<a name="Screen">Comparing screen readers</a>
The FCW Test Center looks as pricing, compatibility, training and system requirements for two screen readers: JAWS 3.5 for Windows and Window-Eyes 3.1
Pricing Information
Training Information
Operating System Compatibility
System Requirements
Key New Features
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| JAWS 3.5 for Windows Henter Joyce, a division of Freedom Scientific (800) 444-4443 www.freedomscientific.com | Window-Eyes 3.1 GW Micro Inc. (219) 489-3671 www.gwmicro.com |
| Pricing | |
| A 40-minute free demo can be downloaded from the Freedom Scientific Web site. A 60-day timed evaluation is available for $39.95. If purchasers of this evaluation upgrade to the full version, $39.95 is subtracted from the price. Full version for Windows 95/98: $795. Full version for Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 Professional: $1,195. Enterprise licenses for corporations are available in multiples of five.
10-25 users: 35% discount off full version price. 30 users and above: 40% discount off full version price. If you buy Version 3.5 now, you can upgrade to 3.7 for free. | A 30-minute free demo can be downloaded from the GW Micro Web site. Full version: $595. Site licenses are available in increments of 10 and 30.
30-user license: $3,570. Anyone who purchased Version 3.1 on May 1 or later can upgrade to 4.0 for free. |
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| Training | |
| Training classes are held at the company's headquarters in St. Petersburg, Fla. They run for four days and cost $750 per person. Class sizes are limited to 12 or fewer. If three or more people from the same organization sign up, they each get a 10% discount. The company has a contract with a nearby hotel to provide free transportation to and from the airport as well as to and from the classes. Free lunch and snacks are provided each day. Attendees are responsible for airfare and lodging costs. On-site training is also available. The company recommends a maximum of eight people per class, but up to 12 are permitted. A basic class costs $6,000 and an advanced class called "Customizing JAWS for Windows," which teaches scripting techniques for developers, consultants and IT professionals, costs $6,800. A set of six basic training audiocassettes comes with the system. | Anyone who purchases the software can go to Fort Wayne, Ind., for a day of free training. The company will also send an instructor to a company for a free day of training. A three-hour tutorial on audiocassettes ships with the system. |
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| Operating System Compatibility | |
| Added compatibility with JAWS 3.7 (due out in August). Windows NT 4.0 Professional Windows 95/98 Windows 2000 Windows Millennium | Added compatibility with Window-Eyes 4.0 (due out in September). Windows 3.1x Windows 95/98 Windows Millennium |
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| System Requirements | |
| 30M available hard disk space. VGA or higher-resolution video adapter (Super VGA 256-color recommended). Compatible sound card or voice synthesizer. | At least an 80486/66 processor; Pentium-based system is highly recommended. For Windows 3.1x: 8M of memory. For Windows 95/98: 32M of memory. Compatible sound card or voice synthesizer. |
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| Key New Features | |
| Support for Internet Explorer 5.5. User-definable verbosity settings. Application-specific voice settings. Voice rate changing on the fly. Tethering the JAWS mouse cursor to the PC cursor. Ability to add and remove synthesizers and Braille displays without reinstalling. Support for a host of new applications.Enhanced support for currently supported applications. | Support for Internet Explorer 5.5. Braille support. Major support for Lotus Notes 5.x. Instant access to the system tray. Faster Web page loading. Set file enhancements. Enhanced support for a host of applications. Online upgrades and registration from the Help menu. |
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