WINDOWS 98 and WINDOWS XP
THE BASIC KEYBOARD & NAVIGATION KEYS
Below are a group of Windows 98 and XP Navigation Keys which are necessary to learn in order to move around within programs or between menus. Practice these with an instructor or friend. Once you feel comfortable with the keystrokes below, take the quiz for the section.
LEFT SIDE OF THE KEYBOARD
First explore the keyboard with a friend or instructor in order to learn the
location of frequently used keys.
You are only to look at the left two-thirds portion of the keyboard not including the six pack, arrow keys or number pad also called "numpad."
Move to the top left of the keyboard and you will locate the escape key. Frequently this is referred to as the "esc" key for short.
Just to the right of the escape key are 15 keys separated in to three groups of four and one set of three. The first 12 keys are called the "function keys."
The three groups of four are labeled as F1 through F12 from left to right. There is a space between each set of four.
NOTE: On a wireless keyboard these same keys may be grouped into sets of three. The same amount of function keys are available.
Just after F12 are three keys. From left to right they
are:
a. print screen
b. scroll lock
c. pause
Move back to the left and just below the escape key. This row consist of 14 keys. They are listed out from left to right below in the order they appear on the actual keyboard. When embossing this out, some of the keys will run over on the second line. However, remember these keys are actually side-by-side on the actual keyboard.
Below is the list of keys.
Grave accent, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, hyphen, equal, backspace
Move back to the left again and down one row.
Below is the list of keys:
tab, q, w, e, r, t, y, u, i, o, p, left bracket, right bracket, backslash
Move back to the left and down one row.
These keys, commonly called the "home-row keys" are shown below.
cap-locks, a, s, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, semi-colon, apostrophe, enter key
Move back to the left again and down one row. The keys
are listed out below.
Left shift, z, x, c, v, b, n, m, comma, period, slash, right shift
(Note: don’t hold down the right shift key for more than a second. Doing so will turn on filter keys. If you hold down the left shift key when a CD is in the CD-ROM drive, this will stop auto-load.)
Move back to the left and down one row. The keys are
listed out below.
Control key, Start-windows key, left alternate key, spacebar, right alternate
key, Start-windows key, application key, control key
The letters "ctrl" are frequently used for the word "control" instead of spelling out the complete word.
If you are using a screen reader, when typing the letters "ctrl," the speech will say control when going back over the letters.
CENTER AND RIGHT SIDE OF THE KEYBOARD
Move your hand to the top left side of the keyboard. Then follow the row of
function keys to the right until reaching the set of three keys just after the
last group of four function keys.
Just below these three keys are a group of six and sometimes nine keys. They are arranged with three keys in two rows or three sets of three keys--depending upon the age of your keyboard. Frequently if there are six keys, it is referred to as the "six pack." If there are nine keys, it is called a nine pack.
Locate the top left corner of this six- or nine-pack. From left to right the top row of three keys are: insert key, home key, page up key
Move down one row and back to the left of this set of keys. The second row from left to right are: delete key, end key, and page-down key.
Move down to the last set of three if you have a nine pack. The keys from left to right are:
If you are using a wireless keyboard, the keys are arranged completely different. There are only five keys arranged as listed below.
The first row from left to right are the "home" and
"end" keys.
The second row from left to right is the "top-of-page" key, "end-of-line" key,
"delete" key and the "page-up" key.
In the third row from left to right is the bottom portion of the "delete" key
and "page-down" key on the right.
NUMPAD KEY ARRANGEMENT
Move over to the right side of the keyboard and you will find a set of keys
arranged like a telephone keypad. On the top row from left to right the keys
are: num-lock, slash, star, and minus key.
Move back to the left side and down to the second row. Here are the number keys: 7, 8, 9, and the top end of the "plus" key.
Move back to the left and down one row. These key are: 4, 5, 6, and the center portion of the "plus" key. You will notice that there is a dot on the number five key. This is also referred to as the center or "guide" key.
Move back to the left and down one row. These keys are: 1, 2, 3, and the top end of the "enter" key.
Back to the left again and down to the last row. These keys are: insert/zero delete/decimal point and the bottom end of the "enter" key.
This number pad has an "enter" key because when the num-lock is depressed, this number keypad functions as a calculator.
It is necessary to have the num-lock off when using a screen reader for the mouse-routing keys to work properly.
USING AND LOCATING THE NAVIGATION KEYS
Press the "start" key with your left hand and then press the letter "m" with
your right hand. You should be taken to the desktop.
Below you will find a given action with the needed keystroke.
Access the start menu: press the "start" button.
Move between menu items in a menu such as the file menu or start menu by using the up/down arrow keys.
Cancel or close a menu such as the start menu by pressing the "escape" (esc) key.
In order to practice most of the following keystrokes, you should have a program like a word processor opened.
If you are using WordPerfect, follow the steps below to
open WordPerfect from the start menu:
A. Press the start button.
B. Press the letter "c" until reaching Corel WordPerfect. If the pull-down menu
doesn’t open, arrow to the right once. If the pull-down menu does open, you
should land on access notes or something else in the WordPerfect suite of
programs.
C. Arrow down to WordPerfect and press "enter."
If you are using Microsoft Word, follow the steps
below:
A. Press the start button.
B. Press the letter "p" for programs.
C. Press the letter "m" until reaching Microsoft Word and then press "enter."
Sometimes you may have to go to Microsoft Office and arrow once to the right.
