Updated as of February 4, 2024.
What is Voice Assistant?
Voice Assistant provides a way to interact with JAWS in Windows 10 using speech input. Supported languages include English, Dutch, German, Spanish, and French. Ask Voice Assistant to help you out with various JAWS features using natural speech. This means that the same JAWS action can be performed by more than one similar phrase instead of a single predefined voice command. For instance, to launch Settings Center, you could say “Settings Center” or “change settings.”
Unlike keyboard shortcuts, which can be hard to remember, natural voice commands are an easier way to interact with the JAWS software. Using voice input to control JAWS can also benefit users with certain conditions that prevent them from using a keyboard effectively.
Using Voice Assistant
Voice Assistant accepts voice commands to perform JAWS functions. To activate the feature and the listening process, you can use either a wake word, a key combination, or through the JAWS Utilities menu. You can speak voice commands using your computer’s internal microphone, an external microphone, or a wired headset’s microphone.
Note: Since all voice recognition processing is performed over the Internet using Microsoft Services in the cloud, there will be a slight delay depending on your connection.
To begin listening for a specific command, do one of the following:
Press the key combination, INSERT+ALT+SPACEBAR.
Speak a specific wake word that alerts the software to begin listening for a voice command, similar to using an Alexa or Google Home device. The wake word for JAWS is “Sharky.” Speak this word followed by a specific JAWS command, such as, “Sharky, list links.”
From the JAWS main window, press ALT+U to open the Utilities menu, expand the Voice Assistant submenu, and then select Talk to JAWS.
When Voice Assistant starts listening for a voice command:
A short audible notification plays, and a visual indicator is displayed. You can now speak the command. After hearing a voice command, a different audio and visual indicator plays and displays until the command is processed. Find below for a list of supported and suggested voice commands.
When complete, the visual indicator disappears, another audio indicator plays, and the requested action is performed.
If Voice Assistant does not hear anything, it says, “Sorry, I didn’t hear anything.”
If Voice Assistant does not understand or if the voice command is not supported, it says, “Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
Note: The wake word is not available if you are using a Bluetooth microphone. In this case, you must use the keystroke before speaking the voice command.
Changing Voice Assistant Settings
To change Voice Assistant options, open the JAWS Utilities menu, expand the Voice Assistant submenu, and then select Settings. This opens Settings Center and places focus on the Voice Assistant group in the tree view. Press the SPACEBAR on an option to change its setting and when finished, select OK to save and close Settings Center.
The following options are available:
Enable Voice Assistant: Clear this check box to turn off and disable Voice Assistant.
Wake Word: Use these radio buttons to choose what you say to alert JAWS you are ready to speak a voice command. You can choose to speak the single word “sharky” (selected by default), the phrase “hey sharky,” or do not listen for a wake word. If you choose the option to not listen for the wake word, you must always press INSERT+ALT+SPACEBAR first before saying a voice command.
Enable Voice Assistant sounds: Clear this check box to turn off Voice Assistant audio indicators.
Microphone input device: Displays a list of all available microphones on your computer (for example, an internal microphone and a connected headset) and lets you choose which microphone Voice Assistant uses when listening for voice commands. By designating a different microphone for this feature than what is being used for other applications such as Teams or Zoom, it allows you to mute those applications during meetings and still use Voice Assistant with JAWS, ZoomText, or Fusion.
Note: You can also press INSERT+ALT+SPACEBAR twice quickly to immediately toggle the wake word on or off. When the wake word is off, you must always press INSERT+ALT+SPACEBAR first before saying a voice command.
Voice Commands
The following are examples of supported and suggested voice commands to perform various actions. Practice and try your own variations of these commands. Remember to say “Sharky” or press INSERT+ALT+SPACEBAR before speaking each command.
General Voice Commands
To perform this action… Say this command…
Display Voice Assistant help topic Help
Say the time What time is it?
Say the date What is today’s date?
Display the Window List dialog box Window list
Display the Select a System Tray Icon dialog box System tray
Speak the battery level and network connection status Battery
Speak the most recent Windows notification Notification
Display the Commands Search dialog box Command search
Display the Keyboard Manager dialog box Keyboard Manager
Display the Dictionary Manager dialog box Dictionary Manager
Display the Settings Center dialog box Settings
Display the Braille Math Editor Math editor
Turn the Screen Shade on or off Screen shade
Turn Audio Ducking on or off Audio ducking
Turn Braille Viewer on or off Braille viewer
Turn Text Viewer on or off Text viewer
Start or end a Tandem session Tandem
Begin selecting a block of text Start selection
Select all text between your current location and where you marked the start of the selection Finish selection
Display text of current control in Virtual Viewer Virtualize control
Copy text of current control to clipboard Copy control
Display text of current window in Virtual Viewer Virtualize window
Copy text of current window to clipboard Copy Window
Display application version details in Virtual Viewer Virtualize version info
Copy application version details to clipboard Copy version info
Tell a joke Tell me a Joke
Speech Settings Voice Commands
To perform this action… Say this command…
Temporarily increase the voice rate Speak faster
Temporarily decrease the voice rate Speak slower
Temporarily set the voice rate to a specific number Voice rate [number] (Example, voice rate 50.)
