[the-facts-machine] Jaws 18 Beta 3
- From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <the-facts-machine@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2016 16:11:14 -0400
BlankBelow are the direct download links for both 32 & 64 bit versions of the
J18 Beta 3 + what's new:
32 Bit:
https://jaws18.objects.cdn.dream.io/181834BEJ02X/J18.0.1834.400-enu-x86.exe
64 Bit:
https://jaws18.objects.cdn.dream.io/181834BEJ02X/J18.0.1834.400-enu-x64.exe
Enhancements in JAWS 18.0.1834 (Public Beta 3)
The following is a list of improvements made between Public Beta 2 and Public
Beta 3. Note that while many customer-reported enhancements are included
in this release, the following is a list of more notable changes.
list of 4 items
• You can now quickly toggle audio ducking by using the new layered keystroke,
INSERT+SPACEBAR, D. If this feature is off in Settings Center, which is
the default, it will turn it on. If it is on in Settings Center, it will be
turned off. The current setting will remain in effect until you press the
layered
keystroke again, or JAWS is restarted. The audio ducking toggle can also be
located using the Command Search feature (INSERT+SPACEBAR, J).
• JAWS 18 includes updated braille display drivers from Handy Tech. These new
drivers fix issues with braille input and language detection for messages
and introduces support for their latest displays.
• Resolved an issue where audio from other programs was continuing to be ducked
even when JAWS speech was turned off.
• Addressed multiple issues with the Dutch version of JAWS.
list end
Enhancements in JAWS 18.0.1811 (Public Beta 2)
The following is a list of improvements made between the first Public Beta and
Public Beta 2. Note that while many customer-reported enhancements are included
in this release, the following is a list of more notable changes.
Lower the Audio from Other Programs While JAWS is Speaking
In Windows 8 and later, you can now specify that the volume of audio from other
programs be lowered while JAWS is speaking using the Eloquence or Vocalizer
Expressive synthesizers as well as any SAPI5 synthesizer. This is commonly
known
as audio ducking. For example, if you are listening to music or playing
a video and JAWS begins talking, the volume of the music or video will be
slightly lowered so you can comfortably hear JAWS and then raised back to its
current level when JAWS stops talking.
For JAWS users with a braille display, you can also choose to mute JAWS speech
(INSERT+SPACEBAR, S) while listening to audio from other programs and still
use JAWS with braille output only, without the audio from the other programs
being reduced.
By default, audio remains at the same volume as JAWS speech. To change this,
there are two ways. The easiest way is to open the Startup Wizard from the
JAWS Help menu and select the Lower the volume of other programs while JAWS is
speaking checkbox located on the Speech Settings page.
Alternatively, you can change this option through Settings Center by doing the
following:
list of 5 items
1. Press INSERT+F2, and select Settings Center.
2. Press CTRL+SHIFT+D to load the JAWS default settings.
3. In the Search edit box, type "volume" without the quotes.
4. Press DOWN ARROW to move to "Lower the volume of other programs while JAWS
is
speaking" in the filtered search results in the tree view.
5. Press SPACEBAR to toggle this option.
list end
More Dynamic Braille Auto Advance Mode
Auto Advance Mode is equivalent to the Say All command for braille readers and
has been available in JAWS for many years. After performing the appropriate
command on your braille display (left and right selector buttons on the Focus
series displays), the braille display is automatically panned at a specific
speed through an entire document, automatically skipping over blank segments
and
blank lines. In prior versions, users could configure how long JAWS paused
before automatically panning the display. Once configured, the display would
pan
at the same speed regardless of how much information was on the display,
so most users would set the timer for optimal reading when the display was
full.
However, if the display panned to a short line containing only a few words
with the remaining cells being empty, which could occur more frequently with
larger displays such as those with 40 or 80 cells, this could be inconvenient
as the user would have to wait for the display to advance which could cause an
interruption with reading.
