This application contains three methods for obtaining help at any time.
Context Sensitive Help is available for each control within the application. When focused upon a control, press Insert+F1 (or Caps Lock+F1) if using the JAWS laptop layout. An Edit Field is available containing the help information. It will briefly describe the purpose of the focused control together with keystrokes you can use.
Press the Arrow keys to read the help and press Escape to cancel. This will return you back to the control which previously had focus.
Press Control+Shift+C or Insert+H to open Leasey Command Centre.
The dialog contains:
Press the Tab key to move through the controls.
Focus starts in the Command Edit Field. Type part of a command name, shortcut, or related word to filter the list.
If the Command Edit Field is empty, pressing Tab moves to the Matching commands list and shows all available commands. If you have typed text into the Edit Field, the list shows only commands matching the search term.
Use Up and Down Arrow to move through the list. You will hear the command name, followed by the corresponding shortcut key. The list therefore serves two purposes. You can press Enter on a command to carry it out, and you can learn the shortcut key for quicker access next time you need to use it.
Press Control+Shift+I for Where Am I. You will receive a succinct summary of where you are located within the focused application.
Leasey Media Centre is a way in which you can work with radio stations, podcasts, audio files, video soundtracks and playlists. here are a number of ways of launching different components of it, but the two most useful are:
You may feel that the explanation of the Media Centre below is quite daunting with a raft of shortcut keys included. However, you do not need to remember them all if you do not wish to. Most controls can be moved to by pressing Tab repeatedly and then Enter or Space to activate. However, the Leasey Media Centre has been designed so that it contains many shortcut keys for those who wish to move around the application quickly.
Leasey Media Centre brings together several audio-related tasks which previously may have required different applications or web sites.
You can listen to radio stations, manage favourite streams, work with podcasts, play local audio files and video soundtracks, create and use playlists, record audio, choose sound devices, use global hotkeys and control playback in a way which has been designed for JAWS users.
The important point is that you do not have to learn every part at once.
If you only want radio, use the Radio area.
If you only want podcasts, use the Podcasts area.
If you want to play files, use Audio and Playlists.
If you want recording or sound controls, use Sound Control.
Having launched Leasey Media Centre with one of the keystrokes listed above, the first control is a combo box called Task.
This contains:
Use Up and Down Arrow in this combo box to choose the area you want to work with. Focus remains in the combo box as you move between the four tasks, so you can easily change your mind before tabbing into the selected area. You can also move directly to an area with Alt+1 for Radio, Alt+2 for Podcasts, Alt+3 for Audio and Playlists, and Alt+4 for Sound Control. As you press one of these keystrokes, JAWS speaks the area you have moved to.
In summary, just because you have launched Leasey Media Centre by pressing the Leasey Key then R to activate Radio for example, it certainly does not mean that you need to stay there. You can move to any area at any time.
Press Tab and Shift+Tab to move through the controls. Press Alt+F4 to close Leasey Media Centre. Escape does not close the program. It is used to return to a previous part of the interface, especially in Podcasts.
Throughout most of the Leasey documentation, the Options of an application are listed towards the end of each chapter. However, it is essential at this stage that we move into the Options dialog box before we get started, as there are some areas you may like to customise right away.
Open Options with Control+Comma.
This is a multi-page dialog box containing several tabbed pages. The first tabbed page is General, and this is where we want to be. Press Tab to move through the controls. When you reach the series of tabbed pages, JAWS will indicate this by announcing it, such as, "General Tab". If that happens, press Right Arrow or Left Arrow to move through the tabbed pages.
We will only work through the essential options at this stage. You may like to revisit this dialog box frequently as you learn more tasks and discover Leasey Media Player's many features. You can always press Insert+F1 on any control to discover its purpose. We will be referring to this dialog box frequently.
One important setting is the radio player preference, manipulated with the first control under the General tab.
Using four Radio Buttons you can specify the radio player you would like to use. You can choose between:
Press Down Arrow to move through the Radio Buttons to select the player of choice.
Leasey Media Player Output. This determines the sound source to be used for audio playback of Leasey Media Player.
Choose Windows default to follow the normal Windows output, or choose a specific output device for Leasey Media Centre audio. Many people will not have to be concerned with this control.
Volume Step Percentage. This controls how much the volume changes when using the volume shortcut keys. The minimum step is 1 percent which is very gradual. 3 Percent is a good working environment. The volume can be adjusted from within the application or through global shortcut keys.
Optionally, now switch to the Radio and Recording Tab. The first option here is the Recording folder location. This is the folder where radio recordings are saved unless you change it as discussed later. You can type a folder path or activate the Browse Button to choose one. A Combo Box is alongside this option entitled Recording Format. The choices are MP3 96K, MP3 128K, MP3 192K, MP3 320K or WAV.
Now switch to the Windows tab. The first Check Box is Minimise to system tray on exit. If this is checked, closing Leasey Media Centre keeps it running in the Windows system tray rather than closing it completely. This is useful if you want scheduled recordings to take place. When this option is checked, Leasey Media Centre also creates a Windows startup shortcut so it can start automatically when Windows starts.
If the check box is unchecked, the startup shortcut is removed.
Player Only Mode. Player only mode for files and playlists. This is intended for people who usually launch audio files, video file soundtracks or playlists from File Explorer, Windows shortcuts, or Leasey shortcuts, and do not want the main Media Centre window to appear each time. When this option is checked, opening an audio file, supported video file or playlist displays only the Leasey Media Player window. The full Media Centre window is still available when you open the app normally, so you can continue to work with Radio, Podcasts, Audio and Playlists, Favourites, Presets and other features.
Register File Explorer Entries. Press Enter or Space to register Leasey Media Centre with Windows so audio files, video soundtracks, playlists, and converter entries are available from File Explorer.
Leasey Radio is accessed by pressing the Leasey Key then R. When you press this key combination, the Task combo box previously referred to is automatically set to the Radio area. If you are focused in Leasey Media Centre already, you can press Alt+1.
Leasey Radio makes it possible for you to listen to radio stations from around the world, provided they are broadcast on the internet. Thousands of radio stations exist playing a wide variety of music covering many genres. Speech content is also very popular for news, sport and discussion of current affairs.
When compiling our Leasey Radio directory, we have chosen what we feel are some of the most popular and high quality music and speech radio stations covering ten specific genres. You can listen to any station of your choosing, add it to a list of favourites so as to hear it again, or assign it to one of the 20 presets which can be accessed from any application. Listening to your favourite station could not be easier! If on the other hand you would prefer to access a wider range of stations, you can browse the Shoutcast radio directory, or the Radio Browser directory, both of which contain many thousands of radio stations to choose from.
Leasey has ten categories of radio stations. These are:
The Radio screen contains:
You can press Tab to move through the options if you wish.
The first control in the radio screen is the category list, which you can always reach by pressing Alt+C. This represents the 10 radio categories within Leasey Media Centre. Use Down Arrow to select a category of interest. You can either then press Enter to move to the stations in the category. Alternatively, press Alt+L.
The stations are arranged in alphabetical order. Press Down Arrow to find a station of interest. Press Enter to begin playing a station.
For example:
Step 1. Press Alt+C to focus upon the radio category list.
Step 2. Press Down Arrow to select the Oldies category.
Step 3. Press Enter to move into the category.
Step 4. Use the Down Arrow key to select a station from the list.
Step 5. Press Enter to play.
Step 6. The station should begin to play almost instantly. If you are using the Leasey Media Player, it is designed to gain focus automatically whenever any audio is sent to it including radio stations. This means you can easily press Tab to move through the controls to find those which you need, such as, Stop.
Press Enter or Space on the appropriate Button. Later in this chapter, we will explain how you can change the keyboard shortcuts to those you prefer. This User Guide assumes you have not done so. In that event, from within any application you can press Alt+Control+Windows+S to stop playback.
Let us just pause for a moment to consider what has happened here.
Even if you have selected the Leasey Media Player selected as your default player, you now have two applications open rather than one. If you have elected to use an alternative player, such as Winamp, you certainly will. You should bear this in mind from this point forward when carrying out tasks such as assigning stations to favourites or presets. You must be in the Leasey Media Centre window to do that.
How do you know whether you are in the Leasey Media Centre or the Leasey Media Player? Press JAWS Key+T. If pressing that keystroke causes JAWS to announce a station name or the title of the song playing, you are in the Leasey Media Player window or the window of your chosen audio player. If you hear the term "Leasey Media Centre", you are in the correct location. You can press Alt+Tab to move between the different application windows, or press JAWS Key+F10 to bring into view a list of running programs. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through the list of available programs and press Enter to switch to one.
The search is intended to feel like one directory, even though more than one source is checked. Leasey recommended stations are checked first. Radio Browser is checked next. Shoutcast is checked after that.
This means that you should not need to worry too much about where a station comes from. If you type a search such as classical, country or a station name, results from all available sources should be placed in the same station list.
Suppose we would like to search for ACB Media 1, one of the stations hosted by the American Council of the Blind.
Step 1. Ensure the main Leasey Radio screen is active.
Step 2. Press Control+F for Find.
Step 3. Type ACB. This ought to be enough, although you can type the full station name if you wish.
step 4. Press Enter.
Step 5. A list of results is displayed. Hopefully, one of those will be ACB Media 1. Press the Down Arrow key to move through the list although in this case it is almost certainly going to be the first result.
Step 6. Press Enter to begin playing the station.
Now we will search for radio stations in the country music genre.
Step 1. Ensure the main Leasey Radio screen is active.
Step 2. Press Control+F for Find.
Step 3. Type Country.
step 4. Press Enter.
Step 5. A list of results is displayed. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through the list to find a station you like the sound of.
Step 6. Press Enter to begin playing the station.
The Shoutcast online radio platform has categories of stations you can browse, such as Old Time Radio, 1930's, and more.
Step 1. Activate the Shoutcast Categories Button to browse categories supplied by Shoutcast. You can press the Tab key to reach it and then press Enter or Space.
Step 2. Using the Up and Down Arrow keys, choose a category from the list and press Enter.
Step 3. A list of results is displayed. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through the list to find a station you like the sound of.
Step 4. Press Enter to begin playing the station.
If you wish to return to a radio station later, you can store it as a favourite.
To add a station to Favourites:
Step 1. Locate a radio station. You do not have to begin playing it if you do not wish to do so.
Step 2. Press Alt+A to add it to favourites.
To view your favourites:
Step 1. Press Alt+V.
Step 2. A list of your favourite stations is displayed.
Step 3. The stations are presented in a list. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to select one or use first letter navigation.
Step 4. When the desired station is located, press Enter to play.
While it is true that you can store as many Leasey Radio Favourites as you like, there will be stations that you would like to hear more frequently. To this end, you can set up to 20 presets which will allow you to quickly start playing 20 stations of your choice from within any program, without having to work through the menu system.
Step 1. Locate a radio station. You do not have to begin playing it if you do not wish to do so.
Step 2. Press Alt+P for the Presets Manager.
Step 3. You are now in a list of presets. The presets list contains preset numbers 1 through to 20. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through the list to find the preset number you want. JAWS will announce terms such as: "Preset 1, Empty". This means there is no station assigned to the preset. You might also hear "Preset 11", followed by the station name. This occurs if you have already assigned a preset to a station in the past.
Step 4. While as we will discuss later there is a way of activating presets globally from within any application, from the list of available presets you can press Enter while focused on one of them in the list so as to play it.
Step 5. Alternatively, press the Tab key. If a station has not been assigned to the focused preset, the focused Button will be "Add". Press Enter or Space to assigned the station to the preset number.
Step 6. If on the other hand there is a station already assigned to the preset, the Button will be entitled "Change". Press Enter or Space to change the station to the focused one.
Step 7. A dialog box will appear, advising you that you have a station assigned to the preset number and asking you if you would like to change it to the new one. Type letter Y for Yes or N for No. You can also press Enter as Yes is the focused control.
Step 8. JAWS confirms that the new station is assigned to the preset.
Step 9. You could always go back into the Presets dialog with Alt+P, press Down Arrow to find the preset number and press Enter to play it. That will confirm that the assignment has been successful.
While focused in the Presets list, press Enter on an existing preset to play that station. This lets you check that the preset will do what you expect.
If you wish to cause a preset to be unassigned:
Step 1. Press Alt+P to move into the presets list.
Step 2. Use Up and Down Arrow keys to find the preset you wish to unassign from a station. Remember, it must cause JAWS to announce the preset number, followed by the station name.
Step 3. Press the Delete key. The preset is automatically unassigned. There is very little value in using this option because you can easily overwrite a preset.
Step 4. Focus remains in the presets list. It is automatically refreshed so as to show the current state of all the presets.
You can access a preset (and begin playing a station) from within any application. Press the Leasey Key followed by Windows+1 through to Windows+0 for the first 10 presets, with Windows+1 representing preset number 1 and Windows+0 representing preset number 10. To access presets 11 through to 20, press the Leasey Key followed by Alt+1 through to Alt+0. Simply press any one of the preset keystrokes to begin playing the assigned station. You will hear the announcement, "Connecting to", followed by the station name.
Leasey Media Centre can record radio stations to 96K, 128K, 192K, 320K MP3 or WAV files. There are some particular advantages when recording stations with Leasey Media Centre.
You do not need to listen to the station while the recording is ongoing. You can listen to another station while the recording is being made at the same time. When you restart the computer, assuming the Check Box to keep Leasey Media Centre running in the System Tray is checked, the recording will still take place. You do not need to have opened the application first. If the stream is disconnected mid-broadcast, Leasey Media Centre will check periodically during the scheduled time to see if it can be recovered. If so, the recording will continue in a separate file.
Scheduled recordings are based on stations in your favourites list. If you want to schedule a station, first add it to favourites.
Next, we need to specify the folder location for the recordings. This can be configured on a schedule by schedule basis which will be described later. However, it is advisable to set up a folder initially.
Step 1. Press Control+Comma to move into Options.
Step 2. Press Shift+Tab to reach the list of tabbed pages.
Step 3. Press Right Arrow to select the "Radio and Recording" Tab.
Step 4. Press Tab.
Step 5. You are now in the Recording Folder Edit Field. Type a folder path if appropriate.
Step 6. If you prefer, press Tab to move to the "Browse" Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 7. Browse to the folder using standard Windows techniques.
Step 8. When the folder has been selected, press Enter.
Step 9. Press Tab to reach the OK Button and press Enter or Space to save the settings.
To create or review schedules:
Step 1. Activate the Scheduled Recordings Button in the Radio area, or press Control+Shift+R from anywhere within the application.
Scheduled Recordings can also be assigned as a global hot key in the Shortcut Keys tab. It is unassigned by default.
Step 2. The Scheduled Recordings dialog contains:
Step 3. Press Tab to reach the Add Button and press Enter or Space to create a new schedule.
Step 4. The Add Schedule dialog contains:
Press the Tab key to move through the controls.
Step 5. The start date is entered using Year, Month, and Day controls. This avoids the need to type a date manually which could cause potential confusion. The Year control allows dates up to 2030.
Step 6. The time is entered using the Hour, Minute, and AM or PM controls. This avoids the need to type 24 hour times.
Step 7. Next comes the Duration Edit Field. Type the number of minutes for the recording to take place, such as 60, 120 or 180.
