Pathways to Disability Empowerment: Screen Readers and Employment Success

The Lighthouse for the Blind, Inc. invites you to our monthly career webinar, Pathways to Disability Empowerment: Screen Readers and Employment Success. This session supports job seekers who are blind, low vision, DeafBlind, or blind with additional disabilities.

Why Screen Readers Matter

Today, most jobs require digital skills. Therefore, screen readers are essential tools for people who are blind or low vision. These tools make it possible to search for jobs, complete tasks, and communicate effectively.

In addition, screen readers continue to improve. As a result, users can work faster and more independently. Learning these tools can directly support employment success.

What You Will Learn from the Screen Readers and Employment Success Webinar

During this screen readers and employment success webinar, you will learn practical, real-world skills. For example:

• How to search and apply for jobs using screen readers
• How to read and review digital content
• How to navigate websites more efficiently
• How to analyze data using assistive technology
• How to create and edit documents

Moreover, presenters will share tips you can apply immediately.

Screen Readers Covered in the Webinar

This screen readers and employment success webinar includes demonstrations of:

• JAWS (Job Access With Speech)
• NVDA (Non Visual Desktop Access)
• Narrator (Windows built-in screen reader)

Each tool supports employment success for people who are blind or low vision.

Why Watch the Screen Readers and Employment Success Webinar

First, digital access is essential for most jobs. Therefore, attending a screen readers and employment success webinar can help you gain the skills needed to succeed.

In addition, screen readers allow users to:

• Search for jobs online (explore our Lighthouse career services)
• Complete workplace tasks
• Communicate with teams
• Work independently

As a result, learning these tools improves confidence and career outcomes.

Who Should Watch this Webinar

This screen readers and employment success webinar is ideal for:

• Individuals who are blind or low vision
• People who are DeafBlind
• Job seekers with multiple disabilities
• Anyone interested in assistive technology and careers

