
CHAPTER 4
READING WINDOWS WITH outSPOKEN
Chapter Summary
This chapter explains how to use outSPOKEN's numeric 
keypad commands to read text and graphics and to 
navigate through the Windows environment. All 
outSPOKEN commands are located on the numeric keypad, 
and are illustrated in the outSPOKEN keypad diagram 
(Figure 1). Pointing and clicking (KPD 5) and 
outSPOKEN's use of the pointer as a reading and 
navigation cursor are explained in Section 4.1. Use 
of outSPOKEN's direction keys, DOWN (KPD 2), LEFT 
(KPD 4), RIGHT (KPD 6), UP (KPD 8), and READ (KPD 0) 
to read text and graphics is explained in Section 
4.2. outSPOKEN's movement commands such as BOTTOM OF 
WINDOW (KPD 3), TOP OF WINDOW (KPD 7), and MENU BAR 
(SHIFT-KPD 7) are explained in Section 4.3. 
outSPOKEN's FIND command (KPD 1) is described in 
Section 4.4. The INFO key (KPD PERIOD), for reporting 
character, font, and pointer location information, is 
explained in Section 4.5. The TOP WINDOW command (KPD 
SLASH) and switching windows using outSPOKEN's WINDOW 
MENU (SHIFT-KPD SLASH) are explained in Section 4.6. A 
number of less-frequently used, but still important, 
outSPOKEN commands are listed in Section 4.7. 
Finally, outSPOKEN's ability to track highlighting 
and caret movement, facilitating the use of built-in 
Windows keyboard commands, is covered in Section 4.8.
4.1	outSPOKEN and the Mouse Pointer
As explained in Chapter 3 (Section 3.1), the pointer is 
an extremely important concept in Windows. The pointer 
also plays the vital role of outSPOKEN's reading and 
navigation cursor. While the sighted user moves the 
pointer with the mouse, or some other device, the 
outSPOKEN user moves the pointer by means of commands 
from the numeric keypad on the right-hand side of the 
keyboard.
As outSPOKEN reads through a window, the pointer moves 
to the item that has just been read. When reading a 
line (Section 4.2.1), the pointer moves to the end of 
the line that was just read and waits for the next 
command. Similarly, when reading words (Section 4.2.2) 
or characters (Section 4.2.3), the pointer follows the 
voice as the item is spoken. 
When reading with outSPOKEN commands, the pointer is 
restricted to the current window. This prevents text 
and graphics from other windows from blending into and 
being confused with the information in the window being 
read. outSPOKEN also provides ways of switching between 
windows when desired (Section 4.6).
The synchronization of voice and pointer movement 
allows the outSPOKEN user to click (Section 3.1) on the 
item that was just spoken. outSPOKEN's SELECT key (KPD 
5) simulates the click of the mouse button. This key is 
close to the center of the numeric keypad and is 
marked, on many keyboards, with a raised line or dot.
4.2	Reading with outSPOKEN Commands
All outSPOKEN reading commands are issued from the 
numeric keypad_also known as the outSPOKEN keypad. 
These keys are illustrated in the outSPOKEN keypad 
diagram, which is included with the outSPOKEN package 
in both print and Braille (Figure 1). The main reading 
keys are UP (KPD 8), DOWN (KPD 2), LEFT (KPD 4), and 
RIGHT (KPD 6). These keys are arranged around the 
SELECT key (KPD 5) like a print plus sign, or a compass 
on a map. The READ key (KPD 0) is also used for 
reading. This key can be found at the lower-left corner 
of the keypad, and is twice the width of the other 
keys.
As explained in the following sub-sections, the DOWN 
and RIGHT keys read the next item (line, word, 
character, etc.), while UP and LEFT read previous 
items. outSPOKEN determines the logical "next" and 
"previous" items by analyzing the layout of a window. 
It reads through lists, toolbars, buttons, and text to 
intelligently determine the next or previous item. This 
means that the DOWN key does not always literally read 
down. Sometimes, the logical "next" item will be 
located somewhere other than immediately below the 
current location. For example, this might happen when 
two list boxes are beside each other, as in Figure 6. 
After reading the last item in the list box on the 
left, the "next" item is the top item in the list box 
on the right.
4.2.1	Reading by Line
Reading lines of text or graphics is done with 
outSPOKEN's UP (KPD 8), DOWN (KPD 2), and READ (KPD 0) 
keys. Pressing UP speaks the previous line and moves 
the pointer to the beginning of the line that was 
spoken. The DOWN key reads the next line and moves the 
pointer to the line's end. Pressing READ speaks the 
current line without moving the pointer at all.
outSPOKEN's concepts of "next" and "previous" are based 
on the current pointer location. If the pointer is at 
the beginning of a line, then the next line is the 
section of the line to the pointer's right_this being 
the entire line. If the pointer is in the middle of a 
line, however, the "next" line is considered to be 
whatever text is between the current pointer position 
and the next line break. Pressing DOWN in this 
situation would read from the current position to the 
end of the line. The same concept applies to the UP 
key. If the pointer is at the end of a line, the 
"previous" line is the text between the current pointer 
location and the previous line break. If UP is pressed 
when the pointer is not at the beginning of a line, the 
portion of the line to the left of the pointer is read.
