LeaseyWord is an accessible word processor and document reading tool. Its purpose is to provide a reliable writing and document searching environment with strong JAWS feedback, predictable keyboard use, bookmarks, spell checking, backups, and accessible rendering of common document formats.
To expand on this further, you can write documents in LeaseyWord. You can search for text, bookmark passages, select text and carry out many operations that could be accomplished with a basic word processing application. However, as can be seen below, it also gives you the ability to be able to pen documents in many different file formats. Where possible, the text is presented in an accessible way. Those rendered documents which have been converted can be edited and saved.
In summary, this is not a traditional book reader. When opening and interpreting documents, LeaseyWord will render the text in a format where it can be edited if necessary.
LeaseyWord now includes basic formatting support while preserving strong speech and Braille feedback. This is a word processor which accomplishes many tasks with a high consideration to both speech and Braille-based output. It is meant to be fast and efficient.
Press the Leasey Key followed by Windows+W.
LeaseyWord opens with a blank document. The main editing area is a Rich Edit field. This gives LeaseyWord better word navigation around punctuation, as well as basic formatting support.
The window title contains the current document name. If the document has unsaved changes, an asterisk is shown after the document name.
For example:
test.txt * - Leasey Word
This means Insert+T in JAWS should tell you which document is active and whether it is modified.
The main window contains the document text edit field. Use this field to type, read, edit and search document text.
LeaseyWord can have more than one document open. There are no visible document tabs for normal use, because repeated tab announcements can be distracting with JAWS. Instead, use Control+F6 to move to the next open document. You can also press Control+Tab. Use Control+Shift+F6 to move to the previous open document. You can also press Control+Shift+Tab.
When you switch documents, focus moves to the active document text. The window title identifies the active document.
This is intended as a quick visual and reviewable reference while editing or testing. Short Accessible Output messages are not written into the status bar.
The Menu Bar allows you to access each and every option within the application.
If the document has unsaved changes, LeaseyWord asks whether you want to save it. Yes is the default button.
When you have answered any save prompts, all open documents are closed. Unlike many other text editors, LeaseyWord does not automatically reopen the previous set of documents on the next launch. This is a distinct advantage.
Press Control+N.
A new blank document is opened.
JAWS should announce:
New document
Press Control+Shift+N.
If the Windows clipboard contains text, LeaseyWord opens a new unsaved document containing that text.
JAWS should announce:
New document from clipboard
Opening a Document.
LeaseyWord can open:
Editable text-based documents are opened as editable text in the document edit field. This includes HTML, which is opened as source code so that it can be edited directly. Other document types are rendered as plain text where possible, making them easier to read, search, copy and save in an accessible way.
For editable text-based formats such as plain text, log, cue sheet, INI, JAWS keymap, JSON, PHP, Markdown and HTML files, Control+S can save back to the same file. For formats such as PDF, EPUB, Word, PowerPoint and RTF, Control+S opens Save As so that the original source document is not overwritten by extracted text. When Save As opens for an extracted format such as PDF, LeaseyWord suggests a text filename rather than the original PDF filename.
PDF documents.
LeaseyWord gives you three possible ways to work with PDF documents.
First, when you open a PDF, LeaseyWord tries to present it in the best reading order it can using local extraction. LeaseyWord chooses the cleaner of two local PDF text extraction methods for each page. This can improve documents where one extraction method produces one word per line, missing first letters, or confused columns. LeaseyWord also tries to reflow short artificial line breaks into smoother paragraphs and remove spaces before punctuation. Common PDF ligatures such as fi, fl, ff, ffi and ffl are normalised where the PDF exposes them as special characters. Large documents are opened in the background so LeaseyWord can continue to give progress messages while the document is being prepared.
Second, if the locally extracted PDF is readable but still awkward, open the Tools menu and choose Enhanced PDF detection. This sends the PDF to an enhanced PDF text detection service and opens the result as a new unsaved document. This can be useful for invoices, purchase orders, forms, and other PDFs where layout makes the local reading order difficult. Very large PDF files may be rejected by the enhanced PDF service because the upload payload is too large.
JAWS should announce:
Enhanced PDF detection started
While it is working, JAWS should announce progress messages.
When the process finishes, JAWS should announce:
Enhanced PDF detection complete
If the process fails, JAWS should announce:
Enhanced PDF detection failed
Third, if the PDF still cannot be understood, or if it contains scanned image text, use Improve Reading Order with ChatGPT from the Tools menu. The regular ChatGPT page limit still applies. As a simple guide, use ChatGPT analysis for PDFs of about 40 pages or less.
In the Bookmarks dialog, first-letter navigation can be used to move quickly through a long list of bookmarks.
