Appendix C
User Instructions
Below is a copy of the user instructions included with the “Web News Speak” application. Within the application they are a hierarchical document, and have been changed slightly to allow them to be presented here in a non-hierarchical document.
Web News Speak - User Instructions
Contents:
Section
A Important notes about this version - Please Read First
B Programme overview
C Walkthrough of first use
D Keyboard controls
E Description of menu button operations
F Configuration
G Reporting errors
If you have any questions or comments please email the administrator at this address: mcai7ah2@co.umist.ac.uk
Section A - Important notes about this version
This is still only a beta release, and as such still has various problems. Some that you should be aware of are:
- The automated dial-up networking is not 100% reliable, and will only work with Windows 98. You should never rely on it connecting and disconnecting automatically without testing it first. This is especially important if you want to try and set the application up to get the news at a specific time overnight - if it does not disconnect properly this could lead to large phone bills!
- If you set the sleep timer to download pages overnight, you should ensure that the computer does not go into low power mode - the application cannot wake the computer up, and will not get the pages.
- While the pages are downloading all the Internet connection "sockets" are used, so if you open a web browser and go to a web page while the application is trying to get pages, some of the pages will become corrupted. You should not use a web browser while the application is downloading the news.
- Certain pages that contain tables of information ("motorcycle trials action" is a good example) will not be formatted in a way that is easy to understand using a screen reader. This is a problem that should be solved for the next version (if there is one).
Section B – Programme Overview
The Web News Speak application is designed to make retrieving news and up-to-date information from the Internet easier. It is designed primarily for blind and visually impaired people, but can be used by anyone.
The idea behind the application is that a user can load the application, and choose what sites they are interested in from a series of categories. The application will then wait until some time in the night when the phone charges are less, and download the pages. It will then change the pages, removing tables, frames, images etc. so that they are more understandable when read using a screen reader or talking web browser.
The system is administrated from a central location (currently the UMIST server), and pages and categories are set up and maintained from there.
The effectiveness of the application will depend greatly on how well designed the web pages are, and how well they have been set up by the administrator.
Section C – Walkthrough of first use
When you first load the application you will need to check that the settings are appropriate for your Internet connection.
To do this, press tab on the main menu until the 'Change settings' button is selected and press space, alternatively you can press the relevant function key. A new window will appear, and from this window you can tab through the settings checking if they are correct. If you are using a proxy server, you will need to check the 'Use a proxy server' box, and input the address and port number. If you do not know, or you are using a modem, then leave it unchecked. The rest of the settings can be left as they are, unless you want to change them. Their operation is described elsewhere in this help file.
Once you have set up the settings as you want them, you can download the newest version of the page and category database. You should do this the first time you use the application, or if you haven't used it for a while. To do this choose 'Get new categories now' from the menu. This should then connect to the Internet and download the latest categories and page information from the server. This should only take a few seconds, after which the application should disconnect from the Internet and a message will appear telling you whether or not it was successful.
Next you need to select what things you are interested in, and would like including in the newspaper. To do this, first choose 'Select Categories' from the main menu. This will take you to a list of categories. The categories are arranged in a hierarchy, and clicking on a button for a category will take you down to the next level of categories for the chosen category. When you reach the bottom level, you will be presented with a list of pages. The pages will be represented as check boxes, and you can check and uncheck them depending on whether you want to include them or not. Choosing 'back' or pressing escape will take you back up to the next level up.
Once you have chosen all the categories you are interested in (remember that choosing a large number of categories may increase download time), you are ready for download.
It is a good idea when trying the application for the first time to supervise the application while it is getting the pages, in case it does not connect or disconnect properly. Once you know it works you can set a time in the settings window to make it download the pages at that time unsupervised.
To download the pages choose 'Get News Now' from the main menu. You will get a warning message informing you that the process may take some time. Press Enter to continue (Escape returns you to the menu). The application will connect to the Internet, and a status window will appear to show the applications progress (if you have un-ticked the status window box in the settings window then it will not be updated as the download progresses). When all the pages have been downloaded, the application should disconnect from the Internet, and a message will appear telling you it has finished download.
