Jamie Pauls
If there is anything a busy student doesn't have a lot of, it's extra time. Whether in high school or college, students are constantly juggling work, family, and play in a way that allows them to learn as much as possible in a short amount of time. For the blind student, it's especially important to complete tasks in as efficient a manner as possible. Most visually impaired students will use a variety of assistive technology tools to accomplish learning tasks, including a variety of screen reading solutions. Scripts can make JAWS for Windows, a screen reader developed by Vispero, work more effectively. The JAWS scripting language is quite powerful, often allowing you to accomplish tasks that might otherwise be considered outside the box when it comes to the use of assistive technology.
One JAWS script developer who has pushed the envelope for years is Brian Hartgen of Hartgen Consultancy. Among the various scripts written by Hartgen is a product called Leasey. Leasey is short for "Learn, Enable, Advance - So Easy!" Leasey can rightly be considered a tool for the most basic computer user. It can be configured to provide a menu of most commonly performed tasks such as word processing and Internet browsing, and launch programs associated with those tasks without the user needing to know a lot about using their computer. That said, Leasey is flexible enough to be of benefit to more advanced users as well. Since the product is comprised of a series of JAWS scripts, it runs constantly when JAWS is loaded. Leasey is smart enough to never get in your way when you don't need it, but is always instantly available when you do.
In this article, we will take a look at some of the features of Leasey that might be of particular interest to students.
Getting Up and Running with Leasey
While not a free program, Leasey is available at a very reasonable price. The advanced version of Leasey that I discuss in this article can be obtained for $61. The Leasey Total Package costs about $80 and contains more tools and documentation for the novice computer user. Both versions of the product are very similar in what they do.
Hartgen walks you through the process of configuring your program to get he most out of Leasey with some of the best documentation around. In fact, every feature of Leasey is thoroughly documented with both written and audio demonstrations available. It's quite easy to get a list of keystrokes for any task that you wish to perform with Leasey. I won't go into a lot of detail about how to perform all the tasks discussed in this article, but most commands are carried out by first pressing the Grave Accent key, which I'll refer to as the "Leasey Key," just to the left of number 1 on your keyboard, followed by the relevant command. I will sprinkle some examples of keystrokes used throughout the rest of this discussion.
Performing Searches with Leasey
The student who frequently needs to look up information from various sources will find LeaseySearch to be a most valuable resource. Press the Leasey Key and then Control + Shift + S to bring up a list of all the various services that can be searched. If you are in the middle of typing a term paper, simply invoke LeaseySearch and choose, say, Google. You will then be presented with an edit box where you can type your search term. Press the Enter key and your default Web browser will load the Google site. Leasey will even take you to the first available search result. From there, use all of the standard Web navigation commands available in JAWS to ensure that your paper is accurate. Besides Google, you can perform searches on sites such as Amazon, Audible, Wikipedia, and GoodReads, just to name a few.
One of the search options is News. From there, you can get a nicely formatted list of stories from a variety of news sources including The Associated Press, ESPN, and Entertainment Weekly. There are news sources from outside the United States as well, so you can cover an important story from a number of angles.
While you are working on that lengthy term paper, you can tell Leasey to always remember your place in the document and come back to it when you open it back up if that is your preference.
Sticky Notes Aren't Just for Sighted People Anymore
As a blind person, have you ever come across those little pieces of paper with adhesive on the back that sighted people are so fond of? They put them everywhere?on the cabinet door, in books, you name it. Unfortunately, those little scraps of paper aren't of much use to blind people?unless, that is, you happen to be using Leasey. Using our term paper as an example, maybe there is a passage that you want to elaborate on further, or perhaps you want to double-check a fact later. You can set a LeaseySticky note to remind you. Just move to the place in the document where you want the note to be inserted, press the Leasey Key followed by the letter S, type your note, and then press Enter. Next time you Arrow to the line of text containing the note, Leasey will play a sound, read the line of text in question, and then read your note.
I am forever saving emails that I want to refer to later. One example is the weekly newsletter Top Tech Tidbits for Thursday. Each issue contains a number of topics of interest. There are always a couple of articles mentioned that I want to go back and read later. The only problem is that after I have collected half a dozen issues, I don't have the slightest idea why I kept them. I must read through each entry in a particular issue and hope I can recall what caught my interest enough to make me save the issue for later reading. Fortunately, I can add a LeaseySticky note to emails as well. I can make a quick note to myself that I want to read the article containing handy Windows 10 keyboard shortcuts. This makes it much easier for me to skim to the content of interest rather than laboriously moving through each entry.
This also applies to files on your computer or removable storage devices. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out how handy Leasey's sticky notes feature can be.
Getting Where You Want to Go with Leasey
One of the features of Leasey that I use more often than any other is LeaseyCuts. Leasey can point to a folder, file, or webpage and present you with a list of LeaseyCuts to choose from. I do a fair amount of audio editing, and I have elements such as music beds and sound effects stored in numerous locations. It's nice to be able to press the Leasey Key, then Control + L to view a list of folders and files I have asked Leasey to point to. When saving documents or audio files, I can also ask Leasey to insert the path to a particular folder before I type the filename. This saves me having to browse several folders deep in order to save the file where I want it. The Leasey Key then Control + Semicolon brings up a list of webpages that I have saved as well. I can even use different Web browsers to open specific websites if I wish, and the LeaseyCut I have assigned is smart enough to use the correct browser when I press Enter on the name of that particular LeaseyCut.
