Jaws Word and Internet Commands with Examples

Jaws Word and Internet Commands with Examples

April 8, 2018

by Robert Sweetman

Sweetman Systems

Email: .

Phone: 818-893-5887

JAWS for Windows is a powerful screen reading program that can be configured to speak based on the user's personal preferences. I will start by explaining the screen reading commands, and then show how JAWS can be used in Microsoft Word and on the Internet. I will end with some of the new features that have been added in JAWS 2018.

In addition to JAWS commands, it is important to know Windows commands as well as Commands and procedures for use in Microsoft Word. For this reason, I have included techniques for use in Microsoft Word such as creation of a Table of Contents from headings.

Commands for Reading the Screen

Speech Rate, Rewind, and Cursor Commands

JAWS Help Commands

Internet Commands

MouseOvers

Miscellaneous JAWS Commands that Assist in Use of Windows

Assigning a Hot Key to JAWS

Laptop Keystrokes

Working with Microsoft Word

Word Commands for Moving Around a Document

Proofreading Documents

Saving Your Work in Microsoft Word

Using Text Analyzer to Locate Inconsistencies When Using Microsoft Word

Commands for Selecting Text in Microsoft Word

Commands for Cut, Copy and Paste

Marking and Selecting Blocks of Text in MS Word or on the Internet

Returning to a Marked Place in a Document or on the Internet

Reading Tables in Microsoft Word or on the Internet

Using the Table Layered Keystroke Command

Opening Documents and Changing Format in MS Word

Use of Heading Styles in Microsoft Word

The Power of Headings

Quick Key Navigation Commands for Use with JAWS

Use of Quick Keys for Locating and Correcting Spelling Errors

Use of the Virtual Ribbon Bar

Turning the Virtual Ribbon Bar on and Off

Using Research It

Using Research It to Locate Books with Bookshare

Unpacking the Bookshare Book

Using FSReader to Read the Bookshare Book

Updating Training Materials for JAWS

JAWS Highlights

JAWS Command Search

Semi-Auto Forms Mode for the Internet

Enhanced Convenient OCR for Image-Only PDF Documents

Copying Recognized Text to a Word document

JAWS Support for MathML

More Voices Option Added to the JAWS Help Menu

Focus Braille Display Command Available for Panning

New Features Added in JAWS 2018

Speech on Demand

Unmute Sound Card Feature

Screen Shade Feature

Reviewing the Layered Keystroke Commands

New Verbosity Options for the Virtual Cursor

New Keystroke for Locating Spelling Errors in Google Docs

Learning About New JAWS Updates and Improvements

Helpful Tips

Showing File Extensions

Quickly Adding Footnotes or Endnotes to a Document in Word 2016

Commands for Reading the Screen

Keyboard Help:INSERT+1. This is a toggle key. The first time you press it, it turns on keyboard help. Press it a second time to turn off keyboard help. When keyboard help is turned on, you can press any key or JAWS command to learn its function.

Say Window Title:Insert+T. Speaks the title of the document or web page that you are on, and also lets you know which application is running. For this reason, it is often referred to as the “Where Am I” command.

Say Character:Numpad 5. Speaks the character under the cursor. If you tap Numpad5 twice quickly, it speaks the military rendering. This is helpful if you didn’t understand the character spoken; for example, whether JAWS said B or D.

Say Prior Character:Left Arrow.

Say Next Character:Right Arrow.

Say Word:Insert+Numpad 5. Speaks the word where the cursor is located.

Spell Word:Insert+Numpad 5 pressed twice quickly. Spells the word where the cursor is located.

Say Prior Word:Insert+Left Arrow. Moves left one word and speaks it.

Say Next Word:Insert+Right Arrow. Moves right one word and speaks it. It can be used to move through a document one word at a time.

Say Current Line:Insert+Up Arrow. Speaks the line that you are on. It is used in Microsoft Word, in Windows and on the Internet. It speaks the line that has focus.

Say Prior Line:Up Arrow. Moves up one line and speaks it. You can use either the standard Up Arrow key, or the Numpad Up Arrow which is the 8 key on the number pad.

Say Next Line:Down Arrow. Moves down one line and speaks it. You can use either the standard Down Arrow key, or the NumPad Down Arrow which is the 2 key on the number pad.

Say Sentence:Alt+Numpad 5. Reads the current sentence. This is very helpful when you are trying to determine whether your sentence is correct grammatically.

Say Prior Sentence:Alt+Up Arrow. Moves to the prior sentence and speaks it.

Say Next Sentence:Alt+Down Arrow. Moves to the next sentence and speaks it. This is helpful when proofreading a document.

Say Paragraph:Control+Numpad 5. Reads the current paragraph.

