JAWS (screen Reader) - Release History

Release History

Version Release date Significant changes
JFW 1.0 January 1995 First version for Windows, supported Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11
JFW 2.0 About 1996

Added support for Windows 95
JFW 4.0 September 14, 2001
  • Many changes to user interface
  • Optional tutor and access key help added
JFW 4.5 August 30, 2002
  • Quick navigation keys added to Internet Explorer, for navigating between HTML elements on a page
JFW 5.0 October 9, 2003
  • Many improvements with Internet support
  • Speech and Sounds Manager, for indication of fonts, controls and web page elements.
JFW 6.0 March 3, 2005
  • Introduction of Internet licencing
  • Introduction of separate user settings
  • Comes with a demo of FSReader, a DAISY reader manufactured by Freedom Scientific, for reading JAWS training material
JFW 7.0 October 14, 2005
  • Release of thumb drive version
  • Support for Mozilla Firefox among other applications
  • No longer supports Windows 95
JFW 7.1 June 21, 2006
  • Automatic updates
  • Switched to a Document Object Model engine for HTML rendering
JFW 8.0 November 17, 2006
  • Ships with RealSpeak Solo SAPI 5 Speech Synthesizers
  • No longer supports Windows 98 or Windows ME
  • Supports Windows Vista
JFW 9.0 November 19, 2007
  • HTML composition support
  • New "adjust JAWS options" dialog box
JFW 10.0 November 3, 2008
  • Introduction of JAWS Tandem, to allow a person using JAWS to access another computer running JAWS, much like Remote Desktop
  • Support for iTunes version 8 and the iTunes Store
JFW 11.0 October 23, 2009
  • Research It, a feature that provides quick access to information such as word definitions, weather forecasts and sports scores
  • Now comes on a DVD rather than a CD
  • Ships with the full version of FSReader 2.0 rather than a demo
JFW 12.0 October 21, 2010
  • Provides a settings center to replace the old configuration manager to easily change settings
  • Allows consistent navigation of ribbons using the "virtual ribbon menu"
  • Supports the ARIA specification for making webpages more accessible
JFW 13.0 October 24, 2011
  • Provides in-built optical character recognition for graphics on the screen
  • Provides a new "Quick settings" feature as a replacement for the old "Adjust JAWS options" dialog box
JFW 14.0 October 22, 2012
  • Supports Windows 8
  • Introduces Flexible Web, a feature that allows the user to hide unwanted HTML elements on webpages or to go to a particular HTML element when a page launches

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