Word with Screen Reader: Spell Checking

Hello, my name is Vikki Vaughan. Today, we'll examine using shortcut commands to check the spelling within a Microsoft Word document. Our task will include navigating through the proofing tool bar, our one stop location for correcting misspelled words.

All of us make spelling errors from time to time. Lucky for us, all Microsoft Office programs can check spelling and grammar. With a simple command, spellcheck searches through our document and prompts us to correct each spelling or grammatical error it encounters.

Grammatical errors include duplicate words, extra space between words, or incorrect usage of words such as the word "an" in the sentence, "We have an red car." Let's explore the power and ease of spellcheck in this sample document. When checking spelling, it's always a good idea to begin by navigating to the top of the document with Control + Home. The keystroke of F7 opens the proofing toolbar.

Screen Reader: Proofing toolbar, Ignore button, I, pane.

Vikki: Here we have a spelling pane which contains the first word in our document that is perceived to be a spelling error. The focus lands on the first control, the Ignore button. We hear our screen reader announce the focal control, the Ignore button, followed by the keyboard shortcut, I. If we're returning to spellcheck, the focus is on the last control in the pane that was active.

Screen Reader: Ignore button, I, APHont.

Vikki: Let's discuss some differences between JAWS and NVDA when the proofing toolbar is activated. JAWS automatically reads and spells both the misspelled word and the first suggested word. In NVDA, we must first navigate from our current focus, the Ignore button, to our previous object, the misspelled word.

On a laptop, the command NVDA + Shift + Left Arrow announces the word that spellcheck perceives to be misspelled. On a desktop, the command is NVDA and the number four on the number pad. We refer to keys on the number pad as numpad keys. If we wish to have our screen reader spell the word, we use the command of NVDA + Control + period twice in rapid succession. The desktop command is NVDA + numpad five twice quickly.

The command in JAWS is JAWS + F7 for both laptop and desktop configurations. There are times when we have a word that we know is spelled correctly, but it not recognized by spellcheck. A case in point are some proper nouns. Our first misspelled word in this document is the word APHont.

Screen Reader: A-P-H-O-N-T.

Vikki: This is the name of a font created by the American Printing House for the Blind for users with low vision. Spellcheck identifies it as a misspelled word, because it doesn't recognize the word. At this point, we have several choices. We can either ignore this instance, ignore all instances of this word, or add this word to our dictionary. As we heard earlier, our first choice is ignore. The keyboard shortcut is the letter I. This command tells spellcheck to skip this error for this time only. We won't choose that at this point, because we want to explore our other commands. I'll press Tab to navigate to our next control.

Screen Reader: Ignore All button, G.

Vikki: What about when we have several instances of a word that we wish to ignore, such as proper nouns? The Ignore All command serves this purpose. The keyboard shortcut for Ignore All is G. When we choose Ignore All, spellcheck skips over every instance of that word in our document. I'll press Tab now to move to our next control.

Screen Reader: Add button, A.

Vikki: Let's say we have a word, such as a proper noun, that we wish to have spellcheck recognize every time we use it. The word APHont is a good example. We can add the word to the dictionary so it won't be flagged as an error in the future. The keyboard command is the letter A. I'll press Tab to move to our next control.

Screen Reader: List, appoint.

Vikki: Below the three choices of Ignore, Ignore All, and Add, we have the suggestions list. This is a list of alternate words that spellcheck thinks we might have intended to use. Spellcheck places the most likely suggestions at the top of our list. We review these words by using our Up and Down Arrow keys. I'll press the Down Arrow key to move through the list.

Screen Reader: Apron, phot, phony.

Vikki: In the list of suggestions, we can use our screen reader to announce the current word in the list, and pressing twice in quick succession, the command will spell the word. In NVDA, on a laptop, we use NVDA + Control + period twice in rapid succession, and NVDA + numpad five twice quickly on a desktop. I'll demonstrate by moving through the list with my Arrow key and have NVDA spell a word.

Screen Reader: Phot, apron, appoint. A-P-P-O-I-N-T.

Vikki: As we discussed earlier, the JAWS command of JAWS + F7 announces and spells the selected word. Once we've found the desired spelling, we press the Tab key to move out of the list. Once out of the list, we land on the Change button. We press Enter to select change, or we can use the keyboard shortcut of C.

Screen Reader: Change button, C.

Vikki: This command changes this one instance of the misspelled word to the currently selected word from our list. There are times we misspell a word throughout our entire document. Instead of changing each instance of the word, we can Tab to our next command, Change All.

Screen Reader: Change All button, L.

Vikki: We can also use the shortcut, L, to activate this option. Just like our Ignore All button, Change All changes every instance of this spelling error to the currently selected word in the list above. Our next control is the Text to Speech button. This control is activated with the Spacebar. Let's Tab to Text to Speech to hear.

Screen Reader: Text to Speech button, Space, appoint.

Vikki: We hear the currently selected replacement word. When available, various synonyms are listed below the text to speech control. NVDA allows us to navigate between the choices with NVDA + Shift + Left or Right Arrow. We'll try that now. I'll press NVDA + Shift + Right Arrow.

Screen Reader: Bullet employ. Bullet, select. Bullet, hire.

Vikki: We hear the bullet and the synonym announced. From the Text to Speech button, we move to our next control to read all definitions. A dictionary has to be installed before definitions can be accessed. Our final control is the language dropdown list.

Screen Reader: Language combo box, English, United States, collapsed.

Vikki: By using our Arrow keys, we move through an extensive list of available languages. I'll press my Arrow key several times to listen to our various choices.

Screen Reader: List, English, United States. List, English, United Kingdom. English, Trinidad and Tobago. English, South Africa.

Vikki: When we hear the desired language announced, we press Enter to select.

Screen Reader: Proofing toolbar, language combo box, English, United States, collapsed, pane.

Vikki: Once the current correction has been made, spellchecker will automatically move to the next error in our document. NVDA does not announce this next error. Our proofing toolbar remains open and the focus lands, once again, on the Ignore button.

Screen Reader: Proofing toolbar, Ignore button, I.

Vikki: We can use the command of NVDA + Shift + Left Arrow, on a laptop, to announce the word.

Screen Reader: Louisville.

Vikki: You might recall that the desktop command is NVDA + numpad four. The JAWS command of JAWS + F7 announces and spells the next misspelled word. An important note to remember, sometimes spellcheck may not catch an error, even when the word is incorrect or not what you intended to say. For example, the sentence, "Don't forget your hat," will not be identified as an error, even if what we meant to say was, "Don't forget your bat." As you can see, these two phrases mean something quite different. When finished with a document, it's important to review our entire document for errors that spellcheck might miss. If there are no spelling errors in a document, spellcheck will announce, "Spell and grammar check is complete." I'll demonstrate that now. I have a poem that I've just opened. I'll press F7 to bring up our proofing toolbar.

Screen Reader: Microsoft word dialogue, "Spelling and grammar check is complete." Okay button.

Vikki: Once we hear the announcement, we press the Escape or Enter key to close.

Screen Reader: "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening," compatibility mode, Word.

Vikki: With these helpful tips, we can use Windows shortcuts to check the spelling in our Word document. I'm Vikki Vaughan, and I thank you for joining me today.