Custom JAWS Scripts For Dixa
Doug Lee
Last Revised January, 2021

This document describes the scripts for Dixa and provides tips for using this application with JAWS. This document and the scripts cover the Dixa app, not the Dixa website interface.

This document can be opened from within the application via a double press of JAWSKey+F1 (or Insert+F1) when the scripts are running.

Table of Contents

• System Requirements For JAWS Users
• Script Installation Instructions
• Key Sequences
• Script Commands and Features
• Tips For Using This Application With JAWS and the Scripts
• Known Issues
• Revision History

System Requirements For JAWS Users

In addition to any system requirements for the application, the following apply for JAWS users:

• The computer should be running Windows 10.
• JAWS 2019 or later should be used. The scripts will not work with or install into JAWS versions older than 2019.

Script Installation Instructions

To install these scripts on a new system:

1. Load JAWS if this has not already been done. This will require administrative privileges on the computer.
2. Run JAWS as the user for whom the scripts are to be installed. This and the following steps must be performed for each user of the computer who will be using JAWS with these scripts.
3. Download and run, or run directly, the installer for these scripts; and follow the on-screen directions. Be sure to install the scripts in the currently running JAWS version if a JAWS version list is presented.
4. To verify successful installation, type Insert+Q from within the application. Part of the JAWS spoken response should be a revision number. If you do not hear a revision number, the scripts are not correctly loaded. In some cases, restarting JAWS may fix this issue.

Key Sequences

These scripts incorporate commands that consist of sequences of keystrokes, all beginning with a common prefix, or "command keystroke." This approach allows many script commands without the risk of conflicting with application keystrokes. See the "Multi-Key Command Sequences" section of the "Common Script Elements" document for further details, including how to explore the available script commands (similar to exploring a menu system), and how to change the Command keystroke if necessary.

By default, the Command keystroke for these scripts is [. This document may refer to this keystroke as [ or Command; so, for example, [ Tab and Command Tab both refer to typing the prefix keystroke, then separately the Tab key. Some sequences may consist of more than two keystrokes, or "levels"; for example, [ d r would refer to typing [, then d, then finally r.

Script Commands and Features

The features of these scripts were reduced in early 2021 because of the addition in Dixa itself of the following keyboard shortcuts. Note that the keystrokes marked with a superscript asterisk (^*) may require special handling as indicated.

These scripts provide the following commands beyond those provided by the application itself:

• The sequence [ P will click the phone icon, which will toggle whether the phone popup controls are shown.
• The sequence [ A will press the Accept button when it is available, for answering an incoming call or listening to a pending voicemail. This keystroke may now be superseded by the Dixa native Ctrl+Alt+A keystroke, but this command sequence remains available in case it is still useful for handling voicemail messages.
• The sequence [ T will repeat the last tooltip displayed, if it remains on screen. A tip displays for some items when the mouse is moved to hover over them, such as via the standard RouteJAWSToPC command. A tip should also speak immediately once when it first appears. Tips can make identification of some application elements easier via JAWS.
• JAWSKey+Q, along with announcing the active configuration name, will announce the revision number of these scripts.
• Insert+F1, typed twice in quick succession, opens this document in the default browser.

These scripts also provide the following features:

• Availability and Phone icons are named.
• Changes in status between Away and Working will speak when they occur.
• Tooltips will speak as they appear.
• The commands for clicking with the left and right mouse buttons will try to click at the center of the current item when the virtual cursor or forms mode is active, rather than using the current location of the mouse. This is meant to help with buttons and other controls that do not respond to the keyboard.
• The RouteJAWSToPC command will try to move the JAWS cursor to the center of the current element when the virtual cursor or forms mode is active.

Tips For Using This Application With JAWS and the Scripts

To make an outbound call:

• Type the sequence [ P to display the phone popup controls.
• Use the JAWS Find feature, Ctrl+Insert+F, to find the search-for-contact edit box.
• Type the number to call into the box and press Enter to dial.

To change availability between Away and Working:

• Arrow down to the line that (with the scripts active) says "Availability."
• Press Space, then use JAWSKey+T to check the title bar, which includes "Away" or "Working" to indicate the updated status.

To change the phone status between Gray and Green (warning, these directions were written against Dixa 3.12 and no longer apply exactly in later Dixa versions):

• Arrow down past Availability to the line that (with the scripts active) says "Phone."
• Continue arrowing down to a menu button.
• Press Space, then deactivate Forms mode if it activated, and then arrow down farther. A seven-item list should appear.
• Arrow through the list to the "Phone" line. The next line below that is the phone's current status. Arrow past that line and use the JAWS LeftMouseButton command (/ on the number pad) to change it. (The Space bar may not change the status.)

To exit the application without using a mouse:

• Press the Alt key, then the Down arrow, to enter the File menu.
• Use the Up arrow to reach the Quit option, and press Enter to exit the application.

Known Issues

The following issues are known and may be encountered during use of the application with these JAWS scripts. These issues may be fixed in a future update to the scripts or to the application itself.

The system tray menu for this application is not accessible:

• There is no indication of focus.
• Arrow keys do not appear to move focus.
• The single-letter hotkeys for items, such as Q for Quit, do not work.

Braille support is not well tested and is likely incomplete.

Revision History

This is the revision history of these scripts, most recent revision first:

Revision 55, May 12, 2021, tested against application version 3.7.2.590

Warning: If you are running an older version of Dixa than the one indicated in the above heading, do not apply this script update as it will cause several commands and features to stop working with your older Dixa installation. Dixa is an evolving product, and the scripts must occasionally evolve with it.

• Native Dixa keyboard shortcuts are documented in this guide.
• The sequences [ H and [ U are removed from the scripts as they are duplicated by the native Ctrl+Alt+H keyboard shortcut, which toggles the current call on and off of hold status. The [ A sequence remains available in case it is still useful for handling voicemail messages.
• The sequence [ P will click the phone icon, which will toggle whether the phone popup controls are shown.
• A means to exit the application via the keyboard is noted in this guide.
• The messages for these scripts are now distributed in XML files so that translators can create translations with no need for script source recompilation. See the Script Translation Procedure document for details on how to translate these scripts, including how to update the XML message file.
• The Availability button and Phone icon are labeled for this Dixa version. The dixa.jdf file, which labeled these items in Dixa 3.12, is removed because it no longer applies.
• The installer contains version and product information visible from the Details tab in Windows Explorer, to better identify its contents.
• Keystroke names in this document are more consistent, and there are other minor documentation improvements.
• There are many internal improvements to code used to name fields.
• A "directives" text file is included that provides information on how to install this set of scripts manually. See "Handling Directives Files" in the "Common Script Elements" document for further information.
• For those who need to change the Command key, the left bracket ([) by default, the system is significantly improved, so that you need not type the key or key combination out as a name or string of key names. You may edit the keystroke names before accepting them, but JAWS will type them out for you now. The system is documented in more detail in the Multi-Key Command Sequence section of my Common Script Elements page.
• Added protection against certain kinds of unusual HTML code that could otherwise prevent JAWS scripts from finding information on a page. This issue was never seen in this application but has been seen in other HTML settings.
• Some old code for supporting JAWS 13.0 and older is removed, and there are minor enhancements to improve support for JAWS 2021.

Revision 38, December 30, 2019, tested against application version 3.1.2.385

• There is no longer a sound played on RouteJAWSToPC when the scripts use a better location than JAWS natively would have used.
• An unnecessary dixa_jcpdict.jsd file is removed from the installer.
• Various minor documentation improvements.
• First public release.

Revision 36, December 24, 2019, tested against application version 3.1.2.385

• Initial release to a pro bono client.