Glad to hear you've got a good tutor Jackie. When you get one they're worth their weight in gold. My writing tutor was fascinated when I told her about JAWS. It has opened up her mind to a whole new world and like your guy she is very careful to make sure everything she sends me is accessible. She has done research on my behalf too, which is excellent. One day when I'm rich and famous (ha ha) hopefully I'll be able to return her kindness.
But on the subject of screen readers, the only one I use now is Thunder and I find it does most things I need. Admittedly I have some sight, so can handle things like opening the Thunder icon, which I think would be hard for anyone with no sight because I do it by playing hit and miss with the mouse. But the program itself is fine. The one thing I would say in respect to dictation though is that I found Thunder's own voice horrendous. I now use a Daniel Real-speak voice and find it very easy on the ear. Some pronunciations are a bit strange, but people using Real-speak with JAWS say the same thing, so that has nothing to do with Thunder itself.
However, when I got Thunder in 2006 I had to pay for the Real-speak voice separately and I imagine that is still the case so since you really need the additional voice to make it palatable it might be pushing things a bit far to say it is free.
Check with www.screenreader.org though because I haven't updated my program for a long time and they may have a section where you can try out the voice for yourself. I know they make every effort to make the program accessible and I have had excellent support from them.
Good luck. Lynda----- Original Message ----- From: "Jackie Cairns" <cairnsplace@xxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 9:26 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Help required please?
Thanks Andrew. I'll check it out. My tutor is really delighted with these suggestions. He is very keen to make all his teaching materials as accessible to everyone as possible, and has no problem whatsoever in contacting me to ask for anything that would help. He's a top guy and is such a refreshing change in wanting to do everything for any student with a disability.Jackie----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Ireland" <a.emaillists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 9:15 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Help required please?Hi Jackie,No, it will not bother Jaws. I don't use Jaws myself, but my mate does andhas no problems. All the best -- Andrew Secrets That We Keep Audio Book by David Caldwell:- http://www.secretsthatwekeep.com/mainindex.php?code=006 -----Original Message-----From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf OfJackie Cairns Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 9:13 PM To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [access-uk] Re: Help required please?Andrew, I assume that this screen reader doesn't conflict with JAWS? I'm ofcourse not saying you would run them together, but I mean conflicting in terms of them both being on your system. Thanks. Jackie----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Ireland" <a.emaillists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 9:11 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Help required please?Hi Jackie, Yes, I have used Thunder, but to be honest, I much prefer NVDA. The really good thing about NVDA is, it can be run direct from a USB stick.Brilliant for fixing computers that don't have a screen reader installed.All the best -- Andrew Secrets That We Keep Audio Book by David Caldwell:- http://www.secretsthatwekeep.com/mainindex.php?code=006 -----Original Message----- From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jackie Cairns Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 9:00 PM To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [access-uk] Re: Help required please? Thanks Andrew. He is delighted with the info provided thus far. Has anyone used Thunder, and what is it like? Jackie----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew Ireland" <a.emaillists@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 8:48 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Help required please?Hi Jackie, Best free screen reader at the moment is NVDA. http://www.nvda-project.org/ TextAloud maybe useful. http://www.nextup.com HTH. All the best -- Andrew Secrets That We Keep Audio Book by David Caldwell:- http://www.secretsthatwekeep.com/mainindex.php?code=006 -----Original Message-----From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On BehalfOf Jackie Cairns Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 7:32 PM To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [access-uk] Re: Help required please? Thanks Ray, I'll forward these links.He mentioned a free screen reader too. Would Thunder be any help in thescenario he is looking for does anyone know? Thanks. Jackie----- Original Message ----- From: "Ray's Home" <rays-home@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 7:22 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Help required please?Jackie, first off there's www.blindcooltech.com There stuff's all spoken reviews. How's about the Soundings Magazine: www.soundings.org There interviews are very well recorded on the whole so no problems understanding what's being said. Cheers, From Ray I can be contacted off-list at: mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx -----Original Message----- Jackie Cairns Subject: [access-uk] Help required please? Hi List The tutor of the online course I am doing in Sports Journalism has sent me the request pasted below. Does anyone have any suggestions I could pass onto him please? The info he is looking for is below my signature. Many thanks for any help. Jackie I wondered if I could pick your brains? We are developing online shorthand training for journalists, and I have been recording dictation passages as voice files, which we send as email attachments. This works quite well. But I wondered - do you know any good sites where there are audios or podcasts etc containing passages of people speaking? It doesn't really matter what the passages are about, or how long - though if you new any shorthand dictation sites this would be wonderful! We've searched the web high and low, with limited results ofher nthan BBC news-type podcasts - but it occured to me that there might be facilities for the blind that we may not have heard of? Or - are there any good, free screen readers available to download - so that we could send people text, which could be read to them - though preferably the students would be able to select the speed at so-many words per minute. ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq ** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq** To leave the list, click on the immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe] ** If this link doesn't work then send a message to: ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, click on the ** immediately-following link:- ** [mailto:access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=faq] ** or send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq
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