04 Starting JAWS

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This learning module is entitled, “Starting JAWS.” This lesson teaches you how to start the JAWS for Windows program from the Windows Desktop and from within the Start Menu.

Currently, I’m sitting at my computer.  I have just turned it on and it is loading the programs necessary to start Windows.  Remember, in the previous lesson we checked the option that asked if we wanted JAWS to be run before any other programs, so JAWS should come up speaking momentarily


JAWS for Windows is ready.  Enter network password dialog.  Enter your network password Dialog.  Enter your network password for Microsoft networking period.  Password colon edit.  Type in text, ALT+P.

Please note that after the introductory announcement that JAWS is ready, your JAWS may say something different.  Don't worry, after completing this lesson, we will all be at a common starting point.  

My computer is networked, or connected, to several other computers.  When a computer is connected in this manner, individuals are required to verify that they have authorization to be using this computer.  This is called a logon screen, and that's why I'm being prompted for a password.  Obviously, if your computer is not connected to a network, you will not receive this message.  I’m going to go ahead and type in my password here.

Star Star Star Star Star Star.

And press the ENTER key.

ENTER.  Taskbar.  To move through items, press LEFT or RIGHT ARROW.  Desktop, list view, not selected my computer, one of eleven.  To move to items use the arrow keys.

Okay, I hear now what is called the Desktop list view.  Because every computer can be setup differently, you may or may not have arrived at the Desktop as I just did.  The first thing I'm going to do is show you how to reach the Desktop, which will take us to that common starting point I talked about earlier.  If you arrived on the Desktop, as I did, just wait for a moment, you are in good shape.  If you did not arrive on the Desktop, here is what you can do to get there immediately.  Even if you are already on the desktop, pressing this key combination will not hurt, so you can go ahead and do it with me for practice.

We will use the left Windows Logo Key, the second key in from the left on the bottom row of your keyboard, as a shift key.  Then, while holding this key down, we will press the letter M and then release both keys.

I’ll press LEFT WINDOWS + M now.

Left Windows+M.  Desktop.  List view, not selected.  My computer, one of eleven.  To move to items, use the arrow keys.

We have successfully reached the Desktop.  The Desktop is a list of commonly used Windows programs, organized in rows and columns.  You can use your UP, DOWN, LEFT, or RIGHT ARROW keys to navigate the list, or you can navigate by pressing the first letter of the program you wish to choose.  In this case, I’m going to press the letter J for JAWS.

J, JAWS 4 point5.

On your computer, it may be necessary to press J more than one time to arrive at the JAWS program.  This is because pressing J tells the computer to move to the next program icon starting with that letter.  So, keep pressing J until you land on the JAWS program icon, as I am.

Why do we want to be on the JAWS program icon at all?  Haven't we already arrived at our common starting point?  Well yes, we have gotten to the Desktop, and this is fine for people who want JAWS to start talking every time their computer is turned on.  However, let’s say I’m using a family computer, and not everybody that uses this particular computer needs JAWS.  In that case, JAWS would probably not be setup to begin talking each time we start Windows.  How then could a blind user tell JAWS to start talking?

This can be done by creating a hotkey to launch the JAWS program.  After Windows has finished loading, you would simply press this hotkey and JAWS for Windows would begin speaking.  Even if you are the only person using this computer, and you want JAWS to start speaking each time the machine is turned on, its still a good idea to have a hotkey set up for JAWS.

Let’s take a look at how to set up such a hotkey.  Right now, I'm on the Windows Desktop, and the focus is on the JAWS icon.  Objects on the Desktop are frequently called shortcuts or icons, and when you have chosen one of these icons, it is referred to as being selected.  That's why, when JAWS first takes you to the Desktop, it says not selected, and then announces the icon you're on.  JAWS is letting you know that, at present, nothing on the Desktop is highlighted.

Now, I'm going to press a key combination that will allow me to setup a keystroke for JAWS.  This key combination is ALT+ENTER. 

ALT ENTER.  JAWS properties dialog, shortcut page. Target type: Application Target: Edit C:\JAWS451\JFW.EXE Type in text, ALT+T.

