Internet Explorer 5.0

The topics listed below are for Microsoft® Internet Explorer (IE) version 5.0 with JAWS for Windows.

A. Introduction.

B. Getting Started.

C. JAWS Specific Internet Explorer Keystrokes.

D. Web Page and Link Options.

E. Helpful Hints.

A. Introduction.

Internet Explorer 5.0 is a suite of tightly integrated programs that connect your computer to the information that is available through the Internet and the Intranets. Internet Explorer not only acts as a browser to display the data, but it also helps you find, incorporate, and interact with that data. Internet Explorer also includes all the tools needed for you to communicate your message globally.

B. Getting Started.

It is recommended that you use IE 5.0 with JAWS for Windows 3.5. IE 4.01 and 3.0 are still supported as they have been in earlier versions of JFW, but JFW 3.5 takes advantage of newer technology that is only available in IE 5.0. These applications will run under Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, and Microsoft Windows NT. When using Microsoft Windows NT, Service Pack 4 or later is required.

C. JAWS Specific Internet Explorer Keystrokes.

AddressBar use INSERT+A. Reads the Address bar while maintaining the place on the page so you can be in two places at once. Pressing INSERT+A twice quickly will move the JAWS cursor to the address bar. ALT+D an IE 5 keystroke, selects the text on the Address bar. Either type in a new address, copy or cut and paste to the clipboard.

FocusToFirstField use CTRL+INSERT+HOME. Moves to the first input field in the page and speaks it. If no form field is found, JFW reports, "Input Field Not Found."

IEFind use CTRL+F turns on Internet Explorer Find, unless JAWS is running. If JFW is running it calls up the JAWS Find Dialog, which will search the entire document.

MoveToNonLinkText use INSERT+ENTER. Moves to the next block of non-link text that is larger than 25 characters. Note: This value can be adjusted in the default.jcf or browseui.jcf (Internet Explorer 5) JAWS configuration files under Set Options\HTML.

RefreshScreen use INSERT+F5. If the virtual cursor is active, and screen tracking for the virtual cursor is off, this will bring the area of the screen with the virtual cursor in it into view. Using just F5 is an Internet Explorer keystroke, which will refresh the screen.

Note: There are differences between refreshing and updating a screen.

UpdateScreen use INSERT+ESC. Use this keystroke to update the screen contents when in PC cursor mode.

ReadCurrentScreen use CTRL+INSERT+DOWN ARROW. Reads the body of the page from the top with the JAWS cursor.

Note: This is only available in non-virtual cursor mode.

ReadNextScreen use CTRL+INSERT+PAGE DOWN. Reads the next screen. Does a PAGE DOWN and begins reading with the JAWS cursor.

Note: This is only available in non-virtual cursor mode.

ReadPriorScreen use CTRL+INSERT+PAGE UP. Reads the prior screen. Does a PAGE UP and begins reading with the JAWS cursor.

Note: This is only available in non-virtual cursor mode.

ReformatDocument use INSERT+F5. Reformats multiple column pages to be more readable with speech. Rearranges multiple column pages to read in a linear fashion. IE columns are read one after another.

Note: This is only available in non-virtual cursor mode.

SaySelectedLink use INSERT+TAB. Says the focused link or control. If in a dialog, speaks the current control. If in a Web page, announces the link or control with focus.

SelectAFrame use INSERT+F9. Brings up a dialog containing a list of the frames present in the page. Select a frame from the list and press ENTER. The focus will move to the frame you selected and speak its content.

SelectALink use INSERT+F7. Brings up a dialog containing a list of the links present in the page. You can then select a link by using the Arrow keys or the first letter of the link. Press ENTER to open the selected link. You may also tab between the various controls in the select a link dialog.

ToolBar use INSERT+F8. Brings up a dialog containing toolbar buttons. You can select one of the buttons on the toolbar. Press ENTER to select.

VirtualPCCursorToggle use INSERT+Z. Toggles the virtual cursor on and off. When in a Web document this command toggles between the classic style interface and the Virtual PC cursor interface.

E. Helpful Hints.

HTML tables now support navigation using the Virtual PC cursor. While in an HTML table, you can hear the contents, row title, and column title of the cell where the Virtual PC cursor is located by using the keystrokes shown in the document using JAWS to Navigate Tables .

When you use Internet Explorer 5.0 with JFW, you work in one of three modes; Virtual PC cursor mode, Forms mode, or Conventional mode.

Virtual PC Cursor Mode - The Virtual PC cursor is activated automatically when you open IE 5, and JFW begins speaking the text on the screen as soon as the page finishes loading. If the newly opened page is loaded, JAWS announces the presence of frames, links, and forms on the page.

