Tools For The Blind Community: The Socializer

The Socializer: The Ultimate Communications Tool http://kevinsonlinemarketing.com/yourls/m The socializer allows you to communicate with family members, friends, fellow-students, coworkers, and other SAMNet users. You can send and receive instant messages through Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, (also referred to as AIM), Facebook, Yahoo Messenger, GoogleTalk, and Jabber. But that's not all! You can send and receive both text and voice messages through Skype, as well as with any other user of the system Access Mobile Network; subject to their approval, of course. You can read and respond to messages in the Serotek Users Forum. Socializer also provides simple yet powerful access to Facebook and Twitter. No longer do you need to install and use multiple software programs, or login to multiple Web sites to communicate with family, friends, and colleagues. The socializer lets you communicate with any or all of these entities from one easy-to-use interface. Three Important Hotkeys There are three important hotkeys you should know to get the most out of the socializer. If you hear the sound that says, "Message Holding." This means someone has sent you a message. To instantly jump to the area where you can see and respond to the message, press Control+Shift+M. When someone sends you a request to add them as a contact, you may do so by pressing Control+Shift+A. Finally, if someone sends you a message, or replies to your message, and you need to have the last comment repeated, simply press the Grave Accent key. On most keyboards, this is on the far left, and just below the Escape key. Setting up Your Social Networks Before you can communicate with others using the Socializer, you first need to add the social networking accounts you'll be using. To do this, tab to the "manage " social network accounts" button from the Socializer main screen. Activate this button with the space bar to begin adding and managing your social networks. The options on this screen will change as you add your social networks, and we will discuss this screen in more depth later in the document. For the moment, begin adding social networks by tabbing to the dropdown list labeled "add an account". Open the dropdown list with modifier+down arrow, and choose the account type you'd like to add. Note that you can use first-letter navigation, such as pressing Y to jump directly to Yahoo Instant Messenger account, from within this dropdown. Once you've done that, tab through the dialog, entering user name and password in the appropriate fields. Finally, tab to the "add" button and activate it to complete the process. Socializer Preferences As you begin to use the Socializer, you may wish to make changes in how the software behaves. You can do this by editing the Socializer preferences. To do this, open preferences by activating the "preferences" button from the Socializer main screen, or by pressing modifier+f, followed by the letter p. Next, locate Socializer preferences by using your tab or arrow keys. Press enter on it to open the Socializer preferences window. The first checkbox in this window determines whether you are alerted when a contact signs in. If you want to hear this information, check the checkbox. Otherwise, uncheck the box. Note that you'll still be able to tell which of your contacts is online by looking at your contacts list. The second checkbox determines whether you are alerted when a contact signs out. The next checkbox determines whether you sign in to your social network accounts automatically each time you launch SAMNet. If you choose to uncheck this box, just launch the Socializer and choose the "sign in" option when you're ready to sign in. The last checkbox allows you to place the name of the person sending a tweet after the tweet itself. By default, the sender of the tweet appears before the tweeted message. Account-specific preferences The Socializer allows you to make changes in the behavior of each of your instant messaging accounts individually. In this way, you could for example choose not to sign in automatically when the Socializer starts, but could change your Yahoo account to sign in even when your other accounts do not. to change account-specific preferences, open the "manage social networking accounts" window from the Socializer main screen. Next, choose the account you want to manage from the dropdown list. Then tab to the "modify account preferences" button. From here, you can modify each option to suit your needs. You can choose to use the setting from your main Socializer preferences, or you can select the specific behavior you want. For example, if you want your Yahoo account to sign in automatically but don't want any other account to do so, simply modify main Socializer preferences to not sign in automatically. Then open account-specific preferences for Yahoo Instant Messenger, tab to the dropdown for logging in automatically, and select "yes" from the dropdown list. The Socializer Main Screen—Accomplishing Basic Tasks the main screen allows you to do the following: First you will see a list of your contacts. when you run this program for the first time, this list will be empty until you add accounts from Messenger services such as AIM, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo, or you add other SAMNet users.. To begin chatting, find the person with whom you wish to chat in the contacts list and press enter to open a chat window. Type what you want to say, and then press Enter. Or, you may tab once to the Chat button. Press this to send a message to the contact you have highlighted in your list. For some contacts, specifically SAMNet and Skype contacts, you'll see a "call" button as you tab through your options. This button appears just after the "chat" button. Activate this button to initiate a voice conversation with your contact. Next is the "remove" button, which allows you to delete any contact with whom you no longer wish to communicate. Press Enter on this button and you will be prompted to press Alt+Y if Yes, you wish to remove this contact, or Alt+N for No, I don't want to remove the contact. The Block button allows you to block specific people from seeing whether or not you are online, or block their ability to send you messages. The Remove Block button allows you to unblock a person so they can now see that you are online, and have the ability to send you an instant message. The Status dropdown list allows you to choose one of five statuses to present to other users. They are: Online, Free to Chat, Do Not Disturb, Away, or Not Available. Make your choice, tab once to the Change Status button, and press Enter. You will be told that your status has been changed. Press Enter again to continue. Note that this will change your status for all of the social networks you have added. Adding