Step 8. The Repeat Combo Box allows you to decide whether you would like a recording to be scheduled once only, daily or weekly. Press the Down Arrow key to move through the choices.
Step 9. The Recording folder for this schedule Edit Field shows the current recording location. If you leave it unchanged, the schedule uses the Recording folder specified in Options. If you change it, the new folder is used only for this specific scheduled recording. You can type or paste a folder path into this Edit Field if you wish.
Step 10. If you prefer to browse to the folder instead, press the Tab key to reach the Browse Button and press Enter or Space. You can then browse to the folder using standard Windows techniques. Press Enter when the folder is located.
Changing the folder location per scheduled recording is very useful if you regularly record a radio show on a week by week basis and you always want the recordings to be placed in a specific folder.
Step 11. If you change the folder, Leasey Media Centre asks you to confirm that this folder should be applied only to that scheduled recording. Type letter Y for Yes or N for No. You can also press Enter as Yes is the focused control.
Step 12. When the OK Button is activated, focus returns to the list of scheduled recordings. This gives you the opportunity of viewing which programmes are scheduled to record. The station name is given together with the date, time and duration.
If you ever want to refresh your memory as to what is scheduled, just press Control+Shift+R at any time and examine the schedule list. If a recording is in progress, Leasey will display this information, otherwise you will see it is scheduled.
Press Escape to close the dialog. Don't forget that you can delete any item by finding the programme in the schedule list, and press the Delete key. You can also edit an existing scheduled item by activating the Edit Button. When the scheduled time arrives, JAWS announces that the recording has started. When the recording finishes, JAWS announces that the scheduled recording has finished. The file is saved in the schedule-specific folder if one was chosen, otherwise it is saved in the Recording folder specified in Options. It contains the station name together with the start date and time.
Let us assume that you wish to record a radio show on one of your favourite stations. The first broadcast begins on Sunday 9 August 2026 between 10 AM and 12 PM and occurs weekly until Sunday 22 November 2026.
Step 1. Ensure the radio station concerned is in your list of favourites.
Step 2. Press Control+Shift+R to access scheduled recordings.
Step 3. If you have previously scheduled recordings, a list of those is displayed, such as, "Boom Radio, May 4, 2026, 12:00 PM, 120 minutes, Once, Completed". This shows the station name, the date and time, the fact that it was scheduled on one occasion and that the recording was fully completed. We will return to this list later.
Step 4. Press Tab to reach the Add Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 5. You are now presented with a combo box displaying the list of all the stations you have in your favourites. Press the Down Arrow key to select one.
Step 6. Pressing Tab takes us to the Year control. At the time of writing, the option is set to 2026 which is correct. If you require another year, press Down Arrow to change. Leasey Media Centre always selects today's date and time as the starting point.
Step 7. Next comes the month Combo Box. Use the Up and Down arrow keys to find 8 because that represents August.
Step 8. Press Tab to reach the day Combo Box. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to find 9 to represent the start date of the broadcast: 9 August.
Step 9. Press Tab to reach the hour Combo Box. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to find 10 because that is the hour of the broadcast.
Step 10. Tab to the minutes Combo Box. Press the Home key to select 00 because we want the recording to begin at the top of the hour.
Step 11. Tab to the AM or PM Combo Box. If AM is not selected, use the Up Arrow key to find it.
Step 12. Tab to the duration Edit Field. The broadcast is two hours so type 120.
Step 13. Tab to the repeat Combo Box. Press the End key to select weekly.
Step 14. We will leave the recording folder location at the default. So press Tab three times to reach the OK Button and press Enter or Space.
Now at the appointed time, the recording should begin. While it is in progress, press Control+Shift+R, find the scheduled item and JAWS should say, "Recording".
If you have chosen not to have Leasey Media Centre start automatically when Windows is loaded, you will have needed to remember to launch the application manually prior to the scheduled recording start time.
Your favourite show host is taking a holiday for one week.
Step 1. Press Control+Shift+R to enter the Scheduled Recordings dialog box.
Step 2. From the list of available recordings, find the one relating to the broadcast.
Step 3. Press the Tab key to reach the Suspend Button and press Enter or Space. JAWS reports that the schedule has been suspended.
Step 4. The following week, you will need to move back into the scheduled recordings dialog box, find the broadcast listing and press the Tab key to reach the Resume Button. Press Enter or Space Bar to activate the recording again.
Step 1. Press Control+Shift+R to enter the Scheduled Recordings dialog box.
Step 2. From the list of available recordings, find the one relating to the broadcast.
Step 3. Press Alt+E to edit the scheduled recording.
Step 4. This dialog box is identical to the dialog box used for creating a new schedule. You can change any aspect of it, such as the start date.
Step 5. Press Tab to reach the OK Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 1. Press Control+Shift+R to enter the Scheduled Recordings dialog box.
Step 2. From the list of available recordings, find the one relating to the broadcast.
Step 3. Press the Delete key.
Step 4. You are asked if you want to delete the item. Type Y for Yes or N for No. You can also press Enter since Yes is the default control.
It is possible that you may wish to add a URL pointing to an audio stream which is not featured in the Leasey Radio database. There are three methods of achieving this.
Step 1. Press Control+Comma for Options.
Step 2. Press Shift+Tab to reach the list of tabbed pages.
Step 3. Press Right Arrow to select the "Radio and Recording" Tab.
Step 4. Press Tab.
We are now in the correct location for all three of the below options.
The following procedure will allow you to add a Custom Stream to the Leasey Radio database which can be accessed by other people.
Step 1. Be sure that you have the full URL pointing to the audio stream on the clipboard. This must not be the main page of the radio station's web site. It must be a URL which would play using your audio player, such as Winamp or VLC. If it does not play in your audio player, you cannot add a Custom Stream using this method.
Step 2. From our current location in Options, press Tab repeatedly to reach the Button Submit stream for sharing. Press Enter.
Step 3. Into the Edit Field now available, paste the URL obtained in step 1.
Step 4. Press Tab.
Step 5. You are then asked to name the station. Type the name you would like to assign to it.
Step 6. You are then asked to assign it to one of the 10 categories. Select one of the categories with the Up and Down Arrow keys. There is a further item in the list, "None". This means that you do not know which category it should be assigned to.
Step 7. Press Tab to reach the OK Button and press Enter or Space.
The stream should then be added. Notification is then sent to Hartgen Consultancy notifying us of the addition of the Custom Stream. We will then move it to the desired category if we determine it is appropriate for it. However, you can still listen to it as soon as it is added. Visit your Favourites area with Alt+V and you should find it there. Press Enter to play.
If you find a radio station in either the Shoutcast or Radio Browser databases which you think would be a good fit for the Leasey Radio database, you can add it as a Custom Stream. The following procedure will allow you to add a Custom Stream to the Leasey Radio database which can be accessed by other people.
Step 1. Be sure that you have selected the station to play out using your media player. You must have searched for it using Leasey Media Centre.
Step 2. From our current location in Options, press Tab repeatedly to reach the Button Submit current station. Press Enter.
Step 3. The URL of the playing stream should be in the focused Edit Field.
Step 4. Press Tab and the name of the station should be in the station name Edit Field.
Step 5. You are then asked to assign it to one of the 10 categories. Select one of the categories with the Up and Down Arrow keys and press Enter. There is a further item in the list, "None". This means that you do not know which category it should be assigned to.
Step 6. The stream should then be added. Notification is then sent to Hartgen Consultancy notifying us of the addition of the Custom Stream. We will then move it to the desired category if we determine it is appropriate for it. However, you can still listen to it as soon as it is added. Visit your favourites with Alt+V and you should find it there.
There is a further method of adding a Custom Stream. When you add such a stream, it is for your own use and will not be shared with anyone else. This might be useful if you own a radio station which is not broadcast 24 hours a day, but you would like to use Leasey to listen to it when it is broadcasting. This radio station will not appear in Custom Streams. It will be located in your Leasey Radio Favourites instead.
