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KURZWEIL 3000 FOR KEYBOARD AND INTELLIKEYS KEYBOARD USERS

Presenter(s)
Mallory Burton
Regional Coordinator, SET-BC
825 Conrad St.
Prince Rupert, B.C. V8J 3B8
(250) 624-6621
Email: mburton@setbc.org

Introduction

All Kurzweil features are available to the Intellikeys Keyboard user through the Mouse Control keys. However, some Intellikeys Keyboard users find the mouse controls challenging. There are many ways to access Kurzweil features without using the mouse controls. These include using the menu system, shortcut keys and hot keys, using the Right Mouse Button Menu, and even developing a custom Intellikeys Overlay. Each of these options is described below.

Using Kurzweil also presents other challenges for the Intellikeys Keyboard user. Tips for navigating Dialogue Boxes, scrolling, selecting text, using the Highlight Tools, placing or moving Notes, and minimizing, maximizing, and closing windows are also included.

Accessing Kurzweil Features

Using Menus, Keystroke Combinations and Hot Keys

Most of Kurzweil's features can be accessed through the menu system. Pressing Alt on the Intellikeys keyboard puts you on the Kurzweil main menu bar. You can then use the arrow keys to navigate left and right on the menu bar and up and down through the menus.

Pressing the underlined characters in the menu will activate the menu item. For example, the sequence Alt, T, H, 1 turns the Yellow Highlight on and off. Other hot keys are printed beside the menu items. For example, the sequence Ctrl + F12 will activate the Bookmark feature. If Latching is enabled, the Intellikeys keyboard user does not need to hold down keys such as Alt or Ctrl because these latching keys will stay locked on for the sequence. A handy list of the Kurzweil Shortcuts and Function Keys is included in the Kurzweil 3000 Quick Reference Guide.

Kurzweil will speak the menu items if you check the Speak Messages box on the General Tab of the Options Menu. This provides useful auditory confirmation that the user has chosen the correct item, particularly if the user has trouble monitoring both the keyboard and the computer screen.

Using the Right Mouse Button Menu

Pressing the Right Mouse Click Button on the Intellikeys Keyboard will activate Kurzweil's Right Mouse Button Menu. The student can then use the up and down arrow keys followed by Enter to select an item from the menu.

It is possible to customize the Right Mouse Button Menu by choosing Tools/Customize/Right Mouse Button in the Kurzweil menu. The items which currently appear on the Right Mouse Button menu are listed in blue. Clicking on the blue items will remove them from the Right Mouse Button menu and clicking on the white items will add them to the menu. The box at the bottom must be checked to enable the Right Mouse Button menu.

Creating a Custom Intellikeys Overlay for Kurzweil 3000

Another option is to create a custom overlay for using the Intellikeys Keyboard with Kurzweil.

The design of this overlay will depend on the needs of your student, but the following general steps apply. You will need Overlay Maker to create a custom overlay.

1. Locate the overlay you wish to modify or create your own blank overlay. Hint: searching for the word "overlay" is a quick way to locate the overlays on your computer. 2. Make a list of the features your student uses most often and list the keystrokes needed to access those features. 3. Decide which buttons you can replace on the overlay. Since space will be limited, create buttons for the features the student uses most or finds most difficult to access by other methods. Many of the features can be put in the Right Mouse Button menu instead. 4. Create pictures for your new buttons and paste those in. Change the button shapes and create new text labels if necessary. 5. Assign new key content for the buttons if necessary, using the shortcut keys as the key content. 6. Save, print, send, and test your overlay. Don't forget to turn the mouse lock button off after using it or some commands will not seem to function.

In the overlay I created, I did not need to edit the key content for any of the buttons in the Function Key row since the Kurzweil commands use the same Function keys. My student does not use footnotes yet, and the Close Button on this overlay is used for closing the Tip of the Day and Dictionary Definition windows. My student finds it difficult to select text using the mouse keys, so I created a Highlight Forward button which sends the string Shift+Right Arrow and selects text word by word. The Page button sends the string Ctrl+G which brings up the Go to Page Dialogue Box.