Contacts The "add contact" button allows you to add a contact. Press Enter on this option, choose the type of contact you want to add, then follow the instructions. For example, if you choose to add a SAMNet contact, the Socializer will prompt you for an account number, username, or SAMNet email address. If you choose to add a Windows Live contact, the Socializer will prompt you for a Windows Live ID. Also, you do not need a GoogleTalk account to add GoogleTalk contacts; your GoogleTalk contacts will see your SAMNet email address. When adding a Skype contact, you can search by full name, or by entering the person's Skype name if you know it. If you are searching by full name, a listbox will appear, showing you each result for that person's name, along with location data if available. Choose from this list, and then choose the "add" button to send your request. Managing Social Network Accounts The "manage social networks" button opens a screen where you can add new social network accounts, and manage the ones you've already added. The first thing you'll encounter on this screen is a list of accounts you've already added. As you arrow through the list, the name of the social network is spoken, along with your login status on that social network. Once you've chosen a social network from the list, you can tab to the status dropdown to change your status on that social network. On the Socializer main screen, you can set your current status for all your social network accounts, but on this screen you can manage them individually. Simply open the dropdown list and choose the status you want for the selected network. With the "signout" button, you can sign out of a social network entirely, while leaving the others signed in. The "remove account" button will remove the currently selected social network account. You might want to do this if you no longer use a particular social network, or if you've changed the login details for that social network and want to add the account again. Finally, the "add account" button allows you to add a new social network account. When you activate this button, you'll next see a dropdown list to choose the type of social network account you want to add. Note that you can use first-letter navigation, i.e. pressing the letter S to jump to Skype account, in this list. Select the desired social network, then tab to enter your user name and password in the fields provided. When you're ready to proceed, activate the "add" button. The Socializer supports adding multiple accounts for each social networking service. For example, you can add a second skype account if you have one for work and one for home. The first account you add will be labeled "Skype1", and the second acc ount will be labeled "Skype 2", and so on. Communicating with Skype Just as with any other social networking service, you can add Skype accounts to the Socializer. When adding your account, please use the credentials you used when you initially created your Skype account. Although Microsoft and Skype have now merged, allowing you to use your Windows Live credentials to log in to Skype, you'll need to use your original skype credentials in order for this service to work properly. Once your Skype account has been set up successfully, you're ready to communicate with your Skype contacts. In addition to being able to chat via text with your Skype contacts, you can chat by voice with them as well. This feature in the Socializer will use the Windows sound devices you have set as default for recording and playing sounds. To begin chatting by voice with a Skype contact, choose the contact from the Socializer main screen and tab to the "call" button. Upon doing this, the call will be initiated, and a window will appear allowing you to chat via text with your Skype contact, as well as perform certain actions during a call. These include the "hangup" button for ending the call, and the "add another person" button for bringing another person in to the call. If one of your Skype contacts initiates a call with you, a similar window will appear, with buttons allowing you to ignore the call, or answer it. There are three important hot keys for dealing with skype calls. These hot keys are global, meaning that they can be pressed even if you aren't in a Socializer window. Control+shift+a will answer an incoming call. Control+shift+i will ignore an incoming call, and control+shift+h will hang up a call. http://kevinsonlinemarketing.com/yourls/m Using Facebook Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites, and is a great way to keep in touch with friends and family. However, its interface is constantly changing, and it can be frustrating to keep up with the changes. With the Socializer, you can use Facebook's services from a consistent and easy-to-use interface. Note that while the socializer does support most of Facebook services, you will still need to use the Facebook site itself to send or accept friend requests, and to respond to private messages. You'll also need to use the Facebook site directly if you administer another page aside from your own feed, such as a fan page. Additionally, you'll use the Facebook site itself for managing groups, sending event invites, and so on. Before you can begin to use Facebook, you must first create a Facebook account at http://www.facebook.com Facebook chat works like any other instant messaging service on the Socializer. Once you've added your Facebook account, just find the contact you wish to chat with, press enter on that contact, and begin typing. Facebook allows much more than chatting. You can post a status to your Facebook wall for other users to see, view, like and comment on the statuses of other users, and browse the wall of another user in your Facebook friends list. To take advantage of these features, first choose the "Facebook" link from the Socializer main screen. On this screen, you will first see the contents of your main Facebook feed, presented in a list box. This feed is a list of statuses, photos, links and other information that has been posted by your Facebook friends. Use the up or down arrow keys to move through the list. Initially, the list displays 20 items from your feed, but will automatically increase the number of items displayed as you move down the list. When an item is highlighted in the list, you will have a number of options, depending on the content of the item. The "open" button allows you to view the content posted, as well as any comments that have been made on the post. You'll use the "open" button if you wish to comment on the post. Once the feed item is open, you can read its content, as well as other comments that have been posted. After each comment is a reply button, allowing you to reply to that comment in particular. Once you've reached the end of the comments, you'll find an edit box to post your own comment on