There is a cancel button on the status window that will always be selected. If you want to cancel the download process at any time, simply press space. It may take a few seconds to stop downloading the pages, but once it has finished it should disconnect from the Internet and return you to the menu.
Section D – Keyboard controls
Everything within the Web News Speak application can be controlled using the keyboard as well as the mouse. It adheres to most of the normal conventions of windows, if you have a comment on how the keyboard controls could be improved, please let me know (the email address is at the bottom of this page).
The application is a single window that has between one and ten buttons. When you are choosing categories some of these buttons change to check boxes.
You can move between the buttons and check boxes using either: tab and shift-tab, up and down, or left and right cursor keys. To press a button, or to check/uncheck a check box you can press space.
If you click on the settings button on the main menu, another window will appear. This window consists of check boxes and text boxes. You can move between them using the tab and shift-tab keys.
When navigating the main menu and categories menus, the function keys can be used to press specific buttons without having to tab between the buttons. The function key that is used to press a button is included as part of the text of the button.
The compiled news file is viewed in the default web browser, and so all the keyboard shortcuts for the web browser are as normal.
To close the application you can either press escape from the main menu, or Alt+F4 from anywhere in the application. You will be asked to confirm that you wish to exit - press Y to confirm.
Section E – Description of menu button operations
When you load the application, you will be presented with a main menu consisting of a number of buttons. The operation of these buttons is described below:
- Instructions - Loads the online help file in your default web browser
- Select Categories - Selecting this button on the menu will take you into the category selection menu. You will initially be presented with a number of main categories like sport, news, etc.
Selecting one of these
categories will take you into that category, and you will see a new list of
sub-categories, or pages.
The categories are arranged into a hierarchy, with categories shown as buttons that you can select to take you down to the next level down, and pages shown as check boxes that you can check to indicate that you are interested in downloading the site. Selecting the 'back' button will take you back up to the next level up. In this way you can traverse the hierarchy of categories and pages selecting all the pages you are interested in.
The categories are arranged into a hierarchy, with categories shown as buttons that you can select to take you down to the next level down, and pages shown as check boxes that you can check to indicate that you are interested in downloading the site. Selecting the 'back' button will take you back up to the next level up. In this way you can traverse the hierarchy of categories and pages selecting all the pages you are interested in.
- Go To Sleep - Selecting this button on the menu will put the application to sleep until the time that has been set in the settings window. Once the chosen time has been reached the application will attempt to download the pages you have indicated you are interested in.
The actual download process
may take some time, the length of time it will take will depend upon how many
pages you have selected to download and the speed of your Internet
connection.
When downloading starts, the application will connect to the Internet, and when it finishes the application should automatically disconnect from the Internet.
WARNING - If this is the first time you have used the application you should try it once using the 'Get News Now' button first. This way you can be sure that the application will connect and disconnect from the Internet properly.
When downloading starts, the application will connect to the Internet, and when it finishes the application should automatically disconnect from the Internet.
WARNING - If this is the first time you have used the application you should try it once using the 'Get News Now' button first. This way you can be sure that the application will connect and disconnect from the Internet properly.
- Get News Now - Selecting this button on the menu will attempt to download the pages you have indicated you are interested in. This is the same as telling the application to go to sleep until a certain time and then download the pages - only it does it straight away without waiting until the time specified.
The actual download
process may take some time, the length of time it will take will depend upon how
many pages you have selected to download and the speed of your Internet
connection.
While the pages are downloading a status window will appear that will give updates on what is being downloaded. The updates can be turned off in the settings window, in which case it will only tell you when it has finished.
When downloading starts, the application will connect to the Internet, and when it finishes, a message will appear to inform you it has finished. At this point the application should automatically disconnect from the Internet.
While the pages are downloading a status window will appear that will give updates on what is being downloaded. The updates can be turned off in the settings window, in which case it will only tell you when it has finished.
When downloading starts, the application will connect to the Internet, and when it finishes, a message will appear to inform you it has finished. At this point the application should automatically disconnect from the Internet.
