home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Hall of Fame
/
HallofFameCDROM.cdr
/
game4
/
flipper.lzh
/
INTRO.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1988-10-01
|
7KB
|
147 lines
SECTION 3.0 INTRODUCTION TO FLIPPER
These are the instructions for Flipper. Flipper is a program
which allows blind or visually impaired persons to use an IBM or
compatible personal computer. These instructions are not
designed to teach you how to use application programs, but to
enable you to use Flipper to replace looking at the video
screen. During Flipper's design, there was extensive feedback
from visually impaired computer users who were experienced with
a variety of speech programs. The main desire of the users was
that the system be responsive and fast, and many of Flipper's
features are specifically designed to allow you to get the
information you need with a minimum of effort and keystrokes.
Flipper also allows you to go as fast as you like, without
waiting for it to catch up. You never need to wait while it
finishes saying something. When you start typing again, Flipper
realizes that you do not need to hear more, and it immediately
goes on to do what you ask.
Flipper includes powerful searching facilities, and a full set
of on line instructions. Many parts of Flipper are self
documenting so you do not need a reference card while using
Flipper. The speed and tone of Flipper's voice can be selected,
and you can choose how punctuation is handled, whether digits
are spoken as numbers or each digit is read separately, and
there are many other options. Flipper will read and describe
the IBM PC's full character set including forms characters,
paragraph markers, foreign characters, etc., and you can turn
any symbol on or off. Once you have set up Flipper the way you
prefer, you can save the configuration with a simple command and
have it automatically reloaded when you turn on the computer.
After Flipper is started, it does a number of things for you
automatically. For example, it will echo the keys that you are
typing. It will also read off the output from programs as it
appears on the screen. In programs which allow you to move
around the screen with the arrow keys, Flipper will read off the
material that you are moving over. Flipper also allows you
to move a sentence at a time backwards or forwards by pressing
the left or right arrow keys while holding down the alt key. It
will also read off the characters that you are deleting using
the backspace or delete keys. Flipper is designed to anticipate
as much as possible the information that you need without your
needing to stop and ask for it.
Special techniques are used to make Flipper very friendly and
automatic. For example, you can tell Flipper to watch a portion
of the screen, and read it if it changes. It automatically
adjusts for the speed of the computer and your software,
and you do not need to manually adjust it. It will work with
difficult programs like mainframe communication software (IRMA
and similar products), spreadsheets, database programs, as well
as the broad range of word processors and other programs that
are available. With Flipper's features to assist you, you can
use the vast array of programs which are available on the IBM PC
and compatible computers. All of these features are available
immediately, right out of the box, with no programming or macros
necessary. The large majority of users never need to use
macros. For those who wish, however, Flipper has a powerful
feature (AUTOKEY MODE) which allows the writing of very
sophisticated scripts which can control both it and the
application program.
Flipper gives you a high performance interface to the screen.
It gives you a simple but powerful set of commands including
single keystrokes to rapidly read selected parts of the screen,
and a full review mode. Flipper can be fully customized, and a
list of the desired features can be automatically saved and
reloaded when you turn on the computer.
Any output from Flipper can be stopped instantly by pressing the
space bar while holding down the alt key. You can also read any
preselected part of the screen with a single command. Any or
all of Flipper's features can be turned off, if you don't
want them.
The help mode is started by pressing alt h, or just h if you are
in the review mode. The complete command reference for Flipper
is available in the help mode. Different sections of the
instructions are read when each of the ten function keys are
pressed. The function keys are the two columns of keys on the
old style IBM keyboard on the extreme left side.
Newer IBM keyboards have the function keys in a row above
the number keys. Key one is the index to the topics on the
various function keys. In addition, the other keys on the
keyboard are echoed but not sent to the application program
while in the help mode, so it can be used to explore the
keyboard. For example, if you need to use the tilde key, and
you do not know where it is, you can go into the help mode,
press keys until you find it, and then you can leave the help
mode and use the key that you found. Each help topic is
organized with more basic information first and more detailed
information later. You can just press any key when you have
heard enough about a particular topic. To leave any part of
Flipper, including the help mode, press alt space bar.
Flipper is written for speed, coded in assembly language, and
uses no overlays, so it can be used with an inexpensive single
disk drive system. We think that even if you are used to
another screen review program, you will find the higher
performance and ease of use of Flipper will make it worth your
time to change over, as other blind users have. A complete
computer system using Flipper can be very inexpensive, so we
hope that it will allow many who could not previously afford a
verbal workstation to access this powerful new technology.
FLIPPER'S ELECTRONIC INDEX:
Included on the Flipper disc is a program called LOOK and
and a file called INDEX. Together with the documentation files
for Flipper, they make up a system for looking up information
about Flipper. To start up the electronic index, give the
command:
LOOK INDEX
at the dos prompt.
You can then use the arrow keys, up and down to browse through
Flipper's index. If you find a topic of interest, you can then
press L, for look up. You will then be popped into the
appropriate part of the instructions for Flipper. If you want,
you can then press T to try different sections which may also be
relevant, or the escape key to go back to the index. You can
also look at these instructions by pressing the H key. Press
escape to leave help. You can also use LOOK to look at other
text files. You can not change files with look, you can only
browse through them.
ABOUT THE PROGRAMMER:
Dr. John Stephen Smith is an assistant professor at the
University of California, Berkeley, in the department of
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The program was
developed in association with Cynthia Lowe, and with feedback
from several students at the university, especially Jay Yi and
Marc Sutton. Many of Flipper's users have also contributed
valuable ideas.