The Ribbons of Office 2007

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Ribbon Tabs

Moving a ruler down one notch from the title bar replicates the ribbon tabs of Word 2007. Each ribbon within Word has a ribbon tab. Focusing on a tab opens the associated ribbon.

The ribbon tab is opened with ALT. Press ALT to enter command mode and focus on the first tab within the ribbon tab. When you press ALT, Jaws for Windows will echo:

Once the ribbon tab is open and focus is placed on the first ribbon tab, use RIGHT AND LEFT ARROW to navigate among the ribbon tabs. As you navigate among the ribbon tabs, Jaws will echo the above information for each ribbon tab.

Ribbon

Moving the virtual ruler down one more notch on the display replicates the ribbon of Word. When a tab is focused, the ribbon is automatically displayed. There is no need to press ENTER on a tab or open it in any way. Focusing on a tab opens the associated ribbon. Pressing ENTER on a ribbon tab will close the ribbon tabs and return focus to the document

After opening a ribbon by focusing on the ribbon tab or pressing the associated shortcut key (ALT-H for Home, etc…), navigate among the options on the ribbon with TAB and SHIFT-TAB.

The ribbons contain a number of controls with which you will become familiar as you access these lessons.

As you navigate within the ribbons, listen for the key tips. The key tips are shortcuts you can use to activate ribbon options. You will become familiar with many of the key tips and will use these keystrokes to quickly activate frequently used options. For example, press ALT-H, N to start a numbered list. ALT-H opens the Home Ribbon and N is the shortcut command of the numbered list option.

Some ribbon options have two keystrokes with which they are associated. The “align left” option, for example, has a key tip of AL. To use this command from within the document, press ALT-H followed by A and then L. If the key tips contain more than one keystroke, press the keystrokes one after the other after opening the ribbon.

Each of the ribbon tabs has an associated keystroke. Learn these keystrokes by navigating among the ribbon tabs and listening to your screen reader as it announces the shortcut for each ribbon.

Please remember - don't press ENTER on a ribbon tab. That will close the tabs and return focus to the document.