Student’s Materials for IT Training Part 2 Jaws Version

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Introduction

Welcome to Part 2 of the Introductory IT Course. In Part 1, we showed you some of the many things that you can do with a computer and introduced you to Windows, e-mail, word processing and the Internet.

Maybe you're already using the PC at home after having attended the first part of the course.

Much of the material in this part will not be entirely new to you. However, after Part 2 you should be able to manage on your own without your teacher's help.

In this part of the course, we will introduce more of the features available in JAWS. We will also teach you some more about Windows, so that you will be able to manage your files and programs.

You will learn how to open and save documents in a word processor and find out more about e-mail and using the Internet. We'll also give you a few more useful keyboard shortcuts.

Have fun.

Session 1

This session covers some basic tasks in the Windows operating system, including launching and closing programs, searching for documents, and getting Help.

You will also learn about some important Windows interface elements.

Aims

After this session you should be able to

Windows

• start different programs from the Start menu
• close programs
• find the My Documents submenu on the Start menu
• open files from My Documents
• identify dialog boxes, radio buttons and list views
• open Windows Help from the Start menu
• switch between a number of active programs

JAWS

• find the title bar in Windows applications and dialog boxes
• find and open menu bars in different programs
• scroll through menus using the arrow keys
• navigate dialog boxes using the Tab key
• explore list views
• select and deselect radio buttons
• have JAWS repeat dialog box content

Menus and shortcuts

There are two different ways of operating programs without a mouse:

• using the menus
• using shortcuts

Using the menu bar allows you to investigate all the options in a program. You'll find the basic options in the File menu.

For example, the File menu in Word, Notepad, and Outlook Express contains the following options:

• New - create a new document or message
• Open - open a file or message
• Save - save your document or message
• Print - print your document or message

You will always be able to operate a program using menus. So if you forget a keyboard shortcut, you can scroll through the menus until you find the command you need.

Gradually most users adopt shortcuts for the more common procedures in the programs. It saves time, provided you master the keyboard.

Launching programs from the Start menu

In Part 1, we used the Start menu to

• shut down the computer
• reboot the computer
• launch programs

Launching Notepad

Let's practise starting Notepad.

1. Start the computer.
2. Start JAWS if it is not already running.
3. Open the Start menu.
4. Select the Programs submenu.
5. Select the Accessories submenu.
6. Select Notepad.
7. Press Enter.

Using the menu bar

Check the title bar in the Notepad window by pressing Insert + T.

Below the title bar you'll find the menu bar, which contains all the commands that you can use in the program.

To access the menu bar, press Alt once. Listen to what JAWS tells you.

To exit the menu bar, press Alt again or press Esc. Listen to JAWS again.

Opening a menu

To open the File menu:

1. Press the Alt key once. This will select the File menu without opening it.
2. Press the down arrow to open the File menu.
3. Press Esc twice to exit the menu.

Investigating the File menu in Notepad

To select an option in the File menu:

1. Press Alt to activate the File menu.
2. Open it by pressing the down arrow.
3. Scroll through the menu using the down arrow.
4. Find out how many different options are available before you return to the first option again.
5. Select the Exit option to close Notepad.
6. Press Enter.

Launch Notepad again. This time close the program using the keyboard shortcut Alt + F4.

Investigating the File menu in Microsoft Word

Now let's see what options are available in the File menu in Word.

1. Open Word by selecting Start - Programs - Microsoft Word, then pressing Enter.
2. Listen to JAWS as Word launches.
3. Go to the menu bar.
4. Open the File menu.
5. Find out how many different options are available before you return to the first option again.
6. Select the Exit option to close Word.
7. Press Enter.

Using the My Documents folder

When you start saving your documents you can put them in a folder called My Documents. You can access this folder from the Start menu.

To open the My Documents folder:

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Select the Documents submenu.
3. Select the My Documents submenu and press Enter. Listen to what JAWS tells you.
4. The window now open displays a list of the documents available in the My Documents folder. JAWS calls this a list view. You can scroll through the list view using the down and up arrows.
5. If you press the down arrow and you hear nothing from JAWS you have reached the bottom of the list. Use the up arrow to go back the other way.
6. Mark one of the files and open it by pressing Enter. Listen to what JAWS tells you
7. Read the file using the arrow keys.

