Section Two: Navigating the Adobe Reader 7.0 interface

This section describes the Adobe® Reader® 7.0 user interface, including its layout, navigation, and basic commands. It also provides an abundance of keyboard shortcuts for people who don't use a mouse or a similar pointing device. While most information in this section is not specific to accessibility features, instructions in other sections in this document presume that you are familiar with the interface items and navigation that are described here.

Keyboard shortcuts listed in this section work in both Windows® and Mac OS unless otherwise specified. For an extensive list of keyboard shortcuts for Adobe Reader, see "Appendix: Adobe Reader keyboard shortcuts".

Opening Adobe PDF documents and starting Adobe Reader

You can open an Adobe PDF document from your computer desktop, from within Adobe Reader, or from the Web.

To open a PDF document from the desktop:

Either double-click the document’s icon, or move focus to the document’s icon and press Enter or Return.

Adobe Reader starts, and the PDF document that you selected opens.

To open a PDF document from within Adobe Reader:

Start Adobe Reader.
Choose File > Open, or press Ctrl+O (Windows) or Command+O (Mac OS).
In the Open dialog box, either browse to the document or enter the file name (or the complete path to the file) in the File Name box.
Select Open to open the document.

To open a PDF document from a link on the Web:

Select a link to a PDF document from any web page.

Depending on the Internet preferences that have been set in Adobe Reader, either the PDF document will open in your own copy of Adobe Reader on your hard drive, or it will open in a window in your browser. See "Setting the display of Adobe PDF documents from the Web" for instructions on setting this Internet preference.

Note: Many screen readers do not support viewing PDF in the browser. Check with your vendor for compatibility information.

Note for Windows and Microsoft Internet Explorer users: When you open a PDF document from the Web, focus is on the document in the Adobe Reader application. The keystrokes that you use are interpreted by Adobe Reader for navigating Adobe Reader, rather than by Internet Explorer for navigating the browser. To navigate Internet Explorer by using keystrokes, you need to move focus between Adobe Reader and Internet Explorer by using the following instructions:

To move focus to Internet Explorer, press Ctrl+Tab.
To move focus back to the document in Adobe Reader, press Tab.

Navigating the Adobe Reader interface by using the keyboard

You can navigate most of the Adobe Reader interface by using a keyboard. For an extensive list of keyboard shortcuts for Adobe Reader, see "Appendix: Adobe Reader keyboard shortcuts".

General guidelines for changing focus

Adobe Reader has several application-wide navigational keystrokes for changing focus among the various interface elements of its workspace. The most common keystrokes are listed below.

Moving focus to main areas of the workspace

To cycle forward among open panes and panels, press F6. To cycle backward among them, press Shift+F6. The interface elements that respond to these combinations include the navigation pane, the document pane, the Attachments/Comments window, the How To/Search PDF window, and the Document Message bar.

Note: It may sometimes be difficult to determine which interface element is in focus after you press F6, because the main portion of the pane or panel is selected first and generally does not show any highlighting. If you press Tab after pressing F6, you can usually find a dashed line around the element that is in focus, and the screen reader announces the element.

To bring focus to the document pane at any time, press F5.
To bring focus to the navigation pane at any time, press Ctrl+Shift+F5 (Windows) or Command+Shift+F5 (Mac OS).
To open a context menu (if available for an item), press either Shift+F10 (Windows only) or the AppKey (available on some keyboards). To close the context menu, press Esc (in Windows, press F10).
(Windows only) To cycle forward among interface elements that float on-screen, such as floating toolbars and dialog boxes, press Alt+F6.

Moving focus to particular interface elements

Note: When an item within a pane, panel, dialog box, window, or page has focus, a dashed line appears around the item, and the screen reader announces it.

In general, to bring focus to the next item in a dialog box or window, press Tab.
In general, to bring focus to the previous item in a dialog box or window, press Shift+Tab.
In general, to bring focus to a tab in a dialog box that uses tabbed panes, press Ctrl+Tab (Windows) or use the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys (Mac OS).
In general, to bring focus to items in sublists, list boxes, drop-down menus, or color palettes, use the Up Arrow, Down Arrow, Left Arrow, and Right Arrow keys.
In general, to select or deselect a check box, button, link, or similar interface item when focus is on that item, press Enter or Return or the Spacebar.

Note for Windows users: You can often use the Alt key in combination with other keys, called access keys, to select interface items by using one keystroke in most menus, dialog boxes, and panes. Place focus on an interface element, and then press the Alt key once. Underlined letters in the names of the interface items show you the access key to press, either with the Alt key or without, to select that interface item. Most screen readers announce these letters as they read these items.

Adobe Reader for Windows interface showing open document.

The Adobe Reader for Windows interface with the primary areas labeled. A: Title bar. B: Menu bar. C: Toolbar area. D: Navigation pane. E: Document pane. F: Status bar.

