Kurzweil 3000 User Guide
Prepared by Indiana University, University Information Technology Services, Adaptive Technology Centers
Retrieved on 9/22//07 from: (
"The Kurzweil K3000 is a text-to-speech program with color-blocked word tracking and other helpful study tools. It was designed to aid students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder by reading aloud scanned text and providing helpful note taking skills." (
Topics covered in the User's Guide
- Preparing Documents for Reading
- Sign on to Kurzweil 3000
- Toolbars
- Getting Around K3000
- Shortcuts
- Options Window
- General Tab
- Reading Tab
- Text Tab
- Image Tab
- Magnifier Tab
- Study Skills Tab
- Scanning Tab
- Test Taking Tab
- Reading
- Fit
- Zoom
- Rotate
- Placement
- Hear the Voice You Wish
- Customize Highlighting Colors
- Easy Reference Help
- Inserting Annotations
- Add Typed Notes
- Add Sticky Notes
- Add Text Notes
- Add Voice Notes
- Using Annotations
- Opening an Annotation
- Speak Notes Automatically
- Edit a typed, sticky, or text note
- Moving Text Notes
- Moving or Resizing Sticky Notes
- Deleting an Annotation
- Using Highlights
- Using Bookmarks
- Viewing Annotations
- Extracting Notes and Highlights
- Magnifying Word Read by Kurzweil 3000
- Other Features of Kurzweil 3000
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Preparing Documents for Reading
Digitized textbooks obtained from the Adaptive Technology Center at Indiana University come burned onto a compact disc in .kes file format. This is the specific file type for use with Kurzweil 3000.
To read these files in K3000 and use the study skills functions, you must copy each file to your hard drive. Once the files are saved onto the hard drive in the folder of your choosing, it is necessary to take write protection off of each individual file. This is done easily by selecting the file or files you wish to read, right clicking on the highlighted file, and selecting Properties. At the bottom of the window that appears is a check box labeled as Read-only. The check mark should be removed. Select OK. Your files are now ready to work with in K3000.
Sign on to Kurzweil 3000
When opening K3000, you will be prompted to create and enter a username at a pop-up window. Any name you choose maybe entered at this point. Select [Yes] when prompted to add file. This action will create a specific user account that will save individual user documents and program settings in the following path: My Documents/Kurzweil Educational Systems/Kurzweil 3000.
Toolbars
Toolbars provide a very user-friendly way of navigating the majority of functions in K3000. There are four main toolbars, all providing unique and important functions. A user may easily add/remove or change the size of toolbars by right-clicking a blank space on any of the toolbars on screen. This will bring up a short menu in which you can enable or disable each toolbar by simply clicking the name (main toolbar, reading toolbar, writing toolbar, study skills toolbar).
Main Toolbar
- scanning, reading, file management tasks
Reading Toolbar
- choose reading mode and unit
- page view options. size, thumbnails, etc.
Writing Toolbar
- format text. font, size, style, alignment, spacing, etc.
Study Skills Toolbar
- highlighting tools, annotation tools, bookmarks
Getting Around K3000
The Menu System contains all of the commands and actions available in Kurzweil. Most users will feel very comfortable with the system, as it is the same format used in most windows based program. File, Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Table, Window and Help are the available selections. The commands available can be accessed using a mouse, mnemonics, and shortcuts.
Mnemonics
- access menu system with the ALT key
- there is a mnemonic for each menu item. F to select File, C to select close, etc.
- mnemonic is underlined in text of menu selection
Shortcuts
The following is a list of shortcut commands that can be used instead of accessing the Menu System.
- CTRL + N. New text file
- CTRL + O. Open
- CTRL + F4. Close
- CTRL + S. Save
- CTRL + P. Print
- CTRL + Z. Undo
- CTRL + X. Cut
- CTRL + C. Copy
- CTRL + V. Paste
- CTRL + A. Select All
- CTRL + W. Change Spoken Word
- CTRL + F. Find
- CTRL + H. Replace
- F9. Start New Scan
- CTRL + F9. Scan Repeatedly
- F2. Back
- F3. Start Reading
- F4. Forward
- F11. Increase Reading Speed
- F12. Decrease Reading Speed
- Shift + F5. Add Note
- Shift + F6. Close Note
- Shift + F7. Add Voice Note
- CTRL + D. Definition of Selected Word
- CTRL + Q. Synonyms of Selected Word
- CTRL + Y. Syllables of Selected Word
- F1. Help
Right Mouse Click
A right mouse click can be used when working in a document to perform basic actions such as zoom, read, cut, paste, etc. As noted earlier, it can also be used to edit toolbars. You may customize the functions of the right mouse click by selecting [customize right mouse click] in the [Tools] System Menu.
Options Window
Appearance and behavior settings can be accessed through the [Options] tab in K3000. Access the options tab by opening the [Tools] menu and selecting [Options]. The following is a summary of the different options available under each of the eight tabs in the [Options] menu.
