From: main@jfw.groups.io <main@jfw.groups.io> On Behalf Of David Diamond
Sent: Thursday, January 16, 2020 9:33 PM
To: main@jfw.groups.io
Subject: Re: The New Edge not that Great with JAWS Yet.

 

I must be doing something wrong because there is no way to get to step 2 much less 3.  I copied and pasted step 1 without the quotes in the address bar as I could not find the address omnibox that you mentioned.  All that did was get me to a lot of things unrelated to the topic at hand.  The closest match was to enable experimental flags.  I don’t want to do that. 

 

 

Hi,

The issue folks are talking about can be summarized in one way: UI Automation. The following is a bit geeky, so please bear with me:

By default, Edge 79 (beta and stable) enables native UI Automation implementation. This means in order to access content in Edge (Chromium-based, that is), solid UI Automation implementation must be agreed upon between web browser (UIA server) and screen readers (UIA clients). Unfortunately, according to one screen reader vendor, UI Automation in Edge 79 isn’t solid yet, so one screen reader is resorting to forcefully turning off UIA support in Edge (from screen reader point of view).

As for all sorts of announcements JAWS is making in Edge 79: this is caused by UI Automation notification event (introduced in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update). This event is used by apps to let screen readers announce essential messages. This is how Narrator can announce certain messages, and recent JAWS versions support this event.

For now the workaround (until Microsoft resolves this) is forcefully telling Edge 79 to not expose UI Automation to screen readers. This can be done by:

1. From Edge 79, go to address omnibox and type “edge://flags” (without quotes and EXACTLY AS SHOWN).
2. From experiments edit field, type “UI Automation” and press Tab.
3. From Native UI Automation combo box, choose “disabled” and restart Edge if prompted.

 

I’ll publish more info on a dedicated Windows 10 forum for screen reader users (with updated info on screen readers and their responses) in a few moments.

Cheers,

Joseph

 

 

How do I change the settings in edge?  Microsoft help desk says you can’t.  You can just reset or repair it, you cannot turn on or off any settings. I just don’t want edge to ribbit on about things I really don’t need to know such as opening or closing navigations.   

 

 

The new Chromium-based version of Microsoft Edge has worked well with JAWS 2020 in my testing. It’s very similar to Chrome in terms of accessibility.

 

On Thu, Jan 16, 2020 at 01:43 PM, Tyler Wood wrote:

Becoming familiar with the web browser and its settings is essential these days since there are so many things to enable or disable. It's also good to have a few browsers at your disposal - for instance, Chrome, edge, and firefox - just in case a website doesn't play nice with one or the other.

It's been essential long before "these days."  Browsers have been vastly configurable for some time now.  What's really nice, though, is that many of them now have a search feature for their settings, not unlike Windows 10 does for system settings.  I generally find it a lot easier to locate what I want with a search, or several searches using different, but related, keywords than to brute force drill down through page after page or tab after tab of settings.  There has also been a tendency to move things around over time, so if you remember what setting it is you want to tweak it's much easier to locate with a search if it's been moved.

Any given tool, including screen readers, occasionally won't "play well" with some given thing when another tool of the same class will.  Having several options, even if you're not 100% fluent with the second and third ones, often makes the difference between success and failure for getting at certain information (and that includes for those of us who are not using screen readers, too).
 
--

Brian - Windows 10 Pro, 64-Bit, Version 1909, Build 18363  

Tolerance is the positive and cordial effort to understand another's beliefs, practices, and habits without necessarily sharing or accepting them.

        ~ Joshua Liebman