# Kindle for PC Accessibility plugin issues figured out.



## kb7uen Gene (Mar 13, 2009)

On Monday night I spent an hour and a half on the phone helping the Amazon Kindle rep better understand the new Kindle for PC accessibility features and we now know how to get it to read continuously.  It was something that eluded both of us for a long time and he thought this was going to be an unresolvable problem until he found the hotkey command to turn on that feature.  What he didn't understand in the beginning was that the TTS for reading the content is actually a part of Kindle for PC and not from an external screen reader application running parallel to the Kindle app.  The only thing the external screen reader does is to provide verbal access to the Kindle for PC interface, such as menus and dialog or message boxes or prompts.  Once he did understand it, he was able to look at the app in a whole new way and felt much more comfortable with the interaction between the two applications running together.  

What impressed me most about the rep. was that because he could load the JAWS screen reader on the computers where he works, he said he would go home and do the installation on his own computer and work with both the JAWS demo and Kindle for PC together so he could better understand it and see where it might need some tweaking and improvements and so he could help of reading disabled Kindle for PC app users in the future.  Hopefully, because of his greater understanding, he will be asked to train other reps in the workings of these two programs to better help reading disabled Kindle for PC app users who call in in the future.  The bottom line is you just don't see customer service like this most of the time these days, it is refreshing and, in my humble opinion, Amazon has to have the best customer service around and the best people around in the industry.

On an unrelated to customer service note.  Many of us who are using the new features of the app are learning is that it does work with many of the other accessibility products even though Amazon's Kindle for PC documentation doesn't show them as being supported.  Any functionality differences between the different screen readers and magnification programs and the Kindle for PC app seem to be very minor. 

The Kindle for PC with the Accessibility Plugin has so few problems that I am truly impressed with just how well a job the Amazon Kindle development team did on this app.  Amazon's Kindle group is in a special class all it's own.  As so many have said in the past.  "AMAZON YOU ROCK!"

Below are the keyboard shortcuts the rep and myself learned about the other night on the phone.  Please review if you are a user of this app and are stuck at the moment.

1.  control/shift/c is for toggling between continuous page read mode and the single page read mode.
2.  shift/+ or shift/- will increase or decrease the TTS speech rate.
3.  control/shift/v is for toggling between the male and female voices, which are Samantha or Tom just they are on the Kindle hardware.

Have fun, it has been a lot of fun for me to play with this app, and I have learned a lot along the way.

Gene


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

Excellent!


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## Mike0000 (Feb 27, 2012)

I understand this is an old posting and hope you do read it.....so here goes.

I have been researching text to speech to be used as a supplement for students who have reading issues.  At some point prior to my working at this school, folks used Kurzweil 3000.  When I surveyed them, I got very little feedback so we decided to go down a different path rather than spend the $3000 to upgrade.  The Kindle Reader with accessibility plug-in worked surprisingly well with NVDA as the underlying TTS software.  I wanted to test the reader with JAWS but could not figure out the implementation based on the demo version of JAWS.  You look like you were going in that direction.  Any advice would be appreciated.

Mike


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## jamescook48 (Oct 11, 2012)

Great information. I just recently purchased a Kindle Fire HD. I really like the e-reader and it's built-in text reader. Sometimes, however, I want to use my Desktop with a much larger screen and sound system. For this Kindle for PC works great but I want the Text to speech feature.

I'm trying to get the Kindle for PC with Accessibility Plugin to work and so far with no success. I already had the Kindle for PC installed and working before I found out about the text-to-speech plugin.

From the Kindle for PC with Accessibility Plugin Web Page located at http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000632481 I downloaded what was supposed to be the Plugin and installed it. However, what I downloaded & installed just appears to be the Kindle for PC app without the plugin.

It appears to not have the Plugin because the hot-keys do not produce the desired results, they are not responsive and nothing in any menu suggests the plugin is present. Therefore it appears to me that the plugin is not present. When I press CTRL+R to read nothing happens. None of the Hot-Keys function.

I don't see any Kindle for PC Support phone number, Chat or email address on Amazon website. Can you help point me in the correct direction? Thanks for your help, Jim


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

James, I think you'll find there are no dedicated helplines for Kindle for PC and you need to contact the main Kindle customer services, who should be able to help with all aspects of Kindling, inlcuding the use of the apps.

This post on our FAQs thread will give you the info you need:-

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,96272.msg1487795.html#msg1487795


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## jamescook48 (Oct 11, 2012)

Ok, I just got off a long Amazon Chat session.

Talked to a Kindle for PC Specialist who had me uninstall Kindle for PC accessibility Plugin and reinstall it. The TTS function still didn't work.

Then I specifically ask the Specialist to verify that the TTS for reading content was built into the Kindle for PC accessibility plugin. She affirmed that to be the case. She then ask me to leave the Chat and reboot and then start a new chat if the TTS still didn't work after the Reboot.

I started a new Chat session and then was told that the Kindle for PC accessibility TTS function only works for reading content if you have a compatible external Screen Reader installed.

I explained that it was my understanding that the built-in TTS plugin function was suppose to read content and that the external Screen Reader was only for Menus & dialog boxes. She insisted that is not the case and that the external Screen Reader is required for reading content. VERY disappointing! I guess that's that!

I do have a purchased Natural Reader 10 external Screen Reader TTS installed but it apparently it is not compatible with the Plugin. I think JAWS is too expensive for me. Below is information on NVDA, and Microsoft Narrator TTS.

I just check a NVDA website http://www.nvda-project.org/ and it appears to be a free TTS. There is a Video on the website so you can hear the voice. The voice was very computer sounding and would not work for me.

Microsoft Narrator is a light-duty screen reader utility included in Microsoft Windows. Narrator reads dialog boxes and window controls in a number of the more basic applications for Windows.

While Microsoft recommends that the visually impaired purchase a full-function screen reader for general computer use.

Narrator can assist a blind person in installing a full-function screen reader, assisting the user until his/her screen reader of choice is up and running. As well, because Narrator is a lightweight screen reader that requires minimal "hooks" into the operating system, Narrator can provide speech when a full-function screen reader might be unable to do so, such as during the process of updating hardware drivers.

Below is a followup email from Amazon:
Please understand, a screen reader must be installed on the computer in order to use text-to-speech features. Some of the tested screen readers are - JAWS, NVDA, and Microsoft Narrator.

System requirements:

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows XP with Service Pack 2+, Windows Vista, or Windows 7
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Free hard disk space: 300MB
• Must have a screen reader installed in order to use text-to-speech features. Tested screen readers: JAWS, NVDA, and Microsoft Narrator.

Because this software is an assistive technology, there are no restrictions on text-to-speech reading. However, in order to use the text-to-speech feature, an external screen reader program must be installed and running on the Windows PC.

The external screen reader is used to read aloud menus and navigation items and provides support to the text-to-speech engine.

Accessibility Plugin is not available for other Kindle applications at this time, and currently only available to U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia customers.


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