What's new in J-Say Pro 8.1

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Introduction

We are very pleased to bring you the anticipated release of J-Say Pro version 8.1, containing the very latest technological innovations in voice input and output technology!

Building on the success, stability and feature-rich earlier releases, J-Say Pro version 8.1 is designed to function alongside the latest and greatest technology. So if you buy a new Windows computer today, chances are it will accommodate J-Say technology. In addition, we have used the redesigned interface (and improved voice recognition technology) which is now part of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional version 11 to our advantage to improve upon J-Say even further.

J-Say Pro 8.1 brings to you tremendous improvements in all areas of the product and, best of all, it is a completely free update to all users of J-Say Pro 8.0!

In summary, J-Say Pro 8.1 brings to you:

Compatibility with Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional version 11;
Fantastic improvements within the echo back of dictated text (dynamic echo);
No further need to customise Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice profiles so you can be up and running in just a couple of minutes;
New automatic reminder of J-Say updates;
Support for Microsoft Office 2010.

Operating System and Software Compatibility

J-Say Pro 8.1 is directly compatible with the following operating systems and applications:

Windows XP Home
Windows XP Pro
Windows Media Centre Edition
All releases of Windows Vista
All releases of Windows 7

J-Say Pro should not under any circumstances be installed on any other Operating System than those listed, as this will result in J-Say Pro not functioning, and potential system instability.

J-Say Pro 8.1 directly supports the use of Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Office 2010 . Should you require a release of J-say Pro which supports Microsoft Office 2003, please contact your J-Say Pro supplier for further information.

Additionally in order to use J-Say Pro the following products are also required.

JAWS for Windows, version 11.0, build 1471 or later.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional, version 11.9.

New Features and Enhancements

Dramatically Improved Dynamic Echo

The dynamic echo feature of J-Say Pro, (which vocalises your dictated text as soon as you finish speaking), has been completely rewritten to make it even faster and more accurate. You can dictate long strings of text, including complete sentences, and your dictation will immediately be echo back the moment you pause in your speech delivery.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 11 takes advantage of the most modern computing technology and so J-Say had to follow in its footsteps. The echo back response from J-Say in our latest release is truly amazing!

Automatic Creation of Voice Profiles

From the release of J-Say Pro version 1, it has always been necessary for the Dragon speech files (voice profile) to be configured manually or through the J-Say Configuration Wizard. This is no longer the case. As you create your voice profile through the Dragon NaturallySpeaking redesigned setup wizard, J-Say automatically customises the options for you. So if you elect to skip the reading of the training text, (which with improved accuracy in voice recognition technology is quite possible), you could have a new voice profile created and customised for use with J-Say in under 2 minutes!

Full Support for Redesigned Dragon Interface

Much of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional version 11 interface (including the profile setup wizard and correction box) have been completely redesigned. J-Say provides full support for these utilities.

In the case of the Correction Box, users of J-Say Pro 8.0 and earlier will experience no difference at all. The transition is quite transparent. The same commands should be spoken as in earlier releases and the same feedback will be delivered through speech and Braille.

In respect of the profile setup, each task you are required to work through is now contained within its own screen. Press the J-Say key (grave accent) to get precise help as to how you should interact with each screen. In addition, the Installation Guide has been updated to take account of the new profile setup wizard.

Support for Microsoft Office 2010

J-Say Pro now supports Microsoft Office 2010. This means that users can purchase the latest release of the Office suite and use voice commands which are familiar to them with previous Office releases.

Automatic Updates

Since the release of J-Say Pro 8.0, we have delivered two small updates using our new internet update facility.

In version 8.1, if the Update Reminder feature is enabled, each time J-Say is started the internet will be checked to determine if an update is available. If an update is found, a message is spoken or sent to the Braille display. The update can be installed onto the computer by using the command “Check Updates”, or through the Configuration Wizard, whichever is preferred. Full details for installing updates can be found in the J-Say Pro Installation Guide.

