PROFESSIONAL SCREEN READER
for RobotVox, PC-robot and MultiVox.
for visually impaired computer users
Copyright (c) Csaba Ecsedi (1996 Budapest, Phonetics Laboratory)
All rights reserved worldwide.
Users manual
Table of contents:
1. The first time to meet the PSR PROGRAM
1.1. Parts of the PSR system
1.2. Software elements of the PSR system
2. Installation
2.1. Installation (software)
3. First sounds
4. Usage at DOS prompt
4.1. The proper use of some DOS commands
5. Standard settings
5.1. The CONFIG file
5.2. Creating a new config file
5.3. Starting with an user-defined Config file
6. Functions
6.1. Screen watching
6.2. Global watching
6.3. Cursor watching
7. Options
7.1. Active window and it's defining
7.2. Turning the comprimation on and off
7.3. The type and resolution of the screen
8. Review mode (offline)
8.1. Differentiating between small and capital letters
9. Using the mouse (offline)
10. The teaching
10.1. The color file: color.eng
10.2. The spelling file: spell.eng
10.3. The message file: messages.eng
10.4. The change file: change.eng
10.5. Special file: special.eng
10.6 The keyboard echo file: prompt(1,2).eng
11. Interrupting the speech service
12. Reading windows and spots
12.1. Defining the reading windows and spots
12.2. Linking the reading windows and spots
12.3. Using the reading windows and spots
13. The usage of the provided hotkeys
13.1. The hotkey setting's changing possibility
13.2. Table of the hotkeys and their meanings
14. The usage of the SETUP program
15. Example for learning the screen watching
16. About the progressive settings
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1. The first time to meet the PSR PROGRAM
The main features of the PSR PROGRAM:
This screen reader program is intended to make your work
easier on a way that you can learn everything important
from the screen, meanwhile, you don't have to suspend the
currently running program.
Of course, you can need it either, so you can find this
function in the PSR PROGRAM as well.
This screen reader is based on a new philosophy, so it
can be used without any difficulties everywhere, where
there is a textual screen even with 50 lines!
You can use the mouse too, all you have to do is moving
the mouse cursor. Thus, after a short period of practice,
you can easily read the contents of the screen by letter,
by word, or by line in online mode, without interrupting
the currently running program. However, this method is
not recommended for blind users!
The PSR talks on PC-robot and MultiVox The uttered
messages and commands are stored in separate text files.
1.1. Parts of the PSR system
The parts of the PSR system are the following:
-- PSR PROGRAM system on a floppy disk
-- An user manual
1.2. Software elements of the PSR system
There are four files on the PSR original diskette:
INSTALL.BAT It has to be executed to install the software
INSTALLX.EXE It extracts the files
DD.EXE A device, used by PSR
DATA.WSB The system in a compressed format
The list of files after installation:
START.EXE This is the starting file
(parameterable, contained by PSR.BAT)
PSRDRV.EXE The main program
SETUP.EXE The hotkey set is redefinable by the
user's requirements
HOTKEY.SET It contains the executable hotkey set
CTRLHOT.SET The executable hotkey set, only with
the CTRL key
PSRCONF.SYS The declaration of starting parameters
APPLY.EXE A linker for the applications
APPLY.LST Description of the reading windows and
spots for the applications
APPLY.SET Parameter file for the applications
MESSAGES.ENG Message file, editable
CHANGE.ENG Change file, it contains the punctuations
and their pronunciation
SPELL.ENG Spelling file, the words while spelling
COLOR.ENG Color file, contains the color's nomination
SPECIAL.ENG Description for a given color code
(for Word 5.5)
PSR.DOC Text file, containing this manual
DEMO.TXT This is an introduction text file
SMALLCAP.PSR National capitals characters for beep
PROMT1.ENG The textual definition of the hotkeys
(for beginners)
PROMT2.ENG The textual definition of the hotkeys
(for professionals)
2. Installation:
Preparing for installation
Before installing, please check your hard disk's
sufficiency. You will need at least 500 Kbytes to install
the program.
2.1 Installation (software)
Warning! The files of PSR and the TEXT TO SPEECH must be in the
same directory.
