- From: Scott Luebking <phoenixl@netcom.com>
- Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 19:09:24 -0800 (PST)
- To: w3c-wai-ui@w3.org
Hi,
Here's some documentation on the prototype browser I worked on last year.
The ideas might be useful for blind accessibility for browsers.
Scott
=======================================================================
Introductory help
Screen layout
The screen layout has three main areas. The top 22 lines of the screen
are used to display text. The twenty-third line is for messages while
the bottom line is used for inputting commands or other data like web page
addresses. The begining of the input area usually has a string
like 'Command:' to tell what to enter.
Scrolling
You can use the following keys to move the text being viewed:
ctrl-d scroll down
ctrl-u scroll up
ctrl-t scroll to top
ctrl-b scroll to bottom
ctrl-a lists these scrolling keys
Quitting the browser
To quit the browser, type 'bye' or 'quit'.
Comoarison with the lynx browser
This browser has some similarities to the lynx browser and certain significant
differences.
The lynx browser uses the 'g' command to enter a URL. To enter a URL
for this browser, you press the ESC key and start entering the URL.
When you are finished entering the URL, press the RETURN key.
(If you change your mind about entering a URL, just type the ctrl-C key
to cancel.)
This browser annotates a web page with additional information.
An analysis of the page is available by typing the analysis command
or its abbreviation "a". A brief version of the analysis
will appear in the message area if you type the ctrl-S key.
The lynx browser uses the up and down arrows to move from link
to link. This browser gives a little more context by moving
to a line with one or more links. Each link is numbered rather than
highlighted.
The lynx browser responds to the TAB key just like the down arrow
key. Also, the lynx browser jumps to both links and form fields.
This browser uses the up and down arrows to just move to lines with links.
The TAB key jumps to fields in a form or the beginning or end of a form.
The vt100 does not support the ALT TAB key so the ctrl-R key is used
as the reverse of the TAB key.
To select a link or a form field, you can use the right arrow or the
RETURN key like in lynx. In addition you can just type in the number
of the link or the field id which is the number of the form followed
by a period followed by the number of the field, e.g. 2.3 is the
third field in the second form. Be sure to press RETURN after the
link number or field id.
If you wish to move the highlight to the line containing a specific link
but not select the link, just type 'l' followed by a blank, the link number
and the RETURN key. Similarly, you can move the highlight to the line
containing a specific form field by typing 'f' followed by a blank,
the field id and the RETURN key. If you want to move to the beginning of
a form, type 'f' followed by a blank, the form number and the RETURN KEY.
If the field you choose expects text input, the word 'Input: '
will be displayed in the 24th line instead of the word 'Command:'.
Just type in the text input followed by the RETURN key. If you wish
to cancel out of the input field, type the ctrl-C key. Three types
of erasing are provided:
backspace erase one character
ctrl-w erase one word
ctrl-x erase entire line of text
The left arrow works in this browser like it does in lynx to return to
the preious page.
This browser uses the forward slash for searching for text on a page
like the lynx browser. The basic difference is that this browser
highlights the line containing the text instead of a nearby field or
link.
This browser provides a number of commands for scanning or navigating
through a web page. A very useful key is the second function key which
will scan forward to the next paragraph. Unfortunately the vt100
only supports four function keys. In order to keep function
keys for the most useful commands, control keys and string commands
are also used. The reverse of the second function key is ctrl-P.
In the lynx browser, a highlighted area usually means something to
select. In this browser, a highlighted line can have a couple of different
uses. The first is the same as in lynx, i.e. idicating something to
select. The second use of a highlighted line is to indicate where
to start reading. For example, if you used the second function,
which was just described, to go to the next paragraph, the first
line of the paragraph is highlighted. This does not necessarily mean
that there is anything to select, but that this is the line to start
reading from.
Tips for using this browser with screen readers
There are several function you will need to have your screen reader
perform in order to work well with this browser. They are:
1. notify you when the message on the twenty-third line changes
2. review the twenty-third line when you want
3. echo back characters as you type in commands, URL's or text input
4. read the twenty-fourth line containing input when you want
5. notify you of any text changes in the first 22 lines
6. locate a highlighted line
7. read a highlighted line
8. read starting at a highlighted line through the twenty-second line
Some screen reader users have the punctuation pronounciation turned off.