Webinar Transcript

14:04:40 As I said before, this is a workshop really aimed at people who are blind, low vision, deaf blind or blind with other disabilities who are in the process of looking for work
14:04:56 Actually, before I go any further, I really want to
14:05:01 say that we did have ASL interpreters booked for this session, but due to some scheduling changes, they canceled.
14:05:11 But we really wanted to bring this webinar to you. So we are using captions, and we hope that in future webinars that we will have our interpreters again. I also want to acknowledge our moderator, Elena
14:05:27 Elena is here, and she’s going to help us with
14:05:34 Sorry, she’s going to help us with letting me know, letting us know when hands are raised. And also letting us know if there are any questions in the Q&A section. As I began to say, this workshop is
14:05:51 Launches the second year of the lighthouse’s career webinars. It’s part of a series of webinars that we offer every month. And aimed at helping people who are blind, low vision
14:06:04 Deaf, blind and blind with other disabilities acquire tools and resources which you can use as you pursue your career search and as you pursue your career development. So we’re really excited that you’re here
14:06:21 And before we go any further, I’m going to invite our speakers for this afternoon to introduce themselves. I’m going to ask Debbie to go first, and then David.
14:06:31 Hi, I’m Debbie Armstrong, and I am an employee at a community college working mostly with learning disabled students who are sighted, but I also work with blind students. I’ve had a huge variety of jobs. I’ve lived in Silicon Valley
14:06:47 For about 25 years, and before that, I also had tech jobs. I’ve worked since I was 18, and on another webinar sometime, I’d love to share my job history with you, but right now, I just want you to know I have a lot of experience working, and I am 69.
14:07:04 Well, thank you, Debbie. I’m so excited that you said yes, because I know that even though you’re sort of modest around your knowledge of technology, that you know a lot. And so I’m so glad that you agreed to join us. So David
14:07:22 Yes, thank you, Cheryl. My name is David Kingsbury. I’m an assistive technology instructor at the Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, Massachusetts. That’s just a few miles outside of Boston. And I’ve been doing that for about 11 or 12 years
14:07:38 I am a white male, 70 years old, so just a little bit older than Debbie. And I’m totally blind. I’ve been blind for 22 years.
14:07:52 I’ve also enjoyed writing, so I have written some books. The most recent is what’s called the Windows Screen Reader Primer, All the Basics and More. I’ve been doing it on an annual basis, so the most current is the fourth edition. There’ll be a fifth edition out
14:08:08 June, and one last thing, I’m going to brag a little bit. I was… I’m a great user of Bard, the digital service from the Library of Congress, and I was looking in the most popular books, nonfiction the other day, and to my surprise and shock, my book was second
14:08:25 on the list, beating out Paul McCartney and Dolly Parton. So that’s my bragging for today.
14:08:30 I love it.
14:08:32 Absolutely
14:08:34 All right, thank
14:08:37 Well
14:08:34 I think they’re making more money off of their books, still. My book, by the way, is free, so I want you to know that it’s free.
14:08:41 Well, I mean, but I want to say it’s one of those books that, like, once you have it, you want to, like, keep it with you always, because it’s just so it’s
14:08:54 Totally informative, got lots and lots of, like, useful information about how best to, like, use your screen reader with Windows and Excel. It’s it’s really a fantastic book and
14:09:06 Well, thank you. And it also cures insomnia. I want you to know that, too. I read it every night, I fall asleep, yeah.
14:09:11 Oh, I love it. All righty. Well, as you can see, we’ve got two really fantastic people with us here today. So again, I’m going to say thank you to you and thank you to Debbie and David for being here
14:09:26 I’m going to talk a little bit about sort of our logistics, and then we’re going to just jump right in, because I’m not the person you really want to hear from today. So our logistics is we’re going to have Debbie start a presentation, and she’s going to talk about NVDA and Narrator
14:09:45 And then once she’s finished talking, we’re going to open it up for questions and hopefully you will all have really fantastic questions for Debbie. And then after Debbie, David is going to go. So without further ado, Debbie, you’re on
14:10:03 Hi, well, first of all, I want to tell you I’m suffering from some allergies, so you may see some sniffing and snuffing, and you also may see me on video using a Kleenex, because it’s Northern California, and everything is blooming.
14:10:17 So anyway, now that I’ve done that disclaimer, let me start by telling you what MVDA is. First of all, it stands for Non-Visual Desktop Access. Non-Visual Desktop Access. But everyone just calls it NVDA.
14:10:35 So then you know what that stands for. NVDA is a screen reader, and I’m sure many of you know what a screen reader is, but just for people who don’t, a screen reader is a program that makes an inaccessible computer accessible
14:10:52 It is a program that runs on the computer and presents information to a blind user using speech and Braille if they have a Braille display or magnification if they have a way of magnifying
14:11:08 The, screen. And so, NVDA is speech and braille only. It does not do magnification.
14:11:17 NVVA only runs on Windows. And Windows is what’s called an operating system, which means it’s the program that makes the computer go. You know, cars have engines, well, computers have operating systems
14:11:33 And you know that Mac has a Mac operating system, and your iPhone has an iPhone operating system, which is called iOS. And another operating system is called Android. But Windows is what is typically used, not all the time, but typically used
14:11:53 In many offices and situations where you might be employed, for example, if you’re working in customer service, you’re likely going to be using Windows.
14:12:05 If you’re creating documents and spreadsheets, more than likely, you’re going to be using Windows. And NVDA is the program that runs there
14:12:15 Just a couple of sentences about the early years of MBDA, and you’re gonna say, well, why do I care about the early years of NBDA? I care about it now. That’s because it used to be a pretty crummy program.
14:12:27 So when I was first introduced to NVDA, and I was working at the college, which is where I work now, I went to our computer lab and I said, look, there’s this great free program. It’s called MVDA. It doesn’t cost anything. Let’s start making sure all of our blind students are learning how to use it and installing it on their computers at home
14:12:46 And our lab tech, who thought he was an expert, said, oh, no, it’s a crummy program. We’re going to use JAWS. JAWS cost $1,000, it’s really good. Well, at that time, JAWS was really good and still is, but NVDA gradually caught up with it
