It is usually easier to work with NVDA on a full keyboard. There is a different keyboard configuration available if you prefer to use a laptop keyboard, but it is not addressed in this article. Getting Started NVDA is open-source software. You can for free (Windows only). Since NVDA is a relatively new project, some of its capabilities are still basic. Once you have NVDA downloaded and installed, you can start running the program by holding Ctrl + Alt + N. Note The key is set to the Insert key by default, but it can be changed to the Caps lock key NVDA when installing NVDA for the first time. If you want to change your NVDA key preference later, press Ctrl + NVDA + K. While working in NVDA, keep the following guidelines in mind: While NVDA has early support for accessing Windows and many Windows applications, we will be focusing on accessing web content only. Make sure that NumLock is off. You will probably want to test NVDA in Mozilla Firefox, even if it is not your primary browser. Remember that screen reader users typically do not use a mouse. As you become more comfortable with NVDA, try using only the keyboard. Most browser shortcut keys will work when using NVDA. The page scroll you read, so you may hear content being read by NVDA may not that isn't visible on the screen. Reading There are dozens of keyboard shortcuts that allow you to read content by line, sentence, word, character, etc. The following is a list of essential reading shortcuts. With these shortcuts, you should be able to navigate through most content. Numpad +: Start reading at the top of the page NVDA + Start reading at the current position ↓: Ctrl: Stop Reading NVDA + or Numpad 8: Current line ↑ Ctrl + or Previous/next word Numpad 4/Numpad 6: ←/→
It is usually easier to work with NVDA on a full keyboard. There is a different keyboard configuration available if you prefer to use a laptop keyboard, but it is not addressed in this article. Getting Started NVDA is open-source software. You can for free (Windows only). Since NVDA is a relatively new project, some of its capabilities are still basic. Once you have NVDA downloaded and installed, you can start running the program by holding Ctrl + Alt + N. Note The NVDA key is set to the Insert key by default, but it can be changed to the Caps lock key when installing NVDA for the first time. If you want to change your NVDA key preference later, press Ctrl + NVDA + K. While working in NVDA, keep the following guidelines in mind: While NVDA has early support for accessing Windows and many Windows applications, we will be focusing on accessing web content only. Make sure that NumLock is off. You will probably want to test NVDA in Mozilla Firefox, even if it is not your primary browser. Remember that screen reader users typically do not use a mouse. As you become more comfortable with NVDA, try using only the keyboard. Most browser shortcut keys will work when using NVDA. The page may not scroll you read, so you may hear content being read by NVDA that isn't visible on the screen. Reading There are dozens of keyboard shortcuts that allow you to read content by line, sentence, word, character, etc. The following is a list of essential reading shortcuts. With these shortcuts, you should be able to navigate through most content. Numpad +: Start reading at the top of the page NVDA + ↓: Start reading at the current position Ctrl: Stop Reading NVDA + ↑ or Numpad 8: Current line Ctrl + ←/→ or Numpad 4/Numpad 6: Previous/next word
NVDA%20to%20Evaluate%20Web%20Accessibility.docx