DIVERSITY

TIPS FOR MUMMY TO LEARN THE BASICS OF NVDA

Non-Visual Desktop Access is a powerful, free, open source screen-reading software in Windows platform for people with visual challenges and other print challenges. In the modern inclusive school environment, from kindergarten, children are using laptops in their classrooms for writing and reading. It helps any mainstream teacher to assist their visually challenged student without any hesitation, instead of waiting for an expert. Chakshumathi promotes mothers or siblings of the Visually Challenged or a dyslexic child to learn the basics to teach their ward. NVDA reads the character the child types, and reads the word and any digital content, making the child read and write without seeing. Let is start with 5 basic steps to enable you to practice the screen reader.It all works with shortcuts.

1. The Basics

• The NVDA Key: By default, this is the Insert key (found on the number pad or above the arrow keys) or the Caps Lock key. In the shortcuts below, it is referred to as NVDA.
• NVDA Starting or Restarting: CLT+ALT+N
• Stop Speech: Press Control once to silence NVDA immediately.
• Pause Speech: Press Shift to pause and resume speech.
• NVDA Menu: Press NVDA + N to access settings, tools, and help.

2. General Navigation

• Read Current Line: NVDA + Up Arrow
• Read All (Say All): NVDA + Down Arrow
• Read System Tray: NVDA + F11
• Read Window Title: NVDA + T
• Read Status Bar: NVDA + End
• Exit NVDA: NVDA + Q

3. Web Browsing (Browse Mode)

When in a browser (Chrome, Firefox, Edge), NVDA uses Single Letter Navigation to jump between elements:

• H: Next Heading (1–6: Specific heading level)
• K: Next Link
• D: Next Landmark
• T: Next Table
• F: Next Form Field (Edit boxes, buttons, etc.)
• B: Next Button
• I: Next List Item
• Elements List: NVDA + F7 (View all links, headings, and buttons in a list)

Note: If you need to type into a form, NVDA usually switches to Focus Mode automatically (you'll hear a "click" sound). Press NVDA + Space to manually toggle between Browse and Focus modes.

4. Reading Text in Detail

Use the Number Pad (with NumLock OFF) or specific keys to drill down into text:

• Read Character: NumPad 1 (Left), NumPad 2 (Current), NumPad 3 (Right)
• Read Word: NumPad 4 (Previous), NumPad 5 (Current), NumPad 6 (Next)
• Read Line: NumPad 7 (Previous), NumPad 8 (Current), NumPad 9 (Next)
• Spell Current Word: NVDA + NumPad 5 (Press twice quickly)

5. Helpful Tips for New Users

• Help Mode: Press NVDA + 1. While this is on, you can press any key combo, and NVDA will tell you what it does without actually performing the action. Press NVDA + 1 again to exit.
• Focus Highlighting: If you are a sighted user helping someone, go to NVDA Menu > Tools > Vision Enhancement to enable a blue border around the current focus.
• Save Configuration: If you change settings, use NVDA + Control + C to save them so they persist after a restart.

To download NVDA to your laptop and configure: https://www.nvaccess.org/download/

For free support and learning assistance, write to mail.chakshumathi@gmail.com

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