Mike Calvo on Computer America Tonight!

Serotek CEO Mike Calvo will be interviewed live on the Computer America
program tonight July 10th at 10pm to Midnight eastern. Computer America is
the nation's longest running radio talk show about computers. Shows include
up to the moment technology news, interviews with industry experts,
appearances by hardware and software companies, show business personalities,
special segments and lots more. Throughout the Monday through Friday
two-hour program, Craig Crossman and his co-host Carey Holzman take your
phone calls, answer questions and make computers fun. A live chat room lets
you participate online during the show. And don't forget the ongoing
contests with big ticket computer prizes! Computer America is your primary
resource to the world of computers and technology. Mike will be talking
about Serotek and it's plan to provide accessibility anywhere. Current
Serotek customers are encouraged to call in and give feedback as to how
Serotek's products have impacted their lives.

Computer America is carried across the country over the Business TalkRadio
NetworkŽ. If you cannot find a radio station carrying the show, you can
still listen because the Business TalkRadio Network streams its signal live
over the Internet. The streaming audio is in Windows Media format only, so
you will need to have a player that supports this format. Click the
following link to listen to the show:
http://www.warpradio.com/player/embed.asp?page=Tuner&id=14175
If that link doesn't work, then please try this alternate link from Las
Vegas affiliate K-News 970AM:
http://www.warpradio.com/player/embed.asp?page=Tuner&id=6225

Update: Accessible Version of CallBurner

It appears the CallBurner team has not yet made their accessible version available to the public. Since many of you have asked how you can get started right away, please feel free to download a copy of the accessible version. Since this version of CallBurner is not currently provided on the company’s web site, this software should be considered to be a beta release, with all the “play at your own risk” caveats that status entails. Stay tuned for another update as soon as the CallBurner Team has informed us of the public availability of the accessible release.

CallBurner: Finally, Fully Accessible Skype Call Recording is Here at Last!

The people at Netralia, developers of the Skylook Skype call management and recording application for Microsoft Outlook, have recently released a new Skype call recording product that does not depend on Outlook. The new CallBurner application enables annotation and recording of all Skype calls while providing a clean, simple user interface.

After learning of the existence of this new product, I downloaded a trial copy of the software. While finding it reasonably usable for basic call recording, I found the call detail window largely inaccessible with any screen reader, including JAWS, System Access and Window-Eyes. I promptly wrote a short note to the company’s support e-mail address requesting accessibility enhancements to permit full use of CallBurner with screen reading software. On Thursday, July 5, I was absolutely flabbergasted to receive a response from the company’s senior developer offering a beta copy of an accessible version of the software for my testing! This response came in less than three weeks of my initial request!

After downloading the test copy of CallBurner, I immediately began to put it through its paces. After enabling “Screen Reader Compatibility” in the Accessibility sub-menu of the program’s System Tray icon, I was instantly delighted to discover extensive keyboard navigation, a tabbed Call Details dialogue box and full accessibility without need of screen reader configuration or scripts. Follow these steps to enable “Screen Reader Compatibility” after downloading and installing CallBurner:

  1. Minimize all running programs and focus on the Desktop by pressing Left Windows+M.
  2. Press JAWS Key+F11, Modifier+F11 (System Access) or Insert+S (Window-Eyes) to open the System Tray menu.
  3. Down arrow to CallBurner and press enter to right click its System Tray icon.
  4. Press enter on the Accessibility sub-menu.
  5. Press enter on “Screen Reader Compatibility”. This is the only option currently found in the Accessibility sub-menu.
  6. The following dialogue box is shown: “Screen Reader Compatibility is now turned ON. NOTE: You need to restart CallBurner for this change to become effective.”
  7. Press enter on the OK button to accept the change.
  8. Press JAWS Key+F11, Modifier+F11 (System Access) or Insert+S (Window-Eyes) to return to the System Tray menu.
  9. Down arrow to CallBurner and press enter to right click its System Tray icon.
  10. Up arrow to the Quit option and press enter.
  11. Press the Left Windows key or CTRL+Escape to open the Start menu.
  12. Press p to open the All Programs menu.
  13. Down arrow to CallBurner and press enter to open its sub-menu.
  14. Press enter on CallBurner to start the program. The Call Details window opens, presenting a tabbed dialogue box that delivers a fully accessible user interface to all CallBurner functions.
  15. Press the End key to move to the Help tab.
  16. Press the Tab key once to select Browse On-Line Help and press enter to open CallBurner’s documentation in a typical web browser window. This help will serve to get you started with CallBurner in short order.

