Audio Interface is free! If you find it useful, just send me a nice postcard and tell me how you're using it. If you distribute Audio Interface to a friend, a BBS, or whatever, please include this file! Or else....
What is Audio Interface?
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Audio Interface is a control panel which uses Apple's PlainTalk technology to speak the contents of menus and dialog boxes. By moving the mouse over menu items or dialog box items, you can have the name of that item read to you.
I wrote Audio Interface with the hope that at least one user may have an easier time using the Mac. Although it's not targeted at totally blind users, many users with bad eyesight hopefully won't have to squint up to the screen every time a dialog box appears or a menu is pulled down. Of course, it can also be used for a little fun!
What do I need?
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Audio Interface requires System 7.0 or later and the following files:
o "Speech Manager" extension
o "MacinTalk 2" extension
o "MacinTalk2 Voices" file in a "Voices" folder in your "Extensions" folder
If you wish to use high quality "MacinTalk Pro" voices you also need:
o "MacinTalk Pro" extension
o At least 1 high quality voice in a "Voices" folder in your "Extensions" folder
All of these files are available by FTP from either of the following places:
ftp.support.apple.com
ftp.austin.apple.com
Your choice of voice quality may be affected by the amount of memory you have available. The 'standard' quality MacinTalk 2 voices may only require a few hundred k of memory, while the MacinTalk Pro voices may take 2 or 3 megabytes.
How do I install it?
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Very simple! Just drag the Audio Interface control panel onto your System Folder icon; the system will put it in the Control Panels folder for you. Then restart your Mac.
When you restart, you should see the Audio Interface icon appear along the bottom. If it doesn't appear, then check that it's been put into your Control Panels folder, not somewhere else in your System Folder.
If the icon has an "X" through it, then Audio Interface failed to load. Make sure you have the necessary extensions in your Extensions folder. If it's in the right place and you still get an X through the icon, try replacing Audio Interface with a fresh copy. If the problem persists, get in touch with me.
How do I use it?
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When you start up your Mac, you'll notice nothing immediately different with Audio Interface installed. The only time Audio Interface activates is when you're working with menus or dialog boxes.
When you click and hold down on a menu, Audio Interface is activated. Whatever menu or menu item you point to, Audio Interface will attempt to read the name of that item, as well as tell you whether it is checked, unavailable, marked with a diamond, etc. Divider lines are read as "divider line", and the Apple, Help, and Application menus are all spoken correctly.
For example, you can hear such things as "Special menu", "Menu item Empty Wastebasket, which is disabled", and "Menu item Finder, which is marked with a diamond".
When a dialog box appears, Audio Interface (by default) tries to speak the "main message" of the dialog box. For example, when you empty the wastebasket, Audio Interface will read the main message: "The wastebasket contains 3 items, which use..."
Also in a dialog box, you can move the mouse over most text and button names to have it spoken. Currently, Audio Interface doesn't support lists, such as those when you save or open a file in an application.
Configuring
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If you open the Audio Interface control panel, you will see two basic options: "Speak Menus" and "Speak Dialogs". For each of these options, there is a choice between "long format" and "short format". Changes to these options will not take effect until you close the control panel.
For the menus option, "long format" means that the spoken information is more like a sentence than just the name. For example, you hear "Menu item Convert, which is disabled and marked with a diamond". For "short format", you would have heard "Convert, disabled and marked with diamond."
For dialog boxes, "long format" differs from "short format" in that Audio Interface attempts to read the main message of a dialog box which appears on the screen.
Also in the control panel is a pull down menu where you can choose the voice that Audio Interface uses. The voice you choose from this menu will become active when the control panel is closed.
De-installing
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If you want to de-install Audio Interface, simply drag the Audio Interface control panel out of the Control Panels folder and restart your Macintosh.
Note that the speech extensions only load the speaking voices if an application (or other software) wants to speak something. Otherwise it takes up next to nothing.
Compatibility
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Because of the way the Mac and some applications work, there are some menu items that Audio Interface cannot speak. These are:
・ Items in the Apple menu below the divider line (in your Apple Menu Items folder)
・ The names of sub-menus (it can speak the items in sub-menus)
・ Menus and menu items in Microsoft Word and THINK Pascal
・ Divider lines in the Help and Application menus
In dialog boxes, Audio Interface can't yet speak lists, such as those when you Save or Open a file in an application.
Note that Audio Interface may be better at pronouncing menu items if you're using a high quality MacinTalk Pro voice.
I know there are probably more applications which have compatibility problems with Audio Interface, but I don't know them as yet. There may also be a couple of incompatibilities with extensions or control panels which do something while a menu is pulled down.
Problems
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If you cannot get menus or dialog boxes to speak, check the following:
・ For the menus: are you holding down the mouse button? You can't just point at a menu name.
・ Is Audio Interface able to speak that item? (see "Compatibility")
・ Did the Audio Interface icon have a red X through it when starting up? (see above)
・ Do you have anough free memory? Check under "About this Macintosh" in the Finder to make sure you have at least a few hundred k of memory free. If you've chosen a high quality voice, try one of the lower quality voices such as "Marvin".
・ Do you have other control panels or extensions which may conflict with Audio Interface?
・ Perhaps the application you're using isn't compatible. Known incompatible applications are Microsoft Word and THINK Pascal, but there may be more.
Future Development
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If you have any suggestions or comments, I'd love to hear them! In particular, it would be nice to know of any incompatible applications or other software you find. Just contact me in any of the ways described below.
Contacting the author
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I'm Alex Metcalf, and I can be contacted in any of the following ways:
・ Snail mail:
Alex Metcalf
Best Before Yesterday
Ty Yfory
Llanfair Road
Lampeter
Dyfed, Wales
SA48 8JZ
United Kingdom
・ UK Fax: ++ (0)1570 45636
・ Internet: alex@metcalf.demon.co.uk
Legal disclaimer
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Although I've made every effort to make sure Audio Interface is bug free, I'm not responsible for any loss or damage to software, hardware, or other data resulting from the use of the Audio Interface control panel.