JAWS Web Verbosity

When reading content using the Virtual Cursor, JAWS alerts you to the beginning and end of various elements such as lists, tables, and regions. With JAWS support for ARIA continuing to improve and web developers becoming more aware of accessible design, the amount of extra information provided by the Virtual Cursor can become overwhelming when you just want to focus on the page content. To make it easier to determine what is spoken, JAWS now offers three levels of verbosity for the Virtual Cursor, giving you control over how much detail you want to hear when reading various web content. The three levels are:

• High - JAWS speaks the most information about elements on the page or inside a document. Everything except the start and end of application and document regions is announced at this level.
• Medium - This level is configured to provide the best user experience on most pages and documents and is the default verbosity level. By default, JAWS will not indicate the start and end for flash objects or frames, and only the start and end of navigation and main regions is announced. Note that the name and type for all regions is still announced when using the R and SHIFT+R Navigation Quick Keys to move by region or the O and SHIFT+O Navigation Quick Keys to move by article.
• Low - JAWS speaks as little structural information as possible about the elements on a page or inside a document. By default, only the start and end of tables and grids is announced at this level.

To choose a verbosity level, do the following:

1. Press INSERT+F2, and select Settings Center. Note that since you started Settings Center while your default web browser had focus, the title bar of Settings Center reads, "JAWS Settings Center - <Browser Name>." This means this setting will only apply when using this particular browser. Should you wish to apply this setting to all web browsers, one would first press the keystroke CTRL+SHIFT+D to change to the default settings before continuing the exercise.
2. In the Search edit box, type "web verbosity" without the quotes.
3. Press DOWN ARROW to move to "Web Verbosity Level" in the filtered search results in the tree view.
4. Press SPACEBAR to choose the level you want.
5. Press ENTER to save your change and close Settings Center.

You can also choose a Virtual Cursor verbosity level to be active for a specific website. From the website where you want to use a different verbosity level, press INSERT+V to open Quick Settings, navigate to the Personalized Web Settings group, and press SPACEBAR on Virtual Cursor Verbosity Level to choose the verbosity level you want for the current site.

Each verbosity level is preset to provide the most optimal experience. However, just like with speech verbosity, each level can be further customized to give only the information you want to hear. For example, you may want to continue using the default Medium verbosity level, but you may want JAWS to announce a few more elements that are not spoken by default at this level.

Change Web Verbosity to Look for More at Medium Verbosity Level - Practice

EXERCISE: Configure JAWS to announce the Content Information region at the bottom of each Surf's Up page as you navigate with the arrow keys. Content Information regions are not indicated by default at the Medium verbosity level.

1. Press INSERT+F2, and select Settings Center.
2. In the Search edit box, type "web verbosity" without the quotes.
3. Press DOWN ARROW to move to "Configure Web Verbosity Levels" in the filtered search results in the tree view and press ENTER.
4. Press RIGHT ARROW to expand the "Configure Web Verbosity Levels" group.
5. Press DOWN ARROW to move to Medium and press SPACEBAR. A dialog box opens containing a tree view listing the structural elements that can be announced by the Virtual Cursor.

Tip: Pressing TAB one time moves you to a read-only text area containing a description of the currently selected element in the tree view.

6. You can use the arrow keys to explore all of the items in this tree view or press R to jump directly to the Regions node.
7. Press DOWN ARROW until you reach Content Information and press SPACEBAR to check this region type.
8. Press ENTER to activate the OK button. Focus returns to Settings Center.
9. Press ALT+A to activate the Apply button in Settings Center. Activating the Apply button allows you to make instant changes to settings without having to close the Settings Center dialog box. That way we can change the setting back in just a minute without having to re-open Settings Center.

Now, press ALT+TAB to return to the JAWS Web Verbosity page. Settings Center is still running in the background and is still open. Press DOWN ARROW until you hear JAWS say "Main Region End." Continue pressing DOWN ARROW and you should hear JAWS say "Content Information," followed by the Back and Next links, and finally "Content Information End."

Repeat this exercise if you want to try selecting or clearing other elements that you may or may not want to have announced as you navigate pages.

Change Web Verbosity Back to Default Setting

1. Press ALT+TAB to switch back to Settings Center.
2. This time, let's use the Last Changed Settings item in Settings Center to revert the change. Press END to move to the bottom of the tree view in Settings Center. JAWS should announce it as "Last Changed Settings, closed."
3. Press RIGHT ARROW to open the tree node, and then press DOWN ARROW to move to "Medium... (Web / HTML / PDFs ,Reading,Configure Web Verbosity Levels)."
4. Press SPACEBAR to reopen the dialog box containing a tree view listing the structural elements that can be announced by the Virtual Cursor.
5. Press DOWN ARROW until you reach Content Information and press SPACEBAR to uncheck this region type.
6. Press ENTER to activate the OK button. Focus returns to Settings Center.
7. Finally, press ENTER once more to close Settings Center.