Some Initial Considerations

Module 12.1: Some Initial Considerations Before discussing each of the Google applications, it is useful to lay out some initial information about where the Google apps exhibit consistent and less consistent behavior. While this information will be repeated for each app, first talking about it in a central location helps to understand patterns where they exist. Also available for some of the apps are quick and convenient ways to get listings of native Google keyboard shortcuts.

• Patterns for Opening Apps, New Files, and Menus Preview (18 min)
• Accessibility Settings Across Apps Preview (16 min)
• Keyboard Shortcut Help (7 min)

Googledocs

Module 12.2: Googledocs Googledocs is the Google equivalent of Word. While it lacks some of the advanced features of Word, all basic features and quite a few intermediate or advanced features are present. Many reading and editing keystrokes are the same as with Word. Carrying out some formatting tasks may also be more intuitive with Googledocs. Googledocs is a particularly useful tool for collaboration between people jointly working on documents. It allows multiple users to edit a document simultaneously, making it possible to collaborate with others in real-time. Documents are autosaved as you draft them, a feature that some users consider an advantage, while others do not. we consider the inability to disable autosave to be the most significant shortcoming of Googledocs. Consequently, w

• Opening a Googledoc (16 min)
• Text Reading and Basic Editing (8 min)
• Menu Overview and Navigation (24 min)
• The Main Tool Bar (10 min)
• Document Formatting (5 min)
• Font Settings (16 min)
• Paragraph Settings, Including Bulleted and Numbered Lists (27 min)
• Headings and Styles (55 min)
• Margin Settings (8 min)
• File Menu Commands (31 min)
• Help Resources (10 min)
• Other Useful Tools and Commands (5 min)
• Spellcheck (18 min)
• Headers and Footers, Including Page Numbering (26 min)
• Realtime Collaboration (6 min)

Googlesheets

Module 12.3: Googlesheets Googlesheets is the Google equivalent of Excel. Many reading and editing keystrokes are the same as with Excel. It is a particularly useful tool for collaboration between people jointly working on spreadsheets. It allows multiple users to edit simultaneously, making it possible to collaborate with others in real-time. A typical example is a shared database where multiple users need to enter and update data on an ongoing basis. As is the case with Googledocs, spreadsheet files are autosaved while you work on them. To open Googlesheets, on the Address bar of your browser, type “sheets.google.com” minus the quotes, and then press Enter. Similar to Googledocs, you need to do three things to make Googlesheets accessible with a screenreader: Press Control Alt Z to ena

• Opening a Google sheet (18 min)
• Navigation and Basic Editing (11 min)
• Menu Overview (22 min)
• Main Tool Bar (9 min)
• Constructing a Table (5 min)
• Verbalize to Screenreader (11 min)
• Inserting and Deleting Rows and Columns (12 min)
• Cell Formatting (17 min)
• Merging Cells (11 min)
• Multiple sheets (29 min)
• Sorting and Filtering Data (5 min)
• Sorting (10 min)
• Filtering (52 min)
• Additional Topics (5 min)
• Adjusting Column Width (14 min)
• Wrapping Text (15 min)
• Hiding and Unhiding Columns and Rows (18 min)
• Freezing Panes (18 min)
• Realtime Collaboration (6 min)

Reading Google Slides Presentations

Module 12.4: Reading Google Slides Presentations we are not presenting a full description of how to work with Google Slides because, as of the creation of this course, it is not accessible for screenreader users to make presentations to audiences. When delivering a presentation in the Slide Show view, only slide titles can be detected by screenreaders, while the Remaining slide content cannot be read. This accessibility shortcoming makes the application pretty much useless for most screenreader users. A possible exception may be skilled Braille users who can type up notes and read them separately in hard copy or on a Braille display as the Slide show advances. The current workaround is to prepare the presentation with Slides, download it to your computer as a PowerPoint file, and present

