J-Say Training Course for Trainers or Users who Wish to Learn More.

Introduction.

For 13 years, J-Say has provided visually impaired people not only with the means to be able to dictate text to the computer, (receiving meaningful speech feedback), but also it has delivered a vehicle for people who have physical and cognitive difficulties to take control of it using the human voice alone. This means that individuals with such challenges can work with traditional computing applications, providing independence to enhance communication with others, social media interaction, working with websites and more.

The J-Say software has allowed people to prepare and publish books, write plays and serials for radio and television, carry out all manner of employment tasks or, at a more basic level, send an Email to a family member in another country.

Access Technology Trainers and Consultants have for some time wanted to learn the skills in order to train people in the use of J-Say technology, together with supporting them. Providing technical support in particular is very important and should not be overlooked. Many people using voice input/output technology do require a good deal more assistance than someone who is working with the keyboard alone. Simply providing them with the program and leaving them to struggle is not something we have ever advocated. This course will ensure that you too can effectively support and train your customers.

Our training course will equip anyone wishing to teach people in the use of J-Say technology with the skills in a step-by-step, logical and intuitive way, which in turn can then be delivered to the user. The Course Tutor, Brian Hartgen, is not only primarily responsible for the software's development, but even now still travels throughout the UK to train people in a variety of settings and technical environments. He is therefore very well placed to impart knowledge to you in order that your clients feel comfortable and confident when using the computer by speaking to it.

Moreover, we are frequently asked whether there are experienced J-Say Trainers in specific geographical areas. There are plenty of training opportunities available, so investing in the skills to train others could be extremely worthwhile.

What You Will Learn.

The training course, divided into 6 90 minute lessons, is fast-paced and is designed for individuals who already have experience with training people how to work with other assistive technologies, such as JAWS for Windows. The training course will also suit existing J-Say users who wish to further their knowledge, since lots of useful tips and tricks will be given.

Topics include, but are not restricted to:

• An overview of J-Say technology and associated components.
• Hardware and Software Requirements.
• Installation and Configuration.
• Creating a User Profile.
• The J-Say Configuration Wizard - what it is and how to use it.
• Furthering listening skills.
• Dictation and the effectiveness of microphone control.
• Good practice when speaking to the computer.
• Launching applications.
• Text navigation.
• Closing down the computer in the proper manner.
• Backup of Voice Profiles and why this is critical.
• Correcting Text.
• The effectiveness of the My Words feature.
• Selecting text using the J-Say Selection facility and Dragon NaturallySpeaking's internal utilities.
• Adjusting font styles, point size and text inconsistencies.
• Spelling words and phrases.
• J-Say Shortcuts, Text Notes and Contacts.
• Working with Email.
• J-Clips.
• Using J-Say on the Internet, working with forms, navigating tables, J-Say Alerts and J-Say Bookmarks.
• The J-Say Clock and Diary.
• Using J-Say Tags in conjunction with Windows Explorer.
• Listening to audio, iTunes, Spotify and the J-say Radio.
• J-Say Search.
• Interaction on Facebook and Skype.
• Windows Commands.
• Developing a Custom Menu.
• An overview of Audio Transcription.
• A brief discussion of customising J-say for non-standard applications.
• Restoring Voice Profiles.

Course Prerequisites.

As can be seen from the list of topics above, many subjects are covered. It is therefore important that you have:

• Good keyboarding skills, particularly for the initial setup requirements section;
• A computer with an internet connection;
• A microphone so as to ask questions within the course;
• JAWS for Windows version 14, 15, 16 or 17;
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional 12.5 or 13.0.

The course will be delivered online via our accessible Talking Communities server. If you have not used this conferencing software before, you will receive instructions prior to the commencement of the course. This software allows for the delivery of the presentation, including the output from the JAWS screen-reading software.

If I Purchase the Course, What Will I Receive?

The course will give to you:

• Six lessons starting 21 September. Each lesson will begin at 7 PM UK time, (2 PM Eastern), each Tuesday;
• An audio recording of each lesson in MP3 format;
• Access to an Email list to share thoughts with other course participants and to receive information;
• Text documentation to reinforce topics covered in the lessons.

The proposed dates for the course sessions are as follows:

• 21 September;
• 28 September;
• 5 October;
• 12 October;
• 19 October;
• 26 October.

All recordings, documentation and the Talking Communities chat room are accessed through a secure area of our website which is only available to course participants.

Costing.

There are two rates for the "Train the Trainer in J-Say" course.

• Rate 1, Course only: £300 or approximately 397 US Dollars.
• Rate 2: £600 (or approximately 794 US Dollars, which includes a full J-Say license at a 25 percent discount). This rate is suitable for a potential Trainer who does not have J-Say available.

Either fee can be ppaid at any time between now and 14 September 2016. The course will go ahead if there are five fully paid participants or more.

Anyone who would like to take part in the course should register their interest by sending an Email to jaws@hartgen.org, whereupon a fully accessible electronic invoice will be sent to you which can be paid through PayPal or any major credit or debit card. Alternatively, orders can be placed by telephone:

• Call us (from within the UK): 02920-850298.
• Call us (from the United States): 415-871-0626.
• Call us (from any other country): (+44)2920-850298.

What the People Say About Courses from Hartgen Consultancy.

I didn't realise how much JAWS could be customised to provide information within Microsoft Word. Excellent!

Thanks for a well presented and informative course.

On the small number of occasions where JAWS does not provide complete access to part of the program, I liked the way you were able to explain what can be done to compensate for it.

Having a blind person to train me really helped!

The course was very Beneficial to me for use at home and at work. Very well presented too!

this is the best training I have received in years. Truly worth every penny. I am having a blast!!!

You can find more testimonials on our Training page.