Chapter 1: ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY
TOOLS
Assistive Technology Manual
ZOOMTEXT
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ZoomText is an enlargement
software that magnifies whatever appears on the computer monitor, including
icons and the mouse pointer. It also provides synthesized speech output
to relay the information on the screen.
How it works: You can choose
magnification and speech reading options from an enlarged screen menu.
Who will benefit? Individuals
with low vision who are unable to read the standard computer screen.
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ZoomText will run on all PUCC PCs.
Steps for running ZoomText by using
the mouse:
- Click on the Start menu.
- Click on Course Software.
- Click on the ALPS menu item.
- Click on ZoomText Xtra.
- Finally, click on ZoomText Xtra Level 1. ZoomText
should now be running.
Steps for running ZoomText Xtra using the keyboard:
- Press Ctrl + Esc.
- Press the down arrow once.
- Press the right arrow once.
- Press the A key.
- Press the right arrow once.
- Press the Z key.
- Finally, press the up arrow once, followed by
the Enter key. ZoomText should now be running.
ZoomText magnifies the screen up to sixteen times
larger than original size. Open ZoomText by pressing the Start Menu and then
the Z key. ZoomText will respond by opening a copyright screen. Press Enter
to close it.
Two main settings in ZoomText are:
- The amount of magnification. When you first turn
it on, ZoomText defaults to a magnification of two times. To adjust that number,
press Alt O, then the D key, then use the up or down arrows to change the
magnification: one time is the smallest, sixteen times is the largest. Press
Enter when you have the setting you want.
- The manner that ZoomText is displayed. When you
first turn it on, ZoomText defaults to full screen magnification. There are
four other settings that allow you to keep part of the screen normal size
and magnify only a portion. Overlay fixes a magnification window in the
lower right of your screen, Lens gives you a floating magnification window,
and H-Split and V-Split give you fixed horizontal and vertical magnification
windows. To change settings, press Alt W, then either the F key for
Full, the O key for Overlay, the L key for Lens, the H key for H-Split,
or the V key for V-Split.
Once you have these two basic settings
adjusted to your liking, open the program of your choice (the Internet, for
instance). One further adjustment may be needed after you open your program:
- Some letters or words may not automatically magnify
well. They may appear to be made up of oversized pixels. If you encounter
this, you may return to ZoomText and smooth the text: toggle to ZoomText using
Alt TAB, press Alt T and then press the M key. Your cursor will become an
eye dropper. Use it to click the letters or words. You may need to click several
times before it improves; when it does, right click and then left click to
turn off the eye dropper.
To turn ZoomText off, toggle to it using Alt TAB,
then press Alt F4. Report any problems with the software.
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