OpenOffice and screen readers

[lbely01]

Hi,

I would like to use Openoffice with a screenreader because I am a visually damaged person. I have been using Openoffice for 15 years without that because I can handle it by heart, sometimes my wife click here or there.

I tried the NVDA and tha Jaws. My experience is the same. Openoffice often freezes with Openoffice not responding message and in that window the screenreader stops. I have to kill the document and start again for a recovery. I perceived it on 2 computers, at home and at my worklace. Different machines, a desktop pc with win10/32 and a DELL laptop with Win10/64 I attempted to disable the assistive technology service disable in the tools/settings but, howewer, I restarted not only the Openoffice, but also the computer, the box remained checked. I have Java 8 installed. Perhaps, I do not know something or do not understand some important information, but I can not get rid of this annoying problem.

Does someone have an idea?

Thank you.

Les

[John_Ha]

Do a test. Create a PDF from the AOO document (File > Export as PDF ...,) and read the PDF. Does that work?

Have you tried the built in Windows 10 Narrator?

You may have better luck with the very similar but more up to date LibreOffice.

I have Java 8 installed.

ApacheOpenOffice uses 32-bit Java. Check with Tools > Options > Java. LibreOffice uses 64-bit Java. You can have both 32- and 64-bit Java installed on the same PC.

[John_Ha]

lbely01 has sent an email which I post here, and add a response, as it may help others.

I think that you misunderstood me.
I can not try to convert a document into [a] pdf because, when the Openoffice works normally it would be ok, but when the freeze occurs it is impossible.
First the Openoffice freeze and a reader stops immediately. The not responding is not the lack of the speech of the reader. It is a Windows message: the Openoffice is not responding to the system, so it is freezing. I have to kill it using the task manager.
Your Java idea is interesting, it is worth trying, thank you for that.

I was suggesting the PDF route as a workaround until the AOO problem is resolved.

1. Do not invoke the screen reader
2. Open the document with AOO - it should open OK.
3. create a PDF - it can be also be done by clicking the PDF icon.

Now invoke the screen reader and read the PDF.

I also think trying the W10 reader would be sensible as it is potentially better integrated than third party products.

[John_Ha]

I did some test with the W10 Narrator.

It recognises the AOO and LO screens and speaks the document title but I cannot get it to go further. AOO/LO then freeze.

It will not read a PDF created by AOO or LO. I did not try others.

If I copy text out of AOO or LO and paste it into Notepad, Narrator works.

I dimly remember something about using voice control to write in AOO and some critical interface is missing and this interface may be needed for a screen reader. I'll try and dig it out.

[John_Ha]

Got it.

This is the problem I was remembering about Speech to Text: Windows 7 Speech to Text and the bug report Issue 70567 - ACCESSIBILITY: Make Apache OpenOffice usable for speech recognition. It says

Please keep in mind it's up to the speech recognition software vendors to decide which products they support and which they don't support.

I therefore don't think AOO will ever to work with Text to Speech.

Copying text to Notepad or WordPad will allow Text to Speech.

Dragon is software for Speech to Text, whereas you want Text to speech, but there are useful threads. Searching with dragon gets 69 threads. This is a smaller selection of eleven threads of my posts on Dragon. I think Dragon is reported to work with LO.

[John_Ha]

WordPad is included with Windows 10 and it opens .odt files though it may not recognise more complex content. W10 Narrator then read Vanity Fair - two chapters in paragraphs.odt below to me.

I suggest you use WordPad as a workaround.

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