14:13:02 So, if you happen to be working with a trainer who says, oh no, we’re going to use JAWS
14:13:09 Take it with a grain of salt, because JAWS is an excellent program, but if you can’t afford JAWS, you don’t have to feel like a second-class citizen because you’re using NVDA. So remember, if someone’s knowledge is, you know, 10 years out of date, you kind of have to treat it with a grain of salt.
14:13:27 Okay, now I could tell you all sorts of keystrokes and commands and things to do with NVDA, but I’m going to stick with the basics, because I believe I only have 10 minutes. So, I want to talk to you a little bit about what installation means
14:13:43 When you acquire NVDA, you’re doing it by downloading it, which means a copy of it is being dropped off of the web and onto your computer. That’s what downloading is.
14:13:55 And you may need help downloading it, or you may be adventurous and know how to do it yourself. But once it’s downloaded and needs to be installed. And that’s not like putting a washing machine in your garage. It’s making a program ready to run on your computer.
14:14:13 Because once the program is downloaded, Windows requires that programs become installed. And installed means you go through a series of questions or prompts and answer yes or no, where do I want to put the program, how do I want to get it running
14:14:29 Do I want laptop or desktop mode? Ask you all these questions. So, you may decide you need a technical person to install it for you, or again, you may be adventurous and decide you might want to do that yourself. So that’s what all those terms mean. Screen reader, install, download, NVDA, you kind of
14:14:47 have some familiarity with those words now. Now, once you get MVVA on your computer, or, hey, you can put it on anybody’s computer, because it’s free, so it could be on your employer’s computer, it could be on your college’s computer, it could be on your local library’s computer
14:15:06 And in fact, when I was unemployed a long time ago, for about a year
14:15:12 And this was right after the dot-com bubble burst, and everybody was looking for work, and my computer was broken
14:15:21 What I did is I put NVDA on a thumb drive, and I went over to the local library, and I installed it, quote, on their computer and used it. I had to get permission from their tech guys, but once it was running on the library’s computer, I now had an accessible computer.
14:15:38 So that’s something to think about, because it’s a free program
14:15:42 So, let me just say a couple of things about getting training to use NVDA, and then I have my four emergency keystrokes that you should know if you’re using it anywhere.
14:15:55 One of the best places to get training is your local community college. Yes, I’m prejudiced. I work for a local community college, but again, most colleges are inexpensive. They usually have access to technology, they usually have someone who can train you. So you can always call up the colleges, look for the disability support center
14:16:13 Ask if there’s any training in access technology. Often, you just need to take a couple of courses. You don’t have to go for a degree or all of that. Now, regular university is a different thing. You have to apply and enroll, but a community college accepts anybody from the community
14:16:30 Another good training possibility is other blind people. For example, I belong to BITS, which is Blind Information Technology Solutions, and we are an affiliate of ACB, the American Council of the Blind
14:16:45 But you can also belong to NFB and join us at BITS. We don’t really care where you come from, we don’t care how old you are, what color you are. All we want to do is help blind people be successful, and most of the training courses are taught by other blind people
14:17:01 And last
14:17:04 last November, was it November? Yeah, I taught an NVDA course, and there are recordings of it on our website, so it costs $20 to join. If you already belong to a chapter of ACB or NFB, or you have a local blind center
14:17:19 You might go in and ask if there is someone who would work with you one-on-one on your computer. There are many blind people who know a lot about technology, but are also unemployed, and this is a good thing for them to put on their resume if they can help you use your computer.
14:17:34 Another possibility, of course, is getting training from the Department of Rehab. Again, you have to really go in and advocate for yourself, but if you’re successful, you can often get training that costs you nothing
14:17:48 All right, I think I’m running out of time, and my husband decided this was a beautiful time to vacuum. Sorry about all the noise here.
14:17:57 But the one thing I want to say about NVDA is, unlike JAWS, there is not as much free training out there, but what there is, I’m going to be sending Cheryl some links. I’m just going through them now to make sure that they’re accurate.
14:18:12 But to avoid feeling overwhelmed
14:18:15 Figure out what you want to do with it
14:18:18 Learn a little bit of it every day. Don’t try to take on too much.
14:18:23 There is documentation for using NVDA, and what I would suggest you do is if you have a device you already know how to use, like your iPhone or your Victor Reader Stream, get someone to help you put the MVDA user guide on that device
14:18:40 Then begin reading it and working through how to use it. Also, there is a book on Bard, the NVD Training User Guide. It was NVDA training
14:18:54 tutorial. That’s the word I’m looking for. I’m having a senior moment here. But there’s a great tutorial on Bard. It was written by the NVDA training folks, and that will help you learn how to use NVDA2. Again, put it on your NLS player, listen to it
14:19:08 One section at a time and work through it. It is an older version of that training. It was published in 2016, but if you’re a beginner, it doesn’t matter, because the newer version, which costs about $30, can be bought on the web
14:19:23 And the only thing different between older and newer version is some more advanced topics that, as a beginner, you don’t really need anyway.
14:19:33 There are also training videos on YouTube if you search for NBDA screen reader, you’ll find lots of amateur stuff, some of it’s really good, some of it’s really bad. But if you know how to use an iPhone or an iPad or an Android phone, or
14:19:48 or an Amazon Fire device, go look at YouTube and see what you can find. Alright, I’m going to close with the four emergency keystrokes that are good to know.
14:20:00 In NVDA, you can hit the caps lock as the NVDA key, or the insert as the NVDA key.
14:20:07 And so, I’m gonna say insert, but you can usually use the caps lock instead. So, insert T, T as in tiger will always read the title bar of the window that you are currently focused on. So if you’re lost and you’re not sure where you are, and Windows has