Step 1. Be sure that you have the full URL pointing to the audio stream on the clipboard. This must not be the main page of the radio station's web site. It must be a URL which would play using your audio player, such as Winamp or VLC. If it does not play in your audio player, you cannot add a Custom Stream using this method.
Step 2. From our current location in Options, press Tab repeatedly to reach the Button Add private stream to favourites. Press Enter.
Step 3. Into the Edit Field now available, paste the URL obtained in step 1.
Step 4. Press Tab.
Step 5. You are then asked to name the station. Type the name you would like to assign to it.
Step 6. Press Tab to reach the OK Button and press Enter or Space.
The stream should then be added and you can find it in Leasey Radio Favourites, activated with Alt+V.
Podcasts are accessed by pressing the Leasey Key then Shift+P. When you press this key combination, the Task combo box previously referred to is automatically set to the podcasts area. If you are focused in Leasey Media Centre already, you can press Alt+2.
The Podcasts area is very easy to move around sequentially by pressing the Tab key if you wish and contains:
We have a number of recommended podcasts related to blindness and technology. You may like to start with these. You can always remove any you no longer wish to listen to.
Step 1. Press Control+Comma for Options.
Step 2. Press Shift+Tab to reach the list of tabbed pages.
Step 3. Press Right Arrow to select the "Podcasts" Tab.
Step 4. Press Tab.
Step 5. Let's take a look at some of the controls in this area because potentially most of them are useful at this stage. The first control is "Import Leasey Recommended Podcasts". This is the one in which we are interested in right now. Press Enter or the Space Bar on this Button. JAWS confirms how many podcast feeds were imported.
Step 6. The next Button of interest, which you can reach by pressing Tab, is "Import from Previous LeaseyCast Interface". If you had many podcast feeds set up using Leasey version 11 or earlier, pressing Enter or Space on this Button will allow those feeds to be imported. JAWS confirms how many feeds were imported.
Step 7. Next we have "Import OPML". Pressing Enter or Space on this Button prompts for a file name of a podcast feeds file you may have exported from an alternative podcasting client. Using standard Windows techniques, browse to the file and press Enter to import the feeds. JAWS confirms how many feeds were imported.
Step 8. The only other control of relevance at this stage, which you can reach by pressing Tab, is "Episode Order". This is a Combo Box. You can choose between newest first and newest last. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to choose the order.
Step 9. Press Tab to reach the OK Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 1. Press Alt+Y to search the iTunes directory for possible podcasts you may like to subscribe to.
Step 2. Type the name of a podcast you wish to search for and press enter. You can also type a category name.
Step 3. A list of matches is displayed. Move through the results with the Up and Down arrow keys and press Enter on one which sounds promising.
Step 4. Leasey Media Centre then retrieves a preview of the podcast. This includes the podcast description and some sample episodes.
Step 5. If you would like to subscribe to the podcast, press the Tab key to reach the Add Button and press Enter or Space.
We want to search for the podcast Access On hosted by the National Federation of the Blind. In point of fact this is already in our recommended podcast list.
Step 1. Press Alt+Y for Search Directory.
Step 2. Into the Edit Field which is in focus, type the term, Access On. Press Enter.
Step 3. When writing this documentation, 50 results are returned. The first is "Access On, National Federation of the Blind". That is exactly the one we want. Press Enter.
Step 4. A read-only Edit Field is displayed containing the podcast description:
Hosted by Jonathan Mosen, Access On features breaking technology news, product demonstrations, reviews, comparisons, and interviews about the fast-changing world of technology. We also welcome contributions from our listeners. Follow Access On for news about computers, smartphones, AI, accessible appliances, blindness-specific devices including Braille displays, and more. Whether you’re a tech expert, or you’re trying to make sense of it all, Access On has something for you. Access On listeners benefit from the resources of the National Federation of the Blind, including our Centre for Excellence in Nonvisual Accessibility, our extensive networks in the technology sector, and our many members with specialist knowledge of technology. When it comes to access technology, Access On breaks the news, and makes the news.
Step 5. Press the Tab key. You will reach show notes of the most recent episodes in the feed. This should give you a good indicator of whether this podcast is for you.
Step 6. If it sounds as though you may be interested in the podcast, press the Tab key to reach the Add Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 7. If you think you would prefer to review alternative results, press Escape and you will return to the results list, whereupon you can repeat the process.
Step 8. When you have finished browsing the directory, press Escape again to return to the main podcasts screen.
There may be specific subjects in which you are interested. The below is an example of how you might search the directory by category or key word.
Step 1. Press Alt+Y for Search Directory.
Step 2. Into the Edit Field which is in focus, type the term, marriage. Press Enter.
Step 3. When writing this documentation, 50 results are returned. The first is "Focus on the Family Marriage Podcast, Focus on the Family". That is exactly the one we want. Press Enter.
Step 4. A read-only Edit Field is displayed containing the podcast description:
If you’re married — or soon to be — you’ve got questions. What makes this relationship work? How do I fix it when it breaks? Where do I go when I need help? Host John Fuller and marriage experts Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley help answer those questions with practical, down-to-earth insights based on God’s design for marriage. Find answers and inspiration in every short episode of this Christian marriage podcast.
Step 5. Press the Tab key. and you will reach show notes of the most recent episodes in the feed. This should give you a good indicator of whether this podcast is for you.
Step 6. If it sounds as though you may be interested in the podcast, press the Tab key to reach the Add Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 7. If you think you would prefer to review alternative results, press Escape and you will return to the results list, whereupon you can repeat the process.
Step 8. When you have finished browsing the directory, press Escape again to return to the main podcasts screen.
Here is a procedure you can use to work with your podcast feeds.
Step 1. From the podcasts screen, press Control+L to focus upon the list of podcast feeds.
Step 2. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to explore the feeds. If Leasey detects the focused feed has new episodes, you will hear that information.
Step 3. To open a feed, press Enter.
Step 4. The list now displayed is filled with available episodes.
Step 5. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move through the feeds. As you move through the list, new episodes should be identified. So as you arrow up and down through the list of episodes within a feed, JAWS might say, New episode, NPR News: 05-01-2026 7AM EDT, 01 May 2026
Step 6. The show notes Edit Field follows the episode list in the tab order, so pressing Tab once from the episode list should place you in the show notes. If you wish to place these into a web browser, press Alt+B or Tab to the Show Notes in Browser Button and press Enter or Space. This can be helpful if the show notes contain links to specific resources to be accessed later.
Step 7. To stream an episode from the web, find an episode from the list and press Enter to do so.
It is quite possible that you would like to download a podcast episode to your computer. Particularly if you would prefer to listen to the podcast using an alternative player then this will be required.
Step 1. Focus upon an episode in the list.
Step 2. Press Alt+F for File.
Step 3. You will be asked where you want to save the file. Specify a location by browsing to it using standard Windows techniques and press Enter.
Step 4. JAWS should announce that the download has started and also when it has completed.
Suppose you have subscribed to a podcast and you would like to check the feed for specific content. Leasey can search the podcast show notes for key words.
Going back to our Access On podcast, let us discover whether they have anything useful to say about Braille.
Step 1. We have previously subscribed to Access On. Press Control+L to access the list of feeds.
Step 2. Using the Up or Down Arrow keys, locate the Access On podcast and press Enter.
Step 3. Press Control+F.
Step 4. Type the word Braille and press Enter.
Step 5. A list of results is returned containing the term you have requested. At the time of writing, 18 episodes are returned for this feed containing the word Braille.
Step 6. The structure of this dialog box is exactly the same as if you were viewing regular feed episodes. You can press Enter to play a podcast episode or press Tab to reach the show notes. You can also download it to the computer by pressing Alt+F.
