Introduction

Below you will learn the keystrokes required to navigate the Ribbon and other main elements in the Outlook interface.

You will also learn some useful SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader Speak Keys to help you complete these tasks.

Reading time: 10 minutes.

Video

Navigating between the main elements

Outlook’s interface contains a Ribbon area, a worksheet area, and a status bar. You will also encounter other elements as you navigate the main user interface.

You can:

• Press F6 to move to the next main element on the screen.
• Press SHIFT + F6 to move to the previous main element on the screen.

The Ribbon

The Ribbon sits below the title bar and contains all the options you require to manage your Outlook tasks. Options are separated into tabs, and each tab is subdivided into groups of commands.

To move focus to the Ribbon, do one of the following:

• Press F6 or SHIFT + F6 until the Ribbon tab has focus.
• Press the ALT key.
• Press F10.
• Press ALT + key, for example, ALT + H to move focus to the "Home" tab.

To navigate and interact with Ribbon commands, do the following:

• Press LEFT CONTROL + RIGHT ARROW to move focus to the next group and press LEFT CONTROL + LEFT ARROW to move focus to the previous group.
• Press TAB to move focus to the next command and press SHIFT + TAB to move focus to the previous command.
• SPACEBAR or ENTER to activate the current command.

Tip: A command’s help text is automatically output when using a High Verbosity Scheme. You can adjust your Speech Verbosity Scheme by pressing CAPS LOCK + EQUALS or, if you are using the Laptop Universal hotkey set, press CAPS LOCK + V.

To change your Braille Verbosity Scheme, press LEFT SHIFT + CAPS LOCK + EQUALS OR, if you are using the Laptop universal Hotkey Set, press LEFT CONTROL + CAPS LOCK + V.

Ribbon appearance

Outlook offers a Classic or Simple Ribbon layout. These help pages presume you are using the Classic Ribbon layout. If you are using the Simple Ribbon layout, then keyboard commands may not function as documented.

To choose the Classic Ribbon layout:

1. Use the ALT key or F10 to position the focus on a Ribbon tab.
2. Move focus to the "File" tab.
3. Press SHIFT + TAB. Focus moves to the "Select Ribbon " button.
4. Do one of the following:
   • If the "Select Ribbon" button is in a pressed state, this means you are using a simple layout style, and must press SPACEBAR to change to the classic layout style.
   • If the "Select Ribbon" button is unpressed, this means you are using the classic layout style and can press ESCAPE to return focus to the folder item.

Outlook also offers the ability to show or hide the Ribbon. You may want to hide the Ribbon if you require a larger workspace area.

When you hide the Ribbon, only the Ribbon tabs are visible. In this state you need to press ENTER on a tab to show its commands. SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader will say "closed" when focus moves to the Ribbon and commands are hid from view.

To change the appearance:

1. Move focus to a ribbon tab.
2. Press SHIFT + TAB. Focus moves to the "Ribbon display options" button.
3. Press SPACEBAR to expand the options.
4. DOWN ARROW to select an item and press ENTER.

The Quick Access Toolbar

The Quick Access Toolbar sits above or below the Ribbon depending on your preference. You can use this toolbar to display your frequently used commands.

You can add commands to the toolbar by doing the following:

1. In the Ribbon, locate the item you want to add to the Quick Access Toolbar.
2. Press SHIFT + F10 to open the context menu.
3. Select "Add to Quick Access Toolbar" and press ENTER. Microsoft Office closes the menu and adds the item to the Toolbar. If the Toolbar is hid, it will become visible.

You can access the toolbar by moving focus to the Ribbon and then using the Arrow Keys to select the toolbar.

Alternatively, you can use the SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader Item Finder to list and interact with items on the toolbar.

To do this: Press CAPS LOCK + Q.

You can use the "Left Click" button to activate an item or the "Right Click" button to open a context menu from which you can choose to remove the item from the Toolbar.

Folder Pane and items list

The Folder pane is positioned on the left side of the screen and shows the folders available to you. The right side of the screen shows a list of the items present in the folder.

You can use F6 and SHIFT + F6 to navigate between these elements. You can also use CONTROL + TAB and CONTROL + SHIFT + TAB to navigate back and forth.

When in the Folder pane, you can use the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW to explore the folders, LEFT ARROW and RIGHT ARROW to collapse and expand folders, and SPACEBAR to select a folder. When you select a folder, focus automatically moves to the list of items. You can navigate the items using the UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW. To include group headings while navigating, use ALT + UP ARROW and ALT + DOWN ARROW.

An alternative to using the Folder Pane is to use the "Go to folder" dialog box (CONTROL + Y). This is a popular method to get around using the keyboard. Adopting this method also means you can hide the Folder Pane (ALT + V, F) and reduce the number of objects on the screen.

Other useful commands include:

• Press CONTROL + 1 to go to Mail folder.
• Press CONTROL + 2 to go to Calendar folder.
• Press CONTROL + 3 to go to Contact folder.
• Press CONTROL + 4 to go to Tasks folder.
• Press CONTROL + SHIFT + I to go to Inbox folder.
• Press CONTROL + SHIFT + O to go to Outbox folder.
• Press CONTROL + SHIFT + E to create new folder.
• When in the items list, press ALT + LEFT ARROW to go back to the previous viewed folder.
• When in the items list, press ALT + RIGHT ARROW to go forward to the next viewed folder.

The Status Bar

The Status bar is located at the bottom of the Outlook window and shows important information such as the number of items in the folder, the number of unread items in the folder, and your connectivity status.

You can choose what items appear on the Status Bar.

To do this:

Press F6 until the Status Bar has focus.

Press SHIFT + F10 to open the context menu.

Navigate through the items, pressing ENTER to select and deselect the items you wish to appear on the Status Bar.

When done, press ESCAPE twice. Outlook closes the menu and returns focus back to the folder list.

To review the information presented on the Status Bar, press NUMPAD 2 or, if you are using the Laptop Universal Hotkey Set, press CAPS LOCK + PAGE DOWN.

Tip: If the Status Bar does not gain focus using F6, then you can resolve this by turning on the Dolphin Cursor, navigating to the Status Bar, and simulating a Right Click to open the context menu. Ensuring "View Shortcuts" is selected from the context menu means the status bar has an accessible focus in the future.

Summary

In this section you learnt about the main elements of the Outlook interface. You also learnt how to navigate between these main elements using the keyboard.

You also learnt about the SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader keyboard commands to:

• Speak focus.
• Speak additional focus information.
• Speak shortcut key.
• Speak where am I?
• Speak status bar key.
• List Quick Access Toolbar items.

Quiz

1. You can move the focus from the workspace area to the Ribbon tab by pressing the ALT key. Is this statement true?
2. You can learn the keyboard shortcut for a Ribbon command by pressing the Speak shortcut key hotkey. Is this statement true?
3. The information on the Outlook Status Bar is static and cannot be changed. Is this statement true?

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1. True.
2. True.
3. False.