“Getting over” typing (Word of Law No. 12) does not mean discouraging effective use of the keyboard. The debate over mouse versus keystroke techniques is ancient. My answer is simple. You’re both right!
An organization should offer both mouse and keystroke based methods for using its word processing tools and standards. Whether or not this invokes the Disabilities Act, users vary in their comfort and effectiveness in using the mouse and keyboard. They should not be forced to work one way or the other. Even users who are comfortable with both keyboard and mouse may find it effective to work in each mode under different circumstances.
Several of you have asked about strategies for assigning keystrokes to styles. We can explore those techniques and use it as a starting point for a more global approach to keystroke standards for an organization.
There are two strategies for assigning keystrokes to styles. As in earlier columns, we will concentrate on the use of paragraph styles. One strategy assigns a keystroke shortcut for the style. The second assigns an alias to the style name.
Keystroke shortcuts can be assigned to styles using the Customize Keyboard dialog. This can be accessed through the Modify Style dialog (Format|Style|Modify) or the Customize Dialog (Tools|Customize). Keystroke assignments can use ALT, CTRL-ALT, CTRL, CTRL-SHIFT and even CTRL-ALT-SHIFT combinations. Note that the Customize Keyboard dialog defaults to storing the assignments in Normal.dot. That makes the assignment “global” for that user. For an organization, it is often desirable to incorporate global customizations, such as keystroke assignments, in a separate template that will be loaded as a global template. Under most circumstances, such templates should be stored in the Word startup directory. Then they will load automatically when Word starts.
To assign keystrokes in such a global template, that template must be opened for editing, and the Customize Keyboard assignments be assigned to that template. The global template must contain all of the styles for which keystrokes are to be assigned.
Perhaps more important than these techniques is a consistent strategy for the keystroke shortcut assignments. A thorough strategy needs to balance the desire for a system within an organization and the standards of the outside world, including the keystrokes assigned by the default installation of Word. To track and manage these assignments use the Word Command “ListCommands.” This built-in command creates a table of all menu and keystroke assignments in effect (including those in any global or attached template). To run it from the Macros dialog, set the Macros in box to “Word Commands” and choose ListCommands from the list. We have found it very helpful to sort the table both by the name of the command and by the modifier, then keystroke.
There is no single prescription for assigning keystrokes to styles. Some factors to take into account include avoiding writing over or confusion with Windows and Word wide standards (CTRL-C, CTRL-S, etc.) and assigning consistent keystrokes for related functions. Some of our clients use a consistent modifier, then a mnemonic assignment. This approach may require the use of two key shortcuts. To assign a two keystroke sequence press the keystrokes or combinations of keystrokes in succession. For instance, all styles can be assigned to the modifier CTRL-SHIFT. Then Body Text could be CTRL-SHIFT B,T. Heading 1 through Heading 9 would be CTRL-SHIFT H,1 through CTRL-SHIFT H, 9. Personally, I use Body Text and the Heading styles so often that I assign Body Text to ALT-B and Heading 1 through Heading 9 to ALT-1 through ALT-9.
When keystrokes are assigned to paragraph styles, the style can be applied very quickly to the paragraph. If the cursor is anywhere in the paragraph and the selection is collapsed, the keystroke will apply the paragraph style to the whole paragraph. If more than one paragraph is to be changed, be careful to select the entire paragraphs, including the following paragraph marks.
The second method of shortcut access to styles involves setting an alias for the style name. For instance, Heading 1 through Heading 9 might have the aliases H1 through H9. To create the alias, modify the style name by adding a comma and the alias name after the name of the style. To use the alias as a keystroke shortcut it is necessary to have a toolbar with the style pulldown list visible. The formatting toolbar that ships with Word includes this. Then, with the default keystrokes in effect, CTRL-SHIFT-S will highlight that pulldown. Type the alias, then ENTER and the style will be applied in the same manner as described in the preceding paragraph. If that pulldown menu is not in a visible toolbar, CTRL-SHIFT-S brings up the same dialog as the menu item Format|Style. That list of styles only responds to the first letter of the name and ignores the alias.
From an organizational viewpoint, this approach to style shortcuts is harder to maintain as an organization wide standard than the keystroke assignments. The style name aliases are stored in each template, so that a consistent approach would require that styles always include the alias name in each of the templates.
Either way, a consistent organization or business area wide assignment of keystroke shortcuts can promote the easy, accurate and consistent use of styles.
All of the functions described in this week’s column worked in both Word 97 and 2000 on my computer.
This 1999 article originally appeared in Office Watch. Subscribe to Office Watch free at http://www.office-watch.com/.