|
A software ribbon toolbar is a graphical user interface (GUI) element you can find at the top of window of every major software feature
The ribbon toolbar is characterized by a horizontal band that spans the top of the application window. It is divided into tabs, each representing a different category or set of related functions.Tabs are visually distinct and labeled with descriptive names or icons.
•Tabs and Groups: Within each tab, the ribbon toolbar is further organized into groups, which group together related actions or commands.
Groups are delineated by separators or subtle visual cues. Each group contains a collection of buttons, drop-down menus, and other interactive elements.
•Buttons and Icons: The primary elements of the ribbon toolbar are the buttons, which serve as graphical representations of specific commands or actions. Buttons are typically adorned with icons to provide visual cues about their functions. Text labels may accompany icons to further clarify their purpose, although in many cases, icons are designed to be self-explanatory.
•Keyboard Shortcuts and Tool tips:
In addition to mouse interaction, you can navigate the ribbon toolbar using keyboard shortcuts for efficiency.
When you hoover with mouse over a toolbar's button you can see the tool tips, brief descriptions that appear over buttons provide supplementary information about each command.
To select a specific command, you can click it with the mouse or invoke it via its shortcut
Shortcuts are associated with each page and command in the Ribbon. To see the shortcuts, press ALT or F10.
Shortcuts will appear next to the corresponding tab pages and commands, Shortcuts can be composed of one, two or three symbols. If a shortcut is represented by one symbol, you can invoke the command by pressing this symbol. If a shortcut is represented by two or three symbols, to invoke the command, press the symbols one after another.
Initially, when pressing ALT or F10, shortcuts are displayed for commands within the Quick Access Toolbar and for tab pages.
To access shortcuts for commands within a specific tab page, you need to press the shortcut associated with this page.
Shortcut Keys
ALT
|
Switches keyboard focus to the first link of the main menu. If bars already have keyboard focus, it is removed.
|
Left and Right Arrows
|
Navigate left and right through bar links. If the currently selected link is in a sub-menu, pressing these keys result in navigating to the neighboring link within the owning bar and expanding its sub-menu (if it is present). In this case, the first link within the expanded sub-menu becomes focused.
|
Up and Down Arrows
|
Navigate up and down through links of a sub-menu or a pop up menu. The down arrow key expands sub-menus when their owning links are focused
|
ESC
|
Closes the currently expanded sub-menu or pop up menu. If a sub-menu is closed, its owning button obtains keyboard focus
|
TAB
|
Navigates right through buttons of a bar. If a bar is oriented vertically, navigates down through its buttons
|
SHIFT+TAB
|
Navigates left through buttons of a bar. If a bar is oriented vertically, navigates up through its buttons
|
ENTER
|
Invokes the focused button functionality. Equivalent to clicking a button.
|
F10
|
Shows all key shortcuts assigned to ribbon bar pages and buttons. Typing shortcut letters on keyboard invokes the focused link's functionality. Equivalent to clicking a button.
|
To minimize the Ribbon, right-click any command and select Minimize the Ribbon
You can also minimize and restore the Ribbon by double-clicking any tab page header
Quick Access Toolbar
Frequently used commands are typically displayed within the Quick Access Toolbar, at the top of the Ribbon.
You can control how the toolbar appears in software options Default View section.
To add any command to the Quick Access Toolbar, right-click the command and select Add to Quick Access
To add a group of commands to the Quick Access Toolbar, right-click the group's caption and select Add to Quack Access
To remove any command from the Quick Access Toolbar, right-click the command and select Remove from Quack Access Toolbar
|