To improve the reading experience when using Auto Advance Mode, JAWS now pans
faster or slower depending on the length of the current braille line. The
display will pan faster for short lines so you can instantly move to the next
segment without having to wait once you have finished reading, but will pan
slower for longer lines up to a maximum length of time which is used when the
display is full. This maximum value can be configured through Settings Center
using the new Auto Advance Maximum Interval option. By default, it is set to
5000 milliseconds, or five seconds.
For example, if you have an 80 cell display and the current braille line takes
up the majority of the display, JAWS will pan the display after five seconds.
If the display pans to a short line containing only a few words and the
remaining cells are blank, JAWS will pan the display within a couple seconds.
Improved Performance when Using JAWS and ZoomText Together
JAWS 18 introduces greatly improved interoperability with the soon to be
released ZoomText 11. Users of both these industry leading products will
experience
more seemless operation when running JAWS 18 and ZoomText 11 together
regardless
of the order in which they are installed as well as which product is started
first.
When JAWS 18 and ZoomText 11 are running together, users should note the
following:
list of 4 items
• JAWS handles all speech functions except for ZoomText's App Reader feature
and
speech directly from ZoomText , such as ZoomText scripts.
• All ZoomText magnification features will continue to work as expected. In
addition, ZoomText will now visually highlight and track during a JAWS Say
All, or when navigating using the Virtual Cursor.
• If there is a keystroke conflict, the JAWS keystroke is used instead.
Otherwise, JAWS and ZoomText keystrokes will continue to work as expected.
• ZoomText handles all touch related functions.
list end
Since JAWS takes over all speech functions when running with ZoomText, this
also
includes mouse echo. If you want the mouse to echo as it is moved, you
will need to enable mouse echo in JAWS as it is off by default. The easiest way
is to press the layered keystroke, INSERT+SPACEBAR, E, O. However, this
is only temporary and will revert back to off if JAWS is restarted. If you
intend on using mouse echo all the time, you can permanently enable it by doing
the following:
list of 3 items
1. Press INSERT+F2, and select Settings Center.
2. Press CTRL+SHIFT+D to load the JAWS default settings.
3. From the tree view, expand the Mouse Echo group and press SPACEBAR on Enable
Mouse Echo.
list end
Touch Improvements
list of 9 items
• JAWS touch gestures are now included in the Command Search feature
(INSERT+SPACEBAR, J). If you search for a command that can be performed using a
keystgroke
or a gesture, both the keystroke and gesture are displayed in the search
results. You can also search for gesture-specific commands, such as toggling the
Touch Keyboard, or cycling through Touch Navigation, Text Reading, or Speech
Settings gesture modes. The JAWS Command Search only includes gestures if
JAWS detects that it is running on a touch screen enabled device.
• Addressed issues with using gestures to switch to an application in the task
switching window that displays when you swipe from the left edge of the
screen. When the task switcher opens, flick left or right through the list of
running applications and when you locate the one you want, double tap it
to move focus in to that app.
• Improved the experience when using touch gestures to log into Windows. If the
Login screen is active and focus is on the Password edit field, performing
a double tap will immediately open the touch keyboard allowing you to enter
your
password. Otherwise, flick right or explore until you locate the Password
edit field and then double tap to set focus and open the touch keyboard.
• JAWS no longer repeats the password label field multiple times on the Windows
10 Login screen.
• In response to user feedback, the default typing mode for the touch keyboard
is now Touch Typing, which means a key is typed as soon as the finger is
lifted from the keyboard button, or you perform a split tap.
• If the gesture mode is set to Text Reading, you can now perform a four-finger
swipe down to begin a Say All in the currently open document, similar to
pressing INSERT+DOWN ARROW on the keyboard. To stop reading, tap anywhere on
the
screen.
• In response to customer requests, added a new option to the Touch Cursor
group
in Quick Settings that allows you to choose the element type that is navigated
to when using the flick up and flick down gestures. The available choices are
Regions (selected by default), Headings, List Items, Buttons, Links, Groups,
and Form Controls. Note that not all apps support these navigation types, they
are typically available in modern apps and web applications.
• If you perform a JAWS touch gesture and then do a five-finger rotate to turn
off all JAWS gestures, resolved an issue where Windows-specific gestures
would no longer work until you restarted JAWS.
