Different Types of JAWS Help

Keyboard Help mode in JAWS is a feature that lets you practice different key commands and different key combinations on the keyboard. JAWS tells you what key or keys you just pressed but does not actually do anything. It's a great way to practice without fear of accidentally deleting something or messing up the computer in some way. Every time you press a command JAWS tells you what the command is or what it does, but it won't actually perform any commands. To enable this feature first press the JAWS key and the number one on the numbers row.

1. Press INSERT+1 on the numbers row now. JAWS says, "Keyboard Help on."
2. When you press any key now, you hear JAWS say what that key is. For example, press the letter F. JAWS says F, but no F was typed on the screen.
3. Try pressing different letters or even other keys like some of the function keys across the top of the keyboard. JAWS tells you the keys you press. JAWS also tells you if any key is assigned to perform specific tasks. You can even use this to try pressing multiple key combinations.

A great thing about Keyboard Help mode is as you press different JAWS commands, instead of performing the command JAWS tells you what that command does. For example, the command INSERT+F12 is the command to read the time. JAWS tells you the time on your computer when you press it normally. While Keyboard Help is on, JAWS gives information about what the keystroke does. It tells you what that command does, but of course it doesn't actually perform the action. Another one is JAWS key and the letter T which tells you the title of the currently running program.

1. Press INSERT+T now while Keyboard Help Mode is still active. Again, JAWS tells you what that command would do if you were not in Keyboard Help Mode. It's a great way to practice your different keyboard commands without fear of anything happening.
2. Once you are finished practicing and you're ready to go back to using the computer as normal, you'll need to make sure to turn Keyboard Help mode off. You can do that by simply pressing INSERT+1 on the numbers row again. Go ahead and do that now.

JAWS says, "Keyboard Help off." Now you can go about using the computer as normal once more.