Do you have visual problems or sight dysfunctions? Do you know someone who suffers from them and still wants to use the computer daily? Well, you should know that there is no reason for these people not to be able to enjoy their PC. You are especially thinking about some of the applications developed as spoken assistants, which aim to offer solutions in this case.

Although it is true that in this field we can undoubtedly find many good tools, in this particular case we consider JAWS to be one of the best, one that will allow visually impaired users to enjoy practically all the uses that a computer connected to the Internet can offer us, for a better quality of life.

Before going into the details that make the general operation and some of the best features of JAWS, we have to say that this program could not but be paid for the exceptional performance. In this case, we will refer to the trial or demo version of the program, which allows us to use it for 40 minutes, to have an initial approach to its contents.

The operation of JAWS is very simple since it integrates a kind of voice synthesizer, which reproduces by voice all the procedures that we perform in the textual content of the screen, on a web page opened in our browser, or when we move between the different options offered by another program.

What JAWS does is, in other words, to describe to this person the potential or effective actions he/she is performing on the contents of his/her PC while using the keyboard to obtain support that can be extremely necessary. To give you an idea of the level of development of this software, you should know that it is even capable of reading the options menus that open from a previous click on an application.

With which programs are JAWS compatible? With most of the ones we usually use on our PC, although if we had to mention some of the most famous ones, we should stop, for example in the office suite Microsoft Office, in the browsers Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer, in instant messaging services, others made for educational purposes and many common platforms among Windows users.

Of course, it is from the creation of platforms such as JAWS that we can consider that a person with certain visual impairments is fully enabled to use a computer like any other. With this program, it is possible to use almost any application, from browsers to office suites, instant messaging systems, etc.

Especially interesting is what happens with JAWS in the case of those who want to use it to visit web pages, since in that case, what the program does is to read not only the textual content that is in sight but also to indicate the certain links that we have at hand, the search engines or forms that we can complete with information, and other elements, that if we did not have its services, we would be lost, of course.

You can also see that although JAWS is available in English in everything related to the system's installation process, there are no problems with setting the speech synthesizer to speak in other languages. At least in our tests, it has started speaking in Spanish without us having to configure it beforehand, so possibly the same thing will happen in your case.

If you want to know what we consider the main advantages of using JAWS on the PC, first of all, we have to talk about the fact that it works with most of the applications installed on the computer, something that is not always the case. In addition, it is compatible with all braille devices, and as if that were not enough, the entire installation of the application is also spoken, which is very important.

Of course, JAWS also has some issues that have not convinced us, among which we can mention that there is no possibility of selecting another type of voice to accompany us while using the computer. We must be content with that only option. On the other hand, and this is also true, it is a platform designed for people with intermediate to advanced knowledge of Windows.

In summary, and beyond the fact that it is a paid program, we believe that JAWS is an excellent tool for those who have certain problems with their vision and are looking for a voice assistant for all the actions a computer offers. Even if you know Windows, you will probably be able to get even more out of this particular platform, and we are grateful for its existence.