading levels, and how to navigate by headings with JAWS 10.
In HTML, the language of the Worldwide Web, headings are used to separate documents into sections, each with a properly designated level heading. These sections can be considered similar to a tree view, where, if there are six levels of headings in a document, the Level 1 heading is the top level and the Level 6 heading is the lowest. Pressing 1 through 6 on the number row will move to the corresponding heading level. For this exercise, we will use the example of a document with one Level 1 heading, two Level 2 headings, and three Level 3 headings.
Using the example document, when you press 1 on the Number Row, JAWS will announce the Level 1 heading (this commonly is the title of the page). If you press 1 again, JAWS will look for another Level 1 heading. Since in the example document, there is only one Level 1 heading, JAWS will not find a second Level 1 heading and will announce, “No next heading Level 1 in this section.”
If you now press 2 on the Number Row, JAWS will announce the first Level 2 heading. Level 2 headings often designate section titles. When you press 2 again, JAWS will look for another level 2 heading and, finding it, will announce it. Since the example document is limited to a pair of Level 2 headings, if you press 2 again, JAWS will not find a third Level 2 heading and will announce, “No next heading Level 2 in this section.”
Finally, if you press 3 on the Number Row, JAWS will announce the first Level 3 heading. Level 3 headings on a page often are section subheadings. Since in this document, there are three Level 3 headings, you can press 3 three individual times and be taken to each of the three Level 3 Headings, in turn. After finding three Level 3 headings, a subsequent press of the 3 will result in JAWS not locating any further Level 3 headings. JAWS will announce, “No next heading Level 3 in this section.”
If you wish to see all headings in the HTML document in advance, press INSERT+F6 to retrieve a list of headings. You can then press UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW to select a heading then press ENTER to move to it. You also can use the Navigation Quick Keys H and SHIFT+H to move to the next or previous heading in the HTML document.
Try it with this newsletter, which has HTML headings at Levels 1, 2 and 3.
WYNN™ Leads Landscape Architect to Success
Melinda Kendrick found elementary school to be extremely easy. As she says, “Just listen in class and spit it back out on a test later.” Her grades were excellent. She was at the top of her class and always tested above average on placement tests.
But Melinda’s mother sensed a problem. Deborah Kendrick, a well-known disability advocate, author, and columnist, began to realize that her daughter struggled with reading comprehension. Melinda could understand and retain the information that had been read aloud but could comprehend less than half of the material that she read herself.
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After much fruitless advocacy for disability testing, Melinda was finally diagnosed with dyslexia, thanks to the Office of Disability Services (ODS) at Wright State University. With the services provided by ODS, Melinda began to see a turnaround in her grades, which, despite her above average intelligence, had deteriorated in high school as the need for written work became greater. . |
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After a hiatus from study and with guidance from the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation, Melinda attended Cincinnati State Technical & Community College Melinda graduated cum laude with an Associate in Applied Business with a concentration in Landscape Design. She made the Dean’s List every term.
Her professors encouraged her to continue her education. She went on to Ohio State University (OSU).
Melinda became proficient using WYNN literacy software at OSU. The Office of Disability Services at OSU had an excellent computer lab where she could learn WYNN. “I spent every free hour I had at the lab! I had a resource that increased my comprehension and saved me time.”
While she still used books on tape and readers, WYNN made her more efficient and more independent. She explained that readers were required to read everything including parentheses and colons.
With so many of these interruptions she couldn’t concentrate on the body of text. “So, WYNN wasn’t just an added convenience, I was retaining the information better by having WYNN read to me
By semester break of her first year at Ohio State, BVR bought Melinda her personal copy of WYNN to be installed on her laptop. This enabled her to spend more time in the architecture building with her fellow students.
When asked what features of WYNN that she found the most helpful to her. She quickly summarized the following:
- Using Masking to reduce the glare and contrast between letters and background
- Changing the color of the background for easier reading – she loves the mauve background color
- Spotlighting feature while the voice reads to you – she likes to have each line of her text spotlighted as opposed to word-by-word
- Changing the speed of the text being read to you – she likes 125-135 words per minute (Melinda reads 50 wpm without WYNN)
- Changing font size
- Bookmarking pages – easy to reference when studying
After graduating from Ohio State University in 2006 with a BS in Landscape Architecture, Melinda worked with a firm specializing in urban design, landscape architecture, civil engineering, and branding. It wasn’t long before information that she was researching in zoning documents or city codes needed fast turnarounds. “WYNN was a life-saver! Long wordy documents that I read four and five times and still couldn’t comprehend were suddenly a breeze. I was keeping pace with my co-workers!”
FSCast Highlights AOL Accessibility and More
Our March FSCast features an in-depth interview with Tom Wlodkowski, Director of Accessibility for AOL. Jonathan and Tom discuss ARIA and describe the DHTML Style Guide and how it helps make Web 2.0 applications keyboard friendly.
In February, FSCast welcomed Henry Oliu, a long-time Freedom Scientific access technology user and Spanish broadcaster for the American League Champion Tampa Bay Rays baseball team. Freedom Scientific Trainer Dan Clark wrapped up the session with information about our new online learning opportunities.
You won’t want to miss any of these interviews, and you won’t if you subscribe to FSCast. The subscription is free, and delivers notification right to your computer when new FSCasts are released. If you did miss the February or March FSCasts, catch up by visiting the FSCast archives to download FSCast episodes in MP3.
Freedom Scientific's Mission
To develop, manufacture, and market technology-based products that provide equal access to information and computing for those with vision impairments or learning disabilities.
