1. main@TechTalk.groups.io
Topics

JAWS2021 April Update, Build 2103.174, Download Link + What's New

Mike B
 

Hi All,
 
Below is the direct download link + what's new in this April update release of J2021.2103.174.
 
 
 

What's new in this release:
 
Enhancements in JAWS 2021.2103.174 (April 2021)
 
The following is a list of improvements made between the February 2021 release and the April 2021 update.
 
Voice Assistant
list of 6 items
• By default, Voice Assistant listens for the word "sharky" before accepting any commands. However, to help decrease the possibility of starting Voice
Assistant when you didn't intend to, you now have the option to change the wake up phrase to "hey sharky" instead. You can change this from the JAWS Utility
Menu by choosing Voice Assistant, and then selecting Settings. We strongly recommend changing the wake word to "Hey Sharky."
• It is no longer necessary to say the word "toggle" when turning on or off features including Audio Ducking, Screen Shade, Speech On Demand, or the Virtual
Cursor. For example, saying "Sharky, Audio Ducking" now turns this feature on or off depending on the current state.
• When changing the speech rate, you now only need to say "Sharky, Voice Rate" followed by a number. For example, "Sharky, Voice Rate 50" sets the speech
rate to 50 percent. You can even just say the number, and the speech rate will change appropriately.
• To launch the JAWS Dictionary Manager, you now only need to say "Sharky, Dictionary."
• Voice Assistant now immediately stops listening once you have spoken a command. This helps in situations where someone else may begin talking which could
cause Voice Assistant to not process the command correctly.
• Voice commands that generate speech output now work as expected even if JAWS and Fusion are set to Speech On Demand.
list end
 
PlaceMarkers Now Available in Excel Workbooks
 
You can now use Placemarkers to mark cells in an Excel workbook similar to how they are used in Word documents. The following commands are now supported:
 
list of 4 items
• Set a PlaceMarker on the current cell, press CTRL+WINDOWS+K. Only one PlaceMarker can be set per worksheet.
• Move to the cell PlaceMarker on the current worksheet, press ALT+WINDOWS+K. To move to a cell PlaceMarker on another worksheet, first press CTRL+PAGE
UP or CTRL+PAGE DOWN to move to the specific worksheet.
• List all cell PlaceMarkers in the workbook, press ALT+CTRL+WINDOWS+K.
• Select all cells between the cell PlaceMarker and your current location, press INSERT+SPACEBAR followed by M.
list end
 
Microsoft Teams
list of 4 items
• Updated the JAWS INSERT+W help to now include all currently available Teams keystrokes.
• Resolved an issue in Teams where messages were double speaking in chat pop out windows.
• If you press CTRL+PERIOD to display all Teams commands, JAWS now also reminds you about using INSERT+W as an easier way to access this information.
• Removed the ALT+T command as you can now use the Teams keystroke, CTRL+3, to move focus to the Teams and Channels tree view.
list end
 
Support for Reading Comments and Other Revision Types in Goodle Docs
 
In Google Docs, JAWS and Fusion now indicate the following as you navigate documents:
 
list of 3 items
• Text that includes comments. When JAWS indicates you are in a section of text that has a comment, press ALT+SHIFT+APOSTROPHE to read the associated comment
including any replies. Press ALT+SHIFT+APOSTROPHE twice quickly to activate the Virtual Cursor and move focus to the comment details page. Press ESC to
return to the document.
• Text that has been inserted or deleted.
• Text that is highlighted or has been called out for some reason, such as a section of text in a document currently being edited by another user. JAWS
says "mark" and "end mark" as you move in and out of this highlighted text.
list end
 
If you prefer to not receive announcements for one or more of these items, open Settings Center and turn off Comment announcement, Inserted text announcement,
Deleted text announcement, or Marked text announcement. All of these options are located in the Proofing group under Text Processing.
 
New Installation Command Line Option for Disabling External Services
 
Starting with the April 2021 releases of JAWS, ZoomText, and Fusion, when performing a full install, IT professionals and network administrators can add
the /DisableExternalServices command line option to turn off all product features that reach out to the internet. For example:
c:\\InstallerPackage.exe /DisableExternalServices
 
Once JAWS, ZoomText, or Fusion is installed after using this command line option, features that are no longer available for use include Research It, FS
Support Tool, Voice Assistant, Error Reporting, JAWS Tandem, Picture Smart, and Anonymous Usage Data Collection. Note that using the software in a remote
access environment will still be available. Turning off features that connect to the internet is especially important for installs in secure locations
such as banks, hospitals, and government agencies.
 
For more information, run the setup package with the /Help command line option.
 
Other Changes
list of 13 items
• When joining a Zoom meeting and you are prompted to enter your name, addressed an issue where JAWS was not reading the name already in the edit field
if the screen resolution was set higher than 100 percent, which is common on most modern laptops. This caused users to enter their name again which in
turn caused it to be read multiple times in meetings.
• In Excel, resolved a reported issue where JAWS was saying "entering table" when pressing F2 to edit a cell's contents.
• When navigating a worksheet in Excel using the mouse in JAWS or Fusion, cell contents are now read first followed by the cell coordinates.
• In Microsoft Word, when encountering text in a document that is both a heading and a link, resolved a reported issue where JAWS was not indicating the
link.
• Addressed a reported issue where JAWS was unexpectedly displaying an error message in Outlook when pressing ALT+SHIFT+L from the body of a new message
to list misspelled words.
• Addressed a reported issue where JAWS was not reading as expected when reviewing a message in GMail and focus landed on text that was part of a link.
• Starting with the April 2021 updates of JAWS and Fusion, Grammar detection in Settings Center is on by default for all applications except Word and Outlook.
This enabled JAWS and Fusion to automatically announce grammatical errors in web-based editors like Google Docs. See the following
TSN
 for more details.
• Updated the descriptions in JAWS Commands Search (INSERT+SPACEBAR, J) for the Append Selected Text to Clipboard (INSERT+WINDOWS+C) and View Clipboard
Text (INSERT+SPACEBAR, C) commands to help clarify that these features are especially useful when you only want to copy and paste text without extra formatting.
• Resolved a reported issue where JAWS was not indicating the state of check boxes in the BARD Express app in braille.
• Resolved an issue with selecting text in console windows at high resolution settings.
• Removed the Business Search Research It lookup source due to changes to the website which no longer allows us to retrieve information.
• Removed the ability to use JAWS to customize message lists in Mozilla Thunderbird based on changes in the way list views are presented which caused this
feature to no longer work as expected in this application.
• Turkish is now included as an available language option during a full install.
list end
 
 
Stay safe and take care.  Mike.
1 - 1 of 1