Say Prior Paragraph:Control+Up Arrow. Moves to the previous paragraph and speaks it.

Say Next Paragraph:Control+Down Arrow. Moves to the next paragraph and speaks it. Allows you to quickly skim through documents.

Say from beginning of line to Cursor:Insert+Home. Reads from the beginning of the line to the cursor position. To execute this command with one hand, press the JAWS key with your thumb and use your index finger to press the Home key on the NumPad, (Home is the 7 key on the number pad).

Application. Suppose that you are typing something and are interrupted by a phone call. The Insert+Home command allows you to quickly determine where you left off.

Say from Cursor to end of line:Insert+Page Up. Reads the text from the cursor position to the end of the current line. For this command, use the Page Up key on the number pad which is Numpad 9. This keystroke will alert you if there is text to the right of the cursor.

Say All:Insert+Down Arrow. Reads through a document without stopping. Reading will continue until you reach the bottom of the document, or until you tap the Control key to stop reading. Use the JAWS key with the Down Arrow on the number pad.

Speech Rate, Rewind, and Cursor Commands

The following commands allow you to control the JAWS speech rate on the fly. You can also use JAWS to rewind, fast forward, and track different cursors.

Increase Voice Rate during say all:Page Up. This command can be used to quickly increase speech rate as you are reading.

Decrease Voice Rate during say all:Page Down. This command decreases speech ratewhile JAWS is reading.

Increase Voice Rate when not in say all:Alt+Control+Page Up. Increases speech rate when you are not reading. This is a temporary rate increase. When you change to another application, the speech rate will return to the default.

Decrease Voice Rate when not in say all:Alt+Control+Page Down.

Restore Normal Voice Settings:Insert+Escape. This keystroke refreshes the screen, and also returns the JAWS speech rate to the default. As of the March 2018 update, Insert+Escape will unmute the sound card if it has been muted.

Increase speech rate and save settings permanently: Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Page Up. This is a quick way to increase the speech rate and set it as the new default.

Decrease speech rate and save settings permanently: Ctrl+Windows+Alt+Page Down.

Skip to the next unit when in say all: Press Right Arrow. If you are reading continuously, this keystroke skips to the next line, sentence, or paragraph depending on how the Say All reading unit is set. The default setting for JAWS is to read all lines without pauses when in Say All or continuous reading mode. Thus, if you tap the Right Arrow while reading continuously, JAWS will skip to the next line and continue reading. Continue pressing Right Arrow while reading to quickly skim through a document.

Note. To change the reading unit, press Insert+F2 and then arrow down to the Jaws Settings Center and press Enter. Press Down Arrow one time to get out of the Search field. Navigate down through the tree view until you get to the Say All options. Or, you can just press the letter V until you get to Say All options. Here, arrow down to the Say All Section and press Right Arrow to open the tree view. Select the “Say All Reads By,” option and use the Spacebar to cycle through the available options. When you get to the option that you want, press Enter to accept it.

Skip to the prior unit when in “say all” mode:Press Left Arrow. This keystroke lets you hear the last line spoken without requiring you to stop continuous reading.

Interrupt Speech:Press Control. If you are in “Say all”mode, you can tap the Control key to stop reading.

PC Cursor:Numpad Plus. Turns on the PC cursor, which is the default reading and editing cursor for JAWS. When you are working in a program like Microsoft Word, the PC cursor is sometimes referred to as the writing cursor, because it highlights the point where you are editing.

JAWS Cursor:Numpad Minus. Turns on the JAWS cursor. The Minus key is at the top right of the number pad on a standard full-sized keyboard. The JAWS cursor has a lower pitch, and it actually moves the mouse around on the screen. For this reason, it is sometimes called the Mouse cursor. It lets you read things on the screen without moving the PC cursor. It also lets you read portions of the screen that you cannot get to with the standard PC cursor. For example, the JAWS cursor allows you to read items that are located on the Menu bar or toolbars.

Route JAWS to Pc:Insert+Numpad Minus. Turns on the JAWS cursor, and moves it to the location of the PC cursor.

Route Pc to JAWS Cursor:Insert+Numpad Plus. Moves the PC cursor to the position of an item that was located while browsing with the JAWS cursor. This command can only move the PC cursor to a location that is accessible to it.

JAWS Help Commands

Say Current Hot Key:Press Numpad 5 when on a menu item. Speaks the hot key that will open a menu or dialog.

Application. Press Alt+F to open the File menu in Microsoft Word and arrow down to the Save As dialog. Press Numpad5; JAWS will say the letter A. This tells you that, any time you are in a Microsoft Word document, you can press Alt+F followed by the letter A to quickly open the Save As dialog.

