JAWS screen reader gets more bight

JAWS screen reader logo

JAWS (Job Access With Speech) is the world's most popular screen reader, developed for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content or navigating with a mouse. It allows blind and vision-impaired people to read the screen either with a text-to-speech output or by a refreshable Braille display.

The latest update resolved some minor issues within the software itself, as well as providing a long list of user enhancements and expanded features when using JAWS with Microsoft Office, Google Docs, on a variety of Web Browsers, and in Windows 10.

Media Access Australia web and digital accessibility profiler, Jack Tyrrell, who is legally blind, uses JAWS daily and is pleased that this screen reader is regularly expanding its functionality. “This is awesome, as the better JAWS is, the better I can access and interact with emails, websites and digital communications,” he says. “Getting an update like this enables people with a disability like myself to more fully participate in society as well as make me even sharper at doing my job. So it’s very welcome news.”

The latest release can be downloaded at the JAWS download page. More information on all of the new features and improvements be found in a list on the Interactive Accessibility newsletter post about the new JAWS 18.0.2738 update.