1. Insert the PSR diskette in the drive.
2. Go to this drive. E.G. A: (enter)
3. Type the word INSTALL, then press the enter key (ENTER)
The "INSTALL" program on the floppy disk creates a PSR
directory on the hard disk and copies the files into it. The
"INSTALL" program creates the PSR.BAT file in the root
directory. The system can be started with it after booting.
4. Step back on the hard disk. E.G. C:\(ENTER)
5. Start the PSR PROGRAM with the file PSR.BAT, so type:
PSR (ENTER)
In case the PSR directory is existing, so it is not the
first installation, the program overwrites it.
The PSR.BAT starting file:
The screen reader starts the speech synthesizer first.
Right after it, the parameterable "LINKSB.exe linker is
started. Finally, it starts the screen reader program, that
displays and says it's header. After these, the program is
operating, shows a pattern text, it even says it, so it is
useful for the further examinations of the program, such as
reading lines, or spelling. For further assistance, see the
hotkey table on the end of this documentation. If this text
is not audible, then the PSR PROGRAM is not started, but
displayed an error message. (The DEMO.TXT will run only
after the installation.)
3. First sounds
The first time the program is in cursor watching mode, and
echoes the DOS promt (C:\PSR>).
If you type something, the program echoes the keys you
press. In case you type fast, some letters wont be heard.
If a text is not understandable, you can check it in
off-line mode (CTRL+ALT+SPACE) it can be read with the up
and down arrow keys line by line.
4. Usage at DOS prompt
Most of the DOS commands work only in cursor watching mode.
If it is not so, the text can't be heard. In this case, it
can be read in off-line mode.
5. Standard settings
After starting the program, the following settings are
valid:
PSRCONF.SYS Configuration file
Default, not necessary to specify!)
This editable file contains the starting defaults and the
file declarations. If you want new settings, but you wish
to keep the old one, create a new one with an other name,
such as psrconf2.sys, and start the program with typing the
following command:
START PSRCONF2.SYS
If you want these settings for default, modify your
"PSR.BAT" file.
Default settings in the PSRCONF.SYS file:
The original program will work with the following
settings at starting:
Cursor watching: on
Mouse Off Line off
Display type (rows): 25
Special functions for editor: on
Comprimation: on
Active window: off (full screen)
Space function: off, when hitting the space, the previous
word is pronounced.
5.1. The CONFIG file (editable)
The PSR PROGRAM starts with the basic parameters
specified in the PSRCONF.SYS configuration file. The
system can handle more than one config file, so for
special programs, we can create separate standard
settings, with modifying the inner parameters of the
original config file.
5.2. Creating a new config file:
It is useful to keep the original config file, so save it
when creating a new one..
5.3. Starting with an user-defined Config file
The PSR PROGRAM is activated with the execution of the
START.EXE program. If we simply press enter after typing
the START command, the PSR system will start with the
default settings. If we type the name of a config file
after the start command, then the program will use it as
default, E.G.:
START PSRCONf2.SYS
6. Functions
Changing the current function is done with pressing the ALT+CTRL+J
key combination, then the program announces the new, current
function.
The default is the "cursor watching" function.
If we press the ALT+CTRL+J key combination, we switch to
"global watching" mode. If we press it again, we switch
to "screen watching" mode.
Pressing it for the third time, we return to "cursor watching"
mode.
In all of the functions the cursor keys are used as follows:
CURSOR KEYS
If we jump on the first letter of a word, the word is
pronounced if the auto word reading function is on.
The arrow keys function as in an editor normally, The
current line or character is pronounced.
For pressing the home key the first, for the end key the
last word of the line is pronounced. If it is not so,
then it is because the current editor has a different
cursor moving capability.
6.1. Screen watching
In this function, the PSR PROGRAM let's us know if there
is any textual change on the screen, meanwhile the
current program is not interrupted. When we type, then
the presently pressed key is pronounced. If there isn't
any textual change, then the program watches the color of
the screen, and tells us the content of any tinted area.
For example in the DOS EDITOR, when we move in the menu,
there is no textual change, but the current menuitem's
color is changed, so it is pronounced.
The textual change has a higher precedence, so it only
pronounces the tinted area if there isn't any textual change.
