Google Apps with SuperNova

Available Content

Google Sheets

Reading time: 5 minutes (approx.)

Introduction

Google Sheets is a web-based spreadsheet application from Google. Google Sheets includes accessibility features and a wealth of keyboard commands that makes working with worksheets a productive process.

When Google Sheets 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 move focus to a standard webpage.

First steps with Google Sheets

To create your first basic worksheet using Google Sheets 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 "sheets.new" and press ENTER. This opens an untitled blank presentation file.
Press CONTROL + ALT + Z to enable Screen reader support mode. You require Screen reader support mode to use Google Sheets with SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader. In this mode, Google manages the output provided by SuperNova and Dolphin ScreenReader. It also adds an "Accessibility" option to the menu bar.
Open the "File" menu and select "Rename" (ALT + F, R). Focus moves to the file name edit box.
Enter a name for the worksheet and select the "Save" button.
Press CONTROL + ALT + COMMA until the worksheet area has focus.
Navigate the worksheet using the Arrow Keys, type to input text into a blank cell, and use F2 to edit an existing cell.

Google Sheets automatically saves the changes you make to your worksheet as you work. To open worksheets available on your Google Drive, visit sheets.google.com.

Google accessibility support

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

Turn on Screen reader support

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

To toggle Screen reader support on and off, press CONTROL + ALT + Z. Speech will announce "Screen reader support on" when support is enabled.

Screen reader support enables you to:

Read and navigate a worksheet using familiar keystrokes such as the Arrow Keys, PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN, HOME, END, CONTROL + HOME, and CONTROL + END.
Navigate to elements using the "Accessibility" menu or equivalent keyboard commands provided by Google Sheets.
Input data using Google Sheets character echo mode.

Turn off Braille support

For best accessibility for users relying on speech, we recommend only Screen reader support mode is enabled. We recommend that Braille support is disabled because cell co-ordinates are not accurately reported in this mode. You can toggle Braille support on and off by pressing CONTROL + ALT + H.

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 using the Laptop Universal Hotkey Set, by pressing CAPS LOCK + Z.

Accessing Google Sheets menu bar

You can access the Google Sheets 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.
Data menu –ALT + D.
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 Sheets menu commands being activated, then include SHIFT in the keyboard command, for example, press SHIFT + ALT + F to access the Sheets File menu.

Inputting, navigating, and editing data

Google Sheets include many of the familiar keyboard commands you use when working with worksheets

Table showing popular Google Sheets keyboard commands for editing data
Command	Press
Navigate cells	Arrow keys
Select cells	SHIFT + Arrow Keys
Select row	SHIFT + SPACEBAR
Select column	CONTROL + SPACEBAR
Cut	CONTROL + X
Copy	CONTROL + C
Paste	CONTROL + V
Paste value without formatting	CONTROL + SHIFT + V
Paste formatting without value	CONTROL + ALT + V
Bold text	CONTROL + B
Italic text	CONTROL + I
Underline text	CONTROL + U
Centre text	CONTROL + SHIFT + E
Left align text	CONTROL + SHIFT + L
Right align text	CONTROL + SHIFT + R

Tip: You may find the use of the context menu (CONTROL + SHIFT + X) a quick and easy way to access the options you require.

Editing, navigating and selecting a range of cells

You can enter data into a cell in a worksheet by positioning the focus on the cell and then type your text. The text you type will overwrite any text currently in the cell. If you want to edit the existing text, press F2.

To navigate the cells in a worksheet, use the following commands:

To move to the next cell, press the Arrow Keys.
To move to the next cell to the right, press TAB.
To move to the next cell to the left, press SHIFT + TAB.
To move to the edge of a data region, press CONTROL + Arrow Keys.
To move to the first cell in the row, press HOME.
To move to the last cell in the row, press END.
To move to the first cell, press CONTROL + HOME.
To move to the last cell, press CONTROL + END.
To scroll down, press PAGE DOWN.
To scroll up, press PAGE UP.
To scroll to the right, press ALT + PAGE DOWN.
To scroll to the left, press ALT + PAGE UP.
To go to a cell using the "Go To" dialog box, press ALT + A, G to open the "Go to" option in the "Accessibility" menu, type the cell co-ordinates in the Reference box and press ENTER.
To move to the next sheet, press CONTROL + SHIFT + PAGE DOWN.
To move to the previous sheet, press CONTROL + SHIFT + PAGE UP.

To select cells in a worksheet requires you to use the SHIFT key in combination with a navigation key, for example, you can press SHIFT + RIGHT ARROW to select your current cell and the cell immediately to the right. You can also use the "Go to" option to select a range of cells. To do this, press ALT + A, G to open the "Go to" option, type in the range you want to select, for example, "B2:H12" to select all cells between B2 and H12, and then press ENTER.

Viewing a list of keyboard shortcuts

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

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 worksheet. To review the available options, ALT + A, followed by S.

The information you can announce includes an analysis of the current selection, format attributes, spelling of the current cell, plus the reading of the current row and column.