Each time you start Leasey Media Centre in the podcasts area, Leasey will check for new episodes to the feeds you have subscribed to. If new content is found, you will be advised of this. JAWS will announce how many episodes have been found and the number of feeds they relate to.
You can however force a manual refresh.
Step 1. Press Control+L to move to the list of feeds.
Step 2. Press Tab to reach the Check New Episodes Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 3. If new episodes are found, you will be placed in a list of feeds containing new content. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to find a feed and press Enter to access it.
Some podcast files contain chapter marks. When a local file contains chapter marks, the player title includes the words chapters available. Press JAWS Key+T to read the window title.
Use Control+Left Arrow and Control+Right Arrow to move through the chapters. Press Control+Shift+L to bring into view a list of chapters. Where possible, we obtain the chapter name and start time. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to find a chapter to listen to, then press Enter.
If you wish to remove a podcast from your feeds list, do the following:
Step 1. Press Control+L to access the feeds list.
Step 2. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to find the feed to be removed.
Step 3. Press the Delete key.
Step 4. You will be asked for confirmation of the deletion. Type letter Y for Yes or N for No. You can also press Enter since Yes is the focused control.
Audio and Playlists is accessed by pressing the Leasey Key then A for Audio, and selecting the first item, Work with Audio and Playlists. When you press this key combination, the Tasks combo box previously referred to is automatically set to the Audio and Playlists area. If you are focused in Leasey Media Centre already, you can press Alt+3.
The Audio and Playlists area contains:
Control+O opens a local audio file, supported video file soundtrack or playlist.
Supported audio files include:
Supported video files, where Leasey Media Centre plays the soundtrack, include:
Supported playlist files include:
M3U8 [ PLS.
The keystrokes continue.
To create a playlist.
Step 1. Press Control+N.
Step 2. Type the playlist name and press Enter.
Step 3. Activate Add files, or press Alt+A, to add one or more audio files or supported video files. This will allow you to browse to the files to add using standard Windows techniques.
Step 4. If you wish to add an entire folder, press Alt+F or activate the Add Folder Button.
Step 5. After choosing the folder, Leasey Media Centre asks whether files in subfolders should also be included. Type Y for Yes or N for No. You can also press Enter since the Yes Button is the focused control. The tracks are shown in the Tracks list.
Step 6. Alternatively, find the file using File Explorer or Leasey File Manager, copy it to the clipboard, focus back on the Playlist Viewer and press Control+V.
You can rearrange the items in the playlist:
Step 1. Move to a track in the Tracks list.
Step 2. Activate Move up or Move down; Alt+U or Alt+D.
JAWS should announce:
Moved Song A below Song B.
Step 3. Multiple files can be selected for deletion or moving by focusing upon each one and pressing the Comma key. JAWS reports that a file is selected. You can verify which files have been selected by:
The Playlist order combo box allows you to choose:
Sequential plays the playlist in the displayed order.
Shuffle plays the items in a random order.
Repeat begins the playlist content again when it reaches the end.
You can press Tab or Shift+Tab repeatedly to reach the combo box and the Up or Down Arrow keys can be used to change the value.
We will now create a playlist, add tracks to it and begin listening to it using Leasey Media Player. Note that the Leasey Media Player must be used in order to listen to playlists.
Step 1. Press the Leasey Key followed by letter A for Audio.
Step 2. From the menu which appears, press Enter on the first item, Work with Audio and Playlists.
Step 3. The Audio and Playlists window appears.
Step 4. Press Control+N to create a new playlist.
Step 5. Type the name for the playlist, such as, Oldies. Then press Enter. JAWS confirms that the playlist has been created.
Step 6. We will first add an artist folder and sub-folders. Press Alt+F.
Step 7. Using standard Windows techniques, browse to the folder containing a music artist and press Enter to select it.
Step 8. Tab to the Select Folder Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 9. You are asked if you would like to add sub-folders to the playlist. Type letter Y for Yes or N for No. On this occasion, we will choose Yes by typing the letter Y. JAWS confirms how many files were added. We do not need to be concerned with saving a playlist because it is automatically saved.
Step 10. Close down Leasey Media Centre by pressing Alt+F4. Of course we do not need to do this but it illustrates the next point very well.
Step 11. Load up the Leasey Media Centre once more with the audio and Playlists area in focus. This is achieved by pressing the Leasey Key then letter A and pressing Enter on the first item, Work with Audio and Playlists.
Step 12. Press Alt+P to focus upon your list of playlists.
Step 13. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to focus upon the name of the playlist.
Step 14. You now have a choice. Pressing Enter will begin playing the playlist in the order specified within the Playlist Order Combo Box. By default this is sequential. If you wish to change this, press Tab or Shift+Tab to reach the combo box and then Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to change the value.
Step 15. However, if you only want to hear an individual track from the playlist, press Alt+L to focus upon the list of tracks. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move to the desired item and press Enter to play.
Leasey Media Centre can edit tags for MP3, M4A, FLAC, OGG and Opus files.
This includes:
To edit tags for a track in a playlist:
Step 1. Move to Audio and Playlists.
Step 2. Press Alt+P to focus on the list of playlists.
Step 3. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to choose the playlist you want.
Step 4. Press Alt+L to focus upon the list of tracks in the playlist.
Step 5. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move to the track you want to edit.
Step 6. Press Control+Shift+E, or Tab to the Edit tags Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 7. The Edit Audio Tags dialog opens.
Step 8. The first field is Title. Tab through the fields and make the changes you want.
Step 9. Press Enter or Space on the Save Button to save the tags.
JAWS should announce:
Tags saved.
You can also edit tags for the file which is currently loaded in the Leasey Media Player by pressing Control+E in the player window.
Tag editing is only available for local MP3, M4A, FLAC, OGG and Opus files. It is not available for radio streams, podcast streams, playlist URLs or other audio formats. If the file is playing, you can usually edit the tags without stopping playback. After saving, the player title and spoken track name should update to reflect the new title and artist.
The Batch Tag Editor is useful when you want to review or change tags for a group of MP3, M4A, FLAC, OGG or Opus files.
Step 1. Move to Audio and Playlists.
Step 2. Press Alt+E to activate the Batch tag editor.
Step 3. The Batch Tag Editor contains:
To load a folder:
Step 1. Type or paste a folder path into the Edit Field.
Step 2. Alternatively, Tab to the Load Folder Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 3. Using standard Windows navigation techniques, choose the folder containing the files and press Enter.
Step 4. If you want to include files in subfolders, check Include subfolders before loading the folder. You can press the Tab key to reach this check box. Press Space to check or uncheck it.
To load specific files:
Step 1. Tab to the Load File Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 2. Using standard Windows navigation techniques, choose the file and press Enter.
The files list shows the loaded files. As you move through the list, JAWS should speak useful information such as the artist and title, where available. The Edit Fields for each file, which you can reach by repeatedly pressing the Tab key, show the tags for the selected file.
To change one file:
Step 1. Move to the file in the list.
Step 2. Tab to the field you want to change.
Step 3. Type the new value.
Step 4. Activate Save, or press Control+S. Focus returns to the files list after saving.
To save and move to the next file:
Step 1. Make the changes you want.
Step 2. Press Tab to reach the Save and Next Button and press Enter or Space.
To apply the same value to several files:
Step 1. Select the files in the list.
Step 2. Type the value into the appropriate field, such as Artist, Album, Album artist, Genre or Year/date.
Step 3. Tab to one of these Buttons depending upon what you are trying to change:
Step 4. Press Enter or Space on the appropriate Button.
Step 5. You will be asked to confirm if more than one file is being changed. Type Y for Yes or N for No. Pressing Enter is possible since Yes is the focused control.