the feed you're viewing. Comments can be up to 420 characters. The "open link" button will open a link, if one has been posted as part of the status. The "like" button allows you to like the currently focused status. Once you activate the "like" button, an "unlike" button will take its place. Choose this button if you've changed your mind about liking the status. The "go to friend's wall" button will allow you to display a list of posts on your friend's wall. Just as you are able to view items on your own wall, or timeline, this button allows you to do this for your friend's wall. Last, you'll find an edit box for posting a status. In this edit box, you can type a status which will be displayed to your Facebook friends when posted. When you're done composing your status and want to post, tab to the "post" button and activate it. Note that even if you are focused on a friend's status in your feed list, the edit box for posting a status is only for posting a status on your own wall. http://kevinsonlinemarketing.com/yourls/m Using Twitter One of the most popular social networking sites is Twitter, which allows you to share information and engage in conversation with friends, family, and businesses with a social media presence. You can use up to 140 characters to post your own status, publicly reply to others, and send private messages, also called direct messages, which are not seen by the public. To use Twitter, you'll need to create an account at http://www.twitter.com Once you've created your account, you must add it to the Socializer. Choose the "manage social networking accounts" from the Socializer main screen, then choose Twitter from the "add an account" dropdown list. At this point, you'll be prompted to enter your Twitter credentials in order to authorize Socializer to access your Twitter feed. Now that you've added your account, begin using it by choosing the link corresponding to your account from the Socializer main screen. The home timeline Your home timeline is the place where you'll see posts from the Twitter users you follow. The Socializer automatically places focus in this list box when you open the Twitter screen associated with your account. As with Facebook, this list will initially contain 20 posts, but will add posts automatically as you scroll down the list. to send a post to Twitter, tab through the options until you find an edit box labeled "tweet". This box also informs you of the number of characters available to you. As you begin typing your tweet, this number will decrease, and will reach 0 when you have typed 140 characters which is the maximum length allowed for a Twitter status. When you've completed your tweet, press enter to post it, or tab to the "tweet" button and activate it. As you read your home timeline, you may find posts that you want to comment on, or links within posts that you want to open. All these things are possible with the Socializer. To open a feed item, where you can reply to the poster, open a link in the post and so on, simply press enter on the feed item, or tab to the "open" button. Here, you'll be able to follow or unfollow users mentioned in the post, open a link contained in a post, retweet the item so your followers can see it, and more. If you wish to reply to the user who posted the item, just tab to the edit box labeled "reply", and begin typing your message. Note that the Socializer will include the person's user name by default, so you don't have to type @username before your reply. You'll also be notified of how many characters are available for your reply. As you continue typing, this number decreases. When you're done typing your reply, press enter, or tab to the "post reply" button. Many of the options available when you open a feed item are also available just by highlighting a Twitter post in your home timeline, and pressing the tab key to review options. these include retweeting, opening a link, following or unfollowing a user, and looking at a user's timeline. Mentions, retweets, and more In addition to viewing your home timeline, you can view posts directed to you publicly, called mentions. You can view tweets you have previously posted that have been retweeted by others. You can also view your own timeline of sent tweets. You'll find these options by moving to the top of the Socializer main screen with control+home, and then tabbing through the options. Direct Messages In addition to tweeting publicly, you can send and receive private messages that do not show up on anyone's public timeline. These are called direct messages. You can engage in direct messaging in a couple of different ways. The first is by choosing the "direct messages I've received" link from the Socializer main screen. Here you'll see a list of direct messages you've received. When focused on one of these, you'll see a button allowing you to send a direct message to the current user. You can also find this button in the tab order when viewing any other timeline, including your home or mentions timeline. Alternatively, you can find the person you'd like to send a direct message to by using the "browse list of friends" button from the Twitter main screen. When you've highlighted the proper recipient, tab to the "send direct message" button. In many cases, direct messages on Twitter can become much like an instant message conversation, although there is a 140 character limit for each message. For this reason, whenever you are signed in to your Twitter account with the Socializer, an instant message window will launch if you receive a direct message. To respond to the conversation, first open the conversation window with control+shift+m. Now, from within the conversation window, you can send your direct message by typing in the edit box. You'll be alerted by a sound that you've typed too many characters, and can then erase the number of characters necessary to make your message 140 characters. You can also use the up arrow key to move past the edit box to either review the previously sent message, or to view the number of characters you have remaining in the current message. The Users Forum - The Place for Questions and Answers The SAMNet Community Users forum is where many users ask and answer questions on a variety of Serotek-related topics. You will not find a more helpful group of staff or fellow community members, eager and willing to give encouragement and assistance. SAMNet Buzz - The Way to Stay In Touch, and On Top of What's Going On At the bottom of the screen, you will find what we call SAMNet Buzz. This is where the Serotek team will post items of interest. You may also have your announcements posted here for upcoming chat room discussions, cool web links, awesome and accessible software, product reviews, audio files, podcasts, and other goodies by simply e-mailing content@serotek.com. http://kevinsonlinemarketing.com/yourls/m