Collaborating by using the keyboard

You can use the keyboard to perform the primary collaboration tasks in the information center.

Logging in to the system

The Sign in link is located on the Main Help toolbar.
  1. Locate the Main Help Toolbar, Tab to the Sign in link, and press Enter. For screen reader users, list the links on the page, select the Sign in link, and activate it. A Sign in dialog window appears with focus on the IBM ID field.
  2. Enter your IBM ID and press Tab. Your cursor is focused on the Password field. If you do not have an IBM ID, Tab to the Register on IBM.com link and press Enter. Otherwise, move to step 3.
  3. Enter your password and press Enter or Tab to the Sign in button and press Enter. If you forgot your password, Tab to the Forgot your password? link and press Enter.
  4. If you have never signed in before, press Tab once to read the Term and Conditions. After reading the Term and Conditions, press Tab to navigate to the Agree button and press Enter. You must agree to the Terms and Conditions to comment on topics.

Navigating the contents tree in the left pane

  1. Navigate to the Contents View.
    • In Internet Explorer, press Alt+C, then press Enter, and then press Shift+F6.
    • In Firefox, press Shift+Alt+C and then press Shift+F6.
  2. For screen reader users, turn off Virtual Cursor mode.
  3. Use the following keys to navigate the topics in the navigation tree:
    • Expand a topic branch - Right Arrow
    • Collapse a topic branch - Left Arrow
    • Move to the next topic branch - Down Arrow or Tab
    • Move to the previous topic branch - Up Arrow or Shift+Tab
    • Load a topic in the Topic View - Press Enter when the topic is in focus

Adding a comment to a topic

You must be signed in to add a comment to a topic.

  1. While viewing a topic in the Topic View, move to the Topic Collaboration View.
    • In Internet Explorer, press Alt+O, and then press Enter. The Topic Collaboration View is expanded and your cursor is focused on the Expand all comments button.
    • In Firefox, press Shift+Alt+O. The Topic Collaboration View is expanded and your cursor is focused on the Expand all comments button.
  2. Tab to the Comment on Topic button, then press Enter to open the Add Comment on Topic dialog window. Your cursor is focused on the Subject field. A comment subject title is required.
  3. Enter a subject for your comment, and then press Tab. Your cursor is focused on the Comment formatting toolbar.
  4. Tab to the comment field and compose your comment.
  5. After composing your comment, Tab to the Submit button and press Enter to submit your comment.
  6. To cancel your comment after composing, Tab to the Cancel button and press Enter to cancel your comment.

Adding a comment to an element

You must be signed in to add a comment to an element.

  1. Expand the Topic Collaboration View frame.
    • In Internet Explorer, press Alt+O and then press Enter. The Topic Collaboration View is expanded and your cursor is focused on the Expand all comments button.
    • In Firefox, press Shift+Alt+O. The Topic Collaboration View is expanded and your cursor is focused on the Expand all comments button.
  2. While viewing a topic in the Topic View, select an element by tabbing or navigating to the element and then press Enter.
  3. Move to the Topic Collaboration View.
    • In Internet Explorer, press Alt+O, then press Enter. The Topic Collaboration View is collapsed. Press Alt+O and press Enter again. The Topic Collaboration View is expanded and your cursor is focused on the Expand all comments button.
    • In Firefox, press Shift+Alt+O. The Topic Collaboration View is collapsed. Press Shift+Alt+O again. The Topic Collaboration View is expanded and your cursor is focused on the Expand all comments button.
  4. Tab to the Comment on Element button, then press Enter to open the Add Comment on Element dialog window. Your cursor is focused on the Subject field of the comment field. A comment subject title is required.
  5. Enter a subject for your comment, then press Tab. Your cursor is focused on the Comment formatting toolbar.
  6. Tab to the Comment field and compose your comment.
  7. After composing your comment, Tab to the Submit button, then press Enter to submit your comment.
  8. To cancel your comment after composing, Tab to the Cancel button, then press Enter to cancel your comment.

Adding a comment to a selection

You must be signed in and Caret Browsing must be enabled to add a comment to a selection.

