 |
|
| The most popular screen reader worldwide, JAWS® for Windows works with your PC to provide access to today’s software applications and the Internet. With its internal software speech synthesizer and the computer’s sound card, information from the screen is read aloud, providing technology to access a wide variety of information, education and job related applications. JAWS also outputs to refreshable Braille displays, providing unmatched Braille support of any screen reader on the market. A training tutorial is included. |
|
System Requirements
|
|
Key Features
Get started today working with all your Microsoft and IBM Lotus® Symphony™ applications using JAWS®, the world's most popular screen reader. Developed for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content, JAWS reads aloud what's on the PC screen. Compatible with the most frequently-used workplace and classroom applications JAWS enables you to work with Lotus Symphony, a suite of IBM® tools for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentation creation and with Lotus Notes® by IBM. JAWS also is compatible with Microsoft® Office Suite, MSN Messenger®, Corel® WordPerfect, Adobe® Acrobat Reader, Internet Explorer™, Firefox™ - and many more applications that are used on a regular basis on the job and in school. Unmatched braille support With a refreshable braille display, JAWS also provides braille output in addition to, or instead of, speech. An array of versatile features and customizable options lets you tailor JAWS for your individual needs and preferences. JAWS BrailleIn™ The JAWS BrailleIn feature allows you to use only your Perkins-style braille keyboard to control your computer using both Windows and application specific commands. In addition, you can also enter both contracted and uncontracted braille input from your braille display’s keyboard. The advantage is that you no longer have to switch between your computer’s keyboard and your display’s keyboard, or enter a special typing mode in order to use contracted braille to run your computer or programs. Visit the Braille Display Input Commands Web page for a list of keystrokes that support Freedom Scientific’s Focus braille displays. For other braille displays, contact the manufacturer for a list of keystrokes. Typing with Contracted Braille With BrailleIn, as you type in contracted braille using the Perkins-style keyboard, your input is immediately translated back as normal text in the current e-mail, document, or form. If an application or specific edit box does not support contracted braille, JAWS announces “Computer Braille” when tutor messages are enabled. Settings Centre JAWS Settings Centre is a new feature that allows you to quickly configure and globally apply JAWS settings, or configure and apply settings for a specific application. It consolidates all options into one convenient dialog box. It includes a Search edit box, which provides an extremely fast way to find and edit JAWS functionality. Settings Centre continues to use JCF files and is a direct replacement for Configuration Manager. Virtual Ribbon Menu The Ribbon is a new style of menu available in many new applications being released today. Ribbons first appeared in Office 2007 programs, but are now becoming more common in other applications tailored for the Windows 7 operating system. Ribbons create an accessibility challenge due to inconsistent navigation between various groups and items. For example, when you enter the Lower Ribbon and press the ARROW keys to move between items in a group, you can skip items and unexpectedly move into another group. Pressing TAB gives no indication that you have left one group and entered another. Using first letter navigation to find items can be difficult and frustrating. Finally, because of a group’s layout, you do not know if you should navigate up, down, left, or right to select an item. The new Virtual Ribbon Menu provides predictable navigation, lets you see everything in the Ribbon, and offers consistency when navigating with ARROW keys. For example, the ARROW and TAB keys move focus from the Upper Ribbon tabs to the Lower Ribbon groups. Once in a group, the ARROW, TAB, and SHIFT+TAB keys move through all items in a group, move from one group to the next, and wrap to the beginning of the Ribbon. For submenus, SPACEBAR and ENTER expands menus, and ESC collapses menus. The Virtual Ribbon Menu is off by default and can be switched on or off from within Settings Centre or the JAWS Startup Wizard. When the Virtual Ribbon Menu is on, the Ribbon is navigated using a traditional menu and submenu format familiar to most JAWS users. Marking and Returning to a Place in Word Word uses bookmarks to let you mark and later find locations in a document. However, this also means that you are editing and changing the document. Using the new PlaceMarker feature in Word, you can now mark a location without affecting the document. It allows you to easily return to the PlaceMarker any time, even after closing Word or rebooting your computer. There is no need to remember that location or use Navigation Quick Keys or a dialog to find it, as you would a bookmark. Also, if you share the document with others, the marker will not be available to them. Press CTRL+WINDOWS Key+K to set or move the marker. Only one PlaceMarker can be set per document. Press WINDOWS Key+K to return to the marked location. This feature also makes it easy to select large blocks of text. Just mark a starting point in the document, read and navigate until you reach the end of the text that you want to select, and then press INSERT+SPACEBAR, M. This acts the same way as clicking and dragging a mouse over text. Once selected, feel free to copy, cut, or