Dialog box: A small window that opens up to prompt you for some type of action. It is called a dialog box because the program or website is seeking a response from you. It could be a message box that asks you a question like the one that comes up when you try to delete a file - "Do you want to send the file to the recycle bin?" In many cases, your choices may be a Yes and No button or an OK and Cancel buttons. Pressing spacebar or pressing the Enter key or one of the answer buttons will close the dialog box and perform the desired action. In some cases, it may be a small form where you need to type the answers for a particular piece of information they want. When you press the Insert+E keys, JAWS will announce the default button in the dialog box. In some dialog boxes you can press the Insert+B keys and JAWS will read the entire dialog box.

Form fields - spaces on a website or in a program for you to type in information. The sighted user sees a small area with a box around it. Examples are a search box on a web site; a user id file & a password to enter a secure website; or items such as Name, Street Address, City, State, etc. You need to press the Enter key to open forms mode to type text in a form field. If there are several fields you can use tab to move between the fields.

Combo boxes - are another type of form field. They allow you to answer the question by selecting a answer from a list they have set up. You must press the Enter key to get in forms mode and then press Alt+Down arrow to open the combo box then down or up arrow to go through the list and then Alt+Up arrow to close the combo box. Combo boxes and list boxes are pretty much the same, but combo boxes seem to work much better with JAWS.

Frames divide the window into separate areas similar to window panes. You can access the list of frames by pressing Insert+F9 and then select the frame you want to move in to and press Enter. For a more complete discussion on these and other items that can be found on an HTML web page go to Freedom Scientifics’ training page and download the HTML challenge. The link for which can be found toward the bottom of the tips and tricks page.