Mike,

Spreadsheets can be written in formats from the sublime to the ridiculous.  As a totally blind user, I try to write down the headings and so get an idea of the organization of the spreadsheet.  However, since your co-worker is looking at a full screen and you are accessing the spreadsheet cell by cell, what you can learn depends entirely on the complexity of the spreadsheet itself.  No matter how you choose to learn about the functions of the spreadsheet, it’s going to take you longer than it would take a sighted person.  For complicated financial spreadsheets, even looking at the screen can be a daunting experience.

Greg

Hi,

What is the fastest way to get familiar with a large spreadsheet for the first time using JAWS, if you have no idea what is in it? My co-worker told me that as soon as she opens a spreadsheet, she can immediately see everything she needs to know on screen. I am trying to learn if there is a way to use a computer as fast as someone who can see in every situation. I am totally blind.

Thanks,

Mike

Try moving down column A. Then using insert up arrow to read each line. Some of the smaller spreadsheets make it easier to understand that way.



As far as being able to compete with a sighted user, the quick answer is no. You can get close if you have a fantastic memory and can remember all of the Jaws commands for reading. Don't mean to be discouraging, I'm being honest, which a lot of people don't like.

On Friday, September 18, 2020, 12:42:14 PM EDT, Walker, Michael E <michael.e.walker3@...> wrote:

 

 

Hi,

 

What is the fastest way to get familiar with a large spreadsheet for the first time using JAWS, if you have no idea what is in it? My co-worker told me that as soon as she opens a spreadsheet, she can immediately see everything she needs to know on screen. I am trying to learn if there is a way to use a computer as fast as someone who can see in every situation. I am totally blind.

 

Thanks,

Mike

From: David Kingsbury

To: main@jfw.groups.io

Sent: Saturday, September 19, 2020 3:54 PM

Subject: Re: Accessing jaws menu in laptop layout

Hi Daniel,

 

There are a few commands for which the Insert and Caps Lock keys are not substitutable in laptop mode. Insert J to get to the JAWS menus is one of them, so you must hit Insert J, not Caps Lock J. Other keystrokes where you must use the Insert key are Insert W to get Windows keystroke help and Insert H to get JAWS keystroke help.

 

David

Hi all,

I have occasion to use the laptop layout with Jaws 2020.

However, I'm unable to access the jaws menu as I prefer to run it from the system tray.

When I use the keyboard shortcut of jaws key (capslock in this case)+j, the only thing that's announced is blank.

Interestingly, when I plug in a keyboard that has an insert key and use that instead of capslock it works perfectly.

Does anyone know if the key to access the jaws menu from system tray is different in laptop layout?

Jaws help doesn't seem to have the answer.

Thanks,


Daniel

-----Original Message-----
From: main@jfw.groups.io <main@jfw.groups.io> On Behalf Of JM Casey
Sent: September 20, 2020 8:20 PM
To: main@jfw.groups.io
Subject: Re: synthesizer versus voice

Cool writeup/analysis. I've no doubt we will get there, but I don't think we're
there yet -- I've heard a few top-of-the-lie commercial voice synthesisers
and to me they still haven't quite grasped the inflection and intonations of
the human voice. But they're getting eerily close. So ..in time. And of course,
all our ears are different, too, and this "uncanny valley" aspect is probably
already nonexistent for some people.



-----Original Message-----
From: main@jfw.groups.io <main@jfw.groups.io> On Behalf Of Orlando
Enrique Fiol via groups.io
Sent: September 20, 2020 11:10 PM
To: main@jfw.groups.io
Subject: Re: synthesizer versus voice

At 09:00 PM 9/20/2020, Mark asked:
>what's the difference between a synthesizer and a voice?

A synthesizer uses electronic processes to fashion complex timbres from
acoustic or electronic sound sources. For example, a triangle wave may be
combined with clarinet samples to produce a "synthesized" clarinet.
However, I suspect your question pertains to our text-to-speech engines.
There, the distinction between speech synthesizer and voice operates on
two levels. The synthesizer is the speech engine as a whole, while individual
voices (such as male, female, child, etc.) can be chosen.
On a deeper level, though, the difference between synthesizer and voice
rests in the sources for phonemes used by a text-to-speech engine. With
purely synthesized speech, human speech is electronically modeled, just as
digital FM synthesizers such as the Yamaha DX7 attempted to create
acoustic-sounding timbres using electronic sources rather than actual
samples. There's a vital difference between trying to make an electronic
keyboard sound like a violin or banjo, and actually recording single notes on
violin or banjo in order to spread them out across the keyboard.
The old-fashioned speech synthesizer uses no human speech samples, while
most text-to-speech engines today do indeed use exclusively human speech
samples. That's why today's voices sound more realistic and human; they're
fashioned from recordings of human beings speaking different words or
parts of words, from which the speech engine constructs its vocabulary
libraries.
As a sidenote, this human speech sampling and modeling technology is at the
point where one can theoretically make a speech engine from anyone's
voice, which has produced some unintended byproducts. It is now possible
to create convincing audio recordings of people allegedly saying things they
never actually said. This is done by sampling enough of their recorded speech
to formulate a lexicon not only of vocabulary, but more important, of their
vocal inflections, the rises, falls, breaths and pauses in their speech.
With this modeling technology, we soon will not know for certain whether
people have actually said what we've heard them say on audio recordings or
videos.
So, there you have it: a little primer on synthesis and sampled sound.


Orlando Enrique Fiol
Ph.D. in Music theory
University of Pennsylvania: November, 2018 Professional
Pianist/Keyboardist, Percussionist and Pedagogue Charlotte, North Carolina