Switching between windows

Awhile back I was reading that some Dragon users were having trouble with the “switch to next/previous window” command. There’s a workaround, with fewer syllables even: “press Alt-Esc.” (I am properly caffeinated this morning; there are no slips of the tongue this time.)

A reminder on Mouse Keys and Mouseless Browsing

Perhaps I should have mentioned this earlier based on my stats; I’m so used to it that it never occurred to me. Mouseless Browsing in Firefox DOES NOT conflict with the Windows Mouse Keys accessibility option if you have correctly configured the Mouse Keys settings. You must check the box for using Mouse Keys when NumLock is OFF. Then, to switch from Mouse Keys to Mouseless Browsing, just press NumLock. And vice versa.

Vocal and keyboard autoscrolling in Firefox: Woohoo!

I’m still a little peeved at Nuance for breaking their middle click command, and likewise a little bit puzzled at the Mozilla developers for making such a useful function as auto scroll exclusive to the mouse. A lot of people who can’t use the mouse — be they Dragon users or keyboard-only users or both — don’t feel like writing their own voice commands or AutoHotKey assignments or what have you. Not for what is supposed to be a basic native Firefox function, at least. What about that standard that says all functions should be accessible from the keyboard, huh? While computer users with disabilities do have to take more responsibility for finding things out themselves, it baffles me that programmers can’t even meet us halfway sometimes. The more function you have built into a program, the safer you feel, because — well, what if your add-ons stop being developed or something? You get the idea.

However, after much frustrated googling, I am just elated. Whether you are a Dragon user or keyboard user, you can now auto scroll any page without using a mouse command. Tim Harper, a.k.a. Tim the Enchanter, has written a bookmarklet that does just that — loads a JavaScript for auto scrolling into any page you’re on. All you have to do is go to his page, and save the humongous Autoscroll link into your Bookmarks Toolbar using the mouse commands (for Dragon), but that’s the only time, I promise. (The toolbar method is mainly for Dragon users because Mozilla hasn’t made the toolbar itself keyboard accessible.)

If you are a keyboard user, you need to use Mouse Keys (sorry, tabbing to the link doesn’t seem to work, or least I can’t see it being highlighted) to right-click over the link, and choose “Bookmarks Menu” for the location. That’s more efficient because it makes your keyboard shortcut more fluid: Alt-B-A. Done. (Of course, you might have to press A more than once if you have bookmarks that start with the same letter. For efficiency in selecting, it might be a good idea to de-clutter your menu, either by deleting old bookmarks or putting them into a folder.)

Tim lists the shortcuts for increasing the speed on his page, but please note — since we’re probably all using Mouseless Browsing, the number key shortcuts will conflict. (However, we can by all means still access links and fields via Mouseless Browsing with no problem.) Stick with the Control-Shift-+ or Control-Shift– shortcuts, and you’ll be fine. If the default speed is too slow for you, you can edit the script to adjust it. To do this:

1. Go to Organize Bookmarks under the Bookmarks menu (Ctrl-Shift-B).

2. Choose either Bookmarks Menu or Bookmarks Toolbar, depending on where you put the bookmarklet. Then, highlight Autoscroll from the results side.

3. Look at the Location field. Instead of seeing a web address, you will see the script itself. With either voice or keyboard, go to the Location field and press Control-C.

4. Open Notepad. Press Control-V. You will see the script in full.

5. On the 2nd line, look for ss_speed=1. Once you find it, change 1 to about 3; that’s middling at least. Then, select and copy the document via Control-A Control C, and go back to your Bookmark Organizer.

6. Go into the Location field again if you’re not still there. Press Control-V. This will paste the adjusted script.

7. Now, whenever you say “Autoscroll” or execute the keyboard shortcut, the page will scroll at the speed you want.

Tim’s script can be found here. Enjoy!

Dragon, Word 2007, and hiding the status bar

One of the things that annoys me about using Dragon with Microsoft Word 2007 is that when my dictation reaches the status bar, the status bar gets in the way; even if I continue to dictate, the screen does not always advance to the next line until I actually take a breath and start a new sentence. So, I googled and copied the VBA code for hiding the status bar. You lose the nice automatic word count that way, but you can always just say “show word count.” Perfect. The code is: Application.CommandBars(“Status Bar”).Visible = False

It’s a little trickier to actually apply this code if, like me, you’re not used to VBA.

