Focus Mode and Browse Mode in NVDA? What is that?

If you are frustrated and start thinking why your Yahoo Mail, Gmail in standard view and Google drive is not Blind friendly, this writing may help you.

About 7 to 8 years ago, I was so frustrated with my Yahoo mail as the Yahoo Classic view were discontinued. The new Full feature to me is a nightmare as it is totally not accessible in comparison with the classic view that I have used to. In fact, I did some research on the shortcut key they have in the Full Feature, and attempted to use it. I ended up frustrated as none of those keys written there working. I gave up Yahoo mail and tried out Gmail as most of my Blind friend agreed to be more accessible, especially the basic html view, though it was not design for accessibility but for slow internet speed.

Long story short, I realized that it was not the mail provider, but myself who was not knowing that NVDA has something call focus mode to make these keys works.

For any NVDA user, you may realise that every time you are inserting a text on a search / edit box on the internet, there will be this “Ted” sound. The same goes to selecting items in a Combo box.  The common idea is that the sound meant to indicate that we are typing or not. But the truth is, we are switching between focus mode and browse mode. In short, if you are typing on an edit box, you are actually in focus mode, and while reading through an article on internet, you are using a browse mode.

The following is my simple understanding about browse mode and Focus mode in NVDA

·         Browse mode allows user to READ / browse through a webpage, word document and HTML files with some short cut keys. And these keys are usually element related, (element such as link, heading, graphics, table and more)

·         Browse mode allows you to jump from one element to another using a single letter navigation key, e.g. press k to the next link and press h jump to the next heading.

·         Focus mode enable you to focus on element and perform certain ACTION which include but not limited to executing instruction, typing, selecting items and more.

·         Focus mode allows you to type out the letters and use special keys that is featured in Gmail, Yahoo Mail, YouTube, Google Drive and more.

It is also important to note that NVDA will automatically switch its mode, e.g. NVDA go to focus mode (in the edit box) when we go to google search, depending on situation. However sometime, we can switch it manually by using NVDA Key + Space, especially we are intentionally using it to do certain thing. You will hear the similar “Ted” sound whenever you are entering an edit box, and you will hear “tum” sound, just like exiting an edit box, to change back to browse mode.

To see how useful is your focus mode, you can go to YouTube and play a video, and in focus mode (NVDA+space), press left or right arrow, press K or F. You will learn how cool it is to work with Focus Mode on YouTube. Remember, the focus mode can be activated in anywhere but not on an edit box or a combo box as it will mean that we are entering these elements. I wish you good luck to try out the focus mode!

A Brief on Screen Reader and Speech Synthesizer

Your gadget can read to you what they have on screen. Let’s explore further. Since 1986, this assistive technology has been developed to help the visually impaired to operate computer, and yeah, it is called screen reader.

Screen reader is a software that translate texts and elements (e.g. Graphics, Links, headings) and input (e.g. typing, mouse) to voice output through speech synthesizer and braille. In short, screen reader helps to read out and braille out whatever that appears on the screen. Speech synthesizer on the other hand is an artificial voice production that helps to convert text to speech output. It can be used by screen reader or other software/hardware for various purposes, such as how  Professor Stephen Hawking used speech synthesis technology to share his mind with us.

Do you know? Hatsune Miku is a singing synthesizer. The virtual pop star’s voice is provided by Saki Fujita, a singer and voice actor in Anime. You can read more about Miku, the Virtual Pop Star here. 

Just like any product, Screen reader has its own brand. Some of the major player include JAWs for Windows by Freedom Scientific and NonVisual Desktop Access (NVDA) by NV Access. Each screen reader is pre-equipped with a speech synthesizer, or text to speech engine. However the speech synthesizer can be purchase and added for better reading or for other language. For instance, NVDA can make good use of Microsoft API as their speech synthesizer. In a non-technical term, changing the speech synthesizer is like changing a reader for your computer / phone. Some reader may sound good at certain language, thus changing them to suit different purpose is a good practice.

If you are curious, the following screen reader is equipped with the following synthesizer by default.

Screen Reader	Default Synthesizer
JAWs and Windows Eyes	Eloquence
NVDA	eSpeak
Microsoft Narrator	Windows API/Core Voices
Talkback for Android	Google TTS

For me, they are 3 ways to evaluate how good a speech synthesizer is, which is through 1) how does it perform in high speed reading, 2) how clear the reading is, and 3) how natural (human sounding) it is while reading.

Finally, for you who are curious on how to activate your screen reader in your device, please

1.       Press Ctrl + Win + Enter to turn on Narrator for windows PC

2.       In your android phone, Go to setting > accessibility > Vision > Talkback (Please note that some device may have different directory of turning on talkback)

And do Check out this post to activate your default screen reader in your Apple iPhone

Screen reader for iOS Devices.

Do you know that iOS devices also have a build in screen reader? I will share regarding screen reader for Apple iPhone. It also can be use in other iOS devices. For example, iPad,mac book Air/Pro and Apple Watch. The build in screen reader is called Voice Over. It uses Vocalizer TTS which is human sounding voices. When you turn on Voice Over, you will hear Samantha by default. You also can choose varieties of voice that you want. E.g, Daniel,Karren and Eva. Voice Over can be activate from Settings>General>Accessibility>Voice Over. You can turn on Voice Over by pressing the toggel button to on possition Hopes that helps. Best regards..     

Pembaca Skrin dan Speech Synthesizer

Anda mungkin akan terkejut jika diberi tahu bahawa telefon pintar dan komputer anda boleh membacakan teks yang muncul pada kaca skrin anda. Ya betul. itulah yang berlaku. Fungsi ini adalah salah satu teknologi bantuan (assistive technology) yang dicipta untuk membantu mereka yang mengalami limitasi penglihatan untuk menggunakan komputer dan telefon pintar. Teknologi ini dipangil Pembaca skrin, dan ia sebenarnya telah dihasilkan pada abad ke 20 lagi.

