What is the link for the Vocalizer Voice downloads? Tom Behler
-----Original Message----- From: JAWS-Users-List [mailto:jaws-users-list-boun...@jaws-users.com] On Behalf Of virtualknight Sent: Friday, October 28, 2016 4:06 PM To: jaws-users-list@jaws-users.com Subject: Re: [JAWS-Users] J18 Direct Download Links + What's New With J18 The Vocalizer Expressive 2.2 voices are now availible to download. On 10/27/2016 9:22 PM, Mike B. wrote: > Hi All, > > Below are the download links for both the 32 & 64 bit versions of Jaws > 18.0.1835.400 plus what's new in Jaws 18. > > 32 Bit: > > http://jaws18.vfo.digital/1835P25AA9/J18.0.1835.400-enu-x86.exe > > 64 Bit: > > http://jaws18.vfo.digital/1835P25AA9/J18.0.1835.400-enu-x64.exe > JAWS 18 Features > Support for Vocalizer Expressive 2.2 Voices > > JAWS 18 supports version 2.2 of the Vocalizer Expressive Voices from Nuance. > Vocalizer Expressive offers very responsive, high quality, > human-sounding speech in a wide variety of languages and dialects. > Current voices users are familiar with such as Samantha, Tom, Daniel, > and Karen have been updated to improve responsiveness and clarity. > There are also several new voices available such as Susan and Nathan > for United States English and Oliver for British English, just to name > a few. For international users, Vocalizer Expressive > 2.2 also offers support for a number of new languages including > Bengali_India, Bhojpuri_India, Bulgarian, Croatian, Kannada, > Spanish_Chilean, Tamil, Telugu, and Valencian. > > Just like with the older Vocalizer Expressive Voices, all Vocalizer > Expressive 2.2 voices can be downloaded for free from the Synthesizer > Downloads > web page in two forms, compact or high premium. > > Compact voices are smaller files and take up much less space on your > computer. Many users like them because they offer very good quality at > faster speech rates. These are the same voices that are used on iOS > devices from Apple, like the iPhone. Due to their small size, compact > voices are available in one file per language. For instance, if you > download the compact voices for English, you will get a single file > containing all English speaking voices for all dialects, which gives > you a wide variety of voices to choose from. > > You can also choose to download individual high-premium voices. These > are much larger files, but offer the highest overall sound quality. > High-premium voices can be installed along with the compact voices, so > you can switch between the compact or high-premium version of the same voice if needed. > > The new Vocalizer Expressive 2.2 voices are only available for JAWS 18 > and later. If you previously installed Vocalizer Expressive Voices > that were used with JAWS versions prior to JAWS 18, those voices will > continue to work with earlier versions but will no longer be seen by > JAWS 18 once you have installed your first Vocalizer Expressive 2.2 > voice. In addition, we are anticipating a release of MAGic 14 in the > coming months which will also take advantage of these newer Vocalizer > Expressive 2.2 voices in the same way as JAWS 18. > > Improved Performance when Using JAWS and ZoomText Together > > JAWS 18 introduces greatly improved interoperability with the soon to > be released ZoomText 11. Users of both these industry leading products > will experience more seamless operation when running JAWS 18 and > ZoomText 11 together regardless of the order in which they are > installed as well as which product is started first. > > When JAWS 18 and ZoomText 11 are running together, users should note > the > following: > > list of 4 items > . JAWS handles all speech functions except for ZoomText's App Reader > feature and speech directly from ZoomText, such as ZoomText scripts. > . All ZoomText magnification features will continue to work as > expected. In addition, ZoomText will now visually highlight and track > during a JAWS Say All, or when navigating using the Virtual Cursor. > . If there is a keystroke conflict, the JAWS keystroke is used instead. > Otherwise, JAWS and ZoomText keystrokes will continue to work as expected. > . ZoomText handles all touch related functions. > list end > > Since JAWS takes over all speech functions when running with ZoomText, > this also includes mouse echo. If you want the mouse to echo as it is > moved, you will need to enable mouse echo in JAWS as it is off by > default. The easiest way is to press the layered keystroke, > INSERT+SPACEBAR, E, O. However, this is only temporary and will revert > back to off if JAWS is restarted. If you intend on using mouse echo > all the time, you can permanently enable it by doing the following: > > list of 3 items > 1. Press INSERT+F2, and select Settings Center. > 2. Press CTRL+SHIFT+D to load the JAWS default settings. > 3. From the tree view, expand the Mouse Echo group and press SPACEBAR > on Enable Mouse Echo. > list end > > Migrate Settings