The System Access Mobile Network, or SAMNet, is your portal to information and entertainment. But SAMNet can also be your tool for accessing the web from any Windows-based computer with ease. To access and change SAMNet preferences, simply press Alt+P from anywhere within SAMNet. Or, press the Modifier key plus the letter F, and press Down Arrow until you hear the word “Preferences.†Once there, press the Enter key to reach the Preferences menu.
Also, if you are using a Screen magnifier or if you are accessing the computer by use of a mouse, you can find the Preferences button near the end of the list of options available on the SAMNet Desktop Home screen. Generally the button can be found at the bottom of the page near the "Search" button.
From within this menu, you will find several submenus which will allow you to customize the way SAMNet looks, speaks, acts, and reads.
The Key Echo setting will speak aloud the numbers and letters pressed on the keyboard. Check this box to activate this feature. Be aware that the Key Echo does not speak aloud when entering passwords.
If you check this box, the browser will echo words that you have typed once you have pressed the Space, Enter, Tab or Shift+Tab keys.
This setting will alert you when a link is present on any given page or list of controls. A tone will be heard to indicate that you are on a link, and will beep when you allow a page to be read continuously. You can alter the behavior of the Link Alerts, but by default, links will be indicated by a tone. The tone indicator will be heard right before the actual text of the link is spoken. You can also have links indicated by a spoken word instead by selecting Word from the drop-down list box. If you do not wish to hear any link alerts, just select None from the drop-down list box. By selecting none, you will not hear a textual or auditory alert before the name of the link itself. As a result, it may be somewhat difficult to accurately determine when links are present. Note: if you are arrowing or Tabbing/Shift+Tabbing through the page, the alert indicator will not be used, regardless of the setting you choose in this area. The setting is only applicable when continuously reading through a page with the Modifier+Down Arrow.
Checking this option will allow the SA browser to display most items in a simple list. The simplified menu can make some exploration of SAMNet faster as you can now press the first letter of an option to jump right to it in a large list of choices. For example, when you are on the SAMNet homepage, press the letter W to jump directly to the Weather Center page. If a list contains several options with the same letter, pressing the letter again will take you to the next option in that list. Pressing the letter E on the SAMNet homepage screen could place you on the Email option, and pressing the letter E again would then move you down the list to Entertainment.
Activating this button with the Spacebar or Enter key will allow you to make the SAMobile browser come up automatically without doing anything first. For example when you activate a link from within an email message, the SAMobile browser will start reading the Web page.
SAMNet will play a sound to let you know that the program is working on a task. The drop-down box in this portion of the General Preferences menu will allow you to change or turn off the sound that SAMNet makes when working. The drop-down box contains three options: Classic is the familiar "warble" sound that Serotek’s products have used for some time. The Click option will play a click instead of the warble sound when SAMNet is completing tasks. The final option is to have no sound play when SAMNet is busy. This option is labeled Off. Just remember that any changes made in this area won't take effect until you press the OK button. If System Access or SAMNet is running on another machine when you make the change to the working sound preference, you will need to restart System Access or SAMNet on that other machine for the new working sound preference to take effect.
When you enter this menu, press Shift+Tab to change the default language spoken. Move through the list by using the Up and Down arrows to find the language you prefer to be spoken aloud when reading text. Note: This setting does not change the language used within SAMNet. You will need to read text in the language you have chosen to have the optimal effect. For example, French speech will sound better when reading text in French.
The next option in this area will allow you to change your primary speech engine. Select one speech synthesizer from the given list as the engine you wish to hear when using SAMNet. First, open the list by pressing Alt+Up Arrow or Alt+Down Arrow, then use your Up and Down Arrow keys to move through these choices. When you are on the synthesizer you want, press Tab and then use your Up and Down Arrow keys to browse the list of voices available for that synthesizer. Note: Additional voices can be added to this list by purchasing them separately from Serotek. You can add new voices at any time by going to the My Account section and choosing a voice or group of voices from one of our many options. After you have made your selection, you will then be able to revisit this area and will have access to the additional voices you have chosen.
You can also control the rate of the text being spoken. The Faster and Slower buttons will let you increase or decrease the rate at which text is read aloud. Just move to the button you want and press it with the Spacebar. You will hear, "This is a test of your speech settings." each time either button is pressed.
Pitch control will let you change the pitch of the speech with the Higher and Lower buttons. Each time you press Space on one of the buttons, you will hear, "This is a test of your speech settings."
You can also control the amount of punctuation that is spoken. The punctuation choices are: None, Some, Most, and All. Use the Up and Down arrows to make your selection, and experiment with this option to find the punctuation level that best suits your reading needs.
The first option allows you to choose from among Braille translation tables for various languages. Arrow up or down to move within this list to change the Braille Translation Table from US Grade 2 English to US Grade 1 English, and to review the other language options contained there. The next control will allow you to turn off the speech engine and work directly from your Braille display only. Removing the check from this checkbox will keep the speech engine from running when a Braille display is active. Make sure to tab to the OK button to save your Braille settings.