The latest version of CallBurner, incorporating the “Screen Reader Compatibility” enhancement, has been made available as of Saturday, July 7, 2007. I highly recommend CallBurner to anyone, blind or sighted, who needs to record Skype calls. The ability and willingness of the developers to make their software accessible in less than three weeks of such a request demonstrates the commitment of this company to high quality, reliable customer service and technical support. We should all send a quick note of thanks to the CallBurner Team expressing our appreciation for their prompt attention to our accessibility needs and encouraging their developers to continue the excellent work in this area for all their software. Stay tuned to Blind Access Journal and other blind community online resources for demonstrations, reviews, tips and other information covering the use of this excellent application.

ACB 2007 Convention on demand and podcasts complete

All of the on demand archives and podcast files are up for all of the
sessions of the 2007 convention, including the banquet. You can download
all of the sessions from the podcast feed found at:

http://www.acbradio.org/podcasts/conventions

If you wish to listen to the on demand archives, then go to the Convention
2007 page found at:

http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=60

Note: The quality and, thus, the file sizes, of the podcasts are
significantly higher than those provided in the On Demand archives.

Happy listening everyone,
Jeff Bishop

Promoting Bookshare: Theme of Tuesday Event,July 3, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Theme: Telling Others About Bookshare

Facilitator: Monica Willyard (rhyami@gmail.com)

Although Bookshare.org has dramatically increased access to books for the
community of visually impaired and otherwise print disabled individuals
since 2002, it is still unknown in many circles. During Tuesday's live,
interactive meeting of the Bookshare community, the group will examine ways
to take the Bookshare story to schools, universities, libraries, retirement
communities, and other areas . throughout the United States.

Date: Tuesday, July 3, 2007.

Time: 5:00 p.m. Pacific, 6:00 p.m. Mountain, 7:00 p.m. Central, 8:00 p.m.
Eastern and Wednesday 00:00 GMT.

Where: The Bookshare Online Community Room.

There is no charge to attend this event. All you need is a PC running
Windows 2000 or later, an Internet connection, a sound card, and speakers. A
microphone will be needed to allow you to interact audibly with each other.
If, however, you do not have a microphone, text chatting will be allowed.

To join this community of book lovers, click on the Bookshare Chat Room link
on the Accessible World Home page at:

http://www.accessibleworld.org

or use the following direct link:

http://tinyurl.com/2avczp

If this is the first time you have entered a Talking Communities chatroom,
or the conference client has been updated, you will need to install and then
run the Talkcom software. It is very small and safe to install on your
computer. When the installation is complete, you will be returned to the
sign-in screen. Select the Enter Room button. Enter your first and last
name, Leave the Password field blank. tab to the log in button, and press
Enter. That's it. You will be in the room and can begin talking with others
in the virtual audience by pressing and holding down the Control key.

Don't hesitate to invite all your friends. Seating is unlimited and All
events are FREE! Also, stop by the chat room anytime to visit with friends
or get immediate answers to Bookshare issues.

See you Tuesday, July 3!

For additional information, contact:

The Accessible World
Pat Price, Events Coordinator
http://www.accessibleworld.org
317-254-1185
Email: pat@patprice.org

This online live event is entirely an activity of Bookshare volunteers that
is sponsored by the Accessible World in partnership with Talking
Communities.

Susan Lumpkin, Co-Facilitator
Bookshare Chat Room
512-467-9725
slumpkin@austin.rr.com

Media Contacts for Additional Information:
Robert Acosta, Chair, Planning Committee
Helping Hands for the Blind
818-998-0044
Email: boacosta@pacbell.net
http://www.helpinghands4theblind.com

Pat Price, Events Coordinator
The Accessible World Symposiums
317-254-1185
Skype: patprice1
Email: pat@patprice.org
http://www.accessibleworld.org

FileDir 2.7 released

http://www.EmpowermentZone.com/dirsetup.exe

Version 2.7
Released June 26, 2007

Fixed a corrupt zip archive being created when its location was in a
subfolder of the current folder.
Fixed Home, End, PageUp, and PageDown not working with the JAWS cursor in
the optional scripts.

