Get to Know Lightning Reports and Dashboards | Trailhead Screen Reader Instructions

Overview for Screen Reader Users

Screen reader users should read both the main Trailhead instructions and these accessibility instructions. These instructions focus on explaining the layout of the report builder from a screen reader’s perspective and do not provide the material necessary for passing the Trailhead quiz for this unit.

In these instructions, we will be exploring the layout of the Lightning Experience Report Builder so screen reader users understand the layout before we dive into creating reports. These instructions outline the layout of the Report Builder along with key accessibility notes along the way. Further units will provide specific instructions for each exercise without referring back to the overview of the page itself, so users should carefully read and understand the contents of this set of instructions before proceeding.

Let's take a look at the report builder and get a handle on the components we'll be dealing with as we build reports a little later on.

  1. Log into your Trailhead playground.
  2. Press ENTER on the App Launcher button near the top of the page and type Reports into the search field.

The Reports Page

You will find three headings on this page, Reports, Folders, and Favorites. Beneath the Reports heading, you will find links like All Reports, Private Reports, and Created by Me. These links will return a list of reports meeting those criteria.

You will learn about report folders in the main Trailhead instructions for this unit. Beneath the Folders heading, we find links to a few folders. When you create custom report folders later in this task, those custom folders will appear under this heading.

Finally, the Favorites heading categorizes reports you have favorited.

The bottom of this page presents a table of existing reports based on which link you chose from the headings above. Salesforce comes with some great reports right out of the box, and you'll create some of your own in just a bit.

Go ahead and search for the New Report button and press ENTER. Let's take a look at the Report Builder.

Choose Your Report Type

The report builder begins with a heading called Create Report.

This is followed by a dropdown where you can narrow down the report you want to build based on object. Salesforce comes with many standard report templates, so let's focus on reports about leads for now.

Select Leads from the first combo box. You will need to press ENTER on the item in the dropdown to make your selection.

Next is a search field where you can type in the name of an object to filter by. We've already narrowed the search down from the first dropdown, so let's leave this for now and explore the remainder of the page.

The grid following the search field lists all the report templates available based on your previous category selections. Some reports will just contain fields on one object, and other reports, like Opportunities with Products, will have fields from both objects so you can report based on related list information.

Within the grid, press ENTER on Leads. This will return a report template for leads with no related objects. 

When your selection is made, locate the Start Report button. If you navigate past this button, you will find details about your selected report template. Click Start Report and let's explore the layout of the Report Builder page.

Report Builder

The heading level 1 on this page displays the title New Leads Report. This is a good way to ensure you've chosen the correct object for your report. The type of report is listed in this heading.

Navigating down with the arrow key, you will encounter buttons like Add Chart, Save, Close, Run, and More.

We'll explore these in depth in a later unit. For now, take note of their location.

Continue navigating down the page to locate a button labeled Show Fields. Pressing ENTER on this button shows or hides the fields pane. If you expand the pane, you will find a search field where you can search for fields found on the object or objects in your report template. TAB a few times, and you reach a tree that will display the results of your search. This pane is used to search for fields on your object that Salesforce may not have put on the standard report template. If you've added a custom field to Leads, for example, and want it on your report, you would search it here, find it in the tree, and press ENTER to add it to the report. This will create a new column in your report table. Each column on your report is a field.

Look for a Hide fields button located at the end of this pane to collapse this section and hide it from view.

In the next section on the page, we have two tabs that will change this part of the page based on which one we've selected. Let's keep Outline selected for now and explore our options.

Navigating down with the arrow key, you encounter controls to group rows by field.

Next, you encounter a Column Options button. Pressing ENTER expands a menu where you have the option to bucket columns or add summary formulas. If JAWS is having trouble accessing this menu, toggle the virtual cursor off once you expand it. More on these options later.

The Outline tab allows you to control grouping, formulas, and bucketing. Select the Filters tab now and see how the middle section of the report builder changes.

Once you've pressed ENTER on the Filters tab, that tab now reads as selected.

Navigate down with the arrow key. This tab has an unlabeled button for filter options which expands to access options like adding cross filters or filter logic. Again, toggle the JAWS virtual cursor off if the expanded menu does not allow you to navigate the options.

Following this is a search dropdown for adding a filter.

Salesforce adds a few standard filters to report templates by default. Pressing TAB after the Add Filters edit field moves focus to these pre-configured filters. You can tab through these and press ENTER on the filter you wish to modify.

Pressing ENTER on the My Leads filter or the Created Date filter within the filters list will launch a dialog where you can edit filter parameters including dates and ranges. You can edit these standard preset filters to show the data you're looking for. Click the Apply button to make any filter changes and return to the report builder.

,The bottom of the page is taken up by a preview of the current report. This table contains only a limited number of records. It is presented in a table format. Across the top in the column headers, we see the names of fields like first name, last name, and title.

Take note, as you begin making edits to your report, a Refresh button will appear above this table. You will need to press ENTER on this button each time you make a change to see it reflected in your report preview table. Alternatively, check the box above the table to enable update preview. This will auto-refresh your report preview each time you make a change.

The rows of your report preview table contain the records returned based on the filters you set up.

In each column header, you will find a Column Actions button that will expand to show a menu. This column Actions menu allows you to move columns left or right, sort them, remