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Navigating WorkWORLD and Entering Data

This topic contains a number of sections. You may read through it in sequence, or you can immediately jump to a specific section by clicking on its name:

·        Navigating and Entering Data in a New File

·        Completing the Current Situation

·        Navigating and Entering Data in a Previously Saved File

·        Navigating among SSI/DI, Housing, and Food Stamps Questions and Results

·        Navigation Shortcuts From the Keyboard

NOTE: The following conventions are used when describing the use of a mouse and the keyboard:

1. Click, left click, and single click all mean position the mouse pointer over or on the desired object, button, or highlighted selection and click the left mouse button once.

2. Double click means position the mouse pointer as above and click the left mouse button twice in rapid succession.

3. Right click means position the mouse pointer as above and click the right mouse button once.

4. When describing the use of the keyboard, key sequences may be written out as, for example, 'hold down the "Alt" key and press the "F" key, then press the "N" key'. This means the "Alt" and "F" keys must be depressed simultaneously, then released before the "N" key is pressed alone.

5. Another way of writing out the same sequence of keys, used when many sequences are described at once, is:
 Alt + F, N

6. A third way of showing the same sequence of keys in a graphical manner is:
  + ,

To move around within WorkWORLD and enter answers to the questions, you can use your mouse, the keyboard, or a combination of the two.

The effects of the mouse and keyboard actions are slightly different depending on whether you are entering data for the first time in a new file or making changes to a file that you have already created.

First, let's look at how you would move around and enter data in a new file. Then we'll describe the differences when you change an existing file.

Navigating and Entering Data in a New File:

NOTE: SSA now offers a free Benefits Planning Query (BPQY) report that contains much of the detailed information needed to accurately answer the Current Situation questions.

As soon as you Create a new file you will be presented with the first question about your current situation. As you are describing your current situation with your answers, you will use three types of input boxes: Drop-Down, Text, and Currency boxes.

1. Drop-Down:

The first type of input box is a Drop-Down box. Such boxes are used for choosing and accepting one of the answers from a list of possible answers.

When you first enter a Drop-Down box, the default answer will be highlighted. If the default answer is correct, you can accept it, and go onto the next question using either your mouse or the keyboard.

Using a Mouse: Click twice on the Okay button located on the right side of the input box:

Using the keyboard: Hold down the "Alt" key and press "O", or simply press "Enter":

  + or

If the default is not correct:

Using a Mouse: Click on the desired answer and accept it by clicking on the Okay button.

Using the keyboard: Use your down-arrow and up-arrow keys to highlight the correct answer. Accept it by pressing "Enter".

If you are unsure of the meaning of the question, you can click on the "More Info…" button under the "Okay" button in the answer box, or from the keyboard hold down the "Alt" key and press the "M" key:

  or +

Either of the above actions will cause a Help screen to pop up, giving you more information about the specific question.

If you still don't know what answer to give, follow the general strategy outlined in the "Don't Know" help screen. (You can find that screen by clicking on "Help" in the Main Menu or pressing Alt + H -- and using the Help Index to look up "Don't Know".)

Return to the question by:

Clicking the "X" in the top right-hand corner of the help screen (the Windows "close" button) or by pressing "Esc" to close help:

  or

Or, you can minimize help and return to the questions by Clicking on the Windows "minimize" button in the top right-hand corner of the help screen:

If you have minimized the help screen, you can make it pop back up later by clicking on its icon at the bottom of the screen in the Windows task bar:

To continue answering questions: Either left-click on the answer with your mouse, or press the Tab key two or three times to highlight the current answer. (Highlighting the answer allows you either to accept the current entry by pressing Enter or to choose a different answer).

After you have accepted an answer, WorkWORLD will present you with the next question to be answered. A smaller version of the previous question and your answer will be visible above the question being presented.

