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Google Docs is an online word processor that lets you create and format text documents and collaborate with other people in real time. Here's what you can do with Google Docs:

  • Upload a Word document and convert it to a Google document.
  • Add flair and formatting to your documents by adjusting margins, spacing, fonts, and colors.
    • Invite other people to collaborate on a document with you, giving them edit, comment or view access.
  • Collaborate online in real time and chat with other collaborators — right from inside the document.
  • View your document's revision history and roll back to any previous version.
  • Download a Google document to your desktop as a Word, OpenOffice, RTF, PDF, HTML or zip file.
  • Translate a document to a different language.
  • Email your documents to other people as attachments.

5.1 Top-level buttons

5.2 Application menus

5.3 Application toolbars

5.4 Viewing modes

5.5 Compact mode

5.1 Top-level buttons

Press Shift + Tab after activating the application menus to go to the top-level buttons. These buttons are for document-level actions, such as renaming, starring, sharing, or moving the document to a different folder in Drive.

5.2 Application menus

To browse the application menus, start with the File menu. Press Alt + Shift + f. Press the right arrow to navigate to other application menus, including Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Table, Add-ons, and Help. From the application menus, you can navigate to two other sets of controls: the top-level buttons and the application toolbars.

5.2.1 Searching the menus

To locate things quickly in Docs, you can search the menus. Press Alt + / to start a menu search.

Once your focus is in the search box, type a command, such as "Rename" or "Insert." Press the down arrow to hear search results. For example, if you type "Insert," the options include inserting an image, a comment, and other choices. Press Enter to apply an action.

5.2.2 Accessibility menu

If you've turned on screen reader support for the Docs editors, the application menu bar includes an Accessibility menu with shortcuts for navigating and reading your document.

To open the Accessibility menu, press Alt + Shift + a. Press the down arrow to hear options, such as Speak, Comments, Link, Table, and more. Press the right arrow to open a sub-menu, and press Enter to select an option.

5.2.3 Enabling braille support

To turn on Braille support on your computer, follow these steps:

  1. Open a document, presentation, or drawing in Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer.
  2. If you haven't already turned on screen reader support for the Docs editors, press Ctrl + Alt + z.
  3. Press Alt + / to open a menu search.
  4. Type "Braille" to bring up the Enable Braille support option. You'll hear "Enable Braille support, not checked.”
  5. Press Enter. You'll hear "Braille support enabled."

To turn off Braille support, repeat steps 3 and 4 above. After you press Enter, you'll hear "Braille support disabled."

If you turn Braille support on or off in Docs, Slides, or Drawings, the setting applies whenever you sign in to any of these editors.

Once you've turned on Braille support, you'll notice the following improvements:

  • When you're typing or navigating character by character, the screen reader announces your changes more quickly.
  • The screen reader's announcements of punctuation and whitespace are more accurate.
  • Docs, Slides, and Drawings now follow your screen reader's settings for character echo and word echo while typing. (Previously, characters were always echoed, and screen reader typing echo had to be turned off for some screen readers.

Known issues

Braille support currently has the following limitations:

  • It isn't yet possible to enter special characters from the keyboard. To enter special characters, open the Insert menu and select "Special characters."
  • It isn't yet possible to use the Braille display to navigate. Text input and output are the only supported uses at this time.
  • In some cases, special announcements (e.g. styles, comments, footnotes, and equations) are shifted by a character. This issue applies only to screen readers that announce the character after the cursor, rather than the character just passed over by the cursor, when the cursor moves. Affected screen readers include ChromeVox, NVDA, and JAWS, depending on your settings.
  • Verbalization of comments or styles can sometimes interfere with the screen reader's announcements of the text when navigating through content.
  • If you use NVDA, we recommend using the latest version for the best experience. Please be aware that Braille feedback for typing isn't yet fully supported, and link text isn't verbalized.

5.3 Application toolbars

Press Tab after activating the application menus to go to the toolbar. The toolbar has editing and formatting tools, such as heading styles, fonts, lists, and indentation. Press the left and right arrow keys to move through the available options on the toolbar and press Enter on the desired option to activate it.

5.4 Viewing modes

There are 3 viewing and editing modes available in Google Docs:

  • Editing mode is the default mode and allows directly editing the document.
  • Suggesting mode is used when collaborating with others and any edits become suggestions to the document owner that can be accepted, rejected and commented upon.
  • Viewing mode places the document in a protected read-only mode for reading or printing the document and no edits can be made.

The editing and viewing mode can be changed via the application View menu by pressing Alt + Shift + v and selecting Mode from the menu.

5.5 Compact mode

Note: In compact mode, the top-level buttons and application menus are hidden. To turn compact mode on or off, press Ctrl + Shift + f.

Next Module 6: Basic Document Formatting