Zoom Scripts Documentation

Introduction.

Welcome to the Zoom Conferencing Scripts documentation. Zoom is a highly accessible conferencing client which has become widely used by visually impaired people in recent years. It provides plenty of opportunities for visual and audio interaction, together with screen-sharing and recording capabilities, to name but a small number of its features.

Despite the high level of accessibility included, there are a number of features which the scripts provide so as to make it more convenient for you to host and participate in conferences with confidence. By far the best of these is the ability to suppress alerts from being spoken automatically, when a person enters or leaves the room, if you are using the computer audio, if a chat message has been sent or if someone raises their hand for example. While these are undoubtedly useful things to know, they do mean that they can interrupt the flow of presenting as they can be disconcerting to the speaker. Moreover, if you are delivering a presentation which involves the audience hearing the output from a screen-reader, it is not acceptable for listeners to hear such messages. These can be disabled, and you can review the most recent of these quickly.

Other features are also included, such as the ability to only hear who has raised and lowered a hand, (perhaps in anticipation of asking a question).

What has become obvious unfortunately over time however is that Zoom is providing more and more functionality. It is no longer the simple meeting client that it once was. The scripts try to provide some ways in which a lot of the additional spoken information can be refined so as to reduce some of the verbal clutter. Moreover, the interface for working with Zoom has become more cluttered and not as easy to use. This documentation will go some way towards helping you navigate the application.

This documentation is quite short and will get you up and running in just a few minutes. You will learn how to install the scripts, how to activate them and of course, how to work with the different features.

This documentation will be updated frequently and is on a web page. Please be sure to bookmark this page or activate the option from Hotkey Help described below.

Downloading and Installing the Scripts.

The Zoom Scripts can be downloaded from this page. They consist of a program which will allow the scripts to be installed into the version of JAWS you are using.

Please download the scripts installer.

If you have difficulty in downloading or using the installer, you can Download the zipped archive of the binary files.

Once downloaded, work through the below instructions.

  1. First of all, locate the zipped archive with which you have been provided.
  2. If you are using the standard unzip utility for Windows, pressing Enter will open up this file.
  3. Press Control+A so as to select the contents of the entire zipped archive.
  4. Press Control+C to copy the contents of the zipped archive to the Windows clipboard.
  5. Press Insert+J to move to the JAWS window.
  6. Press ALT+U for the Utilities menu.
  7. Locate the item, Explore Utilities Folder, found on the Utilities menu and press Enter. Alternatively, press the shortcut key, letter X.
  8. From the list of folders which appears, select, Explore My Settings and press Enter.
  9. This is the folder you need to place the scripts into. Press Control+V to paste the content of the zipped archive into this folder. If Windows prompts you as to whether files should be replaced, press the Space Bar on the Replace All Button.
  10. Finally, press ALT+F4 to close the Settings/ENU screen and then restart your computer.

Using the regular installer, installing the scripts is extremely straightforward. Simply run the installer program, the majority of prompts for which will be announced by your JAWS screen-reading software automatically.

In most cases, pressing Enter to activate the “Next” Button on each screen should be sufficient. Following the opening screen, the scripts installer detects the versions of JAWS which are installed onto the machine and presents you with a series of Radio Buttons, inviting you to choose which release you would like to install the scripts into. Press the Down Arrow key to select the version of JAWS you wish to use,, then press Enter.

If you wish to install the scripts into another JAWS version at a later date, this can easily be achieved by running the installer a second time and choosing a different version of JAWS from the list.

You will next be asked for a language folder into which the scripts should be installed. This refers to the JAWS language settings to be used. You should press the Down Arrow key until “enu (English US)” is selected, then press Enter. Indeed, this is usually the first item in the list.

Prior to copying the necessary files to the computer, you will be asked to confirm the location of the installation of JAWS script files. If JAWS is being used by a person with an alternative Windows account to the one shown, you should correct this in the Edit Field before proceeding, changing the text so it points to the scripts user’s account instead. The majority of users will not have to be at all concerned with this screen and can just press Enter to continue with the scripts installation.

