In the April 2016 issue of AccessWorld I took a look at an excellent eBook entitled My Mac Pages: A VoiceOver Guide to Word Processing, written by the husband and wife team of Anne and Archie Robertson. In that article I noted that providers of "for purchase" screen readers—primarily JAWS and Window-Eyes—go to great lengths to offer users extensive documentation, webinars, and other resources to help new and experienced users of their products. Free screen reader providers, including Google, Apple, and Microsoft, have not been as accommodating, although the latter two do offer free telephone support for assistive technology users.
Until recently, NV Access, makers of the free NVDA (Non Visual Desktop Access) Windows screen reader, was similarly limited in their end user resources. This has been rapidly changing, however. In April of 2016 NV Access published the eBook Basic Training for NVDA, which is available for $30. Closer to home, AFB now also offers "Learn NVDA" a series of tutorials aimed at the new NVDA user. This series is free, and, suffice it to say, I give it my highest recommendation.
As I also wrote in the My Mac Pages article, "any user of a screen reader can tell you there is a difference between learning the functions of a screen reader's various commands and actually using them to compose documents, surf the Web, and in general, to get work done." True, there are any number of user guides for Pages for Mac, Microsoft Office, and other popular applications. But nearly all of these have been written for sighted users who can and do rely on a screen and mouse to interact with their computers. Which is why I am always excited to hear about the release of a new applications guide focused on low or no vision users. The latest to cross my desk is Microsoft Word with NVDA, also produced by NV Access and available for $30.
Formats and Navigation
Microsoft Word with NVDA arrives in a selection of four formats: ePub, HTML, .docx, and Mobi for Kindle. Audio and braille formats are promised but not yet available at the time of this writing. Except for basic refreshers here and there, the book assumes you already have a working knowledge of using NVDA, so novice users of this screen reader may wish to either view the AFB tutorial series or else purchase Basic Training for NVDA. Unfortunately, a discount isn't offered for the purchase of both the Basic Training and Microsoft Word guides.
Microsoft Word with NVDA focuses on the MS Word app in Office 10, Office 13, and Office 16. It does not cover Office Online, or Microsoft Office for Mac.
The book is well-formatted and tagged, at least to a point. I began reading the book in ePub format using Voice Dream Reader, which made it easier to go back and forth between reading and putting what I learned to work. However, at one point, after section 5.7, Copying and Pasting, I had to switch to the .docx format, as I was unable to navigate using headings beyond this section. I downloaded the ePub book again, but to no avail. I am not sure if this is a problem with the ePub formatted document or Voice Dream Reader.
In either case, reading the book was just as easy using the .docx file with NVDA's Browse/Focus toggle. You can access this toggle by pressing the NVDA key+Spacebar combination. With Browse mode enabled, you can navigate book headings, lists, and other navigational elements in an MS Word document using the same Quick Keys you use to navigate a web page: H and Shift + H for next and previous headings, for example, and I and Shift + I for next and previous list items.
From Basics to Advanced
The book is divided into 13 chapters that contain a number of bite-size sections in each. Beginning with the basics, the first chapter walks the reader through opening Word and creating a document, editing and basic formatting commands, accessing the ribbon and Word's Zoom features, and saving and printing a document. Readers who currently already use Word can easily skip this chapter, unless you are flummoxed from time to time when you are blocked from accessing and editing a document that arrived as an email attachment, in which case you will definitely want to review the final instructional section of this chapter, "Navigating Protected Mode."
Each of the book's chapters begins with an outline of what will be covered, and concludes with a chapter summary and activity list, a series of exercises the user can complete to reinforce what he or she has just learned. Each chapter builds nicely upon what you've learned in the previous chapters. MS Word keyboard commands and shortcuts are always provided, and whenever an NVDA command is demonstrated, both the desktop and laptop layout hotkeys are specified.
According to a blurb on the website, "Topics covered include: Getting started with Microsoft Word, proofreading, styles, tables, page layout, referencing, inserting, collaboration and sharing and customizing Word options." Here I believe NV Access somewhat minimizes the breadth and scope of their accomplishment. I would suggest NV Access post a copy of the book's Table of Contents on their website, at the very least. A sample section would be even better, perhaps one of the latter sections to give the potential purchaser a true flavor of what they would get. For example, below is Section 9:
9 Referencing, 9.1 Links, 9.2 Navigating to Links, 9.3 Editing Links, 9.4 Footnotes, 9.5 Endnotes, 9.6 Advanced Footnotes and Endnotes, 9.7 Adding Bookmarks, 9.8 Moving to a Bookmark using Go To, 9.9 Cross-references, 9.10 Creating a Table of Contents, 9.11 Updating Table of Contents, 9.12 Customizing the Table of contents, 9.13 Using Citations, 9.14 Adding a Bibliography, 9.15 Updating the Bibliography, 9.16 Marking Index Entries, 9.17 Creating a Word Index, 9.18 The Mark Index Entry Dialog, 9.19 Table of Authorities, 9.20 Referencing Review.
As you can see, Microsoft Word with NVDA covers a lot of ground. It also manages to do this without relying on a lot of NVDA-specific concepts and commands. Exceptions do exist, including using the NVDA Browse Mode to quickly navigate through properly formatted documents, and using the NVDA Review Cursor to read the text description of Word commands you can associate to the hotkey of your choice—an ability anyone using a screen reader must definitely investigate.
About the only major MS Word feature given short shrift in this guide is the new Alt + Q "Tell Me" command. It's buried in a single paragraph in the "Topics Not Covered" section. I think it should have been prominently featured near the beginning of the book. "Tell Me" allows a user to type in the name of a feature or function for which he or she cannot remember the keyboard command or Ribbon location, and it returns results you can activate with a press of the Enter key. Not only does this feature help the novice user better experience the power of MS Word, it can often be a quicker way to accomplish a task. I frequently enter "Clear" in the Tell Me search box to quickly perform the "Clear Formatting" command.
Final Words
Although Microsoft Word with NVDA is targeted primarily at users of the free NVDA screen reader, this book would be equally valuable to the JAWS or Window-Eyes user. At almost 60,000 words in length, I cannot imagine a more comprehensive guide to using Microsoft Word with keyboard commands and a screen reader. Its step-by-step progression from basic to advanced features with plenty of review and hands-on practice make this a must-have book for anyone who is either learning to use MS Word or is an accessibility trainer who teaches the program to individuals with visual impairments. Power users may also benefit from the book's depth of coverage, especially regarding obscure features that are rarely used. I won't offer examples here, as one person's rarely used feature may be another person's daily grind.
Here's hoping NV Access will not be too long in producing guides to Excel, Outlook, and other MS Office products.
Product Information
Microsoft Word with NVDA
Cost: $30
Available from: NVAccess
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