How do I navigate in a site?

When you first log into UVACollab, you are taken to your Home site automatically.  Your Home site is your individual workspace.  You may access other UVACollab sites by selecting the My Sites menu at the top of the UVACollab screen, then selecting the title of the site. This article describes the navigation options within a site once it is accessed.

Related Help Articles:

IMPORTANT: It is strongly recommended that you use the site navigation, and NOT the back and forward buttons in your web browser, to navigate within a site.

The tool menu.

The tool menu is a list of links for each tool in a site (e.g., Overview, Syllabus, Announcements, etc.).

The menu's display depends on the size of your internet browser window:

  • Desktop View (browser window larger than 800 pixels in width) - The tool menu displays to the left of the screen.
  • Mobile View (smaller window) - Select the Tools link near the top of the screen to open the tool menu.

If you are using a keyboard, you can also jump to the tool menu with an Access key: [L].

The number of links in the tool menu will vary depending on which tools were chosen for a site.  The same tool may also have a different link in different sites, as the language used in a site and individual tool titles can be customized.

Select a tool's name to go to the corresponding tool.

Note: The exact keyboard commands to trigger an Access key depend on your computer operating system and internet browser.  Commonly used browsers tend to use the following commands:

  • Most Windows browsers: Shift + Alt + [the Access key]
  • Most Mac browsers: Ctrl + Option + [the Access key]

The information on Access keys in this note was provided by WebAIM.org (opens new window).  You can learn more about Access keys on their website, Keyboard Accessibility © WebAIM (opens new window).

Tip: You can find other UVACollab Access keys in Using UVACollab's Accessibility Features.

The site's Overview page.

The Overview is the first page in most UVACollab sites. Depending on how the site is set up and which tools are included in it, the Overview may contain information about the site, recent announcements, a calendar, and/or links to recent messages.

If you are viewing another tool in the site, select Overview in the tool menu to access the Overview page.

When you are using a tool, the title of the tool appears at the top of the screen after the tool menu. This is also a Tool Home link that returns you to the main page of the tool when selected.

Online help.

You can get help by selecting the Help link at the bottom of the tool menu. You can also jump to the help article for a specific tool by selecting the Help button in the upper right corner of each tool.

Note: On mobile devices or small screens, the Help button may display as a question mark (?) icon.

Expand/Collapse Tool Navigation (Desktop View only).

On Desktop View only, at the bottom of the screen underneath the tool menu is a button to collapse or expand the menu.  When collapsed, the tool menu displays with icons only, no text.

The Expand/Collapse Tool Navigation button display switches between << (to collapse the tool menu) and >> (to expand the tool menu).

Note: Using the Expand/Collapse Tool Navigation button will have no effect on page navigation for users of screen reading software as all tools will still be available and announced.

Full Screen Mode (Desktop View Only).

Screenshot shows an instructor view of Gradebook in full screen mode. Graphic link opens modal with larger image. Press Escape to exit modal.

You can display a tool in full screen to view more of the content on your screen. This can be very helpful with tools that display a lot of content horizontally, such as Gradebook and Calendar. Follow the steps below to enter and exit full screen mode.

Enter full screen mode.

In the top right corner of a tool, select the Click to enter fullscreen mode for this tool button. This will open the tool in full screen mode.

Exit full screen mode.

Screenshot shows an instructor view of Gradebook in full screen mode. The links to exit full screen mode are highlighted in the image and described below. Graphic link opens modal with larger image. Press Escape to exit modal.

You have two options to close fullscreen mode:

  1. Select the Click here to exit full screen mode link at the top center of the page.
  2. Select the Click to exit fullscreen mode button at the top right of the page.