HTML forms allow you to access shopping carts, search engines, Web-based e-mail, bulletin boards, and so on. Forms include controls such as edit boxes, check boxes, radio buttons, combo boxes, and other controls similar to those used in dialog boxes.
JAWS takes advantage of the features of HTML used to create forms and allows you to access all kinds of form controls.
Note: If you want to experiment or practice what you learn in this section about using JAWS with forms, visit the WebTrack Sample Form.
JAWS provides several commands that allow you to move quickly from one control to another. You can use the SHIFT key in combination with many of the keystrokes to move to the previous unit or element.
Description |
Command |
|---|---|
Next Form Control |
F |
Next Button |
B |
Next Combo Box |
C |
Next Edit Box |
E |
Next Radio Button |
R |
Next Check Box |
X |
To move to the first or last form control on a page, press CTRL+INSERT+HOME or CTRL+INSERT+END. These commands do not work in Forms Mode.
To quickly locate a form control, press INSERT+F5. This command lists all form controls on the current page. Move through the list and press ENTER to move to the selected control. Forms Mode is automatically enabled so you are ready to make changes to the control. And if you have already entered information in a long form, use the Forms List to quickly review the information.
You can also display lists of specific types of form controls. To do this, hold down CTRL+INSERT and press one of the navigation quick keys for moving through forms. For example, to view a list of all edit boxes on the page, press CTRL+INSERT+E.
To view a sample form with information selected in all the form controls, visit the following sample page:
Press INSERT+F5 to list all the form controls, and experience how easy it is to review the information.
Have you ever noticed that if you try to enter something into a form you may end up somewhere else on the page? This happens if you do not switch to Forms Mode prior to trying to type in the information. When you use JAWS on the Internet, JAWS uses the Virtual Cursor, an invisible reading cursor, as the default cursor for reading information. To complete a form on a Web page, you need to use the PC cursor, which is a visible blinking cursor. You need to tell JAWS that you want to use the PC Cursor instead of the Virtual Cursor.
For example, if you try to type in the first letter of the name "Henry" into an edit box without switching to Forms Mode, JAWS will interpret the letter "H" as the command that moves you to the next heading on the page. This is because most of the time on Web pages, you are in reading mode and JAWS uses navigation quick keys to make reading faster and easier. To enter information into a form, you must first switch to Forms Mode.
To enter text into a form, press the navigation quick key E to move to an edit box, and then press ENTER to switch to Forms Mode. JAWS says, "Forms Mode On," and the information and name of the current control. If the control is an edit box, the cursor is placed at the beginning of the text entry area.
To move around in an edit box while in Forms Mode, use the UP, DOWN, LEFT, and RIGHT ARROW as you normally would. To move to the next form control while in Forms Mode, press the TAB key. To move to the previous control, press SHIFT+TAB.
To exit Forms Mode and go back into reading mode with the Virtual Cursor, press NUM PAD PLUS.
To quickly select a check box or radio button on a form, press NUM PAD SLASH when the Virtual Cursor is on the item. If the selected control is a check box, the state of the check box is toggled. If the control is a radio button that is not selected, this command selects the radio button. JAWS does not switch to Forms Mode, so you can easily continue reading the page.
If you switch to Forms Mode in a combo box, the first item in the list is selected. To change the selection, press ALT+DOWN ARROW to open the list of choices. Then, use the arrow keys to select an item and press ENTER.
HTML allows the author of a Web page to specifically associate text prompts (or labels) with form controls. JAWS recognizes when a prompt is specifically associated with a control, and speaks the correct prompt when you move to that control. If no prompt is specifically associated with a control, JAWS attempts to identify text positioned near the control as the prompt. This is most accurate when the text is directly to the left or above the form control.
On some poorly designed Web pages, the text for the form control prompt is not specifically assigned to the control, and other methods are used to specify form control information. Alternative text is often provided with the ALT or TITLE attributes. JAWS lets you specify what information to use for form control prompts, so you can get the information you need even on Web sites that are not well designed. Press INSERT+V, then press F until you select "Form Field Prompts Use." You can press the SPACEBAR to cycle between the various alternate methods for finding form controls prompts. If an entire Web site uses one of these alternate methods to specify form control prompt information, press INSERT+SHIFT+V to permanently change the setting for the entire site.
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