Title: Appendix D: Basic Screen Reader Literacy
Author: Karen McCall

Basic Screen Reader Literacy

Karen McCall, M.Ed.
Karlen Communications
Contact Karlen Communications
Karlen Communications web site

If you do not live in the province of Ontario, or can not access the Assistive Devices Program, this is still a good document to use as a resource. It may provide you with some guidelines toward participation in your own learning process. 

This document is a reference document and is not a substitute for training or course or curriculum material.  Each of the concepts behind the keyboard commands needs to be explained and written lesson plans and exercises should be provided.

What You Should Know After 10 Hours

A writing Aid [using the ADP guidelines] is a computer and adaptive technology such as  screen magnification or screen reading software.

Once the system is set-up and working properly, it is crucial that you, your family or friends do not add software, hardware or in any way reconfigure the computer system. This includes modifying the display settings [resolution, wallpaper, screen savers]. Making these modifications may delay training as training will not start until the system is working properly. Trainers will not undo configuration and installation problems. For information on set-up checklist, see the “Computer Set-up Checklist” in this series.

Trainers will work with you to develop outcomes and benchmarks. Outcomes are things like “I want to create a document.” Benchmarks are the steps you must follow to do this. The benchmarks are measurable and can be tested. You may want to contract with your trainer so that expectations, responsibilities and accountability are clear to both of you. 

Your trainer will want part of the contract to state that no hardware, software or system configuration [other than configurations done during the training process] be done to the system. It is reasonable to agree that if anything outside of the training process is done to the system, that training ends. Trainers should not be trying to figure out system conflicts. 

Training should be done in your home on your computer system. This allows you to get comfortable with the way your computer works. It is recommended that training be done over a period of time rather than all in one or two days. Generally one and a half to two hours a day, one day a week is best for learning new technology. This will let you practice what you have learned and give you time to have questions ready to ask for the next training session.

If you are not “fluent” in these things, make sure that they have been covered and that instructions on how to do them are left with you. During training, take notes, request notes, have a friend or family member sit in on the training or tape the training sessions to refer to later. This is your training!

Screen Reader Based Knowledge

Done | Description
| How to change the reading speed/rate
| How to change the pitch
| How to change the voice selection
| How to change the punctuation setting
| Basic reading keys for navigating through standard documents and Internet based documents
| How to edit and make changes to the pronunciation dictionary
| How to work in and save default settings files
| How to launch the screen reader if it accidentally gets turned off
| Basic understanding of what else can be changed even if clients do not have the need to do so now
| How to get screen reader related Help – using the Help files
| How to read a document from the cursor point to the end
| How to stop speech
| Special navigation tools in the screen reader [skipping through text, finding specific information etc.]
| Commonly used cursors and how to activate and use them.

Basic Windows Knowledge

Done | Description
| Start Menu – what is it and how to use it [Windows Key]
| Start Menu – All Programs – how to use this [Windows Key, P]
| Start Menu – Control Panel – how to use this [Windows Key, C]
| Start Menu – Search – how to use this [Windows Key, S]
| Start Menu – My Recent Documents – how to use this [Windows Key, D]
| Desktop – what is it and how to use it [Windows Key + M]
| Taskbar – what is it and how to use it [Alt + Tab]
| How to use Desktop shortcut keys [Control + Alt + ?]
| How to assign Desktop shortcut keys
| Alternative keystrokes for Left Mouse Click [Enter] and Right Mouse Click] [AppKey]
| What can I change in the Control Panel
| What should I not touch in the Control Panel
| Windows Explorer – what is it and how to use it [Windows Key + E]
| My Computer – what is it and how to use it
| Create a Folder on the hard drive
| Create a Folder on the floppy disk
| Delete a Folder – what NOT to Delete [Delete Key]
| Selecting files and folders [Shift + Arrow Keys]
| Cut [Ctrl +X], copy [Ctrl +C] and Paste [Ctrl + V] files and folders
| Accessing menu and toolbars using keyboard commands
| Shutdown the computer properly [Windows Key, U for Shutdown, U for Turn Off, R for Restart]
 
Basic Word Processing Knowledge

Generally, if you are going to be working in MS-Word or Corel WordPerfect, have training begin in this word processor. Although it is true that if you know how to use simple things like NotePad or WordPad, you can transfer the skills to a more powerful word processor; if you are going to work in Word, then why not learn in Word? Again, you have control over your training and learning process t. If you begin using your word processor, you will develop questions and problem areas relevant to this tool you’ll be using on a daily basis.