The Batch Tag Editor does not rename files. It does not change album art. It preserves unrelated metadata where possible. If a file is read-only or cannot be updated, a clear error is shown.
The Audio Converter is available from the Audio and Playlists area.
Step 1. Press the Tab key to reach the Audio Converter Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 2. The first control is the Load Files Button. Pressing Enter on this Button will allow you to browse for files using standard Windows techniques. Press Enter when the file or files are found.
Step 3. Alternatively, Tab to the Load Folder Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 4. Activating this Button allows you to browse to the folder using standard Windows techniques.
Step 5. If you load a folder, you can choose whether to include files in subfolders. This is a Check Box. Press the Space Bar to Check or Uncheck it.
Step 6. Press Tab and you should be able to examine the list of files added in the previous steps.
Step 7. Pressing Tab again moves to the Output folder Edit Field. This location should be used to send the converted files. Type or paste a full folder path into this field.
Step 8. Alternatively, press Tab to reach the Browse Button and press Enter or Space. This gives you the opportunity of browsing to an output folder using standard Windows techniques.
Step 9. Press Tab again to reach the Output format Combo Box.
Step 10. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to select an output format. The choices are:
For example, you can convert an M4A file to WAV or a video file to MP3. Leasey Media Centre does not overwrite existing files. If a file with the same name already exists in the output folder, a numbered file name is created.
Step 11. Tab to the Convert Button and press Enter or Space.
If you have registered File Explorer entries from Options, you can also convert one file directly from File Explorer. Focus the audio file in File Explorer, press the Applications key, and choose Convert with Leasey Audio Converter. The Audio Converter opens with that file already loaded. This Explorer command is separate from Play with Leasey Media Centre on the Context Menu and does not change your default audio player.
Leasey File Manager includes a Send to Leasey command.
Press Control+Shift+L to open it.
You can also open the context menu with the Applications key or Shift+F10 and choose Send to Leasey.
Send to Leasey works on one focused file. It does not work on a folder or on several tagged files at the same time, because the choices depend on the kind of file you are focused on.
For audio files, Send to Leasey can offer:
The exact choices depend on the file type. For example, MP3, M4A, MP4 and FLAC files can be sent to the tag editor. Common audio files such as MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC and WMA can be sent to Leasey Media Centre.
If there is no suitable Leasey action for the focused file, the menu will say that no Leasey actions are available.
The Leasey Media Player is the player window used by the Media Centre when Leasey Media Player is selected, or when playing local files, playlists and podcasts.
The player can also play the audio soundtrack from supported video files. This includes MP4 and MKV files, and also common formats such as M4V, MOV, AVI, WebM and WMV. Video is not shown; only the audio is played. You can press the Tab key to move through the controls.
The player contains:
If Speak player status messages is enabled, Leasey Media Centre speaks the new position after skipping. This is an extremely responsive media player and the ability to skip forward and backward works very well.
The playback queue is temporary. If a track is currently playing, queued files are played after the current track finishes. Queued files play before the next normal playlist track. In the Queue Manager, Enter plays the selected queued item, Delete removes it, and the Buttons allow you to add files, remove files, move them, play the selected item or clear the queue.
One thing you will notice. The number of controls in the audio player differs depending upon the environment. For example, in radio, we do not have the speed control because you cannot vary the speed of playback for a live broadcast. So there is no sense in having it there.
When you are listening to radio using the Leasey Media Player, the player contains Record and Stop Recording Buttons. You can also press Control+R to start or stop recording.
Recordings are saved as MP3 or WAV files in the Recording folder specified in Options. You are not asked for a file name each time. Leasey Media Centre creates a file name using the station name and the date and time.
JAWS announces when recording starts. When recording is stopped, JAWS announces that the recording has been saved.
To move to a specific time in a file:
Step 1. Press Control+J for Jump to Time.
Step 2. Select the number of hours from the focused list box with the Up or Down Arrow keys.
Step 3. Press Tab and select the number of minutes from the list box with the Up or Down Arrow keys.
Step 4. Press Tab and select the number of seconds from the list box with the Up or Down Arrow keys.
Step 5. Press Enter.
The Speed combo box changes playback speed. This is especially useful for podcasts and audio books. Radio always plays at normal speed, so the Speed combo box is not shown when listening to radio. Podcast speed is remembered separately from local audio files. Local audio files and playlists start at normal speed by default, but if you change the speed for an audio book or similar file, that local audio speed is remembered for future local audio playback. Press Control+0 to return to normal speed at any time. Press left bracket to decrease speed or right bracket to increase speed where speed control is available. These keys work from the player window. Press left brace or right brace to decrease or increase the skip amount. These keys work from the player window. These keys have been mentioned here because you may like to increase the speed of audio playback, particularly within speech content such as a podcast, and then use the Left Brack and Right Brace keystrokes to change how far through the audio you move with the Left and Right Arrow keys. It is an excellent combination. So in summary, Left and Right Bracket change speed. Left and Right Brace brackets change skip amount. The Left and Right bracket keys to control the speed of playback are to the immediate right of letter P. Shift with those same keystrokes control the skip amount.
The graphic equaliser is available in the Leasey Media Player when playing podcasts, local audio files or local playlists. The graphic equaliser is not shown and is not applied when listening to radio streams. This includes radio streams opened from an M3U or M3U8 file in Player Only Mode.
The graphic equaliser contains a preset combo box, a graphic bass slider and a graphic treble slider. Press Tab to move between the controls.
The graphic equaliser preset combo box includes choices such as Off, Speech clarity, Bass boost, Treble boost, Warm, Brighter and Reduce bass. Press Up or Down Arrow keys to change the values. Changing a graphic equaliser preset immediately changes the sound. Changing the graphic bass or graphic treble slider also immediately changes the sound and sets the graphic equaliser preset to Custom.
Some podcast files contain chapter marks. When a local file contains chapter marks, the player title includes the words chapters available. Press JAWS Key+T to read the window title.
Use Control+Left Arrow and Control+Right Arrow to move through the chapters. Press Control+Shift+L to bring into view a list of chapters. Where possible, we obtain the chapter name and start time. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to find a chapter to listen to, then press Enter.
Saved positions are file specific. This is useful for audio books or long recordings.
When a local file is paused, stopped or closed, the current position is saved. If you open the same file later, you can return to the saved position.
Press Alt+Windows+K globally to resume the saved position, if you have not changed the shortcut in Options. Inside the player, Control+Shift+K also resumes the saved position.
If the file has finished playing, the saved position is reset to the start.
Bookmarks are also file specific. They are intended for important points in a long recording or audio book.
To set a bookmark:
Step 1. Move to the position in the document you want to mark.
Step 2. Press Control+K.
Step 3. Type a bookmark name and press Enter.
To move to a bookmark:
Step 1. Press Control+Shift+G.
Step 2. The Bookmarks dialog opens. Move through the bookmarks with Down Arrow. You can also press the first letter of a bookmark name to move quickly through the list.
Step 3. Press Enter to move to the selected bookmark.
To delete a bookmark:
Step 1. Press Control+Shift+G.
Step 2. Press Down Arrow to select the bookmark or type its initial letter.
Step 3. Press Delete.
To hear the song title and artist, or file title such as a podcast, press JAWS Key+T, the standard keystroke to read the window title with JAWS. The window title has been kept free of content apart from the name of the item which is playing. So it is not going to state the name of the audio player.
The Queue Manager is a temporary list of files waiting to be played. It is useful if you are already listening to something and want another file to play next without creating a permanent playlist.
You can open Queue Manager from the player window with Control+Shift+Q. If there are no queued items, Leasey Media Centre reports that no songs are in the queue and does not open an empty dialogbox.
The Queue Manager contains:
Step 1. Open Queue Manager with Control+Shift+Q.
