How to navigate Facebook with NVDA

Where do I go to get a Facebook account?

Facebook has two websites that a person can use. One of them is the main Facebook website (which most people prefer) although to some people it is rather cluttered.  The first website can be found at http://www.facebook.com

The second is a mobile Facebook website. It is rather more streamlined and is the preferred website for screen reader users. It cuts out a lot of the clutter that is found on the main Facebook site.  This second website can be found at https://m.facebook.com/

Signing up for a Facebook account

When you go to sign up to Facebook (at either of the two websites), you will need to create a new account.

Make sure you record (or write down) the details for your account. It will ask you for details such as your first name, last name, date of birth and so on. It will also ask you for a mobile phone number, email address, as well as a password. Whichever one you choose to log into Facebook with (be it your mobile number or your email address) it will be needed to log into the website along with your Facebook password. After your details, and either your email address or mobile phone number have been entered, when you get to the last of it, it will want you to verify your account. In the case of an email being sent to you for verification, it will need to be verified by clicking on it (in your email inbox).

After this has been done and your Facebook account is verified, you can then log into the Facebook website with your details (for example by entering your email address, or mobile phone number and Facebook password).  This will depend on which one you chose.

Your Facebook home page

About this time (after you have logged in), you might start scratching your head and wondering where to go to on the page in front of you.

Facebook is broken up into different sections that you can navigate to. The easiest way to navigate your Facebook home page is to use shortcut keys - on both the main Facebook website as well as the Facebook mobile website.

These Shortcut keys will vary from browser to browser so the keys may change depending on which browser is used.

• For computer users of the Chrome browser combine the Alt key with the access keys listed below

• For Internet Explorer users combine the Alt key with the access keys listed below, completing each command by pressing the Enter key

• For Mozilla Firefox computer users press Shift + Alt in combination with the access keys listed below

Access keys:
1
This will take you to your Home page

2 This will take you to your Timeline

3 This will take you to your Friends

4 This will take you to your Inbox

5 This will take you to your Notifications

6 This will take you into your Settings

7 This will take you to your Activity Log

8 This will take you to About

9 This will take you to terms

0 This will take you to help


Getting to know the layout of your Facebook home page

To get a general drift of the layout of your Facebook page, it would be a good idea to use the say all command in NVDA. For example, use the NVDA key + the down arrow key for NVDA to read the Facebook page. You will notice different things being read out on the page. Once you have an idea of the page layout it is a good idea to go back to the top of the page. Use the Ctrl key + the Home key to do this. If you slowly arrow down the page now, you will start working out the page layout.

You will hear different things being read out (for example Skip to News Feed)

Home (The name of your Facebook page)

Find Friends

Requests

Messages

Notifications

Privacy Shortcuts

Account

Where you hear clickable, this is a link. Where you hear menu button, sub menu, request, down to account, these are buttons. Press the spacebar to open a sub menu, then arrow to see what is under each section.

You might have to toggle between browse mode and focus mode in NVDA to do different tasks in Facebook.

Navigating with NVDA single letter navigation keys in Facebook


NVDA can navigate Facebook using its single letter navigation keys. Most single letter navigation keys used will work in Facebook. These are buttons, combo boxes, E for edit fields, F for frames, H for headings, I for list elements, K for links, L for lists and so on. You must be in browse mode to use these single letter navigation keys. At times, you will need to toggle between browse and focus mode then back again in NVDA to get the job done. You can use the NVDA key + the space bar to toggle between browse mode (where you can use single letter navigation keys) and focus mode (where you can type).

In some cases, you may want to stay in focus mode while on Facebook. This can be done by pressing the following keys in NVDA. Use the NVDA key + Spacebar + the Shift key to do this. The following shortcut keys will turn off single letter navigation mode (until it is invoked again) using the NVDA key + the space bar (to get back into browse mode). You may have to toggle it once or twice to get back into browse mode.

The elements list can be used by pressing the NVDA key + the F7 key in NVDA. Not all elements will show up in the elements list. If there is no alt text assigned to the link you will hear clickable when you return to the home page.

Exercise

Try navigating Facebook with NVDA’s single letter navigation keys as mentioned above (for example using B for buttons and C for combo boxes) and see where it takes you to on the page, then try the letter H for headings.

Using the Shift key + one of the single letter navigation keys will take you in reverse back up through whichever single letter navigation key you used.

You can use the NVDA find command to locate certain links, buttons and headings quickly as well. Use the NVDA key + Ctrl + the letter F. This will bring up the find command in NVDA, then type in what you are looking for on the page. The NVDA key + the F3 key will take you to the next instance of that word.


Your profile

When you set up your Facebook page (in most cases) people will set up a profile, so other people will know who they are etcetera. When you go to setup your profile, you will need to find the name of your page. For example Accessibility Central.

Under this section will be the following AccessibilityCentral Net

Update Info2View Activity Log2Other actions

Timeline

About

Friends34

Photos

More

Your profile photo

Update Profile Picture

See All

You might have to change modes so you can see these extra options. For example use the Spacebar + the NVDA key to do this.

