Inserting Hyperlinks that Point to Input Fields

To make navigation easier for JAWS or MAGic users, insert hyperlinks into the worksheet that point to each of the major fields you want users to move to. You can put the hyperlinks anywhere in the worksheet, but if you want them to be invisible to sighted users, read the next section. This also prevents them from being seen when printing the form.

Inserting Hyperlinks

  1. Put the cursor in the cell where you want the first hyperlink to be. This is not the cell you want the hyperlink to point to, but a cell that will contain the hyperlink. Usually this is near the top of the form, but it could be anywhere in the worksheet and still be easy for JAWS or MAGic users to find.
Excel 2003: ALT+I (Insert menu), I (Hyperlink) Excel 2007: ALT+N (Insert tab), I (Hyperlink)

Picture of the Insert Hyperlink dialog box in Excel.

Picture of the Insert Hyperlink dialog box in Excel


  1. Press TAB until you reach the button "Existing File or Web Page" and change it to "Place in this Document" by using the DOWN ARROW key. Focus moves to the "Type the Cell Reference" edit box.
  2. Type in the cell reference for the first field on your form. For example, it might be A10.
  3. Press TAB to move to the "Text to Display" edit box and type the text you want the JAWS or MAGic user to hear in the list of links. For example, you might type "Customer Name" for the customer's name field.
  4. Press TAB to move to the ScreenTip button and activate it with the SPACEBAR. Enter the same or similar text here to have a descriptive pop-up message appear visually when a mouse hovers over a link. This is optional, since you may be hiding the links anyway, but the author still prefers to add this.
  5. Press ENTER to close the Set Hyperlink ScreenTip dialog box when finished. Focus returns to the Edit Hyperlink dialog box.
  6. When you are finished with the above, press TAB to move to the OK button and activate it with the SPACEBAR. The new hyperlink is now inserted into the document.

Making the Hyperlinks Invisible to Sighted Users

Hyperlinks can clutter up the appearance of a form, but not if you make them invisible! After you have created all of the hyperlinks you need, move to them and select them all if they are contiguous to each other. If not, select them one at a time and perform the following steps:


Excel 2003: ALT+O (Format menu), choose Cells in the menu. Alternatively, you can also press CTRL+1. The Format Cells dialog box opens. Excel 2007: ALT+H (Home tab), followed by pressing FC for font color. A Theme Colors gallery appears.
Excel 2003: Press CTRL+TAB to move to the Font page. Press ALT+C to move to the Color combo box. Use the ARROW Keys to find the color white and ENTER to select it. Excel 2007: Press DOWN ARROW to move into the list and use the ARROW Keys to find white.
Excel 2003: Press TAB to move to the OK button and activate it. The Format Cells dialog box closes. Excel 2007: Press ENTER to close the Theme Colors gallery.

The links are now the same color as the background color and are invisible to sighted users. The links also do not show up in the printed copy of the form either. However, JAWS and MAGic users can find them using the list of links, INSERT+F7.


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