Guess What - Window-Eyes 6.1 Beta 1 is Now Available!
Jan-30-2007Welcome to GW Micro's "Guess What?" series, an introductory look at the release of Window-Eyes 6.1 Beta 1.
Guess what? The release of Window-Eyes 6.1 Beta 1 is…now! After you’ve listened to this podcast, head over to www.gwmicro.com/beta, read through the readme file, download your copy, and experience the newest version of Window-Eyes for yourself.
We’re normally pretty excited when it comes to releasing a new version of Window-Eyes, but this time we’re practically beside ourselves. Window-Eyes 6.1 Beta 1 is the first full-fledged screen reader available for Microsoft’s newest operating system: Windows Vista. Windows Vista is officially released to the general public today, and Window-Eyes is pushing the envelope by providing you the most stable, most reliable screen reader access, right now.
I think that bears repeating: this is the first time in the history of adaptive technology that you can go to Best Buy, or a local computer store, purchase a machine with a brand new operating system on the day it’s released to the general public, and have immediate access to a full-fledged, powerful screen reader. GW Micro constantly strives to be ahead of the curve when it comes to addressing new technology. We were the first to pioneer accessible PDF technology with Adobe in July 2000. We were the first to demonstrate with Windows XP at WCD in September 2001. We were the first to demonstrate Flash accessibility at CSUN in March 2002. We were the first to support Citrix, Microsoft Terminal Services, and Windows XP Professional Remote Desktop in March 2003. In September 2003, we were the first screen reader to implement an Error Reporting feature to make Window-Eyes as stable as possible (and we continue to be the only screen reader who makes public error reporting a priority). We were the first screen reader to fully support the DHTML model in Firefox (adopted by companies like Yahoo! for creating accessible, dynamic web sites), and we did that in November 2005. On December 4, 2006, we were the first to provide full support for Microsoft Office 2007. And today, January 30, 2007, we are the first to provide Windows Vista users with rock solid access to the latest cutting edge technology.
So what is this new Windows Vista that everyone is talking about? Every few years or so, Microsoft releases a new version of their Windows operating system, and Windows Vista is the latest evolution of the Microsoft Windows family. Just like Windows XP was a major release over Windows 98, Windows Vista is a major release over Windows XP.
One of the more common questions we get is, “Should I upgrade to Vista, or stay with XP?” As far as Window-Eyes is concerned, you’re covered either way. The power, stability, and reliability of Window-Eyes exists regardless of what operating system you decide to use. The biggest decision maker on whether or not you’re going to use the latest operating system is your check book. The system requirements for Windows Vista are hefty, to say the least. You’ll want to make sure you do enough research to decide first if you have the necessary hardware to run the operating system, and second, if the features and functionality outweigh the upgrade cost. Remember, Window-Eyes 6.0 users have access to Window-Eyes Vista support in Window-Eyes 6.1 for free. There’s a simple $5 shipping and handling charge for the CD. That means, if you do decide to upgrade, you can concentrate on purchasing the best version of Vista for you, without having to worry about Window-Eyes upgrade costs at the same time. If you decide that you’re interested in Windows Vista, the first place to start might be the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor, located at www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/upgradeadvisor. Note that the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor should only be used as a guideline. It may indicate no support for existing hardware, when that hardware may end up working fine. For example, the Upgrade Advisor warns about no support for the TripleTalk USB. We have, however, tested the TripleTalk USB, and it functions fine with Window-Eyes under Windows Vista, both as a USB device, and a serial device. If you’re unsure, contact your hardware manufacturer for additional assistance.
There are several 32-bit versions of Windows Vista (including Vista Ultimate, Vista Home Premium, Vista Home Basic, Vista Business, and Vista Ultimate). Regardless of which version you decide on, Window-Eyes will provide full support.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the newest features of Windows Vista. I’ve already installed Window-Eyes on our Vista machine, and I’m booting it up now. The Startup Type in Window-Eyes is set to before startup, so we’ll hear the login screen as soon as it comes up.
<Startup Sound>
<Window-Eyes Speaking Login>
The login screen consists of a list of users, an Ease of Access button which provides access to Narrator, Magnifier, an On-Screen keyboard, and other assistive aids, a shutdown button, and a shutdown options button. Let’s listen as I tab between each of these controls.
<Window-Eyes> "Windows login. Administrator. List Box. Ease of Access button. Shutdown button. Shutdown Options S button."
I have four users on this machine: Administrator, Bubba, GW Micro, and Guest. I’m going to move between them, press ENTER on Bubba.
<Window-Eyes> "Administrator. Bubba. GW Micro. Guest. GW Micro. Bubba. Edit box. Bubba. Password. Password."
Note that Window-Eyes read password twice. That's because the text "password" is in the password edit box. As soon as I start typing, that text will disappear. I'm going to enter my password, and press ENTER.
<Window-Eyes> "star star star star star. Window-Eyes 6.1 Beta 1. Read only edit box. Today's Tip."
Window-Eyes 6.1 Beta 1 provides complete access to Windows Vista. Windows Vista is similar to Windows XP in terms of layout: there’s a start menu, task bar, system tray, and desktop, all of which you can tab between. I’m going to escape out of our Tip of the Day dialog, and then tab around each of these components of the Windows Vista desktop.
<Window-Eyes> "Recycle bin 1 of 10 no selected item list view. Start Button. Quick Launch, launch Internet Explorer Browser button. Task bar Window-Eyes button. Systray new updates are available button. Desktop recycle bin 1 of 10 no selected item list view."
One of the most noticeable changes between Windows Vista and Windows XP is the Start Menu. Let’s press the Windows key, and hear what happens.
<Window-Eyes> “Start menu. Edit box. Start search.”
The first thing you hear is a search edit box. The Integrated desktop search function of Windows Vista lets you type in some text, and immediately receive a list of matching applications, files, and folders. For example, if you want to find everything on your machine that contains the word Window in the name, type Window in the search edit box, and TAB three times to the results list. Let’s try that now.
<Window-Eyes> “w i n d o w. Windows Update. Programs group 1.”
The search feature displays results into groups, which Window-Eyes announces. Let’s arrow down through our results to see the kinds of items search found.
<Window-Eyes> “Windows Update 1 of 14. Windows Mail 2 of 14. Windows Defender 3 of 14.”
Search results also include items from Internet Explorer’s favorites and history, files, and more.
The Windows XP Start Menu provides a series of expandable menus to display additional options for a selected item. For example, All Programs would expand into a menu where you could select an additional pull down, which could contain an additional pull down, which might contain an additional pull down, and so on. Given the size of your desktop area, these expandable menus could become so unwieldy that they would expand completely off the screen. The Windows Vista Start Menu takes a different approach by being self contained. In other words, instead of using expanding menus, All Programs contains all the Start Menu program folders and files in a tree view like control that stays in the Start Menu itself.
Let’s take a look at this tree view. I’m going to press ESC to close the search results window, then SHIFT-TAB from the search edit box to the All Programs button, and press ENTER.
<Window-Eyes> “All Programs, button. Adobe Audition 1.5. 1 of 29. Depth two. Tree View.”
Adobe Audition is the first application listed in my all programs list. Now I want to get to the Window-Eyes program group. I could press W until I get there (although that’s going to move through a number of items that begin with Windows), or I could type out Window-Eyes. Since the All Programs tree view is contained in the Start Menu, I can also arrow up to move between the start menu items, and eventually land at the bottom of the All Programs tree view. I’m going to do that now.
<Window-Eyes> “Edit box start search. Back button. Window-Eyes. Closed. 29 of 29.”
Since this is a tree view like control, Window-Eyes indicates whether or not a folder is open or closed, along with it’s depth. Since the Window-Eyes folder is closed, I can expand it by pressing the RIGHT ARROW, just like a tree view.
<Window-Eyes> “Window-Eyes. Expanded. 4 items. 29 of 29.”
Now I can move through the items in the Window-Eyes program group.
<Window-Eyes> “Readme 1 of 4, depth 3. Window-Eyes 2 of 4. Window-Eyes Manual 3 of 4. Advanced options. Closed. 4 of 4.”
I can press the LEFT arrow to move back to the parent folder, much like a standard tree view.
<Window-Eyes> “Window-Eyes. Expanded. 4 items. 29 of 29. Depth 2.”
The Windows Vista start menu also frequently used items, such as Documents (formerly known as My Documents), Computer (formerly known as My Computer), Control Panel, a Recent Items menu, and more (including shut down, sleep, log off, restart, and other power options).
Another significant difference between Windows Vista and Windows XP is Windows Explorer. Like Windows XP’s Explorer, the Windows Vista explorer still contains a list of files and folders and an address bar. Unlike Windows XP’s explorer, however, many new features can be found. Take, for example, the address bar. In Windows Vista, the address area in Windows Explorer is a lot like the breadcrumb feature found on some web pages; it contains items that show you how to get back to where you started.
I have Windows Explorer open to the Window-Eyes application data folder. Let’s take a listen to the address bar.
<Window-Eyes> “Desktop split button. Program Files split button. GW Micro split button. Window-Eyes split button.”
I could press the down arrow on any of these items to get a list of folders for the selected item. In other words, to get a list of folders under Program Files, I can arrow left back to Program Files, and then press the DOWN ARROW.
