Using the Word 2013 Navigation Pane with JAWS and MAGic

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The Navigation pane in Microsoft® Word can be used to guide you through your document. You can move by headings, pages, or search results, and more.

How to Open or Close the Navigation Pane

The Navigation pane check box is in the Show group of the lower ribbon on the View tab. There are a couple of different ways to access the Navigation pane, including the following:

• Press ALT+W to move to the View tab of the ribbon, and then press K to toggle the Navigation pane check box on or off.
• Press CTRL+F to open it or move to it if it is already open.
• You can also open and close the Navigation pane by clicking the page count in the status bar, or moving to it and pressing the ENTER key.

To close any pane in Office 2013, move focus to the pane by pressing F6 or SHIFT+F6 followed by pressing CTRL+SPACEBAR to open a context menu. Choose Close, C, in the menu.

Description of the Navigation Pane

The Navigation pane typically opens on the left hand side of the screen. It contains the following parts:

• At the top of the pane is a search edit box, and to the right of that is a Search button. Visually it looks like a small magnifying glass.
• Below the search edit box are three tabs, similar to tabs in a multi-page dialog box. To move between the tabs when focus is on one of them, use LEFT or RIGHT ARROW. They are:
• Headings tab
• Pages tab
• Results tab
• The vertical column below the tabs, which takes up most of the rest of the Navigation pane, changes depending on which of the tabs above is selected.

Using the Keyboard in the Navigation Pane

EXERCISE: Open the practice file, practice Word Navigation pane document Opens in Microsoft Word, along with the instructor and practice moving between different parts of the Navigation pane and back and forth to the document area and other parts of the window.

1. First, press F6 to move through the different parts of the Microsoft Word window. You should find the status bar, the upper ribbon, and the document area. Some of you may have the Navigation pane open already, and in that case, it will be in the F6 order. On my computer, it is currently closed so it did not show up when I pressed F6.
2. If the Navigation pane is already open for you, press F6 to move to it now. If it is not open, press CTRL+F to open it. Focus is in the search edit box.
3. Press TAB to move to the Search button.
4. Press ENTER to open a context menu of different choices for the Search Button. You should find Options, Advanced Find, Replace, and more. Notice that you also have the ability to find graphics, tables, equations, footnotes and endnotes, and comments with the Navigation pane as well by using this menu.

The Search button context menu in the Navigation pane in Word 2013

5. For now, press ESC one time to close the menu. Focus returns to the Search button.
6. Press TAB. Focus moves to the Headings tab. If focus happens to be on one of the other tabs, such as the Pages tab or the Results tab, just press LEFT ARROW to move to the Headings tab. The pane below the three tabs changes to show any headings in the document.
7. Press RIGHT ARROW to move to the Pages tab. The pane below changes to show thumbnail images of the pages in the document. The keyboard cannot be used to move between the thumbnails below, but as you change pages in the document, the thumbnail for the current page is selected in the Navigation pane. Mouse users, such as those using MAGic screen magnification, can click these thumbnails to switch to any given page.
8. Press RIGHT ARROW to move to the Results tab. If you have performed a search for text in the document, the pane below changes to show a vertical list of buttons that can be pressed to move to the search results in the document.
9. For now, press LEFT ARROW to move back to the Headings tab.

NOTE: When a search yields results, two additional buttons appear just past the Search button in the tab order. They are the Previous Result and Next Result buttons. If no results are found for a search, these buttons do not show up. This is how you can tell if valid search results are found or not.

Navigation Pane Behavior with Results Displayed

It is important to know how the Navigation pane handles any results found. As you scroll through a document, Word highlights the headings, pages, or search results in the Navigation pane as you move through the document to show you where you are. The headings in the Navigation pane are synchronized with the headings in the document. If you are a MAGic user you can click the headings, pages, or search results buttons in the Navigation pane to move to that spot in the document.

