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JAWS Power Tip: How To Choose the Right Web Verbosity Level to Fit Your Needs

When you browse the web, JAWS can announce both the page’s content and its structure.

Structural information includes headings, regions, forms, tables, lists, and the beginning or end of those elements.

Choosing the right verbosity level is important because:

Too much information can make a page feel cluttered.

Too little information can make it difficult to understand how a page is organized.

The best setting may depend on what you are doing: scanning search results is different from completing a complex form.

JAWS provides three web verbosity levels: High, Medium, and Low.

  • High

    High verbosity provides the most structural information.

    It announces more of the page’s regions, forms, tables, and other structural boundaries.

    This is useful when you are learning a new website or working with a complicated form.

  • Medium

    Medium is the default and is designed to provide a good balance between useful information and a smooth reading experience.

    It provides important information about headings and controls without announcing every possible structural detail.

    Medium is usually a good everyday setting.

  • Low

    Low verbosity reduces structural announcements so that you can read more quickly.

    It will not announce as many region boundaries or the start and end of forms, tables, and other page elements.

    Low can be helpful when scanning news articles, search results, or pages whose extra announcements feel distracting.

To change Web Verbosity Level:

  1. Open Settings Center by pressing JAWS Key+6 on the number row. (In Desktop Keyboard layout, the JAWS KEY is INSERT, and CAPS LOCK in Laptop layout).
  2. In the search box, type Web Verbosity.
  3. Use the arrow keys to move to the matching setting in the results.
  4. Choose High, Medium, or Low, whichever best fits your needs.
  5. Press TAB to navigate to Apply, then press SPACE.
  6. Press TAB to navigate to OK, then press ENTER to save your setting.

🦈 The Power of JAWS!


πŸ‘‰ This Tip Brought To You By: Freedom Scientific.

To learn more visit the Freedom Scientific website, follow @FreedomSci on Twitter or Facebook, ask your smart speaker to play the Freedom Scientific Training Podcast or subscribe to the Freedom Scientific Training YouTube Channel.


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