If a PDF is password protected, LeaseyWord asks for the password. The password is used only to open the document and is not saved.
When a PDF is sent to ChatGPT, LeaseyWord checks the real PDF page count first. If the PDF is too large to send in one piece, JAWS reports the page count and the document is not sent.
JAWS should announce:
Opened followed by the file name.
For large documents, JAWS should first announce:
Opening followed by the file name.
While the document is being prepared, JAWS should announce progress messages.
LeaseyWord first tries to extract readable text locally. For many PDF documents, this works well.
Some PDF documents are poorly structured. Others are scanned images and contain no readable text.
If no readable text is found in a PDF, LeaseyWord says so and asks whether you want to send the PDF to ChatGPT to try to render it as accessible plain text. This is intended primarily for scanned-image PDFs. Older DOC documents can also be inaccessible, particularly if the text is contained in text boxes. If LeaseyWord cannot read an older DOC file locally, it offers to send the document to ChatGPT to try to render it as accessible plain text.
Very large scanned PDFs are not sent. As a simple guide, use this for scanned PDFs of about 40 pages or less.
If ChatGPT succeeds, the rendered text is opened as a new unsaved document in the LeaseyWord editor. The rendered text opens as a new unsaved document with a suggested file name. Pressing Control+S on that ChatGPT result opens Save As, so the original PDF, DOC or other source document is not overwritten.
JAWS should announce:
Sending document to ChatGPT
When the process finishes, JAWS should announce:
ChatGPT document analysis complete
If the process fails, JAWS should announce:
ChatGPT document analysis failed
Open a document. Open the Tools menu and choose Improve Reading Order with ChatGPT.
If you open a supported file type into LeaseyWord, and if it contains readable text, there should be no difficulty in being able to work with the content of it. However, there could be situations where LeaseyWord has failed to present the data correctly. For example, if the document is laid out in a tabular way and the author has not created an accessible table but has instead just pressed the Tab key to denote visual column changes. This could mean that LeaseyWord does not present the data in a logical reading order.
For normal text-based documents of this kind, the above option sends the current document text to ChatGPT and asks for a clearer accessible plain text rendering.
For PDF documents and older DOC documents, LeaseyWord sends the original document file to ChatGPT so that text boxes, scanned content, and awkward layout can be analysed more directly. For PowerPoint documents, if necessary LeaseyWord sends the original presentation file to ChatGPT so that slide content and speaker notes can be analysed more directly, although LeaseyWord will do a good job at giving you access to the content of slides with speaker notes. The user cannot ask questions through this command. It is only intended to improve reading order and make extracted document text easier to use with JAWS. ChatGPT results open as a new unsaved document with a suggested file name. Pressing Control+S on a ChatGPT result opens Save As, so the original document is not overwritten.
Very large documents are not sent. As a simple guide, use this command for documents of about 40 pages or less.
LeaseyWord asks you to confirm before sending the text. Yes is the default button.
LeaseyWord speaks a short progress message about every 20 seconds while ChatGPT is working.
JAWS should announce:
Cleaning document with ChatGPT
When complete, JAWS should announce:
ChatGPT cleanup complete
Press Control+Shift+T. Alternatively, open the Tools menu and choose ChatGPT Text Tools.
The ChatGPT Text Tools dialog contains:
The Tools list contains writing and review tools such as:
For Dictionary and Thesaurus, if no text was selected, LeaseyWord uses the word at or just after the cursor.
You can review or edit the text before pressing OK.
Dictionary results are different. They are shown in a read-only edit field and do not change the document.
Constructive feedback results are also different. They are shown in a read-only edit field and do not change the document.
Thesaurus results are also different. They are shown in a list box. Press Enter on an alternative to replace the selected or current word.
As a simple guide, use this command for documents or selections of about 40 pages or less.
Press Control+S.
If the document already has a writable file name, it is saved. If it is a new document, or if the source format should not be overwritten, Save As is opened.
JAWS should announce:
Saved followed by the file name.
Press Control+Shift+S.
The Save dialog supports:
If you moved a document outside LeaseyWord, for example in File Explorer, LeaseyWord may treat it as a different document because bookmarks are stored against the document path.
To recover those bookmarks: Open the moved document in LeaseyWord. Open the File menu and choose Recover Bookmarks from Previous Location.
The dialog shows the current document path. In the Previous folder edit field, type or browse to the folder where the document used to be stored.
LeaseyWord combines that previous folder with the current file name and transfers any bookmarks, LeaseyPoints, saved cursor position, recent file entry and document backups to the current document location.
JAWS should announce:
Bookmarks recovered
If you are writing HTML or Markdown, you can preview it as a rendered document.
