Jessica Dail-My home on the web

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  • My amateur radio Journey

    When I was in high school, I took a class on ham radio.

    I didn’t take an exam at the time because I didn’t own the necessary equipment, didn’t know what equipment was required, & didn’t know anyone else enjoying the hobby.

    Fast-forward to the summer of this year, & my friend, John & I were talking.

    During one of our conversations, the topic of ham radio came up, & he began offering me study sessions via zoom.

    He also sent me a Walkie-talkie.

    During our zoom sessions, we read & discuss the question pool, for the technician class license, one section at a time.

    I’m still in the process of studying for my license, but have also started college. (More details on that, in my next post.)

    I hope I can take my exam, & obtain my license, before next year.

    I say that because at the beginning of next year, a $35 fee will be required for all new license applications, renewals, &/or upgrades, & I prefer not to have to pay that, unless it’s absolutely necessary.

    In my limited use of the equipment I received, I’ve really been enjoying the hobby. I certainly hope I can get my license, and get on the air very soon!

  • Getting To Know Aaron Richmond

    https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-twujx-17d505d

    In this episode, I interview my friend, Aaron Richmond. He is a ham. His call is KQ4FFR. He teaches English as a second language. He is also a podcaster. You can find & follow his show by searching, “Aaron’s Opinion” wherever you listen to podcasts. You may also search Facebook & YouTube using that term as well.

  • Embossing wirelessly from your BrailleSense

    How do I emboss wirelessly From my BrailleSense via Bluetooth?

    Let’s Get Connected
    To connect your BrailleSense & embosser via Bluetooth, ensure that your embosser is turned on & in discoverable mode. To put your embosser into discoverable mode, press the “Menu” button then use the arrow keys to find, “communication” & press “ok” on it.
    Next, locate the option for Bluetooth & press “ok” again.

    Now, on the BrailleSense, go to settings, by pressing s from the main menu & press e for Android System settings, then type “print” into the search box.

    When the option appears, click, “BrailleSense embosser”
    The embosser will speak a code. This code is the pairing code, so should be the same on the unit. Although, I couldn’t figure out how to read it on the BrailleSense, to ensure that it matched the spoken one. If any readers do, please don’t hesitate to comment on this post, so we can all learn from each other.
    Once the code is spoken by the embosser, on the BrailleSense, tab to, “confirm” & press “enter.”
    Now, press f1 to return to the main menu & open file manager.
    Locate your file & press “enter+S” to open the, “send to” menu.
    From here, press dots 4-5-6+space to locate the option which says, “Android program & press “enter.”
    Next, press b for bluetooth and press enter once more.
    Find your embosser in the device list & press enter to click on it.
    Finally, press dots 4-5 to tab to confirm and press enter twice because there are 2 confirm buttons.

    Congratulations! You’re now setup to emboss documents wirelessly from your BrailleSense & the one you just chose should now begin printing.

    If you have any questions or feedback, please don’t hesitate to drop a line in the comments.

  • All about FSCompanion

    Introduction to FSCompanion

    FSCompanion is a brand-new feature that is part of the JAWS2025 update.

    At launch, only the English language is supported, but more will be added as new software updates are released.

    How can I access this feature?

    There are multiple ways to access this feature. If you are using JAWS2025, you can press the layered keystroke Insert+Space, then F1. You can also access it via the menu system, using the keyboard shortcut alt+h, R for web resources & C for FSCompanion. The final way to access this new feature is by pointing your web browser of choice to fscompanion.ai .

    What does FSCompanion do?

    FSCompanion is an AI that can be asked about JAWS features and keyboard commands. It can also assist with keyboard commands for any office application such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint & outlook.

     The responses it gives will explicitly refer to keyboard commands because it was trained to provide responses in a non-visual manner.

    What data was this AI trained on?

    FSCompanion was trained on all webinars and other reference material provided by Vispero. In a future update, this feature will also support Fusion, which combines JAWS and ZoomText.

    How have I found it personally?

    This feature has revolutionized the way I look up information, especially when it comes to keyboard commands. There are so many that it is difficult to memorize them all. However, the more often you use a keyboard shortcut, the more likely you are to remember it in the future.

    Concluding thoughts

    This feature is super helpful & I highly encourage every Jaws user to try it at least once & leave a comment on this post, discussing your feedback. You can also leave feedback for Vispero by giving responses either a thumbs up or thumbs down & providing your comments in the box provided on that page.

