FS General - Check for low volume or muted sound

FS General - Check for low volume or muted sound

Problem

No speech is being produced by JAWS/ZoomText/Fusion software or another product that speaks.

Applies to

  1. JAWS/ZoomText/Fusion

Resolution

Please try the solutions below one by one to see if they will address the problem.

Check speech license support

ZoomText software can be supplied with or without speech enabled.  To check if speech is enabled on the license do the following before trying the other solutions below.

Using a mouse

  1. Click the ZoomText taskbar button on the taskbar to open the main window.
  2. Then click ZoomText menu > Help > About.
  3. An About dialogue window will be opened, check the Product information near the top of the window:

    If ZoomText Magnifier/Reader is shown the license supports speech output.
    If ZoomText Magnifier only is shown and Reader does not appear the license does no support speech output.

Using the keyboard

  1. Press CONTROL+CAPSLOCK+U or ALT+TAB to navigate to the main ZoomText window.
  2. Then press ALT+Z to open the ZoomText menu.
  3. Then use UP/DOWN ARROW to navigate to Help menu and press ENTER.
  4. Then press UP/DOWN ARROW keys to locate About and press ENTER.  When the About window opens information about the product will be spoken by ZoomText:

    If     ZoomText Magnifier/Reader is spoken the license supports speech output.
    If     ZoomText Magnifier only is shown spoke and Reader is not spoken the license does no support speech output.



Idea
Tip
  1. Typically on a speech enabled license a Reader tab will be shown in the main ZoomText application window.  If Reader tab is absent it is another clue that speech output is not supported by the license.
  2. Customers may purchase an upgrade for speech on their license if it is not present.

Low volume/muted sound

The problem with no sound my be attributed to very low volume level set on the system.  Use the steps below to correct this problem.

Using a mouse

  1. Right click Windows Start button and choose Run command in the special Start menu.
  2. At the prompt enter the command below then click OK button:
  3. SNDVOL.EXE
  4. In the vo9lume panel click to drag up the volume under the Speakers channel on the far left.
  5. Then also check the Speaker button below the volume slider and check it is not muted, if you see a red circle with a line through it click to un-mute sound.
  6. If no sound is heard work through the other channels in the sound panel in the same way so that all have good volume and are un-muted.

Using the keyboard

  1. Press WINDOWS+R key to open the  Run command.
  2. Then  type the command below and press ENTER to run it:
  3. SNDVOL.EXE
  4. When the volume app opens focus will be placed on the Speakers volume slider.  Press PAGEUP or UP ARROW to raise the volume level so speech can be heard.
  5. If no sound is heard press TAB once then press SPACEBAR to un-mute sound.
  1. If no sound is heard work through the other channels in the sound panel in the same way so that all have good volume and are un-muted.

Idea
Tip
  1. If the computer system has attached computer speakers ensure they have power and the volume is raised somewhere above its lowest setting.
  2. If a headset is plugged into the speakers unplugged the headphones from the sock on the loudspeakers.
  3. When using a laptop system try the function keys to see if a mute button can be activated.


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