To enable or disable the Automatic Update Reminder feature, use the command “Update Reminder On” or “Update Reminder Off”. The command “Check Update Reminder” can be used to verify whether the feature is enabled or disabled. It can also be controlled using the J-Say Configuration Wizard.

Microphone Control

Occasionally, Dragon NaturallySpeaking Pro version 11.0 will try to capture sound even if the microphone is “asleep”. If this occurs, J-Say will advise you that, although the microphone is in sleep mode, it is “capturing sound”. If you should hear this announcement, you can do one of two things:

Move the microphone away from your mouth while conversing with other people to avoid the sound being captured.
Activate the microphone and then deactivate it with voice commands or by pressing the “Pause” key twice. This usually corrects the problem.

Windows7 64 Bit Notice

Please note: When launching the J-Say Pro 8.1 interface on computers hosting the Windows7 64 bit operating system, the Windows Shortcuts labelled “J-Say” located on the Start Menu and Windows Desktop do not function. You should use the Shortcut entitled “Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.0” instead.

Upgrading from a Previous Version of J-say Pro

This document assumes you are using J-Say Pro version 7.0 or 8.0 and wish to upgrade the product to 8.1. If you have an earlier release of J-say installed on your computer, please consult your J-Say Pro supplier for advice.

Uninstalling J-Say Pro Version 7.0 or 8.0

We strongly recommend that you first uninstall J-Say Pro version 7.0 or 8.0 from the “J-Say Pro 7/8.0” item located in the “Add/Remove Programs” item found within the Windows “Control Panel”.

JAWS for Windows Considerations

Prior to installing the J-Say Pro 8.1 application it is important to ensure that the correct version and build of the JAWS For Windows Screen Reader is installed on your machine, and that if JAWS has already been used on the machine which is to host J-Say Pro 8.1 Technology the installation is taken back to the “Default” settings.

The version of JAWS For Windows which is to be used with this version of J-Say Pro (V8.1) is:

JAWS For Windows version 11.0
And the correct build is

build 1471 or later.

If JAWS For Windows version 11.0 has already been installed on the machine follow these steps To check to see what build is already installed :

Press “Insert+J”, to navigate to the “JAWS” Window.
Press “ALT+H” to activate the “Help” menu item.
Navigate to the “About” Menu Item using the “Up/Down arrow” keys, and when this Menu Item is focused press the “Enter” Key.
Analysing the content of the resulting text will establish the currently installed version and build of JAWS For Windows. The “Insert+B” keystroke can be pressed to cause JAWS to read the contents of the Dialog Box.
Press “Escape” to exit the Dialog Box.

If the version and build number conforms to the above compatibility information, and no changes have been made to JAWS For Windows since it’s installation on the machine, no further action needs to be taken and you should proceed to the next section of this document.

However if any changes have been made since the JAWS For Windows software was installed, the settings will need to be returned to their defaults.

Installing JAWS for Windows For the First Time or Reverting to the Default Settings

Please work through the following sequence if JAWS for Windows build 1471 has not been installed on the machine or needs to be returned to the default settings.

Note, if you are not in possession of the build 1471 file required, an Internet Connection will be needed in order to carry out this process! If you have recently purchased JAWS for Windows 11.0 and you are installing from the CD, please do not assume that the latest (and required) build of JAWS is present on the disc.

Locate the file
“J11.0.1471.exe”
If you do not already have this file it can be downloaded from the J-Say page of the T&T Consultancy Ltd web site by visiting
www.tandt-consultancy.com
and activate the “J-say” link. A link exists on the “J-Say” page to download the JAWS program which you should activate in order to do so.
Locate the file and press Enter to commence the JAWS Installation program.
What happens next will depend on whether or not JAWS has been previously installed on the machine.
If JAWS has not been installed before then the setup program will begin a fresh installation of JAWS. Please follow all on-screen instructions, choosing the “Typical” installation when the “Installation Selection” screen is displayed.
If an earlier build of JAWS version 11 has previously been installed on the machine, you will be advised that it is possible to update your copy of the program. Please go ahead and do this following all on-screen instructions to update the version of JAWS to build 1471.
If however JAWS For Windows 11 build 1471 has been previously installed on the machine, you should choose the “Repair” option from the “Install Maintenance” selection screen.
If a Dialog Box appears during the “Repair” process notifying you that JAWS settings have been detected relative to your Windows User Profile, you should select the “Yes” Button which confirms that the settings should be removed from the computer.
At the end of the installation process you will be prompted to re-start the computer and you should comply with this request.

