Introduction

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

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

Reading time: 8 minutes.

Video

Navigating between the main elements

Word’s interface contains a Ribbon area, a document 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 create professional looking documents. 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, ALT + N to move focus to the "Insert" tab, etc.

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.

You may find the following SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader hotkeys useful when working in the Ribbon.

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

You can 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 the 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 use this toolbar to display your frequently used commands.

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

1. From 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. The menu closes and the item is added 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.

Searching for commands

The Ribbon includes a search box to help you find commands and related help topics about the command. You can move focus to the search box by pressing ALT + Q.

When the search box has focus, type in your search term, use DOWN ARROW to explore the results, and press ENTER to select an item.

The Document window

Word displays your document in the document window area. You can choose to view your documents in several ways.

For best results, you should view your document using either "Print layout" (CONTROL + ALT + P) or "Draft" (CONTROL + ALT + N).

Documents you receive from other sources may open in a different view. You can review your current view settings in the Ribbon’s "View" tab (ALT + W).

Protected View

Word may consider some documents unsafe. Typically, this will be documents you open from Outlook or Internet sources. Word opens these documents in Protected View. This is a restricted view that prevents editing of the document. In this view, screen reader access is also restricted.

Tip: When the document is protected, the title of the document includes the term "Protected View". You can review the title of your window by using the Speak where am I? hotkey. This is NUMPAD 7 or, if you are using the Laptop Universal Hotkey Set, press CAPS LOCK + PAGE UP.

When you view a document in Protected View, SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader enables the Automatic Dolphin Cursor. This enables you to review the content of the document without risking your security. If you trust the source, you can turn off Protected View in several ways.

You can press F6 to move focus to the notification area and choose to enable editing or from the "File" options, select "Info", and choose the "Protect document" button (ALT + F, I, P).

To learn more about Protected View, see the Microsoft Support article – What is Protected View.

Task Panes

Usually the Task Pane is situated to the right side of the document window and displays tools that enable you to change your document. Examples of a Task Pane include the Startup Task Pane, the Editor Task Pane, and the Thesaurus Task Pane.

To move focus to a task pane: Press F6. Once there, you can explore and interact using standard keyboard commands such as TAB, the Arrow Keys, and SPACEBAR.

To close a pane:

1. Position the focus in the pane.
2. Press RIGHT CONTROL + SPACEBAR To open the "Task Pane Options" menu.
3. Select "Close".

Status Bar

The Status Bar is located at the bottom of the window and shows information such as page number, word count, and current language setting. The information displayed may change depending on your current View.

You can choose what items appear on the Status Bar.

To do this:

1. Press F6 until the Status Bar has focus.
2. Press SHIFT + F10 to open the context menu.
3. Navigate through the items, pressing ENTER to select and deselect the items you wish to appear on the Status Bar.
4. When done, press ESCAPE twice. Word closes the menu and returns focus back to the document window.

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.

Keeping important information visible

If you are using magnification, you can ensure important information is always visible on the screen with Hooked Areas.

The following video introduces the steps you can follow to create a Hooked Area.

To learn more about Hooked Areas, see the SuperNova Manual.

Summary

In this section you learnt about the main elements of the Word interface and the keyboard commands you can use to navigate them.

You also learnt the SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader hotkeys to:

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

Which help you review Ribbon commands and other elements in the Word interface.

Quiz

1. You can move the focus from the document window 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 hotkey. Is this statement true?
3. The information on the Word Status Bar is static and cannot be changed. Is this statement true?

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