JAWS for Windows Version 4.0 Features and Enhancements
Reading in Say All
without Line Pauses:
JAWS 4.0 now includes
Say All without pausing at the end of each line. The setting is included
in the Configuration Manager under Text Processing. This setting is the
new default and makes reading smoother by only pausing at punctuation
while using Say All.
Rewind Feature:
For several years
now, JAWS has provided a way to skip ahead during Say All. While this
has been a great feature, we have had many requests to provide a rewind
also. The wait is over! During a Say All, INSERT+DOWN ARROW, you can now
skip forward by line with the RIGHT SHIFT and then skip back just as easily
with the LEFT SHIFT. Tap the SHIFT key 5 or 6 times and jump back 5 or
6 lines without interrupting the reading. Set your Text Processing to
Sentence or Paragraph and the SHIFT key will move you forward or back
by those increments as well. Not only does JAWS let you increase or decrease
your speech rate on the fly while reading, it is the first screen reader
to let you Fast Forward or Rewind in all applications.
Updated User Interface:
The JAWS Interface
has been updated with user friendly changes. There is a new Menu called
Options, which replaces File and Voices. In the Options menu, you will
find dialog choices including Basics, Voices, Braille Options, and the
Exit choice.
The Basics Dialog
contains the new Tutor and Access:
Keys options. See
below for further information on these new exciting features. As in any
of the JAWS dialogs, just a quick tour through the dialog and INSERT+F1
can provide you a quick overview of what it's is for and how it works.
INSERT+F1 Messages
now on Screen:
Since the first release
of JAWS, Trainers and users alike have praised the INSERT+F1 help. No
matter where you are, simply ask JAWS for help and it speaks a message.
Now in 4.0, JAWS presents this message on screen for easy and detailed
review with both Speech and Braille.
When you finish reading a message, choose the link in the message to review
the list of JAWS hot keys on screen. Press ESC at anytime to dismiss the
help messages and continue where you left off. Trainers, users, and now
even sighted users trying to learn JAWS and Windows from the keyboard
will love this feature. This new Virtual Viewer used with INSERT+F1 is
fantastic in Excel where Charts and other objects are brought to life
on the screen for both Speech and Braille users.
Personal Tutor while
Learning Windows:
JAWS now offers Tutor
mode to provide Keystrokes and quick navigation tips as you move through
Windows applications. On by default, the Tutor is found in the new Basics
Dialog. When you are comfortable with basic navigation commands, turn
it off or set it to custom messages only and hear just the messages you
or your trainer provided for extra help in a particular application. See
Prompt Creator/Modifier for information on Creating Custom Tutor Messages.
Access Key Announcement:
Now as you move through
Windows and your favorite programs, you will be learning the access keys
that help you quickly navigate and activate the controls and menus. You
can specify to hear all access keys, or choose to hear them in either
menus or Dialog boxes only. Determine the level of Access Keys you wish
to hear in the new Basics Dialog.
If you have turned
off your Tutor or Access Keys, then need just a quick review in a menu
or dialog, press INSERT+TAB. You will get a review of the information
where you are located and JAWS will tell you Tutor messages and Access
Keys that apply in that location.
All Voice Options
in Two Dialogs:
Now in the Options
Menu, you will find a dialog to make global adjustments to all voices
or a separate dialog where you make all the individual voice adjustments.
You will find an apply button in the individual voices dialog so you can
modify one voice after another without having to revisit the menus.
All new HTML Help:
The JAWS help system
is now moved into the modern day of HTML. Easy to navigate and reads like
a web page in Internet Explorer. Go to Help Topics and give it a try.
There are even complete glossary and Index options that are really helpful
for those trainers and new comers who don't have time to read everything.
JAWS 4.0 is setting a new standard for online Help!
Adjusting Verbosity
Settings Got Easier:
In JAWS 4.0, the INSERT+V
dialog now tells you the state of each item as you move through the list
of application specific settings. Press SPACEBAR to switch states as always
and then just press ENTER to return to your application.
Switching Synthesizers
on the Fly:
If you have more than
one synthesizer, JAWS 4.0 now let's you pop up a list box using CTRL+INSERT+S
that contains all the Synthesizers you installed. Arrow through the list
and press ENTER and it continues with your new synthesizer without missing
a beat.
