Note as of 26th October 2017
Please note that this post is now out of date. You should use these fantastic PuTTY scripts instead as they provide much more complete functionality.
The following steps can be used to add Jaws support for PuTTY.
- PuTTY is a free telnet / SSH client that enables a user to connect to a linux command line environment remotely using a PC running Windows.
- JAWS is short for Job Access With Speech. It enables people who cannot see or who have very low vision to access a computer system running windows by providing synthesized speech or Braille feedback of highlighted or relevant areas of the screen. for example, if you arrow to internet explorer in the start menu, the synthesized speech will announce this item.
I’m really not sure why Freedomcientific have not added this support already considering it’s so easy to do it.
- start PuTTY.
- Start the Jaws script manager. This can be done by pressing the insert and 0 key combination.
- Paste the following text into the script:
Include "HjGlobal.jsh" ; default HJ global variables
Include "hjconst.jsh" ; default HJ constantsVoid Function SayNonHighlightedText (handle hwnd, string buffer)
var
string TheClass
let TheClass=GetWindowClass(hWnd)
If GetScreenEcho () > ECHO_NONE ; Screen echo is on,
&& GetWindowsOS() == OS_WIN_NT Then ; operating system isn't 95/98/ME.
If (TheClass == "PuTTY") then
Say (buffer, OT_NONHIGHLIGHTED_SCREEN_TEXT);
Return
endIf
endIf
if (GetScreenEcho() > 1) then
Say (buffer, OT_NONHIGHLIGHTED_SCREEN_TEXT)
endIf
EndFunction - Now save the file by pressing control and s. YOu will hear jaws say compile complete or something similar.
- close the script manager using alt F4 or your prefered method and return to the Putty window. You will now find that jaws speaks new text as it is written to the screen.
I hadn’t remembered until after I wrote these instructions that I had written a blog post about getting the most from PuTTY before. If you want to learn more about how to get a lot out of SSH access, read Jump starting Putty
There are syntax errors in this script; I’m using JAWS version 14. I get the following: “syntax error in if condition”.
Hi Katherine,
This is probably a little late for you, but the last if condition is missing a semi-colen (;) placeing this after the first line of the statement solves the problem.
hello
I tried to compile this with jaws 14, I get error
compile error: the word include should be followed by a quoted file name.
well, it seems it is? I mean after include there is a quote and a file…
Thank you for the wonderful script.
I’m having trouble with JAWS tracking the putty cursor.
I’ve set the cursor blink on and cursor style to both block and underscore; yet JAWS isn’t tracking the cursor .
Ideas to try are welcome! — thanks!
(sorry for repost – please reply to this one so I can track your comment)
I’m having trouble with having JAWS track the putty cursor.
I’ve tried setting the cursor blink on and shape to both block and underscore. Yet JAWS does not track the putty cursor.
Suggestions welcome and thanks in advance.
Note that I have successfully installed the supplied script, which does cause JAWS to output new text to the screen. A welcome improvement an functionally to setting SAY ALL. Thanks for the convenience – appreciated!
Hello, tested on Win7 64 bit with JAWS 16. The script works perfect if there is no need to scroll the content of the console. However, when scrolling, JAWS bstarts to read the whole visible content from the beginning. Any thoughts?
Thank you