MovieCaptioner keeps repeating a segment of the movie until you are done typing what you hear. Just hit the Return key and it will save your caption and automatically advance to the next few seconds of the movie, allowing you to zip through your captioning tasks in no time flat.

You don't need to be a QuickTime guru, either. The caption track is added automatically with the click of a button. And exporting Transcripts compiles all the captions into one concise text file, with or without timecode.

I've written about MovieCaptioner before - it used to be called MovCaptioner - but there have been significant improvements in both the interface and in the type of captions MovieCaptioner can read and create. The website now lists all these types of imports and exports:

• QT Text
• QT Unicode (export only)
• QT SMIL (export only)
• Flash DFXP
• JW Player
• CLF Player (Canada)
• Adobe Encore
• Sonic Scenarist SCC (for Final Cut Pro, line 21 close captions and iPod/iPad captions)
• Spruce (STL)
• SubRip (SRT)
• SubViewer (SUB)
• Windows Media (SAMI, export only)
• Text Transcripts
• HTML Transcripts (export only)
• YouTube SBV (import only)

I think the creation of Flash captions is especially exciting, given the number of uncaptioned Flash movies out there on the internet. Now that Flash supports simple captioning, and programs like MovieCaptioner let captioning be done for such a low price, there's absolutely no reason not to caption Flash movies and tutorials you make for your website.

MovieCaptioner will also import YouTube's auto-caption files so you can correct them and then re-upload them to YouTube for efficient and accurate YouTube captioning.

SynchriMedia offer several video tutorials for MovieCaptioner including a nifty one for how to use MovieCaptioner and [msd] together so you can caption your film quickly without even needing to type!

- Ricky Buchanan

Nuance Communications today announced the release of Dragon Dictate for Mac 2.0, a paid and rebranded upgrade for MacSpeech Dictate.

This is a major upgrade, bringing Dictate much closer to the Windows based Dragon NaturallySpeaking product. Major features include:

• Uses the same speech recognition engine as the new Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11
• Mouse movement with voice commands using a 3 by 3 grid system is now built in.
• Mouse clicking with voice commands including clicks with modifiers, double clicking, etc., is now built in.
• Proofreading documents with the Mac's built in text-to-speech commands is now also included.
• More than one microphone can now be attached to a single profile.
• New editing commands have been added so they match the commands that will be familiar to Windows Naturally Speaking users.

This sounds like it could now function as a complete keyboard replacement for disabled Mac users, which is great news!

Unfortunately my computer is still off being fixed (the first fix only worked for a few days), so I haven't had the chance to try this new version. As soon as is humanly possible, I will be getting myself a copy and testing it out. Meanwhile, Dan Cohen at GearDiary has reviewed Dragon Dictate and declares it 'awesome' - not a bad start!

Dragon Dictate for Mac costs US$199 including a basic microphone. The upgrade costs US$49 for a downloadable version, more if you need the upgrade on CD or want to purchase a new microphone at the same time.

If you use this banner to purchase your upgrade online I will get a small portion of your upgrade price, which will help support me and ATMac:

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Have you upgraded yet? Are you planning to upgrade soon, or later, or not at all? And what new feature are you most excited about?

- Ricky Buchanan

Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6, is due to ship in September 2009. The upgrade is being billed by Apple as being a smaller upgrade than the jump from Tiger to Leopard, as reflected by the US$29 price tag. Snow Leopard's changes will be mostly "behind the scenes"; things which make the operating system run more efficiently and open up technical possibilities for the future. So does this mean that there won't be many enhancements for Universal Access users in Snow Leopard?

With the usual caveats that anything may be altered before shipping - which does occasionally happen - these are the advances in Universal Access that Apple is currently announcing for Snow Leopard:

The Trackpad Is The Screen

For VoiceOver users using a MacBook with a MultiTouch capable trackpad, this makes the trackpad work similarly to the screen of the iPhone 3GS with VoiceOver. The trackpad surface represents the active window on the computer; touch to hear the item under your finger, drag to hear items continuously as you move your finger, and flick with one finger to move to the next or previous item. Jump directly to an item just by touching the corresponding location on the trackpad.

