Useful Hotkeys

Browser keyboard shortcuts

The Shell website has been designed with the needs of non-mouse users in mind, for example people with Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) who can only use an ergonomic keyboard to surf the web, or upper mobility problems who use voice input software as well as non-sighted users who use screen readers.


This section explains the ways you can navigate Shell web pages with just the keyboard and explains how standard keyboard shortcuts can make keyboard navigation much easier.

It is very easy, for example, to open Windows Explorer by holding down the Windows logo key and pressing E.

This is much quicker than clicking on the Start button, then Programs, then Accessories and finally Windows Explorer.

Please note that if you do not have the exact version of a particular browser then some or all of these shortcuts might not function.

USE OF KEYBOARD SHORT CUTS

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x

Description
Shortcut Key

Move virtual cursor to the top of the web page
CTRL + Home

Move virtual PC cursor to the end of the web doc
CTRL + End

Go to a new web page/visit a new site
CTRL + O or CTRL + l

Open another web browser window
CTRL + N

To toggle the History pane/window on and off
CTRL + H

To toggle the Favorites pane/window on and off
CTRL + I

To bookmark the currently loaded page as a Favorite
CTRL + D

Opens the 'organize your Favorites' treeview window (Turn off virtual cursor first with insert z)
CTRL + B

Move cursor to the Address bar
Alt + D

Stop downloading current page
ESC

Refresh the currently loaded web page
F6




SHORTCUT KEYS

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.1

General Shortcuts


Turn Full Screen Mode on or off
F12

Cycle through the Address Bar, Refresh button, Search Box, and items on a web page
TAB

Find a word or phrase on a page
CTRL+ F

Open the current webpage in a new window
CTRL+ N

Print the page
CTRL+ P

Select all items on the page
CTRL+ A

Zoom in
CTRL+ +

Zoom out
CTRL+ -

Zoom to 101
CTRL+ 1


NAVIGATION SHORTCUTS


Go to home page
ALT + Home

Go backwards
ALT + Left

Go forward
ALT + Right

Refresh page
F6

Refresh page and the cache
CTRL + F6

Stop downloading page
ESC


FAVOURITES CENTRE SHORTCUTS

Open Favourites
CTRL + I

Open Favourites in pinned mode
CTRL + SHIFT+I

Organise Favourites
CTRL + B

Add current page to Favourites
CTRL+ D

Open Feeds
CTRL+ J

Open Feeds in pinned mode
CTRL+ SHIFT J

Open History
CTRL+ H

Open History in pinned mode
CTRL+ SHIFT+ H


TAB SHORTCUTS


Open link in new background tab
CTRL+left mouse button or middle mouse button

Open link in new foreground tab
CTRL+SHIFT+left mouse button or CTRL+SHIFT+middle mouse button

Close tab (closes window if only one tab is open)
CTRL+W or CTRL+F5

Open Quick Tab view
CTRL+Q

Open new tab
CTRL+T

View list of open tabs
CTRL+SHIFT+Q

Switch to next tab
CTRL+TAB

Switch to previous tab
CTRL+SHIFT+TAB


ADDRESS BAR SHORTCUTS


Select the Address Bar
ALT+D

Add "http://www." to the beginning and ".com" to the end of text in Address Bar
CTRL+ ENTER

Add “http://www.” to the beginning and the website address suffix you have specified to the end of text in the Address Bar*
CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER

Open the website address that is typed in the Address Bar in new tab
ALT + Enter

View list of previously typed addresses
F5




SEARCH BAR SHORTCUTS


Select the Search Bar
CTRL+E

View list of search providers
CTRL+DOWN

Open search results in new tab
ALT+ENTER



TO DO THIS
DO THIS

Delete cookies, passwords, form data, history, and temporary Internet files
Tools > Delete Browsing History

Find and install add-ons
Tools > Manage Add-ons > Find More Add-ons

Print part of page
Select part of the page you want to print, press CTRL+P, click Selection, and then click Print

Change website address suffix*
Tools > Internet Options > Languages


NAVIGATION


Next link up
Shift + ↑

Next link down
Shift + ↓

Next link to the left
Shift + ←

Next link to the right
Shift + →

Activate link
Enter

Activate link in new tab
Shift + Enter




HISTORY


Previous page in history
Z or Ctrl + ← or Alt + ←

Next page in history
X or Ctrl + → or Alt + →

Reload the current page
F5 or Ctrl + R

Rewind
Shift + Z

Fast forward
Shift + X

Show entire backward history
Alt + Z

Show entire forward history
Alt + X




FIND


Find text in page
Ctrl + F or .(period), or /

Find next instance of text
Ctrl + G

Find previous instance of text
Ctrl + Shift + G

Find text in links in page
, (comma), or Shift + /




DISPLAY


Use entire screen for viewing page
F12

Pretend to be small-screen device
Shift + F12




ZOOMING


Zoom in 10%
+ or 1

Zoom out 10%
- or 10

Zoom in 100%
Ctrl + or 9

Zoom out 100%
Ctrl - or 8

Restore zoom to 100%
7




SYSTEM KEYS


Open file
Ctrl + O

Save copy of page
Ctrl + S

Print preview (toggle)
Shift + P

Print page
Ctrl + P

Close Opera
Ctrl + Q




For more information and additional keyboard shortcuts for other browsers please visit the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) website.