6.2. Cursor watching
This mode is recommended while text editing. In this case the
current line is audible and editable.
Important! Beside the key echo the current word is
pronounced if the space function is turned on. It can be
a relevant aid when we type fast.
If we use the backspace and the del keys to delete, then the rest
of the current word is pronounced.
In insert mode, the right part of the word is heard.
Key commands and their effect
PGDN - It steps to the next page, and reads the
screen, or the current window if specified.
PGUP - It steps to the previous page and reads the
screen or the current window if specified.
6.3. Global watching
When we switch to this function, we can hear every change on
the screen. It is useful with pull-down menus (when the
screen watching function is not effective), or when a
comment belongs to a menu item.
7. Options
7.1. Active window and it's defining
The purpose of the active window is that we don't
necessarily have to hear the full screen. We can define the
top of the window with moving to the top of the desired
window - either in on-line or off- line - and pressing the
ALT+B key combination. Then we will hear the following
message: "top of the active window is defined.". Then we
have to move the cursor to the bottom of the window, and
press the ALT+B key combination once more. We will hear the
following message with a beep: "button of the active window
is defined.". If we want to hear the lines above the active
window, we should press the header hotkey (CTRL+ALT+T), if
we want to hear the lines under the active window, we have
to press the status hotkey (CTRL+ALT+Y). Switching between
the active window and the full screen is done with the
CTRL+ALT+X key combination.
7.2. Comprimation
The comprimation function is used when we don't want to hear
the series of the same character if it appears more than
three times after each other, so it will be pronounced only
three times. For example if there are many stars in a text.
Warning! The space character is not pronounced. We can
turn the comprimation on and off with the ALT+Ctrl+O hotkey.
7.3. The type and resolution of the screen
The screen resolution default is 25 lines and 80 columns.The
most screen devices can handle the 50 lines resolution
(EGA/VGA). In the PSR PROGRAM there is also a possibility
to change to 50 lines screen, its hotkey is:
Ctrl+ALT+F.
8. Review mode (offline)
When this function is turned on, the running of the current
program is stopped, and we can read the whole screen. The
program reads the texts under the spots as well!
Hotkey: ALT+Ctrl+SPACE, then we hear a beep. Exit: escape.
When we press the hotkey again, we can hear: "review"
Offline Possibilities: The arrow keys work just like in an
editor.
In this mode the hotkeys work just like in on-line mode.
Further keys:
"U" Positions the cursor in the upper left corner
"N" Positions the cursor in the lower left corner
"P" The reading of a selected line from the screen.
Pressing this key, you can hear:
"type the line number."
After typing a number and pressing enter the selected line is
heard. If we type two digits, then we do not need to press enter.
"TAB" Progressive settings (see chapter 16)
8.1. Differentiating between small and capital letters
The program differentiates between small and capital letter,
at typing and moving the cursor as well. When a capital
letter is read, a short beep can be heard.
9. Using the mouse (offline)
Turning on/off: CTRL+ALT+M (heard: "mouse review on. This
mode is important if we do not want to suspend the currently
running program, though we want to read some pieces of
information from the screen without touching the keyboard.
The mouse offline can be used as follows: When the mouse
cursor is on the first letter of a word, then the word is
pronounced.
When we move up or down, then the current line is
pronounced.
When we move to the left or to the right, then the letter
currently under the mouse cursor is pronounced.
Using the mouse bottoms:
Left button: reads the attribute
(E.G. white letter on a black background)
The middle button spells the character
The right button pronounces the ascii and the color code
of the current character
The mouse offline can run with everything, we do not need
to exit it.
Important! The screen watching and the global watching
does not work. In this case only the word under the mouse
cursor is heard, so when going to a new line, there is no
automatic line reading.
10. The teaching
The messages and pieces of information pronounced by the PSR
PROGRAM, are stored in text files, with the extension *.ENG.
These files can be edited for the requirements of the user,
but each file must begin with an blank line.
- The format: The character to be replaced, a space, and
the text to replace with.
- The last line must be blank.
10.1. The color file: color.eng
This is the only exception from the rules. Here the
replacing characters are not specified, here are only the
name of the colors. The order is important!