  1. To enable Caret Browsing if it is not already enabled, press F7.
  2. Expand the Topic Collaboration View frame.
    • In Internet Explorer, press Alt+O and then press Enter. The Topic Collaboration View is expanded and your cursor is focused on the Expand all comments button.
    • In Firefox, press Shift+Alt+O. The Topic Collaboration View is expanded and your cursor is focused on the Expand all comments button.
  3. While viewing a topic in the Topic View, use the arrow keys to navigate to the text you want to select.
  4. Press Shift+Left Arrow, Shift+Right Arrow, Shift+Up Arrow, or Shift+Down Arrow to select words or lines, then press Enter to enable the selection.
  5. Move to the Topic Collaboration View.
    • In Internet Explorer, press Alt+O, then press Enter. The Topic Collaboration View is collapsed. Press Alt+O and press Enter again. The Topic Collaboration View is expanded and your cursor is focused on the Expand all comments button.
    • In Firefox, press Shift+Alt+O. The Topic Collaboration View is collapsed. Press Shift+Alt+O again. The Topic Collaboration View is expanded and your cursor is focused on the Expand all comments button.
  6. Tab to the Comment on Selection button, then press Enter to open the Add Comment on Selection dialog window. Your cursor is focus on the Subject field. A comment subject is required.
  7. Enter a subject for your comment, then press Tab. Your cursor is focused on the Comment formatting toolbar.
  8. Tab to the comment field and compose your comment.
  9. After composing your comment, Tab to the Submit button and then press Enter to submit your comment.
  10. To cancel your comment after composing, Tab to the Cancel button and then press Enter to cancel your comment.

Navigating and displaying comment threads for a topic

  1. While viewing a topic in the Topic View, move to the Topic Collaboration View.
    • In Internet Explorer, press Alt+O then press Enter. The Topic Collaboration View is expanded and your cursor is focused on the Expand all comments button.
    • In Firefox, press Shift+Alt+O. The Topic Collaboration View is expanded and your cursor is focused on the Expand all comments button.
  2. Press Tab to navigate through the Topic Collaboration View Toolbar and the Threads table. You can sort the table by tabbing to one of the column headers (Category, Threads, Started By, Last Post, and Replies) and then press Enter. You can sort each column in ascending and descending order.
  3. Press Tab to navigate from the first discussion thread to the last.
Note: If you want to listen to all of the contents of the thread table, set JAWS in "virtual PC cursor on" mode or press Insert+Z. Press Down Arrow to navigate to the next element or press Up Arrow to navigate to the previous element.

Replying to a comment

You must be signed in to reply to a comment.

  1. Navigate to the comment in the Threads table in the Topic Collaboration View that you want to provide a reply.
  2. Tab to the Expand comment icon (a plus sign) for the comment and press Enter to expand the comment.
  3. Tab to the Reply link for the comment and press Enter to open the Reply Comment dialog window. By default, the subject title is preceded by Re:, and your focus is at the end of the subject title. You can edit the subject or move to step 4.
  4. Tab to the comment field and compose your comment.
  5. After composing your comment, Tab to the Submit button and then press Enter to submit your comment.
  6. To cancel your comment after composing, Tab to the Cancel button and then press Enter to cancel your comment

Rating a topic

You must be signed in to rate a topic.

  1. While viewing a topic in the Topic View, navigate to the top of the current page until you come to the ratings links. Select the Poor, Fair, Average, Good, or Excellent link and then press Enter. For screen reader users, list the links on the page, select the rating (Poor, Fair, Average, Good, or Excellent) you want to use and activate it. Ratings are defined on a scale from one to five stars. The highest rating, excellent, is five (5) stars.

Watching a topic

You must be signed in to watch a topic.

  1. While viewing a topic in the Topic View, navigate to the top of the current topic page until you come to the Watch this Page link and then press Enter. For screen reader users, list the links on the page, select Watch comments on this page Watch this page link and activate it. When another user adds a comment to this topic, you are notified by email.
  2. Repeat step 1 to stop watching a topic.

Subscribing to RSS

You must be signed in to subscribe to a topic.

  1. While viewing a topic in the Topic View, navigate to the top of the current topic page until you come to the RSS Subscribe link and then press Enter. For screen reader users, list the links on the page, select Subscribe comments of this page RSS Subscribe link and activate it. When another user adds a comment to this topic, you are notified by RSS feed. To unsubscribe, follow the instructions in your RSS feed reader.

Searching in the information center

Search mechanisms are located on the Main Help Toolbar and the Contents View Toolbar. For more information on how to use these search mechanisms, refer to Searching the information center.