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Re: Punctuation in JAWS

for

From: Tim Harshbarger
Date: Jun 3, 2010 11:09AM

Bobby,

Just based on my own personal experience and what I have observed a few
other peoples do, it seems that most of us who use screen readers adjust
the punctuation to whatever level we are most comfortable with. I think
setting the punctuation level on a screen reader is one of those things
most of us learn early and are most likely to adjust to whatever we
prefer.

I also cannot recall a situation where the screen reader reading too
much punctuation created a problem. However, I have seen situations
where the screen reader not reading a punctuation mark has created
problems. For example, when people use asterisks (*) to denote required
fields.

I actually change my punctuation level quite a bit. If I am just
reading e-mail or most type of documents, I will set the punctuation to
none. If I am reading code or HTML, I set the punctuation to all.
Under other circumstances, I might set it differently--if it seems like
it would be very useful.

For me, I think it comes down to how important the specific punctuation
is. In an e-mail, the pauses and changes in pitch in the speech
synthesis is good enough. In code, where the specific punctuation used
is critical, I want to know exactly what the punctuation is.

Tim