JAWS Training from Freedom Scientific

JAWS® screen reading software for Windows is a powerful accessibility solution that reads information on your screen using synthesized speech. JAWS provides many useful commands that make it easier to use programs, edit documents, and read Web pages. With a refreshable braille display, JAWS can also provide 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.

Freedom Scientific provides many different forms of JAWS training. Take advantage of our FREE training materials or come to one of our workshops.

What's New in JAWS 14 DAISY and MP3 Files Posted

Listen to Eric Damery, Vice President of Software Product Management, as he discusses What's New in JAWS 14. This just-released DAISY book is also available as an MP3 audio download.

Use Check for Updates to Find the What's New in JAWS 14 DAISY Book

JAWS 9 and later users can use the JAWS Check for Updates feature to find and download the What's New in JAWS 14 DAISY book. Here's how to use the Check for Updates feature:

Go to the JAWS Help menu and press P to choose Check for Updates.
A dialog box appears that contains a list of check boxes for all updates that are available for your version of JAWS, including any DAISY training materials.
Press UP or DOWN ARROW to move through the list.
Press SPACEBAR to check any items you want to download and install.
Then press ENTER to activate the Install button. The download begins and when finished, a new dialog box appears that asks if you want to install the files, with Yes and No buttons.
Choose Yes. After the installation is complete, the final dialog box appears that tells you that the updates were successfully installed.
Choose the OK button, and the dialog box closes. Now you can use FSReader to read the newly installed book. In FSReader, just press CTRL+O to reopen the File Open dialog box and choose the new book.

MP3 Version of the What's New in JAWS 14

If you would rather download the MP3 file, choose this link MP3 version of the What's New in JAWS 14.

You can also receive the JAWS Basic Training by requesting the JAWS demo DVD from your local dealer or from the Freedom Scientific Sales Department (1-800-444-4443 or 1-727-803-8000).

The JAWS 14 DAISY training materials contain narrated audio and text, as well as practice files. The Basic Training is also available in MP3 files. Download and extract them to the folder of your choice on your computer. The audio files were extracted from our JAWS Basic Training DAISY book for those of you who wish to listen to them in an alternate format. For example, you could put them on a portable MP3 player, or perhaps burn them to a CD for easy listening. Click this link to go to the JAWS MP3 files section on the training downloads page. If you want the whole text and any associated practice files (where available), please visit the Training Downloads page.

Install the JAWS Basic Training from the JAWS Program DVD

If you did not install the training materials during a JAWS or MAGic install, you can still install the ones that shipped with the program DVD. The number of books available on each DVD may change over time. When you insert your program DVD for JAWS 14 the first screen that appears has a choice of either installing JAWS or MAGic, depending on the product you purchased. Choose the appropriate program. On the next screen choose the Training Materials button. After that, the next dialog box has a check box list of available training books on the DVD along with OK and Cancel buttons. Select the books you want to install and choose OK.

There are several different types of DAISY files located on the Freedom Scientific Web site. They include:

The JAWS, MAGic, and PAC Mate Basic Training
What's New for JAWS or MAGic
Topics of interest about various JAWS, MAGic, and PAC Mate features, such as an Introduction to Office 2007, Introduction to Windows® Vista®, Introduction to the Windows Mobile® Environment, Creating Accessible Excel® Forms, Skim Reading, Column and Row Titles in Excel, Custom Labels, PlaceMarkers, and much more

To install DAISY training materials downloaded from our Web site, press ENTER on the file name in Windows Explorer. A dialog box appears, asking if you want to install the DAISY files. Answer "Yes" and the installation begins. The training materials for JAWS and MAGic automatically install to the location where FSReader DAISY player knows to look for them for each product. The training materials for PAC Mate can be installed to a location of your choosing.

Keystrokes for JAWS in HTML and PDF Format

Visit the miscellaneous training files section for JAWS on the training downloads page to get a list of JAWS Keystrokes in either HTML or PDF format.

Surf's Up! Surfing the Internet with JAWS

Learn how to surf the Internet using JAWS. Teach yourself how to get the most out of the World Wide Web. Visit the Surf's Up! Web site to go to the live site to practice and learn or choose the link to download a copy of Surf's Up to install on your local hard drive. This is great for training situations where Internet access is not available!

Scripting Manual and the Freedom Scientific Developer Network (FSDN)

The JAWS Help system provides a great place to start learning how to write basic scripts. Freedom Scientific also provides a Basics of Scripting Manual you can download from the link to the training downloads page below. With this guide, you can learn more about writing scripts for Freedom Scientific products. Also be sure to check out our Script Writing workshops offered in Saint Petersburg and also available at your location.

The Basics of Scripting manual has been updated to coincide with the latest versions of JAWS. You will also find a few new sections along with a new chapter on Windows program structure. Learn about the basics of Windows hierarchy as well as how to use the Script Utility Mode in JAWS to explore Windows applications. The new sections include:

Nested If Statements
Compound If Statements
Looping
Windows Hierarchy
Reassigning Window Classes
The Home Row Utility
Customizing an Unknown Application
Debugging Script Files

The Freedom Scientific Software Developer Network (FSDN) contains a list of all the script functions that are built into JAWS screen reading and MAGic® screen magnification software. It also supports the latest PAC Mate features and several popular Pocket PC applications developed by and for Freedom Scientific. You may want to read through the Basics of Scripting Manual before tackling the FSDN.

Download the Basics of Scripting Manual and FSDN on the training downloads page.

Archives of Prior Versions of Training Materials

The training archives contain older material, but you may still find them useful. For the most recent materials, please check the DAISY and MP3 materials on the main training pages. Visit the archives section of the training downloads page for prior versions of our training materials.