The READ key speaks the current line without moving the 
pointer. The location of the pointer within the current 
line does not matter. Whatever line of text the pointer 
is on is considered "current," and it is read from end 
to end when READ is pressed.
4.2.2	Reading by Word
Reading individual words and graphics is primarily done 
with outSPOKEN's RIGHT (KPD 6) and LEFT (KPD 4) keys. 
The RIGHT key read the word or graphic to the right of 
the pointer, while LEFT reads the word or graphic to 
the left.
When outSPOKEN reads to the right, it places the 
pointer at the right end of the word it just read; when 
reading to the left, the pointer is placed at the left 
end of the word. If the pointer is somewhere in the 
middle of a word when RIGHT or LEFT is pressed, the 
whole word will be read and the pointer will move to 
the end of the word in the direction indicated by the 
key that was pressed. If the pointer is at the end of a 
line when RIGHT is pressed, outSPOKEN reads the first 
word on the next line. A similar action results from 
pressing LEFT when the pointer is at the beginning of a 
line: outSPOKEN reads the last word of the previous 
line.
To read the current word without moving the pointer, 
use the SHIFT key with READ (SHIFT-KPD 0). This reads 
whatever word is currently under the pointer. If the 
pointer is on an icon or symbol, the name of the 
graphic is spoken.
Reading by word allows the user to move the pointer to 
icons and symbols (Section 3.2). Each graphic is 
treated as an individual word. By using the RIGHT and 
LEFT commands, the pointer can easily be placed on a 
graphic. Since icons and symbols have no real beginning 
or end, the pointer is placed in the center of any 
graphic that outSPOKEN moves to. When the pointer is 
placed on a graphic, the name of the item is spoken in 
the Graphic Voice (Sections 5.1.1, 5.2.1), which is 
usually higher in pitch than the Text Voice. This 
feature provides the outSPOKEN user easy access to any 
graphics on the screen.
outSPOKEN's system of navigation through text makes it 
quick and easy to place the pointer at either the 
beginning or end of a word. These functions are built 
into the reading commands themselves. For example, when 
reading text with the RIGHT key, the pointer moves to 
the end of each word as it is read. When reading with 
the LEFT key, the pointer moves to the beginning of 
each word. This means that pressing RIGHT and then LEFT 
when reading text reads the same word twice, but places 
the pointer first at the end and then at the beginning 
of the word. 
As explained above, outSPOKEN's RIGHT and LEFT keys can 
also be used to move the pointer to the center of the 
next or previous graphic, respectively. Pressing RIGHT 
or LEFT when on a graphic moves the pointer immediately 
to the next or previous item. For example, if the 
pointer is on an icon, and RIGHT is pressed, the 
pointer moves to the next item. If that item is a 
graphic, the pointer is placed at its center; if it is 
a word of text, the pointer is placed at the word's 
end. 
4.2.3	Reading by Character
Use the SHIFT key in conjunction with RIGHT (SHIFT-KPD 
6) and LEFT (SHIFT-KPD 4) to read right and left by 
character. If RIGHT is pressed while the SHIFT key is 
depressed, the character to the right of the pointer is 
spoken, and the pointer is moved to the right by one 
character. If the LEFT command is issued with the SHIFT 
key depressed, the character to the left is spoken, and 
the pointer is moved to the left of that character. If 
the previous or next character is a space, using SHIFT-
LEFT or SHIFT-RIGHT, respectively, will say "Space."
When reading by character, graphics are treated as if 
they were characters. This means that in a row of 
icons, for example, pressing SHIFT-RIGHT moves from 
icon to icon.
outSPOKEN has the ability to announce all punctuation 
as it reads. This setting can be adjusted to set the 
desired level of punctuation (Section 5.1.6). When 
reading by character, however, all punctuation is 
spoken regardless of the punctuation setting.
4.2.4	Other Reading Commands
READ REST OF WINDOW (CTRL-KPD 3) reads the contents of 
the current window starting from the current pointer 
location and finishing at the bottom right of the 
window. The pointer is moved to the end of the window 
when this command is executed.
SPELL CURRENT WORD (CTRL-KPD 0) spells the current 
word. This command does not move the pointer.
SPELL MILITARY (CTRL-SHIFT-KPD 0) is a command designed 
to clarify letter pronunciation when spelling. 
Occasionally, a speech synthesizer's pronunciation 
makes it difficult to distinguish certain letters from 
one another. To clarify any pronunciation ambiguities, 
outSPOKEN's SPELL MILITARY command says "alpha," for 
the letter a, "bravo," for the letter b, etc. The 
pointer is not moved when this command is executed. 
4.3	outSPOKEN's Movement Commands
In addition to moving the pointer by reading lines, 
words, and characters (Section 4.3), it is possible to 
move the pointer to a variety of locations without 
reading the intervening text. outSPOKEN provides a 
number of commands that move the pointer to locations 
of particular interest within each window. The 
following section describes some of the most important, 
including TOP (KPD 7), BOTTOM (KPD 3), MENU BAR (SHIFT-
KPD 7), and more.