You can also edit your profile under the edit profile link (which is just past your home page link). This will let you add extra details into your profile such as More

Your profile photo

Update Profile Picture

About

Work

Add a workplace

Professional skills

Add a professional skill

University

Add a university

High School

Add a high school

About Section Navigation and so on.


Skip to news feed


When you log into Facebook usually the first thing you go to do is check your news feed (to see what has been happening in the last couple of hours or days). There is a link called skip to news feed on the page and when you press the Enter key on it, it will take you to that section. Below you can find a sample of a story.

Rowan Middleton shared NV Access's post -  with AccessibilityCentral Net and David Ritchie.

2 June at 18:11 Shared with: Public

Finally, it was released. Kudos to the nvaccess family!

NV Access

2 June at 17:15 Public Science & Tech

NV Access is pleased to announce that version 2016.2 of NVDA, the free screen reader for Microsoft Windows, has now been released. Highlights of this release in...

See more

http://www.nvaccess.org

NVDA 2016.2 Released. NV Access is pleased to announce that version 2016.2 of NVDA, the free screen reader for Microsoft Windows, has now been released. Highlights of this release include the ability to indicate spelling…

NVACCESS.ORG

http://www.nvaccess.org

3 Like

Rowan Middleton and 2 others

Like

Show More Reactions

Comment  

 

If you press the Enter key on the “see more” button, it will give you more information on the story. You should hear NVDA say toggle button pressed like. This means you like the story.

As you arrow down the page you will hear NVDA say Show More Reactions.

The Find Friends Search combo box


Here, you can type in a letter, or the name of a person or place that you are trying to locate. It will come up with a list of results that you can arrow through until you locate the one that you are after. To search again, simply backspace and then enter a new search query in the search combo box. When you find the name that you are looking for, press Enter to be taken to that particular page (for example nvaccess Facebook page).

Friend requests

From time to time you will get friend requests. These are usually from people who want to join your Facebook page.

You will need to locate the friends request button on your home page. Use the Ctrl key + the Home key to get you to the top of the page, then jump down by buttons until you hear NVDA say button friend request. When located, it will say the person’s name. Press the Spacebar, then you can choose to Confirm or Delete the request. If in doubt you can choose to leave the request there until you decide what to do with it.

Reading your messages in Facebook

Use the Ctrl key + the Home key to go to the top of the Facebook page. Next, jump down by buttons until you hear NVDA say button messages. Press the spacebar then you will hear NVDA say mark all as read button. You can either tab until you hear the different sections read out or use the NVDA key + the Spacebar to change into browse mode. Then, it is a matter of using the up and down arrow keys to read the messages.

Replying to a message

As you arrow down your list of messages and hear the names read out, you can reply to any of them by pressing the Spacebar on the message you want to reply to. You can quickly jump to each section with the letter B; to jump to each button with the name of the person and the message. When you press the Spacebar, an editable box will come up for you to type in. Here, type in the message you want to say to that person then press the Enter key (so that the message can be sent back to that person). You may also have noticed under this section it will give you some other options (such as giving you the option to pick a file, choose a sticker or emoticon, choose a gif or sticker, send a link, chat and so on). Press the Enter key on the options you want to use.

What’s on your mind? (Posting your thoughts on Facebook)

From time to time, you might want to tell people things that are on your mind. These things could be from a variety of topics that you may be interested in, or you might wish to comment on something that someone else has already commented on.

If you would like to tell people what’s on your mind on your Facebook page (for example using Mozilla Firefox) use the Alt key + the Shift key + the number 1 on your keyboard.

You should hear NVDA say home clickable. Next, press the letter E (while in browse mode) so that NVDA lands on the clickable multi line editable box.  You may need to do this more than once. You should hear NVDA say what’s on your mind. Next, type in your message, then press the Enter key to post it. If you would like to add more to the message you will need to press the Tab key to hear the different options available. Some of the other options are things like Add a topic (which will give you some options like science and tech, world news and so on); Tag people in your post; Add what you're doing or how you're feeling; Tag a location; Friends; and finally the Post button. Select the option/s that you would like to use and press the Enter key. Make your selection within that menu and press Enter. Tab down to Post. Press Enter to Post what’s on your mind.

Your posts

When you press the Enter key on the your posts link, it will take you to another section called your posts. This is a heading and might have to be located on the page. Under this section will be some of the following. For example Your posts (these are the Facebook posts that you have made previously).

Review 2 Items

Timeline Review

You've been tagged in 2 posts by Rowan Middleton.

June 2016

2 JUNE

AccessibilityCentral Net wrote on Blind Foundation's Timeline.

Just to let everyone know, NV Access have just released the latest version of the free NVDA screen reader.

Button

If you press the Enter key on the like button in the story it will add another like to the story.

If you would like to comment on the story when you hear NVDA say button comment, press the Enter key on it. A screen will pop up where you can type in a comment into the editable box. Type in your message, then press the Enter key and your comment will be added to the list of other comments.  Under this same section it may give you some other options as well.

