MS Excel Chapter 10: Navigation

Owned by Daniel LaGrow, created
Last updated: Nov 11, 2024
6 min read

Instructions

Section 10.1: Focus Indicators

Usually when using Excel, users can see where they are in a spreadsheet by looking at a dark green box. However, it can sometimes be hard to see. Fortunately, Excel has an add-on called RowLiner that can help readers focus on their cell. Unfortunately, there are limitation such as,

  1. "RowLiner will not draw lines in split windows or frozen panes."

  2. "RowLiner will not draw lines when worksheets are grouped. This is by design."

  3. "RowLiner will disable the Undo feature. This is a limitation imposed by the basic design of Excel and cannot be changed."

  4. "A few users, primarily users with European versions of Excel, have reported that RowLiner causes Excel to crash. The cause of this is unknown. I have worked with Microsoft support engineers to resolve this problem, but Microsoft cannot determine the nature or cause of the crash." Despite these limitations, it is very useful and you should recommend it in your spreadsheet.

    A spreadsheet with instructions to download a visual focus indicator.

Section 10.2: Using Comments

Comments can be very helpful for providing useful information. They are easily accessible and easy to find. The cells marked with a red triangle have comments anchored to them.

A table of the longest flights in the world with the cell for distance in miles for Qatar Airways has a red triangle.

This table has a red triangle in cell C4.

This table has a full comment visible.

Section 10.3: How to Add a Comment

  1. Click the cell you want to place a comment on.

  2. Right click the cell and click “Add a Comment”.

  3. Type in your comment.

  4. To delete your comment, right click the cell your comment is attached to. In the dropdown menu, click delete comment.

Section 10.4: Frozen Rows and Columns

Frozen rows and columns should be avoided whenever possible. Making a row or column always visible while scrolling can be accomplished through freezing panes. While this feature can be helpful to sighted users, it should be avoided when creating an accessible workbook as it can cause navigation issues for screen reader users. Users should also be alerted of any frozen rows.

This worksheet only has frozen rows and there is no alert.

Section 10.5: Using Data Filters

If data filters are used, the user must be alerted in the Excel Document. Data filters can be applied to display information within specific parameters, which can be helpful especially if you ware using lots of data. JAWS announces the data filter drop-down controls, but NVDA cannot do this.

Section 10.6: Table Names

The names of Cells in Excel make it easier to understand the purpose of the cell. It also helps with navigating the workbook.

To name your table,

  1. Highlight your full table.

  2. Go to the Table Design Tab.

  3. In the Table Name box, type in the name of your table. Make sure the table name starts with a letter or underscore, does not include a space or character that is not allowed or conflict with an existing name.

Section 10.7: Protecting and Locking

You can protect your spreadsheet in three different levels:

  1. File Level: A security feature that involves setting a password to restrict access to an Excel file, preventing others from opening or modifying it. It’s important to remember that Microsoft cannot recover passwords if they are lost or forgotten.

  2. Workbook Level: Safeguards the structure of a workbook by restricting actions like adding, moving, deleting, hiding, or renaming worksheets.

  3. Worksheet Level: Helps maintain data integrity by controlling how users interact with a worksheet. For instance, it ensures that critical formulas are not accidentally altered or deleted due to unintentional actions.

To protect your sheet or workbook,

  1. Go to the Review Tab.

  2. In the Protect section, click Protect Sheet or Protect Workbook.

  3. If you want to protect your worksheet, the option for selecting locked and unlocked cells needs to be checked. The effects of doing this are the same for sighted and screen reader users. Both groups will be able to do or not do the same things based on what is protected and locked. The only exception is that if you protect a worksheet and do not allow a user to select locked or unlocked cells, screen readers cannot access those cells. Fortunately, the option is checked by default so try to avoid checking it by accident.

Section 10.8: NVDA Keyboard Navigation Shortcuts

Here are some keyboard shortcuts for NVDA and what they do.

  • NVDA + T: Read the file title

  • NVDA + End: Read the status bar

  • NVDA + Tab: Read the item with focus

  • NVDA + Up Arrow: Read the contents of the current cell again

  • NVDA + Shift + Up Arrow: Read the currently selected text

  • NVDA + C: Read the contents of the clipboard

  • NVDA + Shift + C: Set current row as header row

  • NVDA + Shift + C (twice quickly): Clear set current row as header row

  • NVDA + Shift + R: Set current column as header column

  • NVDA + Shift + R (twice quickly): Clear set current column as header column

  • NVDA + Delete (laptop): Report review cursor location

  • NVDA + Shift + Up Arrow (laptop): Read worksheet name

  • NVDA + F7: Open elements list

  • NVDA + Control + D: Open document formatting dialog

  • NVDA + Alt + C: Read a comment

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