Here at Freedom Scientific, we have renamed the month of November to Sharkvember, a month-long celebration of accessibility, creativity, and community. Visit the Sharkvember page for more details.
As part of Sharkvember, we are providing JAWS, ZoomText, and Fusion keyboard command tips, which we are calling “Sharkvember Shortcuts.” Visit the Sharkvember Shortcuts page each weekday for a new tip.
Here are the last eight Sharkvember Shortcuts.
Sharkvember Keyboard Command of the Day
Nov 18: ZoomText Command
Turn xFont Bold On/Off
Keystroke
Description
CAPS LOCK+B or CAPS LOCK+SPACEBAR, M, B
Bold text can improve readability for some individuals by providing additional contrast.
xFont Bold is a ZoomText and Fusion setting that adds boldness to text displayed in Text and ribbons in Office 365 apps; Screen Enhancement Settings; Voice Settings; Preferences Settings in ZoomText and Fusion; and items on the Windows desktop.
Turn xFont Bold on/off using either of these keystrokes.
Nov 19: JAWS Command
Announce Work Week
Desktop keystroke
Laptop keystroke
Description
INSERT+CTRL+F12 twice quickly
CAPS LOCK+CTRL+F12 twice quickly
This keystroke is available in JAWS 2025. Use it to announce the current week number such as Week 47 and Week 48. This is especially useful if you use week numbers to keep track of work time in weeks. To execute the command, hold down INSERT+CTRL or CAPS LOCK+CTRL, then press F12 twice quickly.
Nov 20: Fusion Command
Use Fusion Mouse Mode in Convenient OCR
Keystroke
Description
CAPS LOCK+CTRL+O
Convenient OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is a feature that recognizes text in inaccessible PDF documents, screen images, and image files. Mouse Mode allows you to launch Convenient OCR in Fusion with a keystroke, then use the mouse to quickly select a portion of text and have it recognized and read back to you. This feature runs locally on your computer and does not require use of the internet.
Nov 21: JAWS Command
Say App Version
Desktop keystroke
Laptop keystroke
Description
CTRL+INSERT+V
CTRL+CAPS LOCK+ V
Speaks the version of the application in focus. Hold down CTRL with INSERT or CAPS LOCK, then press V once to hear the application version, or twice quickly to display the version details in the virtual viewer. Press ESC to exit the Virtual Viewer.
Nov 22: ZoomText Command
Toggle Overview Mode On/Off
Keystroke
Description
CAPS LOCK+O
Overview mode shows you the area of the screen that is currently being magnified and allows you to select a new area to zoom in on. When Overview mode is activated, magnification turns off and the View Locator appears in the normal screen. By moving the mouse pointer, the View Locator moves over the unmagnified screen allowing you to select a new area to zoom in on.
Nov 25: JAWS Command
OCR Directly to Microsoft Word
Desktop keystroke
Laptop keystroke
Description
INSERT+SPACEBAR, O, R
CAPS LOCK+SPACEBAR, O, R
Convenient OCR is a JAWS feature that uses optical character recognition (OCR) to recognize text in images and display it in the JAWS Results Viewer. Use this command to OCR the text in an Image File or inaccessible PDF document directly to a Microsoft Word document.
Nov 26: ZoomText Command
Echo Keyboard Mode
Keystroke
Description
CAPS LOCK+ALT+K
Keyboard echo is a feature that lets you hear characters, words, or both as you type. Use this command to cycle through the available options.
Nov 27: JAWS Command
Say Font
Desktop keystroke
Laptop keystroke
Description
INSERT+F
CAPS LOCK+F
Says the font style name and character size. Also speaks the attributes such as bold, underline, and italics. Hold down the INSERT or CAPS LOCK key and press F twice quickly to virtualize this information in the JAWS Virtual Viewer where you can read it with your arrow keys. Press ESC to exit the Virtual Viewer.