Tag: Narrator

GTT New Westminster Summary Notes, Reader View on PC, Mac and iOS Browsers, September 25, 2019

Get Together with Technology (GTT)

New Westminster Meeting

 

A Chapter of the Canadian Council of the Blind

in partnership with

Blind Beginnings

Vancouver Community College

And

Canadian Assistive Technology

Summary Notes

 

September 25, 2019

How to use Reader View on the Mac, PC, iOS and Android Browsers

What is Reader/Simplified View, and why does anyone want to explore it?  Here’s an article that might explain it, followed by a link to the CCB Podcast and text instructions on how to use it in your favourite, or soon to be favourite browser.

 

Reader View

First posted on July 12, 2018 by Rob Tomlinson

“Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s dictum that “Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away” can be re-deployed most helpfully when discussing Reader View, a topic that touches on web page design and browser behaviour.”…

 

Find the CCB Podcast of this event at the link below:

09 GTT New Westminster, Reader View in iOS, Nac and PC Browsers, September 25, 2019:

 

PC Browsers:

 

Simplified View for Google Chrome on the PC:

Google Chrome Download Page;

  1. type this into a new tab in Google Chrome

chrome://flags/#enable-reader-mode

press enter.

  1. A Chrome settings page comes up that you can navigate using headings.
  2. Press the letter H until you get to reading mode.
  3. There is a combo box that shows that reader mode is disabled.
  4. Press enter to go into forms mode if using Jaws.
  5. Press the down arrow to get to enabled and press enter.
  6. Go to the bottom of the page with control end and there is a restart chrome button, and Press enter.
  7. Now visit a page that has news stories such as this article from the Victoria Times Colonist,
  8. You can try down arrowing through the page and see all the links, controls and advertisements on the page.
  9. Press the Alt Key to bring up a menu and either up or down arrow to “Toggle distilled page contents” and press enter.
  10. you will hear your screen reader say, “Simplified View”.
  11. Now what you have is the news article in its entirety without the ads and other controls.
  12. To get the page back to normal view, repeat step 11 and press Enter.
  13. Press the Escape Key to close the menu.

 

Reader View for Firefox on the PC:

Reader View is a Firefox feature that strips away clutter like buttons, ads and background images, and changes the page’s text size, contrast and layout for better readability.

Mozilla Firefox Download Page;

  1. Open Firefox and enter the address of the page you want to visit, let’s use the Victoria Times Colonist article again.
  2. Examine the page with down and up arrow keys to see that it is cluttered with links, controls and advertisements.
  3. Press the f9 key to enable reader view.
  4. If nothing happens then reader view is not available for the current page.
  5. If reader view is available, the page loads and is clutter free.

 

Mac Browsers:

 

Reader View for Safari on the Mac:

Safari Browser for the Mac Download Page;

To display an article in Reader on the Mac, do the following:

  1. Click the Safari icon on the Dock or Launchpad.
  2. Type in the URL for the website you want to visit.

For example, you might visit The New Yorker at www.newyorker.com.

  1. Click the article you want to read. You see the article with various advertisements, banners, photos, links, and so on.
  2. Click the Reader button, or press Command+Shift+R.
  3. If the article runs over several pages, Reader displays it as one continuous page so you need only scroll down, not click from one page to the next.
  4. If you need to adjust the size of the text, click the type buttons (the two A’s) in the upper-left corner.
  5. To exit Reader, click the Reader button, or press the Esc key to exit Reader and return to the normal Safari view of the article. Click the Back button to return to the original site.
  6. In both Reader and normal Safari view, press ⌘+= or ⌘+– to zoom in or out on the text. If you have a Magic Mouse or Trackpad or a MacBook that recognizes multi-touch gestures, you can also pinch in or out to zoom.

 

iOS 12.4 Browsers:

Sadly, we could find nothing to say there is a Reader or Simplified View for the Google Chrome Browser for iOS.

 

Reader View for Safari Browser on iOS:

How to enable Reader View in Safari in iOS 12.4:

  1. Launch Safarifrom your Home screen.
  2. Navigate to the website you’d like to read.
  3. Tap the Reader button on the left of the address bar. It looks like a series of stacked lines.
  4. If the Reader button doesn’t appear it means the page isn’t able to be simplified.

 

Reader View for Mozilla Firefox Browser in iOS 12.4:

Mozilla Firefox Download Page on the App Store for iPad and iPhone;

How to enable Reader View in Firefox on iOS:

  1. Launch Firefox from your Home screen.
  2. Navigate to the website you’d like to read.
  3. Tap the Reader button on the right of the address bar. It looks like a series of stacked lines.
  4. Double Tap it again to turn it off when you want access to more of the page.
  5. If the Reader button doesn’t appear it means the page isn’t able to be simplified.

 

Reader View for Microsoft Edge in iOS 12.4:

Microsoft Edge Download for iPad and iPhone;

How to enable Reader View in Microsoft Edge on iOS:

  1. Launch Edge from your Home screen.
  2. Navigate to the website you’d like to read.
  3. Tap the Reader Mode button on the right of the address bar. It looks like a book that is open.
  4. Double Tap the Done button to turn it off when you want access to more of the page.
  5. If the Reader Mode button doesn’t appear it means the page isn’t able to be simplified.

 

Android Browsers:

Simplified View for Google Chrome on Android:

Google Chrome Browser Download from the Google Play Store;

How to Enable Reader Mode in Chrome for Android?

  1. Open Chromeon your Android smartphone or tablet and type

chrome://flags

in the address/search bar and hit enter. The Chrome Flags page will open up.

  1. Hit the three dot button inthe top right corner and tap “Find in page “.
  2. Once enabled, you will see a “Make page mobile-friendly” button at the end of the webpage.

 

For more information please contact your GTT Coordinators:

 

Albert Ruel                   or                        Kim Kilpatrick

1-877-304-0968,550                               1-877-304-0968,513

albert.GTT@CCBNational.net                GTTProgram@Gmail.com

 

CCB Backgrounder:

 

The CCB was founded in 1944 by a coalition of blind war veterans, schools of the blind and local chapters to create a national self-governing organization. The CCB was incorporated by Letters Patent on May 10, 1950 and is a registered charity under the provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

The purpose of the CCB is to give people with vision loss a distinctive and unique perspective before governments.  CCB deals with the ongoing effects of vision loss by encouraging active living and rehabilitation through peer support and social and recreational activities.

CCB promotes measures to conserve sight, create a close relationship with the sighted community and provide employment opportunities.

 

The CCB recognizes that vision loss has no boundaries with respect to gender, income, ethnicity, culture, other disabilities or age.

The CCB understands in many instances vision loss is preventable and sometimes is symptomatic of other health issues.  For the 21st century, the CCB is committed to an integrated proactive health approach for early detection to improve the quality of life for all Canadians.

As the largest membership organization of the blind and partially sighted in Canada the CCB is the “Voice of the Blind™”.

 

CCB National Office

100-20 James Street Ottawa ON  K2P 0T6

Toll Free: 1-877-304-0968 Email: info@ccbnational.net URL: www.ccbnational.net

 

 

 

Windows From the Keyboard Tips, Windows 10 Accessibility, October 23,2019

Hello. This is Gerry Chevalier from the GTT Edmonton Chapter. This weekly blog provides tips that I find useful as a keyboard user of Windows. The information is for Windows10 and Office 365, although many tips will still apply to older versions.  The tips do not require a screen reader unless specifically noted. Thus, the tips apply whether you are a keyboard user or low vision mouse user. Here is this week’s tip.

 

Windows10 Accessibility

Many people who are experiencing progressive vision loss find it increasingly difficult to see their computer screen and ask what kind of assistive tech software they should buy. The good news is you can improve the accessibility of your computer without buying anything. Windows 10 has built-in accessibility settings for both screen magnification and screen reading with speech.

 

Just hold down the Windows logo key and press U to open the Ease of Access settings. You will find a list of accessibility features such as screen magnification, contrast, and alternative mouse pointers. Try setting these parameters to improve your screen reading experience.

