You can download a revised version of the JAWS for Windows script files for MegaDots written by Caryn Navy, dated 1/27/2000. This is a EXE file. You need to run the file MEGA-JFW.EXE and answer the prompts. (do not) click here to download the 1/27/2000 JAWS for Windows script files. Once you download and execute this program, the script files will be copied both to your MegaDots directory and to you JAWS settings directory.
The rest of this web page is revised text in the most recent MegaDots Interface Guide about JFW.
Jaws for Windows offers speech and braille access for the Windows 95/98/NT environment. JFW 3.0 and higher contain support for MS-DOS programs. MegaDots works well with JFW.
Avoid using graphics screen modes in MegaDots like big dots or "dots" braille display. We also understand that not all the functions of JFW with a refreshable braille device work properly in MegaDots.
In January 2000 we made some changes in the JFW script files for MegaDots to improve its performance with JFW version 3.X. To get the newer script files into your JFW settings directory, run the MEGAICON program after installing this version of MegaDots.
Make sure to keep NumLock off when you use MegaDots with JFW. We recommend that you add to your config.sys file the line numlock=off; this prevents numlock from getting turned on when you don't want it to.
When using MegaDots with JFW, make sure that the Big cursor item (set in Preferences - Editor) is set to No. The use of "big cursor" makes JFW so sluggish that it is unusable. Big cursor is used by some sighted people on laptops to make the tiny cursor more visible. If you share a laptop with a sighted person and you both use MegaDots, watch out for this one.
There are several special keys set up for reading information from the status line. These are:
Note that ordinarily the JFW laptop keyboard layout uses Alt+8 and Alt+9 as mouse buttons; those keystrokes do not work in MegaDots in the laptop layout.
When you press the Delete key or the Backspace key, MegaDots says the character which is being deleted.
We have added an additional keystroke in MegaDots for the JFW pass-through command. It is Control+3 (the three on the top number row). We added this keystroke because it is more convenient.
To issue certain commands in MegaDots You will have to make use of the Jaws "passthrough" key; this is Insert+3 or Control+3. The pass-through key will be necessary more often in the JFW laptop keyboard layout. To use the Insert key in a MegaDots command, in either laptop or desktop layout, you must first use the pass-through key. For example, if you are in the MegaDots Preferences Menu - Braille Devices or Preferences - Inkprint Devices, the usual keystroke for adding a new device is the Insert key. If you are using JFW, you must press Insert+3 first to tell JFW to ignore the next keystroke. In the laptop layout, you need to use the pass-through key before many Alt key combinations used in MegaDots. For instance, to bring up the Heading list (of styles), you must first press Insert+3 or Alt+3 before pressing Alt+H. We have disabled several JFW commands when you use MegaDots with the JFW laptop layout, because they conflict with commonly used MegaDots keystrokes. These are Alt+-A, Alt+B, Alt+T, Alt+8, and Alt+9.
In JFW 3.3 and 3.31, certain control key commands work only with the control key on the left side of the keyboard; if you use the control key on the right side of the keyboard, you must issue the JFW pass-through command first (Insert+3 or Control+3 in MegaDots). These control keys are the ones that are Windows keyboard commands: Control+Z, Control+X, Control+C, Control+V, Control+F4. It is our understanding that this has been fixed in JFW version 3.5.
If JFW is not saying the current character when you use the left or right arrow key, press Alt+F10 and then type exit <Enter> to reestablish JFW's focus on the MegaDots screen.
We have heard that Henter-Joyce is making continuing improvements in JFW as to its performance with DOS applications. Check the Henter Joyce web site www.hj.com for updates to JFW and Eloquence. It is our understanding that by using the latest JFW scripts (i.e. running MEGAICON after installing this update), and getting the latest JFW and the latest Eloquence, then the voicing of MegaDots is quite responsive and effective. Give it a try.