Then arrow up to Microsoft Word and press "enter."
Now with a word processor opened, practice the keystrokes below.
To activate the menu bar when in a program - press the "alt." key
To move between menus on the menu bar - press left/right arrow
To open a menu on the menu bar - locate the menu and press "enter."
To move between dialog controls - A dialog control would be the "open" or "save" dialogs. In order to get the "open" dialog to open, you must first be in the file menu and arrow down to open. Then press "enter." Now you can tab from one option to another. So this is why the tab is shown below as the keystroke for moving between dialog controls.)
NAVIGATION KEY FUNCTIONS
To move between "tab controls" also called "property sheets," hold down the "cntrl"
key and then press the "tab" key. You will learn more about this later.
To move between list items - This would be on a menu or in a list of files. Use the up/down arrow keys.
To switch between opened programs, hold down the right "alt." key and press the "tab" key.
To exit a program - press the "alt." key plus the F4 key.
To move forward between opened files - You must have more than one file open to do this keystroke and see the correct results. Press "cntrl" plus the letter "n" and a second blank file will open. Now you can use the following keystrokes to move between each of the open files. Press the "cntrl" plus the F6 key.
To move backward between opened files - press the "cntrl" key plus "shift" plus F6.
To close a file - "cntrl" plus F4.
To minimize all programs and move to the desktop - press the "windows" key plus the letter "m."
To open another blank document - pres "cntrl" plus the letter "n."
PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
1. Locate the start button and open the start menu.
2. Minimize all programs and move to the desktop. (Windows key plus the letter m)
3. Locate WordPerfect on the Desktop or Start menu and open it. If you prefer to use Microsoft Word on the Programs menu or from the desktop, open it instead.
(For WordPerfect on the desktop, press the letter c until reaching Corel WordPerfect and then press "enter." From the start menu, you must first press the "start" button. Then press the letter "c" until reaching Corel WordPerfect. Sometimes you may need to press the right arrow to open the WordPerfect pull-down menu before attempting to arrow down to WordPerfect. If the list of Corel WordPerfect programs doesn’t appear, just right arrow once.
If you wish to use Microsoft Word from the programs menu, do the following. Press the start button. Then press the letter "p" for Programs. Press the letter "m" until reaching Microsoft Office or Microsoft Word. If you need to access Microsoft Office first, arrow to the right once reaching Microsoft Office and then arrow up to reach Word. Finally press "enter."
4. From within a word processor, access the menu bar. (Press the alt. key once.)
5. Cancel the menu bar command and return back to the blank document. (Press the esc key.)
6. Open a second blank document. (Control plus the letter "n.")
7. Type your first name in the currently maximized document. Then move back to the previous document. (Control plus F6).
8. Type your last name in the currently maximized file. Now move back to the second document and close the file. You will be asked if you wish to save this file. Just press the letter "n" for "no" when this prompt comes up. (Cntrl plus F6 then press cntrl plus F4 to close the file. Remember to press the letter "n" for "not" to save this file.)
9. Move between the opened programs and return back to this currently maximized one.
(Press alt. plus the "tab" key until reaching the program you wish to use.)
10. Access the file menu on the menu bar and move through the menu items. (Press the alt. key once. Then arrow left or right until reaching the file menu. Lastly, arrow down through the menu. When finished exploring the menu, press "esc" until returning back to your document.)
QUIZ
1. Touch or press the left alt key.
2. Touch or [press the left control key.
3. Press or touch the right control key.
5. Touch or press the application key.
6. Touch or press the spacebar.
7. Touch the escape key.
8. Touch the scroll-lock key.
9. Touch the tab key.
10. Touch the left shift key.
11. Touch the insert key on the six pack.
12. Touch the insert on the numpad.
13. Locate the num-lock key.
14. Locate the arrow keys.
15. Locate the cap-lock key.
16. Locate F3.
17. Locate F12.
18. Locate F10.
19. Touch the enter key on the main keyboard.
20. Touch the backspace key.
21. Locate the backslash.
22. Locate the slash.
23. Touch the right shift key.
24. Locate the period.
25. Locate the comma.
26. Why it is necessary for the num-luck to be off when using a screen reader? (The screen reader keys used with the numpad will not work.)
27. How many function keys are in a group on a wireless keyboard? (Three)
28. What key is on the top left corner of a keyboard? (Escape)
29. How many alt keys are on a keyboard? (Two)
30. How many control keys are on a keyboard? (Two)
31. What is another name for the start button? (Windows key)
32. Give the keystroke for moving between programs. (Alt. plus tab)
33. Give the keystroke for closing a file. (Control plus F4)
34. Give the keystroke for minimizing all programs and reaching the desktop. (Start button plus the letter "m")
35. How can you reach the menu bar? (Press the alt. key)
36. How can you open a menu on the menu bar? (Locate the menu and then press the down or up arrow.)
37. What key is used to move through dialog boxes such as in the open dialog window? (Tab key)
38. What command is used to close a program? (Alt. plus F4)
39. How can you create a new blank document in a word processing program? (Cntrl plus the letter "n.")
40. What will happen if you press cntrl plus F6 when more than one file is opened in your word processor? (You will move between the open files.)
41. Where is the escape key located? (Top left corner of the keyboard)