paste the text anywhere you like. Text Analyzer When editing a document using speech only, inconsistencies such as unmatched parentheses, unintentional format changes, extra whitespace, and stray or unspaced punctuation can often be missed. The new Text Analyzer feature is a tool that notifies you of these errors in your document by using a spoken message or WAV file. You can configure JAWS to announce discrepancies by count, by description, or by sound while proofreading the document by line, sentence, paragraph, or Say All command. Braille users will benefit from this since a sound can be emitted before the user has time to read the entire line looking for errors. Automatic Notification of Updates When JAWS starts, it can now alert you if a software update is available. You then have the option to install it now or later. This is known as Automatic Notification of Updates and is on by default. If you decide not to install the JAWS update now, you can always manually check for updates using the update feature in the JAWS Help menu. To turn auto notification on or off, choose Basics in the JAWS Options menu, and select or clear the Automatic Notification of Updates check box. Say All Schemes Continuous reading of a Web page or Word document with numerous links can be frustrating due to constant interruptions that identify links and headings on the page. An example of this is when you read a Wikipedia article using the Say All command, where many words in the article are links to other articles. The Say All Scheme feature can alleviate this annoyance by using an unobtrusive sound or no link and heading indication at all to provide a smooth reading experience when using the Say All command. Say All Schemes is located in the Say All group in Settings Centre. Select No Change to continue using the current speech and sounds scheme in use. Select Say All Text with Sounds to hear a subtle WAV file sound, such as a Ding, when JAWS reads a link or heading. Select Say All Text Only to ignore HTML elements like links and headings. You can also use Add/Remove, which is a button in the Say All group, to add and use other schemes for Say All Reading. Reverse Panning Buttons for Braille Reverse Panning Buttons is a new feature that allows you to switch the direction of left and right panning buttons. This is a great benefit if you are a two-handed braille user who reads different parts of a braille line at the same time. By the time your right hand reaches the end of the display, your left hand can be back at the left side of the display ready to advance it. This can significantly increase braille reading and is ideal for braille power users. Hotkey Component for Structured Braille Support When using Structured Mode, you can configure the amount of information and the order in which the information appears on the braille display when navigating the controls in a dialog box, an Office Ribbon, or a spreadsheet. Component information includes a control’s name, state, type, and so on. Using the Define Structured Mode feature, you can now determine if hotkeys are included in the descriptive details and the placement of this information on the braille display. This provides several benefits. For familiar or less complex application, you can turn off hotkey information, which will save valuable space on a small braille display. For complex applications, you can turn on hotkey information and change its relative position on the braille display so that it immediately appears after the name of the control. The hotkey component is turned off by default. Improvements with Adobe Flash JAWS can now announce buttons and other items that did not work correctly on some Flash Web sites while using Internet Explorer. Examples of Web sites that now function properly are Audible.com and Dominos.ca. Improvements with My Computer in Windows 7 When using My Computer in Windows 7, JAWS not only announces the drive letter and volume label, but now also includes both used and free space on the drive, as well as the percentage of free space. While this information is readily available to sighted users, JAWS now makes it accessible to all users. To open My Computer, press WINDOWS Key+E. Keyboard Lock The Keyboard Lock feature is useful when you want to prevent accidental keyboard action. A typical example for locking the keyboard would be when you are transferring files across a network or when a download is in progress. This feature will prevent file transfer or download cancellation if you accidentally press a key. Keyboard Lock is also ideal for JAWS Tandem sessions where it can prevent inadvertent keyboard activity on the target-side computer. While the keyboard is locked, you can still run JAWS reading commands like Say Line, Say Window Title, and Say Word. For example, you can position the JAWS cursor at a specific location on the screen, and then use the Say Line command to monitor that location while the keyboard is locked. Also, the invisible cursor and the braille cursor can roam the screen without moving the active cursor. Check for Updates To respond quickly to customer issues, Freedom Scientific provides minor software updates throughout the year. The Check for Updates feature makes it very easy to keep up with the latest JAWS enhancements. If you maintain your software as updates are published, you can download incremental updates, or patches, to your computer. If several minor releases have been published before you check for updates, you will download a full software release, which includes all minor releases up to that point. You can manually check for updates at any time, or JAWS can automatically check for updates when it starts. |
|
Background:
Font:
Tel: 03333 441 456
