JAWS V13 find and the context specific history

The JAWS Find facility (Insert Control F, Control F in IE) is commonly used in big documents or in web pages to locate a specific word or strings of text. As you may know, every time you type a search value this is stored in a list of previous searches - up to a maximum of 25. So, if you need to run a similar search at a slightly later point, you can access the entry in the list and choose that rather than have to type it all in again.

Now in JAWS V13 this search term storing has been enhanced so that you can make the search context sensitive. So, if you are searching for a word in pages appearing in a specific website, you can make sure that your search term only appears in a list for that particular domain. The effect is the same for documents, where you can create a separate search list for specific documents. You can find this new checkbox by doing the following:

1. Open Internet Explorer and browse to a web page you are familiar with.
2. Press Control F to launch the JAWS Find dialog box.
3. Press the Tab key to move to the checkbox labelled "Context Specific History." Use the Spacebar to toggle this new feature on and off.
4. When you have set the appropriate context option, Shift Tab back to the edit field and carry on with your search.
5. If you have checked the context sensitive option, then your search criteria will be stored in a list specific to the web domain (for example: rnib.org.uk) you are focused on. Therefore it will not be available in the drop down list if you are browsing a different website.

If you're thinking that this is a bit of overkill, well, you might be right! That said, it may have its uses, especially online where you can keep context sensitive lists of search criteria for specific websites.