Getting Started LeaseyBasic.

Introduction.

In this Chapter, we will begin using Leasey for the first time and learn some important keystroke concepts.

Leasey’s Dual Modes.

Leasey has two modes of operation as indicated in the "Introduction" section of this User Guide. These are LeaseyBasic and LeaseyAdvanced. LeaseyBasic is for complete computer beginners and is only available if you have purchased Leasey Total Package.

To switch between LeaseyBasic and LeaseyAdvanced, press the control key and the Grave Accent key together. JAWS will play a sound. This relates to another feature which you can ignore. Press the same keystroke again, Control key and the Grave Accent key and the mode will switch. You will hear Leasey say, using her own voice, either “Leasey is Active” or “LeaseyAdvanced is Active”. The setting remains permanent until you change it, even if you restart the computer. Please note that if you have not purchased Leasey Total Package this does not apply.

There are a number of other important keystrokes. We will begin with the three keys, situated to the right of the F12 key on the desktop keyboard. Typically, these are labelled, from left to right, “Print Screen”, “Scroll Lock” and “Pause/Break”. From a Leasey perspective, these are, from left to right:

1. “Leasey Main Menu”. This key will always take you back to the Leasey Main Menu irrespective of the program which is running. So if you are unsure what to do next, a good way to get back to a known point is to press the Leasey Main Menu key. Please note that the Leasey Main Menu key is also available in Leasey Advanced. So if you prefer launching programs through menus, this key can be used.
2. The Leasey Application Menu Key. This provides a menu relative to the application in which you are working. For example, if you are in a word processing program, pressing the Leasey Application Menu key will bring into view a list of options relating to word processing. Pressing the Escape key will, in most cases, return focus to the Leasey Main Menu as well. If you prefer, you can also (if using Leasey Basic) press the Escape Key from within a supported program to bring into view the Leasey Application Menu. Please note that the Leasey Application Menu Key is also available in Leasey Advanced, so if you are not fond of remembering shortcut keys, you can use this menu if you prefer.
3. Leasey Context Sensitive Help key. This provides human narrated help relative to the situation in which you are working. So, if you are in the Leasey Main Menu and you are unsure how to navigate it, press the Leasey Help Key. If you are using Leasey Advanced, this key brings into view the Leasey Hotkey Help system described later.

When Leasey is speaking help information, press ALT+Windows+Control+P to pause and restart the audio playback. So, hold all three keys down to the left of the Space Bar and, while they are pressed, tap the letter “P”.

ALT+Windows+Control+Up or Down Arrow will increase or decrease the volume of the playback. If Leasey is not speaking, a tune will play. You can then go ahead and use the volume adjustment keys until you reach the level you want. When the desired level is reached, press ALT+Control+Windows+S to stop the playing of the tune although it will stop after one minute automatically. The "Stop" key will in addition stop Leasey speaking help information at any time. If you reach 100 per cent of the volume level, you will be advised of this. If the lowest level at 0 per cent is reached, you will be advised of this, followed by the words, "Not Recommended".

The other important key to mention here is the Leasey Key. This is in most cases for advanced users as all of Leasey’s features can be accessed directly with the keyboard without having to work through the menu system. The Leasey Key is assigned to the Grave Accent key, situated to the immediate left of figure 1 on the main QWERTY keyboard. When you press this key, you will hear the word, “Leasey”. Release the key, and then press another key to carry out a special Leasey function. All the Leasey keystrokes are given throughout this document in their relevant sections.

Note that if while composing documents you wish to insert a grave accent character, press the Leasey Key twice quickly.

About the Leasey Menus, for Leasey Basic Users.

Here are some important things you need to know about the Leasey menus and Leasey Basic in particular.

1. LeaseyBasic can be enabled by pressing Control together with the Leasey Key. This setting is retained even if the computer is restarted. When LeaseyBasic is activated by pressing this keystroke, after a short pause the Leasey Main Menu will appear.
2. If LeaseyBasic is enabled, and the computer is restarted, when the Windows operating system is fully loaded the Leasey Main Menu should appear after a short pause.
3. To repeat, if you are unsure what to do at any time, please press the Leasey Main Menu key to return to a known position.
4. The Up and Down Arrow keys can be used to navigate Leasey menus. When the last item has been reached, and the Down Arrow is pressed once again, focus will wrap back to the top item in the menu. The reverse is true if the Up Arrow key is pressed when the top item is in focus.
5. First letter navigation can be used in any of Leasey’s menus. So as you become used to the items which appear on the menus, you can press the first letter of the one you want. For example, if you wish to shut down your computer, repeatedly press the letter "S" until Leasey says, "Shut Down Your Computer". Then, press Enter to do this.
6. Press the Enter key to move into a menu and the Escape key to move back in the menu structure. For example, if you press the Enter key on the first item, “Write a Document or Letter”, focus will be within a sub-menu of choices relating to writing a document or letter. Press the Escape key to return to the Leasey Main Menu.
7. As a menu is opened, an appropriate short "click" sound will be heard before the new menu is revealed or an application launched. When the Escape key is pressed, an alternative sound to indicate backing out of a menu is heard instead.
8. If you are within a program such as that which manages your Email, in most circumstances you can also press the Escape key in order to move to the Leasey Application Menu. While it is true that you can press the Leasey Application Menu key, it is a natural reaction to press Escape as it is quite easy to find on the keyboard. Clearly, there are circumstances where this will not bring the Leasey Application Menu into view. For example, if you have opened an email message, you will press the Escape key to close it and return to your email Inbox. The Leasey Application Menu in that circumstance is not brought into view. However, if you press the Escape key when focused in the Inbox, the Leasey Application Menu is revealed. In short, if there is nowhere for focus to go, the Leasey Application Menu is revealed.
9. We strongly recommend that, in most situations, when using LeaseyBasic you only use one program at a time. This is to avoid confusion as to which program is running, although an option is available on the Leasey Main Menu to bring into view a list of currently running programs.

Menu Options, for Leasey Basic Users.

When selecting an option from the Leasey Main Menu, the programs she will run are very much dependent upon the choices you have made within the LeaseyManager. For example, if you select the option “Check Your Email”, the email program you have selected within LeaseyManager will run, which could be Microsoft Outlook, Windows Live Mail or Mozilla Thunderbird.

The option “Improve Your Keyboard Skills” will launch the TypeAbility program if it is installed.

The option, "Scan a Document", will launch the DocuScan program. DocuScan is ideal for scanning documents either through a scanner or perhaps a PDF file which may be inaccessible. For further details of DocuScan, please contact us!

Finally, at the bottom of the Leasey Main Menu, there are two options, either to shut down or restart the computer. Shutting down the computer completely can also be achieved by pressing the Leasey Key then ALT+Shift+S no matter the program in which you are working. Restarting the computer can be done by pressing the Leasey Key then ALT+Shift+R. Back to Help Index.