14:20:25 Multiple windows, it’s called Windows, because multiple windows are open, and you don’t know which window you’re in, insert T will tell you that. Okay, and then if you want to read the whole window, it is Insert B as in box, and that’s because windows are in little boxes right on the screen visually
14:20:46 They have little borders. So, you know, if you have one window up, you have one box on your screen. If you have five windows, you have 5 little boxes. And so, if you do insert B, it will read the little box. So it’ll read where you are now.
14:21:01 And if you want to read the current line, the current line that you are focused on, that is Insert Up Arrow
14:21:12 Or, if you’re using the caps lock, it’s Caps Lock L. L as in line.
14:21:18 So, and then the last keystroke I want to tell you about is for applications that are on the web, and if you are looking for work, you’re probably going through job applications online.
14:21:28 And more and more applications and more and more in-house software from employers is going online. It’s on the web. And so if you’re on the web, there are two modes. There is focus mode and browse mode. And to toggle between the two of them, it’s Insert
14:21:48 And the focus mode lets you type. So if you have to type something into a web application, that’s when you’re in focus mode. And the browse mode lets you read what’s there. So if you’re in Browse Mode, you’re not entering anything, but you’re just reading.
14:22:03 So, that’s my quick emergency keystroke list for NVDA, and I will stop here and answer questions or do whatever shell wants me to do next.
14:22:13 Okay, so why don’t we take some questions?
14:22:16 If anybody has any questions about NVDA, please raise your hand and Elena will send you the note, the notice to unmute.
14:22:32 All right, Renee, if you could unmute yourself.
14:22:41 Hi, I’m Renee Mason, and I just wanted to let you know I don’t have any questions, but I appreciate you thoroughly describing that. It’s very interesting, and I’m new to all this.
14:22:51 And the vision paraph for an entire school district, trying to learn all I can to help our students and myself. So thank you. It was very well described and explained. Thank you.
14:23:01 Awesome. Thanks.
14:23:03 All right. Thank you, Renee.
14:23:05 And then it looks like we have a question from Carrie. You are unmuted. If you could also unmute yourself.
14:23:13 Hi, I’ve been a long-time JAWS user, so I’m just wondering, does NVDA do some of the OCR stuff like JAWS does in the Picture Smart, those types of things?
14:23:32 -Oh, did we lose Debbie?
14:23:35 It looks like she’s mute. Oh, there we go.
14:23:39 Oh, sorry.
14:23:36 I… that’s okay, I had to do a big sneeze, so I muted. I did think you needed to hear my allergies. Yeah, so, sorry about that.
14:23:47 It uses an add-on. So an add-on is a piece of software that was written by someone else that gets, quote, added on to… you know, you might have heard of plugins on the web. An add-on is the same thing. So NVDA has a huge number of add-ons that are written by
14:24:05 Just ordinary volunteers, people in the community who like to write programs, and so a lot of the AI and OCR stuff is built into add-ons, but you have to download them from the add-on store. But most of them are
14:24:21 Actually, nearly all of them are free. If you do insert R, it will OCR whatever the currently focused item is. And I have found that to be useful occasionally, but not all the time.
14:24:38 All right.
14:24:35 I think that’s my answer
14:24:39 All right, and then we have a question from Carly. You are unmuted. If you could also unmute yourself.
14:24:46 Yes, my name is Carly. I’m
14:24:51 I have glasses, but my question is, how
14:24:55 I don’t know if it’s for her or for the other one. How can a person make sure that what they’ve written as a book is sorry e-reader
14:25:10 And the NVDA friendly
14:25:13 So, you want to know if a piece of software you’re using is going to work with NVDA? Is that your question?
14:25:20 Well, I’m actually a writer, and I’m eventually going to be publishing my book
14:25:27 I want to make sure I make it nice and accessible for as many people as possible
14:25:34 Well, I think if you are publishing it, if it’s in Word, it’s going to be accessible. If it’s text, it’s going to be accessible. It depends on who’s publishing it for you and how they’re going to format it, but
14:25:50 And if it’s on a Kindle, it’s going to be accessible, since if it’s text. I mean, you’re not doing math or science or anything, right?
14:26:00 Right
14:26:01 Yeah, so it’s likely to be perfectly accessible. Of course, it depends on what people are using to read it, but I don’t see any problem.
14:26:10 Yeah.
14:26:10 Okay, just thought I’d ask
14:26:12 Yeah, no, no, no. I think when you start working with whoever’s going to publish your book, you just need to let them know that you want it to be accessible for people who are blind or visually impaired. And then they can
14:26:28 work on identifying different formats. Actually, David
14:26:33 Can you… can you add some information to this?
14:26:36 Well, beyond what Debbie said, you know, there are different
14:26:40 You know, different standards, guidelines, but if you format a Word document correctly, there’s also an EPUB format, which allows people to navigate effectively. And even Debbie mentioned
14:26:55 Well, there’s a new bits product, pretty amazing called Glow, and that will take your document and it will transform it into something that is consistent and accessible for low vision readers to read. It will make the
14:27:09 I make the fonts bigger and put the headings and the correct guidelines. So I would agree
14:27:18 that there’s no major problem. PDFs can be challenging. Sometimes things will be formatted that way, but if your original source document, like a Word document.
14:27:30 is putting together keeping various accessibility criteria in mind, that will transform into an accessible PDF also. So, different formats, but there are ways to make all of those formats accessible.
14:27:47 All right, and then we have a question from Kenneth. You are unmuted if you could also unmute yourself.
14:28:00 Okay, thank you. My name is Kenneth from Africa
14:28:05 It’s a pleasure to be here with you.
14:28:08 My question is
14:28:10 Yes, I understand
14:28:13 This is
14:28:15 An introductory pack of MVDA
14:28:20 Are you continue… are we continuing with the trend today or
14:28:25 Other parts of the training will be next time.
14:28:27 Thank you.
14:28:30 I don’t really think this is a training. I think we’re just telling people that it exists. There is training out there, but this is not really a training
14:28:40 Okay.
14:28:40 Yeah, yeah, no. So I think if you’re, yeah, as Deb said, as Debbie said, this is just sort of introductory opportunity to let you know that these resources exist and to give you a
14:28:56 like high level sort of information about how how they’re used. But as Debbie said, you can go to bits
14:29:06 You know, become a member, and then you can access their train, the training that Debbie herself did. And then and then the other resources that she mentioned. So