More Braille Devices

Drivers will be included for over 40 models of Braille displays, including wireless bluetooth displays.

Braille Mirroring

Braille Mirroring allows more than one USB braille output device to be connected to the same computer. It's aimed at classroom settings where a teacher can lead the class through a lesson even when the students are using different models of braille displays.

Improved Web Browsing

VoiceOver users will be able to fully browse HTML tables without dropping into a 'table' or 'forms' mode, using the same keystrokes as VoiceOver always uses. There are also other improments for web browsing including customisable summaries of pages and VoiceOver automatically starting to read new pages when they load.

The Rotor

This is a new gesture available on multitouch trackpads again, a movement of finger and thumb as if you were twisting an imaginary circular dial on the trackpad. It seems to have several different uses in different VoiceOver contexts including switching between text settings and navigating web pages.

New VoiceOver Quick Start Tutorial

This tutorial automatically starts the first time you use VoiceOver on a new computer. It teaches the keys on the keyboard, basic VoiceOver commands, and gestures, and it provides an environment where you can learn at your own pace and practice your skills.

All of these advertised accessibility features are for VoiceOver users, but the general Snow Leopard advances will also help those with disabilities. For example, iChat will have a higher resolution mode and be more reliable - great for those using iChat for sign language conversations; easier PDF text selection will aid those who use digitised documents instead of physical print; faster wake from sleep will be great for those who use laptops for AAC or other situations when they need their device available quickly at any time.

For accessibility at Apple, it seems that recently almost all of the news is good! What are you most looking forward to with Snow Leopard?

- Ricky Buchanan

When the iPhone 3GS was announced on the 8th of June there was much excitement in the accessibility world. The new iPhone would sport significant accessibility features, including a built in screen reader, and these features were announced on stage at MacWorld alongside the "regular" features. That's a great boost for the profile of accessibility in general, which is always a good thing.

Accessibility features for the iPhone 3GS include:

• VoiceOver screen reader localised in 21 different languages.
• Voice Control offering spoken commands, also in 21 different languages.
• Zoom on iPhone lets you magnify the entire screen up to 5 times normal size, and move around to view any portion of the screen close up. All the usual gestures such as pinch, flick, etc. will still work when the screen is zoomed.
• White On Black offers a high contrast reverse video screen display.
• Mono Audio will route both audio channels into both earbuds, for those with hearing problems.
• Speak Auto-text voices the iPhone's automatic correction and completion options so you don't have to look away from the keyboard to use them. This can be used with or without VoiceOver and Zoom.
• Assignable Ringtones let you use ringtones as an audible form of Caller ID for selected contacts.

There's also an Accessible HTML User Guide available but it's limited so you can only view it using the iPhone - any other web browser is automatically re-routed to the download location for the PDF user guide. I can't see any reason that Apple would make the HTML guide unusable for the rest of us, but it's a pity.

So the iPhone 3GS has now been in people's possession for a little while - what are the reactions?

• Mozilla guru Marco Zehe wrote My first experience using an accessible touch screen device. He was only trying out the iPhone at his local Apple store so he didn't have a huge amount of time, but I get the impression he was sad to have to leave it there!
• Mike Calvo of Serotek wrote Why is it that Apple always seems to get to the future first? which is more philosophical, but also about his new iPhone.
• Josh de Lioncourt has a great article, The Accessible iPhone 3GS, which includes lots of suggestions and tips for other users.
• The Mac-cessibility Podcast team have produced a special edition podcast: More Than Meets the iPhone
• Shane Jackson of Blind World Blog and Podcast has written three blog posts with accompanying podcasts about his iPhone excitement and adventures:
  • iPhone Podcast 1: Count-Down to iPhone!
  • iPhone Podcast 2: Trip to the AT&T store!
  • iPhone Podcast 3: The iPhone!!!

I can't find much written on the net yet by people using the Zoom, Voice Control, or other iPhone accessibility functions but what I did find seems realistically positive.

Resources for iPhone VoiceOver users are already appearing at a great rate. Holly Anderson has produced a list of VoiceOver Compatible iPhone Applications, and there's a Google Group/Mailing list for iPhone VoiceOver users which is very active.

