Newsletter DC, March, 1999.
This is an informal email newsletter from Dan Clark, of Henter-Joyce, Inc.
Please let me know if you wish to be removed from this list, or if you have
friends who would like to be added. I will confirm with them before
adding. Thanks!
Dan Clark, Sales Manager
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Table of Contents
A. Trade Shows we are attending.
B. JFW 3.3 features, available soon.
C. MAGic 6.1 features, available soon.
D. Technical support notices, TSN's.
E. JFW Lite listserv.
F. New scripts on the HJ web site.
G. New training classes available.
H. Video card news.
I. Java (TM) overview.
J. Lotus Notes version 5.
A. Trade Shows we are attending.
1. CSUN, Los Angeles, March 17-20, 1999.
The URL to the CSUN web site is http://www.csun.edu/cod/.
Be sure to visit the Henter-Joyce booths 42 & 43 at CSUN 1999, March 17-20,
at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott. Henter-Joyce representatives will be
available at the conference to answer your questions and give you a
demonstration of any of our products. We will be showing the newest
version of JFW 3.3, currently in beta testing, and due to be released soon.
Also, we will be showing the latest MAGic screen enlarger product.
Henter-Joyce also has a suite, number 1726, where we will be doing various
product presentations and demonstrations throughout the conference. Check
at our booth for a schedule of these presentations. We will be joined by
Joseph Dunn, from Australia, as well as Kai Decker-Conradi and Marco Zehe,
from Germany. Bill Kilroy, director of low vision accounts, will fly in
from Massachusetts. Also, you will have the opportunity to meet our new
Vice President of Sales, Sharon Spencer.
2. TechEd, Ontario, California, April 21-24, 1999.
The 1999 Technology in Education International Conference and Exposition.
Join Henter-Joyce representatives at booth number 339, next to Kurzweil
Educational Systems. This conference covers distance education,
multimedia, and technology providing educators and students access to a
rich source of educational resources, enhancing the ways we teach, learn,
and work.
3. NFB, Atlanta, June 30 - July 6, 1999.
The 1999 convention of the National Federation of the Blind will be held in
Atlanta, Georgia, at the Marriott Marquis. More on this conference in a
future newsletter.
4. ACB, Los Angeles, July 3-9, 1999.
The 1999 convention of the American Council of the Blind will be held in
Los Angeles, California, at the Westin Hotel, on Century Boulevard, near
Los Angeles Airport (LAX). More on this conference in a future newsletter.
5. AHEAD, Atlanta, July 14-17, 1999.
The 1999 convention of the Association on Higher Education And Disability
(AHEAD) will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Marriott Marquis. More on
this conference in a future newsletter.
6. ATIA, * NEW * in Orlando, October 6-9, 1999.
ATIA World Conference, Orlando. http://www.atia.org/
October 6-9, 1999, Radisson Twin Towers Hotel, Orlando, Florida.
The ATIA World Conference will be a major North American east coast event
focused on current assistive technology products and services from around
the world. This conference, the first of its kind on the East Coast, will
showcase cutting-edge Assistive Technology and the newest AT products
through: Software and Product Training Labs, Company Presentations,
Product Demonstrations, More than 70 Exhibits, Hands-On Labs, Professional
Presentations, Poster Sessions, and a Table Topics Luncheon.
Professionals, consumers and their families can participate in sessions on:
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC), Blindness and Visual
Impairment, Computer Access/Curriculum Adaptation, Electronic Aids to Daily
Living, Other Assistive Technology Fields.
For additional information, please contact:
Shana Johnson, ATIA
526 Davis Street, Suite 217
Evanston, Illinois 60201
Tel: (847) 869-1282
OR
Randy Marsden, ATIA Convention Operations Chairperson
c/o Madenta Inc.
3022 Calgary Trail South
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6J 6V4
Tel: (403) 450-8926, Fax: (403) 988-6182
7. Closing the Gap, Minneapolis, October 20-23, 1999.
The 1999 Closing the Gap conference will be held at the Radisson South
Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. More on this conference in a future
newsletter.
B. JFW 3.3 features, available soon.
Anyone purchasing JAWS for Windows 3.2 after March 1, 1999, will receive an
upgrade to JFW 3.3 at no additional charge! Features of the new JFW 3.3
include:
* Completely Compatible with MAGic 6.1 Screen Enlarger!
* Enhanced support for popular applications, including Microsoft Office 97
and Office 2000; WordPerfect 8 and 9; Internet Explorer 4.01 and 5.0;
Outlook 98 and Outlook Express; Eudora 4.0 and 4.1; RealPlayer Plus G2 and
RealPlayer G2.
