Key Strokes for Audio Look and Feel

Menus

ctrl+m			to get to the menu bar.
ctrl+down arrow 	to go down a level.
ctrl+up arrow		to go up a level.
ctrl+left arrow 	to move among the items at a level.
ctrl+right arrow 	to move among the items at a level.
esc			to leave the menus entirely.
ctrl+shift+h		describes where you are in the menus.
ctrl+shift+t		provides a tool tip for a menu or menu item, if any.

Also, within a given level of the menu system, pressing a key will navigate to the first item whose first letter matches. Subsequent such key presses will navigate to the next matching item. The search wraps. "Within a given level" means, that the search is confined to the current level only, e.g., the menu bar, or a menu.

Tool bar

ctrl+t			to get to the tool bar.
ctrl+left arrow 	to move among the tool bar buttons.
ctrl+right arrow 	to move among the tool bar buttons.
esc			to leave the tool bar.
ctrl+shift+h		describes where you are in the tool bar.
ctrl+shift+t		provides a tool tip for a tool bar button.

Also, once focus is on the tool bar, pressing a key will navigate to the first item whose first letter matches. Subsequent such key presses will navigate to the next matching item. The search wraps.

Text area

See "TextKeyStrokes.html"

Tabbed Pane

ctrl+left arrow 	to move among and select a new tab.
ctrl+right arrow 	to move among and select a new tab.

Also, when focus is on the tabbed pane, pressing a key will navigate to the first tab whose first letter matches. Subsequent such key presses will navigate to the next matching item. The search wraps.

List

down arrow		to move to the next item in the list.
up arrow		to move to the previous item in the list.
ctrl+shift+h		describes where you are in the list.
ctrl+shift+e		lists the currently selected items, if any.

Exploration Position and Selections

ctrl+left arrow 	to move to the previous item in the list *.
ctrl+right arrow 	to move to the next item in the list *.
ctrl+add 		to add the current position to the selection(s).
ctrl+subtract 		to remove the current position from the selection(s).

* The "exploration position" is specific to the auditory look and feel. Users can use ctrl+left and ctrl+right to navigate among the list items without affecting the visual display. In particular, the current selection is unaffected by these navigation key strokes. Furthermore, these key strokes define a notion of "current item" from the point of view of the auditory look and feel -- once the user decides to add/remove the current item to/from the selection, they may do so using the add/remove key strokes. At that point, the selection is updated visually.

Also, once focus is on the list, pressing a key will navigate to the first item whose first letter matches. Subsequent such key presses will navigate to the next matching item. The search wraps.

Combo Box

ctrl+left arrow 	to move and select the previous choice.
ctrl+right arrow 	to move and select the next choice.
ctrl+shift+h		describes where you are in the combo box.
ctrl+shift+r		toggles editing/selecting mode *.

* Toggling between editing and selecting works only for editable combo boxes. If you attempt to toggle a non-editable combo box, you will hear a generic error sound. When in selection mode, pressing a key will navigate to and select the first item whose first letter matches. Subsequent such key presses will navigate to the next matching item. The search wraps.

The editor in an editable combo box is a text component, and is sonified in the same way as all other text components (see "TextKeyStrokes.html").

Desktop

ctrl+shift+D 		to warp to the desk top.
ctrl+left arrow 	to move and select the previous window or desktop icon.
ctrl+right arrow 	to move and select the next window or desktop icon.
ctrl+F1			to toggle minimze/maximize of selected window.
ctrl+w			close the selected window or desktop icon.
ctrl+shift+e		list the windows and desktop icons on the desktop.

Also, once focus is on the desktop, pressing a key will navigate to the first window or desktop icon whose first letter matches. Subsequent such key presses will navigate to the next matching item. The search wraps.

Tree

down arrow		to move to the next item in the tree.
up arrow		to move to the previous item in the tree.
right arrow		to expand the current tree node.
left arrow		to collapse the current tree node.
ctrl+shift+r		toggle between edit and select mode.
ctrl+shift+h		describes where you are in the list.
ctrl+shift+e		lists the currently selected items, if any.

Exploration Position and Selections

ctrl+up arrow 		to move to the previous item in the tree *.
ctrl+down arrow 	to move to the next item in the tree *.
ctrl+right arrow 	to expand to the current item in the tree *.
ctrl+left arrow 	to collapse to the current item in the tree *.
ctrl+add 		to add the current position to the selection(s).
ctrl+subtract 		to remove the current position from the selection(s).

* The "exploration position" is specific to the auditory look and feel. Users can use these key strokes to navigate among the tree items without affecting the visual display. In particular, the current selection is unaffected by these navigation key strokes. Furthermore, these key strokes define a notion of "current item" from the point of view of the auditory look and feel -- once the user decides to add/remove the current item to/from the selection, they may do so using the add/remove key strokes. At that point, the selection is updated visually.

General Navigation and Activation

In addition to the specific navigation key strokes noted above, keyboard navigation is accomplished via the default focus manager key strokes, currently. These are tab to move forward, and shift+tab to move backward.

Activation of a component is accomplished by return. "Activation" means manipulating the component in its normal way. Thus push buttons are pushed, check boxes are changed from checked to unchecked, or from unchecked to checked, menu's are popped open, menu items are activated, tabs are selected, and so on.

Extra Information

There is often other information associated with a component. At present, there is a key stroke to speak the following kinds of extra information. The key stroke is ctrl+shift+E.



Last Updated on 98 Oct 29
By Joseph Scheuhammer