The Core Gestures and Hotkeys

A screen reader is driven by keys and gestures, not your mouse. Learn a few hotkeys and you can move through any page by ear. ⌨️

Most NVDA commands start with the NVDA key, which is Insert or Caps Lock. You hold it, then press a letter to issue a command.

VoiceOver commands begin with the VO keys: Control plus Option held together. You then add an arrow or letter to act.

To hear everything from the cursor down, NVDA users press NVDA plus Down Arrow. It reads the whole page continuously.

Take it slow with the arrow keys. Down and Up step through one line at a time so you catch each piece of content.

Power users navigate by element type. In NVDA, the H key jumps to the next heading, letting you scan structure fast.

Single-letter keys keep going: K hops to the next link and F to the next form field. This is how blind users skim a page.

Need an overview? NVDA's elements list, opened with NVDA plus F7, shows every heading, link, and landmark in one menu.

VoiceOver has its own overview called the rotor. You open it with VO plus U, then arrow through headings, links, or landmarks.

To click by keyboard, sighted-style keys still work: Enter or Space activates the focused link or button just like a mouse press.

You will not memorize hundreds of commands. A handful of navigation keys covers nearly every test you will ever run. 👍

In NVDA, which single key jumps to the next heading?

Hold the modifier, read with arrows, and skim with H, K, and F. The elements list or rotor gives you the whole map at once. 🗺️