Accessible Devices Wishes to express our appreciation to HumanWare for permission to make this user guide available here.
HumanWare Companion Version 3.0 Release Notes
For Victor Reader Stream and ClassMate Reader
March 27, 2009
The latest release of the HumanWare Companion software for Windows is version 3.0. It is available for free download on the Stream support page at:
http://www.humanware.com/stream_support
or from the ClassMate support page at:
http://www.humanware.com/Classmate_support
Select the software link on either of those pages. The software has been renamed to HumanWare Companion because it now supports both of the HumanWare digital talking book players: Victor Reader Stream and ClassMate Reader. The ClassMate Reader is a DAISY and MP3 player with an integral screen. It is designed for people with learning disabilities who can benefit from seeing the text displayed while listening to the corresponding audio. It also has a built-in talking dictionary and many other features designed to help people with learning or reading disabilities. To find more information about the ClassMate Reader visit:
http://www.humanware.com/en-canada/products/copy_of_learning_disabilities/_details/id_
The HumanWare Companion is a completely new program. You do not need to uninstall the previous version of Stream Companion or ClassMate Companion. Those previous programs can remain on your computer along with the new HumanWare Companion. Once you are familiar with the new HumanWare Companion, you can then remove the old Stream or ClassMate Companion using the Windows Add/Remove option of Control Panel.
To install HumanWare Companion, download the executable (EXE) file from the above link and run this file. The new HumanWare Companion Installation procedure will ask you to select from a list of available languages. English is the default. If you are installing for the first time, you will be asked to read and accept the license. You will also be asked if you want a Complete or Custom installation. Select 'Complete' to install for the Stream. If you are using the ClassMate Reader you should select 'Custom' to allow you to customize the Companion for that player. After installation you also have the ability to change either the language or player choices using the Options item of the Companion Tools menu.
After installing, you can run the program by selecting the HumanWare Companion icon on your desktop. Note that the desktop Stream or ClassMate Companion icons will still run the old versions of those programs until you decide to uninstall them.
The HumanWare Companion is optional software to support the Stream or the ClassMate Reader. There is no need to install this software unless you need its functionality. The new features and changes for version 3.0 are listed below.
The Companion interface has been completely redesigned with a new easy to use menu system. The menu is much simpler to navigate than the previous multi-page dialogs. There are 5 pull-down menus for: File, Transfer, Convert, Tools, and Help.
" The File menu has the window refresh and program exit items.
" The Transfer menu lets you transfer books or files for each of the Stream or ClassMate bookshelves. For ClassMate, it also allows you to Transfer Text Notes. When you select any of these transfer menu items you get a window similar to the previous Companion Multi-Page dialog windows.
" If you are using the Stream, the Convert menu allows you to convert audio notes and bookmarks just as before.
" If you are using the ClassMate, the Convert menu has only a single option to convert Voice notes.
" The Tools menu allows you to change the Companion language or player device (Stream or ClassMate).
" The Help menu has options to bring up this guide and HumanWare Companion version information.
The menu has the following improvements over the previous interface: " Familiar access keys for keyboard users. Press Alt key to reach the menu bar and use arrow keys to move across the menu bar and up and down the menu items. " No more delay like before when you arrowed across the old multi-page dialogs. " The transfer menu now contains the list of bookshelves and each has a shortcut key e.g. Control+T for Talking books, Control+M for Music etc. This means that you can now easily switch from one transfer bookshelf to the other by just pressing the ctrl shortcut key without returning to the menu. " There are fewer controls to tab through in the transfer dialog windows making them easier to use for keyboard users. The Refresh, About, and Help buttons are moved to the menus. The previous controls for showing the storage card space before and after the operation are removed. The storage card space is now reported on the status line. This not only removes two controls from the keyboard TAB order but makes the information available on demand for keyboard users by using their screen reader's "Read status line" command. " The status line at the bottom of the screen also indicates which Companion window you are using.
The HumanWare Companion will now transfer the new zip or BKS2 format books from Bookshare. To make sure that these books appear on the PC list view, it is important to check the Include Zip files check box. The Companion will also prompt you for your Bookshare password. The book will then be unzipped to a subfolder of your SD card Talking Books bookshelf ($VRDTB).
Attaching print or Braille labels to SD cards is not possible as it can damage the Stream. To help you identify SD cards the Stream supports an optional voice label. The label is stored in a reserved text file named $VRLabel.txt saved on the root of the SD card. You can use the Companion Tools menu to enter a suitable label and the Companion will save it in this special reserved file on the SD card. Note that the label has a maximum length of 50 characters. The Stream will announce this label.
The PC List view for transferring music has been changed to a standard tree view to allow more flexibility for selecting folders and files to transfer to the SD card. In the PC tree view you can move up and down your list of folders. For any folder you can press right arrow to open it and then move up and down its list of files. If you select a folder for transfer, all of its files are automatically selected. If you do not select the folder but choose only specific files within that folder then only those files are transferred.
In the Transfer windows, you can choose to list the items alphabetically or by location (path). If you choose alphabetical, the book titles, folders or file names will be listed alphabetically. If you choose location then the book titles, folders, or files will be listed in their path order. You can set your preferences in the Options item of the Tools menu.
When browsing the PC list of titles you can right-click (or Alt+Enter for keyboard users) to find extra info about the book such as its location, total time, pages, navigation levels, creator, and book creation date. Note that not all books will have this information.
You can now append to a music playlist by selecting more songs from your SD card, selecting the Create Playlist button and when prompted for the playlist name, enter the existing playlist you want to append to. The Companion will then ask if you want to overwrite or append to that playlist.
In the Other Books, Music, Podcasts, and Text transfer windows, if you select your PC location to be a CD then when you transfer files from that CD, the Companion will prompt you for a suitable title to use as the folder name under which to save the CD files on the storage card. Note that the Companion cannot transfer files from a commercial audio CD. Those CDs need to be converted using special software. This is often referred to as ripping the CD. Companion cannot rip audio CDs.
In the Options item of the Tools menu, you can now enable or disable the audio progress beeps that are heard while transferring data. The beeps are enabled by default.
Certain Bookshare and NLS books were not being properly transferred from the computer to the SD card using Stream Companion version 2.0. This has been corrected.
[End] Return To The Victor Stream And NLS Download Project Page Return To The Instructional Product Text Manuals PageUpdated on ... April 01, 2009