Hello All
Please let me describe briefly the philosophy behind SpeakOn...
Firstly, I am blind like many people on this list.
I think I know a fair bit about access technology and a few things about
computers. I developed SpeakOn because I saw the need for it - at least
for
myself - to some extent, SpeakOn is constructed around my own failing; I
can
not remember shortcuts unless I use something every day.
Like most people on this list, I use a screen reader every day; I would
not
survive without it is an essential tool but sometimes there are
alternative
approaches which can work better.
Since I lost my sight later in life I know how the 'other side' listen and
read media - they don't sit upright in front of a keyboard. I love to
have
all media available to me to stream and play on my sofa or in bed - of
course I can take my laptop to bed and operate it with two hands using my
screen reader on my lap - is this fun?. Of course there are the dedicated
hardware players which some people prefer but we are talking here about
the
computer type approach.
So SpeakOn is powerful and very simple to use; there are two controls -
the
Library which is a tree like structure where you will find everything;
your
music, TNAUK newspapers on the net, Podcast feeds Radio stations
everything
works in exactly the same way. You navigate the tree and find say a BBC
podcast you press Enter and it plays, simple.
The other control is the Player it accepts media collections. A collection
can be tracks in a playlist (a playlist is a one type of a collection)
articles in TNAUK publication, aDaisy book, streams in amulti channel
radio
station everything works the same way. With the Up and Down arrow you
navigate the collection by default. With the Right and Left keys you
select
if you wish a navigation unit 5 minutes, 1 minute, 15 seconds and 5
seconds
and then you can skip very fast - very useful in a podcast file full of
adverts for example.
SpeakOn remembers where you left off and you can make as many bookmarks as
you like. An with text files it works in exactly the same way but the
navigation units are different (section, paragraph, sentence, word,
character).
The function keys are used to control speech - speed and volume, audio -
volume and pan as well as getting help and media context sensitive
information such as the info in the ID3 tags in a music file.
Then there is the SpeakOn menu which is context sensitive all commands are
there useful when you start; some commands which you don't use often are
always only accessible from the menu.
You can operate SpeakOn using a standard keyboard many people do. An
alternative is an external small low cost numerical keypad the kind that
accountant use; a USB type costs £10 - £20.
So, I connect it to my Netbook which configured not to shutdown when I put
down the lid - tuck it away either using its speakers, using a headphone
or
connected to the HiFi. Operation including navigation of the Library is
with one hand having a cup of coffee in the other.
About main stream players...
I have here six players installed on my system and I have a reasonable
idea
how to use them.
These are all great players which have one thing in common; the only right
way to operate them (like any other main stream application) is with a
mouse
a luxury which we don't have.
Not all are accessible but those which are, are cluttered there are lots
of
components to navigate; granted with shortcuts if you can remember them
these can be operated efficiently if you are happy with these players as
your ideal solution fine.
So I can go on and on. All I would say to people approach SpeakOn with
an
open mind - it is different. It has been developed a lot since it was
first
release two and a half years ago. It can do a lot of things; take your
time
with the manual. I had thousand of downloads I must do something right.
At the end of the day if you don't like it the recycle bin is not far
away!
Regards
Isaac
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of
Peter Liesching
Sent: 31 January 2009 07:28
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Announcement - New SpeakOn features release 30
January 2009
Chris, please excuse my ignorance, could you please explain what the
"Last.FM player" is? I use Last.FM regularly but I do not have a special
player for it.
Pete
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Hallsworth" <christopherhallsworth71@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 8:14 PM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Announcement - New SpeakOn features release 30
January 2009
Ar, but I quite like the Last.FM player that Speakon provides. I do
not know of any other accessible Last.FM player apart from Speakon. To
each their own though of course.
