# JAWS screen reader, Discourse and Shortcuts

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/jaws-screen-reader-discourse-and-shortcuts/404095
**Category:** Support
**Tags:** accessibility, ux
**Created:** [May 29, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/jaws-screen-reader-discourse-and-shortcuts/404095 "2026-05-29T17:30:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 2

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### Author: ![awesomerobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/awesomerobot/32/142900_2.png) [@awesomerobot](https://meta.discourse.org/u/awesomerobot)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2026, 5:57pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/jaws-screen-reader-discourse-and-shortcuts/404095/2 "2026-05-29T17:57:07Z")

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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.

> [@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?

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_[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/jaws-screen-reader-discourse-and-shortcuts/404095)._