SafePC · Screen reader
Browse the Start menu by listening
Go through the apps of the Start menu with the arrows and open one.
Step by step
- Turn on the screen reader. Press Ctrl + Alt + Enter: hold down Ctrl and Alt, then press Enter. You hear "Screen reader on". (On a real PC the shortcut is Ctrl + the Windows logo key + Enter.)
- Open Start with the keyboard. Press Ctrl + Esc: the Start menu opens and the reader reads the search box, where you can type straight away. (A real PC also has a Windows logo key for this.)
- Listen to the apps: Down arrow. Press Tab once to leave the search box, then the Down arrow several times: the reader reads each app of the menu.
- Open Calculator. Keep pressing the Down arrow until you hear "Calculator", then press Enter.
- Where am I? Press the reader key + T. Hold down Caps Lock (the reader key) and press T: the reader says the title of the window you are in.
- Close this window. You are done with this window, so close it: click the ✕ button at the top right corner of the "Calculator" window (on its title bar, the strip at the top). The window disappears.
- Turn the screen reader off. Press Ctrl + Alt + Enter again. You hear "Screen reader off".
These steps are written for SafePC, a pretend Windows-style computer in your web browser. On your own computer, the buttons and menus may look a little different, but the idea is the same.
Practice it where nothing can break
SafePC works like a real computer, but nothing you do goes anywhere. Try every button, make mistakes and start again.
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