Accessible Test

Money Talks

(Continued)
Purpose

To provide a Windows-based bank account management software package that will be easily accessible to blind and visually impaired persons

Project Staff

Mary T. (Terrie) Terlau, Project Leader

Larry Skutchan, Technology Project Leader

Rob Meredith, Programmer

Darleen Donhoff, Administrative/Technical Assistant
Background

Keeping bank account records on a computer provides a reliable method of maintaining check registers and account balances. However, mainstream bank account management software presents some access obstacles to experienced, visually impaired computer users and is not accessible to visually impaired persons without specialized training and expensive access software. Money Talks is designed to perform the full range of account management functions needed by blind and visually impaired persons. It is fully accessible, with speech and large print output built into the program itself. This program is also designed to be intuitive and user-friendly for persons with little or no computer experience.

During FY 2004, the following program features were implemented: the ability to emboss or print the check register; the ability to print raised-line or business checks from a checkbook or Quicken-type checks; the ability to import bank statements downloaded from the Web; procedures for automatic and manual transaction reconciliation; the look and functionality of the on-screen grid views; and the software logo. Specifically, programmers completed the following tasks:

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  Added register management;
  
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  Added support for check printing and embossing;
  
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  Added code to translate, format, and emboss the register data;
  
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  Added support to import Quicken Interchange Format files (QIF).
  

During FY 2005, field testing, revisions, documentation, tooling, specifications, and a pilot run were completed. Approximately 86 adults tested Beta versions of Money Talks for 6 months prior to the product becoming available for sale in July 2005.

Enhancements to Money Talks made in FY 2006 include:

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  Adds the ability to speak through the self-voicing interface while making a selection.
  
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  Relaxes the way the program imports QIF data. Some QIF files incorrectly put the Type: Bank for each transaction in the file, but the specification calls for only one of these at the beginning of the file. Money Talks now imports these incorrect files.
  
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  Adds a status bar indicator to show the status of expanded splits.
  
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  Adds the ability to delete categories by typing the name and pressing Ctrl+D.
  
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  Previously, the user had to locate the list item before deleting.
  
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  Adds the ability to reuse a newly entered category in the Split dialog.
  

Version 1.1, December 2005

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  Corrects a bug that caused the program to ignore requests to post recurring transactions every x days. The program always used 21 days no matter what number the user specified.
  
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  Adds the Use Bank Name, Use Bank Item, Use Bank Date, and Use Bank Memo checkboxes to the General tab of the Settings dialog to let the user control which information from the bank overwrites existing information in a transaction when importing QIF files
  
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  Adds the Cleared and Uncleared Transactions commands to the View menu.
  
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  These commands let the user restrict the view to those transactions that are either cleared or nucleated. Previously, it was only possible to move to the previous or next uncleared transaction.
  
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  QIF files now respect the Windows regional settings for dates.
  
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  Adds the Credits Before Debits option in the General tab of the Settings dialog.
  
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  The option is used to let you list credit transactions before debits that occur on the same day.
  
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  Allows self-voicing to work with the registration dialog
  

Improvements and upgrades to the program, made during FY 2007, are based on ongoing feedback from the field and include:
Version 1.2, February 2007

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  No longer suppresses the Category and Subcategory fields of the register on printouts
  
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  Improves weekend action handling for recurring transactions with dates at the beginning or end of the month
  
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  Adds the Select by Date option to the Edit menu
  
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  Adds the ability to move directly to any column in the register
  
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  Adds the Restrict menu. The Restrict menu contains items related to restricting the view that were formerly found on the View menu.
  
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  Removes support for guessing at the next check number in recurring transactions. The check number is now cleared when the recurrence posts.
  
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  Adds the ability to import Comma Separated Value (CSV) files
  
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  Adds a unique sound for the instance where you move to a cleared transaction that falls below the minimum balance
  
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  Adds the Lowest Running Balance command
  
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  Adds commands to restrict the view to transactions that occurred this year or last year
  
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  Increases the speed at which the program closes in an attempt to solve the update problems seen by some
  
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  Corrects a problem with improper postings of semimonthly transactions
  
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  Corrects a bug that made check numbers get out of sequence when posting recurring transactions containing check numbers
  
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  Corrects a bug in the category summary where the displayed data were incorrect if splits were expanded
  
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  Adds the subcategory name “no subcategory” to items in the category summary that do not have subcategories
  
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  Updates the info for the specified pay name when editing a transaction. Before, pay name info was only updated when adding a new transaction.
  
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  Fixes a bug where the next check number could appear in the item list twice
  
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  Adds the Hide Selection command to the View menu to let you temporarily hide any transaction
  
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  Adds H to the list of commands the user may press while in the Status column to hide the current transaction
  
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  The minimum number of days that can be used for the recurring every X days transactions are now three. Using one or two days got confusing when weekends were thrown into the mix.
  
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  Corrects a problem where the program let the user transfer sub-transactions in a split transaction to another account
  
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  Adds Or to the find capabilities
  
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  Adds the ability to restrict the view to Split transactions
  
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  Adds three commands, U, X, and S, to the commands you may type in the status column to restrict the view to uncleared, cleared, and split transactions
  
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  Corrects a bug that prevented recurring transactions from posting on the correct day with the Every X Days setting in some circumstances
  
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  Adds the ability to speak through the self-voicing interface while making a selection
  
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  Relaxes the way the program imports QIF data. Some QIF files incorrectly put the !Type: Bank for each transaction in the file, but the specification calls for only one of these at the beginning of the file. Money Talks now imports these incorrect files.
  
• 
  Adds a status bar indicator to show the status of expanded splits
  
• 
  Adds the ability to delete categories by typing the name and pressing Ctrl+D. Previously, the user had to locate the list item before deleting.
  
• 
  Adds the ability to reuse a newly entered category in the Split dialog
  

Version 1.2.X, August 2007

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  Adds support for dates in QIF files that contain dashes instead of slashes
  
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  Adds support for dates in QIF files that contain no separator characters
  

Work during FY 2009

Changed the method used to identify system folders.

Tested for use with 64-bit versions of XP, Vista, and Windows 7.
Work planned for FY 2010

Upgrades and improvements will continue to be made based on feedback from the field.