Notice that in the WorkWORLD status bar on the bottom right of your screen, just above your Windows taskbar, it says "QUESTIONS PENDING":

This tells you that WorkWORLD can not give you results for the situation that you are describing with your answers until you have answered all of the necessary questions. Until that time, the only thing in the output portion of the screen will be incomplete situation notifications. If your View allows output to be seen, and the output is set to "Text Results" you will see the "Incomplete Situation" notice:

If your output is set to Numerical Results, you will see the red "INCOMPLETE" notice in the banner bars at the top of the column for the situation you are entering:

And finally, if your output is set to "Graphs", the graphic output will be blanked out until all questions required to make the situation complete have been answered. At that point the status bar will say "Situation Complete":

When the situation is complete, the Text Results, Numerical Results, and Graphs will appear in the output portion of your screen.

The next example will use a Text input box.

2. Text input box:

This is used for entering and accepting text:

When the Text input box is presented to you, the default text will be highlighted. Click on the "Okay" button or press "Enter" to accept the default and move to the next question.

If you want to provide your own brief label (for example, "Earning $350 per Month"), then type in your label. The default will disappear as soon as you start typing. You can then accept the label by clicking on the "Okay" button or pressing "Enter".

3. Currency:

This third type of input box is used for entering and accepting money amounts:

Currency input boxes operate nearly the same as the Text input boxes except for two differences:

1.   WorkWORLD will only accept numbers and decimal points as inputs.

2.   You can indicate that you are using an estimate if you are not sure of the exact amount of an input:

Using a Mouse: After you have entered an amount, click on "Estimate" just below the input area, as shown above. Then accept the estimate by clicking on the "Okay" button.

Using the Keyboard: After you have entered an amount, press the "Tab" key repeatedly until one of the buttons in the answer box becomes active (you will see a dotted outline around the active button). Then use the arrow keys to select the "Estimate" button, and press "Enter" to accept the amount as an estimated input.

WorkWORLD will later remind you in the Numerical Results that you used one or more estimates.

If you enter an estimate, WorkWORLD will issue you a Text Result "alert" when the situation is complete reminding you that your results are based on an estimate and therefore may not be accurate:

At soon as possible, you should find the actual amount of each estimate used, enter the corrected amount, and determine if any results or recommendations change significantly when you use the actual amount.

When you enter an amount in a currency box, WorkWORLD attempts to determine if the amount you enter is reasonable. If it is not, a window will pop up to alert you:

You must close this window in order to enter a correct amount in the answer box.

Completing the Current Situation:

Usually, you will continue to answer the questions until the Situation you are describing with your answers is complete. At that time, the "QUESTIONS PENDING" notice in the status bar in the lower-right of your screen will be replaced by "Situation Complete":

Text Results for the situation will appear in the output portion of your screen.

Before you have completed the situation, however, you may realize that you answered a previous question incorrectly. At any time, you can go back to a previous question and change the answer. Here's how:

With the mouse: You can use the Windows scroll bar on the right side of your screen to go back to the question and then click on the answer box. It will enlarge and show your previous answer highlighted. Change your answer, and then accept it by clicking on the "Okay" button.

From the keyboard: Scroll up, one question at a time, by holding down the "Alt" key and hitting the "Up arrow" key:

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When you get to the incorrect answer, change it and accept your new answer by pressing "Enter":

 .

When you change a previously accepted answer, your new answer may make some of the other questions not applicable, in which case they (and the answers you gave) will disappear.

For example, if you previously answered that you had disability-related work expenses, you would have been asked the amount of the expenses and if you included those work expenses in an IRWE. If you then went back and answered that you did not have any such work expenses, the amount and IRWE questions -- and your answers to them -- would disappear.)

Also, when you change a previously accepted answer, your new answer may make it necessary for you to answer questions that were not previously presented to you.

For example, if you previously answered that you had no earnings, you would not have been asked how much those earnings were or if you had any work expenses. If you went back and answered that you in fact did have earnings, you would then be asked those previously unasked questions.

