The March update of JAWS, ZoomText, and Fusion 2026 is now available, offering new functionality and enhancements that increase efficiency and productivity. Here’s a look at three enhancements.
Transition from Freedom Scientific to Vispero
You will begin to see the name Vispero appear throughout JAWS, ZoomText, and Fusion as we start transitioning from the Freedom Scientific brand. This release introduces the first phase of that change, and most product references previously labeled Freedom Scientific will now display Vispero.
As part of this update, FSCompanion has also been renamed to Vispero Companion and the FS Support Tool has been renamed to Support Tool.
During the transition, you may still notice the Freedom Scientific name in some areas of the software and website. These remaining references will be updated over time.
Please note that the Freedom Scientific name will continue to be used for certain hardware products, such as the Focus Braille Display, and these names are not affected by the change.
Announce Column and Row Titles in Google Documents with JAWS
You can now use the JAWS keystrokes for announcing the current column title or row title as you navigate a table or spreadsheet in Google Docs or Sheets. Press INSERT+ALT+SHIFT+C to speak the column titles and INSERT+ALT+SHIFT+R to speak the row titles. These keystrokes have long been used in Word and Excel to read column and row information, and are now available in Google Workspace.
Read Scanned PDFs and Image-Based Documents Using OCR
Sometimes PDFs contain scanned images instead of real text. When this happens, ZoomText cannot read the document because the text is not recognized as selectable content. AppReader cannot read it aloud, and Live Text View may not display any text. The new OCR (Optical Character Recognition) support solves this issue by recognizing text within these image-based documents, making previously inaccessible content readable. OCR is available in ZoomText Magnifier/Reader and Fusion.
Download Instructions
To download and install the March update of JAWS, ZoomText, or Fusion 2026, follow these steps on a computer connected to the internet:
- Select any of the following links to automatically download the software update: JAWS, ZoomText, or Fusion. Optionally, visit the Freedom Scientific website and locate these links under the “Software Releases” heading found near the bottom of the page.
- Save the setup file to a location where you can easily find it (for example, your Downloads folder).
- Place the focus on the setup file, and press ENTER to run it.
- Follow the installation instructions that are displayed. The language automatically matches that of your operating system.
Note: If you are running the latest version of JAWS, ZoomText, or Fusion 2026 and automatic updates are enabled, you can start the download and installation process from the notification.
Our User Education and Outreach team offers outstanding resources for learning your Freedom Scientific software in our Training Center, which includes videos, FAQs, and instructions for getting started. Keep up with this blog and check out the Freedom Scientific Training schedule page for news of upcoming live training webinars and other events. For questions, email us at training@vispero.com.