What's New in J-Tunes 3.2

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Introduction

J-Tunes 3.2 is the latest release of our interface providing a linking mechanism between JAWS for Windows from Freedom Scientific and the iTunes music management system produced by Apple.

While visually appealing, iTunes has always been a challenging application for which to provide a high level of accessibility.We believe that we have considerably extended the use of iTunes for users of JAWS within J-Tunes 3.2 to be launched and released at the CSUN Conference on Technology and Persons with Disabilities (Los Angeles) in March 2008.

J-Tunes 3.2 is compatible with JAWS for Windows 6 through 9 and iTunes 7.6 and above. J-Tunes 3.2 provides official support for the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system but the interface can be used with Microsoft Windows XP and 2000. Anyone possessing a valid J-Tunes version 3.1 authorisation file will be able to upgrade to the new release free of charge. Anyone wishing to upgrade or try the evaluation copy providing a ten minute trial will be able to download J-Tunes 3.2 from our web site.

New Keyboard Support

J-Tunes 3.2 contains a new keyboard interface for executing many functions within the program. Previously, functions were executed using ALT+CTRL+WINDOW or CTRL+CAPS LOCK keys held down and a further key pressed depending upon the keyboard layout.

The J-Tunes Modifier Key is now assigned by default to the Grave Accent key, however this can be changed from a special interface created for the purpose. Alternatively you can add as many J-Tunes Keys as necessary.

Once the J-Tunes Key is pressed, the keyboard is frozen. Any subsequent key presses are passed onto the J-Tunes application rather than iTunes which gives plenty of scope for adding commands and has the advantage that executing them is very easy. A user has five seconds to press any letter or figure key on the keyboard to execute a J-Tunes function.If no key is pressed within five seconds, or if the Escape Key is pressed, the J-Tunes keyboard action is cancelled and JAWS confirms the cancellation.

As an example of how the J-Tunes Key is used:

Press the J-Tunes Key.
Release the J-Tunes Key.
Press the letter M. The music section of the iTunes Library is located.

Keyboard Help

Keyboard Help works in a very similar way to using the J-Tunes Key described above. Pressing INSERT+F1 by default, followed by a character or figure, will announce or provide using Braille output a short message describing what the corresponding keystroke would do if you were to press the J-Tunes Key with the keyboard character. As with the J-Tunes Key, the Keyboard Help keystroke can be changed or users can have as many Keyboard Help keys as they wish.

After pressing the Keyboard Help key, a user has five seconds to press a keystroke to receive the Help message.Failure to press a character, or pressing the Escape Key, will terminate Keyboard Help mode.

Hotkey Help

The Hotkey Help has been redesigned so as to make finding the required J-Tunes keystroke easy to do.

Once activated with INSERT+H, seven categories are presented each denoted by a Hyperlink. Pressing Enter on the Hyperlink will move into the category of keystrokes. At the end of each category is a link to move back to the main index of categories.

Changing Default Keyboard Implementation

Within the "Setup" category available from Hotkey Help Mode, several Hyperlinks exist so as to manage the keys to act as the J-Tunes Key and the J-Tunes Help Key. Pressing Enter on any of the Hyperlinks will request that the user presses a keystroke which will represent each of the modes in future. Once pressed, the keystroke is confirmed using the JAWS Message Voice and a Flash Message in Braille. Focus will return to the Hotkey Help Virtual Viewer.

A further Hyperlink exists within the "Setup" category to return all keystrokes to their default assignments.

Extended Support for the iTunes Music Store

The feature most often requested for J-Tunes is more support for the iTunes Music Store and we have brought it to you in this release of the product!

Previously if the default J-Tunes interface could not detect the Button to purchase individual music tracks, it was necessary to request help from a seeing individual to help train JAWS as to its location. This is no longer necessary. In addition, entire albums can now be purchased directly from the Music Store!

J-Tunes Key then A will purchase an album together with announcing its price.
J-Tunes Key then B purchases the focused music track.
J-Tunes Key then C checks the price of an album and announces it.

Podcast Support

Users of J-Tunes can now benefit from the new Podcast support with the following features:

Easily subscribe to a Podcast, such as Freedom Scientific's FS Cast or the T&T Consultancy Ltd Podcast;
Expand and collapse the list of Podcast episodes with a keystroke;
Download an individual Podcast episode or all episodes;
Open and read the Podcast episode Show Notes with the JAWS "Say All" facility or by using the arrow keys;
Subscribe to Podcasts directly through the iTunes Music Store.

Complete Access to the iTunes Options Multi-Page Dialog Box

While JAWS by default does announce most of the controls available within the iTunes Options multi-page dialog box, until this point visually impaired people have not had access to all the text which appears on the screen as each control gains focus. This is either because the explanation for the more complex functions is displayed below the control, the field has no label associated with it or the control is contained within a group which makes sense to the sighted user but is not easily understood when moving through the Dialog by pressing TAB and listening to the output.

The entire Dialog Box now has a greater level of accessibility with all controls and explanations conveyed to the user with JAWS.

Source List Components

The Source List is visually divided into four areas: Library, Store, Devices and Playlists.As users move through the Source List by pressing up or down arrow, JAWS now announces the area currently focused as and when it changes.

Menu Bar and Shortcut Keys

Pressing the left or right arrow keys to move along the menu bar now causes JAWS to announce the shortcut key pertaining to the focused menu item as well as the menu item itself.

Improved Access to the Information Dialog Box

Pressing CRTL+I on any music track or Podcast episode causes an iTunes Dialog Box to appear containing useful information concerning the focused item. The text can now be placed into the JAWS Virtual Viewer for line by line analysis.When within the Music Store, pressing the CRTL+I keystroke in addition automatically copies the name of the album to the windows clipboard so that it can be easily searched for when wishing to purchase it.

Search Results Confirmation

When you press Enter within the Search edit field, such as within the iTunes Music Store, JAWS will now provide prompt information when the new search results are ready for viewing.

Greater reliability

The way in which some J-Tunes functions have been implemented has changed. Expanded/collapsing the list of radio stations together with moving directly to the Music section of the iTunes Library are two examples of where reliability has been considerably improved upon.

Custom Scripts

Several people have wanted to extend the J-Tunes functionality by adding their own custom scripts. This is now possible.While of course the J-Tunes source code remains protected, script writers can now add their own scripts to the "itunes.jss" file assuming the linking mechanism at the head of the file remains intact.

Extended Documentation

The documentation to support J-Tunes 3.2 has been extended so as to provide explanations of all the new features together with further details of how iTunes functions as a complete music management system.The User Guide is a Microsoft Word document with heading structure and is installed with the J-Tunes product automatically.

An updated audio tutorial describing how to use many of the new features of J-Tunes 3.2 will be produced shortly after the product's release.

Page Last Updated: Saturday, February 09, 2008

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