[Trainer-talk] NVDA/Browse Mode with Microsoft Office

Fri Nov 7 11:05:58 UTC 2014

when NVDA speaks of browse mode, this refers to the ability to have a
virtual cursor in HTML documents. In plain English, this is what we're
used to when we visit Web pages with screen readers. Even if the Web
page doesn't always provide a visible cursor, JAWS, Window-eyes and NVDA
place the Web page in what is known as a virtual buffer, giving us a
make-pretend virtual cursor which lets us navigate through the
document. Of course, these screen readers also provide us with nifty
one-letter navigation commands that many of us use, such as pressing H
to move to the next heading, E to move to the next edit box, etc. JAWS
actually has this capability for Word and, I believe, Outlook. If you
press insert-Z while you're in a word file, you can use keys like H or
shift-H to jump to either the next or previous heading. Other quicknav
keys are available. When you're in Word or in an Outlook message with
JAWS, press insert-Z to turn on the virtual cursor. Next, press
insert-1 for keyboard help mode and press single letters and other
characters so that JAWS can tell you what functions the keys perform.
Don't forget to press insert-1 a second time to disable keyboard help,
by the way.
Michael Curran, one of the lead developers of NVDA, has begun
implementing this same capability in Word and in Outlook. This feature
is not in the current version and it is not likely coming in version
2014.4, due out within a month. However, it's possible we could see it
in the next version for 2015. One of the advantages of many open source
packages is that the developers allow users like us to try out features
as they're added so that we can provide feedback regarding what might
not be working and on what needs improving. Therefore, for people who
would like to test this capability and provide feedback to NV Access,
here is Michael Curran's message.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Curran" <mick at nvaccess.org>
To: "NVDA screen reader development" <nvda-devel at lists.sourceforge.net>
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2014 7:16 AM
Subject: [Nvda-devel] browse mode in Microsoft Word and Outlook

Hi all,

For those interested, I have been working on browse mode for Microsoft
Word / Outlook 2007 and above in branch t2975.
Ticket #2975: http://community.nvda-project.org/ticket/2975

I have made a try build available:
http://community.nvda-project.org/try/t2975/nvda_snapshot_try-t2975-10526,6f6738f.exe

This work so far includes:
* Optional browse mode for Microsoft Word. Press NVDA+space to switch to
browse mode. Press NVDA+space again to switch back to focus mode.
* While in browse mode:
* Arrow keys will move through the document as normal, however when in
tables cells to the right of the cursor will not be skipped. Thus it is
possible to read the entire document just by pressing down arrow.
* Quick navigation keys, and the Elements List are available in browse
mode.
* Available quick navigation keys are: h for heading, 1 through 6
for heading levels, k for link, g for graphic, t for table, and a for
annotation (revisions, comments).
* The elements list can show links, headings, and annotations
(revisions and comments).
* In Microsoft Outlook 2007 and above, browse mode is on by default when
reading emails, but not writing them. (Hopefully).

I have only tested so far on Office 2010.
Please try it out and provide feedback on the ticket.

At this stage I am not interested in suggested extra features, rather
just bugs with the stated features and or bugs caused in other browse
mode documents due to the abstraction work.

thanks
Mick

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