from Prior Versions of JAWS > > We have reintroduced the ability for users to merge all user > customized settings from the prior version of JAWS into the latest > version. This includes any application and default settings, scripts, > dictionary entries, graphics labels, PlaceMarkers, flexible web rules, > personalized web settings including custom labels, speech and sounds > schemes, and voice profiles. When JAWS 18 first starts after an > install and it detects that there are custom user settings for JAWS 17 > available, you will be asked if you want to migrate these settings to > the current version of JAWS. Choose Yes to migrate settings from JAWS > 17, or choose No to start with the default settings in JAWS 18 and > launch the Startup Wizard. > > Once the settings have been migrated, a dialog box opens where you can > configure the JAWS startup options. This dialog box contains the same > options found in the Start JAWS Options dialog box, which is accessed > from the JAWS window by opening the Options menu, Selecting Options, > and then choosing the Automatically Start JAWS button. Once you have > confirmed how you want JAWS to start, choose OK to save and close the > dialog box. > > Note: Due to significant changes to the settings file structure prior > to JAWS 17, custom user settings cannot be migrated from versions of > JAWS older than version 17. > > Completely New Import and Export for JAWS Customized User Settings > > JAWS 18 now enables you to quickly and conveniently export all of your > JAWS user settings including application and default settings, custom > scripts, dictionary entries, graphics labels, PlaceMarkers, flexible > web rules, personalized web settings including custom labels, speech > and sounds schemes, and voice profiles to a single backup file which > can be stored or shared with other JAWS users. > The JAWS settings backup files are saved with an SBAK extension. This > backup file can then be easily imported on any computer running JAWS > 18 or later and these settings will be used by that copy of JAWS. > > To export settings to an SBAK file, open the Utilities menu located in > the JAWS application window, open the Import/Export menu, and select > Export Settings. > The Export Settings wizard opens and guides you through exporting your > settings. During this process, you can choose to export all user > settings, or select specific settings to export. By default, the SBAK > file is saved to the Desktop using the name JAWS<Version > Number>SettingsBackup (where Version Number is the JAWS version > currently running when using the export feature). You can specify a > different location and file name if necessary, as well as add optional > comments to provide more information about why you are creating the backup. > Once the export is complete, the SBAK file containing your settings > can be shared with other JAWS users through email or a file sharing > service such as Dropbox, or stored on a USB flash drive. > > To import JAWS settings from an SBAK file, open the Utilities menu > located in the JAWS application window, open the Import/Export menu, > and select Import Settings. The Import User Settings wizard opens and > guides you through importing the settings. By default, the import will > merge the settings from the backup file with existing user settings > and if a setting in the user folder conflicts with a setting from the > backup file, it will be replaced by the setting from the backup. > However, you can also choose to simply replace all current settings in > the user folder with the contents of the backup or, when merging and > there is a settings conflict, you can choose to keep the current > setting. > > During the settings import, the current settings in your user folder > are automatically backed up. If you find that the settings that were > imported from the SBAK file are not working as expected, you can > restore the previous settings. To restore, open the Utilities menu > located in the JAWS application window, open the Import/Export menu, > and select Restore Settings. The Restore Settings dialog box opens > where you can select the backup file to restore. > Choose > the Restore button to replace the current settings in your JAWS user > folder with the settings from the backup. > > Some instances of when you might use this feature include: > > list of 4 items > . You want to use the same JAWS settings on multiple computers, such > as in a training center or school computer lab. > . You create a lot of customizations and you want to be able to back > them up so you can easily import them when you install a new version > of JAWS, eliminating the task of having to manually reconfigure > everything. > . A friend would like to use some of your flexible web rules and voice > profiles. You could use the Export Settings wizard to only export > these particular settings, send the resulting SBAK file to your > friend, and