Hi Shari, I don't know what version of Excel or JAWS you are using but I thought I would mention a couple things for your consideration.
If you move focus to a cell or merged cells you can press function key 2 to go into edit mode. Parts of cells that don't show on the screen because of problems like row height and column widths can still be read in edit mode. You can use regular document type navigational commands when in edit mode. I know that some people have had trouble with the auto row height feature in Excel 2007. If a cell's wrapping function is turned on then the contents of the cell should wrap according to column width and be shown on the screen. However, I know there are some people having trouble with the wrapping function and the auto setting of row height. I haven't had the problem but it seems that many people have had to increase row height to read all the contents of a cell even when wrapping and auto row height are set. If you check a row's height in Excel 2007 I believe the default setting is 15 characters. Again, auto row height should cause the cell to expand as needed and the wrapping function should cause the text to be read correctly on the screen, but sometimes a person needs to manually increase row height considerably. However, going into edit mode would allow you to read the full content of the cell even though it is not showing on the screen. Another thing you might consider is copying the range of cells and pasting them into a Word document. Word will create a table that you can use your arrow keys in between lines in a cell. After pasting into Word the ribbon in Word 2007 will have choices for such things as appending to a table. However, I think that just pasting will create a table that you might be able to navigate in better. I hope you get it working for you. Take care. Brian Lee [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Shari Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2010 5:10 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [JAWS-Users] Excel problems with Jaws This is so crazy! I thought I had tried the read all visible cells with data command, but figured it was worth another try. I opened the first excel file and the command worked like a charm. My excitement was short lived because when I opened the next file, the command wouldn't read even the cells I could access through normal navigation. The insert shift c or r commands read only info in a single cell. The good news is at this point, I've just about finished the work with this batch of spreadsheets, and my other Excel files still seem to be fine. I'm wondering if the federal government agency that produced the problem spreadsheets did something in the design that Jaws just can't handle. Thanks for all your help. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ann Byrne" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2010 9:46 PM Subject: Re: [JAWS-Users] Excel problems with Jaws > >>Have you tried the read all visible cells with data command >>(control-shift-d) or read all cells in the row (control-shift-r for older >>JAWS and insert-shift-r for new ones) and read all cells in the column >>(control-shift-c or insert-shift-c) do anything good??? Using >>control-shift-d, though, only reads the cells visible on the screen, not >>all the cells. Insert-shift-r reads all cells in the row whether they are >>on the screen or not, and likewise insert-shift-c reads everything in a >>column whether it is on screen or not. > > > > > At 06:36 PM 4/6/2010, you wrote: >>I appreciate all the suggestions from listers on the problems with Excel. >>I'm still struggling with the forms. Part of the problem, I think is that >>the spreadsheets are just ridiculously complex. The thing that is the most >>challenging is that I know there is text that I just can't get Jaws to >>read no matter what cursor I use. With the Jaws cursor, Jaws will read >>parts of several lines but won't move past a certain point. And then there >>is text whichJaws will read when I do a say line, but when I try to read >>cell by cell, I can't get a cursor to the last cell to check the numbers >>more carefully, which I want to do because it's hard to keep all that info >>straight in my mind. >> >>Thanks, Shari >>----- Original Message ----- From: "Sun Sounds of Arizona" >><[email protected]> >>To: <[email protected]> >>Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2010 1:47 PM >>Subject: Re: [JAWS-Users] Excel problems with Jaws >> >> >>>Sometimes, you need to refresh the screen also. In complex spreadsheets, >>>particularly if you are editing a lot, the screen gets cluttered and you >>>need to hit Ins plus Esc which redraws the screen and often clears up >>>these >>>kinds of problems. >>> >>> >>>-----Original Message----- >>>From: [email protected] >>>[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ann Byrne >>>Sent: Monday, April 05, 2010 7:39 PM >>>To: [email protected] >>>Subject: Re: [JAWS-Users] Excel problems with Jaws >>> >>>A partial solution is to use goto for selecting text. Either f5 or >>>control-g gives you the go to dialog box. Then enter what you want to >>>select. For example if you want to select rows 1 through ten, you would >>>type f5, then 1:10. You can select contiguous cells, joining them with >>>colon as above, or non-contiguous cells, joining them with comma. >>> >>>I would have thought that unloading and reloading JAWS would straighten >>>things out when you're trying to read, though. Excel is hard for JAWS, >>>being so densely formatted, but usually unload/reload unscrambles it. >>> >>>Good luck! >>> >>> >>> >>>For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >>>http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ >>> >>> >>>For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >>>http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ >> >> >>For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: >>http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ > > > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: > http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
