Have you ever been listening to radio, or TV when you hear, "For more information, go to, Npr.org, cnn.com,qvc.com, or History Channel.com?" When you access this information, it's called surfing the web, or getting on the information super highway. The reason that it's referred to as a web, or a superhighway has to do with how the web itself works.
Each location on the web mentioned above is called a web site, and each web site contains many many web pages. A page is a screen full of text graphics video, or audio. This information is accessed through a browser, such as Internet Explorer, or the like. Most pages contain what are called HyperLinks, or just links for short. At the top of this page for example, are 4 examples of hyperlinks. When you press enter on these hyperlinks, you will be transported to the place the hyperlink points to. Links can point to differing types of material such as text, video, audio, or even downloadable content. There are literally millions, upon millions of web pages out there to be explored! So kick back, and relax, as we try, to show you the ropes.
Note, that this is by no means a complete tutorial. We simply wish to show you some basics of surfing. As always, experience is the best teacher. Use this link to learn more about the internet. The above link will open in a new window. To leave the new page, just tap escape, and you'll be right back here. You can use alt + Tab to switch between windows.
It's important that you realize that each site is constructed differently. Some sites and pages have more links, than others etc. Now, we'll talk about the various elements that makeup individual web pages, and how to navigate and use them to your advantage.
Links
Links were briefly discussed above, but let's talk a little about navigating them. Most pages have links, as demonstrated above. Links can be navigated in two ways, either by tabbing through them going forward, or by shift+tabbing through them going backward. The second way to navigate links is with the links list command. This command (Control+F7), will locate all of the links on the current web page, and put them in a handy list for you. You can navigate the list of links with your up, and down arrow keys. You can also press the first letter that the link begins with, if you know the name of it, and you will jump to it in the list. When you get to the link you want, just press enter, and you will be transported to that link.
Headers
Headers are used to divide up the page into sections. For example, on a new page, you might have headers that say science, health, world, and so on. Headers are navigated by tapping the letter H to skip to the next header or Shift + H to go back to the previous header.
Tables
Tables are elements that consist of rows, and columns of information arranged in a grid formation. Tables are commonly used to display financial or statistical data. Tables are navigated by tapping the letter T to skip to the next table or Shift T to go back to the previous table.
Forms
Forms allow you to type in text that a web page is asking for. For example, when you logon to the SA Mobile Network, you are using a form to logon. Forms consist of text boxes that let you type in text, List boxes, that let you select an option from a menu, check boxes that let you check an option on or off, and buttons, that take your text, and or choices, and process them. If you want to jump to a form, press the letter F, to go forward through forms, and shift+F to move backward through them. Important,
Once you are in an edit box you cannot use the F key to move. The form will understand the F key as an entry of the letter F or capital F. You move to the next box by using the Tab key to move forward and Shift Tab to move backward.
To check a check box, on or off, use the space bar. If you need to select choices from within a list Box, press alt+Down arrow. If you want to get out of the list box, without making a selection, simply tap the escape key. When you've made your selection, either tab, or shift+Tab, or press enter. when you encounter buttons, you can press enter to activate them, and you can use B to move forward through buttons, and Shift+B to move backward.
Recently Visited Sites
While browsing, you may wish to see a history of previously visited web sites. This can be useful if you want to quickly revisit a web page, and don't feel like typing in the address again If you want to keep your place on an existing web page, you can have the SA Mobile Network show the history in a new browser window. When you are done using the history, you can close the new window by tapping Escape. If you don't care about saving your place, you can simply have the SA Mobile Network show you the history in the existing browser window. Control+Shift+O will show you the browser history in the existing window, and Control+Shift+N will show you the browser history in a new browser window. Once the browser history is available, just select the link that represents the previously visited web page, and tap enter on it, to revisit that page.