[Trainer-Talk] Part 2 of Blog Series on Windows 11

Tue Sep 24 20:20:14 UTC 2024

Hello All:

As promised, please find below part 2 of our series on Windows 11 from a
screen reader user's perspective. Part 1 was published last week, and can be
found here:
https://imagemd.org/2024/09/17/comparing-and-contrasting-windows-10-and-wind
ows-11/

Link to Part 2:
https://imagemd.org/2024/09/24/tips-for-using-windows-11-with-jaws/

Tips For Using Windows 11 with JAWS

*	Post author By  <https://imagemd.org/author/bearadvocacygmail-com/>
Carlton Walker
*	Post date
<https://imagemd.org/2024/09/24/tips-for-using-windows-11-with-jaws/>
September 24, 2024

September Solutions

School has begun throughout the state of Maryland, and we at the Bridges
Technical Assistance Center and Helpdesk explore solutions to help prepare
for two environments we cannot control: Medical care and Microsoft's new
operating system, Windows 11.

*       September 3: Accessibility for Medical Check-in and Information

*       September 10: Advocating for Medical Accessibility

*       September 17: Comparing and Contrasting Windows 10 and Windows 11
(Celebrating National IT Professionals Day with our special guest
contributor, accessible technology expert Curtis Chong)

*       September 24: Tips For Using Windows 11 with JAWS (from our special
guest contributor, accessible technology expert Curtis Chong)

This week, we are rejoined by our special guest contributor Curtis Chong.
Curtis helps us dive into Windows 11 with the JAWS screen reader.

Meet Our Guest Contributor, Curtis Chong

Curtis Chong is a nationally renown accessible technology expert. He is also
a great blind mentor, and he selflessly shares his expertise - today with
our Bridges stakeholders. Check out this
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gcvbIcpL7JuTBYiNgln_sLb2l8GbTYlj/edit?u
sp=sharing&ouid=100542621600995506535&rtpof=true&sd=true> Curtis Chong
biography to find out more about this talented gentleman.

Windows 11

Windows 11 is the latest operating system from Microsoft; it is the
operating system installed on any Windows computer purchased today. As has
always been the case with operating systems from Microsoft, there is a bit
of configuration work that needs to be performed in order to make this
operating system more usable for folks who use screen readers like JAWS or
NVDA.

Here is my personal Windows 11 configuration checklist for new Windows 11
systems that I am helping people to set up. These items represent the bare
minimum for any system that I want to make usable for a screen reader user.
Where necessary, I will provide a brief explanation as to the importance of
a particular item. If anyone is interested in specific steps to accomplish
the configuration tasks listed here, please feel free to email me at
<mailto:chong.curtis at gmail.com> chong.curtis at gmail.com.

Curtis Chong's Personal Windows 11 Configuration Checklist

1. Disable Windows Fast Startup.

Windows Fast Startup tends to keep things in memory even after the computer
is shut down. Thus, when restarting or rebooting the computer, you do not
actually load a fully clean system. Also, if you are running a trial version
of JAWS which has a 40-minute timer, Fast Startup makes it more difficult to
reset the timer.

2. Configure File Explorer not to hide file extensions.

Set up File Explorer to show "This Computer" when opened with the keyboard
shortcut WINDOWS+E; and set File Explorer not to use checkboxes, to show the
full path in the title bar, and to open folders in a separate process.

Configuring File Explorer to show file extensions such as ".docx", ".txt",
or ".jpg" makes it easier for screen reader users to know what program is
likely to open when pressing Enter on a specific file. For whatever reason,
ever since Windows became a viable operating system, Microsoft has never
chosen to make this setting the default-hence, the need for us to perform a
bit of extra work here.

Having the full path displayed in the File Explorer Title Bar makes it
easier for screen reader users to know where a specific file or folder can
be found on a specific drive, typically C:.

3. Remove items from the Taskbar that represent programs that are not
actually running.

Unpin (remove) programs from the Taskbar. These include items like File
Explorer, Microsoft Edge, etc. which are placed on the Taskbar by default
even though these programs are not actually active when Windows starts up.

My preference is always to have a Taskbar that is essentially blank when
none of the programs I typically use are running. Thus, if none of the
programs I use is running, I can press the command WINDOWS+T, and if the
Taskbar is empty, I know that all of my programs are closed.

