Standard keyboard shortcuts
Note that for some screen readers, you may need to turn off the virtual cursor or adjust other settings to use keyboard shortcuts within a web page. NVDA and JAWS often require entering "focus mode" with Insert + Space
before you can use keyboard shortcuts.
Press this key | Action | Tips |
---|---|---|
Tab |
Select the next interactive item or next group of interactive items |
This is like hovering over an item with a mouse before clicking on the item. |
Hold Shift and press Tab
|
Select the previous interactive item or previous group of interactive items | This is like hovering over an item with a mouse before clicking on the item. |
Space or Enter
|
Activate the selected item to take an action or cycle through its options |
This is like clicking or tapping on the selected item. |
Up , Down , Left , or Right arrow keysNVDA or JAWS screen reader: You may need to hold Alt while pressing Up , Down , Left , or Right arrow keys |
Navigate between options in a group of interactive elements, such as a dropdown menu, an editing toolbar or highlighting toolbar, tabs in a sidebar, lists of collapsable sections, long list of Interests, etc. In student grammar exercises, move draggable elements around the screen or navigate within groups of words |
See Using a keyboard to complete practices, quizzes, and diagnostics for more detailed information about using keyboard shortcuts in student grammar exercises. |
Esc / Escape
|
Close a dialog ("pop-up") within NoRedInk, close a tooltip, close an open menu “Back up” within the current interface: For example, a student typing an essay in a text editing interface uses the Tab key to indent their paragraphs. In order to use Tab to navigate through interactive items on the page instead of indenting, the student can press Esc to “back up” out of the text editing interface, then press Tab to resume navigating through interactive items on the page. |
This is like clicking outside of the current item or clicking the “Close” button on the current item. |

Why use keyboard shortcuts?
By ensuring that our exercises are fully keyboard accessible, we allow as many students as possible to benefit from NoRedInk's resources while preserving and encouraging student independence:
- Many students need assistive technology such as a keyboard, screen reader, switch, mouth stick, or other device to use websites.
- Some students struggle with trackpads or may have broken mice or cracked touch screens that prevent them from using non-keyboard input devices.
- Some students may work better and in a less distracted way by keeping their hands on their keyboard rather than switching to a mouse between questions.
To this end, our keyboard shortcuts follow standard patterns that students and general users may be accustomed to using on other websites or with other software. Many assistive technology devices use these standard keyboard shortcuts behind the scenes, so our keyboard shortcuts should provide wide device support.
Our goal is to make non-mouse and non-touch use as user-friendly as possible. Please feel free to send us feedback on how these shortcuts are working for you or how they could be improved!