Using Our Products with JAWS 2022

Introduction.

Some of you will be keen to test the new functionality offered within JAWS version 2022 public beta 1, and to report any bugs you find to the developers, Vispero. However, prior to installing version 2022 and testing the new features, you ought to know about one of them right away. This is called Automatic Settings Migration.

JAWS and Fusion 2022 now include automatic migration of user settings, including Braille setup. The ZoomText product included this feature last year and now Vispero have adopted it in JAWS and Fusion.

Historically, the first time you installed a new major version, you would be given the opportunity to migrate settings the first time the software was run. While this moved the various contents of your User Settings Folder, it did not include the JFW.INI file where certain components such as Braille Setup and voice profile settings are accommodated. Starting with 2022, JAWS now automatically attempts to import all the settings, plus the JFW.INI info from the most recent prior version available, going back as far as 2020. As a result, you will not be presented with the startup Wizard, but you will be asked about setting up the Run Automatically option.

How Does This New Feature Affect Our Products?

As you will have noted, when the computer restarts following a JAWS installation, you are not asked whether you would like your settings to be imported. It just happens. Because of that, the information in this document is important because the automatic migration can have some unfortunate consequences.

Below, you will find reference to each product together with whether you should be using it with JAWS version 2022 and any support we may offer having done so.

J-Say.

J-Say should not be used with JAWS version 2022 at this time. Fortunately, if J-Say is detected as being installed into JAWS 2021 or 2020, the automatic migration feature does not apply. No files will be copied over.

If you have the installer for J-Say, and you attempt to install it into version 2022, it will not function. So please do not attempt it. Consequently, no support is available at this time for J-Say and JAWS 2022.

Leasey.

Leasey should not be used with JAWS version 2022 at this time.

Unfortunately, it would seem that many of the Leasey settings are copied over from JAWS 2021 or 2020 without any prompting from you. However, we know that there are aspects of Leasey which do not function with JAWS 2021. Please do not tell us that everything is working as some people have done in previous years. We know there are things which are not functional.

Moreover, because of the way in which Leasey functions, she does change some of the behaviour of the JAWS program albeit in subtle ways. This means you will distort any bug reports you send to Vispero because they may not be able to duplicate the problem so you will have wasted your time.

In the event that Leasey is semi-functional, (meaning that the settings have been ported over), you will want to work through these steps to ensure JAWS returns to its default settings.

1. Press Insert+J to move to the JAWS window.
2. Press ALT+O for Options.
3. From the list of menu items, select Restore to Factory Settings and press Enter.
4. JAWS should remove all settings and return it to the defaults. JAWS will then restart and you will be presented with the Startup Wizard.

Zoom Professional Scripts.

There are no difficulties using these scripts with JAWS 2022. While it may appear that the scripts have been copied over from a previous JAWS install, you are being deceived. Not all the files are present. You should run the installer for the scripts and, when requested into which JAWS version the scripts should be installed, select version 2022 from the list of Radio buttons. Technical Support is available for this product used in conjunction with JAWS 2022 assuming you can confirm the installer for the product has been run.

J-Dictate, Scripts for Microsoft Teams, The Muze, StationPlaylist Scripts and Elegance for ElBraille.

There are no difficulties using any of these products with JAWS 2022. However to be thorough, we highly recommend you should run the installer for each product and, when requested into which JAWS version the scripts should be installed, select version 2022 from the list of Radio buttons. Technical Support is available for these products used in conjunction with JAWS 2022 assuming you can confirm the installer for the product has been run.

What Happens If I Do Not Have a Product Installer?

Our immediate response to this is, why not? When you purchase a product, you want to take care of it. Anyone who has even elementary computing skills ought to be able to save their product information, even if they cannot retain email messages you would have received following purchase.

1. Create a folder on your computer or better still a cloud storage service, such as Google Drive or Dropbox. Call it Keys and Serial Numbers.
2. Open up the Email message you received after purchase and select all the text within it by pressing Control+A.
3. Copy it to the clipboard with Control+C.
4. Open up the Notepad word processor and paste the contents with Control+V.
5. Save it with an appropriate name in the folder you created in step 1. Anyone can use Notepad and the above steps should not be beyond anyone's capabilities.

Summary.

We hope this document provides a useful way forward for ensuring you can use JAWS 2022 if you wish to do so. Note that the contents of the document may change as Vispero head towards a final release.