Rick, I wanted to share some additional insight regarding this matter that one of my former colleagues shared with me. I proposed that Window-Eyes might use events fired by an application to determine when to query the application about selected text. I was recently informed that Window-Eyes will query an application about selected text any time you press a cursor key that has its action assigned to highlight text. By default, the commonly used Shift selection keys such as Shift-Left Arrow, Shift-Right Arrow, Shift-Up Arrow, Shift-Down Arrow, etc. have their first action assigned to the highlight text function. So, you might want to double check that all of the cursor keys you are using to select text in XML Copy are correctly defined with a first action of highlight text. If they are, the problem might be related to the color of the highlight used in XML Copy. Window-Eyes is designed to recognize highlighted text when a standard highlight color is used. If XML Copy is using a highlight color that Window-Eyes doesn't recognizes, this could be the cause of the problem you are experiencing. If this is the case, you can actually customize Window-Eyes so that it can recognize the custom highlight color used by the program. This is done using the highlight color hotkey which is undefined by default. There are quite a few steps to complete the process but at a high level you would:
1. Create a set file for XML Copy to store the program specific settings 2. Define the highlight color hot key under Hotkeys, Miscellaneous to a key combination of your preference 3. Select some text in the program and move your mouse pointer over the text selection 4. Press the highlight text hot key to capture the new color 5. Make sure you properly assign the highlight text action to all of the cursor keys you wish to use to select text If you need further assistance with this issue, I would encourage you to contact our support team by phone or email. Good luck, Marc From: Marc Solomon Sent: Wednesday, January 7, 2015 10:07 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: WE Beta 3 - Selecting text in XML Copy Hi Rick, In order to determine if the issue is related to Window-Eyes or the program's design, you will need to do some additional investigation. The technical approach would be to use one or more developer tools to analyze the application and try to verify if the program is exposing the information needed for Window-Eyes to do its job. I used the WEEvent app to determine what events are fired by Notepad and Microsoft Word when text is selected. In both applications, there is a Window object event called OnChildSelect that is fired by Notepad and Word when text is selected. This leads me to believe that Window-Eyes uses this event to identify when it should go in and figure out what text is selected and speak the selected text. If this event is not fired, then Window-Eyes might not know it is supposed to be looking for and announcing selected text. Please keep in mind that these are just educated guesses about how Window-Eyes works under the hood. So, you could try this investigative procedure with the XML Copy program and see if it fires the OnChildSelect event when you select text. If the program doesn't fire this event, you would have more evidence that the problem lies in the application's design. A much simpler approach would be to test the application with another screen reader. If you can duplicate the problem with another screen reader, then it is more likely that the problem is related to the program's design and not specific to Window-Eyes. If the problem is related to the application's design, I would recommend you reach out and notify the manufacturer. If they aren't willing or able to fix the problem on their end, it might be possible to develop a Window-Eyes app to enhance the accessibility of the application. I hope you find this information helpful. Regards, Marc Solomon Sales & Accessibility Engineer Ai Squared - GW Micro is now part of the Ai Squared family! 725 Airport North Office Park Fort Wayne, IN 46825 Phone: 802 362-3612 Email: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Web: www.aisquared.com<http://www.aisquared.com> From: Rick Blair <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2015 07:09:44 -0500 Hello Rod: I understand that a new method using F8 has been implemented. I was under the impression that this was specific to browsers. The old method of copying using the shift and arrow keys works just fine in programs like Word, Notepad, etc. In fact, when I hit F8 in the XML Copy program, it brings up a dialog for that program rather than starting a copy operation. The problem that I am describing is not that the method for selecting text using shift and arrow keys does not work. It does. What I am complaining about is the fact that the text, as it is being selected, is not spoken. When slecting text in Word, Notepad, etc. using the shift and arrow keys, text is spoken as it is slected or unselected, along with the word selected or unselected. With XML Copy, there is only silence. The text is actually being selected (and with my limited vision, I see it highlighted) and then control C works to select it. The question is: Is this a problem with WE or is this just a poor or non-standard implementation within the XML Copy program? Rick If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo. You can manage your list subscription at http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv.
