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. You can also press Control+Alt+Z. 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:
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. Use Up Arrow and Down Arrow to move through the list. Press Enter on a command to carry it out.
Press Control+Shift+I for Where Am I. You will receive a succinct summary of where you are located within the focused application.
A Leasey Text allows you to reproduce a block of text with the minimum of keystrokes. A Leasey Text can be very short, such as a single word, symbol, code or marker. It can also contain several paragraphs. Blank lines within the text are preserved.
A Leasey Text can be inserted into any editable control. This could be an Email message, a text document, a social media client or a web-based form.
Typical examples include:
Leasey Texts can be inserted from a simple list, created quickly from the Windows Clipboard, or managed from a full Windows application interface.
There are three main Leasey commands.
The simple list is the quickest method when you only want to insert a stored text. The clipboard command is the quickest method when you have already copied text and want to store it. The main interface is used when you want to create, edit, organise, or configure Leasey Texts in more detail.
Before you can store a Leasey Text by this method, the text must be on the Windows Clipboard.
Step 1. Select the text you want to store.
Step 2. Press Control+C to copy it to the Windows Clipboard.
Step 3. Press the Leasey Key then T.
Step 4. A simple dialog appears asking for the name of the Leasey Text.
Step 5. Type a clear name and press Enter.
The Leasey Text is saved as an uncategorised item. When it is inserted later, Leasey Texts speaks the name of the text followed by the word Inserted.
This method is designed to resemble the traditional Leasey Texts workflow. It is identical to that which has been in place for many years. It is quick and does not require you to move through the full manager interface.
To insert a Leasey Text from the simple list:
Step 1. Move to the application and Edit Field where the text should be inserted.
Step 2. Press the Leasey Key then L.
Step 3. A List Box appears containing all stored Leasey Texts in alphabetical order.
Step 4. Use Up Arrow and Down Arrow to choose a Leasey Text. You can also use first letter navigation.
Step 5. Press Enter.
The list closes and the selected text is pasted into the application where you were working.
Press Escape to close the simple list without inserting anything.
This method is designed to resemble the traditional Leasey Texts workflow. It is identical to that which has been in place for many years. It is quick and does not require you to move through the full manager interface.
When focused on an item in the simple list, press Delete to delete it. You will be asked to confirm before the item is removed.
Press the Leasey Key then Shift+T to display the main Leasey Texts interface.
The main window contains:
You can press the Tab key to move through the controls.
When the main window opens, focus is placed in the Leasey Texts list. This means you can immediately use Up Arrow and Down Arrow to move through your texts.
The list contains columns for the name, abbreviation and category. JAWS users will usually hear the name first. If you want to review or change the abbreviation, category, sound or speech options, press Enter on the selected item to open its properties.
To create a Leasey Text from the main interface:
Step 1. Press the Leasey Key then Shift+T.
Step 2. Press Control+N.
Step 3. The New Leasey Text dialog opens.
The controls appear in this order:
The Name is what appears in the Leasey Texts list. The Leasey Text Edit Field contains the full text to be inserted.
If you are viewing a category when you create a new Leasey Text, the new item is placed in that category unless you choose a different one. If automatic alphabetical sorting is not enabled, the new item is inserted near the current position in the list.
To edit the properties of a Leasey Text:
Step 1. Press the Leasey Key then Shift+T.
Step 2. In the Leasey Texts list, move to the item you want to change.
Step 3. Press Enter.
Step 4. The Leasey Text Properties dialog opens.
From this dialog you can change the name, abbreviation, full text, category, speech option and sound option for that item.
Press Enter or Space on OK to save. Press Escape to cancel and return to the main list.
When focused in the main Leasey Texts list, press Control+C to copy the selected stored text to the Windows Clipboard.
Press Delete to delete the selected Leasey Text. You will be asked to confirm. If the item is deleted, Leasey Texts tries to maintain your position in the list.
An abbreviation is a short sequence of characters which can be expanded into the full Leasey Text.
