Non Visual Desktop Access (NVDA) is an excellent open source screen reader for Microsoft Windows. NVDA works well with many applications as well as different browsers including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. In this blog, we’ll learn about important NVDA keystrokes that can be used for general interaction and web browsing. NVDA is one of the leading screen readers used for Web Accessibility Testing, so I decided to share the keystrokes with the community as a ready reference.
The keystrokes included in this blog are applicable for NVDA version 2023.1 and “Insert” key is used the NVDA modifier key. So if you have any other key configured as the NVDA modifier key than use that key instead of Insert key in the below mentioned keystrokes.
General NVDA Keystrokes
Keystroke
Function
Alt + Ctrl + N
Start/Restart NVDA
Insert + Q
Quit NVDA
Ctrl
Stop speech temporarily
Shift
Pause/Resume speech
Insert + S
Toggle Speech (Toggles between talk, beeps and off)
Insert + 1
Toggle between input help on and off.
Insert + 2
Toggles between speak typed characters on and off.
Insert + 3
Toggles between speak typed words on and off.
Insert + 4
Toggles between Speak command keys on and off
Insert + F12
Reports the current time and if pressed twice, reports the current date.
Insert + Shift + B
Reports the current battery status.
Insert + N
Opens NVDA menu
Ctrl+ Insert + Down Arrow
Decreases voice rate
Ctrl+ Insert + Up Arrow
Increases voice rate
Ctrl+ Insert + Left Arrow/Right Arrow
Changes Voice Settings (Inflection, Pitch,etc.)
Alt + F4
Close any open application
Ctrl + W
Close any current open window
Alt + Tab
Switches between multiple open windows/applications.
Insert + End
Read status bar
Text Reading Keystrokes
Keystroke
Function
Numpad 1
Read the previous character
Numpad 2
Read the current character
Numpad 3
Read the next character
Numpad 4
Read the previous word
Numpad 5
Read the current word and if pressed twice quickly, spells the current word.
Numpad 6
Read the next word
Numpad 7 or Up Arrow
Read the previous line
Numpad 8 or Insert + Up Arrow
Read the current line and if pressed twice quickly, spells the current line.
Numpad 9 or Down Arrow
Read the next line
Insert + Down Arrow
Read all from current cursor location
Alt + Down arrow
Reads next sentence
Alt + Up arrow
Reads previous sentence
Ctrl + Home
Moves to the top of the page or window
Ctrl + End
Moves to the bottom of the page or window
Home
Moves to the start of the line
End
Moves to the bend of the line
Insert + C
Read the text on clipboard.
Insert + Shift + Up arrow
Read the selected text
Insert + F
Read the current formatting information of the selected text/element…, If pressed twice, presents the information in the browse mode.
Navigating Web Elements
Keystroke
Function
H
Move to the next heading on the page.
Shift + H
Move to the previous heading on the page.
1, 2, 3…
Move to different levels of headings from 1 to 6.
Shift +1/2/3…
Move to previous levels of headings from 1 to 6.
K
Move to the next link on the page.
Shift + K
Move to the previous link on the page.
U
Move to the next unvisited link on the page.
Shift + U
Move to the previous unvisited link on the page.
V
Move to the next visited link on the page.
Shift + V
Move to the previous visited link on the page.
N
Skips pass block of links and Moves to the next non-linked text.
Shift + N
Skips pass block of links and Moves to the previous non-linked text.
L
Move to the next list on the page.
Shift+ L
Move to the previous list on the page.
I
Move to the next list item on the page.
Shift + I
Move to the previous list item on the page.
A
Move to the next annotation on the page.
Shift + A
Move to the previous annotation on the page.
D
Move to the next landmark on the page.
Shift +D
Move to the previous landmark on the page.
Q
Move to the next block quote on the page.
Shift +Q
Move to the previous Block quote on the page.
G
Move to the next graphic on the page.
Shift + G
Move to the previous graphic on the page.
M
Move to the next frame on the page.
Shift + M
Move to the previous frame on the page.
O
Move to the next embedded object on the page. (Audio, video, dialog …)
Shift + O
Move to the previous embedded object on the page. (Audio, video, dialog …)
S
Move to the next separator on the page.
Shift + S
Move to the previous separator on the page.
Insert + F7
Activate Element List Dialog box. (Show list of headings, links, form fields, buttons and landmarks on a web page)
Table Keystrokes
Keystroke
Function
T
Move to the next table on the page.
Shift + T
Move to the previous table on the page.
Alt + Ctrl + Left Arrow
Move to and reads a cell to the left in the table.
Alt + Ctrl + Right Arrow
Move to and reads a cell to the right in the table.
Alt + Ctrl + Up Arrow
Move to and reads a cell above in the table.
Alt + Ctrl + Down Arrow
Move to and reads a cell below in the table.
Alt + Ctrl + Home
Move to first column
Alt + Ctrl + End
Move to last column
Alt + Ctrl + Page Up
Move to first row
Alt + Ctrl + Page Down
Move to last row
Insert + Alt + Ctrl + Down Arrow
Say all in column
Insert + Alt + Ctrl + Right Arrow
Say all in row
Insert + Alt + Ctrl + Up Arrow
Read entire column
Insert + Alt + Ctrl + Left Arrow
Read entire row
Form Keystrokes
Keystroke
Function
F
Move to the next form field (buttons, edit fields, checkboxes, combo boxes …) on the page.
Shift + F
Move to the previous form field (buttons, edit fields, checkboxes, combo boxes …) on the page.
B
Move to the next button on the page.
Shift + B
Move to the previous button on the page.
E
Move to the next edit field on the page.
Shift + E
Move to the previous edit field on the page.
C
Move to the next combo box on the page.
Shift + C
Move to the previous combo box on the page.
X
Move to the next checkbox on the page.
Shift + X
Move to the previous checkbox on the page.
R
Move to the next radio button on the page.
Shift + R
Move to the previous radio button on the page.
Insert + Spacebar
cycles between Brows and Focus Modes.
Escape
Turn off Focus Mode
Alt + Down Arrow
Opens Combo Box
Up/Down Arrow
Select a radio button within a group.
Up Arrow/Down Arrow orFirst letter
Select an option in a Combo Box
General Web Keystrokes
Keystroke
Function
Alt + D
Move to the address bar in the browser.
Ctrl + Tab
Switch between multiple open webpages in the browser.
Insert + T
Reads the title of the page, if pressed twice quickly, spells the title and if pressed thrice, copies the title.
Insert + Tab
Reports the current object in focus, if pressed twice, spells the information.
Insert + B
Reads the active window.
Tab
Move to next interactive element.
Shift + Tab
Move to previous interactive element.
Spacebar
select and deselect checkboxes and changes the state of expand/collapsed buttons and toggle buttons.
Enter
Activates any interactive element that have functionality attached to it. (Link, button …)
Insert + K
Reports the destination URL in the navigator object, pressed twice will show the URL in the window for riview.
Insert + 5
Toggles between reporting of dynamic content changes on and off.
