Row and Column Headers in Word and Excel with JAWS 6.

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Introduction
Those who use Microsoft Excel on a regular basis know how quickly one can get lost in a spreadsheet without the use of row and column titles. When a sighted user navigates a spreadsheet, he or she can lock the row and column titles into place by using the "Freeze Panes" option from Excel's Window menu. When this is done, the titles for the rows and columns remain on the screen as the user scrolls horizontally or vertically through the spreadsheet. JAWS has long provided a quick method to make labels equally useful to blind users. Most regular Excel users are aware that JAWS can be configured to speak column and row titles when moving through cells in a worksheet. There are two ways to do this. The first method uses the Adjust JAWS Verbosity List (INSERT+V) to: Set Column Titles to Row Range And Set Row Titles to Column Range The second method uses the following key combinations: ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+C sets the column titles to the current row. ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+R sets the row titles to the current column. Once defined, these title locations are stored by JAWS in the user's Settings directory as .jsi files and are then used whenever the spreadsheet is accessed. JAWS then

automatically speaks the column or row title during spreadsheet navigation. However, if the spreadsheet is sent to another person using a different computer, the corresponding .jsi file must also be sent and placed in the user's Settings directory, or the titles will not be spoken by JAWS. Also, if the spreadsheet is created by someone who is not using JAWS, a .jsi file cannot be created. Starting with version 6.1, a new JAWS feature solves both of these problems.

Excel's Built-In Naming Function

Microsoft Excel has a built-in function that can be used to give names to a cell or a range of cells. JAWS looks for certain specific names to identify which cells contain row and column titles. If the titles are defined in this fashion, the information is stored right in the worksheet rather than in a JAWS file and can be used to speak the title information to anyone using JAWS 6.1 or later. Furthermore, anyone can build these row and column names into a spreadsheet without installing or using JAWS.

Using Names to Create Column and Row Titles

The following example exercise illustrates how title reading is accomplished using Excel's naming feature. 1. Open Excel. A new workbook containing three worksheets appears. The focus is on cell A1 of worksheet one. 2. Use row one for the column titles and column A for the row titles. Press RIGHT ARROW to move to cell B1 and type "Total Sales."
Row and Column Headers Last updated 03/17/05

3. Press RIGHT ARROW again to move to cell C1 and type "Number of Customers." 4. Press RIGHT ARROW again to move to cell D1 and type "Average Sale." 5. Move to cell A2 and type "January." 6. Press DOWN ARROW to move to cell A3 and type "February." 7. Finally, press DOWN ARROW to move to cell A4 and type "March." 8. Next, press CTRL+HOME to move back to cell A1, which is now the intersection of the row and column titles. 9. Press ALT+I to open the Insert menu. 10. Press N to move to and open the Name submenu. The first item in this submenu is "Define." 11. Press ENTER and the Define Name dialog box opens. The cursor is in the Names in Workbook edit field. 12. Type in the word Title and press ENTER to close the dialog box. Focus is returned to the worksheet again in cell A1. The procedure for this example exercise is complete. The results are that you defined row one as the row containing the column titles for this sheet and column A as the column containing row titles. As you navigate left, right, up, or down JAWS automatically speaks the row and column headers for each cell. Sometimes a spreadsheet contains only row titles or only
Row and Column Headers Last updated 03/17/05

column titles. The procedures used for these titles are similar to the previous procedure. For row titles only, navigate to the column containing the titles, and open the Define Name dialog box in the same way as before. This time type in RowTitle (one word with mixed case and no spaces) and press ENTER. For sheets containing just column titles, navigate to the row containing the column titles, open the Define Name dialog box as before, type in ColumnTitle, and press ENTER. Again, use mixed case with capital letters for the first letter of each word and do not put any spaces between the words. If you do, you get an error that says "That name is not valid." These procedures can also be used when column titles span multiple rows or when row titles span multiple columns. When the column titles span multiple rows, select all of the rows before creating the ColumnTitle definition. When the row titles span multiple columns, select all of the columns before creating the RowTitle definition. Remember that row and column titles are now saved within the worksheet, not in a JAWS file. Be sure to save the workbook after defining the names, or they will be gone the next time you use the spreadsheet.

Workbooks with Multiple Worksheets

As previously mentioned, all default Excel workbooks open with three worksheets. A user is free to add as many additional worksheets as required. Each worksheet must have its row and column titles defined separately before JAWS automatically reads them, even if the format of each worksheet is identical to Sheet1. However, the format of the names for title reading in all sheets higher than Sheet1 is slightly different. The names to
Row and Column Headers Last updated 03/17/05

use in Sheet2 are Title2, RowTitle2, and ColumnTitle2. The names to use for Sheet3 are Title3, RowTitle3, and ColumnTitle3. This format remains the same, even if the user decides to change the default names of the worksheets from Sheet1, Sheet2, Sheet3, and so on, to more meaningful names. Remember to name the title with the correct sheet number at the end, even if the worksheet has been renamed. If worksheets were given names before you define the titles, the original number of the sheet (as well as other information) can be determined by pressing INSERT+F1 when you are using JAWS 6.1 or higher. This action opens the JAWS Virtual Viewer with the information in it. Remember to press ESC to close the Virtual Viewer after you read the information about a worksheet.

Changing Title Name Definitions

If you should alter a worksheet so that the row or column titles are in different locations, you can replace the old definitions by navigating to the new title locations and reentering the title names using the procedures discussed in the section on Using Names to Create Column and Row Titles. The new title definitions replace the old definitions in the worksheet. If you want to see what title name definitions exist in a given workbook, open the Define Name dialog box and press the TAB key once to reach the listbox containing the list of names for the workbook. Press the UP or DOWN ARROW key to move through a list of names defined for the workbook. NOTE: some spreadsheets may also have other cells or ranges of cells that are named that do not pertain to title locations. An example of this might be a range of cells that has been given a name, such 5

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as "FirstQuarterSales" or "Information." When names are given to cells the names can be used to navigate to that location in the worksheet by using the GoTo command in Excel, CTRL+G or F5. So be aware that there will often be other names used within workbooks besides those that JAWS monitors for title reading.

Limitations
The method for automatic speaking of row and column titles using the Excel naming function will not work for spreadsheets containing multiple regions using JAWS 6.1. If you need to have JAWS read row and column headers on a worksheet with multiple regions, use the JAWS Verbosity List. It is hoped that multiple region support using the Excel naming function will be added in a future release of JAWS. Also, using the JAWS Verbosity List to save title definitions in .jsi files is incompatible with this new method and the two should not be combined in the same worksheet. However, the two methods can be used in different worksheets within the same workbook.

Conclusion
The technique described here is an advanced method of defining row and column titles for Excel spreadsheets as implemented in JAWS release 6.1. It is superior to the old method since: it is computer independent. the name definitions used by JAWS to speak the titles are saved within the worksheet and it does not require the creation or transfer of a .jsi file. it allows spreadsheet authors who are not running
Row and Column Headers Last updated 03/17/05

JAWS to build name definitions into their spreadsheets, thus making these documents more accessible to JAWS users Microsoft is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

Row and Column Headers Last updated 03/17/05