I am working with a user who must access Discourse using the JAWS screen reader. Our first attempt was slow as the JAWS shortcuts somehow interfered with those of Discourse. Is there a tutorial or any advice on how to make this work smoothly? It looks like the Discourse shortcuts cover much of what a user will want to do. Relatedly, categories in our instance are set up with subcategories. JAWS likes to read them all out in a string, making it impossible to ‘choose’ a sub-category from the list to go to. This may be an artifact of trying to use JAWS in a generic, non-Discourse way, but I welcome others’ thoughts about how to make this a better experience.

Screenreaders capture a lot of keys for their own navigation shortcuts by default (virtual cursor mode), which prevents ours from being used. This mode can be toggled off, in JAWS you need to use the JAWS key + z (depending on settings this might be insert + z or caps lock + z). Doing that should grant access to the Discourse shortcuts, but let us know if they still don’t work. [image] happyhappy: Relatedly, categories in our instance are set up with subcategories. JAWS likes to read them all out in a string, making it impossible to ‘choose’ a sub-category from the list to go to. Where specifically? is this in a menu, on the /categories page? somewhere else?

So we did turn it off using the JAWS key + z but then using the Discourse shortcuts did not produce the audio readouts required. (This person relies entirely on the verbal readouts.) Is there a way to have the Discourse shortcuts take precedence but allow JAWS to verbalize the aria codings? Re: sub-categories, here is a slightly edited image of our categories page. When JAWS verbalizes each category, it includes all the sub-categories without a break and without a simple way to select any of them. Any guidance you can provide would be most appreciated. [Screenshot 2026-05-29 at 3.29.59 PM]

[image] happyhappy: Is there a way to have the Discourse shortcuts take precedence but allow JAWS to verbalize the aria codings? Good question! our expectations so far have been that people using screenreaders will not use our shortcuts and default to the screenreader navigation. So the gap here is that we are not announcing content for screenreaders when using Discourse shortcuts. I think we can add announcements, but I don’t think this is a trivial change, so while it’s something we can look into it’s not something that will be available immediately. [image] happyhappy: here is a slightly edited image of our categories page. When JAWS verbalizes each category, it includes all the sub-categories without a break and without a simple way to select any of them. Thanks, the screenshot helps narrow this down. When navigating from row to row I can reproduce the report with all the content of the table cell being read, but this is expected when navigating a table. To enter the specific table cell and read each group of content (heading, description, links) I can use the up/down arrow keys to go from individual item to individual item. Is that what’s not working?

[image] awesomerobot: n arrow keys to go from individual item to individual item. Is that what’s not working? I believe we did, but I am checking again to be sure.

JAWS screen reader, Discourse and Shortcuts

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happyhappy June 14, 2026, 4:54pm 5

I believe we did, but I am checking again to be sure.

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JAWS screen reader, Discourse and Shortcuts

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