[Trainer-talk] Fwd: EdSharp 3.2 and FileDir 3.8 released

[David Andrews]

>
>EdSharp 3.2
>http://EmpowermentZone.com/edsetup.exe
>
>FileDir 3.8
>http://EmpowermentZone.com/dirsetup.exe
>
>EdSharp and FileDir are free, open source applications with rich 
>feature sets that rival counterparts on Windows for file editing and 
>directory management.  In addition, they incorporate designs to 
>maximize productivity by keyboard and screen reader users.  A course 
>of steady improvements, reflecting user feedback, has resulted in 
>these time-tested, accessible solutions.
>
>In the latest updates to EdSharp and FileDir, the free, open source 
>screen reader for Windows called Nonvisual Desktop Access, NVDA, is 
>now supported with direct speech messages, just like JAWS, System 
>Access, and Window-Eyes.  NVDA is available either as an installer 
>or portable version from
>http://nvda-project.org
>
>When navigating the menu system of EdSharp or FileDir, a tooltip 
>about the current menu item is now displayed on the status 
>line.  This is the same summary information that appears in each 
>list item of the Alternate Menu command, Alt+F10.
>
>Both EdSharp and FileDir add the Web Client Utilities command, 
>Alt+Shift+Space, for tasks that conveniently retrieve information 
>from web sources.  The collection of 35 utilities is described in a 
>new section of documentation -- an excerpt of which is pasted at the 
>end of this message. Web 2.0 services can significantly increase 
>efficient access to information by blind people.
>
>The installer of optional JAWS scripts for EdSharp or FileDir is now 
>compatible with 64-bit versions of Windows.
>
>The Export command of EdSharp, Alt+Shift+E, now includes PDF as a 
>target format.  The Web Download command, Alt+Shift+W, now prompts 
>whether to get URLs from a web page or the current document.
>
>A new EdSharp configuration option, HardPageAddress, determines 
>whether the Address command, Alt+A, gives a page number instead of 
>document percentage (default is No).  A form feed character 
>specifies a hard page break.  It is part of the sequence inserted by 
>the Section Break command, Control+Enter, which is configurable via 
>the SectionBreak option of the configuration dialog.  Use the 
>Control+PageDown and Control+PageUp commands to navigate by 
>page.  Pressing Alt+A a second time in a row gives the alternate 
>type of address information, so you can still get a page number 
>without changing the HardPageAddress setting.
>
>The new Burn to CD command of EdSharp, Alt+Shift+B, operates on a 
>path list in the current document.  Each file or folder path should 
>be placed on a separate line.  If a parent folder is not specified, 
>the last one in the list is used.  The default parent folder is the 
>current directory. For example, the following list specifies the 
>EdSharp program folder and two test files from the temp folder:
>
>C:\Program Files\EdSharp
>C:\temp\test.txt
>test.doc
>
>You can create a path list manually, or use the Path List command, 
>Control+Shift+P, to generate one for you.  The paths found are 
>burned to the default CD drive.  The CD may be blank or include 
>content already. The new content is added to it.  The CD must be 
>writable.  At this time, DVDs do not work,  only CDs.
>
>The Recent command of FileDir, Alt+R, now prompts whether to show 
>recent folders opened in FileDir, or recent shortcuts that Windows 
>automatically creates in the special folder called Recent.  These 
>are shortcuts to files or folders that you opened in almost any application.
>
>Jamal
>
>Web Client Utilities
>
>The Web Client Utilities command, Alt+Shift+Space, is similar to the 
>Research It command of JAWS, Insert+Space.  The utilities are handy 
>ways of getting useful information from free web 2.0 services.  The 
>following 35 utilities are installed (for efficient navigation in 
>the listbox, each has a unique initial character, which may be a 
>letter, digit, or symbol):
>
>!Odd News - Get recent news items that are strange but true via reuters.com.
>
>@DomainLookup - Get authoritative information about the registrant 
>of an Internet domain name, e.g., AccessibleWorld.org.  Note that 
>some firewalls block this utility because it uses a different port 
>than standard HTTP requests.  This uses the free WhoisThisDomain utility from
>http://nirsoft.net/utils/
>
>#SportScores - Pick a sport from a list and go to the corresponding 
>page on ESPN.com with recent news and scores.
>
>$Product Search - Enter keywords that describe a product and go to 
>its matching web page on amazon.com.
>
>-TimeInternational - Enter a location (e.g., specified as city, 
>country) and get the current time there via google.com.
>
>=UnitConversion - enter a source value, e.g., 10 miles, and a target 
>unit, e.g., kilometer, and get the converted result via 
>google.com.  This works for currency units as well as physical measurements.
>
>1 Mile Stories - Get recent blog or news stories about a location 
>and surrounding area within a one mile radius via the outside.in web 
>service. Enter a location such as your home address on one line by 
>using a comma and space between segments that you might otherwise 
>type on separate lines.
>
>508 Check - Check a web page for compliance with accessibility 
>standards of the United States Government (Section 508 of the 
>Rehabilitation Act), as well as standards of the World Wide Web 
>Consortium (W3C).  This checks a web page against 508 standards via 
>CynthiaSays.com (the site limits checks to one per minute from the 
>same client).  It also includes the report of Wave, a web evaluation 
>checker from WebAim.org.
>
>0Captcha - Submit a captcha to solona.net ( a free account is 
>required), and have the text solution copied to the clipboard so you 
>can paste it into a web form.  The utility waits up to 90 seconds 
>for a human operator to respond.  This utility is typically executed 
>from within a browser that is displaying a captcha, though any .png 
>file on disk may be submitted.
