AI Squared has released Window-Eyes 9.3, a free upgrade for the screen reader. This version includes much-improved read to end feature, OCR support for a variety of file types and the screen, support for additional braille displays, and an overhauled spell checker experience for Microsoft Word. It's a free upgrade for users of Window-Eyes 9.2. Follow the link on this post to learn more or to download an upgrade or demo, or read on to read more from AI Squared.
Get Built-in Optical Character Recognition and a More Responsive Experience with Window-Eyes 9.3
Window-Eyes 9.3 is now available providing customers with the ability to recognize text from files or the screen with built in Optical Character Recognition. This version also offers a more reliable and stable user experience that will help maximize your productivity at work, home, and school.
Keep reading to learn more about the features and enhancements in Window-Eyes 9.3:
Extract Text from Files, Images and the Screen Quickly and Easily
Recognize text in inaccessible scanned PDF files.
Recognize text from images in .bmp, .jpg, .png, and .tiff formats.
Choose from several different file types to recognize, including .txt, .html, .xml, and .zip.
If Office is installed, you can also
OCR
documents ending in .docx, .pptx, and .xlsx.
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files can be recognized, including text found in WordArt to ensure readability.
All-New Read to End
Read-to-end has been completely rewritten to provide the most responsive and accurate reading experience.
When read-to-end is stopped, it will start again from the word that was last spoken to help save time and increase efficiency.
If a Braille display is connected, Braille output will remain in sync with speech as documents are read aloud.
Hot keys used to increase or decrease speech are much more responsive, enabling users to more easily read documents in the manner they prefer.
Microsoft Office
Improved reading of all spell check dialogs in Office 2010, 2013, and 2016.
Responsiveness of the Outlook 2010, 2013, and 2016 inbox under Windows 10 has been improved to make reading email faster.
Outlook's conversation view in 2010, 2013, and 2016 is now supported so that users can group messages with the same subject enabling reading of all messages within a thread quickly and easily.
If Window-Eyes was restarted while Outlook was open, message virtualization would stop functioning until Outlook was restarted. This issue has been fixed.
When a PowerPoint slideshow started, and Window-Eyes was set to automatically read the entire document, only the content of the first slide would be spoken. This has been fixed.
If the version of Window-Eyes for users of Microsoft Office was in use, and the Office 365 sign-in window was closed without first entering any text, Window-Eyes would crash. This has been resolved.
Other miscellaneous fixes.
Mouse Improvements
The physical mouse now reads UIA and IA2 programs, which improves the reading experience in programs such as web browsers and modern Windows apps.
A hot key to continue a mouse search in reverse has been added.
Window-Eyes can now read an entire line or only a word under the pointer as the physical mouse moves across the screen.
The mouse can now be set to read instant, hover, or no echo when moving the mouse around the screen. If the user sets it to hover, the amount of time can be adjusted before the information under the mouse is spoken. This allows low vision users better control over what they hear when the mouse moves around the screen.
Other miscellaneous fixes.
Other Fixes
Responsiveness in the Windows 10 File Explorer has been improved.
Quickly check the status of wireless network connections with a single hot key.
Responsiveness for Eloquence, eSpeak, RealSpeak, Vocalizer, and Vocalizer Expressive synthesizers has been significantly improved.
The WE cursor (which allows you to explore the screen without moving the mouse pointer) has been renamed to the invisible cursor to better reflect its functionality.
The QuickStart Wizard has been replaced with a new app called Setup Wizard providing a new visual interface and more options to help users get started using Window-Eyes.
The app update notification options that are displayed when updates are available have been expanded to include a tone, dialog box, tooltip, or any combination of the three. This enables users to select how they want to be notified of app updates.
Support has been added for the Handy Tech Active Star, Handy Tech Modular, and BAUM VarioUltra displays.
Numerous stability fixes and performance enhancements have been added.
Category: News
It also appears to have broken Outlook 2016 support when arrowing through the message list. Do they bother to test this stuff at all? It still can't read tagged pdf properly either, has no touch screen support, and half-baked Braille display support. They really need to either just toss the product or actually devote some quality time to bringing it into the modern age.
gs2809 Thursday, 17-Dec-2015 1:20 PM ET:
Every single update that gets released we end up having server crashes do to overload of traffic. Can't they improve this? Not trying to bash any company, but neither FreedomScientific or NV Access have these problems.
You must be logged in to post comments.
Or Forgot username or password?
Register for free
J.J. Meddaugh is an experienced technology writer and computer enthusiast. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a major in telecommunications management and a minor in business. When not writing for Blind Bargains, he enjoys travel, playing the keyboard, and meeting new people.
