[gui-talk] Skim reading in Jaws: Where are instructions?

Sat Sep 5 13:46:09 UTC 2009

Geeethat,Dear
Dear Geetha,
many thanks. I looked hard under the Jaws help books an topics. Must have 
missed this. Remember reading it just months ago. Thanks again.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Geetha Shamanna" <geetha at millernorbert.de>
To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, September 05, 2009 2:07 AM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] Skim reading in Jaws: Where are instructions?

Joel,

Not sure whether anyone answered this to your satisfaction already, but here
is what Jaws help says about skim reading:

Skim Reading
The Skim Reading feature lets you quickly browse through long documents by
reading the first part of each paragraph. To begin skim reading in a
document, press CTRL+INSERT+DOWN ARROW. By default, JAWS reads the first
line of each paragraph, but you can choose to read the first sentence of
each paragraph instead or set up your own skim reading rules. To change your
skim reading preferences, press CTRL+SHIFT+INSERT+DOWN ARROW. For more
information on these options, see Skim Reading Dialog.

Tip: While skim reading, you can begin reading the entire document by
pressing INSERT+DOWN ARROW to carry out the Say All command. To begin skim
reading again, press CTRL+INSERT+DOWN ARROW.

Skim Reading Dialog
Press SHIFT+CTRL+INSERT+DOWN ARROW or choose "Skim Reading Tool" in the List
of JAWS Managers (INSERT+F2) to display the Skim Reading dialog box. Use
this dialog box to define how you want JAWS to skim through the current
document. You can choose to read either the first sentence or line of each
paragraph. Alternatively, you can create text rules to search for lines,
sentences, or paragraphs that contain specific words or phrases. The options
available in the Skim Reading dialog box are described below.

When you press CTRL+INSERT+DOWN ARROW, JAWS begins skim reading from the
current location of the cursor to the end of the document. However, one of
the most useful aspects of the skim reading feature is the ability to create
a summary of the current document. To generate a summary using your current
skim reading settings, choose the Create Summary button.

The summary displays in the Virtual Viewer and contains all the text that
matches the criteria you defined. Each segment of text is a link, and each
is individually numbered. You can move to a segment and press ENTER to jump
to its location within the document. Once you create a summary, it remains
available until you generate another, even if you switch to a different
document or program. You can press WINDOWS Key+INSERT+DOWN ARROW to review
the last summary that you created in the Virtual Viewer. However, you can
only use the links if the summary was created from the active document.

Use Rule Type
Select one of the following radio buttons to choose the skim reading mode
you want to use:

  a.. Read First Line of Paragraph - When you press CTRL+INSERT+DOWN ARROW,
JAWS reads the first line of each paragraph.
Note: The other options in this dialog box are not available if you select
this radio button.

  a.. Read First Sentence of Paragraph - When you press CTRL+INSERT+DOWN
ARROW, JAWS reads the first sentence of each paragraph.
Note: The other options in this dialog box are not available if you select
this radio button.

  a.. Text Rules Apply for Reading - When you press CTRL+INSERT+DOWN ARROW,
JAWS searches for text according to a text rule that you define. JAWS then
reads the line, sentence, or paragraph that contains the matching text,
depending on the option you have selected in the Speak Unit list.
  a.. Attributes and Color Rules Apply for Reading - When you press
CTRL+INSERT+DOWN ARROW, JAWS searches for text according to the selected
text color and attributes. The selections made are cumulative, meaning that
if you select bold and red text, JAWS will only search for text that is red
and bold. If you add the italic attribute, then JAWS will only search for
text that is red, bold, and italic. Any text that lacks any of these
attributes or color is ignored by JAWS.
Rules History
This combo box allows you to create a new text reading rule or select an
existing text reading rule. Text rules are logical expressions that tell
JAWS to search for specific text when skim reading. JAWS then reads the
line, sentence, or paragraph that contains the matching text, depending on
the option you have selected in the Speak Unit list. You must select either
the Text Rules Apply for Reading radio button or the Attributes and Color
Rules Apply for Reading radio button if you want to use text rules while
skim reading.

If you are creating a new text rule, select <New> from the combo box and
then enter the appropriate search pattern, color or attribute rules, or
speak unit rules. Once the rule is configured, press the Start Skim Reading
button to save and start the new skim reading rule.

<New> is the default setting for this combo box.

Text Search Pattern
In the Text Rule edit box, enter a word or phrase that you want JAWS to
search for while skim reading. Optionally, you can use a regular expression
to further refine your search. There are many different ways to create these
expressions. If you only want to search for text units that contain two or
more words, separate each word with ".*" (that is, a period followed by an
asterisk with no spaces between the words or symbols). For example, you can
use the following expression to search for text units containing both the
words "JAWS" and "MAGic":

JAWS.*MAGic

If you want to search for text units that contain any of several different
words, separate each word with "|" (that is, a vertical bar with no spaces
between the words or symbols). For example, you can use the following
expression to search for text units containing either the words "JAWS" or
"MAGic":

JAWS|MAGic

You can create more advanced expressions as well. For example, you can use
the following expression to search for text units containing any year
starting with "19":

19\d{2}\s

Tip: For more information on creating complex expressions, refer to the
section Regular Expression Language Elements in the MSDN Library.

After you enter some text or a regular expression, type a name for the text
rule in the Rule Name edit box. Choose OK to save the text rule. You can
select which text rule you want to use in the Text Rules list.

Color or Attribute Rules
  a.. Text Color edit box - Use this combo box to select or enter a specific
color that a passage of text uses. You can use the UP and DOWN ARROWS to
cycle through a list of text colors,
  or you can type a color into the combo box. JAWS uses word prediction to
predict the color that you want. An asterisk appears as the default setting.
  b.. Background Color edit box - Use this combo box to select a background
color to be used for the skim reading rule. You can use the UP and DOWN
ARROWS to cycle through a list of text
  colors, or you can type a color into the combo box. JAWS uses word
prediction to predict the color that you want. An asterisk appears as the
default setting.
  c.. Attribute Check Boxes - Select an attribute check box to search for
the type of selected text in a document or Web page. Each attribute can be
used inconjunction with any other text attribute. The following attributes
are available: Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikeout, Double Strikeout,
Superscript, Subscript, Shadow, and Outline. These check boxes are only
available when the Attributes and Color Rules Apply for Reading radio button
is selected.
Delete Rule
To delete a text rule, select it in the Rules History list and then choose
the Delete Rule button.

Delete All Rules
To delete all your saved text rules, choose the Delete All Rules button.

Speak Unit
Select whether JAWS should read the paragraph, sentence, or line containing
any text that matches the currently selected text rule.

Use Regular Expression
A regular expression is a search string that uses special characters to help
you define the search and match text patterns. This feature is used
primarily by advanced users. Do not select this check box if you are simply
performing a plain text search. This check box is unchecked by default and
is only available if the Text Rules Apply for Reading radio button is
selected.

Skim Reading Indication
If you select this check box, JAWS notifies you when skimming past units of
text that do not match the currently selected text rule. JAWS beeps once for
every 20 units that it skips.

Start Skim Reading
Choose this button to save your changes and begin skim reading from your
current location.

Create Summary
Choose this button to create a summary of the current page in the Virtual
Viewer. This summary contains all the text you would hear if you began skim
reading from your present location using your currently selected options.
The summary remains available until you create another, even if you switch
to another document or program. You can review the summary in the Virtual
Buffer at any time by pressing WINDOWS Key+INSERT+DOWN ARROW.

Close
Choose this button to close this dialog box and save your changes.

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