15.1 What Selection Commands Are

Selection commands let a student highlight text using only their voice. Once text is highlighted, Speaking Access can do powerful things with it— like reading it, proofreading it, counting it, changing the case, or teaching the software a new word or phrase.

Selection is one of the fastest ways to edit documents hands-free. In this lesson, you will learn how to select by line, by lines above/below, by words, and even by characters.

15.2 Select Line and Unselecting

The simplest selection command is Select Line. It highlights the entire line that the cursor is currently on.

To clear (unselect) the highlighted text, just say: Right Key or Left Key.

• Select Line highlights the current line.
• Left Key moves to the beginning of the selection and clears it.
• Right Key moves to the end of the selection and clears it.

Tip: If you ever want to know where the selection starts or ends, use Left Key to jump to the start, and Right Key to jump to the end.

15.3 Select Everything Above and Below

Sometimes you want to grab a big chunk of text quickly. These commands select everything above or below your cursor position.

• Select Everything Above selects all text above the cursor.
• Select Everything Below selects all text below the cursor.

When you're done, use Left Key or Right Key to clear the highlight.

15.4 Select a Number of Lines Above or Below

You are not stuck selecting everything. You can select a specific number of lines above or below your cursor, from one line up to ten lines.

Just say: Select + number + Lines + Above or Below.

• Select Four Lines Below
• Select Six Lines Above
• Works up to ten lines.

After the selection is made, remember to clear it with Left Key or Right Key.

15.5 Select Words to the Left or Right

You can also select words near your cursor. This is great when you only need part of a sentence.

Say: Select + number + Words + to the Right or to the Left.

• Select Five Words to the Right
• Select One Word to the Left
• Works up to ten words.

When you are done, clear the highlight with Left Key or Right Key.

15.6 Select Everything to the Left or Right

These two commands select everything on the current line, either to the left or to the right of the cursor.

• Select Everything to the Right
• Select Everything to the Left

This is a fast way to grab half a line without having to count words. As usual, clear the highlight using Left Key or Right Key.

15.7 Selection Tools: Spelling, Counts, Case

Once text is selected, you can run tools on it. These commands help with spelling, editing, and measuring text.

• Selection Spelling spells the selected text out loud.
• Selection Character Count tells you how many characters are selected.
• Selection How Many Words gives an approximate word count.
• Selection to Upper Case capitalizes the first letter of each word selected.
• Selection to Lower Case changes selected text to lower case.

Note: Windows counts punctuation and extra spacing in the word count, so Selection How Many Words is an estimate.

15.8 Read Selection and Proofread Selection

You can have Speaking Access read your selected text out loud, which is great for checking your work.

• Read Selection reads the selected text normally.
• Proofread Selection reads the text and also speaks punctuation and capitals.

Proofread Selection is especially useful when editing, because it helps you hear commas, symbols, and upper case letters.

15.9 Select Characters (Letters) Left or Right

Sometimes you only need a few letters. You can select characters to the left or right of the cursor, from one character up to ten.

Say: Select + number + Characters + to the Right or to the Left.

• Select Eight Characters to the Right
• Select Three Characters to the Left
• Works up to ten characters.

15.10 Remember Selection (Teach New Words)

If Speaking Access is not understanding a word or phrase, you can teach it using Remember Selection. First, highlight the word (or phrase), then say: Remember Selection.

Important: When using Remember Selection, it is more effective to choose two or three-word combinations to help with grammar and recognition. For example, instead of selecting only “pea”, select “the pea”.

Just so you know: when you add a new word or phrase, it will not be available until you restart the program.

• Highlight the text you want to teach.
• Say Remember Selection.
• Restart Speaking Access to activate the new vocabulary.

Example: If a last name is uncommon, you can type it the correct way, highlight it, and use Remember Selection. From then on, Speaking Access is much more likely to insert the correct spelling automatically.