<html><head><meta content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" http-equiv="content-type"><style type="text/css">ol{margin:0;padding:0}table td,table th{padding:0}.c2{padding-top:20pt;padding-bottom:6pt;line-height:1.15;page-break-after:avoid;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left}.c7{padding-top:18pt;padding-bottom:6pt;line-height:1.15;page-break-after:avoid;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left}.c6{color:#000000;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;font-size:16pt;font-family:"Arial";font-style:normal}.c9{color:#000000;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;font-size:20pt;font-family:"Arial";font-style:normal}.c1{color:#434343;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;font-size:14pt;font-family:"Arial";font-style:normal}.c0{color:#000000;font-weight:400;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Arial";font-style:normal}.c3{padding-top:16pt;padding-bottom:4pt;line-height:1.15;page-break-after:avoid;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left}.c4{padding-top:0pt;padding-bottom:0pt;line-height:1.15;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left}.c11{text-decoration-skip-ink:none;-webkit-text-decoration-skip:none;color:#1155cc;text-decoration:underline}.c10{background-color:#ffffff;max-width:468pt;padding:72pt 72pt 72pt 72pt}.c8{color:inherit;text-decoration:inherit}.c5{height:11pt}.title{padding-top:0pt;color:#000000;font-size:26pt;padding-bottom:3pt;font-family:"Arial";line-height:1.15;page-break-after:avoid;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left}.subtitle{padding-top:0pt;color:#666666;font-size:15pt;padding-bottom:16pt;font-family:"Arial";line-height:1.15;page-break-after:avoid;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left}li{color:#000000;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Arial"}p{margin:0;color:#000000;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Arial"}h1{padding-top:20pt;color:#000000;font-size:20pt;padding-bottom:6pt;font-family:"Arial";line-height:1.15;page-break-after:avoid;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left}h2{padding-top:18pt;color:#000000;font-size:16pt;padding-bottom:6pt;font-family:"Arial";line-height:1.15;page-break-after:avoid;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left}h3{padding-top:16pt;color:#434343;font-size:14pt;padding-bottom:4pt;font-family:"Arial";line-height:1.15;page-break-after:avoid;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left}h4{padding-top:14pt;color:#666666;font-size:12pt;padding-bottom:4pt;font-family:"Arial";line-height:1.15;page-break-after:avoid;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left}h5{padding-top:12pt;color:#666666;font-size:11pt;padding-bottom:4pt;font-family:"Arial";line-height:1.15;page-break-after:avoid;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left}h6{padding-top:12pt;color:#666666;font-size:11pt;padding-bottom:4pt;font-family:"Arial";line-height:1.15;page-break-after:avoid;font-style:italic;orphans:2;widows:2;text-align:left}</style></head><body class="c10 doc-content"><h1 class="c2" id="h.g9whqn2woclj"><span class="c9">Rough Notes For Accessing Google Docs With A Screen Reader</span></h1><p class="c4"><span class="c0">This document is available in google docs at this link:</span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c11"><a class="c8" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nfB5Y5vSPc93Bv2Zwweq52rNYyQr5Ql1Y9lsN-f0mIs/edit?usp%3Dsharing&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1737675057088181&usg=AOvVaw0KWZNYsc2njzR9nHh0Eqex">https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nfB5Y5vSPc93Bv2Zwweq52rNYyQr5Ql1Y9lsN-f0mIs/edit</a></span></p><h2 class="c7" id="h.b7aia1v8wiei"><span class="c6">Making The Screen Reader Work Correctly</span></h2><p class="c4"><span class="c0">In JAWS, use Insert-Z to turn off the virtual cursor. In NVDA, use the Insert-Spacebar to turn off Browse mode. If in laptop mode, use the CAPS LOCK instead of the insert with either screen reader. Both these commands are toggles.</span></p><h2 class="c7" id="h.p8n7zo9km1ee"><span class="c6">Turning On Google Docs Accessibility Features</span></h2><p class="c4"><span class="c0">Once in a spreadsheet or document in the google workspace, press Alt-Control-Z to turn on screen reader accessibility mode. This preference stays in place through multiple sessions and should not need to be toggled on again for your google account. This enables Google's accessibility keystrokes.</span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">Next use Alt-Control-H to turn on Braille display accessibility mode. Even if you have no Braille display, it improves a screen reader's ability to track the cursor and focus.</span></p><h3 class="c3" id="h.rve86rwz61h6"><span class="c1">Auto-Save</span></h3><p class="c4"><span class="c0">Google docs save automatically, whether you have given them a name. If you are concerned that a document you are reading might be inadvertently messed up when you enter a wrong keystroke, ask its creator to make it read-only by making changes in the Share settings. Of course, this will also prevent others from editing it so that’s not a great choice when you are collaborating as a group. You can also go to the View menu and change the document to Read-only. You do this by selecting from the three modes available, described in the troubleshooting section of this document.</span></p><h2 class="c7" id="h.4r2bvr2a1pt2"><span class="c6">A Cheat Sheet For Accessibility Keystrokes</span></h2><p class="c4"><span class="c0">To get a list of Google specific keystrokes, press Control-Slash. A window opens with the keystroke list which is voiced automatically by your screen reader. </span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">To review the keystroke list, you will need to toggle the JAWS virtual cursor or NVDA browse mode back on. The list is in a series of tables and normal screen reader table reading keystrokes work here. Remember to turn the screen reader browse mode or virtual cursor back off to read or edit a document. Press ESCAPE to make this keystroke window disappear.</span></p><h2 class="c7" id="h.301r03t4mqge"><span class="c6">Navigating A Document</span></h2><p class="c4"><span class="c0">If you are reading or editing a document, conventional navigation keystrokes work.</span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">Arrows move the cursor left, right, up and down. Home and end go to the start and end of a line respectively. Control-Home and Control-End go to the start and end of a document respectively. TAB and SHIFT-TAB either indent a section or they move between cells in a table you are editing or viewing.