Disclaimer
The following message includes information regarding Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1. Please note that Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1 HAS NOT been released at this time. We are, however, providing you with some small glimpses into the features that Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1 will contain. We are currently not answering any questions regarding the functionality of the beta. The only things we are going to talk about will be what we have included in our new Guess What series, which will continue daily up to the beta release date. We will answer all questions at that time. Please be patient; you will be rewarded.
If you are subscribed to the GW Micro or Guess What podcast feed, you will automatically receive this Guess What in MP3 format. Check out www.gwmicro.com/podcast for more information. For sighted users, go to our YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/gwmicro to see the video of the Guess What. If you want to download the MP3, read this article online, or view more Guess What articles (when they are released), please visit www.gwmicro.com/beta.
Enjoy!
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Welcome to GW Micro's "Guess What?" series, an introductory look at the highly anticipated release of Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1. Today, we are going to take a look at some of the vast improvements Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1 brings to Microsoft Word. Currently, the system used for this demo is Window-Eyes 7.2. The reason version 7.2 is being used currently is so that you can hear the difference in speed. First, we will go to the Desktop by pressing Windows Key-D. I have a document that has a table of contents in it. We'll open the document and then press Control-G to allow us to move to page 4, since that is where the table of contents is located. Type 4 and then press Enter. Now, we will begin to Down Arrow through the document and you can see that the document is very slow. Let's try it with Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1. Through the miracle of editing, we are now back in the same document at the top of page 4 in the same table of contents. Now when I press Down Arrow, Window-Eyes responds immediately and is so much faster! You will really notice the faster speed of Window-Eyes in more complex documents that include items like a table of contents and tables. This is one of the huge improvements we have made in Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1 to continue to make you more efficient.
What else have we done in Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1? It now supports User Interface Automation (UIA). Yesterday's Guess What referenced this new technology, but what is UIA, and what does it mean to you? According to the official definition from www.microsoft.com, UIA is "Microsoft UI Automation is the new accessibility framework for Microsoft Windows, available on all operating systems that support Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)." WPF is a new technology that replaces older Win32 technology that was used to create controls, such as edit boxes, check boxes, and other types of controls that you would commonly use. As an example, a checkbox that is created as a WPF control is based on UIA. Since Window-Eyes supports UIA, the WPF checkbox would speak. If you are not a programmer, you are probably wondering why you care. First, you already know that Internet Explorer 9 incorporates UIA. This means that Window-Eyes had to incorporate UIA technology to support IE 9 to the fullest. What you may not know is that UIA is replacing older technologies that were used to make applications accessible. This means that Window-Eyes must support this technology to continue to make many different Microsoft applications work with Window-Eyes. Two good examples of places where this technology is used are Windows Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2010. Blind programmers and IT professionals require access to these applications to maintain employment, and end users require access to the programs created with these utilities. As more and more new applications from Microsoft are released, UIA will be the underlying technology that allows those programs to speak, and without Window-Eyes supporting UIA for those technologies, you would not have access to them. Window-Eyes is again taking the lead on the latest and greatest assistive technology.
On this system, there happens to be a widget called Control Template Examples. This is a sample widget that has many different types of WPF controls, which uses UIA technology as noted earlier. Let's open the widget, and see if Window-Eyes can read all of these special controls with new technology. After it opens, the first thing to do is press Tab. Once Tab is pressed, you hear that there is a Default button. I'll press Tab again, and I am on a Normal button. How about other controls? The next type of control is a checkbox that has a field name of Normal. What happens if I press Space? You heard Window-Eyes say "checked." How about if we uncheck it? Again, you can hear Window-Eyes being right there with you keeping up with the latest technology. If I continued to Tab, you would hear Window-Eyes speak text boxes, combo boxes, radio buttons, list boxes, sliders, toolbars, menus, and treeviews. Rather than take you through generic controls, let's check out a real application. Press Alt-F4 to close this program.
Now, I'm going to open Visual Studio 2010. I happen to have a shortcut to it on my Desktop, so I'll press Windows Key-D to access the Desktop, and them press M until I hear, "Microsoft Visual Studio 2010," and then press Enter. Visual Studio 2010 will then open. I'm going to create a text file here, since most users are familiar with text files. So, I'll press Control-N for New. That will bring up the New File dialog. I am in a list box on General, so I will press Tab, and I will hear, "Text File" and press Enter. I am now in an editor that is using UIA technology. I'll type some basic text here. "Hello, Guess What Listeners." As you can tell, Window-Eyes is following every step of the way, so if you are a blind programmer, you can use the latest development technology. There are other UIA controls in Visual Studio 2010, which are the toolbars. First, I'll press Alt to access the menu, and then I'll press Control-Tab to access to the toolbars. Again, you are hearing UIA technology in action. If I press Tab, you will hear the next item, and you can see that Visual Studio 2010 is definitely accessible with Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1. It is extremely important that Window-Eyes support UIA technology since most of the new applications created by developers using Visual Studio 2010 will incorporate WPF technology, thus relying on UIA. This makes it imperative that Window-Eyes support the WPF controls as applications using this technology become more and more popular.
Get the best possible access to Microsoft Word, Visual Studio 2010, and all of the other new and upcoming applications that will use UIA technology with Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1.
As you have been able to see through the Guess What series, Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1 is definitely a well-rounded, well worth it upgrade. Stay tuned for Monday's "Guess What?" to learn more about Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1, as well as an exciting promotion to help you upgrade from 7.2 to 7.5.
Title: Guess What? – Window-Eyes 7.5 Beta 1 – Microsoft Word and UIA