4.3.1	Moving to Top and Bottom
The top-left and bottom-right corners of a window are 
two extremely useful places to be able to access 
quickly and easily. outSPOKEN's TOP OF WINDOW (KPD 7) 
and BOTTOM OF WINDOW (KPD 3) commands do just this. 
These commands allow the outSPOKEN user to move to a 
known location within a window. This feature makes it 
much easier to explore unfamiliar windows.
The TOP OF WINDOW command (KPD 7) takes the pointer to 
the top-left corner of any window, whether it is a 
document, a dialog, or a menu. When TOP is pressed, 
outSPOKEN says "Top" in the System Voice (Section 
5.1.1) and places the pointer below any title or menu 
bars. If these features are absent from the window, TOP 
places the pointer at the extreme upper left of the 
window. In a word processor document, for example, 
pressing TOP places the pointer at the top of the 
visible text in the window, but below the title bar. 
RIGHT (KPD 6) or DOWN (KPD 2) can then be used to read 
the text (Section 4.2).
The BOTTOM OF WINDOW command (KPD 3) also works in any 
window, dialog, or menu. When BOTTOM is pressed, 
outSPOKEN says "Bottom" in the System Voice and places 
the pointer in the extreme lower-right corner of the 
window. To read the bottom line of a window, for 
example, the user would press BOTTOM, then UP (KPD 8) 
(Section 4.2.1).
4.3.2	Moving to the Menu Bar
Moving the pointer to the menu bar (Section 3.3.1.2) is 
an extremely common and useful thing to be able to do. 
Pressing SHIFT with the TOP key (SHIFT-KPD 7) places the 
pointer just to the left of the left-most item in the 
menu bar. The RIGHT command (KPD 6) can then be used to 
move the pointer to the menu title of interest. As 
explained in the section referenced above, clicking on 
the title of a menu pulls that menu down, and the 
pointer is placed in the upper-left corner of the menu. 
outSPOKEN's reading and navigation commands can then be 
used to move to and select a menu choice.
4.3.3	Moving to the Control Menus
CONTROL MENU-CHILD WINDOW (CTRL-KPD 7) places the 
pointer on the Control menu in the title bar of the 
current child window (Section 3.3.1.4). If the current 
window is not a child window, the pointer is not moved 
from its previous location. If the pointer is inside a 
child window, the pointer is placed on the Control menu 
in the extreme upper-left corner of the window and 
outSPOKEN says "Control menu."
CONTROL MENU-PARENT WINDOW (CTRL-SHIFT-KPD 7) places the 
pointer on the Control menu of the current parent 
window (Section 3.3.1.4). If the pointer is inside a 
child of that parent, the pointer moves to the parent 
window and outSPOKEN says "Control menu."
It should be noted that once in the parent window, 
pressing the command to go to the child window's 
control menu will have no effect, since the pointer is 
no longer in a child window.
4.3.4	Moving to Window Edges
The pointer can be moved to any of the four edges of a 
window by pressing one of outSPOKEN's direction keys in 
conjunction with the CTRL key (CTRL-KPD 2, CTRL-KPD 4, 
CTRL-KPD 6, CTRL-KPD 8). This set of commands moves the 
pointer to the edge of the current window corresponding 
to the direction key pressed. When the pointer is moved 
to either the right or left edge of the window, the 
vertical position is not changed; the pointer is only 
moved horizontally. Similarly, when the pointer is 
moved to either the top or bottom edges, only its 
vertical location is changed. As an example, to move to 
the top edge of a window, the user holds down the CTRL 
key and presses the UP key (CTRL-KPD 8) to invoke the 
TOP EDGE command. The pointer is moved to the extreme 
top of the window, but retains its original horizontal 
position.
4.3.5	Moving by Small Increments
Most outSPOKEN commands move the pointer from object to 
object within a window. The POINTER UP, POINTER DOWN, 
POINTER LEFT, and POINTER RIGHT commands are unique in 
that they move the pointer regardless of whether there 
is an object to move to. Holding down CTRL and SHIFT 
while pressing one of outSPOKEN's direction keys (CTRL-
SHIFT-KPD 2, CTRL-SHIFT-KPD 4, CTRL-SHIFT-KPD 6, CTRL-
SHIFT-KPD 8) moves the pointer seven pixels in the 
direction corresponding to that direction key. This 
gives the outSPOKEN user finer pointer control than can 
be achieved with the reading commands. It also provides 
the ability to move the pointer to empty spaces between 
objects in a window. These commands also differ from 
the reading commands in that they allow the pointer to 
be moved across window boundaries. 
4.4	outSPOKEN's FIND Commands
outSPOKEN's FIND TEXT/GRAPHIC command (KPD 1) is a 
powerful tool for placing the pointer on a particular 
text string or graphic in the current window. With the 
SHIFT key, FIND searches for a caret, and with the CTRL 
key, FIND moves to, and reads, highlighted text. This 
section describes FIND and all its features in detail.
