Hi Brian,In response to your update message re compatibility of J-Say 6.0 in particular Jaws 9.0 build 519,I'm a little concerned that the current release as of January 08 Build552 is not supported. This build has been in beta as a update among other things to be completely compatible with the upcoming new releases of Open-Book v 8 and Magic 11. As I train and also use the extra FS products I would hope that the J-Say6 release would let me take advantage of the enhancements in Jaws build 552. Also with the eminent release of Service Pack 3 for Windows XP in the next couple of weeks will users of J-Say 6 be able to take advantage of this important Windows update as well?
Many thanks Stephen At 07:32 PM 27/01/2008, you wrote:
Hi For anyone interested, please find the text which forms part of the J-Say Pro 6.0 What's New and Upgrade document and which will be posted to our web site this week. WHAT'S NEW IN J-SAY PRO 6.0 INTRODUCTION This document lists the new features and significant enhancements which are now available within J-Say Pro version 6.0. At T&T Consultancy Ltd, we are extremely excited about the new improvements within this release of the product! J-Say Pro 6.0 is known as a "compatibility release". We have worked hard to ensure that this exciting voice input/output technology is compatible with the latest releases of the primary Access Technologies on which J-Say relies, together with the most recent versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system and Office suite. Although this has been challenging, in addition to ensuring complete compatibility with the above, we have included a number of new features detailed in this document. Users of J-Say Pro Version 6 technology will be able to take advantage of a "Feature Pack", to be released at the end of April 2008, which will provide even more flexibility and improvements to the product. The "Feature Pack" will be a free update to all J-Say Pro 6.0 users. We are convinced that the responsiveness and stability of J-Say Pro when used within the Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007 environments is as good as can be found within previous releases, provided the specifications of the computer as detailed within the Installation Guide are met and that the Windows operating system and associated applications are customised in line with our recommendations. Compatibility J-Say Pro version 6.0 is directly compatible with the following technologies: Access Technologies . JAWS for Windows version 9.0 Build 519. . Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional version 9.5. Mainstream Technologies . Microsoft Windows XP - all releases. . Microsoft Windows Vista - all releases. . Microsoft Office 2003. . Microsoft Office 2007. Learning and Reference Materials We have changed the way in which the DAISY recordings of the three books which comprise the J-Say Pro User Guide are produced. Rather than using synthetic speech to deliver the reading of the texts, due to customer requests the books are narrated using a human voice. Particularly when working through the J-Say Pro Learning Module, (a Training Guide for the technology), the human narrated DAISY book should make the topics much easier to understand! In addition, the Learning Module has been revised to include reference to the new J-Say Pro 6 features and therefore provides a user with over four hours of learning material in DAISY format. In addition, the Command Summary includes all new voice commands and the Installation Guide gives instruction on customising the computer, mainstream and specialist software for use with J-Say, irrespective of the operating system or Microsoft Office suite being used. New Features in J-Say Pro 6.0 J-Say Pro Configuration Wizard The most significant change you will notice within J-Say Pro 6.0 is the new Configuration Wizard. The purpose of the Configuration Wizard is to enable J-Say users to manipulate many of the special functions within the product. Rather than being accommodated within the JAWS Virtual Viewer (which was the case with J-Say Pro version 5.0), the new Configuration Wizard is presented within a standard Windows Dialog Box. The contents of the "Configuration Wizard" are available on the computer screen. All options can be manipulated using voice input, keyboard or computer mouse. Full support for the J-Say "Where am I?" and "What Can I Do?" facilities exists within the Configuration Wizard and the help given is very context sensitive to a user's location within the Wizard. The Configuration Wizard is launched from its own keyboard shortcut, via a voice command or from the JAWS Start-up Wizard which is new to users of version 9.0. The Configuration Wizard contains 18 options. The first 10 of these can be enabled or disabled, while the remaining 8 activate further screens or carry out specific tasks. The options are presented in a vertical list. Alongside each option can be found a Help Window. This is a Read Only Edit Field containing a brief description of the focused option together with the voice commands to manipulate it in the future without having to enter the Wizard. Back-Up and Restore Utilities We have extended the concept of the utilities which are in place to make a copy of the user's Dragon NaturallySpeaking "speech files". The shortcuts to launch the utilities have been moved from the Windows Start Menu to the J-Say Configuration Wizard. Users now have the option to back-up or restore speech files either from the local hard disk (Drive "C") or from any mapped drive available to the computer. This could be a USB storage device or perhaps a network drive. When this latter function is activated, J-Say presents all the drives available to the computer in a convenient List Box together with their descriptions, such as "local hard disk C" or "CD-ROM drive D". Simply choosing a drive will cause the back-up or restore function to commence relative to the selected drive. Additional J-Say Configuration Wizard Options The "My Words" facility for storing unfamiliar terminology which will be spoken and the tool to learn the Phonetic Alphabet can now be launched from the Configuration Wizard. For further details concerning the Configuration Wizard, please refer to Chapter 13 of the J-Say Learning Module, where it is described in great detail including a complete list of options and controls. Braille Mode "Braille Mode" is for those people using a JAWS compatible Braille display. Ordinarily, as users dictate text, the Braille display will show the newly dictated text together with a tactile representation of the cursor position. This is extremely useful in most