Mastering Headers, Footers, and Page Numbers: A Screen Reader Guide

What Exactly Are They?

Headers: These sit in the top margin. If your top margin is one inch, your header text usually rests at the half inch mark.

Footers: These live in the bottom margin.

Default Behavior: By default, whatever you type in a header or footer will repeat on every single page.

The Quick Check: Is There a Header Here?

How do you know if a document already has a header without scrolling around?

JAWS Users: Press Insert + F1 for Screen-Sensitive Help. Just before it lists the margin dimensions, JAWS will say “Header: 1” or “Footer: 1” if they exist. It may even read the text inside, such as “Header: Final Report 1.”

NVDA and Narrator Users: These tools do not have a dedicated “check” command for this. To see if a header exists, you must enter the Edit mode. Use the shortcut Alt + N + H + E (for Header) or Alt + N + O + E (for Footer) and use your arrows to see if any text is present.

How to Insert a Header and Page Number

The steps for headers and footers are identical. Since headers are more common in academic and professional writing, we will use them as our example.

1. Open the Menu: Press Alt + N + H.
2. Choose Blank: Press Enter on the “Blank” button.
3. Choose Your Alignment:
• Left: You land here by default. Just start typing.
• Center: Press Tab once. Your screen reader might say “4.25 inches,” which is the exact center.
• Right: Press Tab again. This is where most people put page numbers.
4. The Magic Shortcut: To insert a page number that updates automatically, press Alt + Shift + P.
5. Exit: Press Escape to return to your main document.

Handling the “Different First Page” Requirement

Sometimes, you do not want a header on your cover page, or you need different information there.

1. Enter the Header Edit mode (Alt + N + H + E).
2. Open the Ribbon by pressing Alt. You will land on the Header and Footer tab.
3. Navigate to the Options group and press Spacebar to check the box for Different First Page.
4. Now you can leave the first page header blank and move to page two to set up your repeating header.

Editing and Removing: The Pro Tip

While you can technically edit a header by jumping back into the Edit pane, screen readers sometimes struggle to navigate that small space accurately.

If a header is wrong, just remove it and start over.

• If a header is wrong, just remove it and start over.
• Remove Footer: Press Alt + N + O + R.

Match Your Fonts

Headers do not always automatically match the font you chose for your body text. To fix this:

1. Enter the Header pane (Alt + N + H + E).
2. Press Control + A to select everything.
3. Press Control + D to open the Font dialog and set it to match the rest of your document.