Changing JAWS punctuation announcement

Changing JAWS punctuation announcement

Information

JAWS by default will be set to speak a certain amount of common punctuation. However, as users may have different needs and may wish to customize what punctuation is spoken by JAWS.

Punctuation levels

The ammount of punctuation spoken by JAWS is determined by the punctuation level. Punctuation symbols are grouped within successive ascending levels. Each successive level contains more symbols than the the previous level. The All setting includes all punctuation symbols JAWS can speak. Each punctuation level can be customised if required.

• None – No punctuation is spoken
• Some – some punctuation is spoken
• Most – Most punctuation is spoken
• All – All punctuation is spoken

Each ascending level allows a greater number of punctuation symbols to be spoken than the previous level.

Setting punctuation level

  • The punctuation level may be adjusted through the Settings Centre or Quick Settings windows.
  • Users are advised to use Settings Centre to make the change be permanent whereas Quick Settings is usually best where the adjustment is temporary.
  • Although punctuation level can be set via the Voice Adjustment dialogue it is best only to use this route when initially setting a speech profile.

Adjust punctuation through Settings Centre

  1. Press JAWSKey+F2 and select Settings Centre and press ENTER to open it.
  2. Press CONTROL+SHIFT+D to open the default configuration file.
  3. In Settings Centre type “Punctuation” without quotes and press down arrow to locate x in the list.
  4. Then press SPACEBAR repeatedly to change the desired punctuation level.
  5. Press TAB to reach the Apply button and press SPACEBAR on it and then press ENTER to dismiss the dialogue.

Adjust punctuation through Quick Settings

  1. Press JAWSKey+V to open Quick Settings window.
  2. Type “punctuation” without quotes and press down arrow to Punctuation in the list.
  3. Press SPACEBAR repeatedly to toggle punctuation to the desired level.
  4. Press ENTER to dismiss the dialogue.

Customise punctuation level

It is also possible for advanced users with particular requirements to customise any of the punctuation levels.

  1. Press JAWSKey+F2 and select Settings Centre and press ENTER to open it.
  2. Press CONTROL+SHIFT+D to open the default configuration file.
  3. Then search “punctuation” and arrow down to Customise punctuation level and press SPACBEAR to open it.
  4. In the dialogue pop up a list will be shown of punctuation symbols JAWS speaks. Use the cursor keys to find the symbol whose punctuation symbol needs to be changed.
  5. Then use the following hotkeys promote or demote a puncutation symbol to speak in:

ALT+N = None
ALT+S = Some
ALT+M = Most
ALT+L = All

  1. When you changed the level press TAB to move to the OK button and press SPACEBAR.
  2. In Settings Centre dialogue press TAB to the Apply button and press SPACEBAR on this
  3. Then press ENTER to dismiss the dialogue.

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