JAWS Scripts For Skype 4.x
Revision 42d
This is an update to the scripts for the public release of Skype 4.2. This
script release also addresses a couple of issues in the first public beta of
Skype 5.0.
This release should work with Skype 4.2 versions and 4.1 versions starting with
4.1.0.136, and also with the first public beta of Skype 5..0. It will not work
with Skype 4.0, 3.8, or older versions. A JAWSKey+Ctrl+V should tell you your
current Skype version number.
Problems from version 4.2c fixed by this release:
a.. Item counts in contact, conversation, and history lists are now accurate,
rather than being artificially high as before. This fix comes with a slight
performance hit in very large lists, so the item count will not be reported
until the user stops arrowing through the list for a couple of seconds, so the
expensive calculation is not made until necessary.
b.. In Contacts, Conversations, and History in Skype 4.2 and 5.0, up/down
arrows, Home, and End can move in and out of the Live area. (Tab and Shift+Tab
of course still work for this as well.) Home can also focus the first item in
any of those screens when no specific item is focused. This makes repeatedly
tapping Home a fast way to focus an incoming call. A small sound is played
whenever the scripts move focus across the border between the Live area and the
rest of the window.
c.. If you load and unload another screen reader, such as Microsoft Narrator,
while running Skype and JAWS, Skype can lose track of the fact that JAWS is
still running. Previous script releases fixed this problem in most situations
for Skype 4.1. This update applies that fix to 4.2 and 5.0 as well.
New features for Skype 5.0 beta:
a.. F6 and Ctrl+Accent, with and without Shift, include the new Call window
in the set of screen areas to cycle among. Arrows can move through the controls
in this area once it is focused.
Known issues new in this release:
a.. Ctrl+Shift+D does not work in Skype 5.0 to enable and disable the dial
pad in a live call. However, the Skype 5.0 dial pad currently does not allow
digits to be dialed from the keyboard anyway. This is a known issue at Skype
and should be addressed in a future release.
Known issues that also exist in older script releases:
a.. Focusing some areas of the screen, such as with Tab or F6, may say the
name of the area twice but not focus a subcontrol. For example, using F6 to get
to the Profile area of a conversation window may say, "Contact Profile, Contact
Profile" but without focusing the first control in the area. This is due to a
change between Skype 4.1 and Skype 4.2. The workaround, to move to the controls
in the area, is to use up and down arrows once you have reached the area of
interest.
b.. The Recording Level control in the Audio page of Options may just say
"Recording Level" but not say a type or allow you to change the level. This
happens when Skype is in charge of updating the microphone level, which is
determined by the "Automatically adjust microphone settings" checkbox right
after the Recording Level in tab order. If you uncheck this box, the Recording
Level control will again behave as it did in Skype 4.1. When the "Automatically
adjust microphone settings" box is checked, the Recording Level control is an
animation rather than a slider and can not be changed by the user. This is
therefore not a bug but a feature. :)
c.. If you have a large contact list, arrows in it can be very slow and cause
much CPU usage. This is a Skype 4.2 problem that must be fixed by Skype and can
not be fixed via scripting, but you can do a few things to improve the
situation dramatically:
a.. If you have many SkypeOut contacts, eliminate them from the contact
list:
1.. Go to the Contacts menu and open the Contact Categories submenu. You
should see "See All Contact Categories."
2.. If this item is not checked, press Enter to check it, then repeat
step 1 to return to this point.
3.. Arrow down to "Skype contacts." If this is checked, you've already
done this, and you can exit by pressing Alt. If it is not checked though, press
Enter to check it.
b.. Eliminate offline contacts by going to the Contacts menu, opening the
"Hide Contacts Who" submenu, and checking "Are Offline." Do the same for "Are
Offline with Call Forwarding" if you like.
d.. Sometimes Ctrl+Tab will stop working properly for switching among open
conversations, at least in Compact view. If this happens, use Alt+Tab to switch
to a chat that Ctrl+Tab is not finding.
e.. Skypewatch will not announce sign ins and sign outs in Skype 4.2 and 5.0
at this time due to missing MSAA support for these alerts in those Skype
versions.
f.. There is evidence that there may be certain conditions under which JAWS
can lock up in a long text chat window after the user requests more history to
be displayed, such as by clicking on the Seven Days link. This is so far not
confirmed but is being investigated.
Download: Revision 42d executable installer | Revision 42d source and JAWS 7-11
binaries
