The following list of NVDA commands or keyboard shortcuts help anyone working in the area of digital accessibility as a reference document. This document also helps developers to check for screen reader conflicts while implementing access keys. These NVDA keyboard commands should work on all Windows based browsers. See the Maxability recommended screen reader Vs browser combination for accessibility.
This document is not an exhaustive list of NVDA keyboard commands. You may want to read the help document supplied with the software for complete information.
NVDA is a free and open source screen reader by NVAccess. If you have not already downloaded the NVDA screen reader for windows, Go to NVDA download page.
Basic NVDA Commands
| Action | Keyboard command |
|---|---|
| Turn on NVDA | Control + Alt + N |
| Turn off NVDA | Insert + Q |
| Open NVDA settings menu | Insert + N |
| Stop NVDA from speaking | Control |
| Pause or resume NVDA from speaking | Shift |
| Decrease NVDA rate of speaking | Control + Insert + Up arrow |
| Increase NVDA rate of speaking | Control + Insert + Down arrow |
| Refresh NVDA buffer | Insert + F5 |
NVDA commands for web
| Action | Keyboard Command |
|---|---|
| Read title of the page | Insert + T |
| Go to top of the page | Control + Home |
| Go to bottom of the page | Control + End |
| Read from current position to end of the page | Insert + Down arrow |
| Read next line | Down arrow |
| Read previous line | Up arrow |
| Switch mode from browse to forms and vice versa | Insert + space key |
| Go to next actionable control | Tab |
| Go to previous actionable control | Shift + Tab |
| Go to next heading | H (only in browse mode) |
| Go to previous heading | Shift + h (only in browse mode) |
| Go to specific level of heading | 1 to 6(only in browse mode, alphabet keyboard) |
| Go to next form control | F (only in browse mode) |
| Go to previous form control | Shift + F (only in browse mode) |
| Go to next landmark | D (only in browse mode) |
| Go to previous landmark | Shift + D (only in browse mode) |
| Go to next list | L (only in brose mode) |
| Go to previous list | Shift + L (only in browse mode) |
| Go to next table | T (only in browse mode) |
| Go to previous table | Shift + T (only in browse mode) |
| Navigate between the cells in a table | Control + Alt + Directional keys. |
| Open the item list dialog | Insert + F7 (links, headings, landmarks and forms lists) |
| Select or deselect checkbox | Space Key |
| Open dropdown, autocomplete | Alt + Down arrow |
| Select radio button or options in dropdown | Up or Down arrow when the focus is in the control. |
Few other NVDA keyboard commands
All the following keyboard commands only work in browse mode. Adding shift with the command executes the previous occurrence of the UI control. For example, letter ‘b’ navigates to the next button on the page, shift + b navigates to previous button on the page.
| Action | Keyboard Command |
|---|---|
| Next image | G |
| Next list item | I |
| Next edit box | E |
| Next radio button | R |
| Next checkbox | X |
| Next Combobox | C |
| Next button | B |
| Next link | K |
| Next visited link | V |
| Next unvisited link | U |