Toggle between Speech On Demand and Full Speech Speech on demand
Display the Select a Voice Profile dialog box Voice profile
Cursors Voice Commands
To perform this action… Say this command…
Use the JAWS Cursor JAWS Cursor
Use the PC Cursor PC Cursor
Use the Touch Cursor Touch Cursor
Turn the Virtual PC cursor on or off Virtual PC cursor
Convenient OCR Voice Commands
To perform this action… Say this command…
OCR the selected file OCR file
OCR the currently opened PDF file OCR PDF
OCR the current window OCR window
OCR the screen OCR screen
OCR the current control OCR control
OCR from a camera OCR camera
OCR from a scanner OCR scanner
Stop the OCR Stop OCR
Speech History Voice Commands
To perform this action… Say this command…
Display the JAWS speech history Show speech history
Copy speech history to clipboard Copy speech history
Clear the speech history Clear speech history
Web Pages Voice Commands
To perform this action… Say this command…
Display the list of links List links
Display the list of headings List headings
Display the list of graphics List graphics
Display the list of tables List tables
Display the list of form fields List form fields
Assign a custom label Custom label
Word Navigation Voice Commands
To perform this action… Say this command…
Display the list of links List links
Display the list of graphics List graphics
Display the list of comments List comments
Go to the first comment First comment
Go to the next comment Next comment
Go to the previous comment Previous comment
Go to the last comment Last comment
Display the list of grammatical errors List grammatical errors
Go to the next grammatical error Next grammatical error
Go to the previous grammatical error Previous grammatical error
Display the list of spelling errors List spelling errors
Go to the next spelling error Next spelling error
Go to the previous spelling error Previous spelling error
Display the list of headings List headings
Go to the first heading First heading
Go to the next heading Next heading
Go to the previous heading Previous heading
Go to the last heading Last heading
Display the list of tables List tables
Go to the first table First table
Go to the next table Next table
Go to the previous table Previous table
Go to the last table Last table
Go to the first page First page
Go to the next page Next page
Go to the previous page Previous page
Go to the last page Last page
Display the list of form fields List form fields
Go to the first form field First field
Go to the next form field Next field
Go to the previous form field Previous field
Go to the last form field Last field
Go to the first section First section
Go to the next section Next section
Go to the previous section Previous section
Go to the last section Last section
Open the Math Viewer Math viewer
General Outlook Navigation Voice Commands
To perform this action… Say this command…
Go to the Calendar view Calendar
Go to the Messages view Messages
Go to the Contacts view Contacts
Go to the Tasks view Tasks
Go to the Notes view Notes
Navigating Outlook Messages Voice Commands
To perform this action… Say this command…
Go to Attachments Attachments
Display the list of links List links
Display the list of headings List headings
Go to the first heading First heading
Go to the next heading Next heading
Go to the previous heading Previous heading
Go to the last heading Last heading
Display the list of graphics List graphics
Display the list of tables List tables
Go to the first table First table
Go to the next table Next table
Go to the previous table Previous table
Go to the last table Last table
Display the list of form fields List form fields
Go to the first form field First field
Go to the next form field Next field
Go to the previous form field Previous field
Go to the last form field Last field
Move to the next reply in an open email message thread Next reply
Move to the previous reply in an open email message thread Previous reply
Editing Outlook Messages Voice Commands
To perform this action… Say this command…
Grammatical errors
Display the list of grammatical errors List grammatical errors
Go to the next grammatical error Next grammatical error
Go to the previous grammatical error Previous grammatical error
Spelling errors
Display the list of spelling errors List spelling errors
Go to the next spelling error Next spelling error
Go to the previous spelling error Previous spelling error
Close and restart JAWS Restart JAWS
Voice Commands for Fusion
To perform this action… Say this command…
Increase magnification Bigger or Zoom in
Decrease magnification Smaller or Zoom out
Enable magnification Magnification on
Disable magnification Magnification off
Set magnification to a specific level Speak the number you want (example, 2)
Toggle Color Enhancements Color
Toggle Pointer/Mouse Enhancements Pointer or Mouse
Toggle Cursor Enhancements Cursor
Toggle Focus Enhancements Focus
Call the Quick Access Bar into view Quick access
Close and restart Fusion Restart Fusion
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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.