Hi all,
Below is the February update for J2021 build
2102.34 direct download link + what's new.
32 & 64 bit download link:
What's new:
Enhancements in JAWS 2021.2102.34 (February
2021)
The following is a list of improvements made between the January 2021
release and the February 2021 update.
Virtual Cursor Support Now Available in
Windows 10 Universal Apps
The Virtual PC Cursor, used to read web pages, PDF
documents, and emails in JAWS and Fusion, has been extended to work in Windows
universal applications.
Universal apps are usually obtained from the
Microsoft Store, however some apps, such as Weather or the Calculator, are
pre-installed as part of Windows.
Once the Virtual Cursor is enabled in a
universal app, it greatly improves the reading experience by allowing you
to:
list of 4 items
• Use the ARROW keys to navigate the app's
contents just like a web page.
• Use Navigation Quick Keys to quickly move
to specific elements like Regions, Headings, lists, tables, form fields, and
more.
• Display a list of links ( INSERT+F7 ), headings ( INSERT+F6 ), and
form controls ( INSERT+F5 ).
• Use Forms Mode to type text or interact with
other controls.
list end
Currently, Weather is the only app where the
Virtual Cursor is on by default. As you use other universal apps, press INSERT+Z
to manually activate the
Virtual Cursor and try navigating to see if you
notice any improvements with how JAWS reads.
Pressing INSERT+Z is used to
toggle the Virtual Cursor in HTML applications. However, if focus is in a
universal app, pressing INSERT+Z results in JAWS
announcing that the Virtual
Cursor is toggled for UWP (Universal Windows Platform) apps and the UWP virtual
cursor is temporarily toggled for the current
UWP app. If you decide you want
the UWP Virtual Cursor enabled by default for a particular app, open Settings
Center (INSERT+6 on the number row) from
the app and select the Enable
Virtual Cursor for Windows Universal Apps check box.
Note: While the Virtual
Cursor may greatly improve the experience when using certain universal apps,
there will be many of these apps where there is really
no need for the
Virtual Cursor. A great example where users will not need to use the Virtual
Cursor is the Windows Calculator as it works well using the
default cursor
and you can easily navigate using the TAB Key and ARROW keys to find all
controls. The Calculator doesn’t have static text like in the Weather
app
that you would need to read.
Other Changes
list of 16 items
• When
focused in a Teams chat, pressing INSERT+T now indicates the current
status of the other participant along with the window title.
• If focused on
a link and you press INSERT+F1 for screen-sensitive help, the link address
is displayed at the top of the help window. This enables you
to quickly
verify the source of a link in an email message or on a web page if there is
concern that it could be a phishing link.
• You can now type text from a
braille display into a Microsoft Teams chat using contracted braille input.
• Added a new JAWS Dictionary entry for "QA."
• In Google Docs, resolved
an issue where an extra "blank" announcement was heard when reading by word.
• Resolved reported issues that occurred when trying to re-authenticate
credentials for an online Microsoft account. After typing the first
character,
JAWS exited Forms Mode and you were unable to complete the process
with JAWS running.
• Resolved a reported issue where JAWS was not
automatically reading the state of check boxes in the Grammar Settings dialog
box of the Proofing options
for Word.
• Addressed a reported issue where
JAWS was not reading as expected when attempting to search for special
characters in Word, such as a manual page break.
• If a graphic in a Word document is selected
and the document contains multiple graphics, when the TAB key is used to
move through the different graphics,
JAWS now announces the kind of image and
its text alignment. Additionally, the type of image is indicated when reading
the current line, and reading by
word or character indicates the alignment
and dimensions of the image. If you prefer not to hear the alignment and
dimensions of graphics, open Quick Settings
( INSERT+V ) and clear the
Include Graphical Dimensions and Include Graphic Alignment
Description check boxes.
• Addressed issues with JAWS sometimes double
speaking in Microsoft Office when toggling bold, italics, or underline.
•
Resolved reported issues of Volume fluctuating with JAWS and Fusion while
navigating Word documents using the Proof Reading Scheme. Moving quickly
through
the document with the ARROW keys was much worse than navigating
slowly and letting it finish reading.
• Resolved a PowerPoint issue related
to opening a slide show using something referred to as “Browsed by an individual
(window)” rather than the expected,
“Presented by Speaker (full screen).
Microsoft has now added a change to UIA in PowerPoint versions greater than
16.0.13517 which allows JAWS to read the
slide show in either case.
•
When editing Alt text for graphics in PowerPoint using a braille display,
resolved a reported issue where cursor routing was not working as
expected.
• Resolved an issue where the Avoid Speech Cut
Off feature stopped working when using the Sound Cards option in the JAWS
Utilities menu to switch to another
sound device.
• For users
experiencing issues with JAWS and Fusion not reading as expected in the Windows
10 Start Menu, as well as in Universal apps including Weather
or Calculator,
open JAWS Settings Center ( INSERT+6 ), press CTRL+SHIFT+D to load the
Default File, search for "start", and select the Start menu:
Access-Out-of-Process
check box.
• Addressed a reported issue where
JAWS language detection on web pages was not working as expected for Mandarin
text, even if the page used the correct
language tags and a Mandarin
Vocalizer Expressive voice was installed. Note that this change only affects the
default Vocalizer Expressive voice profile
for each language. Refer to this
Technical Support Notice
for details on applying this change to any
custom voice profiles.
list end
Stay safe and take care.
Mike.
