Languages with JAWS on the Internet

JAWS provides language switching with any supported speech synthesizer. When a Web page author indicates the language of an entire page, or just part of a page, if the synthesizer in use supports that language, JAWS uses the language specific version of the synthesizer to speak the text. The synthesizer must support the language of the information.

If the synthesizer does not support the language specified for a page or part of a page, JAWS still indicates the language of the information.

To demonstrate automatic language detection, we start in English and write:
"My computer speaks English."

Then we write the same sentence in French,
mon ordinateur parle français
and then in Spanish,
mi computadora habla español
and in Portuguese,
meu computador fala o português
and the same in German,
mein computer spricht deutsch
and in Russian,
Мой компьютер говорит по-русски
and in Finnish,
Tietokoneeni puhuu suomea
and in Italian,
il mio computer parla italiano
and in Greek,
Ο υπολογιστής μου μηλάει ελληνικά,
and in Polish,
Mój komputer mówi po polsku
and in Chinese,
我的電腦說中文

JAWS switches between the languages very smoothly, when it can. If JAWS only said, "Russian," "Greek," or "Polish," instead of reading the text in those languages, this indicates that your speech synthesizer (Eloquence, for example) does not support those languages. If you are using Vocalizer Expressive, it indicates that you do not have those particular voices installed.

JAWS includes a utility that makes it easy to seamlessly sample and install or remove Vocalizer Expressive 2 premium voices. To install Vocalizer Expressive voices, do the following:

  1. Press INSERT+J to open the JAWS application window.
  2. Press ALT+O to open the Options menu, expand the Voices submenu, and then select Add/Remove Voices to open the Add/Remove Vocalizer Expressive Voices utility.
  3. In the Select a Language combo box, select the language that you want to download voices for.
  4. In the Premium Voices list box, press the SPACEBAR on the voices you want to install. You can select as many voices as you like. To hear a sample of the current voice before deciding if you want to select it, press ALT+P.
  5. Select the Install Selected Voices button to begin the installation.

Alternatively, you can visit the Synthesizers download page to locate more free voices and languages for your use.