Special Challenges Navigating in Dialogue Boxes

When you select a menu item which is followed by three dots, such as Open..., Save..., or Print..., an associated Dialogue Box opens. It is possible to access most areas in a Dialogue Box without using the mouse. Use the Tab key to move forward through the main fields and buttons in a Dialogue Box. Use Shift + Tab to move backwards. The Escape key will usually close a Dialogue Box. It is very useful to have Speak Message turned on to help identify your current focus in a Dialogue Box.

Use the Spacebar to select unselected items (indicated by a dotted line). The Spacebar is also used to toggle check boxes on and off.

Use the arrow keys to move between items in a combo box, list box, or drop-down menu:

The left/right and up/down arrow keys are also used to change values for sliders and radio buttons.

To move between tabs in a Dialogue Box, use Ctrl+Tab to go forward and Shift+Ctrl+Tab to go backwards.

Scrolling the Page

Scroll the page quickly by using the up and down keyboard arrow keys or the up and down mouse control keys. You can also use F2 and F4 to move around by reading unit without reading the text.

Selecting and Highlighting Text

Selecting Text and Highlighting Text are two different operations in Kurzweil, and both present challenges for the Intellikeys user. The normal Windows keystrokes of Shift+Right arrow for selecting characters and Ctrl+Shift+Right arrow for selecting words do not work with Intellikeys in Kurzweil documents.

Selecting a Single Word

In order to define a word, the student must first select it on the page. The easiest way to select a single word using the Intellikeys Keyboard is to navigate to the word using the mouse control keys and then use the double click button to select the word. To deselect the word, navigate to a blank space on the page and double click again. Do not use the Highlight Tool to select words in order to get their definitions.

Selecting Multiple Words

To select multiple words, navigate to the beginning point of the selection with the mouse keys. Then activate the mouse lock button. Press the right mouse arrow and/or the down arrow to select text forward. Use the left mouse arrow and/or the up arrow to deselect the text or to select text backwards from the starting point. When you have finished selecting the text, click the mouse lock again to turn it off. You can then copy the selected text to the clipboard. This is useful for copying and pasting dictionary definitions. Do not use the Highlight Tool for selecting text to be copied.

Highlighting Text

To use the Highlighting Tool, you must first activate the tool and then select the text you want highlighted. To begin, activate the Highlight colour of your choice. If you have Speak Messages turned on (see page 2) Kurzweil will announce that the Highlight has been activated which is handy because the cursor is sometimes hard to see. Then select one or more words using the techniques described in the two paragraphs above. Alternatively, Shift + Right Arrow will work to select a single word, but you will have to press Right Arrow again to be in position to select more words. Make sure you turn mouse lock off to move to another selection. Deactivate the Highlight Tool when you are finishing highlighting.

Placing Text Notes

Activate the Text Note Tool. When the cross hairs appear, use the mouse keys to navigate to where you want to place the note. Then use the double click button to open the Note. Enter your text. Use the mouse keys to navigate to a blank space and use the double click button again to exit the note.

Moving Text Notes

It's tricky but possible to move existing Text Notes using the Intellikeys Keyboard. Increase your Zoom if necessary to get a good view of the Note. Using the mouse control keys, position the cursor anywhere on the Note and click once to select it. Then carefully navigate to the upper left hand corner of the Note until the directional cross-hairs appear.

Then click the mouse lock button. Use the mouse arrow keys to move the Note to its new position. You can also use the arrow keys on the keyboard to "nudge" the note into position. Click the mouse lock button again to turn it off. Navigate away from the Note and double click to deselect the Note.

Minimizing, Maximizing, and Closing Windows

In general, Alt + Spacebar will bring up the main application Control Menu with options for minimizing, maximizing, and closing the window. Alt + Hyphen displays the Control Menu for any daughter menu, e.g. Tip of the Day, Definition, or an individual document.

In addition, you can use the following to close these types of windows:

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