 

Also, within the Windows 10 Ease of Access Centre is a speech screen reader called Narrator that should be explored if your vision loss is significant and you would benefit more by having the contents of your screen spoken to you.

 

That’s it for this tip. Until next Wednesday, happy computing.

 

GTT New Westminster Summary Notes, Web Browsing with PC Screen Readers, June 26, 2019

Get Together with Technology (GTT)

New Westminster Meeting

 

A Chapter of the Canadian Council of the Blind

in partnership with

Blind Beginnings

And

Vancouver Community College

 

Summary Notes

June 26, 2019

 

Find the CCB Podcast of this event at the link below:

04 GTT New Westminster, Web Browsing with PC Screen Readers, June 26, 2019:

 

Windows 10 Shortcut Keys:

 

JAWS Keyboard Commands:

 

NVDA Keyboard Commands:

 

Narrator Keyboard Commands:

 

Google Chrome Shortcut Keys:

 

Firefox Shortcut Keys:

 

General Windows, Mac, MS Office Shortcut Keys:

 

On June 26, 2019 Ryan Fleury and Albert Ruel presented some favourite shortcut keys to the GTT New Westminster group based on the below list.

Ryan’s frequently used Windows keyboard commands:

Insert W application hot keys

Insert h jaws hot key info for application

Windows x works like a mini start menu

Windows I quickly jump to windows settings

Windows r opens the run dialogue

Insert spacebar h brings up jaws speech history

Windows E opens windows/file explorer

Windows D to go to desktop

 

 

Albert’s frequently used Windows keyboard commands:

Insert T, Task Bar

Insert F, Font attributes in JAWS

Insert B, read the pop up window

Control Z, undo

Insert number row 1, keyboard help toggle

Control X, C and V, Cut, copy and paste

Control B, U and I, bold, underline and italic

Windows B, System Tray

 

For more information please contact your GTT Coordinators:

 

Albert Ruel                   or                       Kim Kilpatrick

1-877-304-0968,550                               1-877-304-0968,513

albert.GTT@CCBNational.net                GTTProgram@Gmail.com

 

CCB Backgrounder:

 

The CCB was founded in 1944 by a coalition of blind war veterans, schools of the blind and local chapters to create a national self-governing organization. The CCB was incorporated by Letters Patent on May 10, 1950 and is a registered charity under the provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

The purpose of the CCB is to give people with vision loss a distinctive and unique perspective before governments.  CCB deals with the ongoing effects of vision loss by encouraging active living and rehabilitation through peer support and social and recreational activities.

CCB promotes measures to conserve sight, create a close relationship with the sighted community and provide employment opportunities.

 

The CCB recognizes that vision loss has no boundaries with respect to gender, income, ethnicity, culture, other disabilities or age.

The CCB understands in many instances vision loss is preventable and sometimes is symptomatic of other health issues.  For the 21st century, the CCB is committed to an integrated proactive health approach for early detection to improve the quality of life for all Canadians.

As the largest membership organization of the blind and partially sighted in Canada the CCB is the “Voice of the Blind™”.

 

CCB National Office

100-20 James Street Ottawa ON  K2P 0T6

Toll Free: 1-877-304-0968 Email: info@ccbnational.net URL: www.ccbnational.net

 

 

 

GTT Beginners National Conference Call Summary Notes, Navigating Websites Using Screen Readers with a PC, May 28, 2019

GTT Beginners National Conference Call.

 

An Initiative of the Canadian Council of the Blind

 

Summary Notes

May 28, 2019

 

Find the Podcast of this event at the link below:

01 GTT Beginners National Conference Call, Navigating Websites Using Screen Readers with a PC, May 28, 2019:

 

Navigating Websites Using Screen Readers with a PC

 

Kim Kilpatrick, Brian Bibeault and Albert Ruel demonstrated the use of Navigation Quick Keys and other strategies for effectively and efficiently accessing information from the websites we visit using the screen readers available in the Windows environment.

