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Assistive Computers
Technology Solutions for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Internet Explorer 5 (with JAWS) Keystrokes & Tips

Virtual PC cursor – toggle INSERT+Z

Virtual PC Cursor ON (default)
Open Web address CTRL+O
Move to next link TAB
Non link text INSERT+ENTER
List Links INSERT+F7
List Frames INSERT+F9
Go Back ALT+LEFT ARROW
Top of Page CTRL+HOME
Refresh Screen INSERT+F5

Forms:
Move To First Form Field CTRL+INSERT+HOME
(then press ENTER to enter forms mode)
Move To Next Form Field CTRL+INSERT+TAB
Move To Prior Form Field CTRL+INSERT+SHIFT+TAB
Move To Last Form Field CTRL+INSERT+END

Move to prior link SHIFT+TAB
Go Forward ALT+RIGHT ARROW
Select Address Bar INSERT+A

Virtual PC Cursor OFF
Say selected link INSERT+TAB
Read next screen CTRL+PAGE DOWN
Read prior screen CTRL+PAGE UP
Read current screen CTRL+INSERT+DOWN ARROW
Select a frame INSERT+F9
Next frame CTRL+TAB
Prior frame CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Move To First Form Field CTRL+INSERT+HOME

TIPS:
HTML tables now support navigation using the Virtual PC cursor. While in an HTML table, you can hear the contents, row title, and column title of the cell where the Virtual PC cursor is located by using the keystrokes shown at link Using JAWS to Navigate Tables
.
When you use Internet Explorer 5 with JAWS, you work in one of three modes: Virtual PC cursor mode, Forms mode, or Conventional mode.
Virtual PC Cursor Mode - The Virtual PC cursor is activated automatically when you open Internet Explorer 5, and JAWS begins speaking the text on the screen as soon as the page finishes loading. If the newly opened page is loaded, JAWS announces the presence of frames, links, and forms on the page.

Caution: Manually starting to read before the loading has finished often results in less than all of the text being available.
Make links to talk about cursors via link
The Virtual PC cursor works in the Internet Explorer 5 environment in much the same way that the PC cursor does in other applications. The Virtual PC cursor responds to normal screen reading keys in the same way, but there may be no visual indication on the area of the screen that is being affected. The default action is for the screen to track with the virtual cursor, but you can change this setting in the configuration manager under Set Options\HTML.

Note: If you wish for a sighted user to be able to view the area of the screen you are currently in, and you have disabled screen tracking of the virtual cursor in the browseui (Internet Explorer 5) or default configuration files, you can route JAWS to the Virtual cursor in order to read the actual text on the screen. Also, you can press INSERT+ESCAPE, which will update the screen, and bring the page that the virtual cursor is on into view.

When reading a Web page with the Virtual PC cursor, you can select text using the standard Windows text selection keys, though there is no visual feedback of what is being selected. The SaySelectedText command (SHIFT+INSERT+DOWN ARROW
) speaks the text that has been selected.
When a page with frames first comes up, all frames are readable in sequential order. With INSERT+F1 you are told, “The page contains frames.” As you enter a frame, you hear, “Navigation Frame,” As you leave a frame, you hear “Navigation Frame End.” CTRL+HOME brings the top of the document into view on the visual screen, CTRL+END brings the bottom of the document into view on the visual screen, PAGE DOWN moves down 24 lines, and PAGE UP moves up 24 lines. SayAll in line mode reads the document from top to bottom, and when pressing CTRL to stop SayAll, you are positioned near the last item read. You can navigate reading by line, sentence, or paragraph, as well as by moving by words and characters.

When reading text on a Web page, each link appears to be on its own line, even though this may not be true on the screen. Visited links are identified as “visited.” They are also properly categorized as visited in the Links List dialog. When JAWS encounters a link that does not have any text associated with it, one of two things is announced. If the link is a CGI link, the name of the graphic is spoken. Otherwise, the last directory component and the file name of the URL are spoken instead.

When you are using the Virtual cursor and you encounter a link on the screen that has an ALT tag, JAWS will read that tag since it is more descriptive.
To quickly skip past headers, you can press INSERT+ENTER. This moves you down through the page to the first text of at least 25 characters that is not a link. When the virtual cursor arrives at the text, the current line is read.
When the cursor is on a line with a link, pressing ENTER or NUM PAD SLASH activates that link. Subsequently, pressing BACKSPACE moves you back to your last position on the last page read.