Open the File menu. Choose Preview as HTML.
LeaseyWord creates a temporary HTML preview and opens it in the default browser.
This is intended for checking how headings, links, lists, tables and other HTML elements may be presented.
If the current document is a Markdown file, LeaseyWord uses the Markdown preview so that Markdown links and headings are rendered properly.
JAWS should announce:
HTML preview opened
LeaseyWord edits Markdown documents as plain text. This keeps writing and reviewing Markdown efficient with JAWS and Braille.
LeaseyWord can also use the Markdown Converter component to create rendered output. Use Preview as HTML to inspect the rendered headings, lists and tables. Standard Markdown links such as [text](https://example.com) are rendered as links in HTML preview and export. Wrapped Markdown links are also rendered where possible.
To export Markdown as HTML: Open the File menu. Choose Export Markdown as HTML. Choose the save location and press Enter.
JAWS should announce:
Markdown HTML exported
To export Markdown as Word: Open the File menu. Choose Export Markdown as Word. Choose the save location and press Enter.
JAWS should announce:
Markdown Word document exported
Open the File menu and choose Recent Files.
A list of recent files is shown. Choose a file and press Enter.
LeaseyWord keeps the last 10 recent files by default. To change this, open Options with Control+Comma and change the Number of recent files setting. The value can be set from 5 to 50.
If there are no recent files, JAWS should announce:
No recent files
If the text is found, LeaseyWord selects it in the document edit field and speaks the line containing the match.
For example:
Found on line 12: Restore Leasey Settings to the Standard Location.
If the text is not found, JAWS should announce:
Text not found
To search backwards using the same Find dialog, press Control+Shift+F.
The matching text is selected and JAWS speaks the line containing the match.
Press Control+H.
Type the text to find. Tab to Replace with and type the replacement text. Press Enter or activate Replace All.
JAWS should announce:
Replaced followed by the number of occurrences.
For example:
Replaced 3 occurrences
If the text is not found, JAWS should announce:
Text not found
After the word is deleted, LeaseyWord announces the newly focused word.
For example:
to
If there is no word to announce, JAWS should announce:
blank
JAWS itself should report the undo action, so LeaseyWord does not add an extra Undo message.
Select text if you only want to change part of the document. If no text is selected, the whole document is changed.
JAWS should announce what happened.
For example:
Upper case applied to selection
Lower case applied to document
Title case applied to document
LeaseyWord includes basic formatting commands.
Select text if you want to format part of the document. If no text is selected, the formatting applies to text typed from the cursor position.
Press Control+B to toggle bold.
JAWS should announce:
Bold on
or:
Bold off
Press Control+I to toggle italic.
JAWS should announce:
Italic on
or:
Italic off
Press Control+U to toggle underline.
JAWS should announce:
Underline on
or:
Underline off
Press Control+D to open the Font dialog.
The Font dialog contains:
Use the Font field to choose or type a font name. Use Point size to choose a size between 6 and 96. Use Style to choose Regular, Bold, Italic or Bold Italic. Use Underline to include or remove underlining.
If you Tab to OK, the formatting is applied to the selected text or to text typed from the cursor position.
JAWS should announce:
Font applied
If you activate Set as Default, the chosen font settings are used for new documents.
JAWS should announce:
Default font saved
The command applies to selected text if text is selected. Otherwise, it applies to the current line.
JAWS should announce:
Indent level followed by the level number.
For example:
Indent level 2
In Options, there is a checkbox called Speak indentation level when moving by line. When this is checked, LeaseyWord announces the indentation level when you move to a line with a different indentation level.
The command applies to selected text if text is selected. Otherwise, it applies to the current line.
JAWS should announce:
Left aligned
Centred
Right aligned
or:
Justified
Press F7.
LeaseyWord uses the LeaseySpell spelling component. If the LeaseySpell settings do not specify a language, LeaseyWord detects the Windows regional setting. For example, United States English uses US spelling, while United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India use UK spelling.
The Spell Check dialog contains:
When a misspelled word is found, JAWS should announce:
Misspelled word followed by the word and its letters.
For example:
Misspelled word receive, r e c e i v e
Move through suggestions with Up and Down Arrow. When a suggestion is selected, LeaseyWord speaks the letters of that suggestion after a short delay. When the Spell Check dialog first moves to a misspelled word, LeaseyWord also spells the first suggestion automatically.
Words ignored with Ignore All stay ignored while the document remains open. Ordinal numbers such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 13th are not treated as spelling errors. Contractions such as don't, wouldn't and shouldn't are treated as whole words.