    The more feedback they receive, both positive & negative, the better this feature will be for all who currently use it, as well as those who may check it out in the future.

  • enable hibernate mode under Windows 11.

    To enable Hibernate mode under Windows 11, please perform the following steps:

    Open Control panel & search for “power.”

    When the results appear, tab to & press enter on “change what the power buttons do”

    Press enter

    Change all relevant options to “hibernate” & click “save changes.”

  • An Accessible way to, “Clean install Windows

    Recently, I’ve been experiencing numerous technical difficulties with my Dell laptop.

    Due to these issues, I performed a, “Clean install” of Windows this past Sunday.

    I didn’t think this was possible, but indeed, I was proven wrong.

    Here’s how to accomplish this task, with speech throughout the entire process:

    1. create a bootable usb drive, containing the ISo of the operating system you’d like to install.
    2. 2. Plug the drive into the usb port on your computer.
    3. 3. Open file explorer & navigate to your usb drive in the tree view, along the left-hand side of your screen.
    4. 4. Once you locate the drive, press “enter to open it.
    5. Press “S” until you hear, “setup.”
    6. Press enter to run
    7. Choose what, if anything, you’d like to keep. In my case, I chose, “remove everything.”
    8. Your pc will restart several times during the process & once it comes back up, you can press control+Windows+enter, to start Marrator, which is Microsoft’s built-in screen-reader.
    9. When prompted, choose “setup as new device.”
    10. Sign in with your Microsoft account & you should be good to go.
    11. Note: Before beginning the above process, be sure to backup anything you wish to keep, otherwise, you’ll lose access to permanently.

  • A quick easy way to adjust the volume

    Have you ever wanted to quickly & easily adjust your jaws volume on the fly?

    Well now, with this handy dandy keyboard shortcut I just discovered, you can!

    To adjust the volume on the fly, simply press control+shift+windows+ up arrow to increase or down arrow to decrease. This change is permanent.

    As always, if you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or reach out to me using the information on the “Contact Us” page & I would be more than happy to assist you.

  • Suspending quick navigation keys

    The following was taken directly from the jaws message center. I had no idea this feature even existed:

    In JAWS, you can temporarily suspend the use of Navigation Quick Keys when on a web page by pressing INSERT+SHIFT+Z if using desktop keyboard layout, and CAPS LOCK+SHIFT+Z in laptop layout. This is useful if you need to use keystrokes native to a particular website that conflict with the use of Navigation Quick Keys. For example, when on YouTube, the letter K is used to play or pause a video. When Navigation Quick Keys are on, pressing K navigates by Place Markers rather than executing the command provided by YouTube. Suspending Navigation Quick Keys enables the use of K to play or pause a video while allowing you to leave the Virtual PC Cursor on to navigate the page as you normally would.

    Navigation Quick Keys include T to navigate by table, H to navigate by heading, or L to navigate by list. Navigation Quick Keys are turned on again when you move focus away from the current browser window, navigate to a new page, or execute the command once more.

  • Knowing where you are on the wonderful worldwide web

    Have you ever been browsing a website & came across a text field where you wanted to enter data or maybe even filling out a form to sign-up for an event or website account, such as Facebook?

    I have & often times, I’ll get “lost in the page” & forget what my screen-reader just said.

    If you’ve ever found yourself in this situation, I’m happy to inform you that there is in fact, a solution & it’s extremely easy to accomplish.

    To find out where your focus is, simply press insert+tab & you’ll be told the name of the field which currently has focus.

    As always, if you find these tips helpful, please feel free to like, comment, share & subscribe.

    Stay tuned for more!

    If you have feedback or find an error, please notify me using the information on the “Contact us” page.

  • A Quick & easy way to check laptop battery status

    As you use your laptop computer throughout the day, its battery will drain.

    This is especially true if you’re using it on battery power.

    This information may come in handy if you’re working somewhere where there are limited outlets.

    I was browsing the web recently & came across a very handy shortcut which allows you to hear the status of your laptop battery.

    To check the battery of your laptop as a jaws user, press Capslock+shift+b

    I hope this post helps you get the most from your laptop battery.

    As always, if you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment & I would be more than happy to assist you.