[BUG] Adobe Acrobat/Reader Version 2021.007.20099 - JAWS will not open links with ENTER
Since the update to version 2021.007.20099 was released, JAWS will open links with SHIFT+ENTER but not ENTER.
Even when opening with SHIFT+ENTER, JAWS does take you to the correct page, but reads text from a previous page.
This has been tested on my desktop with Win 10 Pro, my laptop with Win 11 Home, in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat Pro.
The issue has also been reported by other users who are members of the JAWS listserv.
Unfortunately, Adobe makes it difficult to revert to earlier versions which means that accessibility professionals like me have to release pdf's to the public with links that haven't been properly tested, not to mention the fact that end users who have installed the latest update will begin to encounter the issue as well.
Here's a description from another accessibility professional on the listserv:
I was getting the same problem and did a lot of research that showed the problem is with the latest version of Adobe Reader (2021.007.20099). The issues do not occur with Adobe Reader 2021.007.20091 and Adobe Acrobat 2021.007.20095.
Unfortunately, there does not appear to be any way to obtain recent versions of Adobe Reader other than the very latest one. They do have an FTP site at ftp://ftp.adobe.com/pub/adobe/reader/win/AcrobatDC/, but there are a couple of gotchas:
Chrome and Firefox no longer support FTP, so I had to use Internet Explorer! You might be able to use an FTP client, but WS_FTP 12 wouldn't connect because it insisted I enter a username and password, even though neither is required.
The most recent version of Adobe Reader I could find was dated 28 October 2020. I uninstalled the latest version and installed this one, and JAWS now works properly with PDFs again. It's not ideal to be using such an old version, but it's good enough to allow us to continue testing PDFs until Adobe release a fix.
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LauraR commented
Adobe? Nothing? still happening over a month later. I'm not the only one.