Note: The Context menu accessed by the Applications key does not apply to the Virtual cursor.

The Virtual PC cursor is enabled in DEFAULT.JCF. If you do not want to use the Virtual PC cursor, turn it off by un-checking the “Use the Virtual PC Cursor” checkbox under the Advanced setting of the Configuration Manager in DEFAULT.JCF. If you want to have this cursor disabled every time you are in Internet Explorer5, you can uncheck this box in BROWSEUI.JCF. Unchecking this checkbox means that you will be operating in conventional cursor mode.

Note: The INSERT+F5 key command for reformatting a Web page is no longer necessary with virtual cursor mode. You will need to switch to conventional mode if you wish to reformat the page.

Forms Mode

With the Virtual PC cursor positioned on a form field, press ENTER or the NUMPAD SLASH key to switch to Forms mode. You will hear "Forms Mode On,” the information and the name of the control you are on. When you press ENTER to go into Forms mode, the PC cursor is activated on the current control. As a result, if you are on a button, the button is pressed. If you are on a checkbox, the state of the checkbox is toggled. If you are on a radio button that is unchecked, the radio button is checked, however, if it was already checked, it remains unchanged. If you are on an edit box, the PC cursor is placed at the top of the edit field. With Combo boxes, the first item is selected.

TAB and SHIFT+TAB must be used to move between fields in forms mode. When using these keys for navigation, the natural tab order is used, including any links that may appear between fields. As you land on the different controls, JAWS announces the new control, such as a link or a field.
While in forms mode you can navigate edit fields using the PC cursor as you normally do (i.e. TAB and SHIFT+TAB).
To exit Forms mode, press NUM PAD PLUS to activate the Virtual PC cursor.

Note: JAWS remains in Forms mode until the Virtual PC cursor is activated or a new page is displayed. Pressing INSERT+ESC also returns you to Virtual Cursor mode and moves the position of the Virtual PC cursor to the first control on the current page.
Tip: Return to the Virtual PC cursor using the familiar NUM PAD PLUS. This turns Forms Mode off.

Conventional Mode (also referred to as classic style cursor mode) - By unchecking the checkbox, using the Virtual PC cursor in the Advanced settings dialog of the Configuration Manager, you can navigate Internet Explorer using the JAWS cursor and reformatting options that were used by JAWS in Internet Explorer 4.01. In this mode, functionality provided by the virtual cursor will be unavailable. To find out more about how the conventional mode works, see link Internet Explorer 4 Help

Note: To temporarily toggle between Virtual PC cursor and Conventional cursor modes, press INSERT+Z.
Note: The following changes are important if you plan to use JAWS and Internet Explorer 5 with the virtual cursor turned off. Some of these changes may not be necessary when using the virtual cursor.

There are several advanced options that should be changed for optimal performance of JAWS with Internet Explorer when navigating with the cursor in classic mode. Open the Internet Options dialog under the Tools menu and go to the Advanced page.
Under The Accessibility Section, make sure the following are checked

· Move system caret with focus/selection changes.

· Always expand all text for images.

Under The Browsing Section, make sure the following are not checked

· Show friendly URLs.

· Use smooth scrolling.

· Enable page transitions.

In the accessibility dialog, make sure "ignore colors specified on Web pages" is checked.
This dialog opens when you press the Accessibility button in the General page of the Internet Options dialog.

Note: You may want to turn off some of the multimedia options to increase speed when loading pages.

Links List Dialog

Another tool JAWS provides for navigating Web pages on the Internet is the links list dialog. When in Internet Explorer, you can bring up the Links List dialog by pressing INSERT+F7. When you find yourself in this dialog, you are automatically placed in the Links List view. The first time you enter this dialog in a JAWS session, this list will be sorted in tab order and will show all available links. You can use the filter and sort order options in this dialog to change the way the links are displayed in the links list. If the links have the same name but point to different locations, each one is listed in this list view.

Persistence Of Settings In List Of Links

If the user filters or organizes their list in the Link List Dialog, this setting will remain until they change it or exit JAWS. The default setting that ships with JAWS is All Links in Tab Order.

