Accessibility and JavaHelp Viewer Shortcut Keys

The JavaHelp^TM system tri-pane viewer is designed to be accessible. Most features in the help viewer are accessible from the keyboard.

The first time you open the help viewer, the focus should be on the default entry in the TOC navigator. Sometimes you cannot tell where the focus is because of a bug that can occur when the Back button is unselected. If you cannot tell where the focus is, use the following procedure to establish focus again:

1. Press Ctrl-F1 to display alternate text for a toolbar button. This action works only if the current focus is on a toolbar button.
2. If no alternate text displays, press F6 to see if the focus moves to an item in the current navigator.
3. If the focus does not move to the navigator, press F6 once more (because focus might have moved to the Content pane). Focus should now be in the Navigation pane.
4. With focus in the Navigation pane, if you want to be absolutely sure where you are, you can repeatedly press Shift-Tab followed by Ctrl-F1 until alternate text displays for a toolbar button.

Traversing the Viewer

If the focus is in the toolbar buttons and you press the Tab key to traverse through the viewer, the traversal order is as follows:

1. The toolbar buttons from left to right
2. The currently open tab in the Navigation (left) pane
3. The contents of that navigator

   Behavior in the navigator varies depending on whether or not the navigator has a Search field. It will take up to four more presses of the Tab key to move to the Content pane. Pressing F6 instead will move focus directly to the Content (right) pane.

4. The topic in the Content (right) pane

When focus is in the Content pane, pressing the Tab key has no effect. The Tab key does not wrap from the Content pane back to the toolbar. You can traverse backwards from the Content pane by pressing F6 to move to the Navigation pane, and then pressing Shift-Tab repeatedly.

Traversing and Using the Toolbar Buttons

You can move the focus between the toolbar buttons by pressing either the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys or the Tab and Shift-Tab keys. If you want to stay in the toolbar and move from button to button, the Arrow keys are the best choice. If you want to be able to move focus out of the toolbar, use the Tab and Shift-Tab keys.

When a button has focus, you can perform two actions:

• Pressing Spacebar activates the button (for example, activating the Print button prints the currently selected topic or topics).
• Pressing Ctrl-F1 displays the button's alternate text.

Traversing and Using the Navigators

The Navigation pane has a tabbed interface. If focus is on the last toolbar button, pressing the Tab key takes you to the currently selected Navigator tab. At that point, you can either press the Tab key to enter the navigator or press Right Arrow or Left Arrow to select a different navigator. The behavior of the focus depends on the type of navigator, as follows:

TOC, Favorites, and Glossary Navigators

• If you use an Arrow key to move to the navigator from another Navigator tab, the focus moves automatically to an entry in the navigator.
• If you use a Tab key to move to the navigator (for example, from a toolbar button), the focus remains on the Navigator tab. If you press the Tab key, the focus moves to an entry in the navigator.
• In the navigator list, if you want to move to the Content pane, using the F6 key produces the most predictable results. The Tab key has varying results depending on whether or not there are scrollbars. Pressing the Tab key once changes focus to the vertical scrollbar if there is one. Pressing the Tab key again changes focus to the horizontal scrollbar if there is one. Pressing Tab again changes focus to the Content (right) pane. If you want to move to the Content pane, pressing the F6 key produces the most predictable results.
• In any Navigator list the following keys move focus from item to item and change the corresponding topic in the Content (right) pane:
  • The Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys move the focus from item to item in the navigator.
  • The Page Up and Page Down keys move the focus through the navigator a page at a time.
  • The Home and End keys move the focus to the beginning and end of the list.
  • The Right Arrow key opens a folder and the Left Arrow key closes a folder.
  • Ctrl-Right Arrow scrolls left and Ctrl-Left Arrow scrolls right.
  • F8 selects the splitter bar between the Navigator pane and the Content pane. With the splitter bar selected, you can move it right and left with the Right Arrow and Left Arrow keys.
• The F6 key changes focus to the Content pane.

Index and Search Navigators

These navigators have a text field for the search entry at the top of the navigator content pane, so they behave differently from the other navigators.

• If you use an Arrow key to move to the navigator from another Navigator tab, the focus moves immediately to the Search field.
• If you use a Tab key to move to the navigator (for example, from a toolbar button), the focus remains on the Navigator tab. If you press the Tab key again, the focus moves to the Search field.
• In the Search field, if you press the Tab key, the focus moves to the navigator list.
• In the navigator list, if you want to move the focus to the Content pane, using the F6 key produces the most predictable results. The Tab key has varying results depending on whether or not there are scrollbars. Pressing the Tab key once changes the focus to the vertical scrollbar if there is one. Pressing the Tab key again changes the focus to the horizontal scrollbar if there is one. Pressing Tab again changes the focus to the Content (right) pane.
• In any Navigator list the following keys move the focus from item to item and change the corresponding topic in the Content (right) pane:
  • The Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys move the focus from item to item in the navigator.
  • The Page Up and Page Down keys move the focus through the navigator a page at a time.
  • The Home and End keys move the focus to the beginning and end of the list.
  • The Right Arrow key opens a folder and the Left Arrow key closes a folder.
  • Ctrl-Right Arrow scrolls left and Ctrl-Left Arrow scrolls right.
  • F8 selects the splitter bar between the Navigator pane and the Content pane. With the splitter bar selected, you can move it right and left with the Right Arrow and Left Arrow keys.
• The F6 key changes the focus to the Content pane.

Traversing and Using the Content Pane

The Content pane, on the right side of the viewer, displays the current help topic. You can get to this pane by navigating to the Navigation (left) pane and pressing F6. When you are in the Content pane, you can use the following keys to move around and perform actions:

• Right Arrow and Left Arrow move the focus left or right one letter at a time. You cannot see the focus change.
• Ctrl-Right Arrow and Ctrl-Left Arrow move the focus left or right one word at a time. You cannot see the focus change.
• Up Arrow and Down Arrow move the focus up and down one line at a time. You cannot see the focus change.
• Page Up and Page Down move the the topic up and down a page at a time.
• Ctrl-Home and Ctrl-End move focus to the beginning and end of the topic.
• Ctrl-T selects the next link. Ctrl-Shift-T selects the previous link.
• Shift-Spacebar activates the selected link and goes to the linked topic.
• F8 selects the splitter bar between the Navigator pane and the Content pane. With the splitter bar selected, you can move it right and left with the Right Arrow and Left Arrow keys.
• F6 changes the focus to the Navigation (left) pane.

Shortcut Key Table

The following table lists the keystrokes you can use to navigate through the help viewer.