Navigating Web Pages

JAWS makes reading Web pages easy. When you visit a page with Internet Explorer, JAWS immediately begins reading the page from the top down. In this section, you will learn about Navigation Quick Keys, reading text, and navigating headings, lists, links, and images.

Reading Text

JAWS uses the Virtual Cursor to read and move through HTML pages. The Virtual Cursor is invisible to sighted users, but JAWS users can use this cursor to read and select text and move to different elements on the page.

The commands used to read Web pages are the same as the commands used to read text in any other type of document. You can also select and copy text on Web pages. The sample page Jim's Cafe at Innisport demonstrates the layout and content of a typical Web page on the Internet.

Tip: To see a complete list of commands that you can use to read text in documents, refer to the JAWS Reading Commands table. If you are not yet familiar with JAWS table reading commands just press DOWN ARROW to move through and read the commands in the table.

To practice reading text on the Internet with JAWS, do the following:

1. Press INSERT+F7 to display a list of links on this page.
2. Make sure the link Jim's Cafe at Innisport is selected and press ENTER. This opens the sample page in a separate Internet Explorer window. You can hold down ALT and press TAB to switch back to this window and refer to these instructions. JAWS remembers where you are on the page, so you won't lose your place.
3. When the page loads, JAWS begins reading it. Press CTRL+HOME to move to the top of the page. Then press P twice to move to the second paragraph on the page.
4. Use the standard JAWS reading commands to read the text on the page. Any command that you can use to read text or Word documents can be used when reading Web pages.
5. Press SHIFT+P until you return to the first paragraph on the page.

Tip: The letter P is a Navigation Quick Key that lets you move by paragraph through the page. There are other Navigation Quick Keys that let you move through all the headings, links, images, and other elements on the page. If you hold SHIFT when you press one of these keys, JAWS moves to the previous element. For example, pressing SHIFT+P moves you to the previous paragraph. To read more about them choose the link Navigation Quick Keys.

Hyperlinks

A hyperlink (or "link" for short) is text that performs some action when you click it or select it and press ENTER. You can move through all the links on the page by pressing the TAB key. To see how JAWS helps you navigate links, do the following:

1. Open the sample page Jim's Cafe at Innisport and press CTRL+HOME to move to the top of the page.
2. Press U to move to the first unvisited link on the page. An unvisited link is one that leads to page or location that you have not visited.
3. Press V to move to the next visited link on the page. A visited link is one that you have previously activated or one that leads to a page you have visited recently.
4. Press INSERT+F7 to display a list of all links on the page. Use the arrow keys to select "Innisport Hotel" and then press ENTER. Read the message that appears and then press ENTER.
5. Press INSERT+F7 again. Select "Reputation for Quality Service" and press ALT+M to move to this link. JAWS says, "This page link," to indicate that this hyperlink will take you to another location on the current page.

Tip: The link "Reputation for Quality Service" is the start of a list of four links. Many Web pages use clusters of links like this to consolidate page navigation in a single spot. If you wanted to continue reading down the page without using any of these links, you could skip over them by pressing N. The Navigation Quick Key N moves you to the next block of text that is not a link.

6. Press INSERT+F7 again. Select "Send us an e-mail message" and press ALT+M to move to this link. JAWS says, "Send mail link," to indicate that this link allows you to send a message to an e-mail address using your default mail program.

Note: In addition to same page and e-mail links, another special type of link you may encounter is called an FTP link. When you move to these links, JAWS says, "FTP link." Activating an FTP link opens an FTP session that usually allows you to download files. For example, the following is an actual FTP link: Download an Accessible Chess Game. When you activate this link, Internet Explorer will begin downloading a file containing an accessible chess game called WinBoard from the FTP site.

Skip to Main Content Links

Some Web pages have special links with names like "Skip to Main Content" or "Skip Navigation." These same page links allow you to quickly jump past site navigation tools, such as menus, navigation bars, and so on and go directly to the important information on the page. These types of links usually appear at the beginning of the page and are often invisible to sighted users.

Lists

Web pages often contain bulleted (unordered) and numbered (ordered) lists that provide information. The procedures on this page are examples of lists. To see how JAWS navigates lists, do the following:

1. Open the sample page Jim's Cafe at Innisport and press CTRL+HOME to move to the top of the page.
2. Press L to move to the first list on the page. This is a bulleted list that contains three items.
3. Press I to read the first item on the list. You can continue using either I or the DOWN ARROW key to read through the rest of the list. To move back through the list, use SHIFT+I or the UP ARROW key.
4. Press L to move to the next list. This is a numbered list with four steps that explain how to locate the restaurant. Review the steps in this list with I or the arrow keys.
5. Press I until you move to step three.
6. Press DOWN ARROW to move to the nested list within step three. This nested list is an unordered list of three bulleted items. A nested list is a list of items that is contained within a larger list. Another example of a nested list would be an outline. JAWS announces the level of nested lists.

Lists may be arranged differently depending on their purpose. Web page authors may interrupt a list with a paragraph, quote, image, or similar element. If this is the case, the next list on the page usually begins where the previous list ended. For example, if a procedure is interrupted during step three by an image, the next list on the page might begin with step four.

Tip: You can display all lists on the page by pressing CTRL+INSERT+L. You can then select a list and press ENTER to move to it.

Headings

Web page authors use headings to divide a document into sections. Level 1 is the highest level of heading. Level 2 headings are subsections of level 1 headings. Level 3 headings are subsections of level 2 headings and so on.