<Window-Eyes> “GW Micro split button. Program files split button. 7-zip. Adobe. ATI Technologies. Common Files. Creative. GW Micro.”
I’m going to press ENTER on GW Micro to open Windows Explorer directly in the GW Micro folder.
<Window-Eyes> “Window-Eyes date modified 1/29/2007 11:49am type file folder one of one list view.”
One of the other interesting features of Windows Vista’s Explorer is that the list view headers (name, date modified, type, etc.) are actually focusable. That means I can TAB to them, ARROW through them, and easily choose how I want my folder contents displayed. I’m going to press ENTER on the Window-Eyes folder located in my GW Micro folder.
<Window-Eyes> “Manual date modified 2/25/2006 9:50am type file folder 1 of 118 list view.”
Now I’m going to press the TAB key to focus the list view headers, and then arrow through them.
<Window-Eyes> “Name. Date Modified. Type, Size.”
By default, my list of files and folders is sorted by name. I can easily access sort options through the list view headers, so I’m going to arrow back to Date Modified, and press the DOWN ARROW.
<Window-Eyes> “Menu expanded.”
Now I can move through the different sort options offered in the Date Modified list view header.
<Window-Eyes> “Today. Last Week. Earlier this month. A long time ago.”
I only want to see files that Vista considers created a long time ago, so I’m going to press ENTER.
There are a number of search and sort options that Windows Vista’s Explorer provides, and Window-Eyes works with all of them. Let’s tab through the other areas of the Explorer window.
<Window-Eyes> “Desktop split button. Edit box search. Organize button. Documents. Collapse folders button. Folders Window-Eyes.”
As you can hear, Windows Explorer under Vista contains several areas, including a command bar for performing specific tasks, a favorites list, a folders list, and a search feature.
Aside from interface changes, Windows Vista introduces a new security model where your interaction regarding the processes that are allowed to run becomes impossible to ignore. Take, for example, the new Parental Controls feature in the control panel. If you select this item, and press ENTER, something very new happens.
<Window-Eyes> “Link Set up Parental controls for any user. User account control. Windows needs your permission to continue. If you started this action, continue. Parental Controls. Microsoft Windows. Continue C button, default Cancel button. D details. User Account Control helps stop unauthorized changes to your computer.”
Windows Vista forces you to either choose Continue, and let the process go on, or Cancel, and stop the process from happening. Let’s press ENTER.
<Window-Eyes> ”Control Panel. Link. What can I do with Parental Controls.”
If I had selected Cancel, I would have been taken back to the main Control Panel window. User Account Control will pop up whenever a task requires elevated privileges to run, and it will continue to pop up, even after you select Continue. For example, if I go back to the main Control Panel window, and press ENTER on Parental Controls again, I’ll get the same UAC dialog that I have to select either cancel or continue. Window-Eyes fully supports the UAC dialog, ensuring your ability to maintain a secure environment.
There are a lot of other features in Windows Vista: Internet Explorer 7 (which works just like IE7 under Windows XP), Windows Mail (formerly known as Outlook Express), Windows Media Player 11 (also similar under XP), and more. Plus, any other application you install should function just like under Windows XP. Applications like Microsoft Office, Firefox, and others all maintain the same interface as they do under Windows XP, meaning you can still get your job done while you’re introducing yourself to Vista’s new features. Speaking of Vista features, I have one last thing to introduce: one of my favorite wastes of time, Windows Games. Windows Vista introduces familiar Windows XP Games with a little twist.
<Window-Eyes> “Minesweeper. Row 1 column 1. Tile concealed. Button.”
Yes, many of Windows Vista games include MSAA support, meaning Minesweeper, Solitaire, FreeCell, Mahjong, and more have full keyboard support, and are fully supported by Window-Eyes. One important note, however, is that GW Micro is not responsible for lost productivity due to our support for Windows Vista games.
We’ve taken just a small glimpse at all that Window-Eyes can do under Vista. We’ve invested in some very cool technology, such as including mirror driver technology rather than DCM used in previous versions of Windows, making for a much more robust environment. We’ve conformed to a standard folder hierarchy with application files being stored in Program Files, and user files being stored in the user space, making for a more secure environment. You can even switch users under Vista, and have both users running Window-Eyes without any conflicts. For a list of all features, be sure to read through the entire readme file located on the beta website.
Is Window-Eyes 6.1 Beta 1 all about Vista? Well, mostly. But there are significant bug fixes for 2000/XP/2003 users as well. Many of the issues reported on our gw-info email list have been resolved, making Window-Eyes 6.1 Beta 1 a must have for all previous Window-Eyes 6.0 users.
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