[vip_students] Using the Outlook Calendar!
- From: "Paul Traynor" <paul.traynor@xxxxxxx>
- To: <vip_students@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2007 09:20:39 +0100
Hi All,
The outlook calendar can be very useful to those of us who use the
Microsoft outlook program. This is an email program very similar to Outlook
Express but with a lot more features. Below I try and outline what I
personally consider a good layout for this Calendar so that it can be used
well with screen readers or magnification programs.
(Setting up the layout for the calendar)
There are certain settings you have to tweak with it for to get a nice clean
view of the calendar and here they are;
Step 1. Go to the calendar by using the keys, "control + letter Y".
Step 2. Arrow up or down through the resulting list or press the letter "C"
till jaws says calendar or you see the calendar item then press the enter
key.
Step 3. In the calendar view which may look a little confusing especially to
screen reader users go to the View menu and then arrow down to current view.
Now right arrow in here once and you will have a list o choices such as the
following;
Note: Depending on the version of Outlook you have, I mean it could be
outlook 2000, outlook XP or outlook 2003 you may have some slightly
different choices here.
List of choices in my current view sub menu.
Day/Week/Month
Day/Week/Month View With Auto Preview
Events
Annual Events
*Recurring Appointments
By Category
Outlook Data Files
Customize Current View...
Define Views...
Format Columns...
Step 4. The view we are interested in here I have marked with an star which
is "recurring appointments. To me this was the cleanest view I could get.
Step 5. After you have hit enter on this option the view will change to a
type of list format.
Step 6. While in this list, use keys, "alt + spacebar" to maximise the
calendar window which you should do for all applications you are in.
So far this is what you need to do to get a view that works well with jaws
so now lets move on and create a calendar entry. We will be returning to the
subject of the views later on.
(Creating a Calendar entry)
Step 1. While in the calendar, use keys "control + N" to bring up a new
appointment page. Note that just like you use keys "control + N" to open up
a new blank email, this is also true for launching a new calendar entry.
Step 2. Your new calendar entry page should look like the following;
(Form Fields of the Calendar page)
Subject: Hospital appointment.
(In the subject field, we place a meaningful title for our appointment.)
Location: Dublin
(The location of where you have to be for your appointment)
Start Date: Thu 21/06/2007
(The start date of your appointment. In this box you can change the date by
just editing whatever is in there already.)
Start time: 09:00
(Again, this is an editable field where you can change the time or simply
arrow up or down to get a selection of times.)
End Date: Thu 21/06/2007
(Same instructions as previous field)
End time: 09:30
(Same as above)
All day event, checkbox not checked.
(This indicates to you if its going to be an all-day event so check this box
with the spacebar if you feel it will be.)
Notes: My test entry.
(In the final edit box you can write in a little information about what your
appointment is all about)
Step 3. After you have filled in all the entries of the form you are ready
to save it. Just press keys, "alt + F4" to begin the process. Outlook will
ask if you wish to save the new appointment and you just press the enter key
on "yes".
Step 4. Now you will be back in the list view of your calendar. You can
create a few more appointments and then use the arrow keys to move up or
down through the list just like in your inbox to view the subject lines of
your appointments.
(Improving the views of the subject lines in list view)
When you arrow up or down through the list of appointments you have created
you may find that jaws or any other screen reader appears to not read the
full subject line so you aren't sure what exactly it is. Here's how to fix
this;
Step 1. While in the list view of the calendar, press keys, alt + V and then
arrow right into current view.
Step 2. Arrow down to the option in this list that says "format columns and
press the enter key.
Step 3. Here you will find the following items;
List box with contents.
(This list box contains items such as the subject line for example which you
can widen or shrink so that they fit better on the screen and so that a
screen reader can read that Colum better. Use your arrow keys here to move
up or down through this box. We are looking for the item, "subject")
Label:
(Depending on the item you have chosen, that items name will be reflected in
this box but you can change the name of the items you selected from the
first list by going in to this edit box and typing in a new name for it.)
Width: Specific width radio button.
(The width has a couple of radio buttons which you can move up or down
depending on which action you want. The choices are "best fit or specific
width". For this exercise we will use the Specific width setting.)
Size edit box: 21.33 characters
(Tab key once more and you will be in an edit box. In here you can determine
what the width of the Colum will be for your subject lines. For me I have
the above size and you can try it also to see if it works well for you.
Please note that there is no specific width that works for all cases, its a
matter of trial and error.)
Alignment: Left Centre Right
(Tab key again and you are on the alignment set of radio buttons. You have
three choices here;
* Left "which is the default"
* * Right.
* * centre.
(I normally leave mine set to "left aligned".)
OK
Cancel
(Finally you are on the choices of the OK or Cancel buttons, just hit enter
on the OK button to complete the job. After reviewing the subject lines in
your calendar list view and its not quite right, just go back in to the
above settings and try altering the choices again till you get it the way
you like it.)
Important Note: I know many of you will be using the Microsoft Outlook email
program within your workplace. In this case it is important that you have
full administrator rights to that computer before you can make the above
changes. However if you are not part of a network within work then you
probably have full access to your machine. Its just that most workplaces
lock down the computers in the work environment to try and improve
security. If you try and make the above changes while you are just a normal
user then they will not hold for future use.
Let me know how you get on with this lesson.
Regards,
Paul.
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