Skim Reading

Skim reading is a powerful reading, searching, and navigation tool available in JAWS. This feature allows you to quickly review long documents by reading the first line or sentence of each paragraph. Alternatively, you can search for passages containing specific words or phrases. In this section, you will learn how to skim read a Web page with JAWS. You will also learn how to create text rules and use them to skim Web pages for specific information.

NOTE: Before beginning the first exercise in this section, you should ensure that your skim reading preferences use the default settings. If you have previously changed these settings, press CTRL+SHIFT+INSERT+DOWN ARROW and verify that the Read First Line of Every Paragraph radio button is selected before continuing.

Skimming a Document

You can skim read a lengthy Web page to get an overview of the content and search for paragraphs or sections containing specific information.

EXERCISE: Follow along with the instructions below to practice skim reading text on the Internet with JAWS.

1. Open the sample page Freedom Scientific Software Solutions, and press CTRL+HOME to move to the top of the page.
2. Press CTRL+INSERT+DOWN ARROW to begin skim reading. JAWS reads the first line of each paragraph on the page.
3. You can change your skim reading preferences so that JAWS reads the first sentence of each paragraph instead of the first line. Before doing this, press CTRL+HOME to move to the top of the page.
4. To change your skim reading preferences, press INSERT+F2, select "Skim Reading Tool," and press ENTER.

Tip: Alternatively, you can use the shortcut CTRL+SHIFT+INSERT+DOWN ARROW to display the Skim Reading dialog box.

5. In the Use Rule Type area, use the arrow keys to select the Read First Sentence of Every Paragraph radio button.
6. Press ALT+S to activate the Start Skim Reading button to begin skim reading. Notice that JAWS now reads the first sentence of each paragraph.

Viewing the Skim Reading Summary

JAWS can display a summary of the current page in the Results Viewer. This summary contains all the text you would hear if you began skim reading from your present location using your currently selected options. Each segment of text is a link. You can move to a segment and press ENTER to jump to its location within the document. Once you create a summary, it remains available until you generate another, even if you switch to a different document or program.

EXERCISE: Practice creating and using a skim reading summary. Follow the steps below:

1. Open the sample page Freedom Scientific Software Solutions and press CTRL+HOME to move to the top of the page.
2. Press INSERT+F2, select "Skim Reading Tool," and press ENTER.
3. The Create Summary button is the default button when you are in the Skim Reading dialog box, so just press ENTER to create a summary.
4. JAWS displays a summary of the page in the Results Viewer. Use the arrow keys to explore the text in the Results Viewer. Notice that JAWS inserts a number before each sentence or line in the summary.
5. Move to line number five, which should read "Product: Fusion," and press ENTER. JAWS moves you directly to that line on the page.
6. Press ALT+TAB to move back to the Results Viewer summary again.
7. Move to line number seven, which should read "Product: ZoomText Screen Magnification," and press ENTER. Again, JAWS moves you directly to that line on the page.
8. For now, press ALT+TAB to move back to the Results Viewer window, and then close it by pressing ALT+F4.

Creating and Using Text Rules

So far, you have used the skim reading feature to read the first line or sentence of each paragraph. However, you can create text rules to search for specific words or phrases on the page. JAWS then searches the document for any lines, sentences, or paragraphs (depending on your preferences) containing the text. Text rules are saved and can be reused in any document and in any application.

EXERCISE: Follow the steps below to create a text rule that you will use later to skim read the Freedom Scientific Software Solutions page.

1. Open the sample page Freedom Scientific Software Solutions, and press CTRL+HOME to move to the top of the page.
2. Press INSERT+F2, select "Skim Reading Tool," and press ENTER.
3. In the Use Rule Type area, use the arrow keys to select the Text Rules Apply for Reading radio button.
4. Press TAB to move to the next control. Focus lands in the Rules History combo box. If you have never created rules before, the only item here is the item <New>. If you had created rules previously, there would be more than one item in this combo box. For now, press TAB to move to the next control.
5. In the Text Search Pattern edit box, enter the word you want to search for. Type "product" for this exercise.
6. Press ENTER to activate the default button, the Create Summary button.
7. JAWS finds each line containing the term "product" and displays it in the Results Viewer. Notice how this allows you to find out quickly which products are listed on this page.
8. Use the arrow keys to move to line number one, which reads, "Product: JAWS for Windows," and press ENTER. JAWS moves you to the beginning of the section of the page that discusses JAWS.
9. Press ALT+TAB to move back to the Results Viewer, and then press ESC to close it for now.

Modifying Text Rules

EXERCISE: In this exercise, you will create a second text rule.

1. Press INSERT+F2, select "Skim Reading Tool," and press ENTER.
2. If you are continuing from the previous exercise, focus lands in the Rules History combo box. Be sure that the text rule you created ("product") is selected in the Rules History combo box. Press TAB to move to the Text Search Pattern edit box.
3. In the Text Search Pattern edit box, type over the existing text and enter the word "JAWS" in its place.
4. Press ENTER to activate the Create Summary button. The Skim Reading Summary appears with lines of text that contain the word JAWS. You should find four matches.
5. When you finish exploring the Skim Read Summary, press ESC to close the results viewer.

