USING NVDA WITH
MICROSOFT EXCEL 2007

Once NVDA has been started by pressing the Ctrl + Alt + N keys, you can access Microsoft Excel via the Desktop or the Start Menu.

ACCESSING MICROSOFT EXCEL VIA THE DESKTOP

To access Microsoft Excel through the Desktop, focus NVDA’s attention onto the Desktop by pressing Alt + Tab.  NVDA will announce “Desktop”; this is only possible if there are no other programs running on the Task Bar.  Press the Home key to focus the cursor onto the first item in the Desktop; this is the item in the first row and first column in the Desktop.  Use the arrow keys until you hear NVDA announce “Microsoft Excel”.

ACCESSING MICROSOFT EXCEL VIA THE START MENU

To access Microsoft Excel through the Start Menu, press the Windows key and you will hear NVDA announce “Start Menu”.  Use either the up or down arrow keys to move to the menu item Microsoft Excel.  If you cannot find that menu item, go to the menu item “All Programs” and use the right arrow key to open the All Programs submenu.  Once you are in the All Programs submenu, use the up or down arrow keys to find the Microsoft Office submenu and use the right arrow key to open up the submenu.  Use the up and down arrow keys to find the item Microsoft Excel and press Enter.  Note: Microsoft Excel can also appear on the All Programs menu by itself if not in the Microsoft Office submenu.

TIME TO EXPLORE

Now that you have opened Microsoft Excel, it is important to know that there are differences in the menu configurations between Microsoft Excel 2003 as opposed to 2007.  Therefore, we will first discuss how to use Excel 2007.

EXPLORING MICROSOFT EXCEL 2007

Microsoft Excel 2007 changed from a menu based program to a ribbon toolbar style program.  This means that you will not find the File, Edit, View, etc. menus.  Instead, you will find the Home, Insert, Page Layout, etc. ribbons.  Each ribbon has a hotkey command and is easily labeled by pressing the Alt key and then press the Insert + Numpad Plus key to report which keys they are.  It is important to remember that the Alt key must be pressed in order to access any of these ribbon toolbars before you can utilize any of the hotkeys.

FILE FUNCTIONS OR THE MICROSOFT OFFICE 2007 OFFICE BUTTON

After pressing the ALT key to label all the ribbon functions, the hotkey F is where the old File menu used to be for Microsoft Excel 2003.  It still has such tools as open, close, save, and print.  By the way, Microsoft Office 2007 calls it the Office Button.

Home ribbon

After pressing the ALT key to label all the ribbon functions, the hotkey H will open the Home ribbon.  To have this ribbon report its hotkeys, press the Insert + Numpad Plus keys.  Note that the Numlock must be turned off in order to have the Numpad keys used correctly.  The Home ribbon has such tools as font, which is accessed by pressing the F key twice; font size, which is accessed by pressing the F + S keys; and how text appears within a cell by alignment.  For example, to align text within the Top of the cell, press the A + T keys; in the Middle of the cell, press the A + M keys; in the Bottom of the cell, press the A + B keys; in the Left of the cell, press the A + L keys; in the Center of the cell, press the A + C keys; and in the Right of the cell, press the A + R keys.

Insert ribbon

After pressing the ALT key to label all the ribbon functions, the hotkey N opens the Insert ribbon.  To have this ribbon report its hotkeys, press the Insert + Numpad Plus keys.  Note that the Numlock must be turned off in order to have the Numpad keys used correctly.  This ribbon has such tools as Column Bar Chart, which is accessed by pressing the C key; Line Chart, which is accessed by pressing the N key; Pie Chart, which is accessed by pressing the E key; and Horizontal Bar Chart, which is accessed by pressing the B key.

Page Layout Ribbon

After pressing the ALT key to label all the ribbon functions, the hotkey P opens the Page Layout Ribbon.  To have this ribbon report its hotkeys, press the Insert + Numpad Plus keys.  Note that the Numlock must be turned off in order to have the Numpad keys used correctly.  This ribbon has such tools as Margins, which is accessed by pressing the M key; Orientation, which is accessed by pressing the O key; and the Print Grid Lines checkbox, which can be accessed by pressing the P + G keys.  The Print Grid Lines command is a checkbox option that allows you to have the gridlines print along with the contents in your workbook.

Formulas Ribbon

After pressing the ALT key to label all the ribbon functions, the hotkey M opens the Formulas Ribbon.  To have this ribbon report its hotkeys, press the Insert + Numpad Plus keys.  Note that the Numlock must be turned off in order to have the Numpad keys used correctly.  This ribbon has such tools as the Auto Sum formula, which is accessed by pressing the U key; Financial formulas, which is accessed by pressing the I key; Logical formulas, which is accessed by pressing the L key; Date and Time functions, which is accessed by pressing the E key; Math and Trigonometry formulas, which is accessed by pressing the G key; and for More formulas, which is accessed by pressing the Q key.

Data Ribbon

After pressing the ALT key to label all the ribbon functions, the hotkey A opens the Data Ribbon.  To have this ribbon report its hotkeys, press the Insert + Numpad Plus keys.  Note that the Numlock must be turned off in order to have the Numpad keys used correctly.  This ribbon has such tools as Importing data from Access databases, which can be accessed by pressing the F + A keys; Importing data from Web sources, which can be accessed by pressing the F + W keys; Sort data by either column or row from A to Z, which can be accessed by highlighting the data content then by pressing the A key; Sort data by either column or row from Z to A, which can be accessed by highlighting the data content then pressing the D key; Filtering data, which can be accessed by pressing the T key; and the Subtotal function, which can be accessed by highlighting the data then pressing the B key.

Review Ribbon

After pressing the ALT key to label all the ribbon functions, the hotkey R opens the Review Ribbon.  To have this ribbon report its hotkeys, press the Insert + Numpad Plus keys.  Note that the Numlock must be turned off in order to have the Numpad keys used correctly.  This ribbon has such tools as Spelling and Grammar Check, which can be accessed by pressing the S key; and Thesaurus, which can be accessed by pressing the E key.

View Ribbon

After pressing the ALT key to label all the ribbon functions, the hotkey W opens the View Ribbon.  To have this ribbon report its hotkeys, press the Insert + Numpad Plus keys.  Note that the Numlock must be turned off in order to have the Numpad keys used correctly.  This ribbon has such tools as Normal view, which is accessed by pressing the L key; Page view, which is accessed by pressing the P key; and Zoom to Selection, which is accessed by pressing the G key.  The Zoom to Selection magnifies the worksheet so that the currently selected cell and those surrounding it fills the entire window.  To get out of Zoom to Selection, you must get back into the View ribbon hotkey commands by pressing the Alt key, the W key, and then press the J key to return the windows back to 100% view.

More information on how to fully utilize these functions within the ribbon toolbars will come later.