A system and method for scrolling through a list uses control and display algorithms for scrolling through a long list of text strings. The control algorithm interfaces to the user via a rate-based scheme to switch the display through various levels of abstraction where higher levels of abstraction are displayed “in-situ” on the single-line display. These higher levels of abstraction display as starting characters or words that are common to a group of entries in the alphabetized list. Multiple levels of abstraction are supported, where lower levels of abstraction are displayed as longer strings of characters, representing smaller groups of entries in the given list of text strings. Higher levels of abstraction are displayed as shorter character strings. The rate of user movement is detected for the display to change to a previous or next item in the list if below a predetermined threshold while increasing the abstraction level if the user rapidly selects different options.