Navigation Quick Keys for Headings

To see how JAWS allows you to navigate headings, do the following:

1. Open the sample page Jim's Cafe at Innisport and press CTRL+HOME to move to the top of the page.
2. Press H to move to and read the first heading on the page. JAWS says, "Jim's Cafe at Innisport." This is the only level one heading on the page. Level one headings often indicate the topic or subject of the page.
3. Press H again until you move to the level three heading, "Poultry." Press P to read the text below this heading.
4. Press 3 to move to the next level three heading in this section. You can move through headings of a certain level in the current section by pressing a number between 1 and 6.
5. Continue to press 3 until you hear JAWS say, "No next heading at level three in this section." This indicates that you have come to the last level three heading in the section "Dishes and Appetizers."
6. Press H a few more times. You eventually reach the bottom of the page. JAWS says, "Wrapping to top," when there are no more headings. JAWS then moves you back to the first heading at the top of the document.

Tip: Don't forget that you can add SHIFT to navigation quick keys to move backward through the page. For example, press SHIFT+H to move to the previous heading, or press SHIFT+3 to move to the previous level three heading.

When you reach the top of the page by using the SHIFT key in combination with navigation quick keys to move backwards through the page, JAWS announces, "Wrapping to bottom," and starts over again from the bottom of the document.

You can also move to the first heading on the page of any level by pressing ALT+CTRL+INSERT+1 through 6. Additionally, you can press ALT+INSERT+HOME to move to the first heading on the page, and press ALT+INSERT+END to move to the last heading on the page.

The JAWS Heading List

JAWS also has a list of headings that allows you to navigate by headings on a Web page. You can sort this list by tab order or alphabetically. You can also view only headings of a specified level. To explore the options in this dialog box, do the following:

1. Open the sample page Jim's Cafe at Innisport and press CTRL+HOME to move to the top of the page.
2. Press INSERT+F6 to display a list of headings on this page. Press DOWN ARROW to move through the list and read the headings. If you select a heading and press ENTER, the list closes and you move directly to that heading in the document.
3. Press the TAB key to explore the Heading List dialog box in more detail. Each option is described below:
• Move To Heading button - Use this button to move to the location of the currently selected heading.
• Cancel button - Closes the list of headings without changing your location on the page.
• Sort Headings radio buttons - Select one of these radio buttons to specify whether you want to sort the headings in this list alphabetically or by tab order.
• Display radio buttons - Select one of these radio buttons to include only headings of the specified level in the list.
4. Make sure you are back in the actual list of headings. Press ALT+1 on the numbers row and read the current line by pressing INSERT+UP ARROW. You should hear that there is only one item now in the list, a level one heading.
5. Press ALT+2 on the numbers row and read the current line by pressing INSERT+UP ARROW. You should hear that there are now four items displayed in the list, all level two headings. In the list of headings, you can filter out all headings except the specific level you are looking for by pressing ALT and any number from 1 to 6. To view all headings again, press ALT+L
.
6. Press ESC for now to close the list of headings.

Tip: Use the JAWS list of headings whenever you first go to a Web page to get an overview of how the page is structured.

Images

Most Web pages use images to enhance their appearance, provide information, or assist with navigation. To see how JAWS handles images, do the following:

1. Open the sample page Jim's Cafe at Innisport and press CTRL+HOME to move to the top of the page.
2. Press G until you move to the level one heading, "Jim's Cafe at Innisport." You may not have noticed it earlier, but the level one heading in this document is actually an image.
3. JAWS can't read graphic text. The text you are hearing for this image is called alternate text. Web page authors use alternate text to describe images.
4. Press G to move to the next image, which is a graphical link. The alternate text tells you that this is a map. On an actual page, a person might be able to click this image to open another page where the image is shown in larger size.
5. Press ENTER to activate the graphical link. Read the message that appears and then press ALT+F4.
6. Press CTRL+INSERT+G to display a list of all images on the page.
7. Select "FS-SiteFactory Logo," which is the next image on the page, and press ENTER to move to it. There is no alternate text for this image, so JAWS reads the title instead.
8. JAWS also announces that this image has a long description. Authors can add long descriptions to images if they want to provide a more detailed text description. Press ENTER to open a new page that contains the long description. Then, use the standard JAWS reading commands to read the text. Since the long description appears in a new browser window, be sure to close the window by pressing ALT+F4 when you're finished reading it.
9. Press G again to move to the last image on the page. This image has no alternate text, title, or long description. However, this image is a link to another page. For images like this one, JAWS announces the image's file name and location on the Web site and tells you that the image is a link.

Tip: To change which descriptive image attributes JAWS looks for first, press INSERT+V. Select "Graphics Recognized by" and use the SPACEBAR to cycle through the available options. You can change this option permanently in Configuration Manager.

Divisions

Web page authors often divide the content of a page into sections, or divisions. To see how JAWS allows you to navigate divisions, do the following:

1. Open the sample page Jim's Cafe at Innisport and press CTRL+HOME to move to the top of the page.
2. Press Z to move to the first division. This section contains the image that serves as the page heading.
3. Press CTRL+INSERT+Z to display a list of all divisions on the page.
4. Use the arrow keys to select "Dishes and Appetizers" and press ENTER. JAWS moves you to the section containing the choices available at Jim's Cafe.
5. Continue using Z and SHIFT+Z to explore all the divisions on the page.