10.2. The spelling file: spell.eng
This has a nearly similar format to the one above. Here
we have to specify the words to pronounce for each
letter, the first letter of the word stands for the
desired letter.
10.3. The message file: messages.eng
There are the messages used by the program. These can be
overwritten, but the order must not be changed, and the
length of a line must not be more than 80 characters.
10.4. The change file: change.eng
Here we can assign a word to each character. See the
format at the beginning of this chapter. Here we can
assign a word to all of the 255 characters.
The assigned text is not only for the key echo, but it is
also used when the program reads a text. If we cannot
type a character, then it's ascii code has to be typed.
- The first and the last line must be blank!
10.5. Special file: special.eng
We use this file if we want to assign a message to a
color code, or we want to know the shape of a letter. It
is useful, when working in an editor, and if the special
function is on (default), then we can learn that a text
is italic for example.
If we want it to let us know about a new character, we
have to get information about the character and color
code of it. After this, we type this character in the
next line of the special.eng file, then a space, and
finally the message to the specified character.
The original special.eng file contains the settings for
WORD5.5.
10.6 The keyboard echo file: prompt(1,2).eng
There are two keyboard echo files supplied with the PSR
PROGRAM. These are: prompt1.eng, and prompt2.eng. You
have to specify in the psrconf.sys file, the one you want
to use. These files determine, what we want to hear when
pressing a key. It is also valid when moving around in an
editor letter by letter, but when reading a text, the
program pronounces it properly.
11. Interrupting the speech service
Often we might need to turn the speech off, for example
if we do not want to hear a part of a text. We have
several ways to do that:
-- Temporary muting: when we press the CTRL or the ALT
keys, the program stops speaking as long as we keep it
down.
-- Constant muting: by pressing the CTRL+ALT+K hotkey,
the program will stop speaking, it will speak only for
the hotkeys. Pressing this combination again, it will
turn to default, so it will always speak.
Important! The program mutes the text, when we press a
muting key, and after that, the program encounters a
punctuation.
12. Reading windows and spots
In the PSR PROGRAM we have a possibility to mark active
and passive windows. If we define an active window, then
the screen reading functions will be limited only to
that. When we specify a passive spot then it will not be
read. With these two options, we can make the use of the
program more effective. Many time we do not need to hear
an area of the screen, such as the line numbers in an
editor, or the clock in the Norton Commander. In this
case, we can define a spot, or if we want to use the
certain part of the screen, then we can define an active
window. While running the program, we can define ten
applications, and ten spots and ten windows in an
application.
This option can be selected with the CTRL+ALT+I key, when
we hear a short beep, then we can switch between the
applications with the up and down arrow keys. If we chose
it, we have to press the number of the selected window,
then exit with the ESC key.
In the PSR PROGRAm we have seven predefined applications,
they are as follows:
1. DOS prompt;
2. Norton Commander;
3. Edit;
4. Kedit 3.5;
5. WordPerfect5.1;
6. FrameWork XE;
7. Recognita +.
When we selected the current application and it's window,
and we do not exit, pressing the number of the selected
window again, the context of the window can be heard.
12.1. Defining the reading windows and spots
The reading windows and spots are defined in the
apply.lst text file, that is editable. The definitions of
the seven predefined applications are as follows:
Title: DOS Prompt
(There are no definitions, we need the full screen.)
Title: Norton Commander. (the name of the
application)
Reads: 2,1-20,39 (reading: line, column, line,
column)
Reads: 2,41-20,79
Spots: 0,73-7 (spot: line, column - length)
Spots: 24,0-80
Title: Edit. (Micro Soft editor)
Spots: 24,70-9
Title: Kedit
Reads: 0,0-0,14
Reads: 0,15-0,26
Reads: 0,27-0,38
Reads: 0,39-0,50
Spots: 1,1-3
The spots cannot contain more than one line.
12.2. Linking the reading windows and spots
We have to link the extended apply.lst as follows:
At the DOS prompt type:
"APPLY.EXE" (enter)
APPLY.LST is a default file
Then the program asks for the output set file:
Compiled application file name :
Type: apply.set (Enter)
Now we have created a new apply.set file, that is not in
text format, but this can be used by the program.
