Name of Workshop: Advanced Word Processing

Workshop Leader: Ondra Svatoslav

Workshop Leader's Experience and Background: Svatoslav has 9 year's experience of teaching IT technology for the blind and partially sighted. He led IT courses and was consultant of special IT at Czech Blind United Organisation. For five years he is a staff member of Support Centre for the Students with Special Needs at Masaryk University, Brno, the Czech Republic where he leads lessons of special IT for visually impaired university students.

Country: Czech Republic

Co-tutors (if needed): none

Description: The workshop will guide and explain students how to prepare a formatted document and what are the customs of document layout. Students will be guided to use Microsoft Word and specific JAWS features and functions. Creating a formatted document will be applied as a final exercise.

Week: first week

Target group: Braile users

Type of Workshop: hands on

Aims/Objectives: Students should come to understand Microsoft Word as a tool for composing and printing formatted document. They will get acknowledges of a basic document layout customs. Students will also learn to use the specific JAWS functions effectively.

Workshop plan 
- summary of text editing principles in Windows (cursor movements, selecting text, clipboard) 
- plain versus formatted text (differences) 
- introduction to basic features of formatted text and rules of composing a formatted document (document layout) - starting a document composition with Microsoft Word (suitable Word environment settings) 
- page layout settings 
- advanced orientation in a document (JAWS functions) 
- formatting characters (with hotkeys and dialog) and appropriate JAWS functions 
- formatting paragraph (with hotkeys and dialog) and appropriate JAWS functions 
- other topics (eg. tables, numbering, styles, proofing tools) in accordance with students' experiences 
- final exercise: creating a document

Prerequisites: Students should be experienced in editing text and working with basic Windows applications. They should have good skills in using Windows and JAWS, and possibly using a braille display.

needed Hardware: PCs, braille displays

Software requirements: MS Windows, JAWS, Microsoft Word 2000/XP/2003 (not later version)