Product Description J-Say 21.0 is Released!

Page down four times for version 21 specific information.

What is J-Say ?

J-Say is the world leader in providing a blind person with the ability to control the computer with the human voice.

J-Say brings together Dragon professional from Nuance, and JAWS For Windows from Freedom Scientific. However although the product integrates these applications, it also presents the User with an easy to understand interface enabling interaction with the computer using natural language and easy to remember and understand vocabulary.

That's Good Terminology, But What Does it Actually Mean?

It's quite simple. You can talk to the computer and it talks back to you. You can control most aspects of the computer just by using your voice, so J-Say is ideal for anyone who cannot (or does not want to use) the keyboard. See J-Say in Action or Hear Our Audio Podcast!

Who can use it?

As the product has evolved the range of people who are benefiting from the technology has increased. From people who simply want to be more productive and use their voice as an additional means of computer input and control, to individuals who have complex combinations of needs, and who find it difficult if not impossible to make use of computer technology using traditionally accepted methods of input access and control.

Even more remarkably many people interacting with this technology do not have a visual impairment simply finding it difficult or uncomfortable to use the computer screen and so find the J-Say approach more suited to their needs.

Can't I Use Dragon and JAWS for Windows Without J-Say?

Please do try it. We would really like you to! Remember, do not touch the computer keyboard. Within a minute or two, you will soon discover it is an extremely frustrating experience.

In addition to our amazing J-Say features listed below, the product gives you:

Complete echo back of your dictation. This is essential so that, as a screen-reader user, you understand that the text you have dictated is accurately reproduced.

Complete voice access to all of the JAWS screen-reading functions.

Many features which have been specially designed for blind people who use voice recognition technology. With 15 years of experience working with individuals who cannot use the keyboard, Hartgen Consultancy truly understand the features people need to ensure they are productive and not frustrated when using the computer in this way. Many of our productivity features go way beyond those which Dragon offers to the sighted user.

Online help which fully explains how a blind person can independently install and use the software without sighted assistance. The extremely comprehensive tutorial is designed with blind people in mind, and spoken context sensitive guidance is given in many areas of the program.

What applications does J-Say work with?

J-Say provides access to applications which reflect the three most common things which people need to do with computers on a day-to-day basis.

Microsoft Word

Complete access to this application is made possible enabling people, without having to touch the keyboard or look at the screen, to create documents, control text layout, fill in forms and other complex documents, and open/save files, among other things.

If you need to word process, doing it the J-Say way takes away the need to use either one's hands or one's eyes, do it all controlling the application with your voice and accessing the computer screen with your ears.

Microsoft Outlook

If you need to work with e-mail, then J-Say Pro provides you with a set of tools to enable you to take complete control of anything e-mail related. From creating messages to Email navigation, moving and copying messages to folders, to keeping track of your schedule through the Outlook calendar. Our user interface to Microsoft Outlook provides the user with fast, efficient and effective access and control to all aspects of the application.

Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome

J-Say technology provides intuitive access to all aspects of internet navigation and control. From the finding, launching and browsing of WebPages, to the completion of web forms such as searches and shopping carts, J-Say provides the user with natural language internet access like never before.

What Else Can I Expect from J-Say?

Dictate text in a natural way and have it instantly echoed back to you.

Rapidly move through list items, words, lines, sentences and paragraphs and have the selected unit spoken back. No need to wait until JAWS has finished reciting the text, just speak the next command.

Use natural language commands to gain access to the many features of JAWS for Windows. For example, say the words "Be Quiet" to instantly silence the speech synthesiser, or "talk faster" and "talk slower" to change the rate of the speech.

Create J-Say Text Notes which can reproduce lengthy text passages (such as twenty paragraphs) with a single voice command.

Easily work with files using Microsoft File Explorer and J-Say Tags. Files and folders can be marked for cutting, copying or deleting.

Get the local weather or time zone for any city in the world or read the latest news from many sources.

Use the J-Say Clock to set countup and countdown timers and alarms, or hear Westminster Chimes throughout the day.

Quickly and easily search on Google, Wikipedia, Amazon, eBay, Youtube and a number of online library catalogues. Ideal for people who are learning to use the internet through to the experienced user. You can also search for, and play, podcast episodes courtesy of the iTunes Store from Apple.