Help customising the site
On this page we explain how you can change text size using your web browser, how to magnify your screen and how to change the text and background colour to better suit your reading needs.

Making text larger
Magnifying your screen
Changing the font
Changing font and background colour
Making text larger
A lot of web pages can be difficult to view because the text is too small to comfortably read. Choose from the following web browsers for step-by-step instructions on how to increase the size of the text on any web page you are viewing:

Internet Explorer (5.0, 5.5 6.0 7.0)
1. Open your Internet Explorer browser.
2. Open the ‘View’ menu with the mouse.
3. Click on ‘Text Size’.
4. Choose your preferred text size with the mouse, or use the up and down arrow keys and press 'Enter'.

Firefox (1.0, 1.5, 2.0)
1. Open your Firefox browser.
2. Open the ‘View’ menu.
3. Click on ‘Text Size’.
4. Click on ‘Increase’. A quicker way to increase the text size is to hold Ctrl (Cmd in Mac OS X) and scroll down with your mouse.

Opera (9.0)
1. Open your Opera browser.
2. Open the ‘View’ menu.
3. Click on ‘Zoom’.
4. Click on your required zoom level

Safari (3)
1. Open your Safari browser.
2. Open the ‘View’ menu.
3. Select the “Make text larger” menu item.

Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help.

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Magnifying your screen
If increasing the text size via the browser or Windows options does not make text easy to read another solution is to magnify your screen. All recent versions of Windows include magnification software, which can make it easier to read text on the screen.


The Windows magnifier lets you increase text to a very large size. It is, however, restricted to a small portion of the screen so most visually impaired people find that they require fully-functional magnification software.

Windows 95, 98, 2000, Me, XP, Vista
1. Open the Start menu by clicking on the Start button or by pressing the Windows logo key (located between the Ctrl + Alt keys on most keyboards) alternatively press Ctrl + Esc
2. Click on Programs or alternatively press P on the keyboard until Programs is highlighted and then press Enter
3. Click on Accessories or press A on the keyboard until Accessories is highlighted and then press Enter
4. Click on Accessibility or if you are using the keyboard, it will already be highlighted so just press Enter
5. Click on Magnifier or press M and when Magnifier is highlighted, press Enter on the keyboard
6. The magnifier is now turned on and the settings box appears.
7. You can click in the magnification level box to change the level of magnification, or use the up and down arrow keys
8. You can minimise the magnifier settings box by clicking the minimise button or by pressing Alt + Spacebar and then press N

Note: Your maximum and minimum zoom levels can be set from the “Zoom Options…” button.

Changing the font
Internet Explorer (5.0, 5.5 6.0 and 7.0)
1. Open your Internet Explorer browser
2. Open the ‘Tools’ menu with the mouse
3. Click on ‘Internet Options’, or press 'O'
4. Click ‘Accessibility’, or press Alt+E
5. Check the ‘Ignore font styles specified on Web pages’ checkbox with the mouse or by pressing Alt+S
6. Click ‘OK’, or press enter
7. Click ‘Fonts’, or press Alt+N
8. Select a web page font of your choice with the mouse, or by pressing Alt+W and arrowing through the list
9. Click 'OK' twice, or press Enter twice

Firefox (1.0, 1.5 and 2.0)
1. Click on the 'Tools' menu with the mouse or press 'Alt ' + 'T'
2. Click on 'Options', or press 'O' to open the ' Options ' dialog box
3. Make sure that the 'General' option is selected - if not either click on it or press 'Tab' until it is highlighted and then press 'Enter'
4. Click on ' Fonts & Colors ' or press 'F'
5. Click on the box next to 'proportional:' and choose your font type - serif or sans serif - or press 'Tab' until the option box is highlighted, use the arrow keys to expand it and choose your font type and then press 'Enter'
6. Choose your specific font by clicking on the 'Serif:' or 'Sans-serif:' drop down menus depending on what font type you selected for 'Proportional' and scroll down and select the font you want or 'Tab' into the relevant drop down menu ('Serif:' or 'Sans-Serif:') and use the arrow keys to move 'up' and 'down' the list. Once the font you want is highlighted press 'Enter' to select it.
7. Click on 'Always use my:' 'Fonts' checkbox, or press 'Tab' until the checkbox is highlighted and press the 'Spacebar'
8. Click 'OK' or press 'Enter'
9. Click 'OK' or tab to 'OK' button and press 'Enter '
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