JAWS for Windows Version 8.0

Credit Note: Many of these instructions were initially created by Michele Ostrow, Coordinator of Library Services for Users with Disabilities and Assistive Technology at the University of Texas at Austin. These instructions have been modified and edited for use in the UNT Adaptive Lab. The original site of Ms. Ostrow's instructions can be found at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/assistive/jaws.html and at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/assistive/surfing.html

Vendor description: The most popular screen reader worldwide, JAWS for Windows (a registered trademark) 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.

Getting Started:

Double-click on the JAWS icon on the desktop. You may need to get a lab consultant to do this for you.

JAWS will say "JAWS is Ready" and will list the help features.

Silencing or interrupting JAWS:

Press the CTRL key to silence or interrupt JAWS.

JAWS will start again when you perform another task with the arrow keys or the mouse.

To silence JAWS completely for a specific application, press the CTRL, ALT and F12 keys simultaneously. When you switch to another application, JAWS will start again.

Navigation Modes:

To navigate in the windows environment and in specific applications one must use the keyboard and one of the cursor modes. There are several cursor modes:

PC Cursor mode: This is the default cursor mode for JAWS. The cursor stays in the main part of the application you are using. If you need to perform a function that is not part of the application, you will need to use a hot key to access that function.

JAWS Cursor mode: This cursor acts like a mouse pointer does. You can access any part of the screen without having to use hotkeys. Press the minus key on the number keypad to activate it.

Virtual PC Cursor: This cursor loads by default in HTML documents. The Virtual PC cursor works in much the same way that the PC cursor does, using JAWS navigation commands to read pages containing links and frames. One difference is that, unlike the PC cursor, there is no visual indication on the area of the screen that is being affected. Another difference is that text is read in one uninterrupted stream, whether the text appears on the screen or not.

Navigation keys:

Use arrow, tab and hotkeys to navigate. Instructions on how to do so appear below.

If English is not your native language, you can switch JAWS to the language with which you are most comfortable: Navigate to the Language menu of JAWS using the right arrow key; find Synthesizer Language in this menu by using the down arrow key; scroll this submenu with the arrow key and select your native language.

Please note that JAWS hotkeys supersede any hotkeys associated with other applications. If you are accustomed to using a certain hotkey in an application like MSWord, for example, but JAWS uses the same hotkey for another purpose, the JAWS hotkey will be activated and the other application hotkey will not work. This has proven to be the case especially in web-based email services like Yahoo and Hotmail (patrons who are blind will not experience these problems if they use something like Outlook Express which we have installed on the adaptive machines).

Hotkeys-Overview:

There are several ways to find general and specific JAWS hot-keys for PC navigation:

• You can refer to the JAWS Help Manual - Press insert-J to bring up the JAWS application; press Alt-F to open the File menu; press the right arrow key to find the Help menu; press enter to open the manual
• You can refer to the JAWS Keyboard Manager - navigate to the Utilities menu in JAWS using the right arrow key; find Keyboard Manager in this menu by using the down arrow key; a window will pop up with a list of applications on the left; scroll these applications and select the appropriate application. The hot-keys for that particular application appear on the right side of the screen window. Note: this is not as user-friendly or useful as the JAWS Help Window for major applications explained below.
• You can use Keyboard Help Mode: Press Insert-I to toggle in and out of Keyboard Help Mode. Press any key or combination of keys and JAWS will give a brief, if any, description of what the key(s) function is. To get a more detailed description press the key twice rapidly.
• Use Screen Sensitive Help: Press Insert-F1. Explains what is on the screen.
• Use JAWS Help Window for major applications: Press Insert-F1 and then F1 again
• Use JAWS Hot Keys: Press Insert-H
• Use Hot Keys for open applications: Press Insert-W

Here are some of the more popular Hot Keys for navigating the Windows screen and text documents:

Say Title : INSERT+T
Say Dialog box (tab order) : INSERT+B
Switch Applications : ALT+TAB
Say All : INSERT+DOWN ARROW
Say Word: INSERT+NUM PAD 5
Say Prior Word : INSERT+LEFT ARROW
Say Next Word: INSERT+RIGHT ARROW
Say Sentence: ALT+NUM PAD 5
Say Prior Sentence: ALT+UP ARROW
Say Next Sentence: ALT+DOWN ARROW
Say Prior Paragraph: CTRL+UP ARROW
Say Next Paragraph: CTRL+DOWN ARROW
Interrupt Speech: CTRL
Access the Menu Bar: ALT
List System Tray Icons: INSERT+F11
Say System Time: INSERT+F12
Screen Sensitive Help: INSERT+F1
Keyboard Help: INSERT+1
JAWS Help for Applications: INSERT+F1 (pressed twice quickly)
Window Keys Help : INSERT+W
Say Help Window : INSERT+CTRL+DOWN ARROW
Say Window Prompt and Text: INSERT+TAB
JAWS Window: INSERT+J
Shut Down JAWS: INSERT+F4

Note: An active window can always be closed by pressing the ESC key.

Using JAWS to Navigate on the Web

Note: the application works best with Internet Explorer.

Here are a series of hotkeys for navigating webpages using JAWS:

Read letters and words:
Read next character- Right arrow
Read previous character- Left arrow
Read current character- Num Pad 5
Read next word- Insert + Right Arrow
Read previous word- Insert + Left Arrow Read current word- Insert + Num Pad 5

Read lines and sentences:
Read next line- Down Arrow
Read prior line- Up Arrow
Read current line- Insert + Up Arrow
Read next sentence- Alt + Down Arrow
Read prior sentence- Alt + Up Arrow
Read current sentence- Alt + Num Pad 5

Read paragraphs and pages:
Read next paragraph- Ctrl + Down Arrow
Read prior paragraph- Ctrl + Up Arrow
Read current paragraph- Ctrl + Num Pad 5
Move to top of page- Ctrl + Home
Move to bottom of page- Ctrl + End
Read to end of page- Insert + Down Arrow

Read forms:
Moves to the first input field in the page and speaks it-Ctrl + Insert Home
If no form field is found, JAWS reports, "Input Field Not Found."
To move to next field in forms mode- Tab
When using the Tab key for navigation, the natural tab order is used, including any links that may appear between fields. As JAWS lands on the different controls, it announces the new control, such as a link or a field.
To move to previous field in Forms Mode- Shift + Tab
To exit Forms Mode and return to the Virtual PC cursor- Num Pad Plus

Read frames:
JAWS 4.5 is capable of identifying the presence of frames on a Web page and moving to the location of each frame. Use normal JAWS Web keystrokes for reading the content of the frame.
Announce the presence of frames on the page- Insert + F1
Bring up a dialog box containing a list of frames present on the page- Insert + F9 Use the Up/Down arrow keys to select a frame from the list and press ENTER. The focus will move to the frame selected and speak its content.
Move to next frame- Ctrl + Tab
Move to previous frame- Shift + Ctrl + Tab

Display all page links:
Quick display of all links on the active web page in their tab order- Insert + F7
Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to navigate the list and hear the link names.
Use the Enter key to go to a selected link.
ESC - closes the window

Address bar:
Move to and read address bar- Insert + A
Move JAWS cursor to address bar- Insert + A A (quickly)
Select address bar- Alt + D

Other commands:
Search page content- Ctrl + Insert + F
Next web page - Alt + Right Arrow
Previous web page- Alt + Left Arrow

Reformatting:
Complex web pages can be automatically reformatted for better screen reader access.
Press Insert + Z to turn off the Virtual PC cursor and then press Insert + F5 to reformat the screen.

If you need more help with JAWS, please either visit http://www.freedomscientific.com/fs_products/software_jaws80fea.asp or simply ask one of our lab consultants. They are specially trained on the use of this software.