[accessibleimage] Fwd: New TTT Authoring Tool Commands and Menu Structure Outline

Hi,
Forwarding from Steven Landau.
Best,
Lisa

----- Original Message -----

                6. april 2007 00:25:27

Hi,
 
I am sending this message to people who have familiarity with the TTT
Authoring Tool, and who might have an interest in weighing in on proposed
major changes that we are about to start work on.  The new program will be
completely different from the existing one from the point of view of how
sheets are created and stored.  The new version will have many new
features and capabilities, and will be a much more ?professional? product.
 The attached document is preliminary.  I would appreciate any and all
responses and comments as we begin to build and test the application.
 There are a few very important things to pay attention to as you read
this, as they represent significant changes from the current version of
the program.  Most notably: 
 
1.      The Authoring Tool Sheets will work from the TTT Launcher (rather from
a separate, non-interoperable program), and you will be able to switch
directly to another TTT application without going back to the desktop.
 2.     You will not be able to run sheets created in the old version of the
Authoring Tool program on the new system; however, if a sheet is placed on
the TTT, the new version will recognize and convert it.  Once converted
and saved, the sheet will then be fully editable and viewable using the
new program.  
 3.     There will be no separate Picture Viewer program.  An author will
?Lock? a file when he or she is ready to give a sheet to a student,
essentially making it ?Read Only?.  This means that the Main Menu
structure presented to the student will change, so that the student does
not get the menu options associated with creating objects, layers, etc.
  The Viewer Main Menu is outlined at the end of the attached document.
 To ?Unlock? the file and continuing Authoring, an author would choose
?Unlock? from the Viewer Menu, and you would have to enter a password;
then the menus would switch back to Author Mode, and you could make any
changes.
 4.     When saving a new sheet, the Author will have the choice of accepting
the default location for storing the sheet, or choosing a different
location. In the current version, that decision is made automatically, and
some people have complained.  Also, the author will now have the choice of
selecting any (legal) ID Combination, or accepting one suggested by the
program.  As with any computer file, if the Author chooses his or her own
ID combo, there might already be an existing one with that name, and they
will have to choose to overwrite the existing one or choose a different
ID.  
 5.     Files for one sheet will be stored in a folder that is named for that
sheet. The name of the folder will be, for example ?My TTT Sheet (1-2-3)?,
where ?My TTT Sheet? is the title of the sheet (can?t exceed 248
characters), and the ?(1-2-3)? is the ID Combination.  The reason that we
have to use a folder for each sheet is that sounds will now be stored as
external files, so any digitized sounds that are associated with a given
sheet need to be kept together with the ?*.ttt? file that contains all of
the definitions of hotspots, etc.  This could be seen as cumbersome,
because it complicates the process of transferring a sheet to a different
computer or folder, in that the entire folder has to be brought, not just
one file, like with a Word document.  But I can?t see any way around it. 
There will be a ?Transfer? command that will zip up the folder and save it
to a CD, USB drive, or to another computer on the network or to send it as
an email attachment.
 6.     It will now be possible to work right on screen and a mouse, without
using the TTT, for the Authoring Process. This will not be accessible, but
many sighted authors have said that they would prefer it.  Of course the
Authoring process will still be fully accessible using the TTT.  One big
advantage of offering this option is that the Authoring Tool becomes a
drawing tool, too.  Currently, you have to create a picture using some
other process, and the Authoring Tool is only used for attaching the
sounds. However, it might be really good if you could, say, import a
bitmap image and then trace directly over it to create a picture.  Then,
you could click ?Emboss?, and the picture would be sent to an embosser,
which would generate the entire sheet, with the ID Bars in place. 
Alternatively, you could click ?Emboss Remotely?, and the file would go to
our office, and we would produce the sheet and send it back in a couple of
days by snail mail.  Sheets produced this way would be ready to use.  Many
people would love this.  Alternatively, you could select ?Print?, and, if
you loaded your printer with swell paper, that would also make a very easy
way to product sheets.  
 