It is important to remember that there is a period in field id's
between the form number and the field number. Also, nested
table ids can have a combination of periods and hyphens, e.g.
2 hyphen 3 period 4 period 1 .
Web page annotation
This browser annotates each web page with additional information.
The annontation can be controlled by the annontation menu which
is displayed when you press the first function key. This menu
lets you control such annotation as aspects like:
paragrah numbering
heading numbering
list item numbering
showing ends of links
including the URL's for linkss
including row or column labels in each table cell
including ALT or source information for images
showing image information only for images in links
showing beginning and ends of fonts, subscripts or superscripts
You can select items on the panel being displayed by typing the menu
item number followed by the RETURN key. When you are finished making
your choices, type 'save' or 'cancel'. A new version of the page will then
replace the old version.
Frames
If this browser reads a page with frames, it will display a menu with
a description of each frame. The description can include word count,
number of links, number of forms and a list of significant words.
To choose the desired frame, just enter the number of the frame followed
by the RETURN key. If you ever want to change to a different frame
for that page, just type the 'fs' command followed by the RETURN key to
re-display the frames menu.
Forms
This browser marks the beginning and end of each form. The number of fields
in the form are noted at the beginning of the form.
As mention in another section, this browser lets you select a field either
by moving the highlight to the line containing the field or by typing in
the field id followed by the RETURN key. These methods can be used
for all form fields including menu, submit, reset and image.
If the field is a check box or radio button, 'YES' or 'NO' will indicate
the status of the field.
If the field is related to a menu of choices, a menu will be displayed
with the list of choices. To make a selection, type the number of the
selection followed by the RETURN key. You can also move the highlight
to the line containing the choice and press the right arrow key or the
RETURN key. When you are finished making your selection, type 'save'
or 'cancel' followed by RETURN key.
As discussed previously, if the field is for text input, the twenty-fourth
line will display the input you're typing. A fast way for text input
is just to type the field id followed by a space, the text you wish to input
and the RETURN key. (The ctrl-x key will clear the line if you change
your mind.)
The TAB key and the ctrl-R key will let you move from line to line
which include fields or the beginning or end of forms.
Lists
This browser indicates the beginning each list and notes the number of the
items in the list. If the list contains sub-lists, the depth of the
sub-list nesting is also noted. If the list has more than one item,
the end of the list is indicated.
This browser provides a way to move from list item to list. Just type 'i'
followed by the RETURN key. If you are in a list, this command will move you
either to the next item of the list, the beginning of the next
sub-list or the end of the list, which ever comes first. If you are outside
a list, this will move you to the beginning of the nearest list.
The 'i-' command is the reverse of the 'i' command.
The annotation menu for web pages has an option for full labeling of
list items. (The default is for this option to be turned off.)
If this option is active, the label for each item of a sub-list will
include the numbers of the various parent items. For eaxmple, if
you are looking at item 'b' in a sublist in item 3 of the main list,
the item will only have label 'b' when the option is turned off.
If the option is active, the item will be labelled 3.b instead of just 'b'.
This option is probably more useful when there are lists inside lists
inside lists.
Tables
This browser indicates the beginning and end of each table. At the beginning
of the table, the browser includes additional information about the table
such as number of rows, columns, number of spanning cells, number of
missing cells (in an irregular table), nesting depth for sub-tables,
any caption specified, etc. This information can be useful in
guessing the purpose of the table. For example, a table with a small
number of rows and columns is probably being used for formatting
the display.
Each cell in the table has an id of the row number followed by the
column number, e.g. cell 3 4 would be the cell in row 3, column 4.
The annotation menu for the web page has an option for including
row labels and/or column labels in each cell. The borwser will also note
which cells are the spanned from another cells.
The cells in each table are written on the screen in a straight line down
the screen where each cell follows the next, column by column, row by row.