Searching the entire active window for a particular 
string of text is easy with FIND TEXT/GRAPHIC (KPD 1). 
When the FIND key is pressed, outSPOKEN says "Find," to 
let the user know that it is ready to perform a search. 
The user then types the text to be searched for and 
presses oENTER. outSPOKEN begins by searching down from 
the pointer location. If nothing is found, the search 
wraps. This means that the search is continued from the 
top of the window. When outSPOKEN finds a match, the 
newly found text is spoken, and the pointer is placed 
at the end of the text that was found. If the text that 
was searched for is contained within a larger word, 
outSPOKEN speaks the entire word that was found, but 
places the pointer at the end of the actual text that 
was searched for. For example, if the word "elephant" 
is in the window, and the user searches for the text 
"leph", the word "elephant" is found and spoken, but 
the pointer is placed between the "h" and the "a" of 
"elephant."
It should be noted that FIND TEXT/GRAPHIC is not case 
sensitive unless specifically requested (see below). 
This means that only letter sequence is important, and 
not the capitalization of individual letters. For 
example, if the upper-case word "DOS" is in the current 
window, and the user does a search for the lower-case 
word "dos", the upper-case word will still be found. 
FIND TEXT/GRAPHIC can also locate icons and symbols by 
name (Section 5.2). After pressing FIND, simply type 
all or part of the name of a graphic and terminate the 
FIND request with oENTER. outSPOKEN searches the entire 
window for a graphic with a name which contains the 
search request. When an icon or symbol matching the 
search request is found, outSPOKEN speaks the name of 
the graphic in the Graphic Voice (Section 5.1.1) and 
places the pointer on the graphic. Note that this is 
the same way that the user searches for a string of 
text. Thus, if there is text in the window that also 
matches the FIND request for a graphic, that text may 
be found instead. To exclude text from a search for a 
graphic, simply type a CTRL-G after pressing the FIND 
key, enter the graphic name to be searched for, and 
then press oENTER. It should also be noted that only 
graphics that are turned on (Section 5.2) are locatable 
with FIND, unless Verbose Graphics is selected in the 
Graphics Preferences sub-dialog (Section 5.1.3).
FIND TEXT/GRAPHIC can search for text or graphics in a 
particular direction. To perform a directional search, 
terminate the FIND request with one of outSPOKEN's 
direction keys (Section 4.3) instead of the oENTER key. 
Terminating the FIND request with the RIGHT (KPD 6) or 
DOWN (KPD 2) key searches from the pointer location to 
the bottom of the window. Terminating the FIND request 
with the LEFT (KPD 4) or UP (KPD 8) key searches from 
the pointer location to the top of the window. If 
nothing is found in the specific direction, outSPOKEN 
says "Not found," and does not wrap around to search 
the other areas of the screen. It is important to note 
that when searching backwards using LEFT or UP, the 
pointer is placed at the beginning of any text it 
finds, rather than at the end. For example, if the word 
"pickle" is in the window, and the user searches 
backwards for the word "ick", the pointer will be 
placed between the "p" and the "i" of "pickle". Or, if 
the user searches backwards for the word "pick", the 
pointer will be placed at the beginning of the word 
"pickle".
FIND TEXT/GRAPHIC can be used to search for particular 
text attributes, such as highlight, underline, or bold. 
Searches for attributes are performed by pressing FIND 
followed by a CTRL character representing the attribute 
of interest (e.g., CTRL-H for highlight or CTRL-U for 
underline). To begin the search for that attribute, the 
user can search the entire screen, by pressing oENTER, 
or search only in a particular direction, by pressing 
an outSPOKEN direction key. When text with the 
appropriate attribute is found, outSPOKEN reads all the 
continuous text written in that attribute. When 
searching forward, the pointer is placed at the end of 
the text that is in the attribute of interest; when 
searching backward, the pointer is placed at the 
beginning of the text. Terminating a search request 
with oENTER searches the entire window for the 
attribute and places the pointer at the end of that 
section of text.
A FIND for attribute can be modified by using attribute 
CTRL keys in conjunction with one another. For example, 
the user could search the whole window for only 
highlighted underlined text by pressing FIND, followed 
by CTRL-H, then CTRL-U, then oENTER. To limit a search 
even further, the user could include a particular text 
string with attribute CTRL keys. To search the entire 
screen for the highlighted and underlined name "Joyce", 
the user would press the FIND key, followed by CTRL-H, 
then CTRL-U, then type the word "Joyce", and then press 
oENTER. Even if there are a number of occurrences of 
"Joyce" in the window, outSPOKEN will find only the 
ones that are highlighted and underlined. 
Attribute CTRL Keys:
CTRL-B	Search for bold text.
CTRL-C	Perform a case-sensitive FIND.
CTRL-D	Search for dimmed text.
CTRL-G	Search for graphic.
CTRL-H	Search for highlighted text.
CTRL-I	Search for italic text.
