Changing current focus from the keyboard

The Navigator interactor is essential for navigating graphs in combination with a screen reader. The Navigator interactor supports tree-style navigation (navigation following nodes) and graph-style navigation (navigation following links).
Note
This interactor works only when the diagram is in Navigation mode. You can change between Edition mode and Navigation mode using the SwitchModeInteractor.
The following table shows the actions that the Navigator interactor assigns by default to keyboard keys:
Action Description Default key
changeNavigatorStyle Switches between tree-style and graph-style navigation. F8
clearFocusedElement Clears the focus and all elements in the current selection. Esc
next Moves focus to the next element in accordance with the selected navigation style. Down Arrow
previous Moves focus to the previous element in accordance with the selected navigation style. Up Arrow
forward Moves focus in accordance with the selected navigation style. See Tree-style navigation or Graph-style navigation. Right Arrow
backward Moves focus in accordance with the selected navigation style. See Tree-style navigation or Graph-style navigation. Left Arrow

Tree-style navigation

The tree-style navigation mode considers the graph as a tree, with opened subgraphs as branches, and closed subgraphs and nodes as leaves (lowest level). It does not take links into account.
This table shows the meaning of the focus change actions of the Navigator interactor when it is using tree-style navigation:
Action Description for tree-style navigation
next Moves focus to the next sibling of the currently focused node. If there is no such sibling, moves focus to the next sibling of the parent of the currently focused node, except when the parent is the root graph (in which case, it does nothing).
previous Moves focus to the previous sibling of the currently focused node. If there is no such sibling, moves focus to the lowest­level, last­closed child (either a closed subgraph or a node) of the parent of the currently focused node, except when the parent is the root graph (in which case, it does nothing).
forward Opens the currently focused node if it is a closed subgraph. If it is an opened subgraph, moves focus to the first child of the subgraph. If it is not a subgraph, it does nothing.
backward Closes the currently focused node if it is an opened subgraph. If it is a closed subgraph, or if it is not a subgraph, moves focus to the parent of the currently focused node, except when the parent it the root graph (in which case, it does nothing).

Graph-style navigation

Graph-style navigation allows you to select links as well as nodes. The meaning of the focus change actions depends on whether the current selection is a link or a node:
Action Description when a node has focus Description when a link has focus
next Moves focus to the first link of the focused node. Retains a record of the focused node as being the owner of links currently being navigated. Moves focus to the next link of the previously focused node. If the currently focused link is the last link of the list of node links to gain focus, it does nothing.
previous Moves focus to the last link of the focused node. Retains a record of the focused node as being the owner of links currently being navigated. Moves focus to the previous link of the previously focused node. If the currently focused link is the first link of the list of node links to gain focus, it does nothing.
forward Moves focus to the last link that was followed forward, if any, to get to that node. Allows users to browse other links of the previous node. Moves focus to the end node of the currently focused link, if any.
backward Moves focus to the last link that was followed backwards, if any, to get to that node. Allows users to browse other links of the previous node. Moves focus to the start node of the currently focused link, if any