Enhanced the wild card capability of filters. Previously, a * character
could be at the beginning or end of a pattern, or both, but not in the
middle (a limitation of the SQL parser built into the .NET Framework). This
restriction has been programmed around, thus allowing a pattern such as the
following:
calendar*.doc
As before, multiple, alternate filters may be separated by a | character,
e.g., calendar*.doc|*bill*

As before, Shift+T says the type of the current item in the Windows
registry, as well as its attributes such as ReadOnly, Hidden, or System.
A new command, Control+Shift+T, shows all "extended properties" of a file or
folder item that are available to Windows Explorer. Depending on the type,
32 possible properties may be examined as follows:
Name
Size
Type
Date Modified
Date Created
Date Accessed
Attributes
Status
Owner
Author
Title
Subject
Category
Pages
Comments
Copyright
Artist
Album Title
Year
Track Number
Genre
Duration
Bit Rate
Protected
Camera Model
Date Picture Taken
Dimensions
Episode Name
Program Description
Audio sample size
Audio sample rate
Channels

Coming up on Main Menu and Main Menu Live for the week of June 27

This week on Main Menu and Main Menu Live we focus on organization with a
Calendar, Windows Vista speech recognition, portability in traveling with
GPS and assistive technology techniques for being more efficient.

In the first half hour of Main Menu we hear from Brian Hartgen from T&T
Consultancy Limited. For those of you who are JAWS users and who are using
Office 2007 you will be especially interested in this. Brian will be
announcing here on Main Menu a set of scripts that will be available for
purchase at Sight Village 2007 giving complete access to the Outlook 2007
Calendar. In addition, Brian will talk about a low cost JAWS script
solution to Windows Vista's speech recognition interface. He will spend a
bit of time demonstrating this functionality as well.

In the next half hour on Main Menu we will hear from Earle Harrison all
about the new Way Finder Access GPS Navigation solution recently made
available for Mobile Speak Symbian phone customers.

When we visit a web site or open a document, we do much more than simply
listen to the entire text as it is spoken aloud. During the second hour on
Main Menu Live, Chris Hofstader and Karen McCall will talk with us all about
the efficiency and productivity related aspects of using screen readers and
other assistive technology. When a web page opens, what techniques do you
employ to quickly access only the information you need? This is your chance
to learn from the pros and share techniques of your own.

This will be the last Main Menu and Main Menu Live for the next few weeks as
the Main Menu production team takes some time off over the summer to spend
it with their families. We will be back in August with much more great
content.

Here is how to participate on the show. The number to call into the show is
866-400-5333. You can email your questions to mainmenu@acbradio.org. You
may also interact with the show via MSN Messenger. The MSN Messenger ID to
add is mainmenu@acbradio.org.

Would you like to interact with a group of Main Menu listeners about the
topics heard on Main Menu and Main Menu Live? You can do this by joining the
Main Menu Friends email list. The address to subscribe is
main-menu-subscribe@googlegroups.com. Come join an already lively group of
users.

Would you like to subscribe to podcast feeds for Main Menu and Main Menu
Live? The RSS feeds to add to your podcatching application are:

Main Menu –

http://www.acbradio.org/podcasts/mainmenu
Main Menu Live –

http://www.acbradio.org/podcasts/mainmenulive

Main Menu and Main Menu Live can be heard on Tuesday evenings at 9:00
Eastern, 6:00 Pacific, and at 1 universal/GMT on Wednesday mornings on the
ACB Radio Main Stream channel. To listen to the show, just click this link:

http://www.acbradio.org/pweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=8&MMN_position=14:14

Jeff Bishop and Darrell Shandrow
The Main Menu Production Team

JAWS for Windows 8.0 Update Released, Many Users Disappointed About Unresolved Issues

Today, Freedom Scientific has released their fifth update to JAWS 8.0. Many users are continuing to report unresolved issues, including the following:

  • Blank virtual buffers in Adobe Reader, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express and other applications.
  • Unexplainable crashes pointing to FSBraille when no Braille display is in use.
  • Persistent canned responses and lack of responses on issues reported to technical support.
  • Various concerns with Windows Vista support:
    • Many dialogue boxes are not readable except by way of the JAWS cursor.
    • Issues accessing Windows Mail included in Vista.
    • Problems reading the sliders in the Windows Vista Volume Control.