This layout means that if you started at the beginning of the table
you would first encounter the cell for row 1 column 1, then row 1 column 2,
etc until the last cell of row one is encountered. The first cell
of row two would immedicately follow the last cell of row 1.
If you are reading through the cells in a table and you are not sure which
cell you are, the location command which you execute by typing ctrl-L
will tell you what line you are on and which cell of which table.
A useful command for navigating the table is the 'r' command followed
by the RETURN key. If you are in a cell, this command will move you to
the cell in the next row, but same column. The reverse of this command
is 'r-' followed by the RETURN key. If you want to get to a specific
row in the same column, you can type 'r' followed by a blank followed by
the row number followed by the RETURN key. To get to the last row in
a column, type 'r' followed by a blank, a dollar sign and the RETURN key.
The 'c' command is just like the 'r' command except the row stays the
same. If you are using 'r', 'r-', 'c', 'c-' without any numbers or
dollar signs, you can use the period command without the
RETURN key to repeat the command.
If you want to get to a specific cell in the table, just type the
row number followed by a comma followed by the column number and the
RETURN key. You can use a dollar sign instead of a number to indicate
the last one. Be sure to include the comma or the browser will interpret it
as a field id.
The 'ta' command followed by the RETURN key will move you to the beginning
of the next table. The 'ta-' command followed by the RETURN key will
move you to the beginning of the previous table. The 'ta' command,
followeb by a blank, a table id and the RETURN key will move you to the
beginning of the table specified. If you want to move to the end of
the table you are in, type the 'end' command followed by the RETURN key.
The 't' command and the 't-' command followed by the RETURN key act
just like the 'i' and 'i-' commands for lists and list items. The
't' and 't-' commands move from cell to cell in the oreder on the display.
Additional help
Typing the help command followed by the RETURN key will display a help
page specific to the page you are looking at. A list of help subjects
will be displayed by typing 'help subjects' followed by the RETURN key.
A list of commands can be displayed by typing 'help commands' followed
by the RETURN key.
=======================================================================
This information can also be accessed by the command 'help commands'.
Before reading this help page, please be sure that you have read the
introductory help page. You can view that help page by typing the
command help intro.
Index
Commands, function keys, control keys and arrow keys
Input editting
Quitting the browser
Display commands
Basic scroll commands
Navigation commands
Text searching
Page stack commands
Types of pages
Welcome page
Menus
Specifying a URL
Using an HTML FILE
Web page annotation
Web page navigation
Web page table navigation
Web page links and source command
Web page form field commands
Web page frames
Adding a web page to favorite links list or link notes page
Favorite links page
Link notes page
Link history page
Download commands
Commands, function keys, control keys and arrow keys
The browser is controlled by a combination of commands, function keys,
arrow keys and control keys. In general, the more frequent actions
can be requested by function, control or arrow keys. Less frequent
actions or actions requiring more complicated syntax are requested
by commands. Commands are typed in the input area of the display
which is the twenty-fourth line and must be followed by the RETURN key.
Input editting
Commands, URL's and text input are entered in the input area of the display.
Certain control characters can be used to edit the input. These control
characters are:
backspace or ctrl-H erase one character
ctrl-W erase a word
ctrl-X clear input line
If you are entering text or a URL, you can cancel the input by typing
ctrl-C . If you are entering a command, the ctrl-C is ignored. However,
you can clear a command by typing ctrl-X .
Quitting the browser
The browser recognizes three different commands for exiting. They are
'bye', 'quit' or just the letter 'q'. Which ever command is used for exiting
the browser, it must be followed by the RETURN key.
Display commands
Two commands are provide for the display. The first command is 'refresh'
or simply 're' for refreshing the display in case extraneous or noisy
characters show up on the screen. The other command is 'clear' or
just 'cl' in case you want to clear the screen temporarily. If you want
the information redisplayed, just type the 'refresh' command or its
abbreviation.
A third command keycheck will let you check that the keys you are using
are being understood by the browser. When this command is active, each
key you type is echoed in the message area. This command is especially
useful for checking the function keys and arrow keys along with the
ESC key. When you are finished, just press the RETURN key.