For example, you could create an item called sig with the stored text:
Yours sincerely
John James
You could then give it the abbreviation:
sig
You can also use it for short-forms. For example
By the way
You could then give it the abbreviation:
btw
When you type the abbreviation followed by Space, Leasey Texts removes the abbreviation and inserts the full stored text.
Abbreviations can also expand before punctuation. For example, if punctuation expansion is enabled, typing an abbreviation followed by a comma or full stop (or period) expands the text and places the punctuation at the end.
The punctuation signs can be changed in Options.
To modify the punctuation signs which could potentially trigger an abbreviation:
Step 1. Press Control+Comma for Options.
Step 2. Press Tab until you reach the Check Box "Expand abbreviations before punctuation".
Step 3. Press Space Bar to check the box.
Step 4. Press Tab to reach the punctuation signs Edit Field. Punctuation signs are written like this:
.,;:!? That is period comma semicolon colon exclamation mark question mark all without a space. You type the punctuation signs and not the words.
Step 5. Press Tab to reach OK and press Enter or Space.
Each Leasey Text can have its own abbreviation settings.
If Name of Leasey Text is selected in What To Say, Leasey Texts speaks the item name followed by the word Inserted. This is often preferable for long texts because it avoids speaking several paragraphs.
If Full Text is selected, the full stored text is spoken after expansion. This can be useful for very short items, but may be too verbose for long passages. That is why you can customise them on an individual basis.
A Leasey Text can play a sound when its abbreviation expands.
Check Play sound in the properties dialog. The sound controls then become available. You can choose from installed JAWS and Windows sounds, preview the selected sound, or browse for a wave file as you can in Leasey Diary.
Step 1. Open the main Leasey Texts interface by pressing the Leasey Key followed by Shift+T.
Step 2. Press Control+N to create a new Leasey Text.
Step 3. Into the Leasey Text Name Edit Field, type:
Good Day
Step 4. Press Tab to reach the Abbreviation Edit Field.
Step 5. Type the characters:
gd
Step 6. Tab to the Leasey Text Edit Field.
Step 7. Type:
I hope you are having a good day
Do not end it with a full-stop or period. Later, we are going to reproduce that abbreviation with the keyboard ending with a punctuation sign, and the full-stop or period will automatically be inserted.
Step 8. Press Tab to reach the "Enable Abbreviation" Check Box and ensure it is checked by pressing the Space Bar.
Step 9. Tab to the "Abbreviation is Case Sensitive" Check Box. You can check or uncheck this as desired. For example, if it is checked, and your abbreviation was written as capital G capital D, you would have to type those characters with the Shift Key held down in order to trigger it. Usually this would be unchecked.
Step 10. Tab to the "Speak Expanded Text" Check Box and check it by pressing the Space Bar. If you did not do this, nothing would be spoken when the text was expanded.
Step 11. Tab to the "What to Say" Radio Buttons. The choices are Name of Leasey Text which is the preferred option or "Full Text" which reads everything.
Step 12. Tab to the "Add Trailing Space" Check Box and check it by pressing the Space Bar if it is not already checked. This adds an extra space after the punctuation sign in this example.
Step 13. Tab to the "Play Sound Check Box. If you check it, this plays an additional sound when the expansion occurs. Controls are revealed so as to choose the sound to play. In this example we will not check this box.
Step 14. Tab to the OK Button and press Enter or Space to save the Leasey Text.
Step 15. Move into an edit area of any kind within Windows.
Step 16. Type the abbreviation
gd
and then type a full-stop or period.
Step 17. JAWS should announce:
Good day inserted.
Step 18. If you check the current line of text by pressing Insert+Up Arrow, you should find that the text states:
I hope you are having a good day.
A space character should then appear at the end of that line, the theory being that you can type the abbreviation and then immediately continue writing regular text.
If you had typed:
gd
and then pressed the Space Bar, the phrase
I hope you are having a good day
would have been inserted without a full-stop or period at the end. This is because we did not include one when creating the Leasey Text.
Leasey Texts can be divided into categories. You do not have to use categories. If you prefer one straight list, you can continue to work that way.
The Category Combo Box lets you choose which category you want to access.
