home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Gold Medal Software 5
/
Gold Medal Software - Volume 5 (Gold Medal) (1995).iso
/
database
/
iris128.arj
/
SPEECH.PGE
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1990-01-10
|
5KB
|
156 lines
:Speech1.
This release of Iris has been specially modified to
work well with speech synthesizers. Especially the
Covox Speech Thing.
If you don't have a speech synthesizer, don't worry,
Iris will operate normally with or without.
If you need a speech synthesizer, call P.S.L. at
800-242-4775 and ask about the Speech Thing. In
October 1989, it was selling for about $50.
:Speech2.
Before loading Iris, first set up your synthesizer to
read normal dos commands. For a Covox Speech Thing,
this means:
1. Boot the STDRIVER.SYS device through Config.SYS.
2. Load the SPEECHV2 or SPEECHV3 program.
3. Turn on the device by using the CTTY ST dos
command.
This is all described in Appendix A of the Covox
manual.
:Speech3.
Finally, you must also tell Iris you're using a speech
synthesizer. This can be done through the Update item
on the Utilities menu. When Update is on, you can use
your synthesizer. If you then choose [Keep Defaults],
Iris will remember to use your synthesizer next time.
We could change your configuration file now, if you
like. (If you're running Iris from a floppy disk,
make sure that the Write Protect Tab is uncovered.)
You could also run the Speech batch file later.
To make the change now, choose Yes.
?Yes .Execute[ ECHO .Update[On] >> Iris.CFG ]
?No
>.next
:Speech4.
With a speech synthesizer loaded, Iris will direct all
it's screens, menus, and prompts through your device.
Hopefully, everything will be fairly obvious. But
here's some pointers:
1. Menu items sound like questions. As you scroll
down the list, the "active" item will be spoken.
Press [Enter] to select it. Press [Space Bar]
to hear the next item.
2. To skip the rest of a page, press the [Space Bar].
Your device may need to finish the current
sentence before stopping, so be patient.
3. At the end of each screen, you will hear a
slight click through your speaker. Hearing this
means it's time to press [Enter] for the next
screen, or choose an item from a menu.
4. Some screens may end in a menu. Others won't.
If you hear the screen-end click followed by a
question, the screen probably ends in a menu.
Press [Space Bar] or [Down Arrow] to find out.
If another question sounds, you're in a menu.
Press [Space Bar] or [Down Arrow] to hear each
choice. When the items start to repeat, you've
heard them all. Press [Enter] when you find the
one you want.
Otherwise, Iris will continue on to the text on
the following screen.
5. Some books may use hotwords as well as menues.
Hotwords are placed in the text itself and marked
with a special character. These words can be
selected like menu items. The default hotword
character is the asterisk. Your synthesizer will
probably pronounce it as "times".
If you hear a vagrant times in the middle of a
sentence, it's probably a hotword. Try pressing
[Tab] or [Left Arrow] to find out. If a word
sounds, it's a hotword. Press [Enter] to select
it, or [Escape] to deselect it.
6. The "Rate" item on the Utilities menu will have
some affect on how long Iris pauses between
words. A value of 0 is the fastest. 255 is the
slowest. The default is 128.
7. Sometimes a book or menu may want you to type
something, rather then just cursor around and
press [Enter]. When this happens, you'll hear a
cue, like "Please Respond". Then, you'll hear a
prompt like "Your Name?"
As you type in your response, each letter will be
spoken. You can use the arrow keys to move
around the line. The letters will be spoken as
you move. If you type another character, it's
placed right after the last letter you heard.
If you press [Back Space], the last letter you
heard will be deleted. The letter that was on
it's left will then be spoken.
When these input boxes first come up, an response
may already be defaulted. If so, it will be read
after the prompt. Then the last letter of the
default response will be spoken. Like this:
Your Name? Ted Husted[ .. d ]
:Speech5
If you have any difficulties using Iris with your
device, please call 716-425-3463. We'll do everything
possible to help.
If you like having books on disk for use with a speech
synthesizer, please let us know.
If you have a favorite print author, tell us that as
well. Many writers already have their books stored on
computer disk. We need only give them a good reason
to place them in our library. You could be that
reason.
Your support and feed back will help us attract
authors and enlarge the library.
Happy trails!
:Speech6
Press [Escape] to select another book or Exit.