Freedom Scientific released a new version of its popular screen reader JAWS today. This marks the first JAWS release to use the new version numbering system. Instead of a version number, each JAWS release is now numbered by year, making this JAWS version 2018. New zoomtext and fusion releases expected later this year will also follow the new numbering scheme, making it easier for users to know which versions are intended to go together. Jaws 2018 introduces numerous new features.
First, Microsoft Edge, the standard windows 10 web browser, now has limited JAWS support. Currently, highlighting and copying from the vertual buffer in Edge is not supported, though Freedom Scientific have tried to make using edge as familiar as possible for existing Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox users. Navigation by common elements (links, headings, landmarks etc) is possible, and improvements to Edge and JAWS are planned for future releases.
The JAWS installer has been rewritten to be more streamlined, is now self-voicing, and uses fewer dialogues. Users should notice improvements to download speeds.
As developers become more aware of accessibility standards, many are changing how webpages are rendered, adding more navigable elements to their webpages. While this is undoubtedly an improvement, sometimes users simply want to hear as little information as possible not directly related to the content of the page. Now, thanks to new verbosity options in the virtual buffer, users can choose between three levels of verbosity, low, medium, or high, to configure their web browsing experience. Users can even choose custom verbosity levels for individual websites. According to the Freedom Scientific website, the three levels provide the following functionality:
• High - JAWS speaks the most information about elements on the page or inside a document. Everything is announced at this level.
• Medium - This level is configured to provide the best user experience on most pages and documents and is the default verbosity level.
• Low - JAWS speaks as little structural information as possible about the elements on a page or inside a document.
Windows mobile voices, included standard with Windows 10, are now available for use with JAWS 2018. These voices can be selected in the select a voice dialogue box, and new voices can be downloaded by installing new language packs in windows 10.
Many other improvements are available in this release, including the ability to read dialogue boxes in windows 10 applications, support for viewing spelling errors in google docks documents, Acronym Expansion Included When Spelling a Word, and improvements to JAWS language switching. Full documentation of all the new features and enhancements included in JAWS 2018 can be found on the Freedom Scientific website
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Tangela Mahaffey is a barely reformed English Major currently residing in Colorado. She reads entirely too many fantasy books and takes almost nothing seriously, including herself. She loves technology, music, writing, puns, and cats. She can be reached on twitter @tmmahaff
