Autotext - Building Blocks - NVDA - Keyboard - Office 2007

Creating a Simple Text Building Block in MS Word 2007

One of my favourite all-time features in MS Word is autotext and I use it extensively to store chunks of text I need to repeat in my documents. Using autotext means that I can avoid having to either manually type in all the text again from scratch (and redo any necessary formatting) or avoid the other manual option of locating the text in another document and then copying pasting into the new one. In short, autotext saves me a fair bit of time and lets me avoid a few hassles - which is always good.

In Word 2007 and above the older standalone autotext feature now finds residence in the general Quick Parts functionality available via the Insert tab. Let's run through a basic example here such as a standard sign-off with a few contact details so that you can get a feel for how this feature works. I've got NVDA running as I do this but any reasonably competent modern screenreader should be fine with this:

Save Text as an Autotext Building Block

First thing we need to do is get some content in the document so launch MS Word 2007 then do the following:

1. Press ENTER a couple of times to introduce two blank paragraphs into the document.
2. Now imagine that you are creating a standard signing-off section that contains a few pieces of contact information - though whether you make this real or fictitious is entirely up to you. Type in details such as: your name, job title, telephone number and an example web address. I have typed in the following example text:
Mr P. K. Small
Senior Gobstopper Chef
Telephone: 566 878787
URL: http://www.funnysmilesweets.com

3. Format the text as necessary: change the fonts, change the size of some of the text, change the style of the text, change the alignments and so on. In my example I have kept everything left-aligned and the same size but I have applied some "bold" styling to my name text.
4. Carefully select all of the text in the page using the SHIFT and ARROW KEY method. Remember that you can also include the two blank paragraphs if you wish.
5. Check your selection if necessary. Within NVDA use INSERT SHIFT UP ARROW to check a selection, with JAWS use INSERT SHIFT DOWN ARROW).
6. When you have confirmed the selection, press ALT F3. Focus will move to the Name: edit field in the Create New Building Block dialog box.

7. The Name edit field is important. Whatever you input here is the name you will type into your document when you need to recall the autotext. So, make the name something concise and meaningful - not a cryptic name (you may forget it) or a long, long string of text either (the whole point of autotext is to save time...) In my example, I have changed the default text supplied in favour of a more appropriate name: "signoff".
8. Pressing TAB from the Name edit field moves the focus to the Gallery combo box. A gallery is a particular storage category for the building block you are creating - in this case here we are creating autotext so it makes the most sense to save the text in that specific gallery.
9. The next field is labelled Category and you have the option here of using the supplied category of General or creating your own category. In this example, the General category is fine so ensure this is selected and TAB on to the next field.
10. The Description multi line edit field is next. Although this is optional it is useful to have some level of description in here for the text you are storing, especially if you plan on creating a lot of these building blocks.
11. Pressing TAB once more moves the focus to the Save In: combo box. Here you have two main options for where you want your new autotext to be physically stored. In most cases, the default setting of Building Blocks.dotx should be fine although you may want to store everything in your Normal.dotm template. Generally though I advise against this as it creates a single point of failure - your Normal template tends to be where you have all your Style and macro information embedded as well.
12. Pressing TAB moves the focus to the final field in the dialog box labelled Options. This combo box contains a choice of three items that determine how your autotext is pasted back into the document. The available options are:
    • Insert Content Only
    • Insert Content in its Own Paragraph
    • Insert Content in its Own Page
    Choose as necessary then TAB to the OK button and press SPACEBAR. Your autotext is ready to roll!

Accessing and Pasting Your Autotext

Now that you have some custom autotext stored and ready to use, let's give it a test run in a new document:

1. Create a new document in MS Word.
2. Type in a few sentences and move to a blank line.
3. Type in the first few letters of the name of the autotext you have just created. (In my example the name I supplied was "signoff" - so I type signoff into the page.)
4. Immediately after you have typed your chosen autotext name - or the first few letters of it - press the F3 key.
5. When you tap F3, providing the name of your autotext is correctly recognised, you should find that the full stored autotext is automatically inserted at the cursor.
6. Check your autotext and correct any line spacing if necessary. Notice that the autotext is inserted based on the settings you supplied in the Options combo box - so if you chose to insert the text in a new page you should now have a two page document.
7. That's all there is to it! How cool is that? Now you might want to explore whether putting your galleries in the quick access toolbar is a good idea...

That's it for now - have fun!

For more information on NVDA please visit: www.nvaccess.org