 

The pages visited were the Get Together with Technology (GTT) Blog and CELA Library pages.

 

Navigation Quick Keys for JAWS

 

NVDA command key quick reference

 

Narrator keyboard commands and touch gestures

 

For more information please contact your GTT Coordinators:

 

Albert Ruel                   or                       Kim Kilpatrick

1-877-304-0968,550                               1-877-304-0968,513

albert.GTT@CCBNational.net                GTTProgram@Gmail.com

 

CCB Backgrounder:

 

The CCB was founded in 1944 by a coalition of blind war veterans, schools of the blind and local chapters to create a national self-governing organization. The CCB was incorporated by Letters Patent on May 10, 1950 and is a registered charity under the provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

The purpose of the CCB is to give people with vision loss a distinctive and unique perspective before governments.  CCB deals with the ongoing effects of vision loss by encouraging active living and rehabilitation through peer support and social and recreational activities.

CCB promotes measures to conserve sight, create a close relationship with the sighted community and provide employment opportunities.

 

The CCB recognizes that vision loss has no boundaries with respect to gender, income, ethnicity, culture, other disabilities or age.

The CCB understands in many instances vision loss is preventable and sometimes is symptomatic of other health issues.  For the 21st century, the CCB is committed to an integrated proactive health approach for early detection to improve the quality of life for all Canadians.

As the largest membership organization of the blind and partially sighted in Canada the CCB is the “Voice of the Blind™”.

 

CCB National Office

100-20 James Street Ottawa ON  K2P 0T6

Toll Free: 1-877-304-0968 Email: info@ccbnational.net URL: www.ccbnational.net

 

 

 

Narrator Tutorial Podcast for Windows 10 Version 1809 by David Woodbridge

This document has been recently updated to include a 9th edition of the podcast.

Narrator Screen Reader Tutorial Podcasts by David Woodbridge

iSee – Using various technologies from a blind persons perspective.

 

Revised: February 24, 2019

 

Narrator is a screen reader  utility included in Microsoft Windows that reads text, dialog boxes and window controls in most applications  for Windows. Originally developed by Professor Paul Blenkhorn in 2000, the utility made the Windows operating system more accessible for blind and low vision users.

 

In the October 2018 release of Windows 10 Narrator’s functions and keyboard commands have been dramatically expanded.  We are now at a point in it’s development that it will start to rival the third party screen readers we have become accustomed to using in the Windows environment.  Finally, it might be said that PC computers purchased off the shelf are accessible to blind and low vision users out of the box.

 

The latest version of Windows 10 is the October 2018 Update, version “1809,” which was released on October 2, 2018. The below tutorial podcasts only apply to the latest version 1809, so please check to see the current version running in your computer.

 

How do I know what version I’m running?

To determine whether or not these tutorials apply to Narrator in your computer you can check your version number as follows:

 

  1. Press and release the Windows Key and type the word Run, or merely hold down the Windows key and press the letter R.
  2. In the window that pops up type the text, WinVer and press the Enter key. Typing immediately will replace any text that might already be there.
  3. The computer will display, and your screen reader will speak the version of your operating system. If it indicates you’re running version 1809 Narrator will function as outlined in these podcasts, however if your computer is still running an older version please disregard these tutorials for now.  Press the Space Bar to close this dialog.

 

The Complete Guide to Narrator on the Microsoft Windows Help Page:

Click here to access the Complete Narrator’s Guide on the Windows Help Page.

 

David Woodbridge produces great podcasts under the title, iSee – Using various technologies from a blind persons perspective.  Below are the links to each individual podcast for you to Stream in your favourite podcatcher.