You can also share the story with other people. This might be a heart-warming story or a release of the latest version of a screen reader. What we decide to share will be different for each one of us. When you press the share button it will go to all the people on your list.

Reading your Notifications in Facebook


From time to time you will get notifications from other people on your Facebook page. This could be a notification to ask you if you want to play a game, or to be alerted of someone’s birthday and so on. To read any of your notifications, go to the top of your Facebook page with the Ctrl key + the Home key. Next, jump down by buttons until you hear NVDA say button notifications. There will be a number in front of the notifications part if there are any.

Press the Spacebar, then you will be given some other options such as mark all as read button. You will need to change back into browse mode in NVDA. Use the NVDA key + the Spacebar to do this. This can be done after pushing on the notifications button. You may hear stuff like someone inviting you to play a game with the time it was asked so many hours ago, another sharing a link on your time line, another replying to a comment on a post and so on. After each message there will be a button to mark as read. Just press the Spacebar to mark it as read, so they don’t show again.

You can use the up and down arrow keys to read the notifications section. After you have read any available notifications, you can go to the mark all as read button and mark them all in one hit. Now, all of your notifications will be marked as read. There should not be any notifications showing now to be read.

The add people you may know section

Whenever you add a new person to your Facebook page, it will come up with a whole heap of suggested people you may know. These, in most cases, will be friends of the person you are trying to add to your Facebook page. You may have to go in and tweak your settings so this doesn’t happen under the privacy settings.

You will have 2 options. One will be to remove the person. The second is to add that person to your Facebook page. It will also say the name of the person and how they are connected to that person.  At present this is something that cannot be turned off.

To chat to someone on your Facebook page

There are a few different ways to quickly find the chat section in Facebook. You can jump down by headings to this section - it is called chat with friends. It is a lot quicker if the elements list is used to jump down by headings, or you can use the letter D while in browse mode to jump down by landmarks.

If this first option does not work with NVDA, you can also use the NVDA find command. When you go to bring up the find command in NVDA (using the NVDA key + the Ctrl key + the letter F), it is a matter of typing in the word chat, then pressing the Enter key. NVDA will land on the start of the chat list, then, it is a matter of just arrowing down the list and finding the person you want. 

Press the Enter key on the person you want, then a dialogue box will come up. NVDA should default to this editable box. You will hear NVDA say type a message. If you simply want to send the message, press the Enter key and your message will be sent to that person. There are other options under this section if you choose to use them such as browsing for a file to paste on your page, choose a sticker, choose a gif or sticker, choose an emoji, or send a like. If you want to send a like to a post to a comment, locate the like button then press the Enter key. This will send a thumbs up graphic to that comment.

Reviewing what you have typed

After you have sent your message or like etcetera, you can review what has been typed.  Just above the area where you have typed your message will be the message (etcetera) that you have sent to that person. You can arrow up and down this section to see what is there. It will tell you where the message started and ended and the content of the chat. It will also give you some other options if the person is online such as Mike is currently unavailable for video calling or Mike is currently unavailable for voice calling. This will be just above the conversation or message you have sent.  You must have either a mic or a video camera with a mic to do this.

To close the chat screen, you will need to go to the link Close Tab part of the message, and press the Enter key.

Just above the chat list is an options button. To see what other options there are, press the Spacebar; then hopefully NVDA can see the extra options. If not, you might have to change focus to browse to focus mode. Then, it is a matter of using the arrow key to pick an option under that section.


Facebook shortcut keys

Below will be a list of Facebook shortcuts that can be used. Not all will work and some may conflict with NVDA’s single letter navigation keys.
 

Facebook Newsfeed Shortcuts


Scroll forward through Newsfeed stories j

Scroll backward through Newsfeed stories k

See more of the selected story Enter/Return

Post a new status p

Like or unlike the selected story l

Comment on the selected story c

Share the selected story s

Open an attachment from the selected story o

Search /

Search chat contacts q

Open a list of these keyboard shortcuts while in News Feed ?

 

Facebook Messenger Shortcuts

Search conversations Ctrl + g

Show/hide keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + q

Archive/unarchive conversation Ctrl + Delete

Mark as spam Ctrl + j

Start a new message Ctrl + m

Go to Inbox Ctrl + i

Go to Other

Privacy settings

If you would like to change any of your privacy settings you will need to locate the privacy button on your home page. When you have located it, press either the Enter key or the Spacebar so that more options can be brought up. You might have to change modes in NVDA if the extra options do not come up. Simply use the NVDA key + the Spacebar to do this. Then, it is a matter of going through the different options that are presented to you to change those privacy settings.


Signing out of Facebook

After you have caught up with what is happening in your friends / family's worlds the final thing you will want to do is sign out of Facebook.

You will need to go to the top of the Facebook page with the Ctrl key + the Home key. You can either use the letter B for buttons in browse mode to jump down by buttons to the account settings button. You will need to push the space bar on the accounts button so NVDA can see the extra options to log out of Facebook. 

There will be 9 options and the last one will be the logout menu. Arrow to the logout menu, then press the Enter key on it and you will be logged out of Facebook.



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