GETTING STARTED WITH NVDA
STARTUP
To start NVDA, press the Ctrl + Alt + N keys. You will be alerted that NVDA has activated when three notes chime along with NVDA announcing “NVDA Started”. This will bring up a dialog box that will be read asking you to either set the NVDA hot key or leave it on default. The default key is the Insert key and the other key that it suggests is the Caps Lock key. This is entirely up to the user, but we suggest leaving it on the default Insert key. This dialogue will come up every time you start NVDA. In order to turn off this dialogue box, you can uncheck the box by using the down arrow key to the item Show This Dialogue Box When NVDA Starts by pressing the Space Bar and then Enter key. However, keep in mind that if you turn off this dialogue box and save your changed configurations, the dialogue box will be difficult to reset when you use NVDA in the future.
CONFIGURATIONS
To activate the NVDA menu, press the Insert + N key. Using the up and down arrow keys will navigate through the menu and using the right arrow key will enter the submenus.
VOICE ENGINE and VOICE SETTINGS
The first thing that you want to change in the configurations is most likely voice options. So, you will need to get into the NVDA menu by pressing the Insert + N keys and use either the up or down arrow keys to Preferences. Once the preference menu has been selected, use the right arrow key to go into your preferences submenu. Use the down arrow key to the menu item Synthesizer then press the Enter key. Once in the Synthesizer dialogue box, use the Tab key to the Synthesizer combo box. Depending on the operating system that you are using, there will be differences in what choices are available for you in the combo box. For instance, in Windows XP, you can have either SAPI 4 or SAPI 5 engine choices. In Windows Vista, you will have SAPI 5 as a choice. In any case, the higher the voice engine choice, the better the selections you will have. Using either the up or down arrow keys, find the selection Microsoft Speech SAPI 5 then tab to the OK button and press Enter. This will open up all voice systems and engines that are available on the computer for you to choose.
To choose a voice, use the Insert + N key to go back into NVDA’s configuration menu. Once in the configuration menu, use the up or down arrow keys to select the Preference menu and then use the right arrow key to go into the preferences submenu. Down arrow to the menu item Voice and press Enter. When the voice settings dialogue box appears, use the Tab key to tab to the voice combo box. Once the voice combo box has been selected, use the up or down arrow keys to choose the voice that you prefer; in some cases, there may be only one voice available. The key is to choose the best voice that you can personally understand; so experiment. After you have chosen the preferred voice, tab through the other settings such as rate, pitch, inflection, volume, etc. If all of your settings for your voice have been set then tab to the OK button and press Enter.
KEYBOARD SETTINGS
It is also recommended to change some keyboard settings. Since we are going into the NVDA configurations, press the Insert + N key again. Once in the NVDA configuration menu, up or down arrow to Preferences then right arrow to go into the preferences submenu. Use the down arrow key to the menu item Keyboard and press enter. Here the keyboard dialogue box will appear and you will find the keyboard layout combo box. You need to select the correct keyboard layout that corresponds with what you are using. If you are using a laptop then down arrow to the list item Laptop. However, if you are using a desktop computer then leave the keyboard setting on Desktop. Once a keyboard layout has been selected, tab through the remaining selections.
One of the selections you might think about changing is the Speak Command Keys. This will either allow or silence NVDA from announcing the keys that you are pressing based on your choice; however, this is a personal preference. To check or uncheck a selection simply use the Space Bar and NVDA will announce whether you have checked or uncheck the item. Tab to the OK button and press enter when you are finished with changing the keyboard settings.
MOUSE SETTINGS
After making changes to the keyboard settings, you might also want to change settings for the mouse. Again, use the Insert + N key to get into the NVDA configuration menu. Use the up or down arrow keys to the menu item Preferences and right arrow to the preferences submenu. Except this time arrow down to the menu item Mouse. Press enter and the mouse settings dialogue box will appear. There are a couple of personal preferences in the mouse settings that you might want to change.
One of them is the Report Text under the Mouse. What this does is if you have an active mouse with a cursor, NVDA will announce anything that it is pointed at. This can be annoying, and by unchecking it using the space bar will eliminate unnecessary speech.
One more personal preference is Play Audio Coordinate When Mouse Moves. This is the sound of beeping every time your mouse is touched. It can be turned off by unchecking this item. Once you have tabbed through and either checked or unchecked the selections that you prefer then tab to the OK button and press Enter.
SAVING YOUR CONFIGURATIONS
Once all of your preferred settings have been made, remember to save those settings or you will need to reset NVDA the next time you use it.
To save your settings, use the Insert + N key to open the NVDA configuration menu and arrow up or down to the item Save Configurations then press Enter.
TIME TO EXPLORE
An interesting feature of NVDA is the keyboard help that is built into the program. To open NVDA keyboard help, press the Insert + the number 1 key and NVDA will announce that keyboard help is on. The nice thing about this command is that any key you press along with the NVDA hot key (either Insert or Caps Lock depending on your choice) will tell you what that key does when using NVDA. To turn off the NVDA keyboard help press the Insert + the number 1 key again and NVDA will announce that keyboard help is off.
COMPUTER NAVIGATION
Once you have changed your configurations and saved them, it is time to navigate your computer itself. To begin with the Desktop, press the Alt + Tab key, this will point NVDA’s focus onto the Desktop. To navigate to the first item in the first column and row on the Desktop, press the Home key. Once you have done this you can navigate to separate items by using the arrow keys.
NAVIGATING TO PROGRAMS VIA THE START MENU
To navigate to programs, press the Windows key and NVDA will announce “Start Menu”. Using the up or down arrow key, navigate to the All Programs menu. Once you have found the All Programs menu, use the right arrow key to open it. To navigate to a program of your choice, use the up or down arrow keys. Some programs have submenus of their own, and as you pass over these items, NVDA will announce that there is a submenu. Use the right arrow key to open these submenus and use the left arrow key to close it. Use the up and down arrow keys to navigate inside these submenus. Press Enter when you have found your choice.
EXITING NVDA
Before turning off NVDA, do not forget to save any configurations you have made before closing. You must choose Save Configurations in the NVDA Configuration menu and then you can choose to exit. Now, if you want to exit NVDA, you can find this option in the NVDA Configuration menu. To open this menu press the Insert + N key then use the up or down arrow key to the Exit selection and press Enter. A selection box will appear asking “Are you sure you want to quit NVDA?” By default the Yes button is selected and all you need to do is press enter to close NVDA. If not then use the left or right arrow keys to choose No and then press Enter.