Every screen reader user knows how to navigate with the System Caret and System Focus. But what separates an expert from a novice is the mastery of a hidden, incredibly powerful tool: the Review Cursor.

If you think the review cursor is just another way to read text, you’re missing out. In reality, it’s the professional user’s “secret eye”—the tool that allows you to explore, diagnose, and extract information from anywhere on the screen, even from places that seem inaccessible.

In this article, we’ll dive into 5 professional ways to use the review cursor that will transform you from a mere user into a true expert in controlling your digital environment.

1. Reading the Unreadable: Exploring Static Interfaces

The Problem: You open a new dialog box or application window and try to use the arrow keys to read its content, but nothing happens. Why? Because this window doesn’t have a System Caret; it contains static text.

The Professional Solution: This is where the review cursor shines. Unlike the system caret, the review cursor can move freely over any text on the screen, whether it’s interactive or not.

How to Use:

  • Use the review cursor commands (in Desktop layout: Numpad 7, 8, 9 for previous, current, and next line) to read the contents of dialog boxes, toolbars, or the status bar at the bottom of the screen.

Practical Scenario: You’re in an accounting program and want to read the final total displayed in the status bar. Instead of trying to Tab to it, you can simply use the review cursor to navigate to the bottom of the screen and read it directly.

2. The Digital Detective: Copying Text from Awkward Places

The Problem: An error message appears in a dialog box that doesn’t let you select and copy the text. You want to send the exact error text to the technical support team, but you can’t.

The Professional Solution: The review cursor is your ideal tool for text extraction.

How to Use:

  • Use the review cursor commands to navigate over the text you want to copy.
  • Use the review cursor’s text selection commands (in Desktop layout: NVDA + F9 to start selection, move the cursor, then NVDA + F10 to copy the selected text).

Practical Scenario: You’re testing a website and find an inaccessible element that NVDA reads strangely. Using the review cursor, you can copy this spoken output “verbatim” and paste it into the bug report for the developers, providing conclusive proof of the issue.

3. The Proofreader: Reviewing Without Losing Your Place

The Problem: You’re writing a long report in Microsoft Word and have reached the fifth paragraph. You want to quickly review a sentence in the first paragraph to check a fact, but you don’t want to move your system caret from its current position.

The Professional Solution: Leave the system caret where it is and use the review cursor to take a quick “peek” at any other part of the document.

How to Use:

  • Use the review cursor commands to move up or down the document and read any text you want.
  • When you’re done, you can instantly return to your original position by using the “Route review cursor to system caret” command (NVDA + Numpad Minus in Desktop layout).

Practical Scenario: This technique is invaluable for editors and proofreaders, allowing them to verify information in different parts of a document without losing their focus or place in the main text.

4. The Explorer: Understanding Complex Application Structures

The Problem: You’re in an application with a complex interface (like an audio or video editor), and pressing the Tab key moves you around in a seemingly random and illogical way. You don’t understand the program’s “map.”

The Professional Solution: Use the review cursor in conjunction with Object Navigation. The review cursor always follows the object you navigate to, giving you a structured way to explore the hierarchy of any application.

How to Use:

  • Start moving between objects (in Desktop layout: NVDA + Numpad 4, 6, 8, 2).
  • Each time you land on an object, use the review cursor commands to read its content in detail.

Practical Scenario: You’re in an unfamiliar program and want to know what buttons are on the top toolbar. Instead of guessing, you can use object navigation to get to the toolbar, then move between its “children” (the buttons), reading the name of each one with the review cursor.

5. The Rescuer: Regaining Control When Focus is Lost

The Problem: Sometimes, the system focus “gets lost” or moves to an unexpected place on the screen, and you feel like you don’t know where you are.

The Professional Solution: The review cursor is your constant compass.

How to Use:

  • When you feel lost, the first thing to do is “Route review cursor to system focus” (NVDA + Numpad Minus twice quickly). This will tell you exactly which element is currently active.
  • If there is no focus, you can use the review cursor to explore the screen from top to bottom to form a mental map of your current location.

Practical Scenario: You’re filling out a web form, and after clicking a button, the screen reader says nothing. Did an error occur? Did you move to a new page? Using the review cursor, you can read the window title (NVDA + T also reads around the review cursor) and the screen content to diagnose the problem and regain control.

Ready to become an expert user?

Mastering the review cursor is what separates using NVDA from speaking its language fluently. These advanced skills are part of what we focus on at the Includio platform, where we don’t just teach you the commands—we teach you how to think like a digital professional.

Stay tuned, because the journey to professionalism has just begun.