4. Configure the Taskbar by removing all of the widgets (e.g., Weather,
News, Chat, etc.).

My personal preference is to have none of the widgets running and/or
available on my computer-things like Weather, News, etc. Other people may
feel differently about this, but as for me, I prefer to completely turn all
of the Windows 11 widgets off. This removes a lot of what I regard as
unnecessary clutter in my system.

5. Turn off the Windows Snap feature.

If you don't do this, you can't use the keyboard command WINDOWS+UPARROW to
maximize the screen in specific applications. You are forced to enter
ALT+SPACE then X. I find maximizing the screen with WINDOWS+UPARROW to be
faster and easier, but this will not work unless you turn off Windows Snap.

6. Configure the System Tray to show things like Windows Security, Safely
Remove Hardware, etc.

This is a task that might need to be repeated every time you install
something new. In Windows 10 and prior operating systems, there was a
checkbox that, when checked, made everything running in the System Tray
visible. In Windows 11, Microsoft has chosen to remove this checkbox. So, if
you want a particular program to be shown in the System Tray (called the
Notification Area in Windows 11), you have to indicate this explicitly in
Windows Settings.

7. Check System Sounds and be sure that, at least, the startup sound is set
to play when the computer is powered up.

I have a plethora of other sounds that I can share so that when programs are
opened or closed or when the screen is maximized or minimized, certain
specific sounds can be generated. Hearing when programs are being opened or
closed is extremely useful to let screen reader users know that something is
happening in the background.

8. Check your power settings to be sure that nothing goes to sleep after a
certain amount of inactive time.

I have a backup system that, when first used on a new computer, needs to run
for a few days without interruption. By default, computers are set up to
power off after a certain amount of inactive time. This was a problem for
me, so I fixed it by setting up my system to keep running instead of
automatically turning itself off.

9. Download, install, and configure Adobe Reader so it is the default viewer
for PDF documents. Configure the program so that the entire document is
loaded into memory, and turn off the new menus in favor of the old
traditional menu bar.

In my experience, the  <https://get.adobe.com/reader/> free Adobe Reader
software, provides the best overall experience for screen reader users who
need to read PDF documents. Also, the JAWS screen reader has a feature
called Convenient OCR which integrates well with Adobe Reader to improve the
accessibility of documents that have been scanned into a PDF file.

10. If you are going to use Microsoft 365, configure Word, Excel, and
PowerPoint to bring up a blank document when each of these programs is
started.

Consider whether or not it would be advantageous to have Office Sounds and
whether to use the Classic or the Modern version of those sounds. Also,
decide if you want to configure the Trust Center in Word, Excel, and
PowerPoint so that they will not go into protected view when opening
documents from external sources (e.g., email attachments). JAWS is not able
to read documents that are opened in Protected View.

11. If you are going to use the Classic Outlook program to send and receive
emails, turn off the Reading Pane.

Visually speaking, the Reading Pane makes it easier to read email messages
at a glance. But from the perspective of a screen reader user, pressing
Enter to open specific email messages provides a better
experience-especially for those email messages that are designed to resemble
dynamic web pages. Closing a message using this approach is easily
accomplished by pressing ESCAPE.

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anytime!

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<https://imagemd.org/services/bridges-technical-assistance-center/bridges-re
source-library/> Bridges Technical Assistance Center Resource Library today!

Contact us

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<file:///C:/Users/BEARa/Dropbox/BEAR%20Office/Office%20Matters/Maryland%20IM
AGE%20project/Facebook/Transition%20Tip%20Tuesday/Blog/m.me/Bridges4Maryland
BlindLowVisionTransition> Facebook Messenger

This unique project is being coordinated through The IMAGE Center of
Maryland, a center for independent living in Towson, and it is funded by a
grant from the Maryland Department of Education Division of Special
Education/Early Intervention Services.

Christopher A. Nusbaum, Bridges Project Coordinator/Social Support
Specialist

The IMAGE Center for People with Disabilities

300 E. Joppa Road, Suite 312

Towson, MD 21286

Direct: (410) 803-6087

Cell: (443) 547-2409

Email: cnusbaum at imagemd.org <mailto:cnusbaum at imagemd.org> 

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