CTRL-P	Search for plain text.
CTRL-T	Search for strike-through text.
CTRL-- Search for underlined text.
When searching for multiple attributes, the order in 
which the CTRL keys are pressed is unimportant, but it 
should be noted that some of these attribute searches 
behave differently from the others. These exceptions 
are listed below.
Case sensitivity (CTRL-C) is not a text attribute, but 
can be an important distinction when searching for 
text. For most searches, it is preferable to have 
outSPOKEN ignore any differences in capitalization 
between the search request and the found text. This 
makes it easier to find a word when the capitalization 
is unknown. If, however, the user is searching for a 
title or other word with known capitalization, using 
CTRL-C prevents FIND from locating the lowercase 
occurrence of that word.
Highlighting (CTRL-H) is an extremely important thing 
to be able to find quickly because Windows uses 
highlighting to indicate selected items. To facilitate 
finding highlighted text, outSPOKEN provides a FIND 
HIGHLIGHT shortcut. Pressing the CTRL key with the FIND 
KEY (CTRL-KPD 1) behaves exactly as if the user had 
pressed FIND, then CTRL-H, then oENTER. It searches for 
the next occurrence of highlighting in the window, and, 
if none is found, it will wrap around and continue 
searching from the top of the window.
Plain text (CTRL-P) searches for text with no special 
attributes. This means that when CTRL-P is used, only 
text without any attributes will be found.
It is important to note that some types of attribute 
searches are not compatible with others. One cannot 
search for bold and plain text, because plain indicates 
the absence of bold (or any other attribute). 
Similarly, it is not possible to search for an 
underlined graphic, because underlining is a text 
attribute and is not applicable to the concept of an 
icon or symbol. For this reason, if there is a conflict 
between any attribute CTRL keys, the most recent one 
overrides any previous ones. For example, if FIND is 
pressed, followed by CTRL-B for bold, then CTRL-P for 
plain, outSPOKEN searches for plain text, and ignores 
the CTRL-B.
4.5	outSPOKEN's INFO Commands
The INFO key (KPD PERIOD) reports attribute, current 
character, and font information for text, as well as 
the size and shape of icons and symbols. Pressing the 
INFO key with CTRL and SHIFT reports the pointer's 
location on screen, or, with CTRL alone, the pointer's 
location within the current window.
4.5.1	Font and Graphic Information
Each letter written on the screen has a font, a size, 
and an attribute. A font is a style of type which has a 
distinctive look and name. Many fonts are named after 
cities or corporations, and may have some descriptive 
terms in the name, such as "sans serif," meaning that 
there are no serifs on the letters. 
A font size is measured in "points," referring to the 
height of the letters. The larger a letter, the greater 
the number of points. 
An attribute is a way of enhancing a font to emphasize 
or distinguish some words from others. Underlining, 
bold, italic, and dimmed are examples of attributes.
The user can ask outSPOKEN to report the attribute, 
font, and size of the current letter (the letter to the 
right of the pointer), as well as the name of that 
letter, by pressing the INFO key. The only exception to 
this rule is when the pointer is at the end of a line. 
In this case, there is no current letter, so outSPOKEN 
reports on the info for the last letter of the line 
(the letter to the left of the pointer).
When reporting size, outSPOKEN speaks the height of 
that font in pixels, rather than points. If your screen 
resolution is 72 dots per inch, the point size of a 
font exactly corresponds to the pixel height reported 
by outSPOKEN. Higher resolution video modes have 
smaller pixels, and therefore must use more pixels to 
draw a letter of the appropriate height. For example, a 
12 point font at a high video resolution may be 15 
pixels high. 
If the pointer is on an icon or symbol when INFO is 
pressed, outSPOKEN reports the size of the graphic, 
rather than style information. This is because font and 
attribute information do not apply to graphics. The 
size of a graphic is given in the form of "X by Y Pixel 
Graphic," where X is the horizontal measurement in 
pixels and Y is the vertical measurement. This gives 
the user a general idea of the size and shape of the 
graphic.
4.5.2	Pointer Location Information
WINDOW NAME (CTRL-KPD SLASH) is an extremely convenient 
command. It reports the name of the current window 
without moving the pointer. If the pointer is in a 
child window, such as a document window of a word 
processor, this command speaks the name of the child 
window; if the pointer is in an application window, the 
name of the application window is read. In a menu, this 
command reports that the pointer is in a menu, but does 
not give the name of that menu. When used in a dialog 
box, WINDOW NAME reads the dialog's title. 
For more exact pointer location information, 
outSPOKEN's WHERE commands can be used. WHERE IN WINDOW 
(CTRL-KPD PERIOD) reports the location of the pointer 
with respect to the upper left corner of the current 
window, and WHERE ON SCREEN (CTRL-SHIFT-KPD PERIOD) 
reports the location of the pointer with respect to the 
upper left corner of the entire screen. Pointer 
locations are given in terms of percentage over and 
percentage down from the upper left corner of either 
the current window or the screen. For example, if the 
pointer is in the upper-left corner of a window which 
is located in the lower-right corner of the screen, 
pressing the WHERE IN WINDOW command might say 
something like "zero by fifteen." This means that the 
pointer is zero percent across the window (at the far 
left), and fifteen percent down the window (probably 
just below the title bar). Pressing the WHERE ON SCREEN 
command might say "fifty by sixty-three." This means 
that the pointer is fifty percent across the screen 
(halfway between the left and the right sides), and 
slightly more than halfway down the screen (slightly 
closer to the bottom than to the top). 