General Tab
- Toolbar Controls (same as available through right click)
- Ruler Controls
- Audible Typing Controls
- General User Aids
Reading Tab
- Reading Voice
- Reading Speed
- Reading Language (ESL version only)
- Language Tabs (ESL version only)
- Reading Aids
Text Tab
- Text and Highlight Colors
- Font Settings
- Highlight Mode
- Text Preview
Image Tab
- Reading/Selection Colors
- Image Display Controls
- Caret (cursor) width
Magnifier Tab
- Magnifier Colors
- Magnifier Font
- Preview
- Enable Image Display in Magnifier
Study Skills Tab
- Highlighter Captions
- Indents for Extracted Text
Scanning Tab
- Scanner Brightness
- Page Orientation on Scanner
- Seconds Between Repeated Scan
- Advanced Scanning Tools
- Recognition Language (ESL version only)
- Recognition Engine
Test Taking Tab
- Enable/Disable Reference Aids and Password
Reading
Page View The Way You Like It
The page view of any document you are working on within Kurzweil 3000 can be adjusted for your preference. There are four components to the page view feature of K3000.
[Fit] determines how a scanned page fits in the K3000 window.
[Zoom] shrinks or enlarges image size.
[Rotation] turns the scanned page in the K3000 window.
[Placement]shifts the image view.
Fit
- Open [View] menu
- Use [Fit to] submenu to adjust page fit
[Text Width] - longest test line fits in window
[Text Height] - height of test lines fit in window
[Width] - Left/Right margins fit in window
[Height] - Top/Bottom margins fit in window
[Page] - Entire page fits in window
Zoom
- [Zoom] box on reading toolbar, select preference. or;
- [Zoom] submenu on View menu. or;
- [Zoom] menu on right mouse click
Rotate
- Open View menu
- Use Rotate submenu to rotate current page
Right - Turn Page on Right Side
Left - Turn Page on Left Side
Invert - Turn Page 180 degrees
Placement
- Use scrollbars. or;
- Use page thumbnail image. Enable page thumbnail by clicking the Page Thumbnail button on reading toolbar.
- Use compass arrows underneath page thumbnail to navigate.
Hear the Voice You Wish
You may choose from a number of different reading voices. The voices are generated by speech engines, which read the text under a scanned image. The voice named Jennifer is also included with K3000. Jennifer is a much more human and friendly voice to listen to than the other basic voices included, and also takes a substantial amount of extra memory to function.
Change Reading Voice
- Open [Tools] menu and select [Options]
- Click [Reading Tab]
- Use [Speaker] list to choose a reading voice
- Click [Test Speech] to listen to a sample of the voice you have selected. Click [Stop Speech] to end the test.
- Use [Speed] control to set the speed of reading
- Click [Apply] or [Okay] to save the changes.
Customize Highlighting Colors
The colors that K3000 uses to highlight words and units as it reads can be changed according to your preferences.
Scanned Document
- Open [Tools] menu and choose [Options]
- Click [Image] tab
- Use [Reading] list in [Colors] section to choose the highlighting combination you wish to use.
Typed Document
- Open [Tools] menu and choose [Options]
- Click [Text tab]
- Select highlighting colors you wish to use from the [Colors] section. Use the [Word] list to choose the color for word highlighting, use the [Section] list to change colors for unit highlighting.
- Click [Apply] or [OK] to finalize changes
Easy Reference Help
K3000 provides an extensive reference suite including a dictionary, thesaurus, syllable and pronunciation display, spelling tool, and Encarta encyclopedia look-up (must have Encarta installed on your computer, not included in K3000). These tools can be applied to words within a scanned document, or words that you type into the program yourself.
Look up a word in a document
- Click in word you wish to look up
- Click [Definition, Synonyms, Syllables], or [Spell] button in the toolbar to see the corresponding information.
- The dictionary and synonyms window can be read by clicking the [Read] button in the toolbar.
- Reference tools can be applied to any word in a dictionary window.
Look up any word
- Open the [Reference] menu and choose [Look Up Word 1 Type], the Dictionary Lookup screen appears.
- Type word you wish to lookup in the [Word:] box, then click [Definition, Synonyms, or Syllables] button according to the desired reference.
Inserting Annotations
K3000 has the ability to allow the user to keep questions, ideas, and references with a document. There are four kinds of annotation: typed notes, sticky notes, text notes, and voice notes. Notes placed in a document are marked with an icon. Double-clicking annotation icon once inserted in the document will allow the user to access the note.
Typed notes are represented in a document by an anchor icon. Double-clicking the anchor icon allows the user to see the note text.
Sticky notes are yellow and remain visible in a document. Sticky notes are only available on scanned documents.
Text notes appear as colored text on top of an image. Text notes are only available on scanned documents.
Voice notes store and play a dictated annotation.
Add typed notes to a document
- Click place in document to add note.
- Click [Note] button in study skills toolbar, a note window will appear in bottom half of K3000 window.
- Type into note window.
- When done typing, click [Close Note] button in study skills toolbar.
Add sticky notes
- Click [Sticky Note] button in study skills toolbar.
