Hi Tim
In the document that follows are a variety of instructions that should cure
this. Please advise if this does not address your problem.
Stewart
Customizing Windows 95 for Visually-Impaired Students

This document was prepared by Craig Coleman, Blind Rehabilitation Specialist
at the Computer Access Training Program, VA Connecticut. Please direct
comments to [log in to unmask] Visit www.mindspring.com/~vacats1
for additional information and help files.

The step-by-step customizing  instructions which follow are written for the
keyboard user.

My Computer - Setup
1. Arrow to My Computer on the Desktop and press Enter.
2. Maximize My Computer by pressing Alt-spacebar, x.
3. Drop down View menu with Alt-v.
4. Press o to select Options.
5. The Folder page will be in the foreground. Press Alt-n to select the
radio button for "Browse folders by using a single window that changes as
you open each folder."
6. Press Control-Tab once. The View page will be in the foreground.
7. Place a check mark in the check box for “Display the full MS-DOS path in
the title bar.” Alt-p toggles the check on and off.
8. Remove the check mark from the check box for “Hide MS-DOS file extensions
for file types that are registered.” Alt-e toggles the check on and off.
9. Tab to OK and press Enter.
10. Drop down View menu with Alt-v.
11. Press l to select List.
12. Highlight (C:).
13. Press Alt-Enter.
14. Type Hard Disk and press Enter.
15. Repeat steps 10-12 if hard disk is partitioned into D:, E: etc..
16. Press Alt-F4 to exit My Computer.

Thoughts about these customizations:
 Maximizing and using list view lets you or your screen reader see more
folders and files at any given time. Move through files and folders with the
screen reader’s Next Line and Previous Line hotkeys or, press the first
letter of the file/folder you want to go to.
 You only work in one window at a time and avoid having a series of
overlapping windows that must be closed. You also have one type of display
view (list view) that is in effect for all windows opened. You can use the
hotkey Control-F to search for files in or below the current folder.
 Forcing Windows 95 to show complete path and file names facilitates
learning about the significance of each of these items. In addition, hiding
a file’s extension in My Computer is inconsistent with the way programs like
Word display those file names in their title bars.
  You may type the first letter of drive, folder or file names to jump to
them and have your screen reader announce them. For example, when you go in
to My Computer, press h to jump to the Hard Disks, 3 to jump to 3 1/2 Floppy
Disk, c to jump to Control Panel, p to jump to Printers and d to jump to
Dial-Up Networking.


My Computer - Customizing the Send To Feature
1. Open My Computer and highlight the 3 ½ Floppy.
2. Press the Application key.
3. Select Create Shortcut.
4. Press Enter to have the shortcut placed on the Desktop.
5. Press Windows key-M to return to the Desktop.
6. Press the letter s until you select Shortcut to 3 ½ Floppy.
7. Press Control-x to cut the new shortcut to the clipboard.
8. Alt-Tab back to My Computer, navigate to and open the folder
C:\WINDOWS\SEND TO.
9. Press Control-v to paste the shortcut.
10. Press F2 to begin to rename the shortcut.
11. Tap the right arrow to remove highlighting from the file name.
12. Delete all text except “3 ½ Floppy.”
13. Press Enter.
14. Still in My Computer, navigate to and open the Printers folder.
15. Highlight the default printer.
16. Repeat steps 1-9 to put a shortcut to the printer in the C:\WINDOWS\SEND
TO folder. Rename the shortcut to Printer.

Thoughts about these customizations:
 These changes to the Windows 95 Send To capability allows the user to
quickly and efficiently send files to the floppy drive or printer. Using My
Computer, the keyboard user would simply highlight a file, press the
Application key and select Send To.


The Desktop and Start Menu
To rename Desktop shortcuts:
1. Arrow to a Desktop shortcut.
2. Press F2.
3. Type a new name.
4. Press Enter.

