Screen Reader Keystrokes

JAWS Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

PC Cursor: The usual cursor on the screen. When activated, users can move this cursor around the screen. It can only go where a cursor can be placed.

Virtual PC Cursor: The virtual PC cursor is similar to the PC Cursor, and is used for navigating HTML documents.

JAWS cursor: is the mouse pointer on the screen. When activated, users can move around the screen and navigate through areas where a normal cursor cannot go.

Forms Mode: When entering a form using Tab, Arrow Keys, or the JAWS cursor, JAWS automatically leaves Browse Mode and enters Forms Mode. This changes some of the keystrokes so that the user can enter text. If Forms mode does not activate automatically, press Enter when on a form field to activate it. Press the Numpad Plus to go back to browse mode and use normal navigation keystrokes.

To install JAWS, download the latest version at http://www.freedomscientific.com/downloads/JAWS, run the “Configlicense” batch file at \\enable\JAWS\ConfigureLicense as an administrator, then reboot.

The Basics JAWS Keyboard Shortcut
Task Command
Stop reading Control
Start reading continuously from this point on Insert + Down Arrow
Read next item Down Arrow
Read next focusable item (e.g. link, button) Tab
Activate link Enter
Activate button Enter or Space Bar
Go to next heading H
Show list of all headings Insert + F6
Go to next heading of level [1-6] 1-6
Go to next landmark/region R
Go to the main content region Q
Show list of all buttons, frames, graphics, lists,links, etc. Insert + F3
Go to next table T
Navigate table cells Ctrl + Alt + Arrow Keys
Go to next list L
Go to next list item I
Go to next graphic G
List all links Insert + F7
Go to next unvisited link U
Go to next visited link V
Toggle between: Radio buttons, <select> list items, Tabs (ARIA widget), Tree view items (ARIA widget), Menu items (ARIA widget) Arrow Keys
Toggle Virtual PC Cursor Insert + Z
Go back to previous heading, landmark, table, focusable item, etc. Shift + [H, R, T, Tab, etc.]
Reading Text
Task Command
Say prior line Up Arrow
Say next line Down Arrow
Say current line Insert + Up Arrow
Say to cursor Insert + Home
Say from cursor Insert + Page Up
Say prior character Left Arrow
Say next character Right Arrow
Say character Numpad 5
Say character phonetically Numpad 5 twice quickly
Say prior word Insert + Left Arrow
Say next word Insert + Right Arrow
Say word Insert + Numpad 5
Say prior sentence Alt + Up Arrow
Say next sentence Alt + Down Arrow
Say current sentence Alt + Numpad 5
Spell word Insert + Numpad 5 twice quickly
Spell current line Insert + Up Arrow twice quickly
Spell to cursor Insert + Home twice quickly
Spell from cursor Insert + Page Up twice quickly
Forms
Task Command
List all form elements Insert + F5
Next focusable item Tab
Next form field F
Next button B
Next checkbox X
Select and deselect Space Bar or Enter
Open combo box Alt + Down Arrow
Browse/select options Down Arrow or First letter
Select multiple options Shift + Down Arrow (or Up Arrow)
Toggle selection Up/Down Arrow
Enter forms mode Enter (when focus is on a form field)
Exit forms mode (enter browse mode) Numpad Plus
Tables
Task Command
Go to next (previous) table T (Shift + T)
Cell to right Ctrl + Alt + Right Arrow
Cell to left Ctrl + Alt + Left Arrow
Cell below Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow
Cell above Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow
First cell Ctrl + Alt + Home
Last cell Ctrl + Alt + End
Say current cell Ctrl + Alt + Numpad 5
Read current row Insert + Shift + Up Arrow
Read from start of row Insert + Shift + Home
Read to end of row Insert + Shift + Page Up
First cell in row Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Left Arrow
Last cell in row Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Right Arrow
Read current column Insert + Shift + Numpad 5
Read from top of column Insert + Shift + End
Read to bottom of column Insert + Shift + Page Down
First cell in column Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Up Arrow
Last cell in column Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Down Arrow

NVDA Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

Browse Mode: Browse mode is used when reading documents or web pages.

Focus Mode: Focus mode is used when the user enters a form or other fields that require user input. NVDA automatically switches between Browse and Focus modes, but the user can toggle them using Insert + Space Bar.

Turn on Speech Viewer: enabling Speech Viewer opens a window that shows everything NVDA states. This is useful for sighted users learning NVDA for testing purposes. Enable it under Tools in the NVDA menu.

To install NVDA, go to http://www.nvaccess.org/download/ and select ‘skip donation this time’ to proceed with the installation.

The Basic NVDA Shortcut Keys
Task Command
Turn NVDA on Control + Alt + N
Turn NVDA off Insert + Q
Stop reading Control
Start reading continuously from this point on Insert + Down Arrow or Numpad Plus
Read next item Plus Down Arrow
Read next focusable item (e.g. link, button) Tab
Activate link Enter
Activate button Enter or Space Bar
Go to next heading H
Go to next heading of level [1-6] 1-6
List all headings Insert + F7
Go to next landmark/region D
Show list of all links, headings, and landmarks Insert + F7
Go to next table T
Navigate table cells Ctrl + Alt + Arrow Keys
Go to next list L
Go to next list item I
Go to next graphic G
List all links Insert + F7
Go to next link K
Go to next unvisited link U
Go to next visited link V
Read entire foreground window (e.g. for dialogs) Insert + B
Announce title of the current foreground window Insert + T
Toggle between: radio buttons, <select> list items, tabs (ARIA widget), tree view items (ARIA widget), menu items (ARIA widget) Arrow Keys
Go back to previous heading, landmark, table, focusable item, etc. Shift + [H, D, T, Tab,etc.]
Reading Text
Task Command
Say prior line Up Arrow or Numpad 7
Say next line Down Arrow or Numpad 9
Say current line Insert + Up Arrow or Numpad 8
Start of line Shift + Numpad 1
End of line Shift + Numpad 3
Top line Shift + Numpad 7
Bottom line Shift + Numpad 9
Say prior character Left Arrow or Numpad 1
Say next character Right Arrow or Numpad 3
Say current character Numpad 2
Say character phonetically umpad 5 twice quickly
Say prior word Ctrl + Left Arrow or Numpad 4
Say next word Ctrl + Right Arrow or Numpad 6
Say current word Numpad 5
Say prior sentence Alt + Up Arrow
Say next sentence Alt + Down Arrow
Say current sentence Alt + Numpad 5
Next paragraph Ctrl + Up Arrow or Q
Spell word Numpad 5 twice quickly
Spell current line Insert + Up Arrow twice quickly

Toggle selection

Forms
Task Command
List all form elements Insert + F5
Next form F
Next focusable item Tab
Next button B
Select and deselect Space Bar
Next checkbox X
Open combo box Alt + Down Arrow
Browse/select options Down Arrow or First letter
Select multiple options Shift + Down Arrow (or Up Arrow)
Next <select> combo box C
Toggle selection Up/Down Arrow
Next radio button R
Toggle between focus mode and browse mode* Insert + Space Bar
Table
Task Command
Go to next (previous) table T (Shift + T)
Cell to right Ctrl + Alt + Right Arrow
Cell to left Ctrl + Alt + Left Arrow
Cell below Ctrl + Alt + Down Arrow
Cell above Ctrl + Alt + Up Arrow