Please note that if Step 6 above applied to your installation of JAWS, in other words if you were updating the JAWS software to build 1471 from an earlier build, you will need to delete any JAWS user settings relative to your Windows local settings:

Log onto the computer using your user account settings or if you are a Network Administrator you should use the credentials of the person using the Assistive Technology.
Select the Windows “Start Menu”.
Select “Programs” or “All Programs”.
Select “JAWS 11.0”.
Select “Explore JAWS”.
Select “Explore My Settings”.
Delete any files contained within the folder which is revealed. There is no need to delete any sub-folders contained within the displayed folder.
Close the window displaying the folder to return to the Windows Desktop.

JAWS Activation and Configuration

Once the computer has re-started following a JAWS installation, and when the Windows Operating System is fully loaded, the JAWS “Start-Up Wizard” will appear. The JAWS “Start-Up Wizard” allows you to make personal changes to the way in which Speech and Braille-based output is delivered. For example, the speech rate can be changed in order that JAWS can talk more slowly or quickly.

The JAWS “Start-Up Wizard” provides five screens for making changes. You must click the “Finish” Button on the fifth screen for any changes to take effect. Unlike when using previous releases of J-Say Pro, it is quite permissible and safe to make changes within the JAWS “Start-Up Wizard” at this time should you wish to do so prior to installing the J-Say Pro software. However, under no circumstances should any additional custom script files be installed to the computer (should you have any) until the J-Say Pro software has been installed. Failure to observe this requirement will result in J-Say Pro not being able to function.

Should you decide not to make any changes within the JAWS “Start-Up Wizard” at this time, these can be made once all the software is installed and configured. When the JAWS “Start-Up Wizard” appears, press the “Escape” key to dismiss it. It can always be brought into view once again by activating the “Help” menu item available from the JAWS application window, then select “Help” and “Start-Up Wizard”. The J-Say Pro “Learning Module” describes this process in detail.

Finally, your JAWS software will need to be activated which is necessary for your J-Say Pro technology to be successfully authorised. From the JAWS application window you should select the “Help” menu item, followed by “Update Authorisation”. The prompts within this screen are automatically announced by the JAWS software and are self-explanatory.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional 11.0 Installation

Now the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional software needs to be installed.

Ordinarily, Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional is provided either on a DVD-ROM or a series of CD’s.

Prior to commencing the installation of the software it is crucial that

You have the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional Serial Number to hand, which is located on a sticker on the package in which the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional media is contained.
If you are intending to use a USB Soundcard for the Voice Input component of the system this should be connected to the desired USB Port at this time. Note, best results are obtained via a USB2 port!
The Headset/Microphone supplied with your copy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional or one alternatively purchased but compatible with Voice Recognition Technology is connected to the Soundcard which is to be used for Voice Recognition. If a single Soundcard is to be used then most crucially the microphone jack needs to be connected to the microphone input of the active Soundcard. Whether or not you connect the headphone and listen to your Speech Output via this or continue to listen to the output via your normal sound source is a matter of personal preference. The Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional software only needs to detect the Microphone in order to function.

If a previous release of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional is already installed on the computer, no harm will be done by launching the Setup program for version 11.0 as it will automatically be updated.

To install the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional application follow these steps.