Exercise

1. Open Notepad.
2. Close Notepad.
3. Open Microsoft Word.
4. Go to the menu bar.
5. Open the File menu.
6. Go through the menus.
7. Close Word from the menu bar.
8. Open the My Documents folder.
9. Find a file and open and read it.

10) Close the program from the menu bar.

Using dialog boxes

Often your computer will ask you to make choices. It does this using dialog boxes. Each dialog box contains a title bar, some text that describes what it's for and options that you can select.

Example 1

1. Open Word.
2. Write a short piece of text.
3. Close the program.
4. A dialog box appears asking if you want to save the changes to the document. You have three choices:

• Yes
• No
• Cancel

1. Press the Tab key to navigate between the options. Tab to the No button and press Enter.

The program is now closed and you have not saved your document.

Example 2

1. Open Word.
2. Write a short piece of text.
3. Close the program.
4. The Dialog box appears again. Press Insert + T to read the title bar of the dialog box.
5. Tab around in the box to listen to the choices.
6. Try also Shift + Tab.
7. Tab to the No button and press Enter.

Repeating dialog box contents

Sometimes, you may not hear or understand the contents of a dialog box the first time it is read. JAWS can repeat the contents for you. Use the keyboard shortcut Insert + B to have the contents repeated.

Let's try repeating the contents of a dialog box:

1. Open Word.
2. Write a short piece of text.
3. Close the program.
4. The dialog box appears and JAWS reads its contents.
5. Press Insert + B to have the contents repeated.

Dialog boxes with radio buttons

Sometimes you'll come across options in dialog boxes called radio buttons.

A radio button is small round disc that can either be selected or deselected. Groups of radio buttons allow you to choose between several options. You use the arrow keys to move between the radio buttons in the dialog.

Accessing Windows Help

Most programs include Online Help, where you can check how to do a particular task or learn about features of the software that you didn't know about. The Help system for the Windows operating system is available from the Start menu.

The Windows Help Window is divided into two panes:

• In the navigation pane, you can find a table of contents, an index, and a search tool. This is where you find the help you are looking for. We recommend you use the Index initially.
• The contents pane is where a Help topic is displayed once you've located it in the navigation pane.

You can switch between the navigation pane and the contents pane by pressing F6.

In the Index tabbed page, you can switch between the edit field, where you can type keywords, and a list of index entries using Tab and Shift + Tab.

Exercise

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Select Help from the Start menu and press Enter.
3. Find the Index tabbed page.
4. In the edit field, type "save" and press Enter.
5. Press Tab to go to the list of index entries for the term "save".
6. Scroll through the list using the arrow keys.
7. Select a topic and press Enter.
8. Press F6 to switch to the content pane. JAWS will read the contents of the topic you selected.
9. Press F6 to return to the navigation pane.

10) Now see if you can find the help topics on the following tasks:

• printing a document
• saving a document
• formatting a floppy disk

FAQs

How do I display the Start menu?

Answer: Press the Windows logo key or Ctrl + Esc.

How do I close the Start menu?

Answer: Press Esc.

How do I read the title bar in a window or dialog box?

Answer: Press Insert + T.

How do I repeat the contents of a dialog box?

Answer: Press Insert + B.

How do I shift focus to a program's menu bar?

Answer: Press Alt.

How do I shift focus away from the menu bar?

Answer: Press Alt again or press Esc.

How do I open the File menu?

Answer: Press Alt, then press down arrow.

How do I close a program?

Answer: Press Alt + F4.

How do I open the My Documents folder

Answer: Select Start - Documents - My Documents, then press Enter.

How do I scroll through a list view?

Answer: Use the arrow keys.

How do I navigate in a dialog box?

Answer: Use Tab and Shift + Tab.

How do I open Windows Help?

Answer: Select Start - Help, then press Enter.

How do I switch between items in the navigation pane in a Help window?

Answer: Press Tab.

How do I switch between the navigation and content panes in a Help window?

Answer: Press F6.

Session 2

Today e-mail is the most common way of sending and receiving written information. It is a quick way of communicating. You do not need to buy envelopes and stamps and you can send your mail from your own home whenever you like.

