SAW5 - Special Access to Windows

For a switch user, accessing the essentially mouse-driven Windows environment is a formidable task. With SAW5 (Special Access to Windows), a software program that enables Windows to be controlled by one or two switches (a joystick, trackerball or headpointer), these difficulties may in the past. SAW has many additions and features to make creating interfaces easy for those who use alternative inputs. SAW5 runs under Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP. One of the best thing about the program is the prize - it’s free.

SAW replaces the mouse and keyboard with a series of onscreen selection sets - arrangements of letters, words, symbols, numbers and shapes that can be automatically or manually scanned, item by item, and selected using switches. SAW5 provides the access power for all aspects of operation, including writing, drawing and moving the cursor around the screen.

Ace Center created some freely-downloadable selection sets that cover mouse navigation, Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, word processing (with integrated links to Prophet, PenFriend or WordAid) and mathematical drawing through AccessMaths.

Choose your flavor

There are two versions of SAW, and both are available at no charge. SAW Lite is for those who need access to and customization of pre-made selection sets. SAW Designer is for those who want to try their hand at the relatively straightforward process of creating their own selection sets.

New features of SAW 5:

• Access to Penfriend-predicted word lists in addition to Prophet and WordAid word lists
• A new Item Wizard for creating mouse and keyboard commands
• Simplified script editing
• Item Styles for instant personalization
• Improved graphic selection for items
• Right-click menu on items to speed and simplify editing
• A simple setup of items to open applications and other selection sets
• Sending of spoken text to the clipboard option
• Logging of events for later analysis
• Improved integrated Help files
• A new ‘Previous’ command to open the last used selection set
• Support for joystick (Crick Box or joybox/cable) and keyboard interfaces for switches
• A Gridmaker Wizard
• More stable switch scanning
• Easy setting of default directories for graphics and sounds
• SAPI 5 text-to-speech support.

Source: Ace Centre