The keyboard commands listed in this section are Standard Windows keystrokes and are not screen reader specific.

Done | Description
| How to launch the word processor from the Desktop [Control + Alt + ?]
| How to create a New Document [Control + N for New]
| Entering text into a new document
| Moving through text character by character [Left or Right Arrow]
| Moving through text word by word [Control + Left or Right Arrow]
| Moving through text line by line [Up or Down Arrow]
| Moving through text paragraph by paragraph [Control + Up or Down Arrow]
| Moving through text sentence by sentence [if available with your screen reader]
| Moving through text screen by screen [page Up or Page Down]
| Moving to the top of a document [Control + Home]
| Moving to the end of a document [Control + End]
| Moving to the beginning of a line [Home]
| Moving to the end of a line [End]
| Select a character [Shift + Left Arrow or Shift + Right Arrow]
| Select a word [place cursor at beginning of a word, then Shift +Control + Right Arrow]
| Select a line [Home to get to beginning of line, then Shift + End]
| Select a paragraph [place cursor at beginning of paragraph, then Shift + Control + Down Arrow]
| Select entire document [Control + A for All]
| Copy text [Select text then, Control + C for Copy]
| Cut text [Select text then, Control + X for Cut]
| Paste Text [Select text then, Control + V for Paste]
| Inserting the Cut or Copied text somewhere else in a document
| How to use Paste Special and what it does
| Delete a character [Delete Key or Backspace Key]
| Delete a word [Control + Delete or Control + Backspace]
| Undo Delete [Control + Z]
| Repeat Typing  [Control + Y]
| Save a document [Alt + F for File, A for Save As …]
| Save a document you have been working on [Control + S]
| Print a document [Control + P]
| Print Current Page in document [radio button in Print dialog box]
| Print Selected Pages [radio button in Print dialog box]
| Print in either Portrait or Landscape format [Properties in Print dialog box]
| Go to a page in a document [Control + G, enter page #, press Enter, then Esc to get rid of the Go To dialog box]
| How to Spell Check text
| How to use the Thesaurus
| Centre text [Control + E]
| Left align text [Control + L]
| Right align text [Control + R]
| Full justification [Control + J] – note that unless you absolutely feel the need for full justification it is not used normally in a word processed document
| Bold text [Control + B, this is a toggle]
| Italicize text [Control + I, this is a toggle]
| Underline text [Control + U, this is a toggle] – again, in word processed documents, normally bold will do, don’t combine these effects or it gets messy looking!
| Change Font and Font Size
| Find and Replace text
| Find and Replace formatting codes [can be done in both Word and WordPerfect]
| Delete a file from My Documents [for the new computer user, this is a safer way to Delete documents from your hard drive – you only see the documents in the My Documents Folder – only Delete documents in this Folder]
| Open a document you have already created [Control + O]
| Open a file on a floppy disk
| Using the word processor help files
| Closing a document [Control + F4]
| Closing the word processor [Alt + F4]
| Other tutorials that are available -  how much, which ones are free and where can I buy them?

There is a wonderful book called “The PC is Not a Typewriter” which explains some important changes in the way documents are now formatted for the electronic age. 

•	Not to indent paragraphs [use a blank line between paragraphs] 
•	Left justify text unless you are creating a heading or title
•	One space between punctuation not two spaces – especially after periods 
•	Don’t “over format” less is more in word processing [I have overdone the bold a bit here to make the keystrokes stand out for you.]

This should give you the basics for creating documents and editing text. You can access the Help files in your word processor and this should also be covered in training. Be sure you receive training materials and places to find material already created. This can include Internet resources or publications you can buy to supplement training and improve productivity.

The important thing to remember is that a computer responds to what it’s told to do. Ask for explanations phrased and framed differently if you don’t understand something. find out if there are other computer users in your area who are using the same equipment that you can talk to. Training is a starting point for your computer experience and not the ending point. Most of all have fun!

End of Document