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Freedom Scientific Releases JAWS Version Ten

 Provided by The Carroll Center for the Blind    
 
       On November 3, Freedom Scientific announced the release of JAWS version 10. JAWS is one of the most popular and versatile of the screen readers which turn print on the computer screen to speech output. Version 10 represents a substantial upgrade with many new features.
 
A new feature will be very helpful for those who like to surf the web, shop online and perform other actions that require the user to fill out web forms. Version 10 includes a new feature that automatically switches on 'forms mode" when the user navigates to an edit box using either the up and down arrows or the tab key. A popping sound indicates that forms mode" has been switched on and that the user can begin typing information into the form. This is much smoother than having to switch forms mode on and off. With some of the more well-designed forms, the user of previous versions of JAWS could enter forms mode at the beginning of the form, use the tab key to navigate to the form fields and fill out the form. But, more commonly, the user had to switch forms mode on and off in order to complete the form because in forms mode, some of the information did not talk properly. With automatic forms mode, this inconvenience is eliminated. Some are often frustrated by this problem and sometimes prefer to get sighted assistance to fill out hardcopy versions of longer forms which could be done in half the time it took me to fill out the forms online. When upgraded to JAWS 10, one will be much more likely to fill out even the longest of forms online. The user can adjust settings so that forms mode acts like it did in previous versions of JAWS.
 
Finally, accessibility to iTunes has been added to JAWS version 10. While it was possible for users of JAWS 8 and 9 to purchase iTunes scripts, this is no-longer necessary in JAWS version 10.
 
To learn more about JAWS version 10 and iTunes, go to website www.freedomscientific.com


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