The choices include:
All categories shows every Leasey Text. Uncategorised shows items which are not currently assigned to a category. Choosing a specific category shows only items in that category.
To create a new category, press Control+Shift+N. Type the category name and press Enter.
To move the selected Leasey Text to a category, press Control+M. Choose the category and press Enter. Choose Uncategorised to remove the item from a category.
To manage categories, press Control+Shift+M. In Manage Categories, use Up Arrow and Down Arrow to move through the category list. Press F2 to rename the selected category. Press Delete to delete the selected category after confirmation. Deleting a category does not delete the Leasey Texts inside it. Items in that category become uncategorised.
The Search Edit Field lets you narrow the current list.
Press Control+F to move to the Search Edit Field.
Type part of the name, abbreviation, category or stored text. The list changes to show matching items in the current category view.
Sometimes you may not know which category contains the item. Press Control+Shift+F to search across all categories.
This is different from the normal Search Edit Field. Control+F filters the current list. Control+Shift+F searches everywhere.
If automatic alphabetical sorting is not enabled, you can move items manually in the current list.
Press Alt+U to move the selected Leasey Text up.
Press Alt+D to move the selected Leasey Text down.
Leasey Texts confirms the new position, for example, moved Signature below Address.
To sort the current list alphabetically, press Control+Shift+S.
To always show lists alphabetically, press Control+Comma for Options and check Sort Leasey Texts alphabetically automatically. While this option is checked, Move Up and Move Down are unavailable.
Press Control+Comma to open Options.
Options includes:
The Data location option lets you store your Leasey Texts data somewhere other than the default LeaseyData folder. For example, you may choose a Dropbox folder so the data can be backed up or shared between computers.
The Minimize to system tray option keeps Leasey Texts running in the background when the window closes. It also creates the Windows Startup entry used to load abbreviations when Windows starts. For this to work, JAWS should also start automatically when Windows starts.
Why is that necessary? Abbreviations cannot work correctly if Leasey Texts is not running. So ideally it should start when Windows starts.
When Leasey Texts starts for the first time, it attempts to import texts and abbreviations from the previous Leasey Texts system.
You can also run the import manually from Options by activating the Import from previous Leasey Texts Button. Imported texts are created as Leasey Texts. If an abbreviation is found, it is assigned to the matching text. Imported items are set to speak the name of the Leasey Text when inserted, rather than speaking the full stored text.
Leasey Texts stores and reproduces plain text. It does not preserve font, size, colour or other rich formatting.
For example, if you copy text which was originally formatted in 14 point Arial Black, Leasey Texts stores the words and line breaks, not the font formatting.
The quickest way to use Leasey Texts is still the simple list. Press the Leasey Key then L, choose the text and press Enter.
The quickest way to create a basic text is to copy text to the Windows Clipboard and press the Leasey Key then T.
The main interface, opened with the Leasey Key then Shift+T, is for users who want more control. From there you can add abbreviations, categories, sounds, punctuation expansion, speech behaviour and sorting.
If you use abbreviations frequently, consider enabling system tray mode so Leasey Texts can remain available after Windows starts.
Simple list of Leasey Texts, Leasey Key then L. Press Enter to paste.
Store text from clipboard, Leasey Key then T.
Main Leasey Texts interface, Leasey Key then Shift+T.
New Leasey Text in the main interface, Control+N.
Open properties for the selected Leasey Text, Enter.
Delete selected Leasey Text, Delete.
Copy selected stored text to the Clipboard, Control+C.
Search current list, Control+F.
Search all categories, Control+Shift+F.
Options, Control+Comma.
Create new category, Control+Shift+N.
Move selected Leasey Text to a category, Control+M.
Manage categories, Control+Shift+M.
Move selected Leasey Text up, Alt+U.
Move selected Leasey Text down, Alt+D.
Sort current list alphabetically, Control+Shift+S.
Suspend or resume abbreviations, Alt+S.
Context Sensitive Help, Insert+F1, Caps Lock+F1, or Control+Alt+Z.
Leasey Command Centre, Control+Shift+C or Insert+H.
Where Am I, Control+Shift+I.
Close the simple list without pasting, Escape.