Search your computer quickly for files, folder or internet favorites.

Keep track of appointments with J-Say Diary.

Move directly to specific sections of web pages with J-Say Alerts.

Listen to the radio, audio files or CD's and control playback from within any program.

Manage many aspects of iTunes from Apple.

Dictate text into a portable recorder and have the audio transcribed as text with J-Say Audio Transcription support.

Take control of your Braille display. It is no longer necessary to remember the key combinations to control the Braille output. These commands will also prove to be a tremendous advantage to people who can read Braille, but who do not have the dexterity necessary to press buttons or keys on the unit.

Execute many commonly used procedures within the WINDOWS operating system with voice commands. Good examples would be to move directly to the WINDOWS Desktop or to maximize the application and document windows, so that the program fills the entire screen.

Teach the software how you pronounce words and phrases with our interface which allows you to easily add them to the vocabulary. Our special utility can also be used by sighted assistants if necessary. Alternatively, use the superb access to the Dragon Professional correction system.

The J-Say Configuration Wizard lets you take control of all the product's special functions without the need to remember a number of voice commands.

Move through tables easily either within Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge or Microsoft Word. Again, the navigation language is simple to learn with no complications.

Use our slick Back-Up and restore utilities to make a permanent copy of your speech files and restore them at a later date if necessary.

And much much more including support for Microsoft Excel, Skype, Twitter, and Sonos audio devices.

Further Information about J-Say

Assuming a level of installation and training is purchased, J-Say can be easily configured to allow a physically disabled and visually impaired person to independently carry out tasks such as dialing telephone numbers, through to using software-based DVD and DAISY talking book players. J-Say Pro can also be customized to perform optimally with applications used in the workplace.

J-Say allows you to dictate text into almost any application and have the text echoed back. In the event that Dragon NaturallySpeaking itself is unable to communicate directly with the required program, the Dictation Box can be used. This is an environment where text can be dictated and edited before immediate transfer to the application. J-Say of course supports the Dictation Box.

Moreover if you are familiar with the many J-Say screen-reading commands, the chances of you being able to work with a non-standard application without the need for scripting are high.

You may also care to Purchase Training from The Speech Gurus by calling 1-888-641-6776 extension 1.

In terms of support, J-Say comes equipped with our extremely thorough documentation relating to installation and usage.

Computer Specifications and Software Requirements - What You Need to Know!

Please read this section carefully!

It is important that the computer on which J-Say and associated products are to be installed conforms to the following minimum specification, and that the software requirements are met.

Pentium 4 or Core 2 Duo Processor (or laptop computer equivalent). Faster is always better!

8GB of RAM is the absolute minimum but 16GB would be better.

16-Bit 'on board' sound card (Full duplex) or preferably a compatible USB Digital Sound Converter.

All releases of Microsoft Windows7, Windows 8, Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Microsoft Office 2010, 2013, 2016 or 365. Office 365 is highly recommended!

JAWS for Windows version 18 and above, 2022 and 2023 recommended (2023 needs JSay 21)

Zoomtext Fusion with JAWS for Windows 2018 thru 2023 (2023 needs JSay 21)

Dragon Professional version 15.3,15.6 or 16. If within the United States, please Contact Us! by Email or telephone for pricing details!

A high quality headset/microphone. Please Contact Us! by Email or telephone for microphone recommendations.

Optionally, a high quality portable digital recorder for audio transcription. Please Contact Us! by Email or telephone to discuss which voice recorder would be suitable!

About the J-Say User Guide

The J-Say User Guide comprises three Books. The first Book consists of the "Installation Guide", which gives you step by step detail on how to install your J-Say product. It goes onto describe the voice training enrolment process and how to configure the Windows operating system, associated applications and the J-Say software to perform optimally. Finally, the "Installation Guide" discusses the hardware and software which should be used to ensure you can get the most from the J-Say interface, all using non-technical language where possible and delivered from the perspective of visually impaired people wishing to install the product.

The second volume consists of a J-Say tutorial or "Learning Module". The tutorial teaches you how to use J-Say with its many features, how you can work with non-supported applications and how you can educate the software to learn how you pronounce words and phrases. Again, the language used is not technical, delivered using step-by-step instructions.

The third book is the Command Summary which lists every voice command which can be spoken.

