Accessibility features in Office Help

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

Keyboard shortcuts for using the Help window

To use the Help window, the Microsoft Office Assistant must be turned off. To turn off the Assistant, press F1 to display the Assistant. Press ALT+O to open the Options tab in the Office Assistant dialog box. Press ALT+U to clear the Use the Office Assistant check box, and then press ENTER. Press F1 to display the Help window.

F1

Display the Help window if the Assistant is turned off (if the Assistant is turned on, F1 displays the Assistant balloon).

In the Help window

F6

Switch between the Help topic and the Contents, Answer Wizard,  Index pane

TAB

Select the next hidden text or hyperlink, or Show All or Hide All at the top of a topic

SHIFT+TAB

Select the previous hidden text or hyperlink, or the Browser View button at the top of a Microsoft Office Web site article 

ENTER

Perform the action for the selected Show All, Hide All, hidden text, or hyperlink

ALT+O

Display the Options menu to access any Help toolbar command

ALT+O, and then press T

Hide or show the pane with the Contents, Answer Wizard, and Index tabs 

ALT+O, and then press B

Display the previously viewed topic

ALT+O, and then press F

Display the next topic in a previously displayed sequence of topics 

ALT+O, and then press H

Return to the specified home page

ALT+O, and then press S

Stop the Help window from opening a Help topic (useful if you want to stop a Web page from downloading)

ALT+O, and then press I 

Open the Internet Options dialog box for Microsoft Internet Explorer, where you can change accessibility settings

ALT+O, and then press R

Refresh the topic (useful if you have linked to a Web page)

ALT+O, and then press P

Print all topics in a book or a selected topic only

ALT+F4

Close the Help window

Note   If you use a screen review utility or other accessibility aid, you'll get the best results with Help if you enter questions in the Answer Wizard tab in the Help window rather than in the Office Assistant balloon or in the Ask a Question box.

Keyboard shortcuts for using the Office Assistant

To perform the following actions, the Microsoft Office Assistant must be turned on and visible. To turn on or show the Office Assistant, press ALT+H to open the Help menu, and then press O. With the Assistant visible, press F1 to display the Assistant balloon.

F1

Display the Assistant balloon (if the Assistant is turned off, F1 opens the Help window) 

In the Assistant balloon

ALT+number 

Select a Help topic from the list the Assistant displays. ALT+1 is the first topic, ALT+2 is the second, and so on.

ALT+DOWN ARROW

Display more Help topics in the Assistant list

ALT+UP ARROW

Display previous Help topics in the Assistant list

ESC

Close an Assistant message or a tip 

In some wizards or dialog boxes

TAB

Move to the Help button in the wizard

SPACEBAR, with the Help button selected 

Show the Assistant in a wizard or dialog box. To hide the Assistant, press SPACEBAR again. Note that not all wizards or dialog boxes have Help provided by the Assistant.

Note   If you use a screen review utility or other accessibility aid, you'll get the best results with Help if you enter questions in the Answer Wizard tab in the Help window rather than in the Office Assistant balloon or in the Ask a Question box.

Keyboard shortcuts for using the Ask a Question box

Press F10 or ALT to select the menu bar, and then press TAB until the insertion point appears in the Ask a Question box. Type your question, and then press ENTER.

To select a topic, use the UP or DOWN arrow keys, and then press ENTER to open the topic in the Help window. To select the next or previous set of topics in the Microsoft Office Assistant balloon, select See more or See previous, and then press ENTER.

Using expandable links to view information in a Help topic

Many Help topics use hidden text and expandable hyperlinks to show or hide additional information within the topics. You don't have to jump to a different Help topic to see information, and the content is easy to scan. You can use the expandable hyperlinks one at a time, or use Show All or Hide All to open or close all of the expandable hyperlinks in the topic.

Within the Help window, press SHIFT+ TAB to select the previous hidden text or hyperlink, or to select Show All or Hide All at the top of a topic. Press TAB to select the next hidden text or hyperlink, or to select Show All or Hide All at the top of a topic.

Note   If you are using a screen reader to read Help topics, you must first expand all the links in the topic by using the Show All button.

Changing the appearance of a Help topic

1. Open the Help window.

   How?

   1. On the Help menu, click Microsoft Program Name Help.

   2. If the Office Assistant appears, click Options in the Assistant balloon, and clear the Use the Office Assistant check box.
   3. Click OK to close the dialog box, and on the Help menu, click Microsoft Program Name again.
2. In the Help window, click Options , and then click Internet Options.
3. On the General tab, click Accessibility, and then click Ignore colors specified on Web pages.
4. Click OK.
5. In the Internet Options dialog box, do one or both of the following:

   Change the color of the background or text in Help

   • On the General tab, click Colors, and then select the options you want.

   Change the font in Help

   • On the General tab, click Fonts, and then select the options you want.

Note   If you change the font and background color of the Help topics in the Help window, the change will also affect the font and background color when you view a Web page in Microsoft Internet Explorer.