Windoweyes 7.5 and Visual Studio / Sql etc...
- From: "RicksPlace" <ofbgmail@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2011 05:35:35 -0500
Here is a transcript I just picked up from GW Micro. It talks about and
demonstrates the use of Windoweyes 7.5 with Visual Studio 2010. The talk sounds
like GW Micro has put Visual Studio and other Microsoft Development tools at
the top of their list of things to make work well - we'll see. But, at least
they are talking the talk we need this time and addressing the new UIA and WPF
accessibility issues head on from the sounds of it. Here is the article if you
are interested in such things:
BeginCopiedCode:
Welcome to GW Micro's "Guess What?" series, an introductory look at the highly
anticipated
release of Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1. Today, we are going to take a look at some
of
the vast improvements Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1 brings to Microsoft Word.
Currently,
the system used for this demo is Window-Eyes 7.2. The reason version 7.2 is
being
used currently is so that you can hear the difference in speed. First, we will
go
to the Desktop by pressing Windows Key-D. I have a document that has a table of
contents in it. We'll open the document and then press Control-G to allow us to
move to page 4, since that is where the table of contents is located. Type 4
and
then press Enter. Now, we will begin to Down Arrow through the document and you
can see that the document is very slow. Let's try it with Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta
1.
Through the miracle of editing, we are now back in the same document at the top
of
page 4 in the same table of contents. Now when I press Down Arrow, Window-Eyes
responds
immediately and is so much faster! You will really notice the faster speed of
Window-Eyes
in more complex documents that include items like a table of contents and
tables.
This is one of the huge improvements we have made in Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1 to
continue
to make you more efficient.
What else have we done in Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1? It now supports User
Interface
Automation (UIA). Yesterday's Guess What referenced this new technology, but
what
is UIA, and what does it mean to you? According to the official definition from
www.microsoft.com, UIA is "Microsoft UI Automation is the new accessibility
framework
for Microsoft Windows, available on all operating systems that support Windows
Presentation
Foundation (WPF)." WPF is a new technology that replaces older Win32 technology
that was used to create controls, such as edit boxes, check boxes, and other
types
of controls that you would commonly use. As an example, a checkbox that is
created
as a WPF control is based on UIA. Since Window-Eyes supports UIA, the WPF
checkbox
would speak. If you are not a programmer, you are probably wondering why you
care.
First, you already know that Internet Explorer 9 incorporates UIA. This means
that
Window-Eyes had to incorporate UIA technology to support IE 9 to the fullest.
What
you may not know is that UIA is replacing older technologies that were used to
make
applications accessible. This means that Window-Eyes must support this
technology
to continue to make many different Microsoft applications work with Window-Eyes.
Two good examples of places where this technology is used are Windows Server
2008
and Visual Studio 2010. Blind programmers and IT professionals require access
to
these applications to maintain employment, and end users require access to the
programs
created with these utilities. As more and more new applications from Microsoft
are
released, UIA will be the underlying technology that allows those programs to
speak,
and without Window-Eyes supporting UIA for those technologies, you would not
have
access to them. Window-Eyes is again taking the lead on the latest and greatest
assistive technology.
On this system, there happens to be a widget called Control Template Examples.
This
is a sample widget that has many different types of WPF controls, which uses UIA
technology as noted earlier. Let's open the widget, and see if Window-Eyes can
read
all of these special controls with new technology. After it opens, the first
thing
to do is press Tab. Once Tab is pressed, you hear that there is a Default
button.
I'll press Tab again, and I am on a Normal button. How about other controls?
The
next type of control is a checkbox that has a field name of Normal. What
happens
if I press Space? You heard Window-Eyes say "checked." How about if we uncheck
it? Again, you can hear Window-Eyes being right there with you keeping up with
the
latest technology. If I continued to Tab, you would hear Window-Eyes speak text
boxes, combo boxes, radio buttons, list boxes, sliders, toolbars, menus, and
treeviews.
Rather than take you through generic controls, let's check out a real
application.
Press Alt-F4 to close this program.
Now, I'm going to open Visual Studio 2010. I happen to have a shortcut to it on
my Desktop, so I'll press Windows Key-D to access the Desktop, and them press M
until
I hear, "Microsoft Visual Studio 2010," and then press Enter. Visual Studio
2010
will then open. I'm going to create a text file here, since most users are
familiar
with text files. So, I'll press Control-N for New. That will bring up the New
File
dialog. I am in a list box on General, so I will press Tab, and I will hear,
"Text
File" and press Enter. I am now in an editor that is using UIA technology.
I'll
type some basic text here. "Hello, Guess What Listeners." As you can tell,
Window-Eyes
is following every step of the way, so if you are a blind programmer, you can
use
the latest development technology. There are other UIA controls in Visual
Studio
2010, which are the toolbars. First, I'll press Alt to access the menu, and
then
I'll press Control-Tab to access to the toolbars. Again, you are hearing UIA
technology
in action. If I press Tab, you will hear the next item, and you can see that
Visual
Studio 2010 is definitely accessible with Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1. It is
extremely
important that Window-Eyes support UIA technology since most of the new
applications
created by developers using Visual Studio 2010 will incorporate WPF technology,
thus
relying on UIA. This makes it imperative that Window-Eyes support the WPF
controls
as applications using this technology become more and more popular.
Get the best possible access to Microsoft Word, Visual Studio 2010, and all of
the
other new and upcoming applications that will use UIA technology with
Window-Eyes
7.5 Beta 1.
As you have been able to see through the Guess What series, Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta
1 is definitely a well-rounded, well worth it upgrade. Stay tuned for Monday's
"Guess
What?" to learn more about Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1, as well as an exciting
promotion
to help you upgrade from 7.2 to 7.5.
EndCopiedCode:
Now, will the new Windoweyes really work in VS 2010? They did not use the VB or
CSharp Editor nor did they look at any of the various designers. They also did
not look at any ListViews which MS likes to use unless they were using one when
they were tabbing around. I am not sure about what they were doing since it did
not sound like anything I do in VB.net or VWD express 2008 but they did have
explicit examples of many of the basic WPF Controls and did demonstrate the
actual use of Visual Studio 2010 with Windoweyes 7.5 right out of the box
without any special scripting that I am aware of yet. I used Windoweyes 7.2 in
VS 2008 without scripting and was able to do just about everything I wanted to
do with some work-arounds. Perhaps the new Windoweyes will be better. I have
heard so many problems with JAWS users that this might be something to try out
even though changing Screen Readers is both expensive and a huge hassle
learning curve. Anyway, thought someone might be interested in the actual test
and be able to relate it to their own experience with VS 2010.
I don't have VS 2010 yet since I am not sure my old machine would support that
direct x 9 thingy and I still, love, Windows XP Pro...
Later:
Rick USA
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