* Grade 2 Braille output for refreshable Braille displays, now including
output in Grade 1 and 2!
* Easy access to the System Tray items in a pop-up list box.
* Option to speak changes to text styles (in a different voice) when
reading. Options include font, point size, bold, italic, underline, color,
capitalization and repeated characters.
* New, more natural sounding SayAll, SaySentence and SayParagraph functions.
* Automatic graphics labeler.
* Network authorization capability.
* Updated multi-lingual Eloquence software synthesizer.
* Support for the Microsoft Object Model and Microsoft Active Accessibility
Access to MS-DOS windows.
* Support for MS-SAPI 4.0 software synthesizers.
* Completely new Basic Training Cassette Tapes.
Read more about the new features in JFW 3.3 on our web site,
http://www.hj.com/JFW/JFW33.htm.
C. MAGic 6.1 features, available soon.
NEW! MAGic 6.1 with Completely Redesigned user Interface! Compatible with
Windows NT, Windows 98 and Windows 95! You can read more about this on our
web page at http://www.hj.com/MAGic/MAGic61.html.
Features of MAGic 6.1.
* Comprehensive compatibility with JAWS for Windows!
* New, redesigned graphic interface for low-vision users.
* Pop-up help for all active items on the user interface.
* Improved video card compatibility in Windows 98/95.
* Seven different magnification modes, including horizontal and vertical
split-screens, a lens that tracks the mouse pointer, a lens that tracks the
focused item, a magnification overlay, full screen magnification and no
magnification.
* User-customized smoothing of on-screen items including fonts and graphics.
* Choice of cursor colors and shapes.
* Independent mouse magnification settings.
* User-customized screen color settings to screen out unwanted colors.
* Custom border width and color settings.
* Choice of screen locators to show relation of magnification to full screen.
* Automatic tracking and stop/start controls.
D. Technical support notices, TSN's.
Our technical support staff has a list of Technical Support Notices, or
TSN's, posted on our web page at
http://www.hj.com/TechSupport/JFWTS/JFWTSN/JAWSTSNINDEX.htm. I encourage
you to browse this section of our web page from time-to-time, as some
really good information can be found there. The notices are listed in
chronological order, beginning with the most recent.
The most recent TSN as of this newsletter is dated February 23, 1999, and
concerns a fix for the Artic 215 and JFW. A few other topics listed there
include, but are not limited to, the following:
Fix for PKZip and JFW.
Eloquence and Microsoft Speech.
Optimizing JFW 3.2 in WIN98.
Trouble Shooting Jaws for Windows Authorization Schemes.
Installing JFW on Windows NT Systems.
ATI Video cards JFW 3.2 and Windows 95.
How to remove the Active Desktop in Windows 95.
Running a MS-DOS Screen Reader in a MS-DOS Window in Windows 95.
E. JFW Lite listserv.
There is a new JFW mailing list, called JFW Lite, available here in the
United States. This list is geared toward new users seeking help with JAWS
FOR WINDOWS.
To subscribe to JFWLite, send a blank email message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
At the moment the list is fairly small and they are seeking membership from
JFW users.
F. New scripts on the HJ web site.
There are new beta scripts for certain applications now on the HJ web site.
The URL is http://www.hj.com/JFW/Scripts/JFWBetaScripts.html. Currently,
we have new beta scripts for RealPlayer G2, PowerPoint 97, and Dragon
Naturally Speaking versions 2 & 3. Check here from time-to-time for new
beta scripts to be posted.
G. New training classes available.
We have added two new training classes to our existing classes for access
technology professionals and trainers. The two new titles are:
* Teaching the Internet Explorer 4.01 Suite with JAWS for Windows for
Professionals.
* Teaching Word 8 with JAWS for Windows.
The URL for our training workshops is:
http://www.hj.com/Training/Workshops.html.
H. Video card news.
The URL for our video card page is
http://www.hj.com/TechSupport/JFWTS/JFWVideo/JFWVCINFO.html.
The new version of JFW, version 3.3, has much better support for video
cards than JFW version 3.2. We have begun testing a wider variety of video
cards, in an attempt to stay current with video card trends.
Listed below are several cards which we have tested and confirmed to work
with JFW that are not yet posted on our web page. Where there are drivers
needed, I have tried to give the file name and URL to the location. NOTE:
These video card drivers may also have text files with instructions which
you may want to read that may or may not be included in the URL's below.
Additionally, since this is a preliminary report, please treat and use this
information as beta information, until final results are posted to our web
site by our testing department.
If you have specific new video cards that you would like to see us test,
let us know and we will turn in those requests to our testing department.