Still wondering if the iPhone is for you? CNet's iPhone Review includes all the features, even touching on accessibility. They awarded it 4 out of a possible 5 stars, with the comment "Excellent".

Now I've written all that I'm coveting an iPhone 3GS of my own, even though I have my perfectly functional iPod Touch and don't need a mobile phone. It's tough writing blog posts, I tell you!

- Ricky Buchanan

MacSpeech have released a major paid upgrade for Dictate users to MacSpeech Dictate 1.5, as well as a new product Dictate Medical which has an extensive specialised vocabulary for those using MacSpeech Dictate in medical and health-related fields.

What's new in [msd] 1.5? Lots of things, including:

• Faster and more accurate speech recognition - this version of Dictate is based on the same recognition engine used in Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 10, where previous versions used the engine from NaturallySpeaking version 9. The difference is most obvious on slower machines but even on my Mac Pro the difference is noticeable.
• More dialects of English are supported which also increases accuracy for many people. The full list of supported dialects is now:
  • US Spelling
    • American
    • American - Inland Northern
    • American - Southern
    • American - Teens
    • Australian
    • British
    • Indian
    • Latino
    • Southeast Asian
  • UK Spelling
    • Australian
    
    
    • British
    
    
    • Indian
    
    
    • Southeast Asian

  I'm hoping that the spelling and accent type will be unlinked in future versions - your accent is generally formed by where you're brought up, whereas spelling depends on where you currently live. There are plenty of Americans living in England, for example, and they aren't currently supported by the spelling options.

• A vocabulary editor has finally been added. This means that you can add, delete, and train words for a profile's vocabulary, as well as customise a word's behaviour such as setting capitalisation for words, word spacing, and pronunciation.
• There's a "Save Profile" menu option so users have the ability to save the current profile before quitting Dictate. For those who have problems with Dictate quitting unexpectedly on occasion, this is very helpful. I have been periodically saving my profile even though I don't have problems with Dictate crashing - it's reassuring to know my corrections won't be lost if something happens!
• Available Commands Window has been reorganised. The commands are now grouped into smaller logical groups to make finding a command easier. As this window is essentially one's "on-the-go help", seeing the available commands with less scrolling is a great assistance. Some command names have also been changed to make them more logical, although not all of the inconsistencies have been ironed out yet.

There are other smaller changes too, and there's been a maintenance upgrade to version 1.5.1 to fix some bugs in the meantime. There's a full set of release notes available for those who are interested in the changes.

MacSpeech Dictate Medical runs from the same code but has a much wider vocabulary suitable for dictation in medical disciplines. Here's a list of the wide range of disciplines covered:

• Allergy and Immunology
• Anesthesiology
• Cardiology
• Dentistry
• Dermatology
• Emergency Medicine
• Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism
• ENT
• Epidemiology
• Family Medicine
• Fetal Medicine
• Gastroenterology
• General Medical
• Geriatric Medicine
• Hematology
• Infectious Disease
• Internal Medicine
• Medical Education & Writing
• Midwifery
• Neonatal & Perinatal Medicine
• Nephrology
• Neurology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Nursing
• Obstetrics & Gynecology
• Oncology
• Ophthalmology
• Osteopathy
• Pain Medicine
• Pathology
• Pediatrics, Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Dentistry, Pediatric Gastroenterology
• Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (US Only)
• Podiatry
• Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry
• Psychology
• Pulmonary Disease
• Radiology, Radiation Therapy, Vascular & Interventional Radiology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Lab
• Speech & Language Pathology (US Only)
• Surgery, Cardiac Surgery, Colon and Rectal Surgery, Hand Surgery, Neurosurgery, Oral & Facial Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Thoracic Surgery, Vascular Surgery
• Urology

MacSpeech Dictate Medical also supports standard profiles for dictation of general work not related to medicine.

MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 retails for US$199 including a high quality noise-concelling microphone. Upgrades from MacSpeech Dictate 1.3 and below are US$54.95.

MacSpeech Dictate Medical currently retails for US$595 including a high quality noise-cancelling microphone. MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 customers can crossgrade for US$345, and customers with previous MacSpeech Dictate for US$395.

Website: [msd]

- Ricky Buchanan

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