12.3. Using the reading windows and spots
If we translate it with a name, other than apply.set,
then we have to modify the psrconf.sys file. E.G.:
Application file : C:\PSR\applynew.set
13. The usage of the provided hotkeys:
Activated with the CTRL+ALT combination:
J = Cursor; global; screen switching
A = pronouncing the background and the foreground
colors
B = defining the active window (online and offline)
D = reads the character and it's color code under the
cursor
E = reads the word right from the cursor
F = switching from 25 to 50 lines reading
I = selecting the application
K = turning the speech on and off
L = reading the current line
M = mouse offline on and off
O = comprimation on and off
P = asking the position of the cursor (line, column)
Q = reads the word left to the cursor
R = reading the full screen
S = spelling
T = reads the lines above the active window
U = pronounces the appearance form of a character
Z = pronounces the type of the character under the
cursor
W = reads the word at the cursor
X = switching between full screen and active window
Y = reads the lines under the active window
comma = reads the active line to the cursor
period = reads the current line from the cursor
SPACE = switching to offline reading mode, exit = ESC
Offline hotkeys:
Ctrl+right arrow = one word to the right
Ctrl+left arrow = one word to the left
The following keys are used without CTRL+ALT:
HOME = jumps to the first position of the current
line
END = jumps to the end of the current line
up arrow = reads the complete line
down arrow = reads the complete line
left arrow = reads one character
right arrow = reads one character
PgUp and PgDn = reads the active window
U = jumps to the upper left corner of the screen
N = jumps to the lower left corner of the screen
P = reads the selected line (type the line number)
- There is an other hotkey table provided with the
program, it's only difference is, that it's hotkeys are
used only with the CTRL key. If you want to use it, you
have to modify the psrconf.sys file, for the hotkey file
you have to enter the filename ctrlhot.set.
14. The usage of the SETUP program
( the user can define a new hotkey table)
Switch to screen watching mode: CTRL+ALT+J
Type:
setup (enter)
The computer pronounces and displays:
Please type the hotkey file name
or press enter for default settings.
If we type the name of an existing hotkey file, then we
can modify it.
If we press enter, then we can modify or review the
active hotkey file with the up and down arrow keys.
Press enter now
After this, the setup program displays the function that
we can currently change. We can move to an other function
with the arrow keys, or we can change it with pressing
space, when it ask's for the new key combination.
E.G.: CTRL+ALT (default).
You can exit the submenu with pressing the ESC key.
When you have modified the hotkeys, then you can exit
with the ESC key.
Now you can specify the new hotkey file name, or press enter to
exit without saving.
Important! If you define a new hotkey table, do not
forget to modify the psrconf.sys file:
Hotkey file name: newfile.set
Example for learning the screen watching
It is recommended to use the screen watching mode while
running a menudriven program, such as the Norton
Commander. Enter the program, then change to screen
watching mode, since in cursor watching it will say
nothing useful. Now moving with the arrow keys, you can
hear the current file's name. You can also hear it's
date, the system time, and some messages. Avoiding this,
select the appropriate application with pressing
CTRL+ALT+I.
16. About the progressive settings
The progressive settings give us an option to set the
higher level functions of the PSR PROGRAM, but not only
in the config file, but also from offline, when pressing
the tab key.
F1 : word or line reading for the up and down
arrow keys
F2 : Wether to spell or say the character when
pressing the left or the right arrow keys.
F3 : Detailed or continuous reading. At
continuous reading, the punctuations are not
pronounced.
F4 : Automatic word reading. When the cursor is
on the beginning of a word, wether to pronounce it
or not
F5 : Autoquiet.
Default settings in the psrconf.sys:
Auto line reading : On
Auto spell character : Off
Detailed reading : On
Auto word reading : Off
Auto quiet : On
*****************
Warning! The PSR PROGRAM and it's present documentation
is a spiritual product, and protected by copyright law.
This product cannot be multiplied without a written
permission of it's owner. Illegal usage may result in
severe civil and criminal penalties.
Writers, developers:
Csaba Ecsedi: project manager, prog-mat.
Tamas Babinszki: tester (English documentation)
dr. Gabor Olaszy: Fonetics Laboratory
E-mail: ecsedi(at)c3.hu