JAWS 12.0 for Windows

JAWS is a third-party screen reader offered by Freedom Scientific, Inc. JAWS will assist users who are blind or low-vision to use a Windows computer. JAWS 12.0 has a variety of features, including Braille support, multi-lingual speech synthesis, and multi-screen support.

Starting JAWS 12.0

JAWS may be configured to launch when a user logs into Windows or it may be launched by double-clicking on the desktop icon JAWS 12.0 icon or from the JAWS 12.0 entry in the Start Menu. Refer to the JAWS 12.0 Quick Start Guide for more ways to start JAWS.

Note: Pressing the CTRL key will temporarily silence JAWS.

How To Know That JAWS is Working

By default, when JAWS launches, it will display the JAWS application window (Figure 1) and will say "JAWS for Windows is ready."

Screenshot of JAWS 12.0 application window

Figure 1. JAWS 12.0 application window.

Turning Off JAWS

To turn off JAWS, exit the JAWS application or press Insert + F4.

JAWS 12.0 Options

JAWS is highly configurable, and a discussion of the configuration options for JAWS is beyond the scope of this document. A screenshot of the basic settings windows for JAWS 12.0 is shown in Figure 3 below. The reader is encouraged to read the documentation included with JAWS or to click on one of the links in the More Information section below.

Screenshot showing the JAWS 12.0 basic settings

Figure 3. JAWS 12.0 basic settings window.

For More Information

To read more about JAWS 12.0, click on the following links: