Accessibility Features in Microsoft Office Starter 2010

Microsoft Office Starter 2010 includes features that make the software accessible to a wider range of users, including those who have limited dexterity, low vision, or other disabilities.

Note: For information about using accessibility featurs in Windows, see Use Windows to make your Office experience accessible.

What do you want to do?

Keyboard shortcuts

Set size and zoom options

Change the color of text

Collect and paste items between Office Starter programs

Learn about new or updated accessibility features

Keyboard shortcuts

You can use the keyboard to perform most tasks.

Show or hide some keyboard shortcuts in ScreenTips

Using the keyboard

1. Press ALT+F, I to open the Word Options or Excel Options dialog box.

2. Press DOWN ARROW to select Advanced, and then press the TAB key to move to the Advanced options… pane.

3. Press the TAB key repeatedly until you select Show shortcut keys in ScreenTips under Display.

4. Press SPACEBAR to select or clear the check box.

Using the mouse

1. Click the File tab.

2. Under Word or under Excel, click Options.

3. Click Advanced.

4. Under Display, clear the Show shortcut keys in ScreenTips check box.

Important: Changing this setting will affect all of your Microsoft Office programs.

For more information about using the keyboard, see the following articles:

• Keyboard shortcuts for Word

• Keyboard shortcuts and function keys for Excel

• Use access keys from earlier versions of Office in Ribbon programs

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Set size and zoom options

Zoom in on, or out of a document

You can zoom in to get a close-up view of your document or zoom out to see more of the page at a reduced size.

Using the keyboard

1. Press F6 until the status bar is in focus.

2. Press the TAB key repeatedly until Zoom level is in focus.

3. Press ENTER to open the Zoom dialog box.

4. Press the TAB key until the Percent box is selected, and then type a percentage or press UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW to select a percentage.

Using the mouse

1. At the bottom of the window, click and drag the Zoom slider, or type a percentage in the Percent box.

Zoom by using the Microsoft IntelliMouse pointing device or other pointing device

1. Click the document.

2. Press and hold CTRL while you rotate the wheel button to zoom in or out.

For more information, see the instructions for your pointing device.

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Change the color of text

Using the keyboard

1. Select the text that you want to change.

2. Press ALT+H, F, C.

3. Use the arrow keys to select the color that you want, and then press ENTER.

Using the mouse

1. Select the text that you want to change.

2. On the Home tab, in the Font group, do one of the following:

   • To apply the color most recently used for text, click Font Color.

   • To apply a different color, click the arrow next to the Font Color button, and then select the color that you want.

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Collect and paste items between Office Starter programs

Collect items to paste

Using the keyboard

1. Make sure that the Microsoft Office Clipboard task pane is open.

   How?

   • Press ALT+H, and then press F, O.

2. Press F6 repeatedly until you have moved to the document, and then select the first item that you want to copy.

3. Press CTRL+C to copy the item.

4. Continue copying items from documents in any Office program until you collect all of the items that you want (up to 24).

Using the mouse

1. Make sure that the Microsoft Office Clipboard task pane is open.

   How?

   • On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the Clipboard Dialog Box Launcher.
     

2. Select the first item that you want to copy.

3. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy.

4. Continue copying items from documents in any Office program until you collect all of the items that you want (up to 24).

Paste collected items in Office Starter

Using the keyboard

1. Open Word Starter or Excel Starter.

2. Make sure that the Microsoft Office Clipboard task pane is open.

   How?

   • Press ALT+H, and then press F, O.

   • Press F6 repeatedly until you have moved to the document, and then place the cursor where you want to paste the items.

   • Press F6 to move to the Microsoft Office Clipboard task pane.

   • Do one of the following:

     • To paste items one at a time, on the Microsoft Office Clipboard task pane, press DOWN ARROW to highlight the item that you want to paste, and then press ENTER.

     • To paste all the items that you copied, press the TAB key repeatedly until Paste All is selected, and then press ENTER.

     • Press ESC to return to the document.

Using the mouse

1. Open Word Starter or Excel Starter.

2. Make sure that the Microsoft Office Clipboard task pane is open.

   How?

   • On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the Clipboard Dialog Box Launcher.
     

3. Click where you want to paste the items.

4. Do one of the following:

   • To paste items one at a time, on the Office Clipboard, click the item that you want to paste, and then press ENTER.

   • To paste all the items that you copied, click Paste All.

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Learn about new or updated accessibility features

Microsoft Office Starter 2010 continues the dedication to both making Microsoft Office products more available to people with disabilities, in addition to helping all users create more accessible content. In addition to many features that you might be familiar with, Office Starter 2010 includes several new and updated accessibility features.

Microsoft Office Backstage View

One of the more obvious changes in Office 2010 is that actions previously found on the File menu or Microsoft Office Button can now be found in the Microsoft Office Backstage view. This is where you will find the tools that you use to do things to a whole file, instead of to the content that it contains, such as Print and Save. By displaying more space and providing more detail about available commands, accessibility-conscious users will have more context and information about how to use commands. In addition, by taking advantage of more screen space, commands are more logically presented in the user interface.

Microsoft Fluent user interface (ribbon)

Office 2010 has applied the Fluent user interface, or the ribbon, to all Office applications, providing a consistent look across applications. Additionally, to aid users who move through the ribbon by using their keyboard, it is now possible to jump to the different sections of a ribbon tab (called Groups) by pressing CTRL+RIGHT ARROW or CTRL+LEFT ARROW on a ribbon tab to move to the next/previous Group.

Accessibility Checker

Office Starter includes an Accessibility Checker to help you create more accessible content. Accessibility Checker runs automatically while you author your file, identifying areas that might make it challenging for users who have disabilities to view or use it. Through the Accessibility Checker task pane, opened from the Backstage view, you can review and fix potential problems with your content.

To learn more about how this new feature works, see Accessibility Checker.

Other improvements

• It is now possible to add a description to tables, images, shapes, etc. This description is similar to a second level of Alt text, and helps authors describe complex content to readers with disabilities or other needs who may read the document.

• Press ALT+F10 in Word Starter or Excel Starter to open the selection pane that makes it easier to select floating objects in your file.

• Keyboard shortcuts have been added so you can rotate and re-size shapes in your file.

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