If no spelling errors are found, a standard message is displayed saying:
No spelling errors were found.
Press Control+Shift+M to turn Live Spelling Alerts on or off.
This is a typing assistant. It does not replace the full Spell Check command available by pressing F7, nor moving to each new misspelling in turn as discussed elsewhere in this document.
When Live Spelling Alerts are on, LeaseyWord checks each completed word as you type. If the word appears to be misspelled, LeaseyWord plays a buzzer sound. No speech is used for the misspelling alert while typing. This keeps the typing experience fast and avoids interrupting the text being written.
JAWS should announce:
Live spelling alerts on
or:
Live spelling alerts off
If the spelling dictionary is not available, JAWS should announce:
Live spelling alerts are not available
Live Spelling Alerts are remembered for the next time LeaseyWord starts. The feature skips ordinal numbers such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 13th, and treats contractions such as don't, wouldn't and shouldn't as whole words. It also tries to avoid checking web addresses, email addresses, Markdown code, and obvious HTML or source-code lines.
The following commands can be used from the document edit field without turning on Quick Navigation Mode:
When a spelling error is found, LeaseyWord selects it and announces:
Misspelled word followed by the word and its letters.
A list of LeaseyNotes is shown. Use Up Arrow and Down Arrow to choose a note. Press Enter to insert the selected note text into the current document at the cursor position. If text is selected in the document, the selected text is replaced.
JAWS should announce:
Inserted LeaseyNote followed by the note title.
Press Control+Shift+W.
LeaseyWord opens a Word Count dialog containing the number of words, characters, paragraphs and lines. The information is in a read-only edit field so it can be reviewed with the cursor keys. JAWS should also announce the number of words, characters and paragraphs in the current document.
For example:
Document has 245 words, 1320 characters, 6 paragraphs
After the usual word count information, there is a blank line followed by document position information. This can help you work out how far through a long document you are.
The position information contains:
If the document does not have page markers, the page line says:
Page information is not available
For documents which contain real page markers, such as locally extracted PDF files, LeaseyWord can report the current page. Press Page Up or Page Down. LeaseyWord moves to the previous or next page marker.
JAWS should announce:
Page followed by the page number.
For example:
Page 4
If the document does not contain real page markers, Page Up and Page Down perform normal edit field movement.
Press Control+G.
Type the page number and press Enter.
LeaseyWord moves to that page if the current document contains page markers. This is most useful for PDF documents which have been extracted into page order.
JAWS should announce:
Page followed by the page number.
Move to the position in the document you want to mark. Press Control+K.
Type a bookmark name and press Enter.
JAWS should announce:
Bookmark followed by the bookmark name, then set.
For example:
Bookmark Chapter 3 set
LeaseyWord stores the bookmark position, the line number, and nearby text around the bookmark. This helps the bookmark follow the intended text if other text is inserted above it later.
Press Control+Shift+G.
The Bookmarks dialog opens. Move through the bookmarks with Up and Down Arrow. You can also press the first letter of a bookmark name to move quickly through the list. Press Enter to move to the selected bookmark.
JAWS should announce:
Bookmark followed by the bookmark name.
If the text cannot be found, LeaseyWord falls back to the saved line number and announces that the position is approximate.
Press Control+Shift+G. Select the bookmark. Press Delete.
JAWS should announce:
Bookmark followed by the bookmark name, then deleted.
LeaseyWord has full support for setting and locating LeaseyPoints rather than using the Bookmarks management tools described above. As usual, press the Leasey key then Control+1 through to Control+0 to set LeaseyPoints 1 through to 10. Press the Leasey key then 1 through to 0 to locate LeaseyPoints 1 through to 10.
Using the Bookmarks specific to LeaseyWord is preferred over LeaseyPoints since you can give them meaningful names. You will then not forget the text associated with each bookmark.
LeaseySelect is available in this application. Press the Leasey key then Comma to mark the start point of a selection and the Leasey key followed by full-stop or period to mark the end point.
Press Insert+Z to turn Quick Navigation Mode on or off.
This is a deliberate toggle. Escape does not turn Quick Navigation off, because Escape is too easy to press by accident.
When Quick Navigation is on, ordinary typing keys in the document edit field become navigation keys. Keys which are not assigned to Quick Navigation commands are ignored, so ordinary characters are not inserted accidentally. Press Insert+Z again before typing normal text.
When LeaseyWord regains focus after moving away to another window, it reports that Quick Navigation is on. If Quick Navigation is off, LeaseyWord does not speak an extra message when focus returns.
