University of Texas at Austin
Libraries Home | My Account | Renew Items | Sitemap | Help

University of Texas Libraries

 

SURFING THE WEB:
JAWS AND INTERNET EXPLORER
  1. GETTING STARTED:
    1. Press the "windows" key (second key from the left on the bottom of the keyboard) to access the Start Menu.
    2. Use the down arrow to move to "Internet Explorer" and then press "Enter" to open it.
    3. JAWS will now start describing and reading the web page to you. (To interrupt JAWS, press the CTRL key.)
    4. The default page on this PC is the text only site of the University of Texas at Austin Library home page.

  2. NAVIGATING:
    1. Read letters and words:
      • Read next character- Right arrow
      • Read previous character- Left arrow
      • Read current character- Num Pad 5
      • Read next word- Insert + Right Arrow
      • Read previous word- Insert + Left Arrow
      • Read current word- Insert + Num Pad 5

    2. Read lines and sentences:
      • Read next line- Down Arrow
      • Read prior line- Up Arrow
      • Read current line- Insert + Up Arrow
      • Read next sentence- Alt + Down Arrow
      • Read prior sentence- Alt + Up Arrow
      • Read current sentence- Alt + Num Pad 5

    3. Read paragraphs and pages:
      • Read next paragraph- Ctrl + Down Arrow
      • Read prior paragraph- Ctrl + Up Arrow
      • Read current paragraph- Ctrl + Num Pad 5
      • Move to top of page- Ctrl + Home
      • Move to bottom of page- Ctrl + End
      • Read to end of page- Insert + Down Arrow

    4. Read forms:
      • Moves to the first input field in the page and speaks it-Ctrl + Insert Home
        If no form field is found, JAWS reports, "Input Field Not Found."
      • With the Virtual PC cursor positioned on a form field, Enter or Num Pad Slash enters Forms Mode and speaks the name of the control which has cursor focus. Press Enter to activate the PC cursor at the current control.
      • To move to next field in forms mode- Tab
        When using the Tab key for navigation, the natural tab order is used, including any links that may appear between fields. As JAWS lands on the different controls, it announces the new control, such as a link or a field.
      • To move to previous field in Forms Mode- Shift + Tab
      • To exit Forms Mode and return to the Virtual PC cursor- Num Pad Plus

    5. Read frames:
      JAWS 3.5.37 is capable of identifying the presence of frames on a Web page and moving to the location of each frame. Use normal JAWS Web keystrokes for reading the content of the frame.
      • Announce the presence of frames on the page- Insert + F1
      • Bring up a dialog box containing a list of frames present on the page- Insert + F9 Use the Up/Down arrow keys to select a frame from the list and press ENTER. The focus will move to the frame selected and speak its content.
      • Move to next frame- Ctrl + Tab
      • Move to previous frame- Shift + Ctrl + Tab

    6. Display all page links:
      • Quick display of all links on the active web page in their tab order- Insert + F7
        Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to navigate the list and hear the link names.
        Use the Enter key to go to a selected link.

    7. Address bar:
      • Move to and read address bar- Insert + A
      • Move JAWS cursor to address bar- Insert + A A (quickly)
      • Select address bar- Alt + D

    8. Other commands:
      • Search page content- Ctrl + Insert + F
      • Next web page - Alt + Right Arrow
      • Previous web page- Alt + Left Arrow

    9. Reformatting:

      10. Complex web pages can be automatically reformatted for better screen reader access.
      Press Insert + Z to turn off the Virtual PC cursor and then press Insert + F5 to reformat the screen.

  3. SPECIFIC EXAMPLE:

    4. The default page on this PC is the text-only site of the library home page. In this example, you will go to a different web site, the Seti search engine, which was designed specifically as an accessible way to search the Web. It allows users to choose from many different search engines.
    1. Press Alt+D to highlight the address bar.
    2. JAWS will say "Address edit combo" and begin to read the URL of the current page.
    3. Type "www.seti-search.com".
    4. Press Enter and the Seti-search homepage will be loaded into the browser.
    5. JAWS will begin to read the page.
    6. Type CTRL+INS+HOME to go to the search box. JAWS will say "Search the Web for: Edit"
    7. Type in your search terms and press Enter.
    8. JAWS will say "Forms Mode On."
    9. Press the "Tab" key to choose which search engine to use. JAWS will say "Select Search Engine: Combo Box."
    10. Use the down arrow to scroll through the choices of search engines to the one you want to use. In this case, we will use Google.
    11. When you get to Google.com, press the "Tab" key to get to the "Search Now" button and press "Enter."
    12. JAWS will say "Forms mode off."
    13. Google.com will perform your search and a list of web sites matching your search term will be loaded in your browser. Use the commands in this document to navigate the page and choose the link you want to follow.

  4. HELP/TRAINING:

    1. For more information about JAWS, see Screen Reading: JAWS for Windows

    2. For further help and training, contact:

      Warning: include(contact.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /docs/edu.utexas.lib.www/services/assistive/surfing.html on line 267

      Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening 'contact.php' for inclusion (include_path='.:/usr/local/lib/php:/docs/edu.utexas.lib.www') in /docs/edu.utexas.lib.www/services/assistive/surfing.html on line 267

Library Services for Users with Disabilities
University of Texas Libraries web site - Text Only