The first thing I hear is that I land in what’s called a target page.  This is what is referred to as a multi-page dialog box.  Don't worry about what it is called for right now though, as we'll talk more about dialogs later on in this tutorial.  Now, if you didn’t land where I did, you can simply press the key combination CONTROL + TAB.  I’ll go ahead and do that now.

CONTROL+TAB.  General page. Attributes: Read - only checkbox not checked. To check, press SPACEBAR, ALT+r.

I hear that I’m placed on the General page.  I'm going to press CONTROL+TAB again to move back to the Shortcut page.

CONTROL+TAB.  Shortcut page. Target type: Application. Target: Edit C:\JAWS40\JFW.EXE Type in text, Alt+T.

Now I've been placed right back on the shortcut page.  This is where we began.  If you're not at this point, please press CONTROL+TAB until you're there with me.

Now, the only item or field that I want to change is the one asking me for a shortcut key.  To get to this field, I'm going to press the TAB key twice.  

TAB.  Start in colon edit c:\JAWS451 Type in text, Alt+S.
TAB.  Shortcut key colon hotkey none.  To define the hotkey, type the keystroke combination.

This is where we need to specify our shortcut or hotkey combination. 
I’m going to simply press the letter J.

J.

Now, you may be asking yourself, "Does this mean that the computer is going to launch JAWS every time I press the letter J?"  The answer, of course, is "No."  When you're creating a shortcut, the computer assumes that any letter you press will begin with both the CONTROL and the ALT keys.  So, in this example, the JAWS program will be started by pressing the key combination CONTROL+ALT+J.

If you want to confirm that this has been done, issue a Say Current Line command, which is INSERT + UP ARROW on the number pad.

CONTROL + ALT + J

Very good.  We've confirmed that the correct keystroke has been assigned.  Now, let me show you one additional thing about this dialog box.  Press your TAB key.

TAB.  Run colon combo box normal window. To change the selection, use the arrow keys, ALT+R.

In Windows, the term “run” indicates that you are starting a program.  In this case, we're located over an item that tells Windows how we want this program to be run.  For JAWS, the normal window choice in this list is fine.  However, if you’re setting up a shortcut keystroke for something like a word processor or your email program, you probably want to DOWN ARROW through the choices in this combo box until you land on the word Maximize.  I’m going to continue pressing TAB until I reach the OK button.

TAB Find Target To activate, use SPACEBAR or ENTER, ALT+F. TAB Change Icon dot dot dot button To activate, press SPACEBAR or ENTER, ALT+C. TAB OK button To activate, press SPACEBAR or ENTER.

When you're located in a dialog box, pressing ENTER on the OK Button saves your work.  If we didn't want to save the changes we had made, we could press the ESCAPE key.  I'll press the ENTER key to save my changes.

ENTER

Let's see if we have successfully created our keystroke.  However, be careful not to perform this test until you've completed the steps above.  What we're going to do now is unload JAWS from memory.  Basically, this turns JAWS off.  This won't be something that you do very often, unless JAWS needs to be reset for some reason.  I'm going to press the keys INSERT + F4 to bring up the “Close JAWS dialog box”.

INSERT+F4.  Unloading JAWS. Quit JAWS for Windows dialog, Are you sure you want to quit JAWS?  Press ENTER to quit now, or ESCAPE to cancel. OK button. To activate, press SPACEBAR or ENTER.

I am now going to press ENTER, and stop all speech.

ENTER.

Now then, let’s test the new hot key.  Can we get JAWS back?  Press CONTROL+ALT+J.  It may take a few seconds for JAWS to load, but we will hear an announcement when it does.  Note, in some operating systems you may have to reboot your computer before the new hot key will take effect.

JAWS for Windows is ready  

I’ll press the CONTROL key to silence speech.  We hear that JAWS has once again been loaded into memory.  

Congratulations, you have successfully created a shortcut for JAWS.  Later on, we'll talk about Microsoft Windows and its various components, such as the Start Menu, Taskbar, and Recycle Bin in more detail.  For the moment however, you have completed this lesson.  Our next lesson, The JAWS User Interface, will introduce you to JAWS' basic operations.  Experienced JAWS users might also want to listen to this section, because there are many new features and changes to explore in this window.

End of Starting JAWS.



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04 Starting JAWS