 
These are the main differences.  I want to get started right away with
this, so your quick response will be greatly appreciated.  I hope to
complete work by June, and we will then make an announcement and offer the
new version at no charge to any current TTT owner.
 
Steve

Hi,

 

I am sending this message to people who have familiarity with the TTT Authoring Tool, and who might have an interest in weighing in on proposed major changes that we are about to start work on.  The new program will be completely different from the existing one from the point of view of how sheets are created and stored.  The new version will have many new features and capabilities, and will be a much more “professional” product.  The attached document is preliminary.  I would appreciate any and all responses and comments as we begin to build and test the application.  There are a few very important things to pay attention to as you read this, as they represent significant changes from the current version of the program.  Most notably:

 

  1. The Authoring Tool Sheets will work from the TTT Launcher (rather from a separate, non-interoperable program), and you will be able to switch directly to another TTT application without going back to the desktop.
  2. You will not be able to run sheets created in the old version of the Authoring Tool program on the new system; however, if a sheet is placed on the TTT, the new version will recognize and convert it.  Once converted and saved, the sheet will then be fully editable and viewable using the new program.  
  3. There will be no separate Picture Viewer program.  An author will “Lock” a file when he or she is ready to give a sheet to a student, essentially making it “Read Only”.  This means that the Main Menu structure presented to the student will change, so that the student does not get the menu options associated with creating objects, layers, etc.   The Viewer Main Menu is outlined at the end of the attached document.  To “Unlock” the file and continuing Authoring, an author would choose “Unlock” from the Viewer Menu, and you would have to enter a password; then the menus would switch back to Author Mode, and you could make any changes.
  4. When saving a new sheet, the Author will have the choice of accepting the default location for storing the sheet, or choosing a different location. In the current version, that decision is made automatically, and some people have complained.  Also, the author will now have the choice of selecting any (legal) ID Combination, or accepting one suggested by the program.  As with any computer file, if the Author chooses his or her own ID combo, there might already be an existing one with that name, and they will have to choose to overwrite the existing one or choose a different ID.  
  5. Files for one sheet will be stored in a folder that is named for that sheet. The name of the folder will be, for example “My TTT Sheet (1-2-3)”, where “My TTT Sheet” is the title of the sheet (can’t exceed 248 characters), and the “(1-2-3)” is the ID Combination.  The reason that we have to use a folder for each sheet is that sounds will now be stored as external files, so any digitized sounds that are associated with a given sheet need to be kept together with the “*.ttt” file that contains all of the definitions of hotspots, etc.  This could be seen as cumbersome, because it complicates the process of transferring a sheet to a different computer or folder, in that the entire folder has to be brought, not just one file, like with a Word document.  But I can’t see any way around it.  There will be a “Transfer” command that will zip up the folder and save it to a CD, USB drive, or to another computer on the network or to send it as an email attachment.
  6. It will now be possible to work right on screen and a mouse, without using the TTT, for the Authoring Process. This will not be accessible, but many sighted authors have said that they would prefer it.  Of course the Authoring process will still be fully accessible using the TTT.  One big advantage of offering this option is that the Authoring Tool becomes a drawing tool, too.  Currently, you have to create a picture using some other process, and the Authoring Tool is only used for attaching the sounds. However, it might be really good if you could, say, import a bitmap image and then trace directly over it to create a picture.  Then, you could click “Emboss”, and the picture would be sent to an embosser, which would generate the entire sheet, with the ID Bars in place.  Alternatively, you could click “Emboss Remotely”, and the file would go to our office, and we would produce the sheet and send it back in a couple of days by snail mail.  Sheets produced this way would be ready to use.  Many people would love this.  Alternatively, you could select “Print”, and, if you loaded your printer with swell paper, that would also make a very easy way to product sheets.  

 

These are the main differences.  I want to get started right away with this, so your quick response will be greatly appreciated.  I hope to complete work by June, and we will then make an announcement and offer the new version at no charge to any current TTT owner.

 

Steve

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