By Rowena Portch

Introducing tools that enable you to work smarter, even with a visual impairment.

Technology at its finest

Recently, I was introduced to JAWS, Dragon Naturally Speaking, and J-Say Pro. At first, these accessibility tools seemed way too good to be true. After all, how accurate can speech-recognition software be? Years ago, I used Dragon Naturally Speaking, a program that enables people to speak text and commands to the computer instead of using the keyboard. It was a good program to start with, but over the past five years, it has really improved. Now I am talking to my computer and having it carry out commands after only five minutes of training it to my voice and speech patterns.

JAWS, my screen reader, is a very impressive text to speech program that many visually-impaired individuals use to work on the computer. After you learn the commands that enable you to navigate text and information, JAWS is a very powerful tool for those of us who cannot see. For me, though, the commands were a bit challenging to learn.

T and T Consultancy, Ltd is a British company that brilliantly combined the ability to use Dragon Naturally Speaking along with JAWS by using an application called J-Say Pro. This application not only combines the functionality of Dragon Naturally Speaking with the screen-reading capabilities of JAWS, but it also provides commands that are easy-to-use and remember. For example, all I need to say is, “E-mail Gregg,” and voila, a new e-mail message opens and is automatically addressed to my husband. That sure beats having to open Microsoft Office Outlook, pressing CTRL+SHIFT+N, and then typing the e-mail address manually.

The Product Development Manager for T and T Consultancy, Ltd is visually impaired and uses J-Say Pro. Therefore, his investment in the product is genuine. He has made sure that the company's Web site and documentation are very accessible. The documentation comes in a variety of formats, including Daisy, a format that makes audio books accessible. Daisy books often contain bookmarks for headings, paragraphs, and chapters. If you do not have a Daisy-compatible CD player, such as a Victor Reader, you can use the Daisy reader that comes with JAWS. If you are not familiar with the Daisy format, you can open the documentation in Microsoft Office Word and have your screen reader or narrator program read it to you. I was very impressed with the amount of effort that T and T Consultancy put forth to assure that everyone can learn about their products and use them to their fullest capacity.

Compatible programs

J-Say Pro is compatible with:

• Microsoft Windows XP
• Windows Vista
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2003
• Microsoft Office Word 2007
• Microsoft Office Word 2003
• Windows Internet Explorer 7
• Skype
• Live Messenger
• Portable Document Files (PDF)
• Facebook
• Audio captions in movies for the visually impaired
• Naptster's desktop player

I have personally used J-Say Pro to navigate internal tools that are not entirely accessible. The flexible customization capabilities of J-Say Pro enable you to adapt the program for almost all of your computer program needs. Pretty much any accessible program that uses keyboard shortcuts can be operated with J-Say Pro. If the application is not accessible, JAWS might have issues understanding what is displayed on your screen and might not read the information accurately. Fortunately, non-accessible programs are becoming the minority.

How it all works

The benefit of using J-Say Pro is that it offers easy-to-use and easy-to-remember commands. For example, to open Word, I simply say, "Start Word." JAWS assures me that a new document opens, and then I am ready to dictate my text. I say, "I am excited about this new product." JAWS then reads back to me, "I am excited about this new product." If I want to hear that sentence again, I say, "Speak sentence." It's that simple.

I can also instruct my computer to select a particular word by saying, "Select excited." JAWS informs me that the word, excited is now selected. Now that the word is selected, I can make that word bold by saying, "Bold that." How easy is that?

I can also instruct my computer to press a series of keys on the keyboard. If I say, "Press TAB," my computer activates the TAB key. I can instruct the computer to press any key on my keyboard by saying the Press command followed by the key name.

Whether I am in front of my computer or wearing a wireless headset, an audio sound informs me of new e-mail messages or new Instant Message conversations that require my attention. I simply command the computer to switch to the application that I want to access. For example, if I receive a new e-mail notification, I instruct the computer to "Switch to Inbox", and my Outlook Inbox becomes active. The new message is announced, including the sender and the subject. If I want to read the message, I say, "Open message."

The Select a Window command reminds me which windows are currently open on my computer. I can even shut down my computer or restart it with a simple command.

Headsets and microphones

When you order Dragon Naturally Speaking, you receive a decent headset that connects directly to your computer. This headset is specifically designed for speech-recognition software. There are other headsets that connect via Bluetooth, USB, or wirelessly. The headset that is best for you depends on your computer hardware and your work environment.

I use the Plantronics CS50 wireless radio headset. The radio transmitter and charger unit connects directly to my USB port. This headset offers me the freedom to move around the house and work at the same time. I can cook dinner and read my e-mail messages, as well as respond to those messages. Granted, it takes a bit of concentration to multi task in this way, but you soon get used to the idea and become addicted.

As you can see, these three products, JAWS, Dragon Naturally Speaking, and J-Say Pro, not only serves those of us with disabilities, it offers a new level of freedom to anyone who wants to be productive without being stuck directly in front of the computer. With a headset, you can write a report while you travel, dictate a novel, or catch up on some reading on the bus. The advantages are endless. No matter how talented you are, please do not work on your computer while driving a car.

Learn more about this software

If you want to learn more about this software, visit T and T Consultancy Ltd.

If you are interested in purchasing this software, contact Ed Rosenthal at Next Generation Technologies. You can send him an e-mail message at edward@ngtvoice.com or visit Next Generation Technologies. Ed is also a great resource for headset options and information about the best solution for your needs.

Read more articles by the Accessibility Advocate

Introducing the Accessibility Advocate column

Making sense of HTML messages in Outlook

About the author

Rowena Patch lost her sight to Retinitis Pigmentosa as an adult.