 

Narrator Tutorial Podcasts from iSee – Using various technologies from a blind persons perspective by David Woodbridge:

 

  1. Demo of the Windows Insider build for the new Narrator Quick Start Guide
  2. Windows 10 Narrator Series Episode 1 – turning Narrator on and off
  3. Windows 10 Narrator Series Episode 2 – Narrator keys and Input (keyboard and touch screen) Learning mode
  4. Windows 10 Narrator Series Episode 3 – adjusting speech rate, Volume, Punctuation, and a tip on Verbosity

 

 

  1. Windows 10 Narrator Series Episode 4 – changing Volume, Pitch, Audio Ducking, and an initial intro to Scan Mode
  2. Windows 10 Narrator Series Episode 5 Startup options for Narrator including Narrator Home
  3. Windows 10 Narrator Series Episode 6 – Typing Echo and Keyboard Settings
  4. Windows 10 Narrator Series Episode 7 – Navigating within a document with Narrator keyboard commands
  5. Windows 10 Narrator Series Episode 8 – Scan Mode, Narrator Views, and using Narrator Gestures with the Touch Screen

Windows 10 Narrator Series Episode 9 – Navigating on the Web with Narrator

 

To subscribe to the “iSee – Using various technologies from a blind persons perspective” podcasts by David Woodbridge click on this link.

 

Thx, Albert A. Ruel

 

Narrator Tutorial Podcasts for Windows 10 by Blind Vet Tech Podcast

Narrator Screen Reader Tutorial Podcasts by Blind Vet Tech

 

Narrator is a screen reader  utility included in Microsoft Windows that reads text, dialog boxes and window controls in most applications  for Windows. Originally developed by Professor Paul Blenkhorn in 2000, the utility made the Windows operating system more accessible for blind and low vision users.

 

In the October 2018 release of Windows 10 Narrator’s functions and keyboard commands have been dramatically expanded.  We are now at a point in it’s development that it will start to rival the third party screen readers we have become accustomed to using in the Windows environment.  Finally, it might be said that PC computers purchased off the shelf are accessible to blind and low vision users out of the box.

 

The latest version of Windows 10 is the October 2018 Update, version “1809,” which was released on October 2, 2018. The below tutorial podcasts only apply to the latest version 1809, so please check to see the current version running in your computer.

 

How do I know what version I’m running?

To determine whether or not these tutorials apply to Narrator in your computer you can check your version number as follows:

 

  1. Press and release the Windows Key and type the word Run, or merely hold down the Windows key and press the letter R.
  2. In the window that pops up type the text, WinVer and press the Enter key. Typing immediately will replace any text that might already be there.
  3. The computer will display, and your screen reader will speak the version of your operating system. If it indicates you’re running version 1809 Narrator will function as outlined in these podcasts, however if your computer is still running an older version please disregard these tutorials for now.  Press the Space Bar to close this dialog.

 

The Complete Guide to Narrator on the Microsoft Windows Help Page:

Click here to access the Complete Narrator’s Guide on the Windows Help Page.

 

Blind Vet Tech Guides and Tutorials:

Are you a visually impaired Veteran interested in learning more about technology and adaptive software? Have you received a device, like an iPhone or iPad, from a Blind Rehab Center, but require more information on how to use it? Are you a visually impaired Veteran looking for a network of peers to assist you in determining if updating your device is the right choice? If you answered yes, or simply are interested in learning more about assistive technologies for blinded Veterans, the Blind Vet Tech Quick Guides and Tutorials podcast will assist you. Developed by blinded Veterans aiding our fellow peers adapt to sight loss, Blind Vet Tech focuses on iPhones, iPads, computers, other smart phones, and different technologies Veterans might receive to increase their independence.

 

To that end, BVT have produced a spectacular series of tutorial podcast episodes ateaching users how to maximize their use of the latest version of Narrator.  Below are Hyperlinks to each of the Blind Vet Tech Podcast episodes on the web.

 

Blind Vet Tech Direct Links to Narrator Podcast Episodes:

 

  1. Windows 10 Narrator Basics
  2. Navigating Webpages and Netflix With Narrator’s Scan Mode
  3. Narrator’s Five Best Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Features
  4. Activating Narrator
  5. Basic Keyboard Commands and Navigation
  6. Quickly navigate Edge, tables, and apps with Scan Mode On
  7. Learn how to read documents, apps, webpages, and much more with Narrator

 

To subscribe to the Blind Vet Tech podcast follow this link.

 

Thx, Albert A. Ruel