--
Chris Hallsworth
e-mail: christopherhallsworth71@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MSN: ch9675@xxxxxxxxxxx
Skype: chrishallsworth7266
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Nutt" <steve@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 7:40 PM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Announcement - New SpeakOn features release
30 January 2009
Hi James,
I feel the same about Klango, it is pretty rubbish. No accounting
for taste I suppose. Klango is kind of based on a cut down version
of System Access, only System Access works <Smile>.
As for Speakon, I have never seen a need for it really. Winamp and
iTunes meet my needs.
All the best
Steve
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of James Scholes
Sent: Friday 30 January 2009 18:28
To: Isaac Porat
Subject: [access-uk] Re: Announcement - New SpeakOn features release
30 January 2009
Hi,
I wonder why you wrote the following:
"making it ideal for use with netbooks"
Netbooks these days are as powerful as low and middle end laptops, or
even high-end laptops if you upgrade some components like the RAM.
People still seem to be stuck in 2008 when netbooks had 256 MB of RAM
and a 4 GB hard drive.
Also, a note about SpeakOn, let me know if anyone uses it
successfully, its always been painfully slow for me and pretty much
useless compared to Winamp, Foobar2000, or especially Klango.
-----Original Message-----
Sent by Isaac Porat on Friday, January 30, 2009 at 05:23 AM
Hello All,
A new features release of SpeakOn 2.1, 30 January 2009 is now available.
In this version, the user interface has been simplified and improved.
New
features have been added for playing your music. You can now quickly
and easily play folders, combine a number of folders and individual
files for immediate play in your own playlists which can be easily
edited. The media library is now expandable and podcast support has
been improved.
For those who are new to SpeakOn, it is a self-voicing software
environment for finding, retrieving and playing audio and text media.
All media local to your computer or remote on the internet is
presented in the same simple tree-like structure. You can navigate
to the media you want, select it and it is automatically downloaded
or streamed and played in the same SpeakOn player which handles both
audio and text. Common audio formats are supported including MP3,
WMA and Real. You can either operate SpeakOn using a standard
keyboard or an external low cost numerical keypad using one hand from
the comfort of your armchair. SpeakOn has a low footprint (the
installer is only 3.7 Mb) making it ideal for use with Netbooks.
SpeakOn is available free from:
www.a-technic.net/speakon.htm
This page contains information about SpeakOn, links to the download
page, manual and mailing list.
In the simplified user interface both Player and Library controls
have been combined in one task. User interaction involves mainly
operating these two controls with a minimum number of keys, tabbing
between these control as necessary. All operations are also
available from the menu - useful for newbies. The function keys are
used to adjust audio and speech as well as getting context sensitive
(new) media information and help.
For an overview and comparison between Windows and the SpeakOn user
interface see:
http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-r-0101.htm
The 'What's new' page is at:
http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-r-0079.htm
Instructions for upgrading from an older version are at:
http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-r-0103.htm
The download page for new users is at:
http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-r-0016.htm
If you experience slow download, this is probably because of demand
for this new version so you may like to try again in a day or so.
The manual is at:
http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn.htm
The new context media information keys are explained here:
http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-s-0009.htm
The new music features are explained here:
http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-s-0012.htm
Improvements in podcast support are explained here:
http://www.a-technic.net/SpeakOn/docs/SpeakOn/ht/SpeakOn-s-0013.htm
Enjoy - and if you like SpeakOn, please forward this announcement to
any mailing lists, blogs or bulletin boards you feel are relevant.
Regards,
Isaac
Isaac Porat
SpeakOn's author
email: speakon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Website: http://www.a-technic.net/speakon.htm
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Check out my radio and TeamTalk server! http://www.jls-radio.com
--
James Scholes
E-mail: james@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MSN/Windows Live Messenger: jamesscholes@xxxxxxx
AIM: JamesScholes000
Skype: james.scholes
Website: http://www.jamesscholes.com
Blog: http://www.jamesscholes.com/blog
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Last.FM Profile: http://www.last.fm/user/jamesscholes000
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