GWConnect (previously known as GWSkype) is a product from GW Micro, the creater of Window-Eyes screen reader.
What is GWConnect?
Ever since the initial release of the Skype client in mid 2003, people from all around the world have used it to initiate high-quality voice and text conversations,
send and receive files, and stay in touch with one another. The visually impaired community, likewise, has used Skype since then to facilitate equal communication
with each other and their sighted counterparts.
However, as the service has grown, so too has the program. For years, screen reader users have kept up with Skype's ever-morphing interface either with
custom patches, scripts, or apps. While largely successful, such utilities must be constantly maintained as any new version of Skype can, and often will,
cause previously working scripts or apps to stop functioning properly.
In mid 2011, Skype announced its SkypeKit developer program. This service allows program developers to directly access nearly all Skype services without
the additional need of traversing its user interface. Developers, therefore, can create their own interface to Skype and seamlessly integrate it into their
own products. And, because the underlying Skype services are much less likely to change on a whim, GW Micro decided to take advantage of this service and
create a simple, elegant, fully accessible interface to Skype which is designed with the visually impaired community in mind.
Having full control of the user interface also means that unlike the official Skype client, GWConnect's interface will not dramatically change from version
to version. When you learn how to use GWConnect today, you can be confident that your knowledge will continue to apply in the future as new versions are
released.
Why GWConnect?
• GWConnect will always make the Skype service available to blind and visually impaired computer users regardless of new versions of Skype that are released.
• GWConnect is a demonstration of the power of interfacing with Window-Eyes.
• All blind and visually impaired users who are running Windows can use GWConnect at no cost. Even those consumers not running Window-Eyes can still download
and use GWConnect.
GWConnect 1.03 has been released. changes and download link below:
Changes:
• GWConnect no longer becomes confused if the signed in account has a mixture of upper and lowercase characters.• Fixed an issue where conversations sometimes would not merge. If merging fails, the user will be informed and the merge will abort. Additionally, any
non-live conversations will be automatically disconnected to ensure that only one live conversation is active at a time.
• Update checks at startup were not working. Now they do.
• When making a Skype Out call, GWConnect now stops playing its own ringing sound when the landline or mobile phone begins ringing.
• Hanging up on conversations which begin and end quickly has been improved.
• The voicemails window sometimes opened unexpectedly. This has been corrected.
• It is no longer possible to intentionally leave a voicemail for someone if a live call is active.
• The GWConnect database is now stored separately from that of the official Skype client. While GW Micro does not recommend it, users may now login to the
same account in GWConnect and Skype on the same computer.
• Including an updated Skype runtime which improves stability and corrects a few memory leaks.
• Some users reported seeing multiple GWConnect icons in the notification area. This should no longer be an issue.
• When it first starts, GWConnect will stop running if it detects another instance of itself already in memory.
• The user availability displayed in the title bar could sometimes be incorrect. This has been corrected.
• Additional checks were added to ensure that the "Drop from Conference" item only becomes active when a user is determined to be the conference's host.
• The contact list now updates when a user's mood text changes.
• When sending and receiving files, the name of the file being transferred may now be reviewed in a read-only edit box.
• if a file transfer was active and another one began, it was only possible to Alt-Tab to the most recently active transfer. Now all windows are accessible
via Alt-Tab.
• File transfers would sometimes hang for non-English users. This has been fixed.
• The buttons in the "Invite Additional Users" dialog are now correctly translated to their non-English equivalents when appropriate.
• The incoming call window would sometimes become unreachable in the Alt-Tab order. This has been fixed.
• Updated German, Swedish, and Turkish translations.
• Added Italian and Norwegian support.
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