Improvements To Links List

The Links List dialog status line has been changed. The line no longer contains the display filter or the sort order, as these are easily accessible by tabbing around the dialog. The status line now contains the selected link in the list view followed by the URL for selected link.
Visited links are determined by what Internet Explorer indicates as a visited link. Because of this, if a link is visited somewhere on the same page, the link is marked as visited even though you have not activated the link. Also, if you have visited a particular URL and then go to a page that has a link to that URL, the link is then marked as visited. If Internet Explorer5 does not show that it is a visited link, JAWS will not either.

Web Page And Link Options

To change HTML options, the Configuration Manager’s Set Options dialog must be used.

Skip Past Repeated Text On New Web Pages

Many Web sites contain common text on all their pages. When this option is checked, JAWS positions the virtual cursor on the new text of the newly loaded Web page.

Screen Track Virtual Cursor

When this option is checked, the screen will track the virtual cursor. This is necessary if you are using MAGic or if you or a sighted colleague needs to follow along visually. Checking this option will slow down the performance of the virtual cursor.

Note: This option is checked by default.

Say Link Type

There are numerous types of links. When this option is checked, JAWS will announce the link type during SayAll and when navigating with the virtual cursor.

Identify Same Page Links

Links can point to other places on the currently loaded page. When this option is checked, JAWS will announce such links as “Same Page links.”

Indicate Tables

This option determines whether or not tables are announced as you enter and leave them using the virtual cursor. Upon entering the table, the number of columns and rows will be spoken. JAWS will also announce when you are leaving the table.

Lines Per Page

This option determines how many lines the virtual cursor will move up or down when page up and page down are pressed.

Note: This option is only available in the JAWS configuration options under set options\html.

Maximum Line Length

This option determines how many characters will constitute a line when the virtual cursor is active. The default value is 150. The AdjustHTMLSettings dialog allows you to increment and decrement this number.

Text Block Length

The value entered here indicates the smallest number of contiguous non-link characters that you would like to be recognized when you press INSERT+ENTER. This keystroke moves you to a text block. This feature is useful for skipping large groups of links positioned at the top of a page. The default value is 25. The AdjustHTMLSettings dialog allows you to increment and decrement this number.

Text Link Verbosity

Text link verbosity allows you to choose where JAWS gets information about the links being spoken. Often, the ALT Text tag on a Web page is different from the text shown on the screen. Depending on the Web page, either can be more descriptive. You have the choice to select which of these you would like JAWS to seek as the primary text to speak.
If you select Screen Text, JAWS will use the screen text if it exists, otherwise, it will use the ALT Tag.

If neither exists, it will use the URL.
If you select ALT Tag, JAWS will always use the ALT Tag if available, otherwise, it will revert to the screen text.
If neither exists, it will use the URL.

Note: It is recommended that you select Speak Screen Text to minimize the amount of text you hear.

Graphics Verbosity

This option allows you to select how you would like graphics to be read. You can choose to have no graphics read, only graphics with text tags, or all graphics.

Graphic Link Verbosity

This option determines the verbosity in which JAWS speaks linked graphics on Web Pages. The choices are: No Graphic Links Read, Only Graphic Links With Text Tags, or All Graphic Links.

Image Map Link Verbosity

This option determines the verbosity in which JAWS speaks image map links on Web pages. The choices are; No Image Map Links Read, Only Image Map Links With Text Tags, or All Image Map Links.

New Frame Indication

This option determines the way in which JAWS indicates you have moved from one frame to another within Web pages. The choices are: No Indication, Say Frame Name at Beginning and End, and Say New Frame When Entering. The default setting is Say Frame Name at Beginning and End.

Screen Follows The V-Cursor

The screen will now scroll down to keep the text that the PC Cursor is speaking in view on the screen.

Graphic Announcement Toggle

You now have the ability to turn off the announcement of graphics, which are not links. You are able to toggle this temporarily through the Verbosity dialog, or permanently through the HTML Settings Dialog in the Configuration Manager. The choices are: No Graphics, Tagged Graphics, and All Graphics. The default setting is All Graphics.

Multiple Selection

In Internet Explorer 5, you cannot make multiple selections in a list box using the traditional method of using the CTRL key and the SPACEBAR.
A workaround has been discovered for this problem. You should use the following method until Microsoft has updated the software to correct this problem. Press the TAB key to move into the list box. Press SHIFT+F8 to move into Multi-Select mode. Then you can use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to move through the list, and use the SPACEBAR to make your selections. Press SHIFT+F8 again when you are finished.



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