All, If you have JAWS 15 Public Beta 1 installed, you will be able to get an Auto Update if you restart JAWS 15 after 11 AM today. It will also be available for full download on our Website as always.
Below is the details of the changes since Public Beta 1 released last month. Thanks for all your help and continued support. We are on track for a successful SMA release in the next 4 weeks. Regards, Eric Eric Damery Vice President Software Product Management Freedom Scientific 11800 31st Court North St. Petersburg, FL 33716 727-299-6110 New Features Added in JAWS Public Beta 2, Build 15.0.3103 Improved Windows 8 Start Screen Navigation Using the Touch Cursor Previously, navigating Tiles on the new Windows 8 Start Screen was difficult to understand. Like a traditional desktop, the columns did not wrap, and because tiles can be different sizes, it was very difficult to orient yourself when moving with the PC focus. We now suggest you consider using the Touch Cursor mode to offer a more seamless and predictable way of learning the tiles and where they are located. To begin, move focus to the Windows 8 Start Screen by pressing the WINDOWS key until you hear "Start Screen." Now you can activate the Touch Cursor by pressing SHIFT+NUM PAD PLUS on a Desktop keyboard or SHIFT+CAPS LOCK+SEMICOLON on a Laptop keyboard. With the Touch Cursor on, you can use the single-finger flick up and down gestures to move between the groups, or use UP and DOWN ARROWS to simulate the gestures, even if you do not have a touch screen. Note that groups are generally not named by default, so JAWS will refer to the Group name based on whatever the first tile is in the group that gains focus. At any point, you can use either a single-finger flick right or left on a Touch Screen or use the RIGHT and LEFT ARROWS to explore all tiles from your current location. If you locate a Tile for an application you wish to launch, simply double tap the touch screen with a single finger, or just press ENTER to launch the tile you are on. New Setting for Controlling How Web Page Links are Activated On certain Web pages, pressing ENTER on some elements such as links does not always activate the element as expected. The new Link Activation option affects how links are activated when you press the ENTER key in a virtual document. It is located under the Virtual Cursor Options and Personalized Web Settings groups in Quick Settings, as well as under the Miscellaneous group of the Web/HTML/PDF group in Settings Center. When this option is set to "Enter simulates mouse click," pressing the ENTER key on a link actually simulates a left mouse click on the link. This is how JAWS behaved prior to version 15, and it is still the default behavior. When this option is set to "Enter sends Enter key," pressing the ENTER key on a link instead causes the ENTER key to be passed on to the system. You may want to choose this setting if pressing ENTER does not activate a Web element unless you first press INSERT+3 to enable the Pass Key Through feature. Enhancements in JAWS 15.0.3103 (October 2013) The following is a list of improvements made between this release and the initial public beta release. JAWS * Resolved numerous issues submitted by customers using the new Error Reporting feature. * To activate the PC Cursor while the Touch Cursor is currently active, you must now press the PC Cursor command (NUM PAD PLUS, or CAPSLOCK+SEMICOLON) twice quickly. If you press this command once, JAWS will say "touch cursor" and if Tutor Messages are enabled, will also say "double tap to activate the PC Cursor". * Pressing INSERT+NUM PAD PLUS (CAPSLOCK+APOSTROPHE if you are using the laptop keyboard layout) while using the Touch Cursor will move the Touch Cursor to the object that currently has focus. This is helpful if you are exploring the screen and you want to quickly move the Touch Cursor back to the currently selected object. If the Touch Cursor is off, this command still routes the PC Cursor to the JAWS Cursor location as expected. * The CAPS LOCK key can now be used to perform JAWS Tandem keystrokes if CAPS LOCK is being used as the JAWS key, such as in the Laptop Keyboard Layout. These commands include, CAPS LOCK+ALT+T to end a tandem session, CAPS LOCK+ALT+TAB to toggle a tandem session, and CAPS LOCK+CTRL+SHIFT+V to toggle tandem video. * When editing a speech and sounds scheme, resolved an issue where an unexpected error message was being spoken when selecting the Add or Modify buttons on the Attributes page. * When toggling the Touch Cursor Automatic Activation option in Quick settings, resolved an issue where the setting would not take affect until after JAWS was restarted. * Resolved an issue where Windows Explorer would sometimes stop responding on some systems with JAWS running. * When performing a search in the News app and you press ESC to cancel the search, resolved an issue where the Touch Cursor was not automatically reenabled as expected when you returned to the app. * In the Windows 8 News app, resolved an issue where you could no longer navigate using the Touch Cursor after pressing ALT+LEFT ARROW to go back to the previous page. * Addressed an issue with braille not tracking properly in the list of Navigation Quick Keys in the Navigation Quick Key Manager. * Resolved an issue where braille was very sluggish on the Windows Lock screen and Secure Desktop if the Enable Remote Access Server check box is cleared. This option is located in the Advanced dialog box of the JAWS Basic Settings dialog box. * Resolved an issue encountered on certain Web pages where frames hidden using the Flexible Web feature were still appearing in the virtual buffer. * Resolved an issue with the UPS Tracking Research It lookup source not returning any