• Addressed an issue where the Minimize, Maximize, and Close buttons in the
title bar of an application were not being announced by JAWS when exploring
the screen.
list end
Google Docs
list of 6 items
• You can now type text into a document using Contracted Braille.
• Added speech and braille support for navigating tables inserted into
documents.
• Resolved several issues with JAWS not detecting live region updates.
• Addressed issues where JAWS was announcing extraneous information when
opening
menus.
• Resolved several issues with menus and focus.
• Resolved multiple issues where focus would unexpectedly jump to other places
while editing a document.
list end
JAWS
list of 7 items
• Addressed an issue where Settings Center changes made after migrating or
importing settings were not taking affect unless JAWS was restarted.
• If the mouse echo feature is disabled, addressed an issue where speech was
still being interupted when moving the physical mouse.
• In response to customer feedback, updated the Adding Special Symbols help
topic with the correct location for the Eloq.sbl file.
• If a Windows 10 alarm goes off, addressed an issue where the volume of JAWS
speech would unexpectedly be lowered to an unusable level, making it difficult
for a speech-only user to turn off the alarm.
• Addressed an issue that was observed in multiple applications where JAWS was
reading the wrong word when pressing CTRL+BACKSPACE to delete the prior
word.
• Added a new Hebrew Computer Braille table. You can set this as a preferred
table or set it as the primary table through the Braille Tables dialog box,
accessed by selecting the Computer Braille Tables option in Settings Center.
Braille output must be set to Computer Braille before you can make this change.
• A customer using the Spanish version of JAWS reported several English
messages
and keystroke conflicts. These have been resolved.
list end
Microsoft Outlook
list of 5 items
• Addressed an issue with Outlook 2016 where JAWS was not reading all of the
info in the meeting attendees list.
• If a calendar appointment lasts for more than one day, resolved a customer
reported issue where JAWS would not indicate the appointment after moving
past the first day.
• If a calendar event is set to all day in Outlook 2013, resolved a reported
issue with JAWS not reading the end date.
• Addressed a reported issue with the Outlook 2016 Office Theme combo box,
located in the Options dialog box, not being displayed properly in braille.
• Addressed a reported issue with the INSERT+F keystroke to read the font and
point size not saying anything when used in the message list in Outlook 2013
and 2016.
list end
Microsoft Word
list of 2 items
• Resolved an issue where JAWS would unexpectedly restart and Word 2013 would
become unresponsive when attempting to insert a comment.
• When using CTRL+PAGE UP and CTRL+PAGE DOWN to switch pages, addressed a
reported issue where JAWS was announcing the line from the prior page.
list end
Web Browsers
list of 7 items
• Added support for several ARIA 1.1 features including the aria-modal,
aria-current, and aria-placeholder attributes, as well as support for partially
visible tables.
• When navigating to links in Firefox with the mouse and the new mouse echo
feature is enabled, resolved an issue where JAWS was not announcing the text
of the link as it appears on the web page.
• Addressed an issue in Firefox where pressing INSERT+R was not toggling
Virtual
Cursor restriction as expected in web-based dialog boxes.
• If END is pressed in an edit field in Google Chrome, addressed an issue where
text in an edit field was no longer indicated in speech or braille.
• Resolved an issue with certain edit combos not being identified correctly in
the virtual buffer in both Firefox and Chrome.
• Resolved an issue where tab controls would appear twice in the virtual buffer
in Chrome.
• Addressed an issue with heading level indication in Chrome.
list end
Windows
list of 2 items
• Worked with Microsoft to resolve a reported issue with JAWS double speaking
when entering text into a Windows 10 command prompt. This fix will be available
in a Windows update.
• JAWS now announces Microsoft UIA Alert Events. As a result you may now hear
more Windows Notifications, and Mouse Echo can now speak more UIA elements,
like minimize, restore and maximize window controls.
list end
"A person cannot survive as a true Spartan fan unless he is a bit of a
masochist
and a very large optimist."
Steve
Lansing, MI
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- » [the-facts-machine] Jaws 18 Beta 3 - Steve