Basic scroll commands
Six basic scrolling commands are provided. They are:
ctrl-T scroll to the top
ctrl-B scroll to the bottom
ctrl-U scroll up a screen
ctrl-V scroll up half a screen
ctrl-D scroll down a screen
ctrl-E scroll down half a screen
If the command line contains a positive number, that number is used as
a factor for the scroll commands. For example, if you type 3 into the
command area and press the scroll down key ctrl-D , the browser will
scroll down 3 screens instead of just one. The command area will then
be cleared.
The ctrl-A key will display a brief help line listing these scroll commands.
Navigation commands
The browser provides some additional commands for navigating around
pages. The location key ctrl-L will display the current line number, e.g.:
Line 56 of 95.
If you want to go to a particular line, type the line number in the
command area and then the go key ctrl-G . (This is one of the few cases
when you don't need to type the RETURN key after a command.)
You can move up or down so many lines by typing plur or minus followed
by the number of lines, e.g. +30, followed by the RETURN key. (If you
type 50 instead of plus followed by 50, the browser could interpret it
as a link number.)
The browser has special zap key ctrl-Z . If you move to another line on
the page and then decide to return to where you were, just type the ctrl-Z
key .
The browser also lets you mark a line with the ctrl-N key. After you
mark a line, you can always return to it by typing the go key ctrl-G with
no line number in the command area.
Text searching
The browser has a text search command. To search for text, type the
forward slash followed by the text to search for and then the RETURN key.
The browser will look for a line containing the text specified. The
search will be case insensitive. If you want to do the same search again,
just type the forward slash followed immediately by the RETURN key.
You can reverse the direction of the search by using the question mark
instead of the forward slash.
Be careful if you specify more than one word. The browser will only
look for a line containing all the words specified instead of lines with the
words specified split across them.
Page stack commands
The pages are kept in a stack like in Lynx, the Netscape browser or the
Microsoft explorer. The left and right arrows work the same as in Lynx.
This browser also has a forward command whose abbreviation is fo. This
command works more like the forward action in the Netscape or Explorer
browsers.
The forward command is different than the right arrow key. The forward
command goes to a page already in the stack. The right arrow usually
pops off the top pages of the stack and adds a new page.
Types of pages
The browser works with a variety of pages, e.g. web pages, help pages,
menus, links history, favorites list, frammeset. The commands discussed
so far can be used with all the types of pages the browser knows.
Some the pages have additional commands which are specific to the type of page.
Welcome page
You can always view the welcom page by typing the welcome command or its
abbreviation we .
Menus
Menus are used for various purposes but have the same general structure.
Each menu item has a number. To choose a particular item in a menu, just
type the number followed by the RETURN key. The other method is to move
the highlight bar to the desired menu item and then press the RETURN key
or the right arrow key. When you are finished making your choice, type
save which can be abbreviated to sa or cancel which has an abbreviation ca .
Specifying a URL
If you would like to specify a URL, first press the ESC key. The browser will
display http:// which is the beginning of the URL. Just type in the rest
of the URL and press the RETURN key. If you want to cancel out of
specifying a URL, press the ctrl-C key.
You can only specify a URL if you are viewing a web page or if you are at
the Welcome page at the beginning of the page stack. If another type of
page is being displayed, the browser won't allow you to enter a URL.
Using an HTML FILE
If you have an HTML file you want to view with the browser, you can
send it to the browser. First, copy the HTML into the operating
system's text/paste buffer or clipboard. Then make sure that the
browser is expecting a command. Next paste the HTML file into the
window which has the telnet session. Finally, press the ctrl-A key.
If you change your mind, press the ctrl-C key to cancel.
Some HTML files specify links relative to the URL of the file. If you
pass a file which uses relative URL's to the browser, the browser might
have problems with the relative links. If the HTML file uses the BASE
tag, there will be no relative URL link problem.
Web page annotation
The browser has the ability to annotate the web page in a number of
different ways. The beginning of each web page is preceeded by an
analysis of the page including a list of the most frequent words and the
counts of forms, images, tables, etc. At various points in the page
additional descriptive or informational text is included.
The types and amounts of annotation is controlled by the annotation menu.