Busy students will find this particular feature most helpful in keeping their work nice and tidy. If you no longer need a LeaseyCut, you can of course delete it.
Turbocharge Text Input with Leasey
Are there times when you need to type a string of text over and over again? Maybe it's something very short, or perhaps it spans several lines. LeaseyClips and LeaseyText can help. Suppose I am writing an article for AccessWorld and I would like to quote specs for the particular piece of hardware I am reviewing. I can easily visit the manufacturer's website, find the information, copy that information to the clipboard, and save it as a LeaseyText, which I can then insert into my article. I might want to share the specs on an email list of which I am a member, so I can easily recall the information at any time, even after I have completed the article.
Let's say that I am entering information into a spreadsheet and a certain piece of information needs to be added many times. I can create a LeaseyClip, which I could save for later use. LeaseyClips are stored by copying the relevant information to the clipboard, pressing the Leasey Key, and then storing the clip using F1 through F12 on the keyboard. Leasey Key and Shift + F1 through F12 inserts the LeaseyClip where I want it. I use LeaseyText for larger blocks of text such as email signatures, and LeaseyClips for small bits of text that I want to quickly insert without needing to view a list of stored items. It's surprising how much Leasey's ability to store and quickly insert text can speed up your workflow and reduce repetitive typing.
Let Leasey Entertain You
Leasey enhances the usability of services such as Spotify and iTunes. Whether it's simply making a task easier to accomplish or truly improving the accessibility of the service, Leasey is there to help. I especially find this true when using YouTube on my computer. There are keystrokes to turn the volume of audio up and down, move quickly through YouTube files, and skip those annoying ads! Spotify also benefits from Leasey's fine touches in ways too numerous to mention here.
Facebook and Twitter are constantly being updated, and increasingly accessibility is being built into those services, but Leasey is still there to assist if needed. Whether it's listening to music for your music appreciation class or simply taking some time off work to relax and have a little fun, Leasey is a great asset.
Playing Tag with Leasey
Anyone who has used Windows for any length of time knows it is possible to select multiple files that are close together with Shift and either the Up or Down Arrow keys. It is also possible to select files that aren't next to one another by holding down the Control key while moving through a list of files and pressing Space on the file you want to select. Anyone who has done this very many times has undoubtedly experienced the frustration of accidentally letting go of either the Shift or Control keys, thereby undoing all the selecting you have tediously done. Leasey allows you to tag files by simply pressing Control + Shift + Space when you find a file you want to select. No holding down any other keys while moving through your list of files. Leasey even plays a sound for you when you move back over a file that has been previously tagged. You can find out how many files are tagged, and even hear the filenames spoken if you wish. It's possible to tag files from multiple folders and perform actions on all of them at once. All the files that you wish to move to your removable storage device can be transferred all at once with no hassle thanks to LeaseyTags. Now you have no excuse for not taking that homework with you when you visit your parents over the weekend!
Design Webpages with Leasey
One feature of Leasey that I have not played with personally but find most fascinating is the HTML assistant. If you've ever hand coded HTML for a webpage, you know how easy it is to forget an element and end up with part of your page being garbled rather than displaying a nice hyperlinked document. Leasey helps you design well formatted pages by allowing you to specify what type of content you are creating?headings, links, etc.?and inserting the appropriate code as needed. This could be most helpful to any student who needs to design web-based content.
The Bottom Line
If you are a busy student who uses JAWS as one of your screen reading solutions, you might just find that Leasey from Hartgen Consultancy is a tool you won't want to be without. In fact, if you are using another screen reader for any reason, you may find yourself switching back to JAWS just so you can use Leasey's tools. Those who choose to use the Leasey Total package in basic mode will find that Leasey speaks many of its messages with a very pleasant human female voice. Leasey Advanced users will receive all prompts using the voice configured in JAWS. There are also resources available to Leasey Total users including basic audio instruction for learning to use a computer that are not available to advanced users. Those who use the Leasey Total package are able to switch to the more advanced mode if they choose to do so.
As someone who has used a computer for many years, I find myself using Leasey enough that I almost never use another Windows screen reader because I don't want to give up Leasey functionality. Because Leasey takes advantage of the JAWS scripting language, it is not able to work with other screen readers such as NVDA or Windows Narrator.
If you are a student looking to simplify your workflow, or maybe you are already in the workforce full time and just need to simplify your computing life a bit, I would encourage you to try a demo of Leasey. You can use the product for two hours at a time in demonstration mode before you have to restart JAWS. You can restart JAWS up to 15 times before you must either purchase Leasey or uninstall it. Keep in mind that if you restart JAWS after only a few minutes of use, you lose one restart so it's possible to get much less than 30 hours of demo.
It's possible to join an email list where you can interact with other users of Leasey. Hartgen is quite responsive to user requests for new product features. Major updates to Leasey require a small fee, but there are numerous smaller upgrades that are free. Collectively, these upgrades add a ton of new functionality at no extra charge.
Be sure to leave a comment and let us know how you are currently using Leasey. We here at AccessWorld, as well as Leasey's developer, would love to hear from you.
This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.
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