Locate the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional DVD or the first CD and place it in your DVD or CD-ROM Drive, whichever is appropriate.
The CD or DVD will, under normal circumstances, auto run and the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional Installer will commence.
If the installation does not start automatically log on to the CD-ROM or DVD Drive, locate the “Setup.exe” program and press “Enter”.
Now follow the on-screen instructions in order to install the software.

During the installation we recommend selecting all of the

Default options, including the “Full” Installation.

If using CD-ROM media to install the program, during the installation you will be advised when to insert the remaining CD’s into the CD-ROM drive. The Dialog Box containing this information will present an “OK” Button in focus. Insert the next CD as requested and then press the “Space Bar” to activate the “OK” Button. The Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional install program will automatically detect the presence of the new CD and will collect the necessary data from it in order to continue with the installation.

If version 10 of Dragon NaturallySpeaking is already installed on the host computer, working through the installation for version 11.0 will (if necessary) update your copy of the program to the latest release.

It is strongly recommended that you register and activate your copy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional with Nuance as part of the installation process! If this is not done during the installation process activation will be forced upon you the first time the application is started.

After the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional software installation has completed you should re-start your computer.

J-Say 8.1 Installation

Finally the J-Say Pro application needs to be installed and activated.

Locate the J-Say Pro CD-ROM and place it in your CD-ROM Drive.
The J-Say Pro software CD will under normal circumstances auto run and the J-Say Pro Installer will launch.
If the installation does not start automatically log on to the CD Drive, locate the “startup.exe” program and press “ENTER”.
The J-Say Pro Installer is fully accessible, so please simply follow the on-screen instructions which will be read out automatically by JAWS For Windows! However, when obeying the setup instructions, you will be requested to make a choice as to whether a “Typical” or “Complete” installation of J-Say Pro should be carried out. If you wish to use the J-Say Audio Transcription facilities as described within Chapter 22 of the “Learning Module”, which would be the case if you plan to use J-Say Pro with an audio recorder for dictation purposes, you should select the “Complete Installation” option. The options are selected from a group of two Radio Buttons and you should use the “Up/Down Arrow” keys to select the required option, then press “Tab” to move to the “Next” Button and press the “Space Bar”. The installation of all files to the computer is likely to take several minutes.
At the end of the installation process you will be informed that the computer will be re-started. It is crucial that this re-start occurs in order to successfully complete the J-Say Pro installation process.

Please note that computer drive “C” now contains an additional folder entitled “FileStore”. This folder should not be deleted since it contains a copy of the JAWS settings present on your computer which were in use prior to the installation of J-Say Pro 8.1. If at any time you wish to uninstall J-Say Pro, this folder will be used to copy the previously backed-up settings to the relevant Freedom Scientific folder on the computer for JAWS to use so that it can continue to provide you with both speech and Braille access to it. If this folder is deleted then the JAWS software will be unusable if J-Say is uninstalled until a JAWS “Repair” is carried out.

When the computer has restarted, J-Say will be functioning in “Demonstration Mode”. You can successfully use J-Say in this mode for a further 14 computing sessions. In other words, you can restart the computer up to 14 further times prior to the demonstration period expiring and J-Say becoming unusable. Demonstration Mode makes it possible for you to trial or activate J-Say Pro, however you will be interrupted from time to time by messages being announced, advising you that you are using the product in Demonstration Mode.

you will need to activate your copy of J-Say Pro in order that it can be made fully functional.

J-Say uses a key on the keyboard which we refer to as the J-Say Key. This Key is the Grave Accent Key, situated to the immediate left of figure 1 on the QWERTY keyboard.

Internet Activation

In most situations, The J-Say program can be activated using the Internet and, as a consequence, the J-Say Pro Authorisation File will be placed in your JAWS shared settings folder.

Please carry out the following steps in order to activate J-Say Pro via the Internet.