If you have, for example, a seven page document with headings, and initially open the Navigation pane, all seven page thumbnails show in the Pages tab, and all of the headings show in the Headings tab. When you complete a search, the task pane filters out page thumbnails that do not match. So instead of showing all seven page thumbnails, you may only find one or two pages in the Navigation pane. Only the pages that contain results show up. In the case of the Headings tab, all of the headings still show up, but the headings containing text beneath them with search matches show up with a yellow background highlight.

NOTE: If you switch to a different program while focus is in the Navigation pane, when focus returns to Word, the cursor is in the document area again, not the Navigation pane. To return to the Navigation pane to review the search results or perform a new search, simply press CTRL+F again. The last search results are displayed.

NOTE: If you make edits to the document after a search is performed, Word pauses the search and clears the Results pane. To see the results again, click the Next Search Result or Previous Search Result arrow if you are using a mouse, or press CTRL+F to return to the Navigation pane if you are using the keyboard.

How to use the Results Tab

In the practice Word Navigation pane document Opens in Microsoft Word if you have the Navigation pane open, press F6 to move there. If it is not open press CTRL+F to open it and put focus in the search edit box. If focus is already in the Navigation pane but not on the search edit box, press SHIFT+TAB to move there. For practice, type in the word, "explorer." The search begins automatically and the bottom of the Navigation pane displays the results for each tab accordingly.

How do you find out how many results were found? Move to the Results tab, and then explore the results. If there is no Previous Result or Next Result button in the tab order, no matches were found. I will press TAB to move to the tabs. There is the Search button, and then the Previous Result button, the Next Result button, and then the tabs for Headings, Pages, and Results. If focus is not on the Results tab, press RIGHT ARROW to move to it. The Navigation pane shows buttons that link to the matches of the search.

1. Focus is on the Results tab after a search for the word, "explorer." Press the TAB key. Focus moves to a vertical list of buttons that link to the items found in the document. I hear JAWS announce "Result, one of nine button."
2. Press DOWN ARROW to explore the other results.
3. How can you determine the search results and the context it was found in? First press SPACEBAR on any of the item found buttons. This moves focus in the document to that word. It is highlighted in the document. Then press the JAWS keystroke to read the current word or phrase in context, INSERT+C.
4. What if you want to move to that item in the document? Press SHIFT+F6 to move back to the document, followed by LEFT ARROW to move to the beginning of the word or phrase found.
5. Press F6 to move back to the Navigation pane again to view more search results.

Grouping Search Results by Headings

To see the search results by headings, put focus on the Headings tab in the search pane. The headings that contain the search results are highlighted visually with a yellow background. This is fine for MAGic users, but we cannot identify this color change using JAWS at the present time, so the Results pane is the best solution for JAWS users.

To move to a heading in the document, either click it with a mouse or press SPACEBAR on the heading in the Navigation pane.

To perform different actions on headings from the Navigation pane, press the APPLICATION Key or right click the heading in the Navigation pane with the mouse.

The Headings button context menu in the Navigation pane in Word 2013

Mouse users can click and drag headings in the Navigation pane to rearrange the document if desired.

Grouping Search Results by Pages

To see the search results by pages, put focus on the Pages tab in the search pane. Only the pages that contain search results are displayed in the Navigation pane. This is fine for MAGic users, but we cannot access the Page thumbnails here using the keyboard.

Move to Tables or Graphics with the Navigation Pane

To search for other items, such as tables or graphics in a document, move to the Search button and press ENTER. The Search button context menu opens.

1. For practice, choose the item "Tables" in the list, and then press SPACEBAR. The first table in the document gets selected, and focus is on the Next Result button in the Navigation pane.
2. Press SHIFT+F6 to move back to the document, and then press INSERT+TAB if needed to read the table title again.
3. Press DOWN ARROW to unselect the table and move to the next line below the table.
4. Press F6 to move back to the Navigation pane. Focus is on the Next Result button.
5. Press SPACEBAR to move to the next table, and then repeat the process.

Try practicing with graphics in the document in the same fashion when you get a chance.

Other Notes and Tips

• To print just the heading and the content below it, right-click the heading and choose Print Heading and Content.
• To return to the location you were working in when the document was last closed, press SHIFT+F5.

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