Aims

After this session you should be able to

E-mail

• launch an e-mail program
• close the e-mail program
• open e-mails
• read e-mails
• switch focus between the different fields in the message window
• describe what the fields mean
• write an e-mail
• send and receive e-mail
• scroll through the message list
• open attachments
• use the e-mail program's Online Help

JAWS

• navigate the main Outlook Express window
• navigate the message window

Launching and closing Outlook Express

To launch the Outlook Express e-mail editor:

1. Select Start - Programs - Outlook Express and press Enter. Listen to what JAWS tells you as the program starts.
2. Press Alt to shift focus to the menu bar.
3. Open the File menu.
4. Select Exit and press Enter to close Outlook Express.

Exercise

1. Launch Outlook Express. Listen to what JAWS tells you.
2. Check the Title Bar using Insert + T.
3. Close the program using Alt + F4.

Navigating the Outlook Express Window

The main Outlook Express window consists of a folder list and a message list. When the program first opens the focus will be on the message list. To scroll through your list of messages, use the down or up arrow.

To change focus to the folder list, press Tab.

The most important folders are Inbox, Outbox and Sent Items. You can move between the folders using the arrow keys.

Exercise

1. Launch Outlook Express.
2. Use the arrow keys to find out how many mails are in your message list.
3. Switch focus to the folder list using the Tab key.
4. Find the Sent Items folder.
5. Go back to the Inbox.
6. Switch focus to the message list.
7. Close the program.

Opening and reading mail

To open a mail. select the mail from the message list and press Enter. JAWS will start reading the mail from the top. Often it is convenient to stop the speech and read the text line after line using down arrow.

Exercise

1. Open a mail from the message list.
2. Let JAWS read it without stopping the speech.
3. Close the mail and open it again. This time stop the speech by pressing Ctrl.
4. Read it line by line.
5. When you've finished reading the mail, close it by pressing Esc.

Creating and sending an e-mail

To create a new message:

1. Go to the Outlook Express menu bar by pressing Alt.
2. Press down arrow to open the File menu.
3. Select the New menu option. A submenu will open.
4. Select the Mail Message option in the submenu.
5. Press Enter.
6. In the New Message window, press the Tab key to move between the following fields:

• To
• CC
• BCC
• Subject
• Message edit field

1. Press Shift + Tab to go backwards.
2. In the To field, write your teacher's e-mail address.
3. Tab to the subject field and type a brief description of what the mail is about.

10) Tab to the message edit field - this is the body of the e-mail..

1. Write a short message to your teacher.
2. Press Alt to go to the File menu of the New Message window.
3. Open the File menu.
4. Select the Send Message option and press Enter.

The e-mail is now sent.

Outlook Express keyboard shortcuts

Create a new message: Ctrl + N

Send a message: Alt + S

Send and receive mail: Ctrl + M

Exercise

1. Launch Outlook Express from the Start menu.
2. Send an e-mail.
3. Create an e-mail where you use the CC and BCC fields.
4. Send and receive mail.
5. Read new mail.

Opening e-mail attachments

Often people attach files to an e-mail. As you scroll through the message list, JAWS will tell you if there is an attachment.

To open a message with a file attached:

1. Scroll down the list until you find a message with an attachment.
2. Open the mail.
3. Press Shift + Tab or Insert + A to access the attachment, then press Enter.

The attached file will open.

Accessing Outlook Express Help

In most Windows programs you can open the Online Help by pressing the F1 key.

To open Outlook Express Help:

1. Press Ctrl + T to check you are in Outlook Express.
2. Press F1 to start Outlook Express Help.
3. Find the Index tabbed page.
4. Find out what the Help says about reading attached files.
5. Find out what an address book is.

FAQs

How do I start Outlook Express?

Answer: Select Start - Programs - Outlook Express and press Enter.

How do I stop Outlook Express?

Answer: Press Alt + F4.

How do I move between the folder list and message list?

Answer: Press Tab.

How do I open a mail?

Answer: Select a mail in the message list and press Enter.

How do I create a new message?

Answer: Press Ctrl + N.

How do I Move between the To, CC, BCC, Attachment, and message edit fields?

Answer: Press Tab or Shift + Tab.

How do I send mail?

