----- Original Message ----- From: dan To: dan Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2013 6:22 AM Subject: how to install open office and libre office as well as Lotus Symphony, Today's tip addresses How to install Open Office and Libre Office as well as Lotus Symphony, with NVDA, but should also apply to use with other screen readers as well: how to install open office and libre officeHow to make Open Office and Libre Office accessible This article explains how to make the Open Office and Libre Office word processing suites accessible to the NVDA screen reader. This process may also work with other screen readers once applied. How to install Open Office on your computer If you would like to run a copy of Open Office (or Libre Office) on your computer, it will not be accessible to your screen reader until you have downloaded some necessary extra components. There are three main steps that you will need to follow if you are running a Windows 32 bit system. Step 4 relates to those running a Windows 64 bit machine. At present only Open office 3.3 and Libra office 3.4 will work if these steps are followed. STEP 1 You will need to download a copy of the Open Office programme first. For Open Office, you will need to get a copy from http://www.openoffice.org You should be able to locate the file you need under the download section. Once this has been downloaded to your computer, it will need to be set up. STEP 2 Next, you will need to get a copy of the Java Access Bridge (and Java if not installed already). You will need version 2.0.1 of the Java Access Bridge self installer. At present, this will only work for the 32 bit version of Windows (this way). To get Java Access Bridge 2.0.1 please go to the following link http://zoomtext.com/temp/accessbridge-2_0_1.exe Basically, download the file and set it up. If your computer is not currently running Java, you may also need to download and set up Java as well (from this same page). Although a lot of computers may have Java already installed, not all will. STEP 3 Finally, you will need a copy of a registry patch, in order to turn on the accessibility part of Open Office. The following link will take you to a page where you can download the registry patch for Open Office, but DO NOT download the Java Access Bridge from this link (as this one involves quite a lot of mucking around). Download ONLY the registry patch from this link. Once you have downloaded the registry patch to your computer, click on it and it should write to your registry so that your screen reader will be able to communicate with Open Office. This can be found under the Open Office section on the Application Support page (off the NVDA site) at the following link. http://www.nvda-project.org/wiki/ApplicationSupport STEP 4 If you would like Open Office (or Libre Office) to work on a Windows 64 bit machine as well, you will need to download a programme called JWin. JWin is a free, open source program for detecting and installing the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) on Windows, together with the Java Access Bridge (JAB), which is needed for full accessibility of Java-based applications (for assistive technologies used by persons with disabilities). JWin can be found at http://EmpowermentZone.com/JWin_setup.exe Troubleshooting (for both Open Office and Libre Office): If you are sure that you have followed the above steps in order, and it does not appear to initially work, please check the following. (You will need sighted assistance for this part ). Once Open Office is opened up, press Alt + T (to get into the tools menu), press O (to get into the options menu), and arrow down to a section called Accessibility. In this section (tab across - under miscellaneous options - until you find a line that says Support assistive technology tools (program restart required). This box will need to be ticked and the programme restarted. When downloading and setting up any of the above files, follow the prompts all of the way to the end until it has been successfully installed. NVDA will not be able to talk to Open Office until the computer reboots. Once it has loaded up, as soon as you go into Open Office, it should speak the menus and so on. You should be able to go into Open Office Writer and type some sentences, and then be able to review what has been written there. To get it to work on a 64 bit version of Windows, you will need to install the JWin programme as per step 4 above. If there is no Java found on your computer, it will take you to its' site to get it. Once this has been done (and the computer rebooted) NVDA should be able to speak to Open Office. When you first open up Open Office Writer, and it reads from File across to Help quite quickly (but does still not talk all of the menus), then not all of your components have been installed! If you have installed all of your components properly, then you should be able to arrow up and down and hear ALL menus! (This is the same for Libre Office as well). Hopefully (as rumoured to be in future releases of Open Office), this process will not be necessary, as it is hoped that the necessary parts enabling access will be automatically included in the programme. We will have to wait and see. How to install Libre Office on your computer The process for downloading, setting up and making Libre Office accessible on your computer, is similar to the steps above for Open Office. The only difference will be where you get Libre Office from. For Libre Office, you will need to download a copy from http://www.libreoffice.org/ All other steps will be similar to those above, and again please make sure that ALL the necessary components have been installed. How to install IBM Lotus Symphony on your computer There is also another suite with accessibility already built in called IBM Lotus Symphony. Lotus Symphony is available from the following link http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/IBM-Lotus-Symphony-Download-84329.html It is a matter of simply downloading the setup file and setting it up. It will then be ready to use. Overview of Open Office, Libre Office and Lotus Symphony It is up to each person as to which suite of programmes they would like to use... Open Office features: Runs on Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac, Linux and Sun Solaris. Has Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheet), Impress (multimedia presentations), Draw (drawings), and Base (database). Libre Office features: Runs on Windows, Macintosh and GNU/Linux. Has Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheet), Impress (multimedia presentations), Draw (drawings), Math (insert maths symbols) and Base (database). IBM Lotus Symphony features: Runs on Windows and Linux. Has Documents (word processing), Presentations (multimedia presentations) and Spreadsheets (calculations). The Most Important Quality In 1 Samuel 16:6-7, when Samuel came to Jesse's house to anoint the next king of Israel, we see the criteria God uses to choose people for service to Him, So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, "Surely the LORD'S anointed is before Him." But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." This is a fascinating story with a very strong lesson I want you to understand. Right after these verses, Jesse parades each of his sons before Samuel.except for David. Jesse knows why Samuel is there, but he doesn't even bother to get David. David's own father had written him off. His own father didn't see enough potential in him to call him before Samuel. But David was anointed king that day. Not based on what Jesse thought was important, but on what God thought was important.David's heart. Maybe your own father has written you off. Maybe your parents said you would never amount to anything. Maybe your teacher said, "Look, you're not going to amount to much. You just better get yourself a minimum wage job." Only God can see things in your heart that your father can't see, that your mother can't see, that your teachers didn't see, that your family doesn't see, that the people around you don't see. It is not that God overlooks ability or talent or training. All of those things are important. But God looks first at the most important quality for service, and that is the heart. Don't let someone else write your history before it happens. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- to ssubscribe, email dthompson5@xxxxxxxxx with subscribe in the subject.