</span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">To activate a link in a google doc, find the link but do not press Enter as you would do normally to access a link. Instead, press Alt-Enter. You can also position your cursor on the link and call up the context menu with your applications key or Shift-F10. It is a very long menu, but if you up arrow you will reach the menu choices at the end faster. One of them is "copy link" which copies the link to your clipboard so you can pull it up from the address bar or save it for future reference. The choice below it is "activate link", which will do just that.</span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">Tables can be read with normal screen reader table reading commands, the CONTROL-ALT together with the arrow keys. The tab key moves between cells in a table, but outside a table it inserts a tab character, indenting text.</span></p><h3 class="c3" id="h.53ir5c35nix6"><span class="c1">Converting and Downloading</span></h3><p class="c4"><span class="c0">If you wish to download a google doc, Press Alt-F to get the file menu. Arrow down to the Download choice and press Enter.</span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">There are a variety of file formats you are offered including Word, PDF and HTML. This means you can keep a local copy of the document in a format that may be easier for you to read.</span></p><h3 class="c3" id="h.8i0ulesdkjz2"><span class="c1">Accessing Menus and Features</span></h3><p class="c4"><span class="c0">Alt-F also gives you access to the menu bar, so instead of pressing Enter, if you need to access something else on the menu, press the right arrow key to move across the menu bar. Down arrow or Enter expands submenus under each category, while the left arrow collapses a submenu.</span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">Listed below are the menu categories, their respective shortcut keys, and some of the most important commands within them. Many can be accessed directly with keyboard shortcuts.</span></p><h3 class="c3" id="h.arhvtfg0kgav"><span class="c1">File menu (Alt F):</span></h3><p class="c4"><span class="c0"> share, new, open, make a copy, email, Add shortcut to Drive, move, send to trash, download, rename, page setup (margins, orientation), print.</span></p><h3 class="c3" id="h.vy8f0q3sprip"><span class="c1">Edit menu (Alt E): </span></h3><p class="c4"><span class="c0">find and replace, paste without formatting.</span></p><h3 class="c3" id="h.o6eq8nhvg1q0"><span class="c1">View submenu (Alt V):</span></h3><p class="c4"><span class="c0">nothing relevant to screen reader users here. However this is where you change whether you can edit a document, suggest edits or just read it without making changes.</span></p><h3 class="c3" id="h.hqbekd754l1p"><span class="c1">Insert menu (Alt I)</span></h3><p class="c4"><span class="c0">images, tables, charts, breaks, headers, footers, page numbers, comments, footnotes, table of contents. </span></p><h3 class="c3" id="h.a8tq1c9ysswa"><span class="c1">Format menu (Alt O):</span></h3><p class="c4"><span class="c0">paragraph styles, line spacing, alignment, bullets and numbering, header and footer format.</span></p><h3 class="c3" id="h.aa9yscq3cn04"><span class="c1">Tools menu (Alt T):</span></h3><p class="c4"><span class="c0">spelling and grammar, accessibility settings.</span></p><h3 class="c3" id="h.d3oke7go5nio"><span class="c1">Help menu (Alt H):</span></h3><p class="c4"><span class="c0">list of keystrokes, command search.</span></p><h3 class="c3" id="h.n2saaznr2u1l"><span class="c1">Accessibility menu (Alt A):</span></h3><p class="c4"><span class="c0">speak various format items, navigate to next/previous heading, and many others.</span></p><h3 class="c3" id="h.6mu8y7484rhz"><span class="c1">Troubleshooting</span></h3><p class="c4"><span class="c0">For the best experience using Google Docs use the Chrome browser and the latest version of your screen reader. It also helps to put the browser in full-screen mode by pressing F11. Currently it is difficult to use a SmartPhone or Tablet browser to work with Google Docs.</span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">If you are pressing keystrokes that invoke the browser’s interface instead of accessing a Google Docs feature, try holding Shift while pressing that key. Sometimes a browser thinks a keystroke you issued is intended for it.</span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">If your focus gets stuck in the browser’s menus, press CONTROL-F6 to return to your document.</span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">If the screen reader or the google doc does not seem to respond to your keystrokes, press F5 to refresh the screen. Also, be sure you are in NVDA's focus mode or with JAWS that you have its virtual cursor mode turned off when trying to read or edit a google doc. These screen reader </span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">modes do not stick and must be enabled each time. Be aware too that JAWS has an applications cursor which turns on by default and works especially well with Google Docs.</span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0"> Also be sure it is not a read-only document or that the View mode has not been set to “editing document directly” and instead is set to “viewing mode, read or print final document”. That is a long name for a menu choice and it’s under the Mode menu under the View menu. There’s also an editing mode that lets you suggest edits that do not appear in the document until its owner approves them. </span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">Sometimes, you succeed in opening the menus by pressing Alt F or one of the other menu bar shortcuts, but Right arrowing fails to keep you on the menu bar, instead moving you to commands within the various menus. When that happens, press Control Shift F which toggles between Compact and normal controls. Be sure you are using Normal controls.</span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">Lastly, if you are struggling to find a command, there’s a built-in search. Press alt-slash, for a search box to appear. Type in keywords and press enter. A list of suggestions from the variety of menu choices appears, and if you select one and press Enter, it will be activated. For example, if you type View in the search box, and select Viewing mode in the list of choices, your viewing mode immediately changes. </span></p><p class="c4"><span class="c0">(Last edited, Deborah Armstrong, January 23, 2025)</span></p><p class="c4 c5"><span class="c0"></span></p><p class="c4 c5"><span class="c0"></span></p></body></html>