Changing the Speak Unit

In the previous exercises JAWS read each line containing the search term.

EXERCISE: Change your skim reading preferences so that JAWS reads the first sentence or the entire paragraph instead.

1. Open the sample page Freedom Scientific Software Solutions and press CTRL+HOME to move to the top of the page.
2. Press INSERT+F2, select "Skim Reading Tool," and press ENTER.
3. In the Use Rule Type area, verify that the Text Rules Apply for Reading radio button is selected. Also, verify that the text rule you created ("JAWS") is selected in the Rules History combo box.
4. Press TAB to move to the Speak Unit combo box, and select "Sentences containing text rule."
5. Press ENTER to create a Skim Reading Summary. Notice that the Skim Reading Summary now contains full sentences containing the word "JAWS."
6. When you are finished reading the results, press ESC to close the Results Viewer.

Deleting a Rule

Once you have finished using a rule, you can delete it.

EXERCISE: Follow the steps below to delete the practice rule you created.

1. Press INSERT+F2, select "Skim Reading Tool," and press ENTER.
2. In the Rules History combo box, select the text rule that you created to search for the word JAWS.
3. Press TAB to move to the Delete Rule button, and press the SPACEBAR.
4. Move to the Close button, and press the SPACEBAR.

In addition to the Delete Rule button there is also a button to Delete All Rules.

Creating New Rules

Rules you create are saved automatically by JAWS. The name of the rule is normally the same text you use in the search. When creating rules, make sure you investigate the following items, unless you plan to overwrite an existing rule:

• Any time you want to create a new rule, make sure you first select New in the Rules History combo box. Otherwise, you may edit an existing rule.
• When creating a color rule, make sure that none of the attribute checkboxes were left checked from a previous rule.
• Make sure you check the settings in the Speak Unit combo box for each rule to be certain the outcome is what you want. Press ALT+U to move there quickly to verify the settings.
• When using a rule that does more than basic text searches, you may need to check the Use Regular Expression checkbox.

Advanced Text Rules

You can create more advanced text rules that utilize "and/or" conditions or other logical expressions. For example, if you only want to search for text units that contain two or more words, separate each word with ".*" (that is, a period followed by an asterisk with no spaces between the words or symbols). For example, you can use the following expression to search for text units containing both the words "JAWS" and "ZoomText:"

JAWS.*ZoomText

NOTE: The Use Regular Expression check box is normally left unchecked for simple text rules. A regular expression is a search string that uses special characters to help you define the search and match text patterns. To use more advanced searches you need to select this check box.

If you want to search for text units that contain any of several different words, separate each word with "|" (that is, a vertical bar with no spaces between the words or symbols). For example, you can use the following expression to search for text units containing either the words "JAWS" or "ZoomText:"

JAWS|ZoomText

Even more advanced expressions are possible as well. For example, you can use the following expression to search for text units containing any year starting with "19:"

19\d{2}\s

Tip: For more information on creating complex expressions like this, refer to the section Regular Expression Language Elements in the MSDN® Library.

Searching for Colors and Attributes

EXERCISE: Choose the Attributes and Color Rules Apply for Reading radio button in the Use Rule Type group to create rules that search for colors or attributes.

The sample document Freedom Scientific Software Solutions has some red text and some bold attributes in it for practice. Make sure you are at the top of the document first by pressing CTRL+HOME. If you don't already have it open, please do so now.

1. Open the Skim Reading dialog box again if it is closed.
2. Move to the Use Rule Type radio buttons and make sure the fourth one, Attributes and Color Rules Apply for Reading, is selected by pressing DOWN ARROW to move to it.
3. Press TAB to move to the Rules History combo box. It should say New. If not, press HOME to find it at the top of the list. Press TAB to move through these new choices that have now become available.
4. You land in the Text Color combo box. The default should be star, or asterisk.
5. The next control is the Background Color combo box. Again, the default should be star, or asterisk. Press TAB again.
6. Now you begin working through a series of checkboxes, all of which are unchecked by default, for various attributes. Press TAB to move through all of them. Keep in mind that when you start looking for attributes, the results are cumulative. In other words, when you check the bold and underlined checkboxes, only text that is BOTH bold and underline, simultaneously, is searched for.
7. Continue to press TAB until you reach the Text Color combo box again. In this combo box, press the letter R and you should land on red.
8. Press TAB again and you land in the combo box for Background Color. Unless you are looking for a specific background color, leave this on the star, for any background. So now, the search you're working on would find red text on any background.
9. You could continue to press TAB to move through the rest of the controls, but the only one you need for this exercise is the Speak Unit combo box. Go ahead and press the access key to jump there directly, ALT+U. Set it to sentences for this rule.
10. Press ENTER to begin the summary. Explore it when finished. Did you hear something like four matches found?

When you are finished, press ESC to get out of the Skim Reading Summary. For more information on Skim Reading with JAWS be sure to read the DAISY book on Skim Reading. You can find it on the Training Downloads Web page.