Title bar

At the top of the Adobe Reader application window is the title bar, which contains the name of the application and the name of the current document. In Windows, press Alt+4 to close all documents and quit Adobe Reader.

Menu bar

Beneath the title bar is the menu bar, which contains seven menus for Adobe Reader: File, Edit, View, Document, Tools, Window, and Help.

To hide the menu bar, press F9 (Windows) or Command+Shift+M (Mac OS). This keystroke is a toggle keystroke, so pressing F9 (Windows) or Command+Shift+M (Mac OS) again shows the menu bar.

Selecting items from the menu bar (Windows only)

To move focus to the menu bar, press F10 or the Alt key. When focus is on the menu bar, the first letter of each menu is underlined as the access key. The Alt key is a toggle key, so pressing it again removes focus from the menu bar.
To open a specific menu, bring focus to the menu bar, and then either use the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys, or press the access key-the letter that is underlined in the menu's name (for example, press F to show the File menu). You can also combine Alt and the access key to open the menu directly. For example, Alt+F shows the File menu.
To select commands from an open menu or submenu, either press the access key or use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys, and then press Enter or the Spacebar.
To return to the previous level of your menu selection, press Esc.
To return focus to the document pane, press Alt or F5.

Selecting items from the menu bar (Mac OS only)

To move focus to the menu bar, press Control+F2 (this default can be changed in the System Preferences for your computer).
To select a menu, move focus to the menu bar and use the Right Arrow and Left Arrow keys.
To select a menu command, move focus to the menu and use the Down Arrow and Up Arrow keys, and then press Return.
To return focus to the document pane, press Esc.

Toolbar area

Beneath the menu bar is the toolbar area. You can select which toolbars are open at any time. Some toolbars are floating toolbars-that is, instead of opening in the toolbar area, they open in their own windows that you can move around on the screen. You can use the keyboard to navigate to tools by following the instructions below. You can also dock all currently floating toolbars for easier keyboard access to them. For instructions on using specific tools from the toolbars, see "Navigating and using specific Adobe Reader tools and features" , or refer to the Adobe Reader Help.

To open or close toolbars:

Choose View > Toolbars (in Windows, press Alt+V, and then press T).
Use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to bring focus to the name of the toolbar that you want, and then press Enter or Return or the Spacebar to select or deselect it (in Windows, press the access key).

To dock all currently open toolbars:

Choose View > Toolbars > Dock All Toolbars (in Windows, press Alt+V, press T, and then press D).

Navigating toolbars in Windows

To move focus to a floating toolbar, press Alt+F6.
To move focus to the first docked toolbar, either press Shift+8, or press the Alt key, and then press Ctrl+Tab.

Note: When reading a PDF document in a browser window, you must use the Shift+F8 keystroke to move focus to the first Adobe Reader toolbar. The browser, not Adobe Reader, interprets the combination of Alt and then Ctrl+Tab.

To move focus to the next toolbar, press Ctrl+Tab.
To move focus to the previous toolbar, press Ctrl+Shift+Tab.
To move forward through the toolbar buttons, Tab or the Right Arrow key.
To move backward through the toolbar buttons, Shift+Tab or the Left Arrow key.
To open a tool's drop-down list, press the Down Arrow key. To move among the items in the list, press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys.
To activate the function that is associated with a toolbar button, press Enter or the Spacebar when focus is on that button.
To move focus to the next floating toolbar, press Alt+F6.
To close a floating toolbar, press Alt+F4.
To return focus to the main document pane, press F5.

Navigating toolbars in Mac OS

Note: To navigate toolbars in Mac OS, you must enable Full Keyboard Access in the System Preferences for your computer (see "Mac OS keyboard shortcuts" ).

To activate the toolbar area and bring focus to the first tool, press Control+F5 (this default can be changed in the System Preferences for your computer).
To move focus to the next toolbar, press Option+Tab.
To move focus to the previous toolbar, press Shift+Option+Tab.
To move forward through toolbar buttons, press Tab or the Right Arrow key.
To move backward through toolbar buttons, press Shift+Tab or the Left Arrow.
To open a tool's drop-down list, press the Down Arrow key. To move among the items in the list, press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys.
To activate the function that is associated with a toolbar button, press Return when focus is on that button.
To return focus to the main document window, press Esc or F5.

Document Message Bar

Creators of an Adobe PDF document may assign special usage rights to the document. Special usage rights enable you to perform tasks such as saving form data, signing documents, participating in e-mail and browser-based document reviews, adding comments, and attaching PDF and non-PDF files to the PDF document.

When you open a document that has special usage rights, a Document Message Bar appears below the toolbar area. The Document Message Bar includes information about the special features of the PDF document and provides additional tools that you might need to work with the document.

Adobe Reader Document Message Bar, indicating "Document Rights and Instructions".

A sample Document Message Bar for a PDF document that is in review

To hide the Document Message Bar:

Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) between the Document Message Bar and the document title bar to open the context menu.
Use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to bring focus to Hide Document Message Bar, and then press Enter or Return.