As you know, Serotek is not a conventional assistive technology provider. In fact, we take pride in our willingness to think outside the box and leverage products that make a distinct mark on the customers we serve, but, the price of pulling away from the pack means succumbing to all manner of speculation perpetuated by competitors and by customers who rely on bias reviews to direct their own decisions. We have never shied away from defending our approach to development, and so following in that tradition, today we address a question that comes to our attention from time to time: Is System Access a full screen reader?Well, to begin on common ground, let's first start by defining what a screen reader is. In the way of an impartial source, we can use the American Foundation of the Blind, which sets forth the following:"Screen readers are software programs that allow blind or visually impaired users to read the text that is displayed on the computer screen with a speech synthesizer. A screen reader is the interface between the computer’s operating system, its applications, and the user. The user sends commands by pressing different combinations of keys on the computer keyboard to … [Read more...] about System Access: The Alternative Commitment
System Access To Go
Changes in System Access 2.3.0.91
This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go. Windows Vista Speech Recognition Eliminated a crash which previously occurred if you started Speech Recognition while System Access was running.Added automatic reading of the voice training wizard, including a progress indication before each new phrase. You can press the accent grave key if you need to hear the current phrase again.Added echo of dictated text. We have tested this in Notepad, WordPad, and Word; we expect it to work in any edit control for which Windows Vista supports dictation.Made the alternates panel (also called the correction box) and the spelling panel accessible. Word Undid a change that we made about two weeks ago in an attempt to improve responsiveness; this change was causing problems for some users of Word 2003, particularly under Windows Vista.Improved responsiveness when moving through a document line by line.Eliminated extraneous "end of line" messages when moving through an Outlook message character by character, when Word is the message editor for Outlook 2003. Windows Mail Added code to make sure that the message list view receives focus when Windows Mail … [Read more...] about Changes in System Access 2.3.0.91
The Ranger Station Blogs About System Access Product Line
I am just humbled at this posting on the Ranger Station blog about Serotek's products. Words can't describe the feelings that came over me as I read word after encouraging word Ranger wrote about products that take up a majority of not only my life, but people like Matt Campbell, Brian Kevelighan, Casey Mathews, Michael Lauf, Bill Sparks, and so many others that are working behind the scenes to bring Seerotek's Accessibility Anywhere from our collective imaginations to reality. I understand that I have undertaken a huge responsibility at Serotek. one that sometimes scares the pants off of me, because we are asking people to trust us with access to their entire lives. Not just at work but everywhere. I can be a person of many words when I want to be, but for the first time in a long time, the only words I can say are Thank You God for allowing Serotek to give people a hope for universal accessibility. My only prayer is that when I fall short of the mark, and I will, that You give me the favor and grace in the community to recover and continue moving ahead. Help me to remain transparent. … [Read more...] about The Ranger Station Blogs About System Access Product Line
Changes in System Access 2.3.0.87
This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go. Renaming Renamed FreedomBox and the FreedomBox Network to the System Access Mobile Network, or SA Mobile Network for short.Renamed the "FreedomBox 2" desktop and Start menu shortcuts to "System Access Mobile Network".Renamed the "FreedomBox 2" sub-menu in the Start menu to "System Access".Renamed the FreedomBox HomeServer to the System Access HomeServer, still HomeServer for short.Renamed the FreedomBox Desktop to the SA Mobile Desktop.Renamed the Assistant to SA Mobile Network Home.Renamed FreedomScan to Document Scan.Replaced references to the Key to Freedom with "U3 smart drive" or "USB flash drive". … [Read more...] about Changes in System Access 2.3.0.87
Changes in System Access 2.3.0.86
This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go. Internet Explorer Fixed a bug which caused links and non-link text on some web pages to be combined into a single link in System Access's virtual buffer. As always, please let us know if you find any web pages which System Access doesn't read correctly. Word System Access now recognizes parentheses, angle brackets, square brackets, and braces as word delimiters, so when you type one of these punctuation marks while word echo is enabled, System Access will now speak the preceding word as it should.Attempted to improve performance when typing in Word, especially when key echo is on. Please let us know if Word still feels unresponsive, or if you encounter any new problems in Word.Improved detection of labels on forms, especially for check boxes. Please let us know if you find any forms that are still not accessible. Miscellaneous Added automatic speech feedback in Windows Calculator. … [Read more...] about Changes in System Access 2.3.0.86
Changes in System Access 2.3.0.85
This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go. Office 2007 Ribbon System Access now announces the keyboard shortcuts of the tabs as well as all buttons.System Access now automatically reads the help messages associated with buttons as if they were tool tips, unless you've disabled reading of tool tips.System Access now announces groups of controls as you enter them, by saying something like "Clipboard group".System Access now identifies split buttons, sub-menu buttons, and drop-down grid buttons as such.When navigating a grid such as the one opened by the Insert Table command, System Access now correctly announces the item with focus instead of repeatedly announcing the first item. Internet Explorer and Outlook Express The Find Again (F3) command now works correctly. … [Read more...] about Changes in System Access 2.3.0.85
Changes in System Access 2.3.0.84
This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go. Adobe Reader Fixed a bug to cause Adobe Reader 8.1 to crash when reading an untagged document. … [Read more...] about Changes in System Access 2.3.0.84
Changes in System Access 2.3.0.83
This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go. Text to Speech Fixed problems that some users encountered with DECtalk under Windows XP because of the previous update. … [Read more...] about Changes in System Access 2.3.0.83
Changes in System Access 2.3.0.82
This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go. Excel Fixed a problem which caused System Access to hang in Excel when a user ran some formatting commands. Please test System Access with the features of Excel that you use and let us know if you find any other problems. Text to Speech System Access now uses the same high-quality DECtalk synthesizer on Windows Vista as it always has on previous versions of Windows.Actually removed the U.K. English version of DECtalk from the list of text-to-speech engines offered by System Access to Go. Miscellaneous When System Access starts, it now moves you to the Windows desktop if no visible window is in the foreground.When you toggle key echo or word echo through the System Access menu, System Access now always indicates the new setting.In System Access's audio tutorials window, the Escape key once again works as described in the window's instructions.Eliminated Internet Explorer script errors which occurred when navigating our network with System Access to Go. However, you will currently not be able to activate numbered links by entering the link number when accessing the network this way; this will … [Read more...] about Changes in System Access 2.3.0.82
Changes in System Access 2.3.0.72
This version is available now for all System Access packages, including System Access to Go. Windows Live Messenger The command to read the status bar in the conversation window works again.The typing sound is back.When you start a new conversation, System Access will speak your first message, as it should.When you press the accent grave key immediately after opening a waiting conversation window, System Access will read all of the messages sent thus far. Please let us know if this behavior should be changed.The command to read recent activity in the conversation window is now associated with the accent grave key regardless of keyboard layout. By mistake, it was formerly associated with the apostrophe in the U.K. English keyboard layout; it was probably associated with other keys in other non-U.S. layouts. Internet Explorer and Outlook Express System Access now behaves correctly when you try to move to the previous word but you're already at the start of the page or message.Eliminated unwanted mid-sentence pauses in plain-text email messages. Word When you cross a page boundary while moving through a document with the up and down arrow keys, System Access will now speak the new … [Read more...] about Changes in System Access 2.3.0.72