14:29:19 And you can buy, you can buy their training bundle if you go… their website is nvaccess.org, that’s N-V-A-C-C-E-S-S, period, O-R-G. They do sell a book with, the training, with, you know, a tutorial.
14:29:37 That walks you through using the various features. Also, when David talks in a minute about his book, it’s free, and you can use it also for training.
14:29:47 Okay, thank you very much.
14:29:54 All right, and then did you want to keep taking questions, Cheryl?
14:29:58 How many more hands do we have?
14:30:00 We have two
14:30:01 Okay, let’s do that. Yes.
14:30:03 All right, Christina, if you could unmute yourself
14:30:11 Hi, sorry, I’m new to these webinar thingies. So you keep saying the acronym for it, but
14:30:20 I don’t… is it N as in Nancy, V as in Victor, D as in David, A as in Apple?
14:30:26 That’s correct.
14:30:27 Okay
14:30:28 That was just my only question
14:30:30 Okay, thanks.
14:30:33 All right, and then we have Mary, if you could unmute yourself.
14:30:45 Hi, can you hear me okay?
14:30:47 Yep.
14:30:48 We can, yes
14:30:49 I don’t have an insert key on my keyboard, so I might just kind of stuck and need to get a different keyboard to take advantage of some of the NVDA
14:31:00 Oh
14:31:02 Oh, good.
14:30:57 No, you would use the caps lock. So caps lock T for the title bar, caps lock L to read the current line, caps lock B to read the current box. Remember a box is a window, and caps lock space to toggle between browse and focus mode
14:31:18 Oh, thank you so much. And if an inline link doesn’t get read is my only other option to try to guess it out out of context with the links
14:31:29 I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand what you mean.
14:31:32 Okay, so I’ve been coming across like text that has inline links in the sentences. And it doesn’t read me the link information, so it’s like it stops at the middle of the sentence, and then I find out later there’s a link in the sentence that didn’t get read
14:31:49 Is there any workaround or command to make inline links get read rather than just going to links?
14:31:56 Well, you could tap to it with, and that’s your browser, not NVDA, you can use your browser’s tab to go there, or you could use Insert F7 to get a list of the links
14:32:11 Okay.
14:32:10 It used to be insert F5 so if you have an older NVDA, you may discover you need to do that
14:32:18 Okay, wonderful. Thank you so much.
14:32:20 If I could just ask you about your first question, does your keyboard have a number pad
14:32:29 Just the ones across the top that doesn’t have a separate on the side keypad.
14:32:33 Okay, and I ask that because you can also use the zero on the number pad if you have one. One thing I would suggest, because just having a single
14:32:43 JAWS key or jaws key, a modifier key. I say JAWS key because they’re the same keys with JAWS with your caps lock is really quite limiting, so you might consider, you know, plugging a desktop keyboard into the USB port, because then you have the full array of
14:32:59 possibilities.
14:33:01 You might be more quicker and productive with a desktop keyboard.
14:33:05 Something to think about
14:33:05 Yep, yep, I’ve got an external one and I’ve got to get a bigger one. So thank you, though. Thank you.
14:33:12 Yeah
14:33:17 All right. Does either Debbie or David, do you know the link to get to the BITS website
14:33:26 BITS-acb.org. Of course, you have to do HTTP
14:33:31 All right, so bits-acv.org.
14:33:35 So that’s… that’s
14:33:36 Oh, sorry, go ahead. Yeah
14:33:38 Oh, no, I’m done. Go ahead.
14:33:39 I just wanted to say, I’m not sure whether you said it, Debbie or not already, that stands for blind information technology solutions. That’s what BIT stands for. So if you forgot the acronym and you could remember blind information technology solutions, you could search for that. It’s going to be your first search result
14:33:57 Awesome.
14:33:59 Thank you.
14:33:59 And if you are in NFB, you’re welcome to join BIDS. You don’t have to worry about it, but you also should check with your buddies in NFB to find out what sorts of training opportunities exist, because BITS is only one possibility for you.
14:34:17 All right, well, thank you so much, Debbie. So David, why don’t you go and then maybe at the end, we can talk about Narrator.
14:34:29 But yeah
14:34:29 Okay, so I’m going to talk a bit about JAWS. JAWS stands for Job Access with Speech, which is sort of an awkward acronym. I think it’s one of those cases where they had the word JAWS and then they wanted to fit words around it. And I think the as the story goes
14:34:45 In the 1990s, when it was first developed, there was one competitor there, and the company’s name was Dolphin. So I think the idea was Jaws is the shark, they were going to eat the dolphin, and being very competitive, I guess ultimately that’s what they did
14:35:02 But
14:35:03 That word job, you know, does give you a sense that this is a really important
14:35:11 Tool for you to use in job situations. But whether it’s job, whether it’s school, whether it’s just personal life, I’ve been using it for over 20 years and it’s been incredibly important
14:35:27 to my life
14:35:30 Debbie already told you that the one big the major disadvantage of JAWS is you have to pay for it. I’m from Massachusetts where we are quite blessed with a state commission that purchases JAWS for a lot of people
14:35:45 But then, even if they purchase it, you know, you’ll have to yourself finance
14:35:51 annual updates or upgrades. These come out at the end of October every year. We’re now using JAWS 2026, so at the end of October, there will be JAWS 2027, and then the year after that and beyond. And then there are also updates that are done
14:36:09 Within the year. So the most recent Jaws update was just last week, the May update. And
14:36:18 There are often, you know, well, there are always bug fixes, things like that, but then new features are added too. In my mind, the major advantage of JAWS over the others
14:36:34 That they are adding new features all the time. And some of those features
14:36:39 are very, very useful, very, very powerful. There was a question earlier about OCR. JAWS has an excellent OCR optical character recognition tool for reading PDFs that are scanned images. Many, many useful
14:36:54 tools
14:36:55 And all the basic things you need to do, you can do with JAWS. One thing I’ll say is, well, why did I start with JAWS? And I started with it in 2004. Well, the main reason is back then it was basically the only game in town
14:37:12 And so that’s what I started with. That’s what I’ve been using since. I don’t regret it. I think it is an excellent development that there are three possibilities now, not just JAWS, but also NVDA and Narrator
14:37:26 Another bonus of having the three of them is that most… when we’re just talking about the basic things that you do.
14:37:34 Pretty much all the keystrokes are the same. So there’s a handful of keystrokes that are different between these three different applications, but
14:37:46 If you are fairly good with one, the learning curve for learning the other two is not at all steep. I typically, in the training I do