Please Read a Sample of the User Guide! http://www.hartgen.org/userguidesample

Subscribing to the J-Say Mailing List

An upgrade from all previous versions to J-Say 20.0 is priced at $135. Please call 1-888-641-6776 ext. 1 to order.

A J-Say Software Maintenance Agreement, (which entitles you to receive the next two paid-for upgrades at a discount price), is $187. Please call 1-888-641-6776 ext. 1 for more information or to order.

What’s New in J-Say Version 21 released in November 2022

Welcome to the upgrade document for J-Say version 21!

This initial release of J-Say 21 provides full compatibility with JAWS version 2023. Previous releases of JAWS are of course supported as well.

The changes in this release are as follows:

There is now one single installer so as to support J-Say for use with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 15.3 and 15.6.

Within the previous release of J-Say, if you used searches on Google and YouTube, the results were returned in List Boxes. Amazon and EBay have also been included in this format, described in the J-Say Search section of the documentation. In addition, having accessed a web page from the computed results, you can now say “Back to Results” so as to move back to the list.

A number of voice commands have been added for controlling the output from YouTube videos. Many customers have requested this. These commands are: “YouTube Play” “YouTube Pause” “YouTube Volume Down” “YouTube Volume Up” “YouTube 10 percent through to YouTube 90 percent” “YouTube Forward”, moves forward through the video by a small increment. “YouTube Back”, moves back through the video by a small increment. “YouTube Beginning” “YouTube End” “YouTube Mute”, mutes all audio but the video continues to play. “YouTube Unmute”, unmutes the audio. “YouTube Elapsed”, speaks the elapsed time of the video. “YouTube Total”, speaks the total time of the video. “YouTube Views”, speaks the number of views.

A new facility is available called “Custom Help”. This is the ideal way of making notes you may wish to refer back to. Notes can be created globally or for specific applications. They can also be used by people training students in the use of access technology, since the user can easily get back to them at any time. A very full chapter is available in the J-Say Learning Module, Chapter 45. Keyboard and voice commands are available.

New voice commands have been included for the JAWS Smart Glance feature. Smart Glance makes it possible to focus on aspects of web pages which are highlighted in a specific way, such as by using different font sizes or colours, to denote importance. The voice commands are: “Next Glance” “Previous Glance” “First Glance” “Last Glance”. “Select a Glance”, so as to bring into view a list of Smart Glance highlighted items.

If you have our JAWS scripts for Microsoft Teams, these can now be installed alongside J-Say without special intervention.

The final item on the “Configuration Wizard” is “Download or Use the Remote Incident Manager Client”. Remote Incident Manager is the way in which we deliver technical support on a remote basis. Put simply, this means we can connect to your computer and provide assistance in the event of a JAWS, Dragon or J-Say failure and resolve difficulties for you. This option can also be reached directly by pressing ALT+Control+Windows+Backspace.

When activated, if the Remote Incident Manager client is not installed, J-Say will download it automatically and ask if you would like to install it. If you activate the “Yes” button, Remote Incident Manager will be installed.

Once installed, there are two methods of operation: enter incident by key word and unattended access.

Enter incident by key word is the default option. This means that, if a problem arises, you would need to be able to use the keyboard so as to launch Remote Incident Manager and enter a key word, or more likely, a letter of the alphabet so that the remote connection can be established. The reason no voice support is provided for this is that the reason most people contact us for such support is because the voice control software has failed, so they would not be able to speak to the computer anyway.

The second mode of operation is Unattended Access. We would only initiate this with your permission. This means that, without intervention from you in the future, we can connect to your computer and resolve any difficulties for you. It is critical to mention here that, if such a remote connection is established in this way, you receive a spoken prompt confirming that Hartgen Consultancy are connected to your computer. You would be fully aware of what is happening and it would only be used when problems arise. This unattended access is ideal for people who could not enter a key word even if they wanted to as no keyboarding skills are available. It could also be that sighted assistance is generally unavailable. This method of access means that support can be given in a far more timely manner so as to get you back up and running again quickly.

Should you need remote support in the future, please ask about unattended access and we can initiate this for you.

This version of J-Say should be installed as if it was a new product, so please consult the Installation Guide if required for details. You should install it into your chosen version of JAWS when prompted, for example, version 2023.