Announces Number
of Items in Current Tree View level:
As you move through
Tree Views such as Windows Explorer, Windows Help, or your favorite Email
package, JAWS 4.0 automatically announces the number of items found in
the newly opened folder or book. As you navigate up and down in the tree
view, you will always be kept informed of your position within the list!
Selecting Text More
User Friendly:
Selecting text is
much more intuitive. When you select or unselect by characters and words,
it says selected after telling you the character or word. This makes it
much quicker to select text and confirms what you have selected as you
move within a line or sentence. On the other hand, if you are selecting
by line, paragraph, or page, you will be reminded that you are selecting,
and then hear the information that was selected. Either way you try it,
you will find it faster and it will help avoid costly mistakes while editing.
Microsoft's Office
XP support:
JAWS 4.0 now brings
all the power and features to access Office 97 and 2000 to Office XP.
You will also love the automatic Smart tag notification as you navigate
a Word document and the ability to quickly access the Context menu of
the Smart Tag with CTRL+SHIFT+S on the fly. Not sure where the Smart Tags
are located? Try ALT+SHIFT+S for a list and then press ENTER to instantly
jump to the location. Don't overlook this new Office Suite and the power
of JAWS to meet the challenge.
Acrobat Reader 5
- Faster and Easier:
We are making continual
improvements to Adobe Acrobat Reader 5 and in JAWS 4.0, it is now working
much faster. You will find that PDF documents load 10 times faster than
in JAWS 3.71. As you navigate forms in Adobe Acrobat Reader 5, you will
find JAWS doing a very good job at reading the prompts and letting you
fill in the information as if you were using an HTML form in Internet
Explorer. If MSAA is built into the form, it can now be read using INSERT+TAB
or you can choose to use MSAA by default in forms from the JAWS INSERT+V
dialog. Don't miss the demonstration of this feature on the What's New
Audio CD that ships with the JAWS 4.0 SMA packages.
Prompt Creator for
Easier Customizing:
Anyone can now modify
a control's prompt in speech and Braille. If JAWS does not recognize or
find a prompt, or maybe it says the wrong thing, fix it on the fly without
scripting.
Choose "Prompt
Create" from the INSERT+F2 dialog or just press CTRL+INSERT+TAB.
The Prompt Creator opens and you can type in a modified or new spoken
prompt. Press ENTER and choose a different Braille prompt that takes up
less room on your notetaker or Display. And if that is not enough, how
about your own custom tutor message to help teach the user what to do!
Never before has it been so quick and easy. Don't Miss the demonstration
on the What's new Audio CD.
FRAME Viewer for
Easier JAWS Customizing:
Frame Viewer is one
of the most significant new features in JAWS 4.0. This tool is designed
to help customize how JAWS reacts and works with various applications.
While Scripting has become a valuable tool in customizing JAWS, its potential
benefit has often been limited by the Scripting knowledge and skills of
those attempting to do the customization work. With the introduction of
Frame Viewer, we are confident that great numbers of individuals will
quickly become experts at customizing JAWS for many situations in School,
at home, and on the job.
Within Frame Viewer,
frames are now visible on the screen. TAB between active frames, press
the APPLICATIONS key to access the frame's properties and other features,
or even drag the borders of the frame with a mouse. Regardless of the
users skill in the use of JAWS, Frame Viewer will create opportunities
for vast numbers of individuals to become experts at gaining access to
poorly designed applications.
Braille Settings
from the Main JAWS Window:
The New Braille Options
dialog now lets users change port and parity settings or even add additional
displays for JAWS. This new dialog also gives users a quick way to get
into the advanced settings of the Configuration Manager to explore and
set up further options mentioned below.
On the Fly Braille
Settings:
Press CTRL+INSERT+B
to open the Adjust Braille Options dialog. The most frequently used Braille
options are all listed. Just move to a setting and press SPACEBAR to temporarily
toggle the setting. Forgot the Braille Keystroke to Toggle a Braille Feature
on or off? Now you will find all the items quickly and easily in a single
list.
