Google Apps with SuperNova

Available Content

Google Docs

Reading time: 10 minutes (approx.)

Introduction

Google Docs is a web-based word processor from Google. Google Docs includes accessibility features and a wealth of keyboard commands that can make working with documents a productive experience.

When Google Docs has focus, SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader will disable the Automatic Dolphin Cursor. This enables you to better interact with the application. The Dolphin Cursor will be active again when you return to a standard webpage.

First steps with Google Docs

To create your first basic document using Google Docs with SuperNova or Dolphin ScreenReader, do the following:

Open your web browser. Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge is recommended.
Go to the Address bar and enter "docs.new" and press ENTER. This opens an untitled blank document.
Press CONTROL + ALT + Z to enable Screen reader support mode. As a minimum, you require Screen reader support mode to use Google Docs with SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader. In this mode, Google manages the output provided by SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader. It can be used for reading and basic editing of a document. It also adds an "Accessibility" option to the menu bar.
For more controlled editing, press CONTROL + ALT + H to enable Braille support mode. Braille support enables SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader to manage speech output. This mode can also have benefits for magnification users as it provides improved tracking of the document cursor.
Open the "File" menu and select "Rename" (ALT + F, R). Focus moves to the file name edit box.
Enter a name for the document and TAB to the "Save" button.
Press CONTROL + ALT + COMMA until the document area as focus.
Type your text.

Google Docs automatically saves the changes you make to your document as you work. To open documents available on your Google Drive, visit docs.google.com.

Google accessibility options

Google Docs provides accessibility options to assist users of screen readers. You must enable these options to successfully use SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader with Google Docs.

Turn on Screen reader support

You must turn on Screen reader support to enable SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader to work with Google Docs.

To toggle Screen reader support on and off:

Visit docs.new or open an existing document by visiting https://docs.google.com.
press CONTROL + ALT + Z. SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader will say "Screen reader support on" when support is enabled.

Screen reader support enables you to:

Navigate a document using familiar keyboard commands such as UP ARROW, DOWN ARROW, PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN, CONTROL + HOME, and CONTROL + END.
Navigate to elements using the "Accessibility" menu or equivalent keyboard commands provided by Google Docs.
Input text using character echo. Google’s input mode has priority over SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader Character Echo settings when using Screen reader support mode.

In Screen reader support mode, you are unable to do the following in SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader:

Use an alternative typing mode such as word echo.
Use SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader Speak keys.
Use SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader Text Style Announcements.

In practice, Screen reader support provides a way to easily read a document. However, if you want to create, edit, or proofread a document, you must also enable Braille support mode.

Turn on Braille support

Along with Screen reader support, you must turn on Braille support to successfully create, edit, and proofread documents. This is necessary even if you do not use a Braille display.

To toggle Braille support on and off, press CONTROL + ALT + H. Speech will announce "Braille support on" when support is enabled.

With Braille support enabled, you can use familiar SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader options including:

Character Echo settings.
Speak keys.
Text Style Announcement settings.

Braille support also improves tracking of the cursor when using magnification and Focus Highlighting.

Turn on other accessibility options

In addition to the above, you will find turning on Magnification support and, if working in a team environment, enabling Collaborator announcements helpful. You can find these options by opening the "Tools" menu and selecting "Accessibility" (ALT + T, C).

Basic navigation of the interface

You can press CONTROL + ALT + FULL STOP and CONTROL + ALT + COMMA to move between elements in the main interface.

You can explore the options within an element by using keyboard commands such as the TAB, SHIFT + TAB, HOME, END, and the Arrow Keys.

In some cases, you may find it necessary to enable the Dolphin Cursor to explore prompts around an element. You can turn on the Dolphin Cursor at the current focus position by pressing NUMPAD ASTERISK or, if using the Laptop Universal Hotkey Set, by pressing CAPS LOCK + MINUS.

When your explorations have finished, you can turn off the Dolphin Cursor by pressing NUMPAD MINUS or, if you are using the Laptop Universal Hotkey Set, by pressing CAPS LOCK + Z.

Accessing Google Docs menu bar

When focus is on the document window, you can access the Google Docs menu bar by pressing ALT plus a shortcut key, for example, ALT + F to open the "File" menu.

Keyboard commands for menu items:

File menu –ALT + F.
Edit menu –ALT + E.
View menu –ALT + V.
Insert menu - ALT + I.
Format menu –ALT + O.
Extensions menu – ALT + N.
Tools menu –ALT + T.
Help menu –ALT + h.
Accessibility menu –ALT + A.
Context menu – CONTROL + SHIFT + X (or SHIFT + F10).