When the installer has completed creating the additional folders required for the scripts , and copying files to them, you will be prompted to restart the computer and you should comply with this request. This is critical!

Activating the scripts .

When the Windows operating system is fully loaded, please start the Zoom client, usually by activating a shortcut on the Windows desktop.
After a short pause, the scripts will check the Hartgen Consultancy server to determine whether or not an activation file for the product is available for you. This is based on your JAWS for Windows serial number.

If an activation file is not found, a Dialog Box will appear, asking if you have a license key for the Zoom scripts. If you do not have such a key, select the “No” option. Then send Hartgen Consultancy an Email and request one. If you do have a license key which has been provided to you, select the “Yes” option and then paste it into the Edit Field provided. Finally, press Enter. To repeat however, this procedure of entering the license key should not be necessary in the vast majority of cases.

Please note: You can install the scripts onto multiple machines provided the same JAWS serial number is being used. In other words, JAWS must be activated with the same serial number on each of the computers to host the scripts .

Checking When Your Scripts Subscription is Due.

Support and updates for the scripts are provided for 12 months. You can check when your subscription is due by doing the following:

  1. Press Insert+H for Hotkey Help or alternatively ALT+Windows+H.
  2. Select the link “Announce when scripts subscription is due” and press Enter.
  3. You will hear the date the subscription is due.

Checking for Updates.

You will notice at the top of the Hotkey Help screen is a link entitled “Check for Updates.” Press Enter on this link to check to see if there are any new Zoom Script updates available.

Recommended Setup.

It is suggested that you work through the following options to customise Zoom and JAWS for best performance.

Checking That the Zoom Scripts are Functioning.

With Zoom in focus, press Insert+Q or Caps Lock+Q. If JAWS says a build number, followed by the Zoom scripts are loaded, the scripts are working. A good example would be: “Build 91″, Zoom scripts are loaded.” If JAWS just says, “Zoom scripts are loaded”, the scripts are not installed correctly.

If you are requesting technical support, it is useful to know the build number of the scripts being used together with the JAWS version and serial number.

Disabling Unified Keyboard Processing in JAWS.

The following may be necessary:

  1. Press Insert+6 for the Settings Centre.
  2. Press Control+Shift+D for the default file.
  3. Into the edit field, type the word, unified.
  4. Arrow down to the option Use Unified Keyboard Processing Method.
  5. Press space bar to disable it.
  6. Press Enter twice to save the setting.
  7. Restart JAWS.

Configuring Zoom.

With Zoom in focus, work through these steps:

  1. Press ALT+Windows+1 to move to the Home tab.
  2. Press Tab to move to the “Settings” button and press the Space Bar.
  3. This “Settings” screen is divided into a series of sub-screens. The categories are arranged in a List Box. When focused within the List Box, press Down Arrow to reach the appropriate category and press Enter to select.
  4. Select the category “Accessibility” and press Enter.
  5. Press Tab repeatedly until you reach a number of Check Boxes. These relate to activity which Zoom, should, send to the JAWS screen-reader when specific events occur. An example would be: “Participant has joined/left meeting (host only)”. Be sure that you have checked each check box for every alert required.
  6. When all the check boxes are checked or unchecked as desired, you do not need to save the settings. Just press Escape so as to close the “Settings” screen.

Viewing the List of Participants.

There is a final step we recommend, and this can only be carried out when a meeting is in progress. It is a one-time setup procedure. You do not have to work through these steps but it may make things easier for you.

  1. Press ALT+U to focus on the list of participants in the meeting.
  2. Press Shift+Tab until you reach the button “More options to manage all participants”.
  3. Press the Space Bar to activate the Button and select the option “Pop-out”.
  4. When you have found this option, press Enter to activate.
  5. Press ALT+U to instruct JAWS that the menu has closed.

What this means is from this point forward, when you have pressed ALT+U to open the participants list, you can now press F6, and this will rotate between all the available Zoom windows which are open, including the one for the participants list. It makes it much easier to handle a meeting that way. It means you can activate the list, leave it open, and very quickly find out who is in the meeting whenever you want.

Using the Zoom Scripts.

Managing Alerts.

By far the most important keystroke you should use is ALT+Windows+S. This enables or disables the Zoom alerts from being spoken or sent to the Braille display if you have one. It is a toggle keystroke, so pressing it repeatedly will cycle between the two available options.

Whichever condition this feature is set to, the behaviour applies globally, irrespective of the application in which you are working.
So if you have disabled alerts from being spoken, you will not hear them in your web browser, word processor, etc.

However, there is a possibility that you would like to hear only alerts pertaining to people who have raised their hand. If this is the case, from within Zoom press ALT+Windows+Y. Again, this is a toggle action keystroke and will enable or disable the feature. Similarly, you may like to know whether anyone has entered or left the Waiting Room. Moreover, you may like to know whether you are in a Waiting Room or not. So if alerts are disabled, press ALT+Windows+W to toggle this access on and off.

Whether alerts are enabled or disabled, you can press ALT+Windows+A from within any application. This will speak or Braille the most recent alert irrespective of its type. This is a global keystroke and can be pressed from within any application.

Sound Notifications.

Sounds to indicate various events within a Zoom meeting can be enabled, disabled and auditioned.

Activate Hotkey Help by pressing Insert+H or ALT+Windows+H.
There are a number of hyperlinks at the top of this screen. You simply press Enter on the link depending upon which item you wish to activate or deactivate.

The items as taken from the hotkey help are as follows:

Working with Text Chat Messages.

One of the core components of the Zoom Conferencing client is the ability to send and receive Text Chat messages. From within a meeting, go ahead and press ALT+H. This takes you into the Text Chat window and the text edit field for composing a new message is in focus. Type a message followed by pressing Enter, whereupon it will be sent automatically.

To move to the list of Text Chat messages which have been sent, press Control+Shift+H. You can press F9 to place a message into the JAWS Virtual Viewer. We’ll come back to this keystroke later. Press Escape to close and return to Zoom.

To move back to the Edit Field for composing a new message, press Control+Shift+E.

Whether alerts are enabled or disabled, from within the Zoom client press Control+1 through to Control+0 on the numbers row of the keyboard. This will allow you to hear the 10 most recent alerts, with Control+1 speaking or displaying the most recent. Press the relevant keystroke twice quickly so as to place the message into the JAWS Virtual Viewer for closer inspection.

We will now discuss the role of the next keystroke relating to text chat messages: Control+F5. This has three options:

In summary, if you do not wish to hear any text chat messages as they arrive, select one of the first two options.

Regardless of the Control+F5 setting you have selected, you can press:

Users Raising Hands.

If alerts have been disabled, you can be notified automatically if a meeting participant has raised his or her hand. Press ALT+Windows+Y in order to toggle this automatic speaking on and off. In the future, you will be able to take control of other alert types.

A more accurate method of determining people who have their hand raised is to move through the participants list. If sounds are enabled, you should hear an audio cue alerting you to the fact that a user has a hand raised or lowered. You then have the opportunity of pressing Tab to move to the “Lower Hand” and “Unmute” Buttons.

Logging Alerts and Messages.

There has been a suggestion among some Zoom users that not all alerts are being spoken by JAWS.

If Zoom as a client does not send an appropriate system or chat message to the screen-reader, there is absolutely nothing which can be done about this. However, a logging system has been introduced to at least determine which messages were captured and spoken.
Before a meeting starts, move into Hotkey Help by pressing Insert+H or ALT+Windows+H.
Move down to the bottom of the screen and you should find the option “Delete Alert Log”. Press Enter on this item so you are starting fresh.
From the same Help screen, select the item “Toggle logging of alerts”. This link enables and disables this feature. Press Enter repeatedly until the logging is enabled.
As soon as the logging is enabled, JAWS will begin logging any messages from Zoom regardless of whether it is a system alert or chat message. The log also captures a copy of all your script configuration settings which we can later review if necessary.
Should you wish to check the log or send it to us for review, go back into the Hotkey Help screen and again, close to the bottom of the screen, you will find a link “View Logged Alerts”. This will show the recent log.
Sample output is like this:
“Your audio is unmuted, your video is offYou are in the meeting hosted by Brian Hartgen with 1 participants”
That is the message which Zoom sent to JAWS. The next entry in the log relates to what JAWS said:
JAWS announced this text.
Your audio is unmuted, your video is offYou are in the meeting hosted by Brian Hartgen with 1 participants
End of sample output.
To stop logging at any time, maybe when the meeting is over, go back into Hotkey Help and select the option close to the bottom of the screen, “Toggle logging of alerts”. JAWS should confirm that logging has stopped.