Define Structured
Mode:
For years now, JAWS
users with Braille Displays have benefited from information that JAWS
has sent, depending on the application, and area within the application
you are located in at any given moment. With the release of 4.0, you are
given the opportunity to customize the information, along with the order
of the information being sent to the display, for the first time, without
opening a script file. Easily modify how a List box is represented, or
how a Scroll Bar symbol is displayed. In programs such as Excel, you can
now determine which information, and in what order, you would like it
sent to your display. You can even determine how this will vary from one
spreadsheet to the next. This feature let's you decide if the contents
of the cell appear first, or if you see the column or row headings followed
by cell contents and row total.
Braille Markings
and Attributes Displayed:
JAWS 4.0 now offers
you the opportunity to identify many attributes including colors that
will be indicated with dots 7 and 8 as you navigate. What's really great
in JAWS now is that you can find out which attributes are being displayed,
no matter how many there might be at a particular location. For example,
if you had text that was bold, underline, and italic and you set these
attributes as marked in Braille, just switch to attribute display and
have each attribute shown in rotation on your display.
New Power Point Support:
JAWS 4.0 is taking
Power Point to a new level. Whether you are designing or presenting, JAWS
is opening up new opportunities. During a Slide Show, press CTRL+SHIFT+N
and read your presenters notes in Braille as the audience sees your slides.
With a click of a cursor routing key on the display, draw the audiences
attention to one of your bullet points with one of the Power Point Screen
Pointers. Setting the standard, JAWS continues to provide access to the
most popular tools being used in Schools and business today.
New Excel Support
in Speech and Braille:
We have added many
great new features that make Excel and JAWS even more powerful. Read the
visible part of the current row with INSERT+UP ARROW, or read the visible
part of the current column with CTRL+INSERT+UP ARROW. Read the part of
the row to the left of the current cell, or the part of the row to the
right of it. Read the part of the column above the current cell or the
part of the column below it. And if you have row or column titles set,
these are read as well. If you move to a monitor cell with CTRL+SHIFT+M,
quickly move back to where you were at with CTRL+SHIFT+APOSTROPHE.
Why reconfigure settings
for each spreadsheet? JAWS now provides a choice between exact or best
match for the spreadsheet settings you use. So if you fill out an Excel
report each week and all that changes in the title is the date, select
best match from the INSERT+V verbosity dialog, and your settings for row
and column titles and monitor cells are used each time.
JAWS 4.0 now provides
several Braille modes in the Verbosity dialog to make Excel work for you.
Display spreadsheet information as you always have, or switch to Row Mode
and display up to nine cells in the current row around the current cell.
Switch to Column Mode and view up to nine cells in the current column
surrounding the current cell. This provides you information that is hard
to beat with speech.
Most impressive of
all is how Excel Charts and Graphs now come to life on a Braille Display
for the first time with the JAWS INSERT+F1 and the new Virtual Viewer.
While these objects are still considered totally inaccessible by all other
screen readers, JAWS 4.0 users are communicating directly with these objects
and accessing information beyond compare.
Smart Tags in Word
XP:
Smart Tags make it
easier for you to complete tasks with many steps to them. Just select
the Smart Tag you need and Word does the rest. And JAWS is right there
to provide you access to this exciting new feature.
Move your cursor over a Smart Tag and JAWS announces it. Press ALT+CTRL+S
and a context menu with options specific to the Smart Tag is opened. Select
the option you need and that's all there is to it. If you know there are
Smart Tags in your document, but aren't sure just where they are at, just
press ALT+SHIFT+S and they are all listed. Select the one you need and
you are moved to it. Then press ALT+CTRL+S to open the context menu for
the Smart Tag.
All New Laptop Keyboard
Layout:
For years, JAWS has
provided a command set optimized for use with Laptop systems. Now, we
have taken this to a new level! JAWS 4.0 includes a full Laptop keyboard
layout substituting the CAPS LOCK key in many commands that used to use
the ALT key or INSERT. This makes it far easier to quickly access all
JAWS features - without moving your hands off those typing keys. Even
if you don't have a laptop, this keyboard layout may suit all your needs!
Completely New Basic
Training Tapes:
As JAWS has grown
and developed over the years, Freedom Scientific has continually provided
the best in support for both current and new users of this exciting screen
reader. With JAWS 4.0, the Basic Training Tapes have been totally rewritten
and recorded. Learn about JAWS, Windows, and how to take advantage of
the other types of help we provide to make your experiences with JAWS
as useful as possible.
Finnish added to
Eloquence:
Finnish now appears
as one of the supported Eloquence languages.
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