1. ATI, All-In-Wonder Pro, Xpert 98, Rage IIC, and 3D Rage Pro all work
with JFW 3.2 and 3.3 in 95/98/NT. In Windows 95 or 98, you must use the
older 16-bit drivers provided by ATI. Testing has not yet been completed
for MAGic.
Windows 95 & 98 URL is http://driver.atitech.ca/drivers/w52330en.exe.
2. ATI, Mach 64 GT, the URL for the driver for Windows 95 or 98 is
http://download.atitech.ca/drivers/w95-2139.exe.
3. Cirrus Logic, CL-GD5446, works with JFW 3.2 and 3.3 in 95/98/NT. Works
with MAGic NT.
4. Diamond, Viper V550 AGP, works with JFW 3.2 and 3.3 in 95/98/NT. In
Windows 95 or 98, you must use NVidia Riva TNT. Testing has not yet been
completed for MAGic.
The URL for Windows 95 or 98 drivers is
http://www.nvidia.com/Marketing/Developer/OpenDrvDwn.nsf/4938fcf0bd98786a882
565fb006924e7/28f9ab8b2fc351eb882566cc0071e284/$FILE/W9x048ag.zip
5. Diamond, Monster Fusion AGP, works with JFW 3.2 and 3.3 in 95/98/NT.
Testing has not yet been completed for MAGic.
6. Diamond, Fire 1000 GL Pro AGP, works with JFW 3.2 and 3.3 in 95/98/NT.
Testing has not yet been completed for MAGic.
7. Matrox, G100 AGP, works with JFW 3.2 and 3.3 in 95/98/NT. Works with
MAGic 95/98/NT.
8. Matrox, MGA G200 AGP, works with JFW 3.2 and 3.3 in 95/98/NT. Testing
has not yet been completed for MAGic.
9. STB, Velocity 4400 AGP, works with JFW 3.2 and 3.3 in 95/98/NT. In
Windows 95 or 98, you must use drivers provided by NVidia. Works with
MAGic NT.
http://www.nvidia.com/Marketing/Developer/OpenDrvDwn.nsf/4938fcf0bd98786a882
565fb006924e7/28f9ab8b2fc351eb882566cc0071e284/$FILE/W9x048ag.zip
I. Java (TM) overview.
Several persons have asked me what Java (TM) is, actually, and how it may
affect them in their daily lives. I went to the Sun Microsystems web site
and compiled this general information about Java along with a few of the
examples they gave. I want to make it perfectly clear that I am not, by
any means, a Java expert, so for information beyond this general
explanation, I would direct you to the following Sun Microsystems web
sites. Their main site is http://www.sun.com. Their access information is
at http://www.sun.com/access. There is a primer on Java at
http://www.sun.com/access/wp-caped.
Table of contents for Java (TM) information.
1. Introduction.
2. What Is the Java (TM) Platform?
3. How Does Java (TM) Technology Work?
4. How Java (TM) technology works with desktop computers running web browsers.
5. How Java (TM) Technology works in Mobile Phones.
1. Introduction.
Java (TM) technologies are rapidly being embraced by industry and education
alike. Over 400 colleges and universities now teach the Java language as a
beginning computer programming course. On the corporate front, a recent
survey found that in the coming year 84% of corporations will be developing
new applications in the Java language and 75% of them will use it to extend
the life of their legacy applications. This rapid embracement is further
evident by the latest numbers for Java programmers - over 700,000 - and the
more than 1,000 books that have been written on this technology. The Java
phenomenon is only three and a half years old.
And yet, people with disabilities are only just starting to be exposed to
and to be affected by Java technologies in a significant way. It is this
growing exposure that is driving further investigation into what the Java
platform can do and, more importantly, into what type of accessibility
support has been built into the platform.
It all began when a few Sun Microsystems' old-timers, including James
Gosling, needed a programming language for a new set of
consumer-electronics devices they were building. Gosling developed the
language and called it "Oak". Upon finding out that the name Oak was
taken, a late-night meeting at a local cafe determined the new name - Java.
The Java programming language was developed as a small-footprint
object-oriented programming language loosely based on C++ that would be
processor-independent and network savvy. The work that resulted in the
invention of the Java platform was focused on producing an interactive
computer-television system that enabled the functionality provided in
today's set top boxes - email, web browsing, TV programming, and more. It
originally encompassed both hardware and software aspects but soon came to
become a software-focused development effort. Taking a page from UNIX's
early days, Sun freely released the Java language and platform to get
design input and to promote early visibility with developers. The
resulting interest in and feedback on the Java platform exceeded everyone's
expectations and led to the open design process that is still followed and
is a requirement in technology development methods used at Sun.
