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SURFING THE WEB WITH PWWEBSPEAK (TM)

Markku T. Hakkinen
The Productivity Works, Inc., Trenton, New Jersey
hakkinen@dev.prodworks.com

John C. De Witt
De Witt & Associates, Inc., Glen Rock, New Jersey
dewitt@village.ios.com

Jim Allan
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Austin, Texas
jallan@tenet.edu

Web Posted on: November 30, 1997


Abstract

Up to now, web surfing for a visually disabled user has been a challenge, requiring mastery of both screen readers and graphical web browsers. pwWebSpeak provides an alternative, easy to master on-ramp to the internet's world wide web, designed from the ground up to be accessible to users with a visual disability or others who prefer uncomplicated, yet efficient access.

This session will introduce the concept of non-visual browsing and present the simplified command structure of the browser. After a brief introduction to the keyboard commands, the audience will be able to actually get on line and surf the web. Users will learn how to fill in web-based data entry forms and perform searches using the popular services like InfoSeek and Altavista.

This session is suitable for the computer novice, though a basic familiarity with the computer keyboard is desirable.


INTRODUCTION

pwWebSpeak provides fully keyboard based navigation of web pages. Any page's structure and content will be spoken using pwWebSpeak's built-in software synthesizers or one of the user's choosing. pwWebSpeak also supports simultaneous large print on- screen display with full control of size, foreground and background colors.

Below is a summary of commands that are available for the user to control the browsing process within pwWebSpeak.


COMMAND AND DESCRIPTION

  • F1: Provides Help information on the commands at any point in the execution of pwWebSpeak.
  • F2: Takes you into the Open a Web Page dialog. You will be prompted to enter a web page address. There is no need to enter the H T T P : / / as this is assumed. The history of which pages you have visited in this session is directly available once you have pressed F2 by using the cursor Down and Up keys to traverse through the list. You may open a local HTML page by pressing F2 a second time to bring up the local page selection dialog.
  • Shift F2: Opens your favorites list and allows you to move through the list using the cursor Down and Up keys. A page may be read by simply pressing the Space Bar or the Enter key. Any web page may be added to your favorites list by pressing Alt a when the page has been retrieved by pwWebSpeak and is being browsed. When in the favorites list, pressing Del will delete the current entry.
  • F3: Read the current page from your current position in the page to the end of the page. During this process you may stop reading by pressing the Q key. Or, to pause reading temporarily, use the F4 key.
  • F4: A toggle key which allows you to pause and restart when a page is being read or a page element is being read. Not all synthesizers support this function.
  • F5: Jumps and Links list allowing you to move up and down through the entire set of links on the page using the Up and Down cursor keys. You may follow any link by simply pressing the Space Bar. F6: Page Elements list. This allows you to read through the page one logical element at a time using the cursor Up and Down keys. Cursor Down takes you forward, and cursor Up takes you back.
  • F7: Search the Web. This takes you to a special search dialog which provides a front-end to the Alta Vista Internet search engine. You will be prompted to enter a search term. Pressing Enter will then cause the search to be executed. Reviewing the search results is the same as reviewing any web page.
  • F8: Search for text on the current web page. You will be prompted to enter a search term, and pressing Enter will carry out the search and you will be positioned in the Page Elements list at the page element that contains the matching term, if one is found.
  • F9: This tells you about the current item in a list. Press F9 once in a list to tell you where you are in the list, and press it again to read the U R L the list item references, if any. If you need to spell the U R L, press F9 yet again.
  • F10: Page Summary. Reads the number of links, images, image maps, and forms that are on the current web page.
  • F11: Word List. This allows you to review each word using the cursor control keys, and read each word separately. When you are doing this, pressing F11 again will spell the last word read. Cursor Down moves word by word through the list, and cursor Up moves back word by word through the list.
  • F12: Toggles letter mode on and off when you are entering text into fields, for example the Open Page field, or the search field.
  • Up or Down Arrow Keys: These move you up and down through the lists available to you and through the options available in a Combination Box field or set of Radio button options on a form.
  • Space Bar: This is used to follow a link or open a page from the History or Favorites List. It is also used to enter a data entry or selection field on a Form.
  • Tab: This toggles between the Page Elements list, the Jumps and Links list, and data entry fields if a Form is present on the page. The new list or field title being clearly announced. When you Tab to a Form field, subsequent Tabs step you through subsequent fields until the end of the Form when you are returned to the Page elements list.
  • Alt a: Adds the current web page to your favorites list.
  • Alt b: Retrieves the immediately prior web page you were browsing.
  • a: Moves you to the next link, HTML anchor, on the page.
  • f: Moves directly to the next entry Form on the page.
  • h: Moves you to the next heading on the page.
  • p: Moves you to the next paragraph on the page.
  • q: Stop reading or stop a web page transfer that is in progress.
  • Ctrl r: Reload the current page.
  • Ctrl s: Save the current Web page to disk in either HTML or text format (Alt H for HTML or Alt T for text).
  • Ctrl F9: Saves the current page element and adds it to the scrapbook file - scrap.txt
  • Alt F4 or Alt x: Exit pwWebSpeak and returns you to Windows.
  • Alt F: Faster speech rate each time combination is pressed.
  • Alt L: Slower speech rate each time combination is pressed.
  • Ctrl F11: Increases print size each time combination is pressed.
  • Shift F11: decreases print size each time combination is pressed.
  • Ctrl F12: Cycles through foreground colors each time combination is pressed.
  • Shift F12: Cycles through background colors each time combination is pressed.
  • Shift and the Plus key (on the numeric keypad): Increases Real Audio volume while playing an audio clip downloaded by pwWebSpeak.
  • Shift and the Minus key (on the numeric keypad): Decreases Real Audio volume while playing an audio clip downloaded by pwWebSpeak.
  • Shift and the Star key (on the numeric keypad): Toggles Real Audio to pause and resume the downloaded audio clip.