Determining Who is Talking.

To hear the name of the person speaking, press Control+Shift+T. After a short pause, JAWS should announce this correctly.
Best results are achieved if the Alerts setting discussed above is set to “Alerts Disabled”.

The Timer.

This feature should only be used if the below problem occurs.

On some machines, pressing keystrokes such as ALT+R to start recording will cause JAWS to announce inaccurate information. This is because the alert denoting the recording status is not being sent to JAWS fast enough. If this occurs, from within the Hotkey Help select the “Adjust Timer” link. The default value is 5. So you can slow down the timer by entering a higher value. We suggest a value of 10 is a good starting point. Type it in and press Enter. JAWS will then wait a little longer before checking the status.

Interaction in the Participants List.

Assuming you have configured the Participants Panel in the way described above, there are a number of keystrokes you can use. Press F6 so as to focus on the Participants Panel first.

When in the Participants Panel or Attendees List, press the Grave Accent Key followed by P to move to the list box of users. The Grave Accent key is situated to the immediate left of figure 1 on the main QWERTY keyboard.

When in the Participants Panel or Attendees List, press the Grave Accent key followed by W to move to the users in the waiting room.

To admit someone from the waiting room to the meeting, focus on the user name and press the Grave Accent key followed by A.

Determining if Video and Audio Settings are Enabled or Disabled.

Unfortunately, Zoom does not expose this information to JAWS in the way that it used to do. Therefore, you can adopt the following to determine of these settings are enabled or disabled.

From within the meeting window, press Control+Windows+A or Control+Windows+V. They both perform the same action. This will set focus to the part of the screen giving this information.

Braille Mode.

When Braille Mode is enabled, any alerts from Zoom itself will not be spoken and will only be communicated in Braille. That is not to say that speech is suppressed entirely. There are ways in JAWS to do that. However, it was requested that people perhaps wanted to see alerts on the display while listening to alternative speech content, such as when delivering an audio demonstration of an application.

Braille Mode should only be used in the above situation. If you need to enable or disable it, press ALT+Windows+B.

Additional Improvements.

The scripts enhance the usability of using Zoom in a number of other ways:

Frequently Asked Questions.

What is the first thing I should do when the Zoom client is launched?

Press ALT+Windows+1. This will set focus to the Home tab and to the first control within it. This is a good orientation keystroke you can use at any time to set you back on the right path. Thereafter, press Tab. It is particularly useful when starting Zoom because focus invariably lands in the calendar area which is accessible but not necessarily usable.

Is there a way of making Zoom less cluttered so it gives a minimal user experience as it was in the good old days?

No. Zoom navigation has become a very cluttered experience. This is complicated by the fact that a Calendar View appears on the Home tab and the Calendar tab. Moreover, banners frequently appear with special offers which you may or may not wish to read.

If a banner appears, such as, “You need a bigger room”, Tab to the “Dismiss” button and press Space.

If you press Tab repeatedly, at some point focus will be in the calendar area. JAWS identifies this by saying, “Calendar Area”. You can always press ALT+Windows+1 so as to move back to the start of the Home tab.

What is the best way of managing my meetings?

Zoom does have a calendar tab. While it is accessible, particularly with the JAWS scripts, it is not particularly efficient to navigate. The best thing you can do is:

  1. Press ALT+Windows+1 so as to move to the Home tab.
  2. Press Control+Windows+S to move to a web page containing your scheduled meetings.
  3. From here, you can see a list of upcoming meetings. You can launch each meeting, edit it or delete it.

