JAWS – Reducing speech verbosity

JAWS – Reducing speech verbosity

Problem

A JAWS user would like to reduce the level of speech they are getting but without losing useful information.

Applies to 

  1. JAWS

Resolution

  1. Verbosity is the name given to the level of speech feedback provided by JAWS A higher verbosity means more speech and lower verbosity means less speech.  JAWS uses three different levels of speech verbosity; beginner, intermediate, advanced. 
  2. The idea behind these levels are that as users become more familiar they may need fewer speech clues which and therefore are able to navigate faster having less speech to wade through.  The levels below therefore equate to the following:

    - Beginner (Speaks the most having the highest verbsoity)
    - Intermediate (Speech is slightly reduced from highest level)
    - Advanced (Less speech than intermediate for users who hav become pretty familiar)

Change verbosity level

The first step to resolving problems where verbosity level is not correct is to change te verbosity level, for some users this may be the quickest and easiest approach to the problem.  To change the verbosity level use the steps below:

  1. Press JAWSKey+V to open Quick Settings.
  2. Then enter the word Verbosity into the search box then press down arrow to reach Useer Verbosity.
  3. Then press SPACEBAR to toggle the setting to the desired level of verbosity.

Customise verbosity level

Within each verbosity level one may further customise what types of messages are provided by JAWS.  Typically one would be a fairly advanced user of JAWS and know specifically what types of information they require from JAWS as opposed to that which are no longer required.

  1. Press JAWSKey+F2 then navigate to Settings Centre then press ENTER.
  2. Press CONTROL+SHIFT+D to make changes to the default settings file.
  3. Then enter the word Verbosity into the search box, then press down arrow to reach Verbosity Level, JAWS will speak the currently set Verbosity Level which will be the level you wish to customise.
  4. Press DOWN ARROW once more to Customise Verbosity Level then press F6, JAWS will place you on the Beginner Verbosity button.
  5. If Beginner Verbosity is the one you normally use press SPACEBAR to open this level settings.  If you use Intermediate or Advanced press TAB key to find the respective button then press SPACEBAR to open the window to customise the verbosity level.
  6. In the verbosity level customisation window there are a series of checkboxes in a list, one may press UP/DOWN ARROW to browse the different options.  
  7. Press SPACEBAR toggle on/off each component to toggle on or off the particular type of speech message.
  8. When done with the list press TAB to reach the message length and set this as desired Long or Short using the UP/DOWN ARROW keys to make all messages use long or short message form.
  9. Press TAB key to move to OK then press SPACEBAR to dismiss the dialogue box.  You will then be returned to the main Settings Centre window.
  10. Press F6 to reach the tree view control and press TAB to reach Apply button then press SPACEBAR and then press TAB to OK and press SPACEBAR again to dismiss the main window.


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