>
>Address Lookup - Search for addresses of organizations meeting 
>geographic and other criteria via jigsaw.com.  This prompts for an 
>organization name, area code, zip code, web site type, and fortune 
>rank.  Fill in one or more fields for the search.  For example, 
>input gov for the web site type in order to get government 
>organizations, or 500 in the fortune field to get companies in the 
>top fortune 500.
>
>Business Reviews - Search for reviews of a business specified by a 
>phone number via yelp.com.
>
>Common URLs - Show a list of the 100 most commonly referenced URLs 
>on Twitter at present via TweetMeme.com.  These typically point to 
>news stories that people have been retweeting.
>
>Driving Directions - Input a starting and ending location, and get a 
>list of steps to get there by car (a blind person might share this 
>with a friend or cab driver).  The location may be specified as a 
>street address in any country.  The utility prompts for a starting 
>and ending address, uses the Google Maps API, and puts the estimated 
>distance, duration, and steps in the viewing area.  Specify an 
>address as if you were addressing an envelope except for a comma 
>rather than return between each line, e.g.,
>1400 East-West Highway, Silver Spring MD 20910, USA
>
>USA is assumed as the country if not specified.
>
>EnglishDictionary Lookup - Get definitions and other information 
>about a word via wiktionary.com.
>
>Feed Find - Get a list of RSS and ATOM feeds made available by a web 
>site. This prompts for a web source and returns a list of RSS or 
>ATOM feeds found.  An http:// prefix is assumed if not 
>specified.  For example, entering
>cnn.com
>
>finds two RSS feeds related to top stories and latest stories.  You 
>can open a feed url to read recent content, or subscribe with a feed 
>reader for regular updates.
>
>Google Search and Set Suggestions - Propose a Google search and get 
>a list of popular searches that are similar.  Also Get a list of 
>terms that may be part of the same set.  For example, enter a 
>comma-separated list of U.S. presidents and let Google suggest a 
>more complete list.
>
>Horoscope Reading - Input a zodiac sign (e.g., Sagittarius) and get 
>a horoscope for today via my.horoscope.com.
>
>Interesting Places - Get a list of nearby places to eat, shop, or 
>visit via NextStop.com.  This prompts for a location, which can be 
>in the city, state format, or a complete address with commas 
>seperating postal address lines.  Also input the distance in 
>kilometers to search from that location, and any words that you want 
>to narrow the search, e.g., Chinese for that type of food.  An 
>excerpt from a review of each place is also included, if available.
>
>Journalist World Reports - Get world headlines from multiple web 
>sources: the BBC, CNN, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, 
>Reuters, and Yahoo.  A structured text file is generated containing 
>a section of news items from each source.  Each item has a title, 
>summary, and URL for the full article.
>
>KnowledgeWikipedia - Input a topic and get a Wikipedia article as 
>both a web page and a text file.
>
>Language Translation - Translate text you specify, between about 100 
>different languages.  You can quickly understand what a foreign 
>phrase means or how to write it.  This uses the Google Translate API 
>to translate text among about 100 natural languages.  By default, 
>the choice for the source language is unknown and automatically 
>inferred by Google.  You pick the target language, and either enter 
>or paste text in the multi-line edit box.
>
>Members of Congress - Based on a U.S. zip code, get a list of House 
>and Senate members with various data including committee assignments 
>and contact information via SunlightLabs.com.
>
>Neighborhood Search - Search for places near a location, e.g., 
>restaurants with a particular cuisine near an address you are 
>visiting (anywhere in the world).  This prompts for an address in 
>the same format as Driving Directions and also for one or more 
>keywords specified as if searching on Google, e.g.,
>seafood steak
>
>to find restaurants in the area that serve both seafood and steak.
>
>Original URL - Get the original version of a URL, e.g., one that was 
>shortened for sharing in a tweet.  This does the reverse of the 
>Short URL utility, prompting for a URL, converting it, and copying 
>the result to the clipboard.
>
>Physician Online - Enter a medical topic and go to a matching web 
>page on WebMD.com.
>
>Quotes of the Day - Get daily food for thought from famous quotes 
>and their authors.  This Shows a humorous quote from 
>IHeartQuotes.com, as well as several motivational quotes from 
>QuotationsPage.com.
>
>Recommended URLs - Based on a topic word, get a list of currently 
>popular URLs that people are saving as bookmarks via delicious.com.
>
>Short URL - Get a shortened version of a URL via j.mp.com, e.g., so 
>you can share it in a tweet and have more text to type within the 
>140 character limit.
>
>Trend Topics - Get a list of currently popular topics on Twitter via 
>LetsBeTrends.com.
>
>Url Downloads - Batch download multiple urls based on an initial 
>page address and the extensions of files linked to it.  This puts a 
>space-separated list of extensions found in an input box.  Edit it 
>so that only the extensions you want remain.  The utility then puts 
>a list of those links in a multiple-selection listbox, showing the 
>link text and URL for each.  The items are all selected by default, 
>but you can use arrow keys and Spacebar to unselect ones as 
>desired.  The next dialog prompts for a folder for saving the files, 
>which will be remembered as the default choice the next time.  The 
>utility says the name of each file as it is being downloaded.
>
>Virtual White Pages - Search the white pages of U.S. phone books for 
>listings of residential phone numbers and postal addresses via WhitePages.com.
>
>Weather Check - Get a summary of current and forecasted conditions 
>for any location via wunderground.com.  This works with city, 
>country locations as well as U.S. zip codes.
>
>Xtra Word Info - Get definitions, usage examples, and origins of a 
>word. This shows definition and examples via Wordnik.com; synonyms 
>and antonyms via words.BigHugeLabs.com; and etymology via etymonline.com.
>
>Yahoo! Term Extractions - Get noteworthy noun phrases contained in a 
>web page via yahoo.com.
>
>Zoom Info - Search for employment contacts by name or email address 
>via ZoomInfo.com.