Basic Desktop Screen Reader Survival Guide

Keystrokes for All Screen Readers
Keystroke	Purpose
Tab / Shift + Tab	Go to next/previous focusable item (link, button, input, etc.)
Enter	Activate link
Enter or Space bar	Activate button
Arrow keys	Navigate within <select> lists, and some types of custom ARIA widgets, e.g. tablists, application menus, tree views, etc. (if they’re coded correctly)

NVDA + Firefox (Windows)
Keystroke	Purpose
Control + Alt + N	Turn NVDA on
Control	Stop talking
Down arrow	Read next item
Insert + Down arrow	Read continuously from this point on
H	Go to next heading
D	Go to next landmark
Insert + F7	Show list of links, headings, and landmarks
T	Go to next table
Control + Alt + Arrow keys	Navigate table cells
Shift + (H, D, T, etc.)	Go to previous (heading, landmark, table, etc.)
Insert + Space bar	Toggle between focus mode (for forms and custom ARIA/JavaScript widgets) and browse mode (for reading/navigating normally)
Insert + Q	Turn NVDA off

JAWS + Internet Explorer (Windows)
Keystroke	Purpose
Control	Stop talking
Down arrow	Read next item
Insert + Down arrow	Read continuously from this point on
H	Go to next heading
R	Go to next landmark (region)
Q	Go to the main content landmark
Insert + F6	Show list of headings
Insert + F3	Show list of buttons, frames, graphics, lists, links, etc.
T	Go to next table
Control + Alt + Arrow keys	Navigate table cells
Shift + (H, R, T, etc.)	Go to previous (heading, landmark, table, etc.)

VoiceOver + Safari (Mac)
Keystroke	Purpose
Command + F5	Turn on/off
Control	Stop talking
Control + Option + U	Show Rotor (navigate with arrow keys)
Control + Option + Right/Left arrow	Read next/previous item
Control + Option + Command + H	Go to next heading
Control + Option + Command + T	Go to next table
Control + Option + Arrow keys	Navigate table cells
Shift + Control + Option + Command + (H, T, etc.)	Go to previous (heading, table, etc.)
Control + Option + Shift + Down/Up arrow	Go into/out of objects (like iframes, menus, application regions, etc.)