Caution: Manually starting to read before the loading has finished often results in less than all of the text being available.

Make links to talk about cursors via link

The Virtual PC cursor works in the Internet Explorer 5.0 environment in much the same way that the PC cursor does in other applications. The Virtual PC cursor responds to normal screen reading keys in the same way, but there may be no visual indication on the area of the screen that is being affected. The default action is for the screen to track with the virtual cursor, but you can change this setting in the configuration manager under Set Options\HTML.

Note: If you wish for a sighted user to be able to view the area of the screen you are currently in, you can press INSERT+ESCAPE, which will update the screen, and bring the page that the virtual cursor is on into view.

When reading a Web page with the Virtual PC cursor, you can select text using the standard Windows text selection keys, though there is no visual feedback of what is being selected. The SaySelectedText command (SHIFT+INSERT+DOWNARROW) speaks the text that has been selected.

When a page with frames first comes up, all frames are readable in sequential order. With INSERT+F1 you are told, "The page contains frames." As you enter a frame, you hear, "Navigation Frame," As you leave a frame, you hear "Navigation Frame End." CTRL+HOME brings the top of the document into view on the visual screen, CTRL+END brings the bottom of the document into view on the visual screen, PAGE DOWN moves down 24 lines, and PAGE UP moves up 24 lines. SayAll in line mode reads the document from top to bottom, and when pressing CTRL to stop SayAll, you are positioned near the last item read. You can navigate reading by line, sentence, or paragraph, as well as by moving by words and characters.

When reading text on a Web page, each link appears to be on its own line, even though this may not be true on the screen. Visited links are identified as "visited." They are also properly categorized as visited in the Links List dialog. When JFW encounters a link that does not have any text associated with it, one of two things is announced. If the link is a CGI link, the name of the graphic is spoken. Otherwise, the last directory component and the file name of the URL is spoken instead.

When you are using the Virtual cursor and you encounter a link on the screen that has an ALT tag, JAWS will read that tag since it is more descriptive.

To quickly skip past headers, you can press INSERT+ENTER. This moves you down through the page to the first text of at least 25 characters that is not a link. When the virtual cursor arrives at the text, the current line is read.

When the cursor is on a line with a link, pressing ENTER or NUMPAD SLASH activates that link. Subsequently, pressing BACKSPACE moves you back to your last position on the last page read.

Note: The Context menu accessed by the Applications key does not apply to the Virtual cursor.

The Virtual PC cursor is enabled in DEFAULT.JCF. If you do not want to use the Virtual PC cursor, turn it off by un-checking the "Use the Virtual PC Cursor" checkbox under the Advanced setting of the Configuration Manager in DEFAULT.JCF. If you want to have this cursor disabled every time you are in IE 5, you can uncheck this box in BROWSEUI.JCF. Unchecking this checkbox means that you will be operating in conventional cursor mode.

Note: The INSERT+F5 key command for reformatting a Web page is no longer necessary with virtual cursor mode. You will need to switch to conventional mode if you wish to reformat the page.

With the Virtual PC cursor positioned on a form field, press ENTER or the NUMPAD SLASH key to switch to Forms mode. You will hear "Forms Mode On," the information and the name of the control you are on. When you press ENTER to go into Forms mode, the PC cursor is activated on the current control. As a result, if you are on a button, the button is pressed. If you are on a checkbox, the state of the checkbox is toggled. If you are on a radio button that is unchecked, the radio button is checked, however, if it was already checked, it remains unchanged. If you are on an edit box, the PC cursor is placed at the top of the edit field. With Combo boxes, the first item is selected.

TAB and SHIFT+TAB must be used to move between fields in forms mode. When using these keys for navigation, the natural tab order is used, including any links that may appear between fields. As you land on the different controls, JAWS announces the new control, such as a link or a field.

While in forms mode you can navigate edit fields using the PC cursor as you normally do (i.e. tab and SHIFT+TAB).

To exit Forms mode, press NUMPAD PLUS to activate the Virtual PC cursor.

Note: JFW remains in Forms mode until the Virtual PC cursor is activated or a new page is displayed. Pressing INSERT+ESC also returns you to Virtual Cursor mode and moves the position of the Virtual PC cursor to the first control on the current page.

Tip: Return to the Virtual PC cursor using the familiar NUMPAD PLUS. This turns Forms Mode off.

Conventional Mode (also referred to as classic style cursor mode) - By unchecking the checkbox, using the Virtual PC cursor in the Advanced settings dialog of the Configuration Manager, you can navigate IE using the JAWS cursor and reformatting options that were used by JFW in IE 4.01. In this mode, functionality provided by the virtual cursor will be unavailable. To find out more about how the conventional mode works, see link IE 4 Help.

