Task Bar

What is the taskbar:

Another area on the desktop that we would like for you to know about is the "Task bar". This is a very important area to get familiar.

The task bar is like one line of text that lists all the programs or windows that you have open. One way to navigate through all these options is to just press the Tab key. I dont recommend doing that because there are a lot of things you may not understand right now. But, as we said before, there are multiple ways to access the same title on your computer.

Navigating opened programs:

To see how many programs that you have open, hold down the alt key and tap the tab key until you have heard all the titles listed. If you do not hear any, this means there are no other windows open. If you hear a title, you want and let up on the alt key, that window will come into focus and your cursor will be placed in the same position as when you were there last. This can be a little tricky to work with at first; but, play with it until you understand it and can operate it smoothly. This is going to be a very common action you will need and want to be familiar because it is the easiest way to close programs. To create this situation, you will at least need to open two or more windows or programs before this will work.

It is good to keep track of all windows, at all times if you can. Having to many windows open will use a lot of memory, slow down the system and even lock up your computer so JAWS cannot speak to you anymore. So, press alt tab until you get to unwanted Windows and close them. To close any window, press "alt F4" as you learned in the desktop lesson.

This is the end of this lesson

The next thing you will need to know about is the System tray. Press enter on the next link to begin that lesson. System Tray

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