14:37:56 I’m training people primarily in JAWS. After I’ve trained them for maybe about two weeks or so, I’ll budget, like, only a half a day, and people can get up to speed pretty quickly on the basics of NVDA and Narrator. You want to do more advanced things, then that’s a different thing
14:38:14 And I think it’s generally good for people to be able to use more than one screen reader. It gives you more flexibility.
14:38:21 Now, I could talk on and on about the various different JAWS features
14:38:26 I said a moment ago that one of the strengths of JAWS
14:38:32 Is that they are frequently doing adding new features and very, very significant useful features. No time has that been more
14:38:44 Relevant than now, where we have AI. The company is called Vispero, who owns Jaws, I think has done an excellent job of incorporating AI
14:38:59 into JAWS. And what I’ve done is I’ve done a short audio here. I could talk about these new features, but hearing them
14:39:10 in action, I think is much, much more effective than having me drone on. So the three new features that have been added
14:39:18 That are AI related since 2024, you know, after
14:39:23 AI with ChatGPT came out and the world was abuzz with it. Not in… well, I’ll say what they are in order. PictureSmart for describing pictures
14:39:36 FS companions recently rechristened Vispero Companion, which is a great resource for quickly getting help. Like what’s the keystroke for this in JAWS or what’s the process for doing X, Y, and Z? And then in 2026, most recently
14:39:52 Something called Page Explorer for exploring web pages. So without further ado, I pre-recorded an audio. We’ll listen to that, listen to it. It’s about 12 minutes in length. Sorry for the length, but I think we need that time to do
14:40:08 These features justice. So, Elena, if you could play it.
14:40:13 I’d appreciate it
14:40:16 For Sparrow Companion is a great JAWS tool for quickly getting help on
14:40:22 keystrokes that you might need to know, processes that you might need to know, with JAWS and with your Microsoft Office products, your Google products
14:40:32 web browsing and the like
14:40:36 And to activate that
14:40:39 We hit Insert and spacebar together. This is what’s called a layered command. You should hear a click noise. Space
14:40:45 And then we hit F1.
14:40:49 Hello, I’m excited to help you learn more about JAWS. I’m going to ask you the question. And I’d like to ask it about the next AI tool that we’re going to do something with, and that is called
14:41:04 Page Explorer. How do I use Page Explorer? Blank
14:41:09 It does some TikTok, tick tock while it processes to use Page Explorer in JAWS, one, open a web page and wait for it to fully load. 2. Press Insert Shift-E or caps lock Shift E if you are using laptop layout, JAWS will open the page explorer in the results viewer
14:41:25 This feature gives you a summary of the page layout, describes the main content, lists important links, and provides navigation tips, including useful keystrokes for the current page. You can also type follow-up questions in the Page Explorer window to get more details about specific elements or content on the page.
14:41:44 Press, enter, after typing your question. This tool helps you quickly understand complex web pages and find important information without having to navigate every element individually.
14:41:55 Okay, and that gave us a quick recap of what exactly Page Explorer is. Let’s try out Page Explorer on the Lighthouse’s homepage. I will hit Insert Shifty, and we’ll listen. Starting Page Explorer
14:42:15 Again, some TikTok as it processes
14:42:26 bullet The page has a top banner area with I hit control to stop it from talking.
14:42:36 I’m going to start from the top of the page just so we see what the different headings the organization is
14:42:43 And I’ll hit H for heading. The Sparrow companion heading level one graphic. Simply a title of the page. Page summary heading level 2. H again. Layout heading level 3. So the overall layout? Content summary heading level 3
14:42:58 Important Links Heading Level 3. Wrapping to top Vispero Companion Heading Level 1 Graphic
14:43:08 And I’ll put it in sale. Page summary heading level 2. Layout Heading Level 3.
14:43:14 1. Heading level 3 layout bullet The page has a top banner area with a logo and a donate link, followed by a main navigation menu that is mobile-friendly with a toggle button. Bullet the main content area is divided into sections including news, events
14:43:29 And informational content. Bullet There are multiple headings used to separate content areas, such as news articles, upcoming events, and service information. Bullet the page includes several links, images, and some embedded media like a YouTube video bullet at the bottom
14:43:45 There is the footer area with contact information, mission statement, quality objectives, and social media links, bullet landmarks present include a banner region at the top, a main content region, and multiple navigation regions for menus and pagination.
14:44:01 2. Heading Level 3 Content Summary Pull at this page provides information about the lighthouse for the Blind, including news updates, upcoming events, services offered, and ways to support or donate. 3. Heading Level 3 Navigation Tips Bullet Headings on the page include Level 2 and Level 3 headings
14:44:19 Marking major sections like upcoming events, recent lighthouse news, and individual news article titles bullet landmark regions include a banner at the top, main content area, and navigation menus. Bullet there are multiple links throughout the page, including event details
14:44:36 Donation options, and social media bullet no forms or live regions are detected on this page. Bullet tailored strategy. Use Heading Navigation to quickly jump between main sections level 2 headings for broad topics. Level 3 for news articles. Use landmark quick navigation to jump to the main content or navigation menus.
14:44:54 The page has well-structured headings, so heading navigation is recommended. Also, use the link Quick Navigation to access important links like donations or event sign-ups. 4. Heading Level 3 important links press enter to open a link in a new tab. Press Ctrl Enter to open a link in the current tab
14:45:11 List of seven items nesting Level 1 White Bullet Link Donate Now primary call to action for donations White bullet link Tomcubler dog guide and employee support fund support fund for employees getting dog guides White Bullet Link. Couple of things to note here
14:45:27 First off, this is very powerful in giving a quick summary of a web page
14:45:36 The links that we heard listed there are actionable. In other words, I could hit enter on one of those links to get to that page
14:45:46 And what we just heard there would generally take a good amount of extra time simply to snoop around and explore. So this is a great tool when you need to visit a new website, or you’re also on a webpage that is a bit more complicated
14:46:04 And difficult to navigate. I count LinkedIn pages as a good example of that.
