Using ZoomText Xtra! with shortcut keys

Using speech output to hear what is being typed

The built-in screen reader in ZoomText Xtra! allows you to hear text spoken as it is being typed into a program. The part of the screen reader which does this is called Typing Echo, and it is only available in Level 2. The Typing Echo option is selected in the Screen Reader dialog box.

There are two steps to be able to hear text as it is typed:

1. Select and enable Typing Echo.
2. Turn the speech output on.

To select and enable Typing Echo:

First select Level 2. There are three steps:

1. With the ZoomText Xtra! user interface on and active, press ALT+X to open the Xtra menu.
2. Press the up or down arrows until Level 2 is highlighted.
3. Press ENTER to select Level 2. The Level 2 toolbar will appear.

Then you need to enable Typing Echo. If Typing Echo is already selected, its button will appear on the toolbar as a lighter gray with a checkerboard design. The Typing Echo button is the one in the top row with "T" on it. If it is not already selected, there is one step to select it:

1. Press ALT+SHIFT+T.

The Typing Echo button on the toolbar will turn into the lighter gray/checkerboard design which indicates that it is selected.

Turning speech output on or off:

There is one step to enable or disable all speech output:

1. With the level 2 toolbar selected, press ALT+SHIFT+S, the Speech Shortcut key.
   • The Speech button will be turned on, will have the grey checkerboard pattern, and will show an icon of a face with an open mouth and three arcs by the mouth to indicate speech.
   • If the Speech button was already turned on, pressing the above Shortcut keys will disable speech output and the Speech button will be turned off.

Once speech output is enabled, there are three steps to speak text:

1. Press ALT+SHIFT+I, the Speak-It Tool Shortcut key. The cursor changes to the Speak-It Tool - the white cursor arrow with three arcs to its right.
2. Press the up, down, left, or right arrows to position the Speak-It Tool at the beginning of the word or phrase to be read.
3. Press ENTER to have the word spoken.

Contact us at infotechaccess@server.rehab.uiuic.edu

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