Synergy Accessibility has been designed to work best with the JAWS reader on Firefox while in accessibility mode. While it is guaranteed to be compliant outside of those constraints, there is no guarantee that alternative combinations of browsers and screen readers will have the same ease of use.
The following usage patterns and shortcuts assume the usage JAWS with the latest version of Firefox.
The very first region on the page will be the jump list. This is a configurable list of shortcuts and actions that can be accessed at any time using a configurable accessor key (default is control) and the provided shortcut key.
Synergy uses page regions liberally to assist navigation of the page. These regions will include the quick launch "search" region, the jump list, menus, tab area, and group boxes within a view.
Due to the complexity of some grids in the system, is recommended to use the JAWS table shortcut keys to navigate tables. Attempting to navigate tables in other ways will be less effective and could potentially produce erroneous feedback from the screen reader.
The following are the Synergy shortcut keys, as well as the JAWS shortcut keys around which the system was designed. For Synergy, the accessor key is configurable through the User Groups and District Setup views, under the Accessibility tab. Note that these keys will only take effect in accessibility mode.
| Shortcut | Action | Description |
|---|---|---|
| T | Next Table | Each grid should contain a brief caption describing the contents. |
| Shift + T | Previous Table | |
| Control + ALT + Right Arrow | Next Cell | Using the cell navigation options is a great way to hint to the JAWS reader to notify you of the current column or row you are on. |
| Control + ALT + Left Arrow | Previous Cell | |
| Control + ALT + Down Arrow | Next Row | |
| Control + ALT + Up Arrow | Previous Row |
| Shortcut | Action | Description |
|---|---|---|
| R / Shift + R | Next / Previous Region | Regions, or Landmarks, are used to provide quick access to different areas of the page. For Synergy, this allows quickly finding specific controls once you know which groups they are in, or getting a general overview of the contents of a tab by inspecting the available regions (control groups). |
| H / Shift + H | Next / Previous Heading | |
| 1-6 / Shift + 1-6 | Next / Previous Heading Level | Heading level 1 will guide you to a view title, and Heading level 2 will step through each of the groups on the current tab. |
| Arrow Down | Next Menu Item | When you encounter any menu items or tree controls, the most reliable method of navigation is to use the up and down arrow keys combined with the space bar or enter key to activate them. |
| Arrow Up | Previous Menu Item | |
| Space or Enter | Activate Menu Item or Button |
| Shortcut | Action | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Control + shortcut key | Jump List Item | Jump list items appear in the jump list navigation region, along with an indicator of which shortcut key will activate them. |
| Control + L | Quick Launch | The Quick Launch input provides quick access to any view or report to which you have access. |
| Control + N | Next Record | When the scroll buttons are available, this will scroll to the next record in your current focus and filter set. |
| Control + P | Previous Record | When the scroll buttons are available, this will scroll to the previous record in your current focus and filter set. |
| Control + S | Save Changes | If you are allowed to save changes for a view, this will commit any changes you've made. |
| Control + A | Add a Row | When focused to a control within a grid, if that grid allows adding rows, this will create a new row and place the focus on the first input field. |
| Control + Q | Quit the application | This will log you out of the application and return to the login screen. |
While other browsers may not be recommended, they should still be mostly compatible with the site. The caveats of some of the other browsers are listed below.
Due to the complexity of the Synergy application, you may run into a few hiccups or deficiencies. The following are some of the more common problems.
| Issue | Solution |
|---|---|
| JAWS keeps reading while I'm navigating | You can stop JAWS reading with the Control key. Insert + Down will continue reading. |
| Why can't I get an accurate list of links for the page | It is recommended that you adhere to the suggested shortcut keys and methods instead of resorting to a method such as link search, which has little relevance in the context of Synergy. Searching by links is not feasible when you consider most grids can have hundreds of links to external views, and most of those link values will be data bound to dates, names, or any number of other unpredictable values. |