14:46:10 We’re now going to talk about JAWS Picture Smart. I’ve been using JAWS for over 20 years, and
14:46:18 There are always new features, but I consider this perhaps the single most important new feature in the 20 years that I’ve been using JAWS, because it really brings accessibility to a whole new level. And what that does is it will describe in great detail
14:46:33 pictures or graphics that you find on the web. It can also describe your window on your computer, and it can do many other things.
14:46:45 So we’re on the Lighthouse page here. I’ll go to the top. The lighthouse for the Blind, Incorporated. And we have a series of graphics here and images are called graphics. I’m going to go to the first graphic with the letter
14:47:00 G, which is the logo. The lighthouse for the blind, Incorporated. Logo link graphic
14:47:07 And all we hear is logo. I’d like to know what that logo looks like. So I’m going to hit Insert and space bar
14:47:15 Space. The letter Picture smart. And now enter. Picture smart is in progress. The image is a logo featuring a blue and white lighthouse centered within an oval. The lighthouse stands tall with light beams at its top against a backdrop of clouds and a body of water
14:47:30 Suggesting a coastal scene, below the oval, the text reads The Lighthouse for the Blind, incorporated in bold blue letters, the overall design conveys guidance and support, symbolized by the lighthouse, tailored to the organization serving individuals who are blind
14:47:47 Link asked questions about this image, link get more details, link give feedback about this feature. Now we’re here at the bottom here, there are three links. We hear give feedback, so you could give some feedback about how good or bad
14:48:02 This description is, because this is a large language model that’s learning all the time. We could also… Link at More Details
14:48:13 get more details. Now, if you do this, it’s going to give you a more detailed description using both
14:48:20 ChatGPT and Claude from Anthropic
14:48:26 The idea there is if these were wildly divergent
14:48:30 then that would be a red flag to you that there might be something wrong with the description, because AI can hallucinate. I’ll up here one more. Link asked questions about this image. And we can ask follow-up questions, and I’m going to do that. Enter. Type a question, edit
14:48:45 Type in text. Land right in an edit field and I’m going to write describe the shape of the lighthouse. Describe the shape of the lighthouse, the lighthouse in the image has a tool, tapered cylindrical shape that widens slightly at the base. It features a small rectangular door near the bottom and two small rectangular windows higher up
14:49:05 One above the other, the top of the lighthouse has a lantern room with a railing around it, crowned by a dome-like roof. The structure is simple and classic in design, emphasizing vertical lines and a sturdy, stable form.
14:49:17 Okay, and there we get a good description of the shape of the lighthouse, and we could ask additional follow-up questions if we like. Not only is this good for describing pictures, you can do a lot of other things with it. And I’m going to open a spreadsheet
14:49:35 Pet adoption statisticsquarterly.xlsx. Cats, and so on. Now, if a spreadsheet can fit
14:49:46 Within a screen picture smart can give you a summary of it and you can also ask follow-up questions about it, like are there trends in the data that can be particularly useful because if you can’t see all of the numbers
14:50:02 It can be a bit difficult to see patterns, to see trends. So I will open picture smart again, insert space
14:50:10 The letter Picture smart
14:50:13 Now, this time
14:50:15 I’m going to hit W to have the window described to me. Picture Smart is in progress.
14:50:24 Picture smart results
14:50:27 The image shows an Excel spreadsheet titled Pet Adoption statistics quarterly with data on pet adoptions by quarter and year, columns display pets types dogs, cats, gerbils, hamsters and corresponding adoption numbers per quarter Quarter 1 to Quarter 4 and annual total
14:50:43 Dogs have yearly adoptions of 259, cats 284, gerbils 308, hamsters 185, quarterly totals are 186, 268, 265, and 317.
14:50:59 With a yearly total of 1,036 adoptions. So that gave us a quick summary of what is in this table. But what is really more powerful is, I’d like to know, are there any trends, or are there any patterns in the data
14:51:15 And I will ask that follow-up question. The ask questions about this image. Enter. Type a question. Are there any trends in the data?
14:51:24 Yes, there are some observable trends in the pet adoption data: 1. Overall increase quarterly, the total adoptions generally increase each quarter from 186 in Quarter 1 to 317 in quarter 4.2.
14:51:39 Adoption numbers increased steadily from 36 in Q1 to 89 in Quarter 4.3. Adoption numbers peak in Q2 at 73, then slightly declined through quarters 3 and 4.4, gerbils show a steady rise in adoptions each quarter
14:51:55 From 52 in Quarter 1 to 96 in Q4.5, hamsters fluctuate more, peaking in Quarter 3 at 57, then decreasing to 48 in Q4. Overall, dogs and gerbils show consistent growth, cats peak mid-year
14:52:11 And hamsters have variable adoption numbers
14:52:13 So I think this is particularly powerful in discerning trends in data, because you want to see what the overall message is, and that can be quite difficult to do if you can only read cell by cell, because you can’t see the screen
14:52:33 That is my recording. Again, sorry for the length, but I thought you don’t really do it justice until you hear some of that.
14:52:44 So these can be, and I use these different tools every day on the job
14:52:52 And I think they can definitely be part of your arsenal when you’re going to work or to school.
14:53:00 These are new things, these are only, these only been placed with JAWS for the last 2 or 3 years, so
14:53:07 pretty impressive. Again, I could go on and on about
14:53:12 other features of Jaws. But of course we don’t have time for that.
14:53:18 I would just note that again, as I said, we have many things that are similar between the three screen readers. Debbie mentioned the modifier keys. Again, if you have a full keyboard
14:53:30 the actual insert key on the right side of your screen, the 0 on the numpad, and the caps lock key are modifier keys for all three of these programs.
14:53:42 So let me stop right here.
14:53:47 All right, thank you, David. Just, I mean
14:53:50 Thank you so much for highlighting those features. I can see where, you know, as you’re looking for a job, being able to
14:54:02 gain information about the different website, I think can can would be super helpful. So thank you. Thank you very much for sharing that.
14:54:12 Any questions? And did people want to raise their hand? As that is happening, I saw a question come through the chat asking about NVDA and Excel spreadsheets.
14:54:29 How does NVDA read Excel spreadsheets?
14:54:34 Well, it’s oh sorry
14:54:35 I’ll go ahead. Go ahead.
