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Screen Reader Quick Reference Guide
What this is (and isn’t)
This is:
A quick way to sense-check content and controls from a screen reader user’s point of view.
This is not:
- A full accessibility test
- A technical QA process
- A thing you’ll need on every piece of work
Think of it as “listening to your content” rather than testing it.
Why use a screen reader at all?
Using a screen reader for even 2–3 minutes helps you quickly spot common issues like:
- Headings that don’t make sense
- Links that are vague or repetitive
- Buttons that are unclear
- Images that don’t add meaning
Which screen reader should I use?
For content & multimedia creators to do a quick test, just use one of the following:
- Windows: NVDA (free)
- Mac / iPhone: VoiceOver (built in)
- Andriod: TalkBack (built in)
The Top 5 Shortcuts
These work in most browsers. You don’t need anything else.
Start / stop the screen reader
- NVDA (Windows): Ctrl + Alt + N
- VoiceOver (Mac): Cmd + F5
Use this to quickly turn it on, listen, then turn it off again.
Activate/Select
- NVDA (Windows) Press: Enter/Space
- VoiceOver (Mac): Enter/Space
- iPhone VoiceOver: Enable custom shortcut.
- Android TalkBack: Enable custom shortcut.
Move through buttons and form controls
- NVDA (Windows) Press: TAB or Shift+TAB
- VoiceOver (Mac): TAB or Shift+TAB
- iPhone VoiceOver: Swipe Up/Down/Left/Right
- Andriod TalkBack: Swipe Up/Down/Left/Right
- This moves through interactive elements.
Listen for:
- Are buttons clearly named?
- Do form fields make sense without looking?
- Is focus jumping around unexpectedly?
- If you can’t tell what a control does by hearing it, it’s a problem.
Move through headings
- NVDA (Windows) Press: H
- VoiceOver (Mac): VO + Command + H
- iPhone VoiceOver: Use the Rotor feature to select “Headings,” then swipe up or down.
- Andriod TalkBack: Set the reading granularity to “Headings,” then swipe to navigate.
- This jumps through headings only.
Listen for:
- Does the page structure make sense?
- Are headings descriptive?
- Are there gaps or unusual jumps?
- If headings don’t tell a clear story, users get lost.
Move through links
- NVDA (Windows) Press: K
- VoiceOver (Mac): VO + Command + L
- iPhone VoiceOver: Use the Rotor feature to select “Links,” then swipe up or down.
- Andriod TalkBack: Select “Links” in Reading Controls: Swipe up or down with one finger.
- This jumps through links out of context.
Listen for:
- “Click here”
- “Read more”
- Repeated identical links
- If links don’t make sense on their own, they need rewriting.
