CHARACTER KEYS
A character key sends a character to the computer. When
the user holds down a
MODIFIER KEY, it alters the
meaning of the character key being pressed (or what
the mouse does when clicked).
Character keys include letters, numbers, punctuation,
the Space bar, and the
following non-printing characters: Tab, Enter, Return,
Delete (or Backspace), Clear
and Esc (Escape).
In text, pressing the Space bar enters a space between
characters. When full
keyboard access is turned on, pressing the Space bar
selects the item that currently
has the keyboard navigation focus (the equivalent of
clicking the mouse button).
Tab
The Tab key is used to insert a tab character when
typing text. It can also advance
you to the next item, window, box, option or menu within an
application. You may
need to test this one out to get the complete hang of
it.
Enter
The Enter key, for all intensive purposes, performs the
same function as the Return
key. See also Return key.
Return
Pressing the Return key moves the cursor to the next
line when using any sort of
text editor or processor like Mail or Word. It is also used
to select the highlighted
button in a dialog box menu.
Delete
This is the Backward Delete or Backspace key and on some
keyboards is marked as
a left pointing arrow “←”
or just “delete”. This key moves the cursor one
position
backwards, deleting the preceding
character.
Pressing the Clear button in some applications will
remove the selected data. For
example, in Excel, it clears the data within a cell. This
button is rarely used and is
not found on laptops.
Escape
The Escape key, which is marked esc on most keyboards,
can be used to dismiss pop
up windows. In many cases, pressing it does nothing.
However, it can sometimes get
you out of trouble by making the computer go back or escape
to a previous screen.