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JAWS Scripts For Skype - Screen Reader Not Detected

Screen Reader Not Detected: Why and What To Do

You may have arrived at this page because the Skype scripts produced a message saying your screen reader was not detected, or you may have come here from the Frequently Asked Questions page or from elsewhere. Either way, what follows is an explanation of this problem and what to do if it occurs.

Why Does This Happen?

Some applications, including Skype, provide a lot of accessibility information in order that screen readers, such as JAWS, can relay that information to the user. However, this can require much processing, memory, and in some cases, can require visible changes to the interface of the application. For this reason, applications can choose to provide this information only when a screen reader is actually running.

The system used in Windows to let applications know a screen reader is running can sometimes fail. This usually happens when a user runs two screen readers at once and then exits one of them while still running the other. For example, if JAWS is running and the user launches and then closes Microsoft Narrator while leaving JAWS active, Windows can lose track of the fact that a screen reader is still running. Applications that then ask Windows if one is running will be told "no." The easiest solution to this problem is to exit all running screen readers, then restart the preferred screen reader by itself.

What To Do

If you receive a message from JAWS saying that Skype is not aware that a screen reader is running, do one of the following, depending on which best fits your situation:

• If you are running Skype script version 4.1b_beta4 or later, unload all screen readers, then reload JAWS. This should fix the problem, and you can skip all remaining steps, which are for older 4.1b script beta versions.
• If you unloaded and reloaded JAWS while running Skype but did not launch any other screen reader, including Narrator, just close and restart Skype.
• If you used Narrator or another screen reader and shut it down while JAWS was active, do the following in this order:
  1. Make sure you have a way of starting JAWS without speech. Many users have set up Ctrl+Alt+J for this purpose. For alternatives, see Restarting JAWS Without Speech.
  2. Close all active screen readers, including Narrator.
  3. Restart JAWS.
  4. Close and restart Skype.