If you are viewing a web page, you can active this menu by either pressing
the first function key or the ctrl-Y key. The menu covers a couple of
screens. Some of the options are:
Numbering the paragraphs
Numbering the headings
Using full label on list items, e.g. 3.a. instead of just a.
Labeling ends of links
Showing URL's for links
Showing cell labels in large tables only
Showing row or column label in each table cell
Listing various pieces of image information
Showing information about images only in links
Including different levels of font information or
subscript/superscript information
Web page navigation
A variety of commands and keys are provided to quickly navigate to various
interesting "landmarks" on a web page. Usually you can move forward or
backward to next type of "landmark". For some types of landmarks,
e.g. links, you can also go directly to a specific landmark.
The commands are:
landmark type next previous specific
paragraph p p- p followed by paragraph number
heading h h- h followed by heading number
link l l- l followed by link number
form field f f- f followed by field id
list item i i- none
table ta ta- ta followed by table number
table item t t- none
All of these commands need to be followed by the RETURN key.
Some of the more frequently used commands can be executed by function
keys, arrow keys or ctrl keys.
key command landmark type
down arrow l link
up arrow l- link
TAB f form field
ctrl-R f- form field
function key 2 p paragraph
ctrl-O p paragraph (same as function key 2)
ctrl-P p- paragraph
The paragraph command is an excellent way to skim through a page. It
will stop at the beginning of each paragraph or heading.
The list item command will move from list item to list item. It will also
stop at the beginning and end of each list. The table item command similarly
stops at the beginning and end of each table. The form field command
will also stop at the beginning and end of each form.
Web page table navigation
The browser provides a number of commands for navigating within a table.
type next previous specific
row r r- r followed by row number or $
column c c- c followed by column number or $
If you are repeating the same relative action, i.e. r, r-, c, or c-,
you can use the cell repeat key which is the period. You don't need
to press the RETURN key after the period.
If you are in a table and want to know which cell you are in, the location
key ctrl-L will tell you not only what line you are in, but also which
cell in which table.
If you would like to move to a specific cell in the table, just type the row
number followed by a comma and then the column number.
If you want to move to the end of the table, just type the end command
followed by the RETURN key. If you want to reach the end of another table,
type the end key followed by the table number.
Some cells are spanned or carried over from an original cell. If you are
in a spanned cell and want to go to the original cell, just type the
span command folowed by the RETURN key. If you wish to reach the original
cell of some other spanned cell, type the span command followed by the cell
row , a comma, the cell column and the RETURN key.
Web page links and source command
There are two methods for linking to another page. One is to just type
the number of the link followed by the RETURN key. The other method is
to move the highlight bar to the line with the desired link and either
press the RETURN key or the right arrow key.
If you are looking at at web page and would to see the source, just type
the source command followed by the RETURN key. If you want to see the
source for a link, type the source command followed by the link number
and the RETURN key.
Web page form field commands
If you are using a form and want to set a field, there are two methods.
One is to just type the field id followed by the RETURN key. The other
method is to move the highlight bar to the line with the desired field
and either press the RETURN key or the right arrow key.
The response to your choosing a field depends on the type of field chosen.
CHECKBOX - the browser will toggle the checkbox setting
RADIO BUTTON - the browser will turn on that field and turn off
all other fields in the same radio button group
TEXT or PASSWORD - the browser will prompt you for text
SELECT MENU - the browser will display a menu with various choices
SUBMIT - the browser will send field information to server
IMAGE - the browser will act like a submit field is chosen
RESET - the browser will reset field values in form back to
original values
If the field being chosen is a text field, you can type the text you want
to enter immediately after a blank following the field id. If you
type the field id by itself, the current contents will be displayed to
be editted.
Web page frames
If the web page you've chosen has frames, a list of the frames will be
displayed. Each frame listed will have additional information like number
of links or significant words. To choose a frame, type the number followed
by the RETURN key.
If you are viewing a frame and want to change to a different frame, type
the fs command followed by the RETURN key. This command will display
the list of frames.