- Click and drag note onto image, in location desired. Clicking and dragging outer edges of note will change sizing.
- Type into note window appearing at bottom of K3000 window.
- When done typing, click [Close Note] button in study skills toolbar.
Add text notes
- Click [Text Note] button in study skills toolbar.
- Click in scanned image at point to attach the note. A note window will appear in the bottom half of the K3000 window.
- Type into note window.
- When done typing, click [Close Note] button in study skills toolbar.
Add voice notes
- Click place to add voice note.
- Click [Voice Note] button in study skills toolbar.
- Use [Record] (microphone icon), [Play] (triangle icon), and [Stop] buttons to record your own voice note, or use [Open] button to import a pre-recorded sound.
- When done, click the OK button.
Using Annotations
Once annotations are added to a document, a user can:
- Open them to hear them read or played back
- Edit contents of typed, sticky, or text notes
- Remove the annotation from the document
Opening an annotation
- Double-click on note or voice note anchor, sticky note, or text note.
The contents of the note will appear in a window at the bottom of the Kurzweil window.
K3000 can also be configured to read notes automatically.
Opening a voice note causes the play back to begin automatically.
- Click [Close Note] button in study skills toolbar to close note.
- Double-clicking on note anchor, sticky note, or text note will close the annotation.
- Pressing [Escape] key will also close the note.
Speak Notes Automatically
- Open [Tools] menu and choose [Options]
- Click [Reading] tab
- Check [Read Notes When Opened] button in the [Extras] section
- Click [OK]
Edit a typed note, sticky note, or text note
- Double-click on the note anchor, sticky note, or text note. Contents will appear in note window.
- Edit text in note window.
- Click the [Close Note] button in study skills toolbar to close note.
Moving text notes
- Click on the text note. The note will change color, and the cursor will change to a compass arrow.
- Drag note to new location
Moving or resizing sticky notes
- Click on sticky note. Note will change color.
- Move or resize the note
Move note by clicking near center of sticky note and dragging to new location
Resize note by clicking on the edge of the sticky note and dragging until the note is the size you wish.
Delete an annotation
- Click on note anchor, sticky note, text note, or voice note anchor. They will change color when selected.
- Click [Delete Note] button in the study skills toolbar. A screen will appear asking whether to delete the note.
- Click [Yes]
Using Highlights
Highlighting in k3000 gives users the ability to associate text with different concepts by utilizing four different colors. Highlighted text can be extracted and analyzed with great organizational powers.
Adding highlights
- Click any of the four different colored [Highlighter] buttons in the study skills toolbar.
- Click where you would like to begin highlighting. Drag the cursor over all the text you would like to highlight.
- Stop highlighting by clicking the [Highlighter] button again
Delete highlighting
- Click [Erase] button in study skills toolbar
- Click and drag over all highlighting you want to remove
- Stop erasing by clicking the [Erase] button again
Using Bookmarks
Bookmarks allow a user to mark places in scanned or typed documents in order to return at a later time.
Adding bookmarks
- Click the place you'd like to add the bookmark
- Click [Bookmarks] button in study skills toolbar. Bookmarks screen will appear.
- Type a description of the bookmark in the [Description] field, then click [Add]. When a bookmark is added to a scanned document, a marker appears at the selected location. When a bookmark is added to a text document, the text closest to the mark changes to cyan, underlined text.
Jump to a bookmark
- Click [Bookmarks] button in study skills toolbar. Bookmark screen will appear.
- Click on description of bookmark you would like to go to, click the [Go To] button. Cursor will be positioned on the page and at the position you chose.
- In the Bookmarks screen, the bookmark list can be sorted in either Alphabetic or Reading order. Reading order is the order in which the bookmarks appear in the document.
Delete bookmarks
- Click the [Bookmarks] button in the study skills toolbar.
- Click on bookmark description, the click the [Delete] button.
Viewing Annotations
Anchors, highlighting, and markers can all be shown or hidden within a document.
Hiding these annotations does not remove them.
Select annotations to view
- Open [View] menu
- Use the [Show Annotations] submenu to choose which annotations you would like to see, and those you would like hidden.
Extracting Notes and Highlighting
A new document can be opened that contains the text of any note or highlighting within a document.
Extract typed notes or highlighted text
- Open [File] menu
- Use [Extract] submenu to choose extract notes or highlighted text.
- Click on [Notes] to separate all text notes into a new document. Included in the new document will be the text of all notes, as well as the page number the note is on and the kind of note (sticky, text, typed)
- Selecting [Highlights] will create a new document showing all of the text that has been highlighted in a document.
It is possible to set indent values for all highlighted text, and different values for each of the four colors. In order to do this, open [Tools] menu and choose [Options]. In the Study Skills tab, the user will find [Indent] fields which can be used to set different values for each color. This allows a user to see each color (that can be associated with different and concepts) ideas in a hierarchy, making specific information easily retrievable.
Magnifying Words Read by Kurzweil 3000
K3000 has the ability to magnify each individual word the program reads. When magnification is selected, a small window appears on top of the document displaying the word(s) being read.