Say Default button when in a dialog:Press Insert+E when a dialog is open. For example, if you have made changes to a Word document and press Control+F4 to close the document, or Alt+F4 to close the program, JAWS will ask you if you want to save the changes. To hear the default button, press Insert+E. JAWS will say Yes. Now you know that, if you press Enter, you will save the changes that were made to the document. Insert+E can be used to determine the default button in many Windows dialogs.

Open Combo Box:Alt+Down Arrow. This is most often used to open a combo box on the Internet. For example, suppose that you are filling out a form on the Internet and come to a combo box that is used to select your state. Pressing Alt+Down arrow will open the combo box. By way of example, arrow down to California so that it will be selected; use the Tab key to continue moving through the dialog. After selecting an item, you can also close the combo box by pressing Alt+Up Arrow.

Close Combo Box:Alt+Up Arrow. This closes a combo box and selects the item that you have selected using the arrow keys.

Screen Sensitive Help:Insert+F1. Brings up a description of the document or application along with a short list of shortcuts that are available. You can review the description using your arrow keys. When done reviewing the description, press the Escape key to return to the point where you were working.

Read Word in Context:Insert+C. This is used most often with the Spell checker in Microsoft Word or Outlook. For example, press F7 to start the spell checker. If the program finds a misspelled word, the word will be spoken, followed by a suggested spelling. To hear the context, press Insert+C. JAWS will read the sentence in which the misspelled word was located.

JAWS Help for Applications:Press Insert+f1 twice quickly. If you are in an application like Microsoft Word, pressing Insert+F1 twice quickly will open the JAWS Applications Help program. JAWS will say “Topic Word”. Press the F6 key to get to a document pane that is actually like a web page. You can then press the H key to move through headings. Or press Insert+Down Arrow, (the Say All command), to read all of the JAWS information available for the Microsoft Word application. Pressing F6 returns you to the tree view where you can use your arrow keys to select another application for which there is JAWS help. When done, press Alt+F4 to close the help program and return to the application in which you were working.

Hotkey help:Insert+H. This opens the virtual viewer and gives a quick overview of JAWS hot keys that are available for the application in which you are working. You can use your arrow keys or the Say All command, (Insert+Down Arrow), to read about the JAWS keystrokes that are available. Press the Escape key to close the virtual viewer and return to the application in which you were working.

Window Keys Help:Insert plus W. This command opens the virtual viewer and provides a list of the application shortcut keys for the program that you are running. For example, press Insert+W while in Microsoft Word. A window will come up that contains a list of all of the Microsoft Word shortcut keys. When you are done reading about the shortcut keys available in Microsoft Word, press the Escape key to close the virtual viewer and return to the document.

JAWS window:Insert + J. Opens a Context menu with JAWS setup options if JAWS has been set to run in the System tray. Otherwise, it brings focus to the JAWS program window. If JAWS is set to appear in the system tray, pressing Insert+J opens a context menu where you can change JAWS settings. Just press Escape to close this list. If JAWS is not in the System Tray, pressing Insert+J opens the JAWS Window where you can use the menus to change options. If you are in the JAWS Window, you can press Windows+M to minimize the JAWS Window and return to the Desktop if using Windows 7. If you are using Windows 10, it is best to use Windows+D to return focus to the Desktop.

Quick Settings:Insert plus v. Allows you to change JAWS settings for an application. Select the setting that you want to change, and then press the Spacebar to change it. When done, press Enter to activate the OK button and close the JAWS quick settings window.

Internet Commands

When you are browsing the Internet, there is no editing cursor. So JAWS uses a virtual cursor for navigation. All screen reading commands interact with the “virtual cursor.” Thus, Insert+Up Arrow reads the line on which the virtual cursor is located.

Application. Suppose that you are on the Internet and some descriptive text is not spoken by the virtual PC cursor. Press Insert+Numpad Minus to route the JAWS cursor to the position of the virtual PC cursor. Use standard movement commandsto move around the screen until you locate the descriptive text. When done, press Numpad Plus to return to the virtual PC cursor.

Following, are commands and keystrokes that you can use when browsing the Internet.

Move to next or previous link:Press the Tab key to move to the next link. Press Shift+Tab to move to the previous link. When you get to the link that you want, press Enter to activate it.

List the links on a Page:Press Insert+F7. Once in the list, use your up or down arrow keys to move through the links. If you know the name of the link that you are looking for, you can press the first letter of the link to move to it quickly; then press Enter to activate it.

When you are in the list of links, you can press Tab one time followed by Enter to move to the link without activating it. When you are in the links list, pressing Home will move you to the first link on the page. Pressing End will move you to the last link on the page.