Freedom Scientific Blog

FSCast154, convention information and specials, Sight Village Central and specials, Focus Blue scratchpad and book reader, and a chat with our partners at Nuance

Jonathan Mosen June 20, 2018June 20, 2018

There are huge savings to be made when you purchase our products at the NFB and ACB national conventions, and through Sight and Sound as part of their summer special. Learn about what’s on offer, as well as exhibits and presentations. We’ve released the much-anticipated firmware upgrade to our Focus Blue 5th generation Braille displays, …

Freedom Scientific partners with Computers for the Blind to give the best computing experience to those who need it

Jonathan Mosen June 11, 2018June 13, 2018

Introduction Nothing pleases us more than to learn how our technology has assisted our customers to realize their potential on the job, at school or in the community. We also regularly give back to the community by partnering with organizations serving the blind community who make a difference. So, when we had the opportunity to …

Freedom Scientific and the new USB Human Interface Driver Braille Standard

Jonathan Mosen June 8, 2018

Introduction You may have read recently about a new universal standard for Braille displays adopted by the USB Implementers Forum. This is an industry body comprising manufacturers and software developers who wish to move the USB specification forward. Participants include Microsoft, Apple and Google among many others. Freedom Scientific has been a part of the …

FSCast 153 US national conventions, May software updates, listener feedback, Mark Nelson from Digital Apex, Douglas Gerry

Jonathan Mosen May 17, 2018May 17, 2018

We’re looking ahead to the ACB and NFB national conventions. Mark your calendar for Eric Damery’s presentations at both. Software updates for JAWS, ZoomText and Fusion are coming by the end of May. Listener comments discuss dongle authorization, hearing FSCast on Amazon Echo and more. At the CSUN conference, Jonathan Mosen spoke with Mark Nelson …

FSCast 152, April 2018 JAWS Update, Miguel Abdo

Jonathan Mosen April 18, 2018April 18, 2018

We’re ready for the next major version of Microsoft Windows, the Spring Creators Update. Eric Damery discusses our plans to ensure you’ll be ready for the update when Microsoft pushes it to your computer, and we look at other changes in the April update of our JAWS ® screen reading software. At the recent CSUN …

Freedom Scientific software and the Microsoft Windows 10 Spring Creators Update, what you need to know

Jonathan Mosen April 17, 2018

One thing’s for sure. The only constant in technology is change. Approximately every six months, Microsoft releases a major new version of Windows. They also add significant feature enhancements to Office 365 regularly. We’re staying on top of the changes, so you can be efficient and productive. We start by testing new Microsoft software at …

Contributing to our audio congratulations card for Ted Henter

Jonathan Mosen March 22, 2018

Hello from the CSUN Technology and persons with Disabilities conference, where many of us at Freedom Scientific and the wider VFO family are here to exchange ideas and information. Once we’re back to reality, one of my delightful tasks will be to assemble an audio congratulatory card for Ted Henter. If you’ve been using blindness …

Got a favorite JAWS feature? Share it for possible use in “JAWS Bytes Live”

Jonathan Mosen February 20, 2018

Users of our JAWS® screen reading software know it’s packed with features that make using a computer as a blind person efficient and effective. It’s such a powerful product that we all benefit from the nuggets of information JAWS users share with one another about how they use JAWS effectively in a given situation. Some …

Mozilla and Freedom Scientific working together on Firefox compatibility

Jonathan Mosen February 2, 2018

Last October, we recommended that our customers who use Mozilla’s Firefox web browser migrate temporarily to its Extended Support Release (ESR). Beginning with version 57, Firefox adopted a multiprocess methodology, which drastically impacted screen reader performance. This post updates you on the steps Mozilla and Freedom Scientific have been taking to make newer versions of …

Responsive Web Design: Why one site can behave differently on different PCs and browsers

Jonathan Mosen December 21, 2017 2

Most of us visit a few websites regularly, and our familiarity with those sites speeds up our use of them. A well-structured website is a pleasure to use with JAWS, thanks to all the navigation quick keys that provide for moving by common elements such as links, form controls and headings. You can also invoke …