Pembaca skrin secara umumnya merupakan perisian yang menterjemahkan perkataan, elemen (seperti gambar, pautan, dll) dan juga imput (seperti menaip, dan klik) kepada output suara melalui teknologi Speech synthesis atau enjen Teks kepada suara (Text to Speech) TTS Engine, dan juga output braille. Dalam erti yang lain, pembaca skrin membantu membacakan apa yang muncul pada skrin dan membolehkan pengguna membaca dalam bentuk brailld. Speech synthesis pula merupakan suara manusia buatan yang boleh digunakan dalam hardware dan software bagi tujuan tertentu. Profesor Stephen Hawking merupakan salah satu contoh yang jelas bagaimana speech synthesis membantu beliau mengatasi kesukaran dalam pertuturan.

Tahukah anda, Hatsune Miku merupakan Synthesis bernyanyi yang menggunakan suara cik Saki Fujita, seorang penyanyi dan pelakon suara Anime dari Jepun!  Anda boleh membaca lebih lanjut tentang Hatsune Miku di sini.

Pembaca skrin juga mempunyai 'Brand' yang berbeza. Antara yang paling popular di Malaysia adalah JAWs for Windows oleh Freedom Scientific dan Non Visual Desktop Access oleh NV Access bagi Komputer. Secara umumnya, setiap pembaca skrin dilengkapi dengan speech synthesizer tetapi synthesizer ini boleh ditambah mengikut kegunaan dan kesesuaian penggunanya. Sebagai contoh, NVDA boleh menggunakan speech synthesizer yang sedia ada di dalam Windows dan juga suara yang digunakan oleh JAWs. Dengan menukar tetapan Speech Synthesizer, pembaca skrin juga mampu membaca dalam bahasa yang berbeza dengan fasih. Antara speech synthesizer yang popular termasuklah Eloquence yang digunakan oleh JAWs dan Windows Eye, eSpeak yang digunakan oleh NVDA, Google TTS Engen yang digunakan oleh Talkback di Android, dan (Microsoft API / Windows Core Voices yang digunakan oleh Windows.  Synthesizer akan juga dinilai melalui kejelasan bacaannya, kelenturan suaranya yang menyerupai manusia dan juga kemampuannya untuk membaca dalam kelajuan yang tinggi. Oleh yand sedemikian, sesetengah synthesizer lebih digemari oleh pengguna, seperti Eloquence dan Microsoft API yang bukan sahaja jelas malahan seakan akan pembaca manusia.

Kepada anda yang berminat untuk menghidupkan pembaca skrin di Komputer anda, khususnya Windows, anda boleh menekan CTRL + Win + Enter. Symbol + bererti anda perlu menekan kesemua kekunci yang disebutkan serentak.  Untuk Telefon pintar Android pula, anda boleh menghidupkan pembaca skrin anda melalui tetapan (setting) dan seterusnya accessibility setting, dan kemudia Talkback. Amaran, sekiranya anda menghidupkan Talkback, telefon pintar anda akan dikendalikan dengan cara yang berbeza.

Introduction.

Hi there. I am Ryenaath. In this blog, I will share all kind of knowledge regarding Information Technology (IT). For your info, I am a Windows 10,JAWS,NVDA and Apple iPhone user I hope that this blog is beneficial to everyone. Best wishes.  .   

Pengenalan.

Hai semua. Sy Ryenaath. Di blog ini, sy akan kongsikan anda pelbagai ilmu berkaitan Teknologi Maklumat. Saya adalah pengguna Windows 10,JAWS,NVDA dan Apple iPhone. Semoga blog ini bermanfaat untuk anda. Terima kasih.     

Pengenalan

Blog ini akan bercerita tentang pembaca skrin, komputer, telefon pintar dan apa apa sahaja yang berkaitan dengan teknologi bantuan untuk OKU. Saya Ee Beng dan saya berharap Blog ini boleh membantu anda dalam perkara yang dibicarakan dalam blog ini, khususnya Non Visual Desktop Access, Microsoft Narrator, sedikit tentang Android Phone dan juga aplikasi-aplikasi lain yang sedang / telah membantu saya dalam kehidupan seharian.

Sekiranya anda pengguna Apple, JAWs for Windows, atau Linus, atau software pembaca skrin yang lain, anda akan dikecewakan, kerana saya tidak mempunyai ilmu untuk dikongsikan.  Tetapi rakan seblog saya, Ryenaath akan bersama anda untuk meneroka JAWs dan Apple di blog ini juga.  Nantikan Post Ryenaath.

Akhir kata, saya berharap blog ini boleh memberi bantuan kepada anda dalam bidang yang dibincangkan dan sekiranya ia berguna untuk anda, kongsikanlah dengan rakan anda.

Introduction

Yes, this blog is all about Screen Reader, Computer, Smartphone and some other tech related staffs. I am Ee Beng, and I wish my blog here can be beneficial to any who rely on screen technology to operate computer and Smartphone, specifically Non Visual Desktop Access, Microsoft Narrator, a little bit on Android Phone (Talkback) and from time to time, some other program that helps me in my daily life.

To my Apple and JAWs fan, I have to disappoint you because I have no knowledge about them. Oh, and the same goes to Linux friend as well.  However,  my friend Ryenaath. can help in JAWs and Apple based product. Do check out his post in this blog.

Some final words, I wish this blog can be of any help to you. Please share the post around if you find it useful.