Using PlaceMarkers and the Custom Page Summary

PlaceMarkers

PlaceMarkers allow you to quickly and easily navigate to commonly used areas of your favorite Web pages or HTML documents. You can use PlaceMarkers to jump between certain areas of a page, mark important sections of an HTML document, or indicate key form elements. For example, you could use PlaceMarkers to move to required fields in a complicated form or specific paragraphs in a long HTML document. Press K to move to the next PlaceMarker, or press SHIFT+K to move to the prior PlaceMarker.

A random selection of fictitious stock quotes for today are listed on the E-Stocks sample page. On the E-stocks sample page navigate to the table containing stock listings using the following steps:

  1. Press CTRL+HOME to go to the top of the page.
  2. Press T to move to the table which contains stock listings.
  3. Press DOWN ARROW until you hear JAWS say "Change" which is the third column. The first column has the stock symbol and the second column has the stock price.
  4. Next, press CTRL+ALT+DOWN ARROW to move down to the second row and JAWS should say ATVI, which is in the first column, followed by the percentage of change which is the column you are actually in at the moment. By default, JAWS assumes that the first column contains row headers and reads the stock name in the first column automatically.

Inserting PlaceMarkers

Put several PlaceMarkers in this table by performing the following steps:

  1. Press CTRL+SHIFT+K to display the PlaceMarker list.
  2. Press ENTER to choose the Add button. An edit box appears with the following text taken from the Web page: "+0.39 (2.11%)." This text is highlighted, so type over it and give this PlaceMarker the name of "ATVI."
  3. Press CTRL+ALT+DOWN ARROW two more times to move to the row containing the stock name LEA, in row 4.
  4. Press CTRL+SHIFT+K to display the PlaceMarker list.
  5. Press ENTER to create a new PlaceMarker. The text "+0.64 (0.99%)" should appear in the edit box that displays. Again, JAWS has taken text from the position of the virtual cursor on the page. Type in the stock symbol "LEA."
  6. Press ENTER to close this dialog box.
  7. Press CTRL+ALT+DOWN ARROW two more times to move to the row containing the stock name NT, in row 6.
  8. Press CTRL+SHIFT+K to display the PlaceMarker list.
  9. Press ENTER to create a new PlaceMarker. Type "NT" to replace the suggested text taken from the Web page.
  10. Press ENTER to close this dialog box.

Navigating with PlaceMarkers

Now, practice moving from one PlaceMarker to the next by pressing the letter K to move forward and SHIFT+K to move backwards. Notice that you will hear JAWS announce "wrapping to top" or "wrapping to bottom" depending on the direction you are going when JAWS reaches either the bottom or the top of the page.

  1. Press CTRL+SHIFT+K to display the PlaceMarker list.
  2. Press INSERT+E to hear the default button in this dialog box. You should hear JAWS announce that the Add button is the default button.
  3. Press the SPACEBAR to select the first PlaceMarker in the list.
  4. Now press INSERT+E to read the default button. Notice that the default button is now Move To. This is a smart dialog box. Initially, when you first enter it, JAWS assumes that you want to add a new PlaceMarker. However, after you select an existing PlaceMarker in the list, JAWS assumes that you want to move to one of them.
  5. Press DOWN ARROW to select the third PlaceMarker, "NT."
  6. Press ENTER to move to this PlaceMarker. Notice that JAWS begins reading the text of the cell that the PlaceMarker is located in. JAWS remembers, down to the character, where you set your PlaceMarkers.

Sharing PlaceMarkers

PlaceMarkers remain in place even when you shut down JAWS and come back again. You can also share PlaceMarkers with other JAWS users. The PlaceMarkers are stored in the Settings\Enu\PlaceMarkers folder for JAWS 5 and later. The file name will be the URL of the Web page followed by the file extension .pmi.

Tip: If you are using JAWS 5.1 or later, you can use Settings Packager to share your PlaceMarkers. For more information on this program, see Settings Packager.

Temporary Placemarkers

You can create one temporary PlaceMarker per Web page by pressing CTRL+K in the spot where you want to place it. The temporary PlaceMarker is also saved in the .pmi file. You can only have one temporary PlaceMarker per page, but you can put it in different locations by pressing CTRL+K again in a new spot on the page.

Other PlaceMarker Options

  1. Press CTRL+SHIFT+K to display the PlaceMarker list.
  2. Press the SPACEBAR to select the first item in the list, which is the stock name ATVI in the second row.
  3. Press the TAB key to move to the Add button.
  4. Continue pressing the TAB key to explore the other buttons. You can change the name of a PlaceMarker, remove a PlaceMarker, or remove all PlaceMarkers.
  5. For now, press ESC to close the PlaceMarker list.

Custom Page Summary

You can use the Custom Page Summary to automatically read the stocks you want to monitor whenever you visit this page. To begin, do the following:

  1. Go to the E-Stocks sample page and press INSERT+V to display the Adjust JAWS Verbosity List dialog box. Changes you make here are only temporary for as long as you remain within Internet Explorer. If you move to another program, these settings will revert to the defaults.
  2. Press C to select Custom Page Summary.
  3. Use the SPACEBAR to choose either Speak Only or Virtualize Information. If you choose Virtualize Information, JAWS reads the custom page summary and displays the information in the Virtual Viewer.

Note: To choose a Custom Page Summary setting that applies to all HTML pages, refer to Custom Page Summary Step-by-Step Instructions.

After you have enabled the custom page summary, press ALT+Q to activate the Update Quotes button at the bottom of the E-Stocks sample page. When the page refreshes, JAWS will read a summary of the PlaceMarkers on this page. You will hear each stock that you marked, and the change in that stock's value. If you do not hear this, press ALT+TAB to move back to this page, press ALT+TAB again to move back to the E-Stocks page, and then press ALT+Q again. This is an example of how you can use the PlaceMarkers and the custom page summary to track changes and updates to Web pages that you visit frequently.

<< Back

Next >>