Introduction and background information:
SpeakOn is not difficult to learn if you follow the suggestions below.
All media supported by SpeakOn available now and in the future will work in a similar way. It is therefore worthwhile learning the basic principles of how SpeakOn works.
Start by using the standard keyboard and for now, ignore the numerical keypad. The standard keyboard will work with your screenreader or magnifier.
You may wish to keep this manual open while running SpeakOn for quick reference until you are comfortable with the system. You can switch between SpeakOn and your internet browser in the usual Microsoft Windows way [Alt + Tab].
Start by following the 'Installing and getting started with SpeakOn' section which provides a very basic guide to SpeakOn and will enable you to start using SpeakOn quickly. Then follow the 'Tutorial' section which will take you step by step through typical usage of SpeakOn and its tasks. After the Tutorial, you should be able to operate the most common features of SpeakOn comfortably. To expand your knowledge further, you may wish to look at specific topics and get more information in the 'Reference - Operating SpeakOn' section.
For technical detailed information on media directories, format supported and settings, read the section 'Reference - SpeakOn media tasks - additional information'.
When you are confident with using SpeakOn, you may wish to continue to use the standard keyboard interface. However, it is recommended that you learn the numerical keypad interface which works in exactly the same way but uses the numerical keypad keys instead. This interface will allow you to use SpeakOn with one hand with an external (USB) numerical keypad in the comfort of your armchair, and will give you the quickest way to operate SpeakOn. Please note that as it is likely that you will need to switch your screenreader or magnifier off with this interface, use the numerical keypad interface only when you are proficient in using SpeakOn with the standard keyboard.
The 'Technical Information' section is provided for interest only, and it is not necessary to read it to use SpeakOn.