Answer: Press Alt + S.

How do I send and receive mail?

Answer: Press Ctrl + M.

How do I open an attached file?

Answer: Press Shift + Tab or Insert + A, then press Enter.

How do I start Outlook Express Help?

Answer: Press F1.

How do I read the title bar in a window or a dialog box?

Answer: Press Insert + T.

Session 3

In this session you will learn the basics of Microsoft Word.

You will also learn how to open and save documents. Apart from the obvious advantage of allowing you to keep important documents, being able the Save function is useful because it allows you to save your work, go off and do something else and come back to it hours, or even days, later.

Aims

After this session you should be able to

Word

• open Word
• close Word
• write a document
• close a document
• save a document
• open a document
• print a document
• use Online Help in Word
• describe how optical character recognition (OCR) software works with Word

JAWS

• use the numeric keypad to read from the screen
• use JAWS Help
• navigate the Save As and Open dialog boxes

Closing extra documents

When you launch Word it displays an empty document by default.

When working with Word and JAWS it is a good idea to have only one document open at a time. You can close the document without closing the entire program.

To close a document:

1. Start Microsoft Word. Listen to what JAWS tells you.
2. Check the title bar.
3. Shift focus to the menu bar and open the File menu.
4. Select the Close option and press Enter. JAWS will tell you that the document has closed.
5. Check the title bar again. What does JAWS tell you now?

Creating a new document

To be able to type text in Word you need to create a new document.

To create a new document:

1. Shift focus to the menu bar.
2. In the File menu, select New.
3. Press Enter.
4. Word will ask you what kind of document you want to create. Select Blank document and press Enter.

Opening and closing with keyboard shortcuts

Start Word: Ctrl + Alt+ W

Close document: Ctrl + F4

Create new document: Ctrl + N

Close Word: Alt + F4

Saving documents

A big advantage of working on a computer is the ability to save your work on the hard disk and come back to it later.

To save a document:

1. Start writing a letter to someone you know.
2. Check the title bar to ensure you are in the Word document.
3. Shift focus to the menu bar.
4. In the File menu, select Save.
5. Press Enter. Listen to what JAWS tells you. A Save As dialog box appears on screen asking you several questions.
6. To save a document you need to give it a name. Write the name in the File name edit combo box. Choose a name that will make it easy to identify later.
7. Press Enter.
8. Check the title bar in Word again. Note the name of the file is in the title bar now.
9. Continue writing in the letter.

10) Save the file again. Get into the habit of saving your work every three or four minutes. Note: The dialog box does not reappear. You have already told Word the name of the file and where it is stored.

1. Close the document and start a new one.

Saving with a keyboard shortcut

To save a document using a keyboard shortcut, press Ctrl + S.

You first time you do this the Save As dialog box will appear.

Opening a document

To open a document that has been saved on your computer:

1. Shift focus to the menu bar in Word.
2. In the File menu, select Open and press Enter.
3. Listen to what JAWS tells you. An Open dialog box will appear on screen and the focus will be on the File name edit combo box.
4. Type the name of the file you are looking for and press Enter.

Opening files from the list view

If you have a number files on your hard disk, you may find it hard to remember their names. For this reason, the Open dialog box also displays a list of all the files saved in the My Documents folder.

To open a file from the list view:

1. In the Open dialog box, press Shift + Tab until the focus is on the list view.
2. Use the arrow keys to navigate through the list of files.
3. To open the file you want, select it and press Enter.

Opening with a keyboard shortcut

You can open the Open dialog box by pressing Ctrl + O.

Try opening some documents with the shortcut instead of the menu bar.

Exercise

1. Start Word.
2. Shift focus to the menu bar
3. From the File menu select Open and press Enter.
4. In the Open dialog box go to the list view and open a file.
5. Read the file using the arrow keys.

Navigating a document

Every time a document is opened the text cursor appears at the top left of the document. This is useful if you want to read the document.

If you want to go on writing in the same document you will have to move the cursor – normally to the end of the document.

To move to the end of the document press Ctrl + End.

To move to the start of the document press Ctrl + Home.

Try this several times, then go to the end of the file and type some more text. Finally, save your changes using Ctrl + S.

