Microsoft Word is a powerful word processor that is widely used in the workplace, for school, and at home for personal use. When using JAWS, it’s important to be aware of the features that will provide the functionality that makes creating and editing documents as well as reading and formatting them easier.
Whether you’re new to MS Word or an avid user, there are a number of options designed to improve productivity and provide more access than ever before. Here are a few notable points for consideration.
Retail Vs Subscription Versions
Microsoft Office is available to purchase either as a retail or subscription version. The retail option provides a single license to the specific product version you choose i.e. MS Office 2019, while the subscription, dubbed Office 365, enables installation on multiple devices and updates to new versions as they are released.
Notification of Spelling Errors
If you’re using Word in Office 365, you may have noticed some important notifications for spelling errors when typing. Spelling error detection with JAWS has been in existence for many years, but new improvements now offer even more functionality. For example, if you misspell a word while typing, a sound is played after pressing space to notify you of the error. Likewise, a different sound plays when a spelling correction is made.
Navigation and Shortcuts
When using JAWS with MS Word, knowing how to navigate the ribbon and menus is essential to performing tasks. Pressing ALT will activate the ribbon while TAB will navigate through the items in a specific area such as the Home Tab where you will then be presented with a list of commands.
Keyboard shortcuts provide greater functionality and allow users to gain access to important features both quickly and easily. For example, press F12 to activate the Save As dialog box or CTRL+Shift+F to change font settings.
These are just a few examples of useful commands that help enhance document creation and navigation in Word when using JAWS. Want to learn more about these and other powerful features? Join us for our next webinar, Microsoft Word with JAWS on Thursday, April 4 at 12:00 PM Eastern where we’ll offer an overview and task-based approach for using this popular application. We’ll demonstrate important features, provide keyboard commands, and show you what’s new. Visit our Webinars page for more information. We look forward to seeing you there.