News Bulletin #2 from the Committee for Students with Special Needs Jaws Software

News Bulletin Archive

November 10, 2004 JAWS for Windows 5.0 (JAWS) Standard screen reader software is created for blind and visually impaired computer users.  It is developed by Freedom Scientific, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA.  JAWS provides access to popular software applications and the Internet.  It uses an integrated voice synthesizer and the computer’s sound card to output the content of the computer screen to speakers.  Four of the students with visual impairment, Awad Ebiat, Waf’a Aashor, Shathe Abu Srour, and Tahreer Al Batran received training in the use of the JAWS software during the past summer.  The instructor, Jihad Abu Amsha, is computer technician and teacher at Talitha Kumi School.  A second training session is planned for the time between semesters for Ayat Obiat, Hadeel Mansour, and Rana Lama. With this software the students are able to type their papers and other assignments; information from the screen is read aloud.  They can print their work in English on paper or in Braille on the Braille embosser.  They can also save their work on a disk or the H drive.  At this time only an English version is available as a screen reader.  They can type in Arabic and print without the use of JAWS.  The JAWS software includes the features to read and navigate through the Internet explorer web pages.  Through the use of the combination keys of the keyboard the student browses and explores the contents of each web page without the need of the mouse. The staff can scan and convert a page in English to a text read in Microsoft word by JAWS.  It is saved on a disk or the owner’s file in H drive.  It can be sent to the student’s e-mail or copied on a disk for the student’s use at a computer with the JAWS software.  One computer contains a screen magnification software called Zoomtext which enlarges the text on the screen; the software is valuable for those with low vision. These facilities are available in the room for Students with Special Needs located in the library.  The JAWS software is also installed on six computers in the computer lab 260; headphones are available upon request. Teachers of students who use the JAWS software are invited to visit and discover the potential applications of its use.