Exercises: Searching the OPAC with JAWS For Windows

Introduction

The exercises listed below will help you learn to search the OPAC using JAWS For Windows. These exercises assume you are accessing the OPAC on-line using the Internet Explorer web browser. Note: This information was prepared using JAWS For Windows 4.51. The responses attributed to JAWS for Windows are stated generically to avoid the confusion that can result when different JAWS configurations are used.

Exercise Objectives

In the following seven exercises, you will access the OPAC and perform searches by author, subject, title word, title, and narrator.

Exercise: Accessing the OPAC On-line

Complete the following three steps to access the OPAC from Internet Explorer.

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Press Ctrl-O to open the Open dialog box.
3. In the Open field, type www.blind.state.ia.us/opacnew/. Then, press Enter.

When the OPAC web site appears, JAWS will begin reading the page. Important! Before you begin searching the OPAC, make sure that the JAWS Virtual Cursor is turned on. (You can press the Plus key on your numeric keypad to verify that the Virtual Cursor is active.) If you are using a refreshable Braille display, use Structured Mode for best results.

Exercise: Performing an Author Search

Complete the following thirteen steps to specify the media type and author to use as search criteria:

1. Press Insert-T to verify Internet Explorer is open to the OPAC page. JAWS will tell you that you are on the Online Public Access Catalog page.
2. Press Ctrl-Home to ensure the focus is at the top of the page.
3. Press the Tab key to move to the Media For Author Search Combo Box. You can use the Media for Author Search combo box to choose the media type you prefer (e.g., Cassette, Disc, Large Print, Braille, Electronic Text, Descriptive Videos). By default, the "ALL" media option is selected.
4. Press Enter to activate the JAWS Forms mode. Then, select the Cassette option by pressing the Down Arrow key until JAWS announces, "Cassette".
5. Press the Tab key once to move the focus to the Author field. In this edit field, you may either type the author's last name only, author's last name and first name, or part of the author's last name. (If you want to enter the author's full name, type the last name first. Then, type a comma, a space, and the first name.)
6. Type Adams, Harold.
7. Press Alt-O to activate the OK Button. The OPAC will begin searching for all books on cassette authored by Harold Adams. When the search is complete, the Results page appears with a list of books by Harold Adams. JAWS will begin reading the page.
8. Press Ctrl-Home to move the focus to the top of the page. Then, press the Down Arrow key until JAWS announces, "RC 51037 Adams, Harold. The Man Who Was Taller Than God; 9 Carlwilcox".
9. Select the radio button associated with the book The Man Who Was Taller Than God by pressing the Up Arrow key until JAWS announces, "Radio Button Not Checked".
10. Press Enter. This will activate the JAWS Forms mode and check this radio button. JAWS will let you know that the radio button has been checked and that Forms Mode has been turned on.
11. Press Alt-O to activate the OK Button. A Bibliographic page appears with information for The Man Who Was Taller Than God by Harold Adams. Later, you will learn how to request that a book be sent to you.
12. Return to the main OPAC page by pressing Alt-Left Arrow twice. (You can press Insert-T to verify that the focus is on the main OPAC search page. JAWS will tell you that you are on the Online Public Access Catalog page.)
13. Press Ctrl-Home to move to the top of the page. You are ready to perform another search.

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