situations since users can determine where the cursor is located to ensure they are dictating into the desired position within the document or Email message. However, if Braille representation of what the software has understood is required then "Braille Mode" should be activated. When enabled, "Braille Mode" will display the contents of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking "Results Box". This is an area of the screen which displays to the seeing individual what has been recognised by the Dragon software. For example, if a command has been dictated, and it has not been acted upon, it may be useful to examine the contents of this box to establish the words which have been recognised. When enabled, "Braille Mode" shows the letters "RB" followed by a full-stop (period), then the text in the "Results Box". If the contents of the "Results Box" cannot be accommodated fully on a Braille display line, the display can be scrolled to the right (known as "panning") so as to reveal the remaining text. Pressing any one of the "Cursor Routing" buttons on the display at any time will dismiss the contents of the "Results Box" until a new phrase is dictated, whereupon the Braille display is refreshed so as to show the new text. The Microsoft Office 2007 Ribbon Bar The Ribbon Bar is a new feature belonging to Microsoft Office 2007. Its presence will be noticed within such applications as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and in some components of Microsoft Outlook. Full support exists within J-Say Pro version 6 to navigate the "Ribbon Bar" and to gain excellent context sensitive help specific to the control which has focus. This command will also advise you what role the focused control plays in direct relation to Microsoft Office. For example, when focused upon a Button labelled "Copy", J-Say will advise you that this Button is used to copy items or text to the windows clipboard. Microsoft Outlook 2007 Calendar Support J-Say Pro 6.0 provides a unique and specially designed interface to support the Microsoft Outlook 2007 calendar. JAWS for Windows keyboard users can benefit from a similar interface when using our J-Days product. At T&T Consultancy Ltd, we have thought long and hard about the language and method used to present information concerning all day events and appointments and our approach is not so different to the experience visually impaired people will find when using popular specialist PDA devices. In addition to allowing users to create appointments and all day events with the human voice, J-Say presents the following features within the calendar environment: . When a day is selected, J-Say reports the day of the week and date, together with the number of appointments or events. . If an all day event exists, users can hear the number of days over which the event spans, the start and end dates, or whether the selected day is the start or within an event. . If a timed appointment exists, the start and end times are spoken together with confirmation of the number of minutes the appointment occupies. . When an appointment has focus, J-Say delivers a wealth of information using easy-to-understand language, designed to deliver pertinent information concerning the item for rapid navigation or appointment searching. Such details include the appointment subject, the organiser (the person originally composing the appointment), notification of recurrences, whether the item contains explanatory notes and the appointment status (such as "busy" or "tentative"). . For people wishing to browse through the appointment or event details more slowly, all information can be output to the JAWS Virtual Viewer. This enables line by line analysis or copying to the Windows Clipboard. Explanatory notes are contained within the Virtual Viewer with line breaks occurring as they are presented within the original note. . "Where am I?" and "What Can I Do?" support provides step by step guidance on each appointment area for reviewing and completion. This includes Ribbon Bar items. . J-Say calendar support is extremely responsive when used within Microsoft Outlook Exchange Server environments. Playback within the Correction box It is possible that the Dragon NaturallySpeaking software has not understood the word or phrase being corrected for reasons of pronunciation. It may be helpful therefore to listen back to the way in which the word or phrase was pronounced so as to gain an appreciation of its quality in order that steps can be taken to pronounce it more distinctly the next time. While focused within the "Correction Box" the command "Playback" Can be spoken in order that a recorded segment of the user's voice can be heard of the way in which the word or phrase was spoken. While this always has been a standard facility within Dragon NaturallySpeaking, previously the JAWS speech would interrupt the recording. This has now been corrected. Automatic Installation of J-Say Authorisation File As users of J-Say will be aware, it is necessary to install a special "Authorisation File" in order for J-Say to function, which is linked to your copy of JAWS for Windows via the JAWS for Windows serial number. Previously, this was located on a separate CD within an installer program. The installation of the "Authorisation File" is now carried out at the point of installing the J-Say Pro 6.0 software. There is no separate CD and the process is automatic and extremely intuitive. We believe anyone installing the J-say technology will therefore find the installation of J-say Pro much easier to do. Brian Hartgen Product Development Manager T&T Consultancy Ltd temporary address until further notice T&T Consultancy Ltd Brampton House Ltd Brampton House Queen Street Newcastle under Lyme ST5 1ED Tel: 01782644141 Fax: 01782 664856 Web Site, www.tandt-consultancy.com NOTICE: The information contained in this email and any attachments is confidential and may be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that you must not use, disclose, distribute, copy, print or rely on this e-mail's content. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately and then delete the email and any attachments from your system. T&T Consultancy Ltd have made strenuous efforts to ensure that emails and any attachments generated by its staff are free from viruses. However, it cannot accept any responsibility for any viruses which are transmitted. We therefore recommend you scan all received e-mail messages. Registered in England No. 4098268__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 2824 (20080126) __________The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com