Note: To temporarily toggle between Virtual PC cursor and Conventional cursor modes, press INSERT+Z.

Note: The following changes are important if you plan to use JFW and IE 5.0 with the virtual cursor turned off. Some of these changes may not be necessary when using the virtual cursor.

There are several advanced options that should be changed for optimal performance of JFW with IE when navigating with the cursor in classic mode. Open the Internet Options dialog under the Tools menu and go to the Advanced page.

Under The Accessibility Section, Make Sure The Following Are Checked

Move system caret with focus/selection changes.

Always expand all text for images.

Under The Browsing Section, Make Sure The Following Are Not Checked

Show friendly URLs.

Use smooth scrolling.

Enable page transitions.

In the accessibility dialog, make sure "ignore colors specified on Web pages" is checked.

This dialog opens when you press the Accessibility button in the General page of the Internet Options dialog.

Note: You may want to turn off some of the multimedia options to increase speed when loading pages.

To change HTML options, the Configuration Managerís Set Options dialog must be used.

SKIP PAST REPEATED TEXT ON NEW WEB PAGES

Many Web sites contain common text on all their pages. When this option is checked, JAWS positions the virtual cursor on the new text of the newly loaded Web page.

SCREEN TRACK VIRTUAL CURSOR

When this option is checked, the screen will track the virtual cursor. This is necessary if you are using MAGic or if you or a sighted colleague needs to follow along visually. Checking this option will slow down the performance of the virtual cursor.

Note: This option is checked by default.

SAY LINK TYPE

There are numerous types of links. When this option is checked, JAWS will announce the link type during SayAll and when navigating with the virtual cursor.

IDENTIFY SAME PAGE LINKS

Links can point to other places on the currently loaded page. When this option is checked, JAWS will announce such links as "Same Page links".

INDICATE TABLES

This option determines whether or not tables are announced as you enter and leave them using the virtual cursor. Upon entering the table, the number of columns and rows will be spoken. JAWS will also announce when you are leaving the table.

LINES PER PAGE

This option determines how many lines the virtual cursor will move up or down when page up and page down are pressed.

Note: This option is only available in the JAWS configuration options under set options\html.

MAXIMUM LINE LENGTH

This option determines how many characters will constitute a line when the virtual cursor is active. The default value is 150. The AdjustHTMLSettings dialog allows you to increment and decrement this number.

TEXT BLOCK LENGTH

The value entered here indicates the smallest number of contiguous non-link characters that you would like to be recognized when you press Insert+Enter. This keystroke moves you to a text block. This feature is useful for skipping large groups of links positioned at the top of a page. The default value is 25. The AdjustHTMLSettings dialog allows you to increment and decrement this number.

TEXT LINK VERBOCITY

Allows you to choose where jfw gets information about the links being spoken. Often, the ALT Text tag on a Web page is different from the text shown on the screen. Depending on the Web page, either can be more descriptive. You have the choice to select which of these you would like JFW to seek as the primary text to speak.

If you select Screen Text, JFW will use the screen text if it exists, otherwise, it will use the ALT Tag. If neither exists, it will use the URL. If you select ALT Tag, JFW will always use the ALT Tag if available, otherwise, it will revert to the screen text. If neither exists, it will use the URL.

Note: It is recommended that you select Speak Screen Text to minimize the amount of text you hear.

GRAPHICS VERBOCITY

This option allows you to select how you would like graphics to be read. You can choose to have no graphics read, only graphics with text tags, or all graphics.

GRAPHIC LINK VERBOSITY

This option determines the verbosity in which JAWS speaks linked graphics on Web Pages. The choices are; No Graphic Links Read, Only Graphic Links With Text Tags, or All Graphic Links.

IMAGE MAP LINK VERBOSITY

This option determines the verbosity in which JAWS speaks image map links on Web pages. The choices are; No Image Map Links Read, Only Image Map Links With Text Tags, or All Image Map Links.

NEW FRAME INDICATION

This option determines the way in which JAWS indicates you have moved from one frame to another within Web pages. The choices are: No Indication, Say Frame Name at Beginning and End, and Say New Frame When Entering. The default setting is Say Frame Name at Beginning and End.

SCREEN FOLLOWS THE V-CURSOR

The screen will now scroll down to keep the text that the PC Cursor is speaking in view on the screen.

GRAPHIC ANNOUNCEMENT TOGGLE

You now have the ability to turn off the announcement of graphics, which are not links. You are able to toggle this temporarily through the Verbosity dialog, or permanently through the HTML Settings Dialog in the Configuration Manager. The choices are; No Graphics, Tagged Graphics, and All Graphics. The default setting is All Graphics.