To create shortcut keys for launching programs using the keyboard:
For programs that you usually launch from the Desktop:
1. Go to the Desktop and highlight the program.
2. Press Alt-Enter to get the Properties dialog box for the program.
3. Press Control-Tab to go to the Shortcut page of the dialog box.
4. Press Alt-k to jump to the Shortcut Key edit box.
5. Type a letter that you wish to use with Control + Alt to launch the
program. Press Enter. See Note below.
For programs that you usually launch from the Start Menu:
1. Press Windows key-R to open the Run menu.
2. Type the following line and press Enter: \windows\start menu\programs
3. Open the group containing the program you want by highlighting the group
and pressing Enter.
4. Highlight the program shortcut you want a shortcut key assigned to.
5. Press Alt-Enter to get the Properties dialog box for the program.
6. Press Control-Tab to go to the Shortcut page of the dialog box.
7. Press Alt-k to jump to the Shortcut Key edit box.
8. Type a letter that you wish to use with Control + Alt to launch the
program. See Note below.
9. Press Enter.

Note: If you simply type a letter, Windows 95 will automatically append it
to Control + Alt to form the shortcut key combination. To increase the
number of possible shortcut keys to choose from, press Control + Shift + the
letter key or Alt + Shift + the letter key.

Forcing a Windows 95 program to always start maximized
For programs that you usually launch from the Desktop:
1. Go to the Desktop and highlight the program.
2. Press Alt-Enter to get the Properties dialog box for the program.
3. Press Control-Tab to go to the Shortcut page of the dialog box.
4. Press Alt-r to jump to the Run combo box.
5. Press the letter m until maximized is selected.
6. Tab to OK and press Enter.

For programs that you usually launch from the Start Menu:
1. Press Windows key-R to open the Run menu.
2. Type the following line and press Enter: \windows\start menu\programs
3. Open the group containing the program you want by highlighting the group
and pressing Enter.
4. Highlight the shortcut to the program you want to launch maximized.
5. Press Alt-Enter to get the Properties dialog box for the program.
6. Press Control-Tab to go to the Shortcut page of the dialog box.
7. Press Alt-r to jump to the Run combo box.
8. Press the letter m until maximized is selected.
9. Tab to OK and press Enter.

Thoughts about these customizations:
 Rename Desktop shortcuts so that you can quickly jump to a desired
shortcut by pressing the first letter of the shortcut’s name. Avoid the
default names such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access
since they all begin with the same letter. Instead, rename them to Word,
Excel and Access.
  Using shortcut keys to launch programs can be very efficient in Windows
95 since you can use them to launch one program from inside of another
program. You should use caution, however, not to assign a shortcut key that
is used by the program that you are currently running. For example, Word
uses the hotkey Control-Alt-E to insert an Endnote. If , by chance, you had
assigned Control-Alt-E as a shortcut key to launch Excel, Word’s ability to
insert endnotes through use of a hotkey would be disabled.
 Running programs in normal instead of maximized windows only seems to make
sense if you are able to use the mouse for drag-and-drop operations.
Multiple windows on the screen can, however, be visually confusing for
low-vision mouse users as well. Forcing maximized program windows and using
the Alt-Tab hotkey to switch between running programs seems a better
approach.

Eliminating Unnecessary Desktop Shortcuts and Startup Items
Desktop Shortcuts
1. Go to the Desktop and highlight the program shortcut that you do not use.
2. Press the Delete key.
3. Press Enter to select yes and move the shortcut to the Recycle Bin.

Startup Items
1. Press Windows key-R to open the Run menu.
2. Type the following line and press Enter: \windows\start
menu\programs\startup
3. Highlight the program shortcut you want to eliminate.
4. Press the Delete key.
5. Press Enter to select yes and move the shortcut to the Recycle Bin.

Thoughts about these customizations:
 A new computer may contain a number of desktop shortcuts that you do not
need. The only shortcuts which should be on your desktop are shortcuts that
you actually use for launching your programs. Reducing the number of
shortcuts makes it easier to jump to the specific shortcut you want by
pressing the first letter of its name.
 Some installation programs such as Microsoft Office place shortcuts in the
Startup folder of your system. Since they are placed in this location, they
are launched every time that you power up your computer. One such shortcut
is the Microsoft Office Toolbar and, following system start up, this toolbar
appears in the upper right hand corner of your desktop. Since this toolbar
offers little advantage to someone using a screen reader, it could be
eliminated from your desktop by deleting its shortcut from the Startup
folder.


-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Grady <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Saturday, January 09, 1999 1:41 AM
Subject: outlook express


>Does anyone know if and how you can keep the message window maximized in
>outlook express?
>
>
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>
>


VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html