[blindlaw] JAWS with Windows 7 and Office 2010

[Steve Jacobson]

Tim,

If you have received any responses to your question, I didn't see them so am chiming in.  While I am a Window-Eyes user, I do try to maintain familiarity with 
JFW and believe that my comments here will fit.  It is my understanding that the latest version of JFW will work with Office 2010 and with Windows 7.  What 
you need to keep in mind, though, is that there are differences in both Windows 7 and Office 2007 and 2010 that will mean that you need to do some 
learning as you move from Windows XP and Office 2003.  You may also have decisions to make.

In office 2007 and 2010, Microsoft changed their traditional menus to use what they call a ribbon.  While the ribbon is completely accessible, it does change 
the keystrokes that you may be used to to make certain things happen.  In some cases, it takes more keystrokes and they are not always very obvious.  
Some say they get used to it quickly and others not.  JFW has come out with something that is supposed to make the ribbon look like the old menus.  You 
may find this useful, but I think there are questions that one might want to ask before going that route.  Do you work in an office setting where you 
exchange information with co-workers as to how to do various tasks?  If you do, you are going to be best served by simply learning the ribbon so you have a 
common reference point.  You will also want to know how the JFW menu approach affects keystrokes.  If it recreates the old keystrokes, that might be 
handy but it means that any Office help or other documents that refer to keystrokes will be incorrect.  I do not have experience with this so I don't know how 
it works.  You will also want to know if every function on the ribbon is duplicated in JFW's menu, and if not, how do you get to it.  Again, there may be good 
answers to this, too.

Regarding Windows 7, it won't seem completely new, but some things are different such as the "Start menu."  If you tend to add shortcuts to your desktop 
and run them from there, you will notice little difference.  If you use the Start Menu, you'll find that it works quite a bit differently.  Many Windows 7 processes 
including the "start menu" have a search box that lets you type in something and have matching entries displayed.  This works surprisingly well in my 
experience, and if you use the start menu, you might come to like this approach rather than always arrowing all over.

If your office is upgrading, I believe that it is stable enough for you to upgrade.  You will want to make the move sometime and the need to get through the 
learning curve won't be any easier in a year or two.  <smile>

Best regards,

Steve Jacobson

On Mon, 6 Dec 2010 12:14:03 -0800, Ford, Tim (CDPH-OLS) wrote:

>My office will soon be switching from Windows XP and Office 2003, all
>the way to Windows 7 and Office 2010.  I use JAWS, and was wondering if
>anyone out there is using JAWS with Windows 7 and Office 2010?  If yes,
>how well does JAWS work?  Please respond only if this applies to your
>situation.

>Sincerely,
>Tim Ford


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