Adding jaws support for Putty.

Sep 23, 2010 | Uncategorized | 7 comments

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Please note that this post is now out of date.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.

I’m really not sure why Freedomcientific have not added this support already considering it’s so easy to do it.

  1. start PuTTY.
  2. Start the Jaws script manager. This can be done by pressing the insert and 0 key combination.
  3. Paste the following text into the script:


    Include "HjGlobal.jsh" ; default HJ global variables
    Include "hjconst.jsh" ; default HJ constants

    Void 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

  4. Now save the file by pressing control and s. YOu will hear jaws say compile complete or something similar.
  5. 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

7 Comments

  1. Katherine Moss

    There are syntax errors in this script; I’m using JAWS version 14. I get the following: “syntax error in if condition”.

    Reply
  2. Donnacha

    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.

    Reply
  3. hadi

    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…

    Reply
  4. Jon

    Thank you for the wonderful script.

    Reply
  5. Peter Q

    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!

    Reply
  6. Peter Q

    (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!

    Reply
  7. Gerdave

    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

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.