2. What Is the Java (TM) Platform?
The Java (TM) platform is a fundamentally new way of computing, based on
the power of networks and the idea that the same software should run on
many different kinds of computers, consumer gadgets, and other devices.
Java technology's product possibilities and realities cover a broad range
of user environments. Future JavaOS (TM) generations include networked
computers, public systems, such as information kiosks and automatic teller
machines, home-based products, such as set-top boxes and environmental
control systems. People are excited about the Java platform because it
allows software engineers to "Write Once, Run Anywhere" (TM) - that is, to
develop a single version of an application that can be used on a variety of
computers and devices. This means that users will see better integration
occurring between their desktop work systems, intermittently connected work
systems, PDAs, and ATM. Large companies, independent software vendors
(ISVs), and government agencies benefit because they are able to
consolidate the groups of software engineers working on applications for
different platforms into one group working on Java app/lets that run on any
of these same platforms.
With Java technology, you can use the same application from any kind of
machine -- a PC, a Macintosh computer, a network computer, or even new
technologies like Internet screen phones.
The idea is simple: Java software works just about everywhere -- from the
smallest devices to supercomputers. Java technology components don't care
what kind of computer, phone, TV, or operating system they run on. They
just work, on any kind of compatible device that supports the Java platform.
Java technology is widely regarded as revolutionary, because it was
designed to let computers and devices communicate with one another much
more easily than ever before.
If you're reading this in a Web browser on a personal computer or
workstation, you've probably already got the Java platform. It's
incorporated into all major Web browsers.
And soon the Java platform will be built into next-generation telephones,
TV set-top boxes, smart cards that fit in your wallet, and many other
consumer and business devices.
Perhaps the most visible examples of Java software today are on the
Internet and on enterprise networks. They're nimble, interactive programs
called "applets". Applets work inside Web browsers on computers and other
devices.
And there are other kinds of Java software: Java programs can run directly
on your computer (without requiring a browser), or on servers, on large
mainframe computers, or other devices.
For example, Java software running on servers in large companies monitors
transactions and ties together data from existing computer systems. Other
companies are using Java software on their internal web sites to streamline
communication and the flow of information between departments, suppliers
and customers.
3. How Does Java (TM) Technology Work?
Java (TM) software is typically delivered over a network, and can also be
installed on computers from traditional media such as CD-ROMs. The same
program or software component can run on a variety of computers and devices.
Java programs run on so many different kinds of systems thanks to a
component of the platform called the Java virtual machine -- a kind of
translator that turns general Java platform instructions into tailored
commands that make the devices do their work.
4. How Java (TM) technology works with desktop computers running web browsers.
Java (TM) software runs in many places, on many kinds of computers and
devices. Here's how it works on a desktop computer in a Web browser:
References to Java software are embedded on a Web page. This page can be
stored on the network or local disk. When the Web browser sees these
references, it loads the Java software (called an "applet") transparently
and securely. The applet is then processed by the Java virtual machine,
which is built into the browser. The Java virtual machine first does
stringent security checks, and then runs the applet, which appears and
interoperates inside the browser. The computer's operating system provides
machine-specific support for many of the actual operations and interactions.
Result: The user gets an interactive Java applet running in a browser. The
Java virtual machine serves as consistent platform on different kinds of
computers and operating systems, so that the same Java applet runs in
browsers on PCs, Macs, UNIX� workstations, Network Computers, and elsewhere.
5. How Java (TM) Technology works in Mobile Phones.
Java software can be built into the phone, or delivered in real time via a
wireless connection. Examples of applications are stock quotes, calendars,
and address books. Some applications will interact with a back-end server,
so that software on the phone is kept small and light. A screen display
engine provides the visible interface on the phone, and interacts with the
Java virtual machine. The Java virtual machine runs the software, after
first doing stringent security checks. Often, the Java virtual machine is
integrated directly into the phone's real time operating system. The
phone's real-time operating system provides device-specific support for
many of the actual operations and interactions.
Result: Interactive Java software integrated into the phone. Java software
can also control the behind-the-scenes workings of the phone itself, and
manage automatic software updates.
Note: The method for displaying Java applets and applications varies by
make and model of phone. Large, full-featured phones may contain tiny Web
browsers. Simpler models may have a basic applet viewer or display engine
built in. Regardless of this internal architecture of the phone, though,
the Java software itself is device-independent.
J. Lotus Notes version 5.
Henter-Joyce, Inc. and IBM have agreed to a partnership to make Lotus Notes
5.0 more accessible. Lotus Notes version 5.0 has support for MSAA included
and we will be working with IBM to ensure that the two programs work well
together. Check our web site at www.hj.com for further developments in the
near future.
-- end of newsletter --
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