Web Page Elements

Elements are used to create the structure of a web page and are used to present information in various ways. JAWS interacts with these elements to provide the information you need to access the page contents. Some of the most common web page elements you will encounter include:

JAWS provides easy to use and remember commands called Navigation Quick Keys for quickly moving to various elements on a web page. Press a single letter on your keyboard and move right to an item. For example, you can press T for tables, F for form controls, V for visited links, H for headings, and so on. Add SHIFT to any navigation quick key to move to the previous element of that type.

For instance, a sighted user can visually scan through headings on a page until they find the one they want and then focus in on the text in that section. Similarly, using JAWS, you can press H to quickly move through all of the headings on a page until you locate the one you want and then start reading with the ARROW keys.

Viewing Lists of Elements

JAWS can look at a web page and compile lists of paragraphs, links, headings, form fields, and other elements so you can quickly find what you need and move to information. Press INSERT+F3 to open the Virtual HTML Features dialog box. This dialog box allows you to choose from a variety of lists containing information about different types of elements on the current page. Select an item and press ENTER to view a list of all those elements.

You can also use the following commands to quickly display lists of the following important HTML elements:

In addition, if you hold down CTRL+INSERT and press one of several Navigation Quick Keys, JAWS displays a list of those elements on the current page. For example, to display a list of check boxes on the current page, press CTRL+INSERT+X.

Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to move through the lists and select items. Alternatively, press the first letter of an item to move right to it. Press ENTER to move to the selected item's location on the page.