Once you have answered the newly relevant questions, WorkWORLD will skip over all of the other questions you have already answered and continue to ask you the remaining questions until the Situation is complete. The "QUESTIONS PENDING" notice in the status bar in the lower-right of your screen will be replaced by "Situation Complete", and the Text Results for the situation will appear in the output portion of your screen:

 

After you have reviewed and understood the results, you will probably want to ask WorkWORLD "What-If?" What would happen to your benefits and your net income if you used an SSA work incentive and/or earned more money?

You do this by creating a new situation in the first "What-If?" column. When you first create that situation, the second column of answers and results should look exactly the same as the first column. The only difference would be if in the first column of Text Results you had an "Alert" telling you that your actual check amount was different from that which WorkWORLD calculated. In such a case, however, you should not be using WorkWORLD to calculate a "What-If?" until you have figured out why there is a discrepancy. This type of Alert is shown below:

From this point on, navigating and entering data in a newly created file is exactly the same as doing so in a previously saved file.

Navigating and Entering Data in a Previously Saved File:

After opening a previously saved file, if you decide to make some changes, here is what you can do:

Using a mouse: Use the Windows scroll bar on the right side of the screen to bring the first question whose answer you want to change into view. Click on the input box. (It can be in any of the columns.)

The box will enlarge with your current answer highlighted. Make the desired change. You can then accept the change in any of three ways.

1.   You can press the "Enter" key:

 

2.   You can click on any other input box -- either in the same situation (that is, the same column) or in a different situation -- and either before or after the question you changed.

3.   You can use the keyboard to go up (Alt + Up arrow), down (Alt + Down arrow), to the right (Alt + Right arrow), or to the left (Alt + Left arrow):

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If you pressed "Enter" and the change you made does not require that you answer any further questions, your cursor will remain on the answer box for the question you answered, and "Situation Complete" will appear on the status bar.

If you moved to another input box (by using the keyboard, or the mouse pointer) and the change that you made does not require that you answer further questions, the new input box and question will enlarge and let you make another change.

If, however, the change that you made requires you to answer any questions that you have not already answered in that situation:

1.        The "QUESTIONS PENDING" notice will appear in the status bar on the lower-right side of your screen;

2.        The Text Results for that situation will say "Incomplete Situation"; and,

3.        You will be presented with one or more questions to answer until the situation is complete.

When the situation is complete, the new Results for that situation will appear in the Results screen. And you can continue to make further changes if you wish by repeating the above.

Navigating among SSI/DI, Housing, and Food Stamps Questions and Results.

Once you have completed at least one situation, you can navigate quickly from one section of questions and results to another section by using the View command on the Main Menu or by left-clicking on the SSI/DI, Housing, or Food Stamps icons.

·        Housing Questions and Results

To move to the Housing questions and results, select View, Housing. (Hold down "Alt" and press "V" and then "H".)

Or click on the Housing icon

·        Food Stamps Questions and Results

To move to the Food Stamps questions and results, select View, Food Stamps. (Hold down "Alt" and press "V" and then "F".)

Or click on the Food Stamps icon

·        SSI/DI Questions and Results

To move back to the SSI/DI questions and results, select View, SSI/DI. (Hold down "Alt" and press "V" and then "S".)

Or click on the SSI/DI icon

·        Scrolling among Questions

Since the questions are actually arranged in one long list, with the SSI/DI questions first, followed by the Housing questions, and then the Food Stamps questions, you can actually scroll among the questions fairly quickly using your mouse and the scroll bar on the right side of your screen.

·        Moving among different types of Results

You cannot scroll among the results for the different programs, but must use one of the methods described above.

Once you have selected the results for either SSI/DI, Housing or Food Stamps, you can choose among the types of results: Text Results, Numerical Results, or Graphs.

First, select View, Outputs. (Hold down "Alt" and press "V" and then "O".)