4.6	Switching Windows with outSPOKEN
Most of outSPOKEN's reading and movement commands 
(Section 4.2-4.3) restrict the pointer's movement to 
the current window. While this is important for reading 
documents or navigating menus and dialogs, it is also 
important to be able to switch quickly and easily from 
one window to another. Part of the power of the Windows 
interface is in its ability to display several windows 
at once, each with different information. The sighted 
user simply moves the pointer to the desired window and 
clicks the mouse button to activate the new window. The 
outSPOKEN user has a WINDOW MENU (SHIFT-KPD SLASH) to 
perform this same function.
outSPOKEN's WINDOW MENU (SHIFT-KPD SLASH) presents all 
visible windows in a hierarchical menu. The outSPOKEN 
WINDOW MENU lists every visible application window. If 
that window has child windows_such as document windows, 
dialog boxes, or other sub-windows_that entry in the 
WINDOW MENU has a sub-menu (Section 3.3.2) consisting 
of these children. If one of these child windows is 
selected from the sub-menu, the pointer is placed in 
that window. Clicking once then activates the window 
and brings it to the front.
The order in which the application windows are listed 
in the WINDOW MENU is determined by which application 
is currently active. The first item in the outSPOKEN 
WINDOW MENU is always the active application window. 
The subsequent entries are listed in the order of their 
last use.
Each application window's sub-menu contains its child 
windows, and they are also listed in the order of their 
last use. Most dialog boxes are also listed in these 
application sub-menus. 
outSPOKEN provides a shortcut command for placing the 
pointer in the currently active window. The TOP WINDOW 
command (KPD SLASH) places the pointer at the top-left 
corner of the active window. This command is extremely 
useful for returning to the active window if the 
pointer accidentally moves to a non-active window. 
It should be noted that there are occasionally windows 
which do not notify outSPOKEN of their presence. The 
TOP WINDOW command can be used to go to these windows. 
4.7	Additional outSPOKEN Commands
In general, the commands listed in this section are 
less frequently used, but are still extremely useful 
and powerful in appropriate situations. A casual skim 
of this section is probably the best way to become 
familiar with the existence of these less common 
commands.
FIND CARET (SHIFT-KPD 1) automatically places the 
pointer at the location of the text insertion point, or 
caret (Section 3.1). When the pointer is placed on the 
caret, outSPOKEN says "caret" to notify the user that 
the relocation was successful. If no caret is found, a 
beep is produced from the PC's speaker or from a sound 
card if one is installed. This command is extremely 
useful in such places as edit boxes and word 
processors, where knowledge of the caret's location is 
critical.
MOUSE DOWN/UP (KPD 9) toggles the mouse button down and 
up. A single press of the DRAG key simulates the mouse 
button being held down, and outSPOKEN says "Mouse 
Down." The pointer can then be moved with outSPOKEN 
commands to highlight text or drag an item to a new 
location (Section 3.1). When the pointer has reached 
its new location, the mouse button can be released by 
pressing the DRAG key again. At this point, outSPOKEN 
says "Mouse Up," indicating that the simulated mouse 
button has been released and the drag action is 
complete.
VOICE RATE FASTER (CTRL-SHIFT-KPD PLUS) increases the 
Baseline Voice rate by one step. This is a shortcut to 
editing the Rate edit box in the Voice Preferences sub-
dialog (Section 5.1.1). It is a temporary way of 
changing the voice rate. The faster voice rate is not 
saved to disk when the rate is changed using this 
command. This means that any voice rate changes made 
with this command will no longer be in effect after 
quitting and restarting outSPOKEN. 
VOICE RATE SLOWER (CTRL-SHIFT-KPD ENTER) is the inverse 
of the command listed above. This command reduces the 
rate of the Baseline Voice by one step. This is a 
shortcut to editing the Rate edit box in the Voice 
Preferences sub-dialog (Section 5.1.1). It is a 
temporary way of changing the voice rate. The slower 
voice rate is not saved to disk when the rate is 
changed using this command. This means that any voice 
rate changes made with this command will no longer be 
in effect after quitting and restarting outSPOKEN. 
STOP (KPD ENTER) causes outSPOKEN to immediately stop 
speaking. Nothing will be said until some other key is 
pressed. This command is most useful in conjunction 
with SAY-ON.
outSPOKEN OFF (CTRL-SHIFT-O) turns outSPOKEN off. This 
command has the same effect as terminating the 
application from the Windows Task List, but is easier 
and quicker. [Please note that this is the letter "O", 
typed from the keyboard, and not the number zero. This 
is the only outSPOKEN command not located on the 
numeric keypad.]