results even if a valid UPS tracking code was entered. * JAWS now recognizes the split tap gesture. To perform a split tap, tap and hold one finger on the screen while simultaneously tapping with a second finger. * When using Navigation Quick Key T to move to a table while the Touch cursor is active, JAWS now announces the dimensions of the table. * If the Use Sounds option located in the Touch Cursor group in Quick settings is enabled, JAWS will play a sound when the Escape and Close Application gestures are used. If this option is off, a message is spoken instead. Java * Addressed an issue where JAWS would appear to become unresponsive after INSERT+DOWN ARROW was pressed multiple times. * JAWS now announces the correct name of Java WebStart applications when using the INSERT+Q keystroke. Microsoft Excel * In Excel 2013, addressed an issue with the prompts for the Font edit combo boxes not being announced as they gained focus. If enabled, tutor messages are also now spoken for these controls. * In Excel 2013, resolved an issue with JAWS not properly indicating the state of check boxes in the Auto Filter dropdown using speech. Microsoft Internet Explorer * Resolved an issue using the JAWS cursor in Internet Explorer while MAGic is running. * Resolved an issue with the contents of read-only edit fields in Internet Explorer 10 not being read properly by JAWS. * When using Navigation Quick Key H to move by headings, addressed an issue where headings were announced twice on certain pages. This was also resolved for Firefox. * Resolved an issue where the contents of various Flexible Web message dialog boxes were not being automatically read. * If you press CTRL+HOME to move to the top of a Web page and then press TAB, resolved an issue where you moved to the address bar instead of the first link. * If an HTML entity such as ", which is used to display a quotation mark, is used in an attribute such as a title, alt text, or table summary, addressed a reported issue where JAWS was reading the source instead of the actual displayed character. * Resolved a reported issue with JAWS table navigation not working as expected on certain Web pages, such as Wikipedia. * JAWS now supports the WAI-ARIA "aria-sort" attribute. * Improved how extended list boxes on Web pages are displayed in braille. * Addressed an issue where selected text was not being indicated in braille in certain situations. Microsoft Office * While navigating around various ribbons and dialog boxes in Office 2013, resolved an issue where prompts for edit fields were not always being automatically spoken as they gained focus. * When navigating the lower ribbon with SHIFT+LEFT or RIGHT ARROW (Office 2007) or CTRL+LEFT or RIGHT ARROW (office 2010 or later), JAWS now announces the current ribbon group followed by the first control in that group. * When navigating through the Options dialog box in Office 2013, resolved an issue where combo boxes were not being shown correctly in braille. Microsoft Outlook * Updated the INSERT+F1 message for the Outlook message list to provide the latest information on customizing the list for braille. * Addressed an issue where JAWS was not consistently speaking the selected contact in the Outlook 2013 contacts list. This was observed primarily with the German version of Outlook. * JAWS no longer speaks the message "that field is not availlable in this dialog" when opening a meeting request in Outlook 2013. * Addressed a reported issue where pressing CTRL+INSERT+I to read the info bar in Outlook 2013 was indicating that the info bar was empty even when it contained messages. Microsoft PowerPoint * Pressing PAGE UP or PAGE DOWN will now move to the previous or next slide during a slideshow. * JAWS no longer reads the entire Backstage View in PowerPoint 2010 when ALT+F is pressed to open the File menu. * Pressing CTRL+SHIFT+S for information on slide objects, now works as expected even if the verbosity level is set higher than Beginner. Microsoft Word * In Word 2013, the value of the Display for review edit combo box located under the Review tab is now displayed in braille. * If the Virtual Ribbon is enabled, resolved a customer reported issue where the Paragraph button menu could not be activated. * Addressed a reported issue where Braille Bullet Type Indication could not be disabled using Quick Settings. * When Word is configured to display hidden text, this text is now both spoken and shown on the braille display. * Addressed customer reported issues with JAWS not reading as expected when selecting text in the Comment pane. * Improved how Backstage view items are shown on the braille display. * When navigating through the Info tab in Word 2013, JAWS no longer flashes the smart help text that appears to the right of each control. This info is displayed normally with the control text. * JAWS now correctly indicates the indentation level and measurement when outdenting in a bulleted or nested list. * If you open a document containing tables, addressed an issue where JAWS would not read as expected while navigating a table unless you first used ALT+TAB to move focus away then back to the document. Mozilla Firefox * Addressed a customer reported issue with Firefox closing unexpectedly when attempting to attach a file using Microsoft Exchange Web Mail with JAWS running. * Addressed a reported issue with JAWS not reading as expected when encountering form controls containing multiple labels. * Addressed an issue where the Virtual PC Cursor would lose its position on a Web page if you switched to another application. Skype * JAWS now provides the date info for each message in a conversation as you navigate through the conversation history. For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