The page listing the frames has its own help page which also contains a
configuration menu. To get to the help page, just type help or the
abbreviation he . The menu on the help page will let you decide what
information to display about each frame in the frame list. To exit the
help page, you will need to type save or cancel because of the menu.
If you ever want to see the source for the initial page specifying
the frames, just type the fss command. The other approach is to type
the source command when the frame list page is being displayed. If the
frame list page is showing, you can view the source of a frame by
typing the source command followed by the frame number annd the RETURN
key.
Adding a web page to favorite links list or link notes page
If you see a page which you want to add to your favorite links list, just
type the favorite command or its abbreviation fa followed by the RETURN
key. You can also add a link to a favorites page by following the favorite
command or its abbreviation by a link number.
You can use the note command like the favorite command to add links
to the note page.
Favorite links page
The browser will keep a favorite links list for the session. To see your
favorite links list, just type the favorites commands or its abbreviation
favs . If you want to link to one of the pages listed, type the number
followed by the RETURN key. You can also move the highlight bar and
press the RETURN key or the right arrow key. If you would like to see the
source for a specific link on the favorites page, type the source
command followed by link number and the RETURN key.
The favorite links page has its own help page which also contains a
configuration menu. To get to the help page, just type help or the
abbreviation he . The menu on the help page will let you decide what
information to display about each frame in the frame list. To exit the
help page, you will need to type save or cancel because of the menu.
The favorite links list only exists for the session. If you want
to keep this list, you might want to down load an HTML version of the
favorites page. To download the HTML version, type the hdl command
followed by the RETURN key. This command will prompt you to start your screen
capture software and then press any key. The command will then send an
HTML version of the favorites list to your screen.
The HTML file for the favorites list has some additional information
in it to signify its a favorites list of this browser. If you
paste a copy of this HTML file into the command line, it will
recognize it as a favorites list and will add any links in it to
the favorites list for your current session. The browser will not actually
display this list.
Link notes page
A special page will let you note down links that you want to keep track
of, but that you don't want to put on your favorite links page.
It works similarly to the favorite links page, but you get to it
by the notes command. You can also download an HTML version of the list
with the hdl command.
Link history page
A history of the links visited is kept on the history page. To view
the history page type this history command or its abbreviation hi
followed by the RETURN key. The history page uses the same commands as
the favorite links page. Like the favorite links page, the history has
its own help page with a configuration menu.
The history page will also let you add a link on the history page to the
favorite links page by typing the favorite command or its abbreviation fa
followed by the link number and the RETURN key.
Download commands
The browser has the ability to download pages which a computer's screen
capture facility can save to a file.
If you are reading a page you want to add to the download list, just type
the adl command followed by the RETURN key. You can use this command
to download any page including web pages, help pages, favorite links page, etc.
When you are ready to download the pages, type the dl command followed
by the RETURN key. This command will prompt you to start your screen
capture software and then press any key. The command will then send all
the pages in the download list to the screen.
If you want to clear the download list, type the cdl command followed by
the RETURN key.
===============================================================
Annotation settings
Menu of choices for page annotation
You can toggle the various annontation settings by typing the number
of the entry. Please type 'save' or 'cancel' when you are finished.
Please note that the list of options are more than a screenful long.
Number the paragraphs
Number the headings
Use full label on list items
Label ends of links
Show URL's for links
Use short paths
Show cell labels in large tables only
No row labels in table cells
Row labels in table cells
No column labels in table cells
Column labels in table cells from row 1
Column labels in table cells from row 2
Choices for image information
Show no image information
Show only alt information
Show only src information
Show alt or src information
Show alt and src information
Show image info for links only
Choices for font display
Show no fonts
Show basic fonts
Show all fonts
Show no subscripts/superscripts
Show single level subscripts/superscripts
Show multiple level subscripts/superscripts
Frameset menu help
===============================================================
This is a combination help and configuration page for the frameset page.
(Additional help subjects can be accessed by the command 'help subjects'.)
You can toggle the various configuration settings by typing the number
of the entry. Please type 'save' or 'cancel' when you are finished.
Include URL's in listings
Include link and form counts in listings
Include word info in listings
Received on Friday, 13 February 1998 22:09:44 UTC