if they are running JAWS 18 or later, they can import the > file containing your flexible web rules and voice profiles into their > copy of JAWS. > . A script developer could send you a SBAK file containing custom > scripts and settings for an application that is used at your job and > the Import Settings wizard will quickly import all settings and script > files to the correct locations in your JAWS user folder. > list end > > Restrict Virtual Cursor in Web-Based dialog boxes > > If a dialog box appears on a web page as a result of an action such as > activating a specific control, which can occur especially on pages > that are part of a web-based application, JAWS now restricts Virtual > Cursor navigation to the dialog box. Sometimes, depending on how the > web application is implemented, when focus moves into these dialog > boxes, the content of the surrounding page is hidden until focus moves > out of the dialog box. However, in many instances, the dialog content > merges with the surrounding page which can be confusing especially > when you only want to focus on the content in the web dialog box. > > JAWS automatically restricts Virtual Cursor navigation to the dialog > box when some action occurs that moves the focus into that dialog box. > This includes navigating to an edit field in the dialog box with the > ARROW keys and Auto Forms mode is enabled, navigating using the TAB or > SHIFT+TAB keys, or activating a control on the page that automatically > sets focus to the dialog box. When the Virtual Cursor is restricted, > both speech and braille will only navigate content in the dialog box > until restriction is disabled. The Virtual Cursor will be > automatically unrestricted if you use the TAB or SHIFT+TAB keys to > move focus away from the dialog box, or you perform an action in the > dialog box that causes focus to be moved to another part of the page, > or a completely new page loads. > > You can also use the INSERT+R keystroke when focused in a web dialog > box to manually toggle the Virtual Cursor between restricted and > unrestricted. For instance, you may wish to unrestrict the Virtual > Cursor to review page content outside of the dialog box without moving focus. > > Note: In some web applications, surrounding page content is hidden > when a dialog box is in focus, so unrestricting the Virtual Cursor to > view content outside the dialog box will not always work in these > situations. > > New Speech Option as You Move the Physical Mouse Around the Screen > > The new mouse echo feature enables JAWS to speak text under the mouse > pointer as you move around the screen using a physical mouse or as you > move your finger on a trackpad. If you use a refreshable braille > display, text under the mouse is also shown in braille as a flash > message. > > While totally blind users may not benefit very much from this feature, > there are some cases where it can be useful. For example, there may be > times where someone is trying to understand the positioning of text or > the layout of controls on the screen, and this could be helpful. You > also may encounter applications that have controls that cannot be > accessed with any of the JAWS cursors and you must use the physical > mouse to locate and activate them. > > For users that have some vision, the ability to also receive speech > feedback as they move the physical mouse is very useful. There are > also more improvements coming for those who use both MAGic and JAWS > together. > > If you find that you struggle to keep the mouse in a straight line > when moving vertically or horizontally, press and hold the INSERT key > (or CAPSLOCK key in Laptop layout) as you move the mouse in a specific > direction to lock the mouse pointer to that position. For example, if > you locate a menu bar or group of buttons you would like to explore, > you could press and hold INSERT as you move the mouse to the right. If > you accidentally move slightly up or down, the mouse pointer remains > locked to the current position. > > Mouse echo is off by default. To turn it on, open Settings Center, > press > CTRL+SHIFT+D to load the default settings file, expand the mouse echo > CTRL+SHIFT+group, > and > then press the SPACEBAR on Enable Mouse Echo. You can also configure > the > following: > > list of 5 items > . Choose whether or not JAWS interrupts speech as you move the mouse > pointer over text. By default, JAWS speaks the new text moved to with > the mouse regardless of what is currently being spoken. > . Specify the length of time JAWS waits before speaking the text at > the location of the mouse pointer. If you move the mouse pointer away > before the delay has elapsed, JAWS does not read the text. By default > there is no delay which means text is read while the mouse is in > motion so you do not have to pause to hear the text under the mouse. > . Select the unit of text (character, word, line, or paragraph) you > want to hear when the mouse pointer pauses over text in a control. By > default, JAWS reads the current line of text under the mouse. This > means that if you move the mouse pointer into the document area of an > application such as Microsoft Word, JAWS will read the line of text > under the mouse. As you continue moving the mouse around the edit > control, JAWS will read other lines from the document. > If the control cannot provide the requested unit of text, then JAWS > will read all of the text provided by the control. For example, if you > move the mouse into the edit control of the Windows 10 Sticky Notes > app, JAWS will read the entire contents of the edit field instead of > the specified unit of text. > . Choose whether or not JAWS speaks descriptive information provided > by the control that contains the text at the mouse pointer. This > information will be spoken after the text at the mouse pointer is > spoken. Note that descriptive text is not always available. The > default is to not speak this information. > . Choose whether or not JAWS speaks the control type and state of the > control containing the text at the mouse pointer. This information > will be spoken after the text at the mouse pointer is spoken. The > default is to speak control information. > list end > > Alternatively, the following layered keystrokes are available to > control mouse echo: > > list of 6 items > . INSERT+SPACEBAR, E, O. Toggles mouse echo on or off. > . INSERT+SPACEBAR, E, C. Sets mouse echo to speak the character under > the mouse pointer in controls that support navigating by units of text. > . INSERT+SPACEBAR, E, W. Sets mouse echo to speak the word under the > mouse pointer in controls that support navigating by units of text. > . INSERT+SPACEBAR, E, L. Sets mouse echo to speak the line under the > mouse pointer in controls that support navigating by units of text. > . INSERT+SPACEBAR, E, P. Sets mouse echo to speak the paragraph under > the mouse pointer in controls that support navigating by units of text. > . INSERT+SPACEBAR, E, QUESTION MARK. Speaks a brief help message > describing the commands in the mouse echo layer. > list end > > Note: When JAWS 18 and MAGic 13.1 are run together, the current mouse > echo settings for MAGic will be ignored in favor of JAWS Mouse Echo > speech settings. > When exiting JAWS so only MAGic is running, the original mouse echo > settings configured in MAGic will be used. In addition, if MAGic's > Mouse Line Lock feature is enabled, the mouse line lock functionality in JAWS is disabled. > > Lower the Audio from Other Programs While JAWS is Speaking > > In Windows 8 and later, you can now specify that the volume of audio > from other programs be lowered while JAWS is speaking. This is > commonly known as audio ducking. For example, if you are listening to > music or playing a video and JAWS begins talking, the volume of the > music or video will be slightly lowered so you can comfortably hear > JAWS and then raised back to its current level when JAWS stops > talking. > > For JAWS users with a braille display, you can also choose to mute > JAWS speech (INSERT+SPACEBAR, S) while listening to audio from other > programs and still use JAWS with braille output only, without the > audio from the other programs being reduced. > > By default, audio remains at the same volume as JAWS speech. To change > this, there are two ways. The easiest way is to open the Startup > Wizard from the JAWS Help menu and select the Lower the volume of > other programs while JAWS is speaking checkbox located on the Speech Settings page. > > Alternatively, you can change this option through Settings Center by > doing the following: > > list of 5 items > 1. Press INSERT+F2, and select Settings Center. > 2. Press CTRL+SHIFT+D to load the JAWS default settings. > 3. In the Search edit box, type "volume" without the quotes. > 4. Press DOWN ARROW to move to "Lower the volume of other programs > while JAWS is speaking" in the filtered search results in the tree view. > 5. Press SPACEBAR to toggle this option. > list end > > Finally, you can also press INSERT+SPACEBAR, followed by D to quickly > toggle this feature. If audio ducking is off by default, it will turn > it on, and if it is on by default, it will turn it off. The current > setting will remain in effect until you press the layered keystroke again, or JAWS is restarted. > The audio ducking toggle can also be located using the Command Search > feature (INSERT+SPACEBAR, J). > > Note: Turning on JAWS audio ducking is most useful if both JAWS speech > and other program audio are coming through the same sound device. If > you use multiple sound devices, such as a USB headset and external > speakers connected to your computer's sound card, you can configure > JAWS speech to use the headset while other audio comes through the > external speakers which you can then control using the physical volume > control. To configure the sound card JAWS uses, from the JAWS > application window, open the Utilities menu, open the Sound Cards > submenu, and then choose the sound device you want to use for JAWS speech. > > Improvements with JAWS Touch Support > > JAWS 18 offers improved performance when using a touch screen device, > such as the Surface Pro tablet from Microsoft, as well as tablets with > smaller screens. > You will experience greater accuracy and responsiveness as you perform > various touch gestures including continuously moving a finger around > the screen to explore. You can also now perform Windows gestures > without the need to first exit JAWS. The new four-finger rotate > gesture causes the next gesture to be passed directly to Windows; > similar to the Pass Key Through command (INSERT+3). Performing a > five-finger rotate gesture will now disable all JAWS gestures, except > the four and five-finger rotate gestures, so you can use Windows > gestures until you perform another five-finger rotate to re-enable the > JAWS gestures. > > Other improvements to JAWS touch support include: > > list of 6 items > . JAWS touch gestures are now included in the Command Search feature > (INSERT+SPACEBAR, J). If you search for a command that can be > performed using a keystroke or a gesture, both the keystroke and > gesture are displayed in the search results. You can also search for > gesture-specific commands, such as toggling the Touch Keyboard, or > cycling through Touch Navigation, Text Reading, or Speech Settings > gesture modes. The JAWS Command Search only includes gestures if JAWS > detects that it is running on a touch screen enabled device. > . It is now much easier to use gestures to switch between applications > in the task switching window that displays when you swipe from the > left edge of the screen. When the task switcher opens, flick left or > right through the list of running applications and when you locate the > one you want, double tap it to move focus in to that app. > . Improved the experience when using touch gestures to log into > Windows. If the Login screen is active and focus is on the Password > edit field, performing a double tap will immediately open the touch > keyboard allowing you to enter your password. Otherwise, flick right > or explore until you locate the Password edit field and then double > tap to set focus and open the touch keyboard. > . In response to user feedback, the default typing mode for the touch > keyboard is now Touch Typing, which means a key is typed as soon as > the finger is lifted from the keyboard button, or you perform a split > tap. > . If the gesture mode is set to Text Reading, you can now perform a > four-finger swipe down to begin a Say All in the currently open > document, similar to pressing INSERT+DOWN ARROW on the keyboard. To > stop reading, tap anywhere on the screen. > . In response to customer requests, added a new option to the Touch > Cursor group in Quick Settings that allows you to choose the element > type that is navigated to when using the flick up and flick down > gestures. The available choices are Regions (selected by default), > Headings, List Items, Buttons, Links, Groups, and Form Controls. Note > that not all apps support these navigation types; they are typically > available in modern apps and web applications. > list end > > Refer to the > Overview of JAWS Touch Support > document for more information and to review all the available JAWS > gestures. > > Launch JAWS on Tablets Using Hardware Buttons > > You can configure the Windows and Volume Up buttons on a tablet to > start JAWS instead of Narrator when these buttons are pressed > simultaneously. This is done through the Ease of Access Center in > Windows by doing the following: > > list of 4 items > 1. Open the Start menu, type "ease of access", and then press ENTER to > open the Ease of Access Center. > 2. Navigate to the "Make Touch and Tablets Easier to Use" link and > press ENTER. > 3. In the Accessibility Tools combo box, select JAWS 18. > 4. Choose OK, and then close the Ease of Access Center. > list end > > The next time you are in a situation where JAWS is not running, you > can press the Windows and Volume Up buttons together to quickly launch > it from anywhere in Windows. If you are on the Secure Desktop or > Windows Login screen, these hardware buttons will always launch > Narrator. However, once you are logged in, these buttons will now > start JAWS 18. > > Improved Google Docs Support > > JAWS 18 offers significant improvements when working in Google Docs. > While users will experience better performance overall, a few key > enhancements > include: > > list of 6 items > . You can now type text into a document using Contracted Braille. > . Added speech and braille support for navigating tables inserted into > documents. > . Resolved several issues with JAWS not detecting live region updates. > . Addressed issues