Read with Keyboard Shortcuts
This guide is for reading without the mouse. Keyboard reading lets you walk cards, walk sentences, select a span, and run the same actions you use with a pointer. This page names the jobs the shortcuts do. It does not list the keys, because the keys can change.
Prerequisites
- A surf is completed and open in the reader.
- Keyboard reading is turned on in reader settings. It is off by default.
- Focus is in the reader, not in a text field.
If you type into a note or a question, the reader does not treat those keys as movement. Leave the field to move again.
Turn keyboard reading on
Open reader settings. Turn on keyboard reading. The reader then has two working modes. One mode walks cards. One mode walks sentences. You cycle those modes. You can also turn keyboard reading off again from the reader.
Click the canvas or the side panel so the reader knows which region you mean. You can jump focus between the canvas and the side panel. Shortcuts pause if the wrong region is active.
Walk cards
In card mode you move up and down the cards that are on screen. You zoom in on the selected card when it can expand. You zoom out to the parent card. If a card is taller than the view, you can scroll inside it before you leave it.
The selected card is the one the next action will use. Keep it in view. If nothing is selected, move once to take the first visible card.
Walk sentences
Cycle into sentence mode on the selected card. You move to the next sentence or the previous one. You can jump to the start or the end of the paragraph. You can extend the selection across several sentences.
From a sentence you can zoom out and stay in sentence mode on the parent. You can zoom in and land on the first sentence of a child card.
Select words and open actions
When you need a tighter span than a sentence, enter word select on the current sentence. Pick the words you want. Then open the action list for that span.
The action list is the same one you get with a pointer. You can highlight, write a note, draft a note, ask a question, ask for a definition, or start firehose. Some of those actions need you to be signed in.
If marks already sit on the focused sentence, you can jump to the matching note or question from the keyboard.
Use the side panel from the keyboard
You can show or hide the side panel. When the side panel has focus, you can switch among outline, notes, questions, document conversation, and firehose. Questions and conversation need a signed-in surf. They are not available on a guest reading link.
Leave keyboard reading
Cycle back to card mode, or turn keyboard reading off. Pointer selection in a card body still works. Keyboard reading is an extra path, not a replacement for zoom with the mouse.
For the zoom model, see Layers and Zoom. For work on a span, see Ask Questions and Take Notes.