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When your goal is to create e-learning that’s accessible to all learners, testing your course with a screen reader is an important part of the QA process. But if you’ve never used a screen reader before, it can be intimidating to look at the long list of keyboard commands. Don’t panic! We’ve created a short list of the commands you’ll use most often. In this article, I’ll walk you through each command, explain why they’re useful, and show you how to execute them in the five most commonly used screen readers.
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Once we’ve gone through all the commands, you can download and print a quick reference guide to refer to as you test. Alright, here we go!
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1. Pause Reading
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When you turn on your screen reader, you’ll notice it automatically starts reading everything on your screen. This can feel overwhelming at first, so it’s good to know how to pause the screen reader.
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Here’s how to pause reading in the most popular screen readers:
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\n\n\n| \n NVDA \n | \n\n JAWS \n | \n\n VoiceOver (macOS) \n | \n\n VoiceOver (iOS) \n | \n\n TalkBack \n | \n
\n\n| \n Ctrl \n | \n\n Ctrl \n | \n\n Control \n | \n\n Two-finger tap \n | \n\n Single tap \n | \n
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2. Start Reading (after Pausing)
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When you’re ready for the screen reader to start reading again, you’ll want to know what command to use.
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Here’s how it’s done:
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\n\n\n| \n NVDA \n | \n\n JAWS \n | \n\n VoiceOver (macOS) \n | \n\n VoiceOver (iOS) \n | \n\n TalkBack \n | \n
\n\n| \n Insert + down arrow \n | \n\n Insert + down arrow \n | \n\n VO + A \n | \n\n Two-finger swipe down \n | \n\n Swipe down, then right; scroll to “Read from Next Item” \n | \n
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3. Read Next Item
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Screen readers automatically stop reading after a certain number of characters (for example, 100 or 150). If you’d like it to continue, you need to use the Read Next Item command.
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You can also customize your screen reader settings so that it reads more (or fewer) characters by default.
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Here’s how to do it:
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\n\n\n| \n NVDA \n | \n\n JAWS \n | \n\n VoiceOver (macOS) \n | \n\n VoiceOver (iOS) \n | \n\n TalkBack \n | \n
\n\n| \n Down arrow or Numpad 9 \n | \n\n Down arrow \n | \n\n VO + right arrow \n | \n\n Rotor, swipe down \n | \n\n Swipe right \n | \n
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4. Read Previous Item
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And of course, it’s important to know the command to go back and read the previous item again, in case you missed it.
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Here’s how that works:
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\n\n\n| \n NVDA \n | \n\n JAWS \n | \n\n VoiceOver (macOS) \n | \n\n VoiceOver (iOS) \n | \n\n TalkBack \n | \n
\n\n| \n Up arrow or Numpad 7 \n | \n\n Up arrow \n | \n\n VO + left arrow \n | \n\n Rotor, swipe up \n | \n\n Local context menu (swipe up, then right), swipe right \n | \n
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5. Read Next Focusable Item (i.e., Link or Button)
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It’s also nice to skip from one focusable item (link or button) to another. That way you can quickly go through all the links or buttons on a page to find the one you want to select.
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Check out the commands:
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\n\n\n| \n NVDA \n | \n\n JAWS \n | \n\n VoiceOver (macOS) \n | \n\n VoiceOver (iOS) \n | \n\n TalkBack \n | \n
\n\n| \n Tab \n | \n\n Tab \n | \n\n Tab \n | \n\n Swipe right \n | \n\n Swipe right \n | \n
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6. Read Previous Focusable Item (i.e., Link or Button)
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Just in case you went through the links or buttons too quickly, it’s good to know how to go backwards.
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See the table below to learn how to do it:
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\n\n\n| \n NVDA \n | \n\n JAWS \n | \n\n VoiceOver (macOS) \n | \n\n VoiceOver (iOS) \n | \n\n TalkBack \n | \n
\n\n| \n Shift + Tab \n | \n\n Shift + Tab \n | \n\n Shift + Tab \n | \n\n Swipe up \n | \n\n Local context menu (swipe up, then right), swipe up \n | \n
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7. Activate Link or Button
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Once you find a link or button you want to select, you’ll need to know how to activate it.
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Here’s how to activate a link or button in different screen readers:
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\n\n\n| \n NVDA \n | \n\n JAWS \n | \n\n VoiceOver (macOS) \n | \n\n VoiceOver (iOS) \n | \n\n TalkBack \n | \n
\n\n| \n Enter \n | \n\n Enter \n | \n\n Enter \n | \n\n Double tap \n | \n\n Double tap \n | \n
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8. Go to Next Heading
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It’s also useful to know how to skip to the next heading. This lets you move quickly through content without reading it straight through. It’s the screen reader equivalent of skimming.
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Learn how below:
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\n\n\n| \n NVDA \n | \n\n JAWS \n | \n\n VoiceOver (macOS) \n | \n\n VoiceOver (iOS) \n | \n\n TalkBack \n | \n
\n\n| \n H \n | \n\n H \n | \n\n VO + Command + H \n | \n\n Rotor, swipe down \n | \n\n Local context menu (swipe up, then right), swipe down \n | \n
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9. Search
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Another great way to find the content you’re looking for is by searching for a keyword.
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Find out how here:
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\n\n\n| \n NVDA \n | \n\n JAWS \n | \n\n VoiceOver (macOS) \n | \n\n VoiceOver (iOS) \n | \n\n TalkBack \n | \n
\n\n| \n Ctrl + F \n | \n\n Ctrl + F \n | \n\n Control + Option + F \n | \n\n Not available \n | \n\n Use the browser’s “Find in Page” function \n | \n
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More Resources
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When you realize you only need a few keyboard commands to navigate through your e-learning course with a screen reader, it feels a whole lot less intimidating, doesn’t it? And it’ll be even easier once you download this quick reference guide that outlines how to execute these commands with NVDA, JAWs, VoiceOver (macOS), VoiceOver (iOS), and TalkBack.
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Once you’re comfortable with these basic commands, you can grow your screen reader skills by heading over to this Deque University page and checking out the full list of keyboard commands for these screen readers (and others!).
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Looking for more help creating accessible e-learning content? Check out these helpful resources:
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Thank you very much for doing this! For a lesson I took in Rise 360, I experimented with many screen readers. My question is this: I've heard that the block with text over an image may be difficult to read for screen readers, if not impossible. However, I tried one tool and it DID read it. What are your thoughts on this? Shouldn't we avoid using that kind of block? The question arises for a current project, and I am not yet well-versed enough to respond adequately.... but I am learning:-) Thank you for any responses or suggestions!
https://advancedcrossbow.com/crossbow-vs-bow-minecraft/Thank you very much for doing this! For a lesson I took in Rise 360, I experimented with many screen readers. My question is this: I've heard that the block with text over an image may be difficult to read for screen readers, if not impossible. However, I tried one tool and it DID read it. What are your thoughts on this? Shouldn't we avoid using that kind of block? The question arises for a current project, and I am not yet well-versed enough to respond adequately.... but I am learning:-) Thank you for any responses or suggestions!
https://advancedcrossbow.com/crossbow-vs-bow-minecraft/