What is the best way to copy the details of a Zoom meeting to send them to someone else?

  1. As previously directed, press ALT+Windows+1 to focus on the Home tab, then move to the page containing your list of upcoming meetings; Control+Windows+S.
  2. Find the meeting in which you are interested.
  3. JAWS announces the word “Link”, followed by the title.
  4. Press the Space Bar to expand the meeting.
  5. You should then be able to read all the details including the link to share.

How do I schedule a meeting?

Scheduling a meeting can be achieved from the aforementioned list of upcoming meetings page.
However it can also be done by:

  1. Pressing ALT+Windows+1 to move to the Home tab.
  2. Press Tab repeatedly until you reach the “Schedule” Button, then press the Space Bar.
  3. This is a simple form you can work through by pressing Tab. JAWS will announce any special instructions relating to completing a specific field.

What are some good strategies to be used when hosting meetings?

When hosting a meeting, and people raise hands so as to potentially ask questions or offer comment, the last thing you want to do is to keep them hanging around while you find out what is going on. It does not make for a good listening experience for your audience. So here are some strategies to keep your meetings flowing nicely.

  1. Move into Hotkey Help with Insert+H.
  2. Enable Abbreviated Mode. A link exists in the help screen so as to enable this mode. Press Enter on it. This significantly reduces a lot of the verbal clutter when moving through the Participants list.
  3. Use sound cues if appropriate. Links also exist in the help screen so as to enable specific sounds, for example to denote if a hand has been raised.
  4. Press ALT+U to bring into view the Participants list.
  5. Participants who have raised a hand should be at the top of the Participants list.
  6. If focus has moved away from the Participants list, press ALT+Windows+P to get back there.
  7. To mute or unmute the focused user in the Participants List, press the Grave Accent key followed by M.
  8. To lower the hand of the focused user in the Participants List, press the Grave Accent key followed by H.

How do I close Zoom?

If you press the usual key combination of ALT+F4, this is unlikely to close Zoom. To do so, press ALT+Windows+F4.

How do I check the Zoom scripts build number?

Press Insert+Q or caps lock+Q.

How do I find a keystroke for a specific task?

To find a keystroke, press ALT+Windows+F. Ask a question such as, “How do I mute my audio?” You should get a response such as: To mute or unmute audio, use the keystroke Alt + A.

How Do I Download the Zoom Scripts if Check for Updates does not work?

Check for Updates should perform well unless you are on an older build of the scripts which does not contain the new update facility.

When you purchased the scripts, you were sent a link to this documentation which contains two methods for downloading the scripts. A link to that documentation is also found in Hotkey Help.
There is also a link on the web site’s Home Page, JAWS Scripts for Purchase and Download. The scripts are located there. So they have always been there for anyone to download.

However you can use this procedure.
The following notes describe how to locate your JAWS Settings/ENU folder where all your JAWS scripts live. This will allow you to place the JAWS scripts into the required location in order that the screen-reader can use them.

  1. First of all, download the zipped archive of the scripts.
  2. If you are using the standard unzip utility for Windows, pressing Enter will open up this file.
  3. Press Control+A so as to select the contents of the entire zipped archive.
  4. Press Control+C to copy the contents of the zipped archive to the Windows clipboard.
  5. Press Insert+J to move to the JAWS window.
  6. Press ALT+U for the Utilities menu.
  7. Locate the item, Explore Utilities Folder, found on the Utilities menu and press Enter. Alternatively, press the shortcut key, letter X.
  8. From the list of folders which appears, select, Explore My Settings and press Enter.
  9. This is the folder you need to place the scripts into. Press Control+V to paste the content of the zipped archive into this folder. If Windows prompts you as to whether files should be replaced, press the Space Bar on the Replace All Button.
  10. Finally, press ALT+F4 to close the Settings/ENU screen and then restart your computer.

Technical Support.

If you require Technical Support, please email brian@hartgenconsultancy.com.

If necessary we can use the Remote Incident Manager to remote onto your computer with your permission and rectify any problem which may have arisen.