- View Compiled News File - Selecting this button on the menu will load the most recently downloaded and compiled news file in your default web browser. The first page you will be presented with is the contents page, which should list all the pages you have selected as being interested in ordered by their categories.
Selecting any of
these links will take you to the relevant section of the compiled news file.
Once you are viewing a page, you can follow the links on the page to other pages
that have been downloaded. At the top of each page is the name of the page, and
a link that will take you back to the previous
page.
If the 'View external links' option is turned on in the settings screen, then all the links will be left in place, and those that lead to external pages on the Internet (i.e. those that have not been downloaded) will have 'Extern' in front of them.
At the bottom of each page is a link to the original page on the Internet, and a link to an email address that can be used to report errors on the page or links that do not work.
If the 'View external links' option is turned on in the settings screen, then all the links will be left in place, and those that lead to external pages on the Internet (i.e. those that have not been downloaded) will have 'Extern' in front of them.
At the bottom of each page is a link to the original page on the Internet, and a link to an email address that can be used to report errors on the page or links that do not work.
- Get New Categories Now - Selecting this button on the menu will attempt to download an updated page and category database from the central server where the categories and sites are maintained.
The settings you
have set in the settings window will be used to download the page database, so
these must be correct for it to work. The download process should only take a
few seconds in which time your computer will connect to the Internet. Once it is
complete a message will tell you whether or not it has been
successful.
Once you have successfully downloaded the page database, and new pages and categories that have been added will now be available from the menu in the usual way.
If you have any problems downloading the page database, you can contact an administrator using the address at the bottom of this page.
Once you have successfully downloaded the page database, and new pages and categories that have been added will now be available from the menu in the usual way.
If you have any problems downloading the page database, you can contact an administrator using the address at the bottom of this page.
- Change Settings - On this screen there should be a number of settings that you can alter, each of which is described in the section F of these instructions.
- About - Gives program version information
- Quit - Closes the application
Section F – Configuration
To alter the settings, select the 'Change settings' button from the main menu.
On this screen there should be the following settings:
- Output Font Size - You can change this number to change the size of the text in the newspaper produced by the application. This may be useful for the partially sighted.
- Download Time (Hours and Minutes) - These boxes are used to set the time for an automatic download. The time should be entered in the format of a 24-hour clock. Once this is set you can set the timer by clicking on "Go To Sleep" on the menu. This will then minimise the window and wait until the time specified before downloading the selected pages.
- Attempt to Autodial Modem - If this check box is ticked the project will attempt to automatically dial the modem without asking for confirmation to make the connection to the Internet (see Important Notes).
- Use a proxy server - This check box should be ticked if you are using a proxy server. If you do not know, or you are using a modem to connect to the Internet, then it should be left un-ticked.
- Proxy Address - This is the address of the proxy server to use. This is only used if the 'Use a proxy server' box is ticked.
- Proxy Port - This is the port number of the proxy server. This is only used if the 'Use a proxy server' box is ticked.
- Timeout (secs) - This sets the number of seconds the application waits when waiting for a reply form a web site, 10 seconds is usually about right. If you get timeout messages in your newspaper, you can try increasing this number.
- Retries - This is the number of times to retry getting a page if it times out. The default value of 2 is usually sufficient.
- Run in supervisor mode - This box should be left un-ticked unless you are an administrator for the system.
- Show external links - This changes the way the news file is compiled so that links to external pages are left in as links. This is not normally desirable as it makes the pages cluttered.
- Show download status - While downloading the pages, the status window will be updated continually to show what is happening. If this is not desirable, this box should be un-ticked.
- OK - This saves the settings and closes the settings window.
- Cancel - This closes the settings window without saving the settings.
- View download log - This opens the log file created by the system as it downloads the pages. This is for system administrators only.
Section G – Reporting errors
If you have any questions or comments please email me using this address: mcai7ah2@co.umist.ac.uk
It would be helpful if you could include in your message the details of what pages you were trying to download (if relevant), and what operating system you are using (e.g. Windows 98). A copy of the log file log.txt would also be useful if possible (it is located in the program directory - this is "C:\Program Files\Web News Speak" by default).