Please ensure that JAWS is running and that you have an active connection to the Internet.
Press the J-Say (Grave Accent) Key. JAWS will say “J-Say”, indicating that the J-Say Key has been pressed.
Release the J-Say Key.
Press Control+Shift+A all together. This is the “Activation” command.
A Dialog Box will appear which will ask if you would like to activate J-Say using the Internet. If you would like to go ahead with the activation, press the letter “Y” or click the “Yes” Button. If you would prefer to activate the product manually (see below), press the letter “N” or click the “No” Button. If you change your mind and do not wish to activate the product at this time, press the Escape Key to click the “Cancel” Button. In addition, any of the controls in this Dialog Box can be reached by pressing the Tab Key and the focused Button can be activated by pressing the Space Bar.
If the “Yes” Button was activated, JAWS will then check its serial number against any licences which are currently available on the T&T Consultancy Ltd server. If a valid licence is found, the Authorisation File will be downloaded from the Internet and you will be prompted to re-start the computer in order that the product can be successfully activated. A Dialog Box will appear which will ask if you would like to re-start the computer. Press the letter “Y” or click the “Yes” Button.

When the computer re-starts, and JAWS is launched, you will hear the words “J-Say Pro 8.1 from T&T Consultancy Limited is Active”, but you will not hear an announcement regarding the number of times you have started the computer with J-Say in Demonstration Mode. The J-Say product has therefore been successfully activated.

Manual Activation

There will be situations where it will not be possible for you to activate J-Say Pro via the Internet. Therefore, we have provided a method where the product can be activated manually.

If Internet activation is not possible, please contact the company from which you purchased J-Say Pro. A representative will make arrangements with you to activate the product manually. This will involve sending you a CD or (more probably) an Email with a file attached to it.

The file you will receive either on a CD or by Email will be entitled “JSayProAuth8.JSB” and is a “read-only” file understood by the JAWS software. If you have received the file by Email, save it to a folder on your computer’s hard disk. You should be aware of the location of the folder into which the file is being saved, such as “c:\temp”.

Please ensure that JAWS is running.
Press the J-Say (Grave Accent) Key. JAWS will say “J-Say”, indicating that the J-Say Key has been pressed.
Release the J-Say Key.
Press Control+Shift+A together.
A Dialog Box will appear which will ask if you would like to activate J-Say Pro using the Internet. Because we are activating the product manually, please press the letter “N” or click the “No” Button. If you change your mind and do not wish to activate the product at this time, press the Escape Key to click the “Cancel” Button. In addition, any of the controls in this Dialog Box can be reached by pressing the Tab Key and the focused Button can be activated by pressing the Space Bar.
If the “No” Button was activated, a Dialog Box will appear with an Edit Box in focus. The question this Dialog Box asks is for the full path of the Authorisation File excluding the file name. In our previous example, if the file is stored in a folder entitled “Temp” on drive “C” of the computer, please type “c:\temp”. The path can consist of multiple words with spaces. If the file is located in the root of a drive, such as CD-ROM drive “D”, please type “d:”
When the location has been typed, please press Enter. The file will be copied from the specified location to the JAWS settings folder.
If the file cannot be located, a Dialog Box will appear with an “OK” Button in focus, advising you of this and that the activation has not been successful. Press the Space Bar to dismiss the “OK” Button. Focus will return to the application previously in the foreground prior to using the J-Say activation facility. You would then need to start the activation process again from the beginning.
Assuming the file was successfully located and copied, you will be prompted to re-start the computer in order that the product can be successfully activated. A Dialog Box will appear which will ask if you would like to re-start the computer. Press the letter “Y” or click the “Yes” Button.

When the computer re-starts, and JAWS is launched, you will hear the words “J-Say from T&T Consultancy Limited is Active”, but you will not hear an announcement regarding the number of times you have started the computer with J-Say in Demonstration Mode. The J-Say product has therefore been successfully activated.

Note: J-Say Pro can be installed on any computer onto which your current version of JAWS For Windows has been installed. However, Do not under any circumstances attempt to install J-Say Pro on a computer using a different JAWS For Windows serial number than that for which your J-Say Pro Authorisation has been created. This will result in the JAWS software not working properly!