NVDA Fundamentals

Getting Started & Finding Help

1. Download NVDA from nvaccess.org (free and open source)
2. Launch an installed copy of NVDA from the desktop shortcut or Start menu, or press Ctrl+Alt+N when the desktop shortcut option is enabled
3. Choose your preferred keyboard layout (Desktop or Laptop) in the Welcome dialogue
4. Press Ctrl at any time to silence speech immediately (or Shift to pause and resume speech)
5. Press NVDA+1 to turn on Input Help mode—pressing any key or shortcut will announce its function without performing it; press NVDA+1 again to exit
6. To open the full NVDA User Guide or Commands Quick Reference, press NVDA+N to open the NVDA menu, then choose Help

Basic Reading

1. Press NVDA+Down Arrow (Desktop) or NVDA+A (Laptop) to start continuous reading (Say All)
2. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to read line by line
3. Press NVDA+Up Arrow (Desktop) or NVDA+L (Laptop) to hear the current line repeated (press twice quickly to spell the line)
4. Use Ctrl+Left/Right Arrow to move word by word
5. Use Left/Right Arrow to move character by character

Web Navigation

Understanding Browse mode: On web pages and PDF documents, NVDA uses Browse mode so single-letter keys jump straight to specific page elements:

1. Press H to jump to the next heading, or Shift+H for the previous heading
2. Use number keys 1–6 to jump to a specific heading level
3. Press K to move to the next link, or Shift+K for the previous link
4. Press F to move to the next form field, B for the next button, or E for the next edit field
5. Press D to move between page landmarks (banner, navigation, main, contentinfo)
6. Press T to jump to the next table
7. Press NVDA+F7 to open the Elements List, where you can filter links, headings, form fields, buttons or landmarks by typing

Browse Mode vs Focus Mode

1. Browse mode lets you read documents and web pages with arrow keys and single-letter shortcuts
2. Focus mode passes your keystrokes directly to the web page or application so you can type into edit boxes or use custom controls
3. NVDA switches to Focus mode automatically when you press Enter on a text box or move into a form field with Tab
4. Press NVDA+Space to switch manually between Browse mode and Focus mode (or press Escape to return from Focus mode to Browse mode)

Object Navigation

About Object Navigation: Object navigation lets you move through the structure of an application without moving the system focus. In Desktop layout, make sure Num Lock is turned off before using the number-pad commands below:

1. Move to the previous object: NVDA+Numpad 4 (Desktop, Num Lock off) or NVDA+Shift+Left Arrow (Laptop)
2. Move to the next object: NVDA+Numpad 6 (Desktop, Num Lock off) or NVDA+Shift+Right Arrow (Laptop)
3. Move to the parent object: NVDA+Numpad 8 (Desktop, Num Lock off) or NVDA+Shift+Up Arrow (Laptop)
4. Move to the first child object: NVDA+Numpad 2 (Desktop, Num Lock off) or NVDA+Shift+Down Arrow (Laptop)
5. Report the current navigator object: NVDA+Numpad 5 (Desktop, Num Lock off) or NVDA+Shift+O (Laptop)
6. Activate the current navigator object (default action): NVDA+Numpad Enter (Desktop, Num Lock off) or NVDA+Enter (Laptop)

Adjusting Settings

1. Press NVDA+N to open the NVDA menu, then choose Preferences → Settings (or press Ctrl+NVDA+G for General settings and Ctrl+NVDA+V for Speech settings)
2. Use the Synth Settings Ring to adjust voice parameters on the fly: hold Ctrl+NVDA (Desktop) or Ctrl+NVDA+Shift (Laptop), press Left/Right Arrow to select Rate, Pitch or Volume, and press Up/Down Arrow to adjust it
3. Create application-specific Configuration Profiles (Ctrl+NVDA+P) if you want different speech or punctuation settings in specific programs