What's new, updating SpeakOn, mailing list and contact information:
Latest version 1.7.6 - 28 April 2008
If you are a new user of SpeakOn you can skip this page as all new features have been incorporated into the documentation.
Thanks to feedback from our users and our own experience, we update SpeakOn as required and introduce new features.
What's new in Features release 1.7
Important - If you have used SpeakOn before please note the following keystroke changes:
For reasons of Windows keystrokes compatibility, the F2, F3, and F4 keys are no longer used.
Use [Tab] instead of [F3] to move the focus between controls.
Use [Ctrl + Tab] instead of [F2] to switch between tasks.
Use [Alt] instead of [F4] to bring the Main Menu.
There are more details of changes to keystrokes in version 1.7.0 described further below.
What's new in the latest version 1.7.6 - (28 April 2008):
Bug fix: Scrobbling problem in the Last FM application has been fixed.
What's new in version 1.7.5 - (17 April 2008):
This version is about improved user interaction, new minor features and bug fixes.
Improved user interaction:
* Internet messages are less intrusive, as follows:
When SpeakOn is using the internet, you get a short message: 'Connecting'. If the connection takes more than a few seconds, you will usually get a longer message; for example:
'Connecting to internet directory, please wait'.
or
'Connecting to RSS feed on the internet, please wait.'
or
'Connecting to media on the internet, please wait.'
So if the connection with the relevant server is fast you will hear only the word 'Connecting' followed by the media itself.
The term 'Remote Directory' was changed to 'Internet Directory' for simplicity.
* Rapid focus changes are ignored so you get focus change messages only if focus change lasts for more than one second.
Note that SpeakOn has no control on its focus; it is at the mercy of Windows. It only announces what Windows tells it. The focus under Windows is not perfect. Also there may be various events such as a window or balloon popping up momentarily on your screen or a screen saver which are not always detected and reported by screen readers. So, if SpeakOn loses its focus, all you can do is move the focus back to it.
* Messages when navigating menus are clearer. In addition, if a user tries to select a sub-menu a beep is delivered followed by a tip telling the user what to do.
New features:
* In the Last FM application, using the Main menu, you can start Internet Explorer and it will take you directly to the Last.FM website as follows:
- Website > Last.FM main page or your dashboard if you are logged in
- Website > Last.FM now playing artist page
You must have your screen reader or magnifier working; Internet Explorer starts in a few seconds (there is currently no support for other internet browsers).
Note that if you spend a long time on the website, when you move the focus back to SpeakOn, the music from the Last.FM may not be available. To start the music again in such situations, in the Player press:
[Shift + Enter] to contact the Last.FM server again. If it does not work, end the Last FM application and start it again.
* The following is a minor point: In the Messages Settings task in the Manager, you have to select OK from the Main menu to confirm your choices - this is in line with similar settings tasks.
Bug fixes:
* There was a problem that occasionally, on some computers, SpeakOn did not start properly but the process was still running preventing you from starting SpeakOn again without killing its process. This bug is now hopefully fixed.
* The loading of the Last.FM music by contacting the server again in situations where the music stops for some reason, now works. In the Player, press:
[Shift + Enter]. Note - don't use this feature if the music plays normally as it involves unnecessary load on the Last.FM server.
* The problem where the music in the Last FM Listener task stops when changing categories in the Radio Options control is now fixed.
* If Real Player Alternative (recommended) or Real Player (not recommended) is not installed on your computer, when you try to play audio in 'Real' format, SpeakOn will give you a clear error message.
* Audio Scrobbling errors due to recent changes on the Last.FM server have been resolved.
What's new in the latest version 1.7.0 - (13 March 2008):
This version is about incremental improvements across the board. There is significantly more content, the user interface has been cleaned up, there is better support for DAISY and text media, timing navigation in audio media can go across files and there are a number of minor features added. All known bugs have been fixed.
Content
In the Media Centre Library Podcast directory, a new directory which lists all BBC podcasts categorized by channels, has been added. This allows streaming of podcast content thus creating a radio on demand for the available podcasts. A publically available podcast directory 'Digital Podcast' has been added; this directory provides thousands podcasts - we are grateful to the developers of this directory for providing this diverse content.
The Radio directory in the library has been revamped. All radio stations categories are now under a single directory. All BBC channels are now available in various categories. There is a new category called 'Blind community' which contains the ACB radio from the US with its four channels as well as 'Insight Radio' from the UK (Scotland).
Changes to the user interface
Ten rarely used keystrokes have been removed and three have been added:
The F2, F3 and F4 keys are no longer used (they are used by Windows applications usually for other purposes so they are in reserve for future use by SpeakOn). Instead use [Tab, [Ctrl + Tab] and [Alt] respectively for the same functionality. These alternative keys were introduced a few versions ago.
All Help keystrokes have been removed for simplicity; access to these features is as in previous versions through the Help menu [F1] (7).
A number of keystrokes have been introduced for clipboard operation, see below.
Terminology - The name of the 'Control' [Tab] (3) key has been changed to the 'Focus' key to avoid confusion with the [Ctrl] key on the standard keyboard; operation is exactly the same as before.
Terminology - The name of the 'Location' [F9] (fullstop) key has been changed to the 'Info' key; operation is exactly the same as before. This key will be used for more information messages in the future.
All of the above changes have been incorporated into the SpeakOn help system; Help Menu [F1] (7).
* DAISY support has been enhanced; playing is smoother and a number of books on a single CD are now supported. When opening the CD directory in the library, all books are presented as media nodes in the usual way; simply select the book you want to listen to.
* When reading a TNAUK publication you can copy the name of an article, the full article or a portion of it to the clipboard and you can then drop the text into your favourite word processor for future reference. The following commands are available:
[Ctrl + n] - Copy the name of an article to the clipboard.
[Ctrl + a] - Mark the full article as selected.
[Ctrl + b] - Mark the beginning of a partial selection.
[Ctrl + e] - Mark the end of a partial selection.
[Ctrl + c] - Copy the selection to the clipboard.
The same commands work for any text files (any files marked with '.txt). These include Seeing Ear Library books and any other files which you can put in a sub-directory under the Various directory in the library.
* When you are in an Edit control, you can press [Shift + F6] to switch to 'Echo Off' meaning that when you type, you do not get echo. This mode lasts only for the duration of your current session so when you start SpeakOn again, echo mode is always on.
* When you want to change a voice, there is an extra step; you have to confirm the voice by selecting OK from the Main Menu. This was introduced to prevent users accidently selecting a 'dead' voice.
* You can skip by time accurately not just within a track as now, but between tracks (items). This is useful when reading books to go back by say five minutes even if the required point is in a previous track.
Bug Fixes
* DAISY books did not work properly with some productions; this problem is now fixed.
* The Last FM application now reports the details of the music played with the correct accents encoding.
* In the Last FM application, user playlists now work correctly
* Seeing Ear Library books' names are generated correctly in all cases.
* SpeakOn shutdown is now more robust; in most cases it is immediate and in the worse case should take no more than 15 seconds.