Many questions should be answered about a new application to determine what customization is necessary. Before you write your first script, you should determine how JAWS works with the application without any customization.
The first place you should start your analysis is the main application window. Begin by activating the menu bar using the ALT key. Explore the main application window to determine if any of the controls can be accessed using TAB or SHIFT+TAB. Note any areas within the main application window that contain static text. You will also need to determine if any of the options in the menu or tool bars offer keyboard access. The following checklist gives you some initial areas to assess how well JAWS performs:
The above list gives you suggestions for reviewing the main application window of a new and unknown application. You may find that there are other items to check that are not contained on the list.
While exploring the application with the JAWS or Invisible Cursors, you may find graphical buttons that are not labeled. You can find out if the button has tool tip text associated with it. In order to have JAWS read tool tip text for a button when the JAWS Cursor is placed on it, you will need to enable the reading of tool tip text in the verbosity preferences found in Settings Center. By default, JAWS is configured not to read tool tip text.
After reviewing the main application window, you should then check each of the dialog boxes contained within the application. When the dialog box first opens, does JAWS speak the name and active control automatically? Note whether or not the TAB and SHIFT+TAB keystrokes move the focus from control to control. You should also note any areas within each dialog box that contain static text. You can use the following check list to assess the amount of information spoken by JAWS within dialog boxes:
After you have made an initial assessment of the application, you will need to look at information for each of the windows contained within. You can use the Script Utility Mode to determine things such as parent-child relationships, control ID values, window classes and more. You should review the main application window and each subsequent dialog box in much the same way as before. However, you will need to note window identification information for each control or window. The following checklist can help you review the application using the Script Utility Mode:
After you have completed a thorough review of the application, you can now begin to think about how best to customize JAWS to work with it. If you found non-standard window classes, you should go back through the application and reassign each non-standard window class to a class that JAWS recognizes. Keep in mind that once you reassign a non-standard class, that reassignment is used for each occurrence of the non-standard window class throughout the application. Many times, reclassifying non-standard window classes significantly improves the ability of JAWS to read window information automatically using the default settings. It is best to be certain that reclassifying windows has not caused unwanted behavior in other parts of the application.
Before you create scripts to read areas of static text within any of the application windows, try creating frames around the text first. Creating frames around static text that is not contained within it�s own window keeps from having to write scripts to access the information. You can then add frame events to monitor for changes within the boundaries of the frame and speak new text automatically when it appears. You can also attach a keystroke to the frame surrounding the text that will allow you to quickly read the information. Keep in mind though that frames are dependent on screen resolution and thus may not work correctly on all computers.
After you have tried frames and reclassifying non-standard window classes, you may find that you still need to create scripts for the application. Before you begin to look at the built-in functions used to create your scripts, there are a few things you should do.
Begin by using pseudo-code to list the steps your script should take to reach the desired outcome. Pseudo-code is nothing more than writing down the steps in short phrases that your script will need to complete the desired action. Write each step of the script down in a list. After you have written down the initial steps the script will need to execute, try to recreate those same steps with JAWS commands using the keyboard. You should also review the notes you made previously when you used the Script Utility Mode. You may be able to take advantage of the relationships between parent and child windows to access information within the application.
After you have either tried recreating the steps using the keyboard or reviewed the program structure, note any additional steps you had to take that are not listed in your pseudo-code. Now you can begin to look at the built-in functions you will need to use to create the script and achieve the desired outcome. You can follow this procedure for each script you need to write to customize JAWS to work with the application.