SAY-ON (CTRL-KPD ENTER), also called Automatic Text, is 
a command most commonly used with windowed DOS sessions 
or with terminal emulation applications. This feature 
toggles on and off with this command. When the feature 
is turned on, outSPOKEN speaks all text as the text is 
written to the screen, instead of waiting for it to be 
reviewed with reading commands. The text that is read 
when this feature is on is not limited to the current 
window. Generally, SAY-ON is inactive, to prevent 
outSPOKEN from speaking too much text as windows are 
drawn and re-drawn. This feature can also be turned on 
and off via a check box in the outSPOKEN System 
Preferences sub-dialog, and is explained more fully in 
that section (Section 5.1.8).
4.8	Using Built-in Microsoft Windows Commands with 
outSPOKEN
Although outSPOKEN supports a full range of features 
allowing the outSPOKEN user to point and click, many 
Windows functions have keyboard shortcuts which perform 
the same action as that of the mouse pointer. These 
keyboard commands generally involve the use of the TAB 
key, the ALT key, or the ARROW keys, and perform 
functions such as changing highlight and focus, 
switching between windows and applications, and pulling 
down and selecting from menus. These built-in Windows 
commands provide convenient alternative access to 
functions that are usually performed with the mouse. 
outSPOKEN provides all the feedback and functionality 
necessary for using these built-in Windows shortcuts. 
The following section is a brief summary of these 
shortcuts and the way outSPOKEN interacts with them.
Please note that this is not a complete set 
of instructions on how to use built-in 
Windows commands. For more information about 
Windows commands, see your Microsoft Windows 
User Manual.
To explain how outSPOKEN supports Windows commands, it 
is important to understand the concepts of highlighting 
and focus. Microsoft Windows uses highlighting, which 
usually appears as inverse text, to indicate an item 
which is currently selected. Highlighting has different 
meanings depending on the situation. When a menu is 
pulled down, for example, the first item is 
highlighted, indicating that if the user presses 
oENTER, that item will be chosen from the menu. In a 
group window in Program Manager, there is always a 
highlighted program item. If oENTER is pressed, that 
program item will be launched. In a dialog's list box, 
the file that is highlighted will be read or written 
when the dialog is dismissed.
While highlighting indicates selected text, focus 
indicates a selected window or control. A window that 
has focus is generally indicated by inverted colors in 
its border. When a window or control has the focus, it 
means that anything typed from the keyboard performs 
some operation on that window or control. When a window 
becomes active, it has been given the focus. Similarly, 
opening a menu causes that menu to gain the focus. When 
a dialog box opens, if there is a default button, such 
as OK, that is the control which has the focus. 
The ALT key
The ALT key is most frequently used in combination with 
a letter key to pull down a menu from the menu bar. For 
example, holding down the ALT key while pressing the 
letter "F" usually pulls down the File menu from the 
menu bar of the active application. Similarly, holding 
ALT and pressing the "H" key pulls down the Help menu. 
Such shortcuts involving the ALT key are called 
"hotkeys." Because each application has its own menu 
titles, these hotkeys change from application to 
application. The standard way of indicating that a menu 
can be pulled down with a hotkey combination is to 
underline a single letter in the menu title_often the 
first letter. This underlined letter is the menu's 
hotkey. For example, a File menu which has the letter 
"F" underlined can be accessed via the hotkey 
combination ALT-F.
When a menu is pulled down by way of a hotkey 
combination, outSPOKEN says "Menu" (Section 5.1.4). 
outSPOKEN places the pointer in the menu, and the 
highlighted menu item_usually the first one_is read 
(Section 5.1.7). This is the same result one would get 
by clicking on the menu's title with the pointer. 
Once a menu has been pulled down, there are a number of 
ways to make a selection. outSPOKEN's reading commands 
(Section 4.2) can be used to explore the menu, and when 
the pointer is on the desired menu item, outSPOKEN's 
SELECT key (KPD 5) can be pressed. A second method is 
to use the UP-ARROW and DOWN-ARROW keys to shift the 
highlighting to the previous or next menu item. Each 
time the highlighting moves, the newly highlighted item 
is read, and the pointer moves to the end of the newly 
highlighted item. When the desired item is highlighted, 
pressing the oENTER key dismisses the menu and executes 
the menu selection. A third method of making a menu 
choice is yet another Windows built-in command. Each of 
the items in the menu has a single underlined letter 
which is frequently the first letter of the item. 
Pressing this letter on the keyboard automatically 
selects that item and dismisses the menu. This feature 
is frequently used by advanced users who are familiar 
with the available menu choices, and who know from 
experience the name of the option they are seeking.
The ALT key performs a number of special functions in 
Windows. In an application, a single press of the ALT 
key highlights the first menu title in the menu bar. As 
with all other highlighting, outSPOKEN reads the newly 
highlighted item and places the pointer at the end of 
the highlighted item. When a menu title is highlighted, 
pressing the RIGHT-ARROW or LEFT-ARROW key shifts the 
highlight to other menu titles. Pressing oENTER pulls 
down the menu which is currently highlighted. If the 
ALT or ESC key is pressed when a menu is already pulled 
down, the menu is dismissed, and no selection is made. 