The following keys are available while Quick Navigation is on:
1 through 6 move to the next heading at that level. Shift+1 through Shift+6 move to the previous heading at that level. B moves to the next bookmark. Shift+B moves to the previous bookmark. T moves to the next Markdown table. Shift+T moves to the previous Markdown table. M moves to the next misspelling. Shift+M moves to the previous misspelling.
When a paragraph is found, LeaseyWord speaks the destination text. When a sentence is found, LeaseyWord speaks the destination sentence. When a heading is found, LeaseyWord announces the heading level and heading text. When a bookmark is found, LeaseyWord announces the bookmark name. When a Markdown table is found, LeaseyWord announces the word Table followed by the first few column names. When a misspelling is found, LeaseyWord selects it and announces the misspelled word and its letters.
If you are on a selected misspelling and want spelling choices, press the Context Menu key or Shift+F10 while Quick Navigation is still on. The spelling menu contains suggestions, Ignore, Ignore All and Add to Dictionary. JAWS reads each spelling suggestion as you move through the menu, and LeaseyWord speaks the letters of that suggestion after a short delay. Items such as Ignore, Ignore All and Add to Dictionary are not spelled.
Short status messages spoken by LeaseyWord are also sent to the Leasey Braille status bridge.
The shared status file is:
C:\LeaseyData\BrailleSupport\BrailleStatus.txt
The JAWS script name is:
BrailleLeaseyStatus
For example, when you change a document to lower case, JAWS should speak the confirmation and the same short confirmation should be available in Braille.
Word-by-word editing feedback is not sent to the Braille status bridge. For example, when Control+Delete or Control+Backspace speaks the newly focused word, the Braille display already shows the current text.
Spelling navigation feedback is also not sent to the Braille status bridge for the same reason.
Press the JAWS Help command to open Leasey Help for the control or area which currently has focus.
The help text appears in a read-only edit field so it can be reviewed with normal cursor keys.
If Quick Navigation is on while focus is in the document text area, Leasey Help includes the Quick Navigation keys which are relevant to the current document. For example, table commands are included only when Markdown tables are present, and page marker commands are included only when the document has page or slide markers.
Press Control+Shift+I.
LeaseyWord gives a short description of the current document position.
For example:
Line 12, column 1, 245 words, modified
If the document contains page markers, Where Am I also includes the current page.
Where Am I also works in LeaseyWord dialogs where practical. For example, it gives basic information in Find, Find and Replace, Spell Check, Bookmarks, Document Backups, Options and Leasey Command Centre.
Press Control+Shift+C.
The Leasey Command Centre is a searchable list of LeaseyWord commands.
When the dialog opens, focus is in the Command edit field. Type part of a command name, such as find, save, spell, bookmark or options.
Press Tab to move to the Matching commands list. Use Up and Down Arrow to review the commands. Press Enter to carry out the selected command.
Each command in the list includes the command name and its shortcut key where one exists.
In the Leasey Command Centre, Control+Shift+I reports whether you are in the Command edit field or the Matching commands list, and gives the number of matching commands.
LeaseyWord keeps backups for individual saved documents. When a saved document is saved again, LeaseyWord backs up the previous saved version before overwriting it.
To restore a document backup: Open the document. Open the File menu. Choose Restore Document Backup.
A list of backups for the current document is displayed by date and time. Move through the list with Up and Down Arrow. Press Enter to restore the selected backup.
LeaseyWord asks you to confirm the restore. Yes is the default button. Before restoring the selected backup, LeaseyWord backs up the current editor text.
If the restore succeeds, JAWS should announce:
Document backup restored
The restored text is marked as modified. Press Control+S to save it.
Press Control+Comma.
Options contains:
If Restore last cursor position is checked, LeaseyWord returns to the last known cursor position when opening a document.
If Speak indentation level when moving by line is checked, LeaseyWord announces indentation changes while you move with Up Arrow and Down Arrow.
The option Number of recent files has already been described.
In Options, type or browse to the folder where new documents should be saved by default. If quotation marks are included, LeaseyWord removes them. If the folder does not exist, LeaseyWord tries to create it when Options is saved.
This folder is used when Save As opens for a new or unsaved document. If the document already has a file location, Save As starts in that document's own folder.
This observes exactly the same protocol as for other Leasey applications. The Data Manager takes care of this by pressing the Leasey key then Control+Shift+B.
The intended workflow is similar to Leasey Media Centre.
Options contains a button called:
Register File Explorer entries
JAWS should announce:
File Explorer entries registered
LeaseyWord can currently open and render the following formats as plain text:
RTF support is basic. If Microsoft Word is available, LeaseyWord asks Word to read the RTF document. Otherwise it uses a simple fallback which may not preserve all formatting.
Older binary PowerPoint files, PPT, are not yet supported.