Step 1: Say “office button” and then “word options.” Under Popular, say “show Developer tab in the ribbon.”

Step 2: Say “developer,” then “macros.” In the macro name box, name the macro something like Hide, so you know what it refers to. Then say “macros in,” then choose Normal. This means that you can use the macro in any document once you set up.

Step 3: Say “create.” You’ll be taken to a Visual Basic editing window. Paste the code into that window, and save it.

The next thing you want to do is create a button, so that when you tell Dragon to click it, it will run the macro and hide your status bar. This is done via the Quick Access Toolbar (the one with the tiny icons).

Step 4: Using the mouse commands, right-click the Quick Access Toolbar and say “customize quick access toolbar.”

Step 5: Say “choose commands from,” then “macros.” Hide, or whatever you called it, should be on that list, though its name will be surrounded by a bunch of programmy stuff. Once it’s highlighted, say “add.” Your macro will be moved to the list on the right hand side.

Step 6: Tab until Hide is highlighted again, then say “modify.” Tab into the Display Name field, and rename it simply Hide or whatever, without the programmy stuff. Say OK.

Step 7: Now there should be a new button on the toolbar, named Hide. This is what Dragon “sees”. Say “Click Hide.” NOTE: You MUST include the click before the name, or Dragon won’t click it. I’m not sure why.

Step 8: Enjoy dictating without the speedbump.

C++, feng shui, and Dragon 10

I posted a while back that I was trying to learn programming, C++ specifically. That went on hold for a while mostly for health reasons, but there were more mundane reasons as well. Specifically, to paraphrase the genie in Aladdin, things requiring phenomenal cosmic mental power are much harder in itty-bitty living space. Especially if you’re trying to juggle a giant book while teaching your Dragon new tricks.

There were a couple of problems with the book holder I bought. First of all, I didn’t have anywhere to put it in relation to my computer so that I could comfortably see the book and dictate into Notepad or the compiler at the same time; I’m more or less backed into a corner with furniture in inconvenient places. 2nd, and more importantly, it’s unreliable; I can’t turn a page without knocking the book out of the pegs, or having a handful of the pages come loose. I was juggling the book and looking from it to the screen, all the while creating commands one by one in the Command Browser for Dev C++ (I was using Dragon 9.5).

So, I had to ditch the book holder. Eventually, I also ditched the book — I replaced it with Brian Overland’s C++ without Fear, which, despite having an older publication date than Teach Yourself C++ in 21 Days, is a lot more user friendly. For once, I don’t feel like I’m being condescended to because I’m a beginner. In a conversational tone, he explains things to you the way that you have to explain them to the computer: in small, clear steps. He also defines things as he goes along, rather than you having to remember a bunch of things that might not appear until later. He also uses pseudocode — the steps of the code in English — a lot, so his examples are actually comprehensible. He also tells you WHY you need to do things, even if the answer is occasionally “because I said so” if you absolutely have to use something he hasn’t covered yet.

Please note: The compiler that comes with the book (RHIDE) is useless, because it puts you completely in a DOS like environment in which you can’t even access Dragon.

I hadn’t foreseen this, but another thing that’s making me actually look forward to studying is my upgrade to Dragon 10. Dragon 10 includes the ability to make command shortcuts. That is, once I’ve spelled out a line like #include <iostream>, all I have to say is “select line” and then “make that a command.” The command editor appears, and you name it something like “pound include stream”. The text of your command is already in the content box. If you make it application-specific, the application you’re currently running will automatically be selected.

I think I’m going to enjoy this. Somehow I don’t think hard means impossible, and while I should be irked at Overland’s metaphor on the 2nd page, somehow it perversely cheers me up in places:

“But a computer…is the ultimate idiot savant. It can never guess what you want…Therefore, you have to be careful to say what you mean.” That comparison is unfortunate and inaccurate, referencing autism/Rain Man in its entirety. I am not condoning the stereotype of NVLD or autism or savantism as total brainlessness, and humans are certainly not machines without judgment, but still — how I understand that last sentence! If it takes one to know one, the computer and I should get on just fine.