Google Mail

Module 12.5: Google Mail Google Mail, or Gmail, is the Google equivalent of Outlook. It has several advantages over Outlook. First it is free, so that is a big plus. Second, you can use it on any computer. This can be useful in a pinch when you are not around your own computer, and thus don’t have access to a desktop application like Outlook. But Gmail has some weaknesses relative to Outlook. Some of the most basic opeerations like reading and deleting messages, and dealing with attachments require more keystrokes than Outlook. Being comfortable with web browsing is a pre-requisite for using Gmail online, while no such knowledge is necessary for using Outlook. To access the app, go to gmail.com from your web browser. If not signed in already, type in your email address and password. The

• Reading and Deleting Inbox Messages (16 min)
• Composing Messages (15 min)
• File Attachments (16 min)
• Some Other Actions (11 min)
• Other Useful Gmail Features (5 min)
• Accessing Gmail Contacts and Exporting Them to Outlook (35 min)
• The Vacation Responder (15 min)

Google Calendar

Module 12.6: Google Calendar The Google Calendar is a nice alternative to the Outlook Calendar. It has several advantages over the Outlook Calendar, including: It is free, the only requirement being to have a Gmail account. It is quick and easy to learn. With just a handful of keystrokes, most of which are intuitive and easy to remember, you can handle all basic event scheduling and editing functions. Screenreader verbosity is minimal. By contrast, we find Outlook annoyingly verbose. To access the Google Calendar, open a new tab in your browser, type “calendar.google.com,” minus the quotes, and press Enter. You may need to log in with your Gmail account the first time, but your browser usually remembers you in subsequent sessions. If you are going to use the Google Calendar with any freq

• Calendar Navigation (23 min)
• Creating, Editing and Deleting Events (61 min)
• Syncing Calendars Between Devices (7 min)

Google forms

Module 12.7: Google forms The Google forms app is a free application for creating different types of forms, including registration forms for upcoming events like workshops or conferences, surveys and questionnaires, and quizzes. The processes of creating and filling out forms are fully accessible, and it is easy to download response data to a spreadsheet to analyze results. To create Google forms you must have a Gmail account and know your password so you can operate in the Google Workspace environment. You should also be familiar with web browsing keystrokes, especially those for navigating form fields and entering data. To conduct data analysis, you should also be knowledgeable about Excel or Googlesheets. Respondents are not required to have Gmail accounts.

• Opening Forms You Are Preparing (18 min)
• Adding Questions to a New Form (52 min)
• Previewing a Form (14 min)
• Form Settings (5 min)
• Making Your Form Into a Quiz (5 min)
• Options for Including Email Addresses and Sending Results to Respondents (10 min)
• Limiting to a Single Response (5 min)
• Allowing Respondents From Outside Your Organization to Complete Your Form (6 min)
• Making Questions Required (5 min)
• Confirmation messages (9 min)
• Sending a Form to Respondent’s (11 min)
• Accessing Response Data (5 min)
• Viewing Response Data in Spreadsheets (23 min)
• Other Actions Related to Response Data (7 min)
• Other Form Editing Actions (5 min)
• Reordering Questions (15 min)
• Adding Sections (22 min)
• Adding Collaborators, Making a Copy, and More with the More Button. (11 min)
• Native Google Keystrokes (13 min)
• Quizzes (48 min)

Comparing Google Workspace and Microsoft Applications

Module 12.8: Comparing Google Workspace and Microsoft Applications This Module has discussed several Google Workspace applications. Modules 3 through 6 discussed the four most commonly used Microsoft Office applications: Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint. After wading through all this content, a few questions you might ask are: How do the Workspace and Office Suite equivalents stack up against each other? What technical support and reference resources are available for using screenreaders with these applications? How might you go forward incorporating these applications into your digital technology toolbox? While we will attempt to be objective and balanced here, what follows are still our opinions. Broadly speaking, we see several advantages of the Google Workspace relative to the MS