No, unlike any other application and Microsoft's strict guidelines, pressing Escape does not perform a "Cancel" type function, it merely causes the window to hide behind the Designer Window. The changes are apparently made as soon as you Tab out of the fields. Escape is an easy way to 'dismiss' the Properties window. However, It is probably less troublesome for the screen readers to close with Control + F4. Don Marang From: RicksPlace Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 2:23 PM To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: VS IDE Accessibility Tip If you hit escape I think you would lose any changes you made in the properties window. If you go directly to Solution explorer you leave the Properties window and the designer open on your work space. Perhaps the JAWS script handles allot of the possible overlapping of windows. I had occasional problems with this using Windoweyes so always close unnecessary windows. Rick USA ----- Original Message ----- From: Jacob Kruger To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 1:07 PM Subject: Re: VS IDE Accessibility Tip Not sure if relevant, but generally if moving over to properties window using F4 key, when I then want to move back to designer window, I just hit escape key, or ctrl + alt + L to go directly to solution browser. I suppose don't do too much, but three standard sets of keystrokes are ctrl + alt + L for solution explorer, ctrl + alt + X for toolbox, ctrl + tab to cycle through code editing/design windows, and F4 key to activate/move into properties list. Stay well Jacob Kruger Blind Biker Skype: BlindZA '...fate had broken his body, but not his spirit...' ----- Original Message ----- From: RicksPlace To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 4:13 PM Subject: Re: VS IDE Accessibility Tip A followup test to the initial article. I opened the designer in VB.net, hit f4 on a button and hit my HotKey to close all open windows except this one.It worked except that when the Designer was closed the Properties window no longer had any properties for any controls. The property window is associated with a form or particular control. So, when the designer was closed focus remained in the property window but nothing was loaded in the window. If you had made any changes to the properties or the form and clicked Save when the pop up came up after clicking the hot key combination all changes were saved but if I wanted to continue setting properties for the form that use to be in the designer I could not do so. This is not what I wanted. When in the Properties window, if you have overlapping problems, you need to close each open window using the slow but flexible Alt-w and then close the windows you do not need, everything but the Properties Window and the Designer in my case. Just a note on usage of the new hot key. Rick USA ----- Original Message ----- From: RicksPlace To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 9:53 AM Subject: VS IDE Accessibility Tip Hi Guys: Tell me if the following situation is applicable with JAWS or whether JAWS handles the following situation automatically when the scripts are installed if you can. I am thinking of adding this to the IDE Accessibility Tutorial or starting another Tutorial on VS Accessibility Tips for experienced users, after a little more testing, if I find more performance or accessibility tweaks. BeginArticle: Sometimes when working between windows you click on something in one window and are placed in another window. This is the case with the ToolBox and a couple of other windows. In this case the first window is not closed and it could cause an issue with a screen reader. If you have done this several times you might have several windows open or hidden but with their labels docked on your WorkSpace. It is not a major problem unless you get some overlapping which can cause problems with a screen reader. There are several ways to close hidden, docked or floating, Windows: 1: Hit Alt+w then L to close all open windows. This is good when you want a clean workspace. Drawback, it closes the window you might want to work in as well and you would have to open that window manually again. 2: You Alt+W and close each Window listed in the Open Windows list except the one you want and then click that window to put focus on it. Drawback, slow, slow, slow but it works. 3: Use the mouse, In Windoweyes, to right click the File Tab on the File Tab Channel you are working on and select "Close All But This". DrawBack, Finding that dockable name can be tricky. but this method is extremely fast for sighted users. 4: Set up a Shortcut to close all but the Active Window. Draback, None I have seen so far but I am still playing with it. If you want to set up a Shortcut or HotKey for any of the unassigned functions available in the IDE, and there are many very interesting ones from an accessibility perspective, the process is the same as described below for setting up this HotKey: 1: Hit Alt to open the Menu Bar, Hit Options under the Tool Menu to bring up the Options window with the Options TreeView. 2: Expand the Environment node if not expanded, hit k to be taken to the Keyboard Tab Group. Tab over to the textBox labeled "Show Commands Containing" and type in the word "close". Tab to the list of IDE Features that will be listed related to the word "close". You will see some might be assigned a Key Combination by default and some not. cursor down to "File.CloseAllButThis". Tab and make sure the Use In ListBox is set to "Global". Tab and in the box that says "Press ShortCutKeys I pressed "Alt" "RightWindows" and "e". visible, tabbed back to "Assign" and pressed it. Then I tabbed to OK and pressed it. Note, if the key combination you try to use is already used you will get a message in another box in the tab group telling you it is in use and by which IDE Feature. I saw that message after I had clicked the Assign button but it may be there after you just press the key combination. If it is there nothing gets changed or updated after you press the assign button until you change the key combination to one that is not already in use and click the OK button. If you change your mind later, just repeat the process but click the "Remove" button and ok to UnAssign your hot key. Nothing else will be changed or removed. Only your new hot key combination will be removed but all the entries of features including the "Close All But This" will still be in the list of IDE features since they are supplied by Microsoft and whatever you do that list will not be modified as far as I know. When I used the new Hot Key combination the only surprise was that with several windows open when I clicked the hot key a pop up came up asking me if I wanted to save the changes. I clicked yes, I had made changes in the Properties window and added a control to a form and was in the form with focus on the added control, after I clicked yes the work space was cleared and I was still in the form with focus on the control I was working on, ready to continue working in the Designer which is exactly what I wanted to happen. Remember this is not used in every situation. If I had hit f4 while in the Designer to set some properties and executed close all But this, the designer might have been closed and I would have to open it after I closed the properties window before continuing to work in the designer. So this is just another tool in your performance quiver. Knowing, or enabling, development tools is the diference between keeping up and falling behind in any programming environment. EndArticle: Rick USA __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 5144 (20100525) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com