Accessibility Settings Across Apps

Module 12.1.2: Accessibility Settings Across Apps

The most important area where things are less consistent relates to accessibility settings. With each of the Workspace apps, you will need to make at least one adjustment to make the app work properly with your screenreader program, thus enabling you to access Google’s native keystrokes. With the sole exception of Forms, the JAWS Virtual PC cursor or the NVDA Focus mode must be toggled off. Beyond this, adjustments vary from one app to the next. While we will repeat them in our discussion for each app below, as well as how to make these changes, we will also list them here: Drive: Manual forms mode in JAWS. Docs: Enable both screenreader and Braille support. The shortcut keys for these are Control Alt Z and Control Alt H, respectively. Sheets: Enable both screenreader and Braille support with the same keystrokes as for Docs. . Slides: Enable both screenreader and Braille support for most actions with the same keystrokes as for Docs. But disable Braille support when reading presentations. Gmail: Enable keyboard shortcuts. Forms: No additional changes. Keep the JAWS Virtual PC cursor and NVDA Browse mode enabled for most actions. Once you set these, they are permanently saved. However toggling off the JAWS Virtual PC cursor must be done every time you open a session with an app. It may also be necessary to toggle it off again when you switch between windows. When you open a Google app with NVDA, Browse mode is usually automatically toggled off (that is, Focus mode is toggle on), but we are not completely certain about this. Try it yourself to detect a pattern.