Dialog boxes frequently contain controls, such as 
buttons or check boxes, which can be selected by using 
a hotkey combination. For example, pressing ALT-O in a 
dialog box is often the same as clicking on the OK 
button. As in a menu bar, hotkeys within dialog boxes 
are indicated by a single underlined letter in the name 
of the control. As in menu titles, the first letter of 
the control name is frequently chosen to be the hotkey. 
These dialog control hotkeys are generally used by 
advanced users who are already familiar with the layout 
and controls of a particular dialog box. 
The ARROW Keys
It is important not to confuse the ARROW keys with 
outSPOKEN's direction keys. The ARROW keys are located 
between the main keyboard and the outSPOKEN keypad, in 
a group of four keys arranged in the shape of an 
upside-down print "T". The single key at the top of 
this group is the UP-ARROW, and the one directly below 
that is the DOWN-ARROW. The keys to the left and right 
of the DOWN-ARROW are the LEFT-ARROW and RIGHT-ARROW, 
respectively. 
Like hotkeys and the TAB key, ARROW keys do different 
things depending on the current active window. In most 
situations, ARROW keys move highlighting from one item 
to another. In a menu, for example, pressing the UP-
ARROW or DOWN-ARROW key will highlight the previous or 
next menu item. In Program Manager group windows, the 
ARROW keys shift the highlighting from one item to 
another. In many dialog controls (such as list and 
group boxes), the UP-ARROW and DOWN-ARROW keys shift 
highlighting within the focused control as they would 
in a menu. In an edit box or word processor, the RIGHT-
ARROW and LEFT-ARROW keys move the caret right or left by 
one character (Section 5.1.7). If a button or check box 
is highlighted, the ARROW keys move the focus between 
controls.
Focus speaking and tracking can be adjusted in the 
outSPOKEN Tracking Preferences sub-dialog. The Tracking 
Preferences sub-dialog offers the option of having 
outSPOKEN speak each newly highlighted item, and the 
option of having outSPOKEN move the pointer to each 
newly highlighted item. By default, as new items are 
highlighted, outSPOKEN reads the highlighted item and 
moves the pointer to the end of the highlighted area. 
This makes it extremely convenient for the outSPOKEN 
user to switch between outSPOKEN's pointer navigation 
commands and Windows' built-in commands, depending on 
what is most useful in a given situation. 
Another important use of the ARROW keys is to move the 
caret around in a text document. When using a text 
editor, such as Write or Notepad, pressing the ARROW 
keys moves the caret around within the text. Generally, 
the UP-ARROW and DOWN-ARROW keys move the caret up or 
down by one line at a time, while the RIGHT-ARROW and 
LEFT-ARROW keys move the caret right or left by a single 
character at a time. As the caret moves, outSPOKEN's 
default setting is to move the pointer to follow, and 
read the new line or character. From the Tracking 
Preferences sub-dialog (Section 5.1.7), the Follow 
Caret feature, which automatically moves the pointer to 
follow the caret whenever it moves, can be turned on 
and off. This dialog also provides the ability to turn 
on or off the Read Caret feature, which performs such 
functions as reading lines or letters when the ARROW 
keys are pressed in situations involving editable text 
(Section 5.1.7).
Please note that only editable text can be read with 
ARROW keys, because the caret cannot move beyond the 
editable region. To read menu bars, title bars, and 
scroll bars, it is most useful to use outSPOKEN's 
reading and navigation commands (Section 4.2-4.3).
The TAB Key
The TAB key is most commonly used within dialog boxes 
(Section 3.3.3) to shift the focus from one control to 
another. Pressing TAB in a dialog box might move the 
focus from the OK button to the Cancel button. Another 
TAB might shift focus to a combo box (Section 3.3.3.2), 
while yet another might bring the focus to a list box 
(Section 3.3.3.5). As each new control gains the focus, 
outSPOKEN moves the pointer to that control, and the 
highlighted item is spoken in the Focus Voice (Section 
5.1.1). The ARROW keys can then be used to shift 
highlighting within the focused control, or the 
outSPOKEN user can use the pointer to read or navigate 
away from the highlighted item.
Pressing TAB with the ALT key toggles the user through 
the list of active applications. This is an example of 
the "multi-tasking" ability of Windows. As the ALT-TAB 
command is pressed, outSPOKEN says the name of the 
application that will become active if the ALT key is 
released. If the ALT key is held down, and TAB is 
pressed again, another application's name will be 
highlighted and spoken. This allows the Windows user to 
quickly and easily switch from one active application 
to another.
Please note that all functions of Microsoft 
Windows are fully documented in the Microsoft 
Windows Users Manual. There are also a number 
of books published about Windows by third 
parties. For a list of titles, contact your 
local library or book store. Recordings for 
the Blind can also supply a list of titles 
currently available on tape or in electronic 
media.

