Re: MAGic and COM

  • From: Jamal Mazrui <empower@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:55:23 -0500

Hi Stefik,
Let me make sure you are aware that it would be easy to add support for the Window-Eyes screen reader. For example, using its IDispatch interface with the VBScript language: 

oWE = CreateObject("GWSpeak.Speak")
oWE.SpeakString("Hello world")
It is also possible to do low level, early bound COM with the Window-Eyes object model. 

Jamal



On 2/24/2011 8:45 AM, Andreas Stefik wrote:

Haden,

Yes, that's what we've been building, is a C-wrapper to screen readers
that you can connect to through Java. We haven't publicly released yet
our JAR wrapper libraries, but the current build is used in the
Sodbeans 2.0 trunk build. For example, to connect using our libraries,
on windows, mac, or linux, using either JAWS, NVDA, Voice Over
(Carbon), ORCA with Speech Dispatcher, Apple Say, or Microsoft SAPI,
requires the following Java code:

TextToSpeech speech = TextToSpeechFactory.getDefaultTextToSpeech();
speech.speak("Hello, World!");

You can also request, from Java, a particular speech engine. For
example, you can request that you connect to JAWS, etc.

We're planning on releasing that publicly in July or so, although the
trunk build is actually pretty stable. For now, we're working to add
pitch shifting of the TTS, better priority support for complicated
streams of auditory cues (as we have on the Sodbeans project), and
we're doing lots and lots of testing.

Stefik

On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 8:23 PM, Haden Pike<haden.pike@xxxxxxxxx>  wrote:

That's what I was referring too. It's under the MIT license. Correct me if
I'm wrong, but if this library was written in C, could you write a wrapper
to call it in java?
Haden

On 2/23/2011 4:54 PM, Andreas Stefik wrote:


Interesting, our libraries work very similar to accessible_output (it
appears), and for that matter, SayTools, as well, although we all seem
to support slightly different systems (our tools allow call-downs from
Java and our language, Hop).

I assume this is what you are referring to:
http://pypi.python.org/pypi/accessible_output/0.5.5

What License are you under?

And yaa, I will have to look into screen magnifiers as well.

Stefik



On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 3:40 PM, Haden Pike<haden.pike@xxxxxxxxx>    wrote:


That could work. We really need to rewrite at least the core of
accessible_output in C or C++, so we can write bindings for other
languages...

I don't know much about magnification myself. That's something I'd have
to
research prior to writing this.
Haden

On 2/23/2011 3:58 PM, Nathaniel Schmidt wrote:


Hi,

This might not be very useful, but if there is such an API for magic,
would
it make things easier to include it in a package like accessible_output?
  I
suppose then it would be limited to python, but it would be simple to
use
the magnification package, magnifier.magnify()? Of course I am writing
this
knowing not much at all about magnification, just throwing the
suggestion
out there.

Nathaniel


-----Original Message-----
From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:programmingblind-
bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Haden Pike
Sent: Thursday, 24 February 2011 7:09 AM
To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: MAGic and COM

Maybe someone could write a cross-platform wrapper for the different
magnifiers.  Magtools, anyone?

I'd do it myself, but it would have to wait until July at the
earliest...
Haden

On 2/23/2011 1:59 PM, Andreas Stefik wrote:


James,

For example, really quick, what we would REALLY like to do is have a
cross-platform bolding, highlighting, and magnification


infrastructure


built into Sodbeans, so that users can magnify certain parts of the
tool and that the magnification flexibly adjusts to whatever the user
is doing (e.g., it follows you as you type, it focses when you hit a
menu). So far as we can tell, so far, however, it seems like we'll
need some kind of complicated wrapper API in C on each system, like
how we connect to screen readers right now (which works, but is
complicated).

Anyway, maybe that puts our actual goal into context. Who knows,


maybe


such an API already exists ...

Stefik

On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 12:48 PM, Andreas Stefik<stefika@xxxxxxxxx>


wrote:


I'm not sure. We definitely know about, and have looked at SayTools.


I


forget, but I think it connects to JAWS, but not MAGic. I'll have to
ask download and look again to make sure.

If anything, what we really want to do is make magnification
easier/better in Sodbeans, as we're finding that Sodbeans is working
great for the kids that are non-sighted, but there are a number of
ways that we think we need to improve for the visually impaired
community.

Another possible route we could take is to bypass MAGic altogether


and


roll our own magnification system, although I've heard that this is
difficult. Hmm ...


Stefik

On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 11:21 AM, Homme,


James<james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx>       wrote:


Hi Stefik,
I wish that wasn't the case. Do you think that maybe SayTools or


the other thing whose name I forget that Jamal created would help you
at all?


Thanks.

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


[mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Andreas
Stefik


Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2011 11:08 AM
To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: MAGic and COM

Kind of sort of, and I appreciate it. This is basically what we do


now


to connect to JAWS, but because there is basically no


documentation, I


was hoping folks knew of a library out there that we could just
"connect" to, instead of figuring it all out again for this


particular


set of DLLs.

Sounds like we'll just have to slog through it, though.

Stefik

On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 5:51 AM, Homme,


James<james.homme@xxxxxxxxxxxx>       wrote:


Hi Stefik,
This is just a guess. I'm thinking that Magic has a dll like JAWS


does. It may even use a copy of that dll to talk. Are you also talking
about enlargement? I'm also thinking that you can get a demo of Magic
to find out what's in it. I know that it uses the same scripting
language JAWS does. That language can do some stuff like get at other
applications like IE, Word, Excel, and so on.


Does any of this rambling help?

Thanks.

Jim

Jim Homme,
Usability Services,
Phone: 412-544-1810. Skype: jim.homme
Internal recipients,  Read my accessibility blog. Discuss


accessibility here. Accessibility Wiki: Breaking news and accessibility
advice


-----Original Message-----
From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


[mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Andreas
Stefik


Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 4:56 PM
To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: MAGic and COM

Hey folks,

Anyone have any experience connecting to Freedom scientific's


MAGic,


either through Java or COM? Any existing libraries out there to


make


this easy?

Stefik
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