Step 2. Press Enter or Space on Add file.
Step 3. Choose the file using standard Windows techniques and press Enter.
Step 4. The file is added to the queue.
You can also add a file to the queue from File Explorer if File Explorer entries have been registered from Options. Focus the file, press the Applications key or Shift+F10, and choose Add to Leasey Media Centre Queue.
Use Up and Down Arrow in the queued tracks list to move through queued files.
Press Enter on a queued file to play it immediately.
Press Delete or activate Remove to remove the selected file from the queue.
Activate Move up or Move down to change the order. When a queued item is moved, JAWS reports where it has been moved.
Activate Clear to remove all queued items.
The queue is not a permanent playlist. If you want to keep a group of files for later use, create a playlist in the Audio and Playlists area.
To modify any of the shortcut keys for the Media Player, and possibly make some of them global:
Step 1. Press Control+Comma for Options.
Step 2. Press Shift+Tab to reach the list of tabbed pages.
Step 3. Press Right Arrow to reach the Shortcut Keys tab.
Step 4. Press Tab repeatedly to move through the controls.
The fields are:
The Actions list contains all available shortcut actions. When you select an action, Tab to the Description field to hear what the action does, then Tab to the Shortcut key Edit Field if you want to change it.
When focused on an item in the Actions List, JAWS might say: "Show or hide Media Centre, Ctrl+Alt+Win+Z, global".
This means that the function is Show or Hide Leasey Media Centre, the keystroke is Alt+Control+Windows+Z and the keystroke is global, meaning it can be used from within any application.
If Make this shortcut global is checked, the shortcut works while Leasey Media Centre is running, even if focus is in another application. If Make this shortcut global is unchecked, the shortcut is intended for use only while Leasey Media Centre has focus. Assign stores the shortcut for the selected action. Clear removes the shortcut for the selected action. Reset returns the selected action to its default shortcut. Restore Defaults returns all shortcuts to their default state.
The default global player hotkeys include:
Please note that global shortcut keys may need adjustment if they conflict with other software. If a global shortcut cannot be registered, Media Centre reports the problem without closing.
Examples of hot keys you can type look like this:
It is very difficult to get this wrong. Most similar applications expect you to press the keystroke you want. However this often causes conflicts particularly for JAWS. If you wish to remove a global hot key entirely, remove all the text by pressing Backspace so that the field is empty.
Sound Control is accessed by pressing the Leasey Key then A for Audio, and selecting the second item, Sound Control. When you press this key combination, the Tasks combo box previously referred to is automatically set to the Sound Control area. If you are focused in Leasey Media Centre already, you can press Alt+4.
The Sound Control area provides a simpler way to review and change common Windows sound settings using accessible controls.
The Sound Control area is arranged in two main groups. Output controls come first, followed by recording input controls. This is a very straightforward dialog box. Just press the Tab key to move through the controls.
The output controls include:
The output devices list contains the speakers, headphones or other output devices Windows can currently detect. If you want to make the selected device the normal Windows output, activate Set default output. If you want to make it the Windows communications output, activate Set communications output.
Just find the item in the list and then press Tab to move to the appropriate Button. Press Enter or Space to activate it. The Application output volumes list contains running applications which Windows exposes to the volume mixer. Use this list to choose an application, then adjust the Selected application output volume slider or activate Mute application output or Unmute application output.
The Leasey Media Centre output device combo box lets you choose the output device used by Leasey Media Centre itself. This duplicates the same option in Options for convenience. Choose Windows default if you want Media Centre to follow the normal Windows output device.
The recording input controls include:
The recording input devices list contains microphones, line inputs or other recording sources Windows can currently detect. If you want to make the selected device the normal Windows recording input, activate Set default recording input. If you want to make it the Windows communications recording input, activate Set communications recording input.
The Selected recording input level slider changes the level for the selected recording input device. Up Arrow increases the level and Down Arrow decreases it.
Loop-back recording records the audio being played through an output device, such as your speakers, headphones, or audio interface. It is different from recording a microphone or line input.
This can be useful if you want to record a tutorial, a demonstration, a meeting, or other audio which is already being played by the computer. If JAWS is speaking through the same output device, JAWS speech can also be captured. In some situations this is exactly what is wanted, but you should be aware of it.
To make a loop-back recording:
Step 1. In Sound Control, move to the output devices list.
Step 2. Choose the output device whose sound you want to capture.
Step 3. Press Tab to reach the Button Start loop-back recording and press Enter or Space.
Step 4. If necessary, use the Pause loop-back recording Button to pause and resume.
Step 5. Activate the Stop loop-back recording Button when finished.
The recording is saved in the Recording folder specified in Options. The format used is the Recording format specified in Options. For example, if Options is set to MP3 128K, the loop-back recording will be saved in that format.
The JAWS sound controls are at the end of the Sound Control area. These controls manipulate various audio-related functions and include:
The JAWS Help documentation provides good descriptions of these functions. They are provided here for convenience.
Activate Refresh if you have connected or disconnected a sound device and want Leasey Media Centre to rebuild the lists.
Music Recognition is accessed using the Leasey Key followed by A. Select the third item which is Music Recognition.
Music Recognition can capture audio from the sound source on your computer which you specify. If for example you hear a song and you would like to identify it for purchasing later, you can capture it.
When recognition is complete, results are produced in a browser because they can include links to sources where the song can be purchased or previewed.
Step 1. From the Combo Box which is focused, press the Down Arrow key to select the sound source containing the music you wish to identify. Many users will not need to be concerned with this.
Step 2. Be sure that music is playing through the sound source specified.
Step 3. Press Tab to reach the Recognise Button and press Enter or Space.
Step 4. Recognition should take between 30 to 45 seconds.
Step 5. If recognition is successful, details are displayed using your default web browser.
You can open the Options dialog box with Control+Comma.
Options is a multi-page dialog. Use Control+Tab and Shift+Control+Tab to move between tabs.
When you do this, focus is set to the first control in the tab. Alternatively, press Shift+Tab to focus upon the list of Tabs and use Left and Right Arrow as described previously.
Use Tab and Shift+Tab to move through controls on the current tab.
This group of Radio Buttons lets you choose the player used for radio stations.
The choices are:
Leasey Media Player is recommended because it provides the accessible player window, speed control, bookmarks, chapters, queue, sleep timer, recording controls and many of the shortcut keys described in this chapter. The other choices are provided for people who prefer those players for radio listening.
This combo box controls the output device used by Leasey Media Player. Choose Windows default if you want Media Centre to follow the current Windows default output. Choose a specific speaker, headset or audio interface if you want Media Centre audio routed there.
This Edit Field controls how much the volume changes when using Media Centre volume commands. For example, typing 1 makes volume adjustments very gradual. Typing 5 changes the volume in five percent steps.
This check box controls whether Leasey Media Player speaks extra messages during playback. When checked, some actions such as changing volume, changing speed, changing skip amount or moving through a file can be spoken. It is unchecked by default because many people prefer uninterrupted audio.
This Edit Field specifies where radio recordings and loop-back recordings are saved by default. You can type or paste a folder path. The Browse Button lets you choose the folder using standard Windows techniques.
This combo box specifies the recording format.
Choices include:
MP3 is usually best if you want smaller files. WAV creates larger files but is uncompressed.
This Edit Field controls buffering for network streams. The normal value is 3000. If a radio stream is unstable or sometimes starts silently, a higher value may help.
This Button lets you submit a custom stream to Hartgen Consultancy for review. If approved, it can be added later to the shared Leasey radio directory.
This Button submits the station you are currently using for review.
This Button lets you add a private stream for your own use. It is added to your Favourites and is not submitted for inclusion in the shared directory.
This Button imports the recommended podcast feeds from the Leasey online list.
