JAWS - Space marker, paragraph markers spoken when reading Word document

Problem

When pressing UP/DOWN ARROW keys within a Microsoft Word document space marker, paragraph marker and other non text characters are spoken by JAWS.

Applies to

1. JAWS and Microsoft Word
   

Resolution

There are methods to resolve this problem, however where this becomes a frequent nuisance method one below is the most effective.

Method 1 - Change document display settings.

1. Press ALF+F to open File menu.
   
2. Then press DOWN ARROW until you reach Options  and press ENTER.  If you only see More Options press ENTER on this first then Options next.
   
3. IN the new dialogue window press DOWN ARROW to Display.
   
4. Then press TAB until you reach Tab Characters checkbox.
   
5. then press SPACEA on TAB Characters to dfisable is and do likewise for the remaining options below:
   
   
6. Spaces
   
7. Paragraph marks
   
8. Hidden Text
   
9. Optional Hyphens
   
10. Object Anchors
    
11. Show All Formatting Marks

Method 2 - Activate the Show/Hide button

1. Press ALT to navigate top the ribbon bar.
2. Press ENTER on the Home tab in the ribbon when it is highlighted.
3. Press CONTROL+RIGHT arrow twice to move to the paragraph group where the Bullet split button will be highlighted.
4. Press TAB or right arrow until you reach “Show All” button, then press SPACEBAR toggle the state.
   

Note

For users who use ribbon accelerator keys press ALT, H, 8 instead.

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