[Blindtlk] 2011 updates to several, free, accessible software solutions

Mon Jan 17 15:52:52 UTC 2011

NonvisualDevelopment.org announces updates to several free, open 
source projects.  Below is a short description of each project, 
including links to its download package and user guide, followed by a 
summary of recent changes.

Nearly all of these are Windows-based programs published under the 
GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), which  is explained at
http://gnu.org

Some programs are written in cross-platform languages, so may be 
adaptable to run on other operating systems as  well.  Anyone may use 
the programs in either binary or source code form.  I welcome 
feedback, suggestions, and code  contributions.

Jamal

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EdSharp -- A productive text editor, word processor, file converter, 
and code editor.
http://EmpowermentZone.com/edsetup.exe

Documentation
http://EmpowermentZone.com/EdSharp.htm

Version 3.3 adds the Format Code command, Control+4, to format source 
code of C-like languages based on file  extension.  This incorporates 
the free Artistic Style utility, which is also available separately at
http://astyle.sourceforge.net

Added an unofficial encoding, UTF-8N, meaning UTF-8 encoding without 
a Byte Order Mark (BOM).  If this code is used  in the YieldEncoding 
configuration setting (Alt+Shift+C for Configuration Options), that 
default encoding will be  assumed.  This maximizes compatibility of 
files uploaded to Linux-based web servers  -- Windows programs 
typically  add a BOM, but it is often not recognized by 
cross-platform programs with Linux origin.

A file saved on the Recent Files list (Alt+R) now includes the last 
cursor position when the file window was closed  (Control+F4 or 
Alt+F4).  This position is automatically restored the next time the 
file is opened -- unless an  explicit bookmark was set (Control+K), 
which takes precedence as the initial location in the file.

Added many more import (Control+Shift+O) and output (Alt+Shift+E) 
format options, supporting conversions among HTML  (.htm), LaTeX 
(.tex), Markdown (.md), rich text format (.rtf), and txt2tags (.tt) 
formats.  These conversions are  made possible by incorporating free 
utilities called Pandoc
http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/

and txt2tags
http://txt2tags.org

In addition, Microsoft Office 2007 formats such as .docx may be 
imported if you install a Microsoft "filter pack"  that is offered at 
the end of the EdSharp installer.

Sped up time for subsequent invocations of EdSharp after the  initial 
one. Improved the optional JAWS scripts for EdSharp so that titles of 
top-level windows are more reliably  read.

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Encoding -- Check and convert among various file encodings, including 
versions of ANSI and Unicode.
http://EmpowermentZone.com/Encoding.zip

Documentation
http://EmpowermentZone.com/Encoding.htm

Version 1.1 adds an unofficial encoding called ASCIIFY.  This works 
similar to the ASCII encoding in that only 7- bit characters having 
an ordinal value less than 128 are included in the resulting file.  A 
significant difference,  however, is that rather than just dropping 
each non-ASCII character, an attempt is made to substitute an 
ASCII  character or word with equivalent meaning.  For example, the 
single Unicode character for an ellipses symbol is  replaced with 
three consecutive period characters.  The Encoding.exe utility is now 
also distributed in the  WebClient subdirectory of the EdSharp and 
FileDir applications, which make use of it for detecting 
encodings  automatically, or converting among different ones.

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FileDir -- A file and directory manager that does much more than 
Windows Explorer.
http://EmpowermentZone.com/dirsetup.exe

Documentation
http://EmpowermentZone.com/FileDir.htm

Version 3.9 strengthens the Query Encoding command, Shift+2, so that 
it automatically detects an encoding using the  Encoding.exe utility 
previously mentioned.  Convert Encoding , Control+2, is a new command 
for converting the  current or tagged files to another encoding.  You 
can pick among nearly 100 encodings, including the 
unofficial  ASCIIFY, UTF-8B, and UTF-8N ones previously 
mentioned.  As a safety measure, original files are 
automatically  backed up to files with the same names and an 
additional .bak extension.  Microsoft Office 2007 formats are 
now  supported with the What command (Question Mark), Output to Text 
command (Shift+O), and Append Text to Clipboard  command 
(Shift+A).  This support requires installation of the Microsoft 
"filter pack" previously mentioned, which  is offered at the end of 
the FileDir installer, and also available separately at
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyid=60c92a37-719c-4077-b5c6-cac34f4227cc&displaylang=en&tm

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JAWS Script Exchange -- A program for installing 3rd party JAWS 
scripts from a zip archive, or for Creating an  executable package of 
scripts to distribute to others.
http://EmpowermentZone.com/jsxsetup.exe

Documentation
http://EmpowermentZone.com/jsx.htm

Version 3.3 finds the appropriate user script directory more 
reliably, regardless of whether JAWS is running as a  Windows service 
or user process (typically determined by whether JAWS is configured 
to run at Windows startup or  not).  A conflict is eliminated between 
the optional HomerKit scripts for Internet Explorer and the IEMax 
scripts  available separately at
http://EmpowermentZone.com/IEMax.exe
(or .zip for a manual install)

Comprehensive documentation for JAWS 12, rather than JAWS 11, is now 
included.  JSX also now incorporates the  latest, 5.4.0 version of 
Inno Setup, which is also available separately from
http://InnoSetup.org

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PDF2TXT -- A program for single or batch conversion of PDFs to text, 
including OCR capability.
http://EmpowermentZone.com/p2tsetup.exe

Documentation
http://EmpowermentZone.com/pdf2txt.htm

Version 2.3 supports enhanced speech messages with NVDA, in addition 
to JAWS, System Access, and Window-Eyes.  This  is done via a new 
version of the SayLine.exe utility that is part of the updated 
SayTools package mentioned below.

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SayTools -- A COM server and set of executable utilities for 
developers to add speech to an application, using  either the default 
screen reader or SAPI voice.
http://EmpowermentZone.com/saysetup.exe

Documentation
http://EmpowermentZone.com/SayTools.htm

Version 1.9 adds support for NVDA, a free, open source screen reader 
available from
http://nvda-project.org

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Let me also mention that the web site of the "fruit basket" project 
has recently been revised to take advantage of  features of the 
Drupal content management system:
http://FruitBasketDemos.org

A fruit basket program is a simple, but nontrivial program with a 
graphical user interface (GUI).   This community  project offers many 
samples that meet the same criteria using different programming 
languages, thereby allowing  programmers to compare various aspects 
when considering a development approach.

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I edit a set of answers to frequently asked questions about nonvisual 
development at
http://EmpowermentZone.com/NonvisualDevelopmentFAQ.htm

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A complete list of my open source projects (excluding screen 
reader-specific scripts) is available at
http://EmpowermentZone.com/OpenSourceProjects.htm