This Button imports podcast feeds from the older LeaseyCast location. Use this if you previously used the older LeaseyCast interface.
This Button imports podcast feeds from an OPML file created by another podcast application.
This Button saves your current podcast feed list as an OPML file. This can be useful for backup or for moving feeds into another podcast application.
This combo box controls how episodes are displayed inside a feed. Choose Newest first if you want the latest episode at the top. Choose Newest last if you prefer to work from oldest to newest.
When checked, closing Media Centre keeps it running in the Windows system tray. This is important if you want scheduled recordings to occur after you close the main window. When this option is checked, Media Centre also creates the Windows startup shortcut needed to start automatically when Windows starts. You should only use this if JAWS is configured to start automatically after Windows login.
When checked, launching files or playlists from File Explorer opens only the player window. The full Media Centre window is still available when you launch the app normally.
This Button registers Leasey Media Centre with Windows so supported files can be opened, queued, tagged or converted from File Explorer. It adds entries such as Play with Leasey Media Centre, Add to Leasey Media Centre Queue, Tag with Leasey Tag Editor, and Convert with Leasey Audio Converter where appropriate.
This Button lets you choose one audio file and optionally assign a global shortcut to play it quickly. This is useful for frequently used audio clips.
This list contains shortcut actions available in the app. Every action is listed even if it currently has no shortcut.
This read-only Edit Field explains the action selected in the Actions list.
This Edit Field lets you type a shortcut such as Control+Alt+P, Shift+F6, Alt+Left, or Control+Alt+Windows+P.
When checked, the shortcut can work even if focus is outside Media Centre, provided Windows allows it to register. When unchecked, the shortcut works only while Media Centre has focus.
This Button stores the shortcut typed for the selected action.
This Button removes the shortcut from the selected action.
This Button resets only the selected action to its default shortcut.
This Button returns all shortcut assignments to their Media Centre defaults.
This will be fully described in the chapter of this documentation relating to the Backup and Restore Manager and should generally not be changed here.
Insert+F1 opens Context Sensitive Help for the focused control.
Caps Lock+F1 also opens Context Sensitive Help if you are using the JAWS laptop keyboard layout.
Control+Shift+I reports succinct location information through the Where Am I utility.
Control+Shift+C or Insert+H opens Leasey Command Centre for reviewing commands.
Escape closes most Leasey windows or cancels the current dialog.
Tab moves to the next control.
Shift+Tab moves to the previous control.
Alt+F4 closes the current Media Centre window.
Control+Comma opens Options.
Alt+1 moves to Radio.
Alt+2 moves to Podcasts.
Alt+3 moves to Audio and Playlists.
Alt+4 moves to Sound Control.
Alt+C moves to the radio category list.
Alt+L moves to the radio station list.
Control+F moves to Find.
Enter on a category moves to the station list for that category.
Enter on a station plays it.
Delete removes a station when you are viewing Favourites.
Alt+A adds the selected station to Favourites.
Alt+V opens Favourites.
Alt+P opens Presets.
Alt+R plays the most recent station.
Alt+G opens Scheduled Recordings.
Control+Shift+R opens Scheduled Recordings.
Alt+U moves a favourite up.
Alt+D moves a favourite down.
Control+Shift+R opens Scheduled Recordings.
Enter on a schedule or the Edit Button edits the selected schedule.
Delete removes the selected schedule.
Escape closes the Scheduled Recordings dialog.
Control+L moves to the podcast feed list.
Alt+N checks for new podcast episodes.
Control+E also checks for new podcast episodes.
Alt+A adds a podcast feed.
Alt+Y searches the podcast directory.
Alt+D deletes the selected podcast feed.
F2 renames the selected podcast feed.
Delete removes the selected podcast feed.
Enter on a podcast feed opens its episodes.
Control+F moves to Search episodes after a feed has been opened.
Alt+L moves to the episode list after a feed has been opened.
Alt+O finds podcast episodes.
Enter on an episode plays it.
Alt+P plays the selected episode.
Alt+F downloads the selected episode.
Alt+B opens show notes in a browser.
Control+C copies the selected episode title.
Escape returns from an episode view to the podcast feed list.
Control+O opens a local audio file, supported video file soundtrack or playlist.
Alt+P moves to the playlist list.
Control+N creates a new playlist.
Delete on a playlist deletes the selected playlist.
Alt+A adds files to the selected playlist.
Alt+F adds a folder to the selected playlist.
Alt+L plays the selected playlist.
Enter on a playlist starts playing it.
Alt+O opens an audio file.
Alt+P on a track plays the selected track.
Enter on a track plays the selected track.
Alt+R removes the selected track or selected tracks from the playlist.
Delete on a track removes the selected track or selected tracks from the playlist.
Alt+U moves the selected track or selected tracks up.
Alt+D moves the selected track or selected tracks down.
Comma selects or unselects the focused track for multi-track actions.
Slash reports all selected tracks.
Full-stop or period clears the selected tracks.
Control+V pastes files copied from File Explorer into the playlist.
Control+S saves the playlist.
Control+Shift+E edits tags for the selected track.
Alt+E opens the Batch Tag Editor.
Control+Shift+Q opens Queue Manager from the player window.
Enter on a queued item plays it.
Delete removes the selected queued item.
Escape closes Queue Manager.
Control+Space plays or pauses.
C also plays or pauses.
Alt+P activates the Play or Pause control.
Alt+S stops playback.
Alt+M mutes or unmutes.
Up Arrow increases volume.
Down Arrow decreases volume.
Left Arrow skips back by the selected skip amount.
Right Arrow skips forward by the selected skip amount.
Left bracket decreases playback speed.
Right bracket increases playback speed.
Left brace decreases the skip amount.
Right brace increases the skip amount.
Page Up moves to the previous track.
Page Down moves to the next track.
Control+Left Arrow moves to the previous chapter when chapters exist.
Control+Right Arrow moves to the next chapter when chapters exist.
X moves to the start of a file or restarts a radio stream.
Numbers 1 through to 9 move to 10 through to 90 percent through a seekable file.
Alt+Shift+T reports elapsed time.
Control+Shift+T reports remaining time.
Control+Alt+T reports remaining listening time based on the current playback speed.
Alt+T reports total time.
Control+J opens Jump to Time.
Control+End moves near the end of a seekable file.
Control+0 returns playback speed to normal.
Control+R starts or stops radio recording when recording is available.
Control+L opens the Sleep Timer.
Control+E edits tags for the current local audio file.
Control+Shift+K resumes the saved position.
Control+K sets a bookmark.
Control+Shift+G opens the bookmark list.
Delete in the bookmark list deletes the selected bookmark.
Control+Comma opens Options from the player.
Alt+4 moves to Sound Control from the main Media Centre window.
Up and Down Arrow move through output devices, application volume entries, and recording input devices.
Up Arrow increases a focused volume or level slider.
Down Arrow decreases a focused volume or level slider.
Home sets an application volume slider to 100 percent.
End sets an application volume slider to 0 percent.
Enter or Space activates focused Buttons such as Set default output, Mute application output, Start loop-back recording, Pause loop-back recording, Stop loop-back recording, or the JAWS sound controls.
Control+Alt+Windows+P plays or pauses.
Control+Alt+Windows+S stops.
Control+Alt+Windows+Up Arrow raises volume.
Control+Alt+Windows+Down Arrow lowers volume.
Control+Alt+Windows+M mutes or unmutes.
Control+Alt+Windows+Left Arrow skips back.
Control+Alt+Windows+Right Arrow skips forward.
Control+Alt+Windows+N speaks the current track name.
Control+Alt+Windows+Z shows or hides Media Centre.
Control+Alt+Windows+X closes Media Centre.
These global shortcut keys can be changed from the Shortcut Keys tab in Options.
Additional actions can also be made global from that tab if required.