Introduction

Below are the steps you follow to fill in forms using the Dolphin Cursor. Filling in forms is an important skill to learn as you will need to regularly complete this task as you browse the Internet. Whether you are searching a website for information, completing an online purchase, or performing a bank transaction, filling in a form is always at the heart of the process.

Reading time: 8 minutes approx.

Types of form elements

There are several types of form elements used by web designers. Each type of form element performs a particular role, and requires a particular action by you to successfully interact with the element.

Types of form elements include:

• Buttons.
  A button is an element you activate, for example, to start a search or submit a completed form.
• Checkboxes.
  Also described as tick boxes, a check box enables you to select or deselect a single option such as choosing whether to receive marketing material in the future.
• Edit areas.
  An edit area is an element that allows you to enter text. The edit area may be a single line or one showing multiple lines to allow for a more comprehensive answer. Pressing ENTER in a single line edit area will usually activate a supporting button such as a Search button while pressing ENTER in a multi-line edit area will usually insert a line break.
• List boxes.
  List boxes can take the form of a pull-down list box that supports a single selection or an open list box that exposes the options and supports multiple selection. Pull-down list boxes, also referred to as drop-down list boxes, are popular because they do not take up a lot of space on the webpage. Open list boxes supporting multiple selections are less popular and are often replaced with other types of elements such as checkboxes because they are less intuitive to interact with using a keyboard.
• Radio buttons.
  Also referred to as option buttons, A radio button restricts selection to one option from a group of mutually exclusive options such as selecting "Yes", "No", or "Don’t know". You can only choose one answer.

Through the use of the Dolphin Cursor, you can interact with all these element types. However, how accessible a form is depends on the web designer, for example, whether elements are correctly labelled.

If the web designer has followed the guidelines outlined by the World Wide Web Consortium (“W3C), then you will find their form fully accessible with SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader.

Approaches to completing forms

There are two approaches you can follow to complete a form. These approaches are not mutually exclusive, instead you can mix and match as you become familiar with the layout of a form.

When completing a new, unfamiliar form, you should navigate through the form using the Arrow Keys to ensure you do not miss important instructions that may be disconnected from the form elements.

You should only navigate a form with the TAB, SHIFT + TAB, or Quick Navigation Keys when you are familiar with the content of the form and are confident you will not be skipping over important instructions.

Interacting with buttons, checkboxes, and radio buttons using the Dolphin Cursor

To interact with buttons, checkboxes, and radio buttons requires you to move the Dolphin Cursor to the element and then press the SPACEBAR.

Pressing SPACEBAR:

• Activates a button. 
• Selects or deselects a checkbox. 
• Switches selection to the current radio button option.

Interacting with edit boxes using the Dolphin Cursor

You require Forms Mode to navigate and input text within an edit box. Forms Mode is a special mode that enables you to work within an edit box without your keypresses conflicting with Dolphin Cursor commands.

To switch into Forms Mode:

• If you are navigating the form using the Arrow Keys, when the Dolphin cursor is positioned on the edit box, press ENTER. 
• If you are navigating the form using TAB or Quick Navigation Keys (E), you are automatically switched into Forms Mode when the Dolphin Cursor moves onto an edit box. This creates a more seamless form filling experience when working with familiar forms.

To exit Forms Mode, press ESCAPE or TAB. Pressing ESCAPE turns on the Dolphin Cursor without moving the focus, while pressing TAB will move the focus to the next element in the form.

Tip: You are automatically switched into Forms Mode if you use the mouse pointer to click on an edit box.

Interacting with pull-down list boxes using the Dolphin Cursor

You require Forms Mode to navigate within a pull-down list box. Forms Mode is a special mode that enables you to work within a list box without your keypresses conflicting with Dolphin Cursor commands.

To switch into Forms Mode:

• If you are navigating the form using the Arrow Keys, when the Dolphin Cursor is positioned on the list box, press ENTER.
• If you are navigating the form using TAB or Quick Navigation Keys (C), you are automatically switched into Forms Mode when the Dolphin Cursor moves onto a list box. This creates a more seamless form filling experience when working with familiar forms.

When the pull-down list box has focus, and you are in Forms Mode, you can either use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to make a selection or press ALT + DOWN ARROW to open the list box from which you can view the available options and make a selection. To close the open list box, press ALT + UP ARROW.

To exit Forms Mode, press ESCAPE or TAB. Pressing ESCAPE turns on the Dolphin Cursor without moving the focus, while pressing TAB will move the focus to the next element in the form.

Auto-complete settings within browsers

Most web browsers offer an auto-complete (also called auto-fill) feature to help people fill in forms. An auto-complete list may appear when you are filling in a web address, entering a search term, or filling in a form field such as your name or email address.

The auto-complete feature appears as a list beside what you are typing. You can continue to type within the form field, or use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to browse the list of suggestions.

On selecting an auto-complete response, you can press TAB to move onto the next option in the form.

If you find the appearance of the auto-complete list distracting, you can usually turn this feature off within the browser’s settings. A search for "how to turn off auto-complete settings in MyBrowser" (replacing "MyBrowser" with your browser name) will provide the steps to perform this task.

Turning off Automatic Forms Mode

You may benefit from turning off Automatic Forms Mode in some situations. Consider the scenario where the form has a variety of elements and you need to input text into the sixth edit box. With Automatic Forms Mode enabled, and using E to navigate to the edit boxes in the form, you have the following experience:

1. You press E to move to the first edit box. You are automatically switched into Forms Mode.
2. You press ESCAPE to exit Forms Mode.
3. You press E to move to the next edit box. Again, you are automatically switched into Forms Mode.
4. You press ESCAPE to exit Forms Mode.
5. Again, you press E to move to the next edit box, and, once more, you are automatically switched into Forms Mode.
6. You press ESCAPE to exit Forms Mode.
7. And so on until you reach the required edit box.

Now consider the process if you turn off Automatic Forms Mode:

1. Press E six times.
2. Press ENTER to switch into Forms Mode.

In this scenario, as you can see, reaching the edit box is simpler with Automatic Forms Mode turned off.

You can toggle off and on Automatic Forms Mode by pressing CAPS LOCK + ENTER. Alternatively, you can deselect the "Automatic Forms Mode" checkbox in the SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader "Speech Advanced Options" dialog box (ALT + S, A).

Quick Navigation Keys to form elements

Here is a reminder of the Quick Navigation Keys that move the Dolphin Cursor to form elements. Use the SHIFT key to move to the previous element.

Keyboard commands:

• F for any form element.
• B for buttons.
• C for list boxes.
• E for edit boxes.
• R for radio buttons.
• X for checkboxes.

Summary

In this section you discovered how you can interact with different form elements using the Dolphin Cursor. You learnt how to switch to Forms Mode and when Automatic Forms Mode occurs. You also learnt how to turn off Automatic Forms Mode and when disabling this feature may be beneficial.

If you would like to try using your new skills, visit Message Dolphin Support to complete the available form. Please be aware that this form is active and choosing the submit button will send your report to the Dolphin Product Support Team.

Quiz

1. You should use the TAB key to navigate through an unfamiliar form. Is this statement true?
2. You require Forms Mode to input text into an edit box. Is this statement true?
3. You require Forms Mode to interact with a pull-down list box. Is this statement true?

End of section

Select the link below to continue to the next section.

To revisit a previous section, please scroll to the top of this page and choose the section from the Available Content menu.

But before you move on, here are the answers to the quiz questions:

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