Or click on the 100% Outputs icon

Then select Text Results, or Numerical Results, or Graphs by holding down "Alt" and pressing "T", or "N", or "G".

Or click on one of the tabs located on the lower left part of your screen. (The Food Stamps tabs are displayed below as an example.)

or or

·        Going back to the Questions

You can go back to the questions by selecting View, Inputs. (Hold down "Alt" and press "V" and then "I".)

Or by clicking on the 100% Input icon

Navigation Shortcuts From the Keyboard:

Navigation around and between the input and output areas of the WorkWORLD screen may be done using the mouse, keyboard, or a combination of the two. Most have been explained in the sections above for users of either the mouse or the keyboard. Some mouse actions have no direct keyboard equivalent, such as random moves between two non-adjacent cells in a grid. However, there are a number of key sequences you may use in order to speed up navigation from the keyboard.

After you have entered answers for one or more situations, the results for the different situations appear side by side for easy review and comparison. At this point, the WorkWORLD status bar will show the following information at the bottom right of your screen:

Notice that it says "Input is active". You actually see two different areas of the WorkWORLD window on your screen, the Input and the Output area. As their names imply, the Input area is the top part of the screen where you enter answers to questions, and the Output area is the lower portion of the screen where WorkWORLD shows you Text, Numerical, and Graph results. While you can use the keyboard to perform various functions in either area, at any given time only one of the areas is active, either Input or Output. The status bar shows you which area will respond to keyboard activity.

If you want more information about any of the results, you can go to the "More Information" link below each Text Result. To reach and activate these "More Information" links from the keyboard:

Hold down the "Alt" key and press "T" to take your cursor to the first entry in the first column of the Text Results:

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In some circumstances you may have to do this twice to move your cursor there.

After using either the mouse or the keyboard to get to the output, the status bar will indicate that "Output is active":

Use the "Tab" key to move your cursor to the column containing the text result you want more information about:

Then use your arrow keys to move your cursor to the "More Information" link that you want to activate:

Your cursor may be located anywhere on the desired link.

Press the "Enter" key to bring up the help screen:

When you want to close the Help window and go back to the main screen, press the "Esc" key:

To move your cursor back to the top half of the screen (the Input section) hold down the "Alt" key and press "I" (as shown on the status bar):

  +

This will allow the Input area to accept keyboard commands. The status bar will once again show that "Input is active":

In the Input grid, navigation may be performed with the arrow keys in conjunction with the "Alt" key. In any of the situation columns, navigating this way will open the answer box of the cell you move to:

·        Holding down the "Alt" key and pressing the "Up arrow" key moves up one cell:
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·        Holding down the "Alt" key and pressing the "Down arrow" key moves down one cell:
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·        Holding down the "Alt" key and pressing the "Left arrow" key moves left one cell:
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·        Holding down the "Alt" key and pressing the "Right arrow" key moves right one cell:
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NOTE: If you move to the questions column (the leftmost column) first, you can move up and down the grid without opening all the answer boxes.

Using any of the following key sequences will cause an answer box to open up if the result of the move is a potentially active answer box in a situation column:

·        Holding down the "Control" key and pressing the "Home" key will move to the uppermost left cell (the upper left corner) of the grid:
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·        Holding down the "Control" key and pressing the "End" key will move to the lowermost right cell (the lower right corner) of the grid:
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·        Pushing the "Home" key will move to the leftmost cell (the questions column) of the current row:
 

·        Pushing the "End" key will move to the rightmost cell (the last situation column) of the current row:
 

·        Pushing the "Page Up" key moves up one visible screen. That is, the previous top row becomes the new bottom row, and the focus moves to the new top row:
 

·        Pushing the "Page Down" key moves down one visible screen. That is, the previous bottom row becomes the new top row, and the focus moves to the new top row:
 

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Complete information about the software is available at: http://www.WorkWORLD.org