14:54:36 Well, it’s very similar to JAWS when you move from one cell to another, you can hear what’s in that cell. NVDA has a lot of features that are off by default that you can turn on to get more information. You have to go into document formatting and turn some of those on
14:54:54 But it can
14:54:56 I think JAWS has more customization for Excel, so if your job required you use Excel, I would definitely get my employer, if it was me, to buy JAWS. But if you just occasionally have to look at a spreadsheet, I would say NVDA would work okay
14:55:15 And I would agree with that.
14:55:18 Yeah, so an hour sort of flies by. It’s just amazing. I feel we’ve got maybe Elena, do you see any raised hands? I didn’t see any.
14:55:32 I don’t see any
14:55:35 Okay, so we’ve got about 6 minutes to dedicate to narrator. I didn’t know Debbie or David, do you guys want to talk a few minutes, two or three minutes about Narrator
14:55:50 We can… we could probably do a… I don’t know, could we do a whole session on Narrator? I don’t know.
14:55:58 Okay.
14:55:55 I can talk about it briefly. I don’t want to interrupt David though. So to get narrator on any Windows machine, it is control and Windows. I’m hitting it here to make sure I’m hitting the right key
14:56:13 And Control Windows will call the Windows key, will call up
14:56:17 Control Windows Enter
14:56:18 Control Windows Enter, Control Windows Enter.
14:56:20 Yeah, my fingers are doing it right and I have to turn it into words. Control Windows Enter. We’ll call up Narrator on any Windows computer that runs Windows 11. I believe, what is it on Windows 10, David? Do you remember?
14:56:38 Control Windows Enter, it’s the same
14:56:40 Okay, I remember on an old computer I have at work, it’s another keystroke. But anyway, we won’t worry about it. Control Windows Enter, we’ll call it up. You will get something called Narrator Home. If you call it up for the first time, and it will allow you to tab around
14:56:58 Cab is your friend. You can find the complete guide to narrator, which will open a web page, and that is the documentation for Narrator. You will also find settings there. You can set up anything you want. It is a screen reader that is similar to MVDA and JAWS
14:57:13 It’s a little more simple in some ways, but for basic things, it will give you the same information. The important thing to know about Narrator, though, is that Microsoft has written a large series of tutorials on how to use Narrator with their applications
14:57:29 So, like, for example, if you search for the words
14:57:35 Use Microsoft Word with a screen reader. Use Excel with a screen reader. Use Outlook with a screen reader. They will give you a tutorial online with step-by-step instructions on how to use it, but the quote screen reader they always feature is Narrator
14:57:52 So, if you’re trying to do something with a Microsoft product, you might start by running Narrator and going through those tutorials, and that will be very, very helpful. And what I always do is I use my iPhone and I search. So, like, for example, we use this thing at work called SharePoint, which I was really hating
14:58:11 And on my sighted friends were hating it, but we had to use it, so what I did is I took my iPhone and I searched for use SharePoint with a screen reader. And there were all these great tutorials, so because I knew how to use my iPhone, but I didn’t know how to use SharePoint
14:58:27 Hmm.
14:58:28 I went through the directions on my iPhone while I pulled up SharePoint and Narrator on my computer and went through the instructions, and guess what? A couple of days later, I was the expert on SharePoint, and the sighted people were coming to me. So, yeah, it is possible
14:58:44 And just take your time and use a device you know to read how to learn to use it.
14:58:50 Nice.
14:58:51 Yeah, go ahead.
14:58:52 Yes, yes.
14:58:50 Could I throw in one thing real quickly? Because we’ll have to be quick. Again, a narrator is making improvements all the time, or Microsoft is, but if you only can remember one thing, remember control windows enter to open it
14:59:05 Control Windows Enter to close it, because there aren’t that many people who use Narrator as their primary screen reader, but many people use it secondarily, because when my jaws misbehaves, and it does.
14:59:17 I will open Narrator to get somebody talking so then I can go and fix something. I like to say that and half the time when I do that, Jaws will start talking. I like to say that
14:59:29 Jaws is jealous, so if it hears narrator running, it’s like, hey, this is my computer, go away. And Jaws wakes up, you know, might be sleeping under the mango tree or something like that. But you can really use Narrator effectively for troubleshooting when you get into little fixes to get out of them
14:59:44 simply by opening it, then getting your jaws back, and then closing narrator again with the control windows enter. Narrator is also extremely responsive, so when you hit that Control Windows Enter, it opens real quickly because it’s part of the operating system. When you open JAWS or NVDA, it takes a little bit longer. So I just wanted to throw that
15:00:01 Last little thing in there
15:00:03 Also, narrator is a really nice bridge if you’re low vision because you don’t need to install it. It’s already there. So if you’re transitioning from reading visually to reading with speech, you can get started with Narrator and still be using your vision to read, and you can also use it with the Windows Magnifier
15:00:19 And then eventually, you’ll probably decide you want to use JAWS or NVDA.
15:00:24 Thank you. So before we sort of end, just one follow-up question in chat. Actually, Elena, could you read the question? I think it’s from Elizabeth
15:00:37 Yeah, they just wanted to clarify which version of JAWS can read Excel spreadsheets.
15:00:45 All of the versions, Ken
15:00:47 Okay.
15:00:48 Great
15:00:49 Yeah.
15:00:49 Yeah.
15:00:50 All right, well, thank you, thank you. This is so fantastic. I just knew that you two were the perfect people for this. I know I learned a lot. I hope our attendees also found this interesting.
15:01:08 And learned something about JAWS and NVDA and about Narrator. So thank you, Debbie.
15:01:17 And thank you
15:01:23 David
15:01:23 Debbie.
15:01:28 Take care.
15:01:24 It’s late in the afternoon, but thanks so much for having having me. Yeah.
15:01:28 No, it’s fantastic.
15:01:29 It’s late here in Massachusetts anyways.
15:01:32 Yes, tell me this. I just want to say to our attendees that you will get a survey and please take a few minutes to complete the survey and let us know what you thought about the session. And because we really value your input and we use your
15:01:51 feedback to help us also come up with future webinars. So again, thank you to everybody. Thank you, Elena, for being here. And, I think we’ve got maybe one or two people who might still have their hand raised
15:02:06 If you guys, if you want to send your questions to me, I’m happy to pass them on to Debbie and David. So thank you, everybody, for being here, and we look forward to seeing you next month when we do another career webinar.
15:02:22 Thanks.