where JAWS was announcing extraneous information > when opening menus. > . Resolved several issues with menus and focus. > . Resolved multiple issues where focus would unexpectedly jump to > other places while editing a document. > list end > > More Dynamic Braille Auto Advance Mode > > Auto Advance Mode is equivalent to the Say All command for braille > readers and has been available in JAWS for many years. After > performing the appropriate command on your braille display (left and > right selector buttons on the Focus series displays), the braille > display is automatically panned at a specific speed through an entire > document, automatically skipping over blank segments and blank lines. > In prior versions, users could configure how long JAWS paused before > automatically panning the display. Once configured, the display would > pan at the same speed regardless of how much information was on the > display, so most users would set the timer for optimal reading when > the display was full. However, if the display panned to a short line > containing only a few words with the remaining cells being empty, > which could occur more frequently with larger displays such as those > with 40 or 80 cells, this could be inconvenient as the user would have > to wait for the display to advance which could cause an interruption > with reading. > > To improve the reading experience when using Auto Advance Mode, JAWS > now pans faster or slower depending on the length of the current braille line. > The > display will pan faster for short lines so you can instantly move to > the next segment without having to wait once you have finished > reading, but will pan slower for longer lines up to a maximum length > of time which is used when the display is full. This maximum value can > be configured through Settings Center using the new Auto Advance > Maximum Interval option. By default, it is set to > 5000 milliseconds, or five seconds. > > For example, if you have an 80 cell display and the current braille > line takes up the majority of the display, JAWS will pan the display > after five seconds. > If the display pans to a short line containing only a few words and > the remaining cells are blank, JAWS will pan the display within a > couple seconds. > > Updated Handy Tech Braille Display Drivers > > JAWS 18 includes updated braille display drivers from Handy Tech. > These new drivers fix issues with braille input and language detection > for messages and introduces support for their latest displays. > > ARIA Improvements > > JAWS 18 ads support for several ARIA 1.1 features that are being used > on certain web pages. These include the aria-modal, aria-current, and > aria-placeholder attributes, as well as support for partially visible > tables. > > Changes to Sentence Navigation Keystrokes in the Desktop Keyboard > Layout > > In the JAWS Desktop Keyboard Layout, pressing ALT+DOWN ARROW or ALT+UP > ARROW moves to the next or prior sentence, or opens and closes combo > boxes. In addition, some applications also use these keystrokes to > perform their own specific functions which means JAWS users need to > first press INSERT+3 to pass these keystrokes through to the > application so they work correctly. For instance, ALT+DOWN ARROW and > ALT+UP ARROW are used in the attachments area in Microsoft Outlook > 2016 to open and close the list of actions you can perform with the > selected attachment. > > To avoid potential conflicts, ALT+DOWN ARROW and ALT+UP ARROW in the > desktop keyboard layout will now only move by sentence in Microsoft > Word, WordPerfect, the message area in Microsoft Outlook, and when > using the Virtual Cursor unless focused on a combo box. If you want > sentence navigation to work in other applications, you can use the > Keyboard Manager to reassign the Say Next Sentence and Say Prior > Sentence commands, or switch to the laptop keyboard layout and use > CAPS LOCK+N and CAPS LOCK+Y to move by sentence. > > To assign new keystrokes for sentence navigation, do the following: > > list of 6 items > 1. Press INSERT+F2 and select Keyboard Manager. > 2. Press CTRL+SHIFT+D to load the default key map file. > 3. Press TAB to move to the list view and locate the "SayNextSentence" > script. > 4. Press CTRL+A to open the Add Keystroke dialog box, press the key > combination you want to use, and press ENTER. Press ENTER once more to > confirm the change and return to the list view. > 5. Locate the "SayPriorSentence" script. > 6. Press CTRL+A to open the Add Keystroke dialog box, press the key > combination you want to use, and press ENTER. Press ENTER once more to > confirm the change and return to the list view, and then press ALT+F4 > to close the Keyboard Manager. > list end > > Take care. > Mike > Sent from my iBarstool. Dodgers, try again next year! > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: > http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
