[bct] Re: Speech [was Transcription]

Hi Tim:
Yeah, I know what you mean. I use Jaws at a clip rate of 500 WPM. myself and it makes other blind users crazy when we are working on there computers on the phone. I also love making Eloquence do strange sounds. I am a member of All-In-Play and there are a few players that use a handle with dog as part of there name. When they win, I usually give them a:
r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'r'uff
Just for fun, there are lots of others too. Also, let's hope we and our wives who, as it turns out, both have the same problem, can work things out to a plattoe one day! Lol! Great post man!
Dana

----- Original Message ----- From: "Tim Cross" <tcross@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blindcooltech@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2005 1:49 AM
Subject: [bct] Re: Speech [was Transcription]



I use a fast speech rate. At work I use a dectalk express and set it
to at least 400, at home I use a software dectalk and have it set to a
similar speed.

I've found that you get use to faster speeds and I found standard
speaking rate just too slow to get through the volume of stuff I want
to read. My braille is truely pathetic and something I've been
seriously considering learning properly.

I don't use headphones because I find it too isolating from whats
going on around me and nearly have a hart attack every time someone
taps me on the shoulder. The fast rate I listen to speech amazes
people I work with as they can't understand it. This is an added bonus
as it means I can listen to e-mails etc and not feel everyone else is
hearing my personal communication.

The only problem I have is some friends of mine who have rather
strange senses of humor and send me e-mails with content they have
written to make my speech synthesizer make odd sounds. Also, if I drop
the speech rate to a "normal" rate which everyone can understand, it
can be a bit embarrassing when you get those spam e-mails for viagra
and products designed to make certain parts of the male anatomy
larger!

Tim


Jamie Pauls writes:
> Great article. There is a lot there for a sighted person to try to > digest. I
> can see why they may have been overwhelmed, which is the only word you
> didn't use to describe their reaction. <grin> I trust they asked some
> intelligent questions after reading the article. I have been using > speech
> at about 440 words per minute for quite a while, but decided to kick it > up
> to 500 wpm for a bit to see how it goes. I think it's a good idea to > push
> the envelope a bit if possible because I am convinced the computer > really
> does work better the faster the speech is. If I want to read something > very
> carefully such as a manual, I may slow things down occasionally. Let's
> change the subject line and see how many folk like really fast speech > and
> how many prefer it slower. I'm using Elloquence at 500 words per minute.
> What are some other preferences out there?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindcooltech-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:blindcooltech-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Rose Combs
> Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 7:49 PM
> To: blindcooltech@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [bct] Transcription
>
> This is not exactly my career cast, however, the following was an > article I
> wrote for my office newsletter. Some people thought it was confusing, > some
> said it was the content of the article, some said it was the concepts in > the
> article. It is already published, but I'd like your opinions.
>
> *************
> Written by Rose Combs
> Imagine you have come in to your desk to work, but your computer screen > is
> not visible, except for one line. You can use your arrow keys to move
> around, and you can tell that you moved up/down a line. This is similar > to
> how a screen reader works. The two most popular screen readers in the
> states are JAWS (Job Access With Speech) and Window Eyes. The product I
> have used since we moved into Windows 95 in 1999 is JAWS.
>
> JAWS takes a look at what is going on behind the scenes and then reports
> what the screen is showing. I can see a small portion of the screen at > a
> time, or rather, I can only hear one portion of the screen at a time. > JAWS
> is controlled for the most part by the number keypad of the keyboard, > and
> from there I can give it instructions to read the whole document, read > the
> line I am working on, or tell it to read from the edge of the screen to > my
> current cursor position. I can also adjust the speech rate, the voices > used
> for various characteristics of the program, and tell it how I > specifically
> want each program I use to work.
>
> There are various sound schemes that can be created, some ship with the
> product. The sound scheme I most often employ is active when I am on > the
> internet and all the links on the page as the page is read to me are in > a
> female voice. Quotations are in a different voice. Headings also come > up
> in different pitches of the normal JAWS voice. If you see colors on the
> page, I hear different voices and could also add different sounds to > alert
> me to the various elements on a page. The catch on the internet is that > all
> graphical links must have an Alt tag so that JAWS will know how to tell > me
> what it is.
>
> When I press F5 to enter the interfaces, it takes about 30-45 seconds > for
> JAWS to read me the information, job number, date of dictation, MR > number,
> report type and physician. At first, it sounds like a lot of numbers > that
> sounds like a mess. I can, route the JAWS review cursor to the PC > cursor
> and then re-read the line if necessary. Then when I get to the list of
> admissions/accounts, I listen to most of each line before I decide if it > is
> the correct admission, one line at a time with about 30 seconds per > line,
> and I run the speech quite fast.
>
> JAWS comes equipped with scripts to help with spell check but does not
> detect the red lines, so I turn that feature off. I normally run spell
> check at the end of the report. While in spell check, JAWS will read > the
> misspelled word and then the first suggestion in the list. If that is > what
> I want I press <Alt><c> to change; otherwise, I can edit the word by > using
> the cursor, backspace and delete keys, or I press <Tab> to the > suggestion
> list and down arrow, at which point the next word in that list will be
> spoken and spelled. I use the typical keyboard commands to work through > the
> document, including adding words to the dictionary, ignoring it once or
> always and so forth.
>
> Generally after I do a spell check I then command Jaws to read me the > whole
> document continuously. I run Jaws at a fast rate, approximately 500 > words
> per minute; however with years of experience and even with its ability > to
> mispronounce many words, I recognize errors and if at any time while
> listening to the document I need to correct something I can stop the
> reading, return to where I heard the error and correct it. I also set > Jaws
> to indicate words that are capitalized by changing the pitch of the > voice to
> a higher pitch. If I find even one error, to my way of thinking it > means
> better quality of work for me, so I proofread every report; however, > some
> errors may be missed even so, I hope not many.
>
> Some other tools I use include the Braille Dorland's Speller in seven > large
> volumes that is on my bookshelf, this particular one was copyrighted in
> 1965. The actual Dorland's dictionary from the same time frame is in 49
> volumes like the ones on my desk, but they include the definitions.
> Obviously, there isn't enough room for them in the office. I do have > access
> to things in braille now that I bought a Braille Note, a note taking > device
> with a braille display. It has the ability to take notes, includes a
> calculator, word processor, planner, address book, and more. Because it
> uses compact flash cards, I can store many books on the device, in
> electronic braille and access them.
>
> I also bought an optical character recognition (OCR) program for my home
> computer and a scanner, then scanned some of the Stedman's word books > into
> my computer and loaded those files onto the compact flash card for the
> Braille Note and can now call up, for example, the Stedman's Surgical > Word
> Book. With this as an electronic file I can perform searches to find > some
> of the information I need. Other blind MTs are loading all the > Stedman's
> word books on compact disk to their computers.
>
> The last piece of equipment I may use is called an Optacon, which was > how I
> used to read my computer screen. Essentially what this does is when I > run a
> small camera over a page of print it converts the image to an array that
> holds only one of my fingers and what I feel is a vibrating tactile
> representation of the printed letter. With the Optacon you only see one
> letter at a time, and in some books if the letters are huge, you only > see
> part of it at a time. I probably can read at about 40 words per minute
> using the machine, or could years ago anyway. My memory is also a great
> tool, except as I get older, sometimes it seems a bit faulty, like days > when
> words I can normally spell seem to elude me.
>
> Rose Combs
> rosecombs@xxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
>
>
>



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