Printing a document

In Part 1 you learned how to print a document using the shortcut Ctrl + P.

You can also print documents from the File menu.

To print from the File menu:

1. Open a document.
2. Shift focus to the menu bar.
3. From the File menu select Print and press Enter.
4. In the printer dialog box, you can select how many copies you want.
5. Press Enter to print the document.
6. Listen to the sounds the printer makes as it prints the document.

Reading from the numeric keypad

Many JAWS users use the numeric keypad to read through documents.

If you turn off the Num Lock key in the top left of the numeric keypad, the keys 2, 4, 6, and 8 work like the arrow keys. They can be used in combination with the Insert key - on the bottom left of the keypad - to produce the following commands:

• Insert + 2 - Say all
• Insert + 4 - Say previous word
• Insert + 6 - Say next word
• Insert + 8 - Say current line
• Insert + 5 - Say word
• Insert + 5 twice quickly - Spell word

Activate JAWS Keyboard Help (Insert + 1) and practise these keystrokes on the numeric keypad.

Then turn off Keyboard Help and practise reading through a document.

Accessing Help in Word and JAWS

To use the Help in Word:

1. Press Ctrl + T to check you are in Word.
2. Press F1 to start Word Help.
3. Find the Index tabbed page.
4. In the edit field type the word "print", then press Enter.
5. Switch to the topic contents by pressing F6.
6. Try to find an explanation for the following terms:

• Save
• Shortcuts

To use the Help in JAWS:

1. Press Insert + F1 twice.
2. Find the Index tabbed page.
3. Press F6 to navigate the content pane. Read through the page. When you come across a link, select it and press Enter.

OCR

A scanner is a piece of hardware that allows you to copy images and documents into your PC and store them electronically.

Often scanners save scanned documents as images and are unable to recognize the text that they contain.

However, optical character recognition (OCR) programs enable the PC to recognise the text in scanned documents. You can then import the text into Word or a text editor and read it through JAWS.

So a scanner with the appropriate software can be a useful tool if you are blind and want to read printed documents.

FAQs

How do I check the title bar?

Answer: Press Insert + T.

How do I shift focus to the menu bar?

Answer: Press Alt.

How do I scroll through a menu?

Answer: Use the up and down arrow keys.

How do I scroll through a list view?

Answer: Use the up and down arrow keys.

How do I close a document?

Answer: Press Ctrl + F4.

How do I make a new document?

Answer: Press Ctrl + N.

How do I open a document?

Answer: Press Ctrl + O.

How do I save a document?

Answer: Press Ctrl + S.

How do I print a document?

Answer: Press Ctrl + P.

How do I read through a document with JAWS?

Answer: Use the following keyboard shortcuts:

• Insert + 2 - Say all
• Insert + 4 - Say previous word
• Insert + 6 - Say next word
• Insert + 8 - Say current line
• Insert + 5 - Say word
• Insert + 5 twice quickly - Spell word

Session 4

By using a web browser and JAWS you can have access to the vast resources of the World Wide Web. But be warned: It takes a lot of practice and patience to get used to the Web. You can find a lot of information up there, but you can also get lost.

For this part of the course, we have produced a mini web site that explains some of the key skills you will need to be able to use JAWS and the Web. Your teacher will show you where to find the web site.

Aims

After this session, you should be able to

Internet Explorer

• launch and shut down a web browser
• connect to the Internet
• open a web page
• bookmark a web page
• read a web page
• activate hyperlinks
• search the Web
• download files
• use the browser's Online Help

JAWS

• read a web page
• open a web page
• use web forms
• navigate
• back to the previous page
• to the top of the page
• to the bottom of the page
• read out all the links on the page
• visit web pages in different languages and switch synthesizer language in JAWS

Viewing the web site from floppy disk

Your teacher may have put the web site for this session on a floppy disk. This will allow you to take the web pages home with you and practise outside class.

To open the web site from the floppy disk:

1. Insert the disk into the floppy disk drive.
2. Open the Start menu.
3. Select the Run option and press Enter.
4. In the Run dialog box type A:.
5. Press Enter. Windows will display the files on the floppy disk.
6. In the list view, select the file index.htm and press Enter.
7. Your web browser will launch and display the home page of the JAWS and the Web course.