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JAWS Power Tip: How To Enable Automatic Reading on Web PagesAn image showing the JAWS screen reader logo on a computer monitor, featuring a stylized blue shark with sound waves next to the word JAWS. A software box labeled JAWS Screen Reader is positioned beside the monitor. To the right, a bright yellow speech bubble with black text reads 'Power Tips', surrounded by decorative lines and shapes on a white background.

JAWS Power Tip: How To Enable Automatic Reading on Web Pages

Published January 15, 2026 by Top Tech Tidbits

Prior to the December 2026 update, JAWS automatically read information such as the number of regions, headings, and links on the page. This information was helpful when deciding the best way to navigate the content. Now, however, this behavior has become less helpful when navigating more modern web pages. Due to user feedback, we have disabled automatic reading by default. This keeps focus at the top for immediate use of Navigation Quick Keys and other web navigation features.

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From Screen Readers to Conversation Partners: How Voice-First AI Could Soon Change Everything for Blind and Low-Vision PeopleA blind man wearing sunglasses, a light blue shirt, white t-shirt, and jeans sits on an outdoor step holding a smartphone near his mouth while using a white cane with a red tip. He appears to be speaking into the phone, with modern glass buildings and trees visible in the background on a bright day.

From Screen Readers to Conversation Partners: How Voice-First AI Could Soon Change Everything for Blind and Low-Vision People

Published January 3, 2026 by Aaron Di Blasi

Here, Aaron Di Blasi argues that voice-first AI is nearing an “interface shift” that could be as consequential for blind and low-vision people as the arrival of modern screen readers: instead of painstakingly navigating screen-based obstacle courses (unlabeled buttons, broken forms, CAPTCHAs, kiosk-first workflows), users could increasingly express intent through natural conversation and get outcomes directly. He defines a true “conversation partner” as fast, full-duplex voice interaction that supports interruption and redirection, plus practical layers like transcription, translation, emotional prosody, and (with camera/broadcast modes) the ability to interpret what’s on a screen or in the environment, turning accessibility from “reading interfaces” into “conversing with systems.”

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PWD Media Co-op Membership Now Open To All Sponsors of Top Tech Tidbits And Access Information NewsCentered on a white background, the image features bold black text reading 'PWD' above smaller text that says 'Media Distribution Co-op'. Surrounding the text are colorful, diamond-shaped icons of various social media platforms, including recognizable logos such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and Messenger, arranged in a scattered pattern. The image conveys a theme of media connectivity and distribution across multiple digital platforms.

PWD Media Co-op Membership Now Open To All Sponsors of Top Tech Tidbits And Access Information News

Published December 22, 2025 by Aaron Di Blasi

Here, Aaron Di Blasi, PR Director for AT-Newswire and publisher of Top Tech Tidbits and Access Information News, explains that the Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Media Distribution Co-op is a collaboration of blind/low-vision and broader disability community leaders, businesses, and organizations that share their verified social media distribution networks to amplify reach into PWD audiences. He says the Co-op began around November 2024 with Di Blasi, Donna J. Jodhan, and Dr. Kirk Adams as a practical way to get each post in front of more verified PWD readers, and it has since grown to 15 leaders collectively reaching more than 193,000 verified PWD readers across 41 channels.

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CCLVI Scheigert Scholarships For The 2026 – 2027 Academic YearTop Tech Tidbits. The Week's News in Access Technology. Eight photos. 1: A young girl with down syndrome smiles enthusiastically while cutting paper at school. 2: A man with a prosthetic right leg goes for a run. 3: A man in a wheelchair smiles on a sunny day as he is lifted into a bus. 4: A blind man wearing sun glasses in a park holds a white cane in his right hand and a phone in his left. 5: A woman with black and blonde hair wears a hearing aid at work. 6: Fingers read braille through a refreshable braille display. 7: A man makes the sign for 'family' in American Sign Language (ASL). 8: A woman uses magnification software on a tablet to read a magazine.

CCLVI Scheigert Scholarships For The 2026 – 2027 Academic Year

Published December 19, 2025 by Top Tech Tidbits

The Council of Citizens with Low Vision International (CCLVI), an affiliate of the American Council of the Blind, annually awards four scholarships in the amount of $3,000 each to full-time college students. Scholarships are awarded to Freshman, Undergraduate, and Graduate students, all of whom must be low vision, maintain a strong GPA and be involved in school/local community activities.

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