You can explore the menu items using the Arrow Keys and activate an item by pressing the ENTER key.

Tip: If your browser’s keyboard commands are preventing the Docs menu commands being activated, then include SHIFT in the keyboard command, for example, press SHIFT + ALT + F to access the Docs’ File menu.

Writing, navigating, and editing text

Google Docs include many of the familiar keyboard commands you use when working with documents.

Table showing popular Google Docs keyboard commands for editing text
Command	Press
Navigate text	Arrow Keys
Select text	SHIFT + Arrow Keys
Cut	CONTROL + X
Copy	CONTROL + C
Paste	CONTROL + V
Paste without formatting	CONTROL + SHIFT + V
Bold text	CONTROL + B
Italic text	CONTROL + I
Underline text	CONTROL + U
Heading 1 style	CONTROL + ALT + 1
Heading 2 style	CONTROL + ALT + 2
Heading 3 style	CONTROL + ALT + 3
Normal text	CONTROL + ALT + 0

Tip: When exploring the menu options, you will find keyboard commands stated alongside the menu item. Keyboard commands can prove a productive tool when completing repetitive tasks. You may also find using the context menu (CONTROL + SHIFT + X) a quick and straightforward way to access the options you require.

Navigating to previous and next headings

Headings provide an effective way to give a document structure. They enable you to create table of contents and provide a straightforward way to navigate through a document.

To navigate by Heading requires you to use a sequence of keypresses. While holding down CONTROL + ALT press:

N, then H to move to the next heading.
P, then H to move to the previous heading.
N, then 1 – 6 to move to the next heading at level 1 – 6.
P, then 1 – 6 to move to the previous heading at level 1 – 6.

You can continue to press the sequence of keypresses while CONTROL + ALT is held down to skip through the headings in a document. You will wrap back to the start of the document when you reach the last heading.

Navigating to other elements

You can navigate to other elements using a similar sequence of keypresses as performed for headings.

Hold CONTROL + ALT + N for next or P for previous, then one of the following whilst continuing to hold CONTROL + ALT down:

G to navigate to graphics.
O to navigate to lists.
I to navigate items in a list.
L to navigate to links.
B to navigate to bookmarks.
W to navigate to a formatting change.
R to navigate to the next edit when viewing revision history or recent changes.

Navigating tables

You can navigate to the next table in a document by holding CONTROL + SHIFT + ALT, and whilst they are held down, press N, followed by T. To move to the previous table, use P, followed by T.

While navigating within a table, you can hold CONTROL + SHIFT + ALT and use the following key sequences:

Move to the start of the table: T, S.
Move to the end of the table: T, D.
Move to the start of the table column: T, I.
Move to the end of the table column: T, K.
Move to the next table column: T, B.
Move to the previous table column: T, V.
Move to the start of the table row: T, J.
Move to the end of the table row: T, L.
Move to the next table row: T, M.
Move to the previous table row: T, G.
Exit table: T, E.

Viewing a list of keyboard shortcuts

You can view a searchable list of keyboard commands available in Google Docs by pressing CONTROL + SLASH. You may need to enable the Dolphin Cursor to review the search results.

Navigating using the Accessibility menu options

In some cases, you may find navigating using the "Accessibility" menu items more productive than using keyboard commands. For example, Google Docs stipulates that keyboard commands may not function if you are using a keyboard layout other than US English. In reality, if you are not using the US English keyboard layout, then some keystrokes will insert their assigned accented character rather than fulfil the command.

Using the "Accessibility" menu shortcut keys enables you to continue to quickly navigate through elements in a document without the risk of entering unwanted characters.

For instance, you can navigate to the next Heading in the document by pressing: ALT + A, H, N.

Here, ALT + A opens the "Accessibility" menu, H opens the Headings submenu, and then N moves focus to the next Heading.

You can discover the shortcut keys by exploring the items in the "Accessibility" menu. As you navigate, speech will read the menu shortcut key plus the keyboard command for each item. Note that this information comes from Google Docs and therefore does not follow the SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader phrasing you may be familiar with.

For example, speech may say:

Move to next heading n Ctrl + Alt + N Ctrl + Alt + H.

From this output, you can ascertain that N is the menu shortcut key while CONTROL + ALT + N CONTROL + ALT + H is the keyboard commands you use to move to the next heading.

Verbalising information

You can use the "Verbalize to screen reader" option available in the "Accessibility" menu to announce specific information about the current focus, selection, and document. To review the available options press, ALT + A, followed by S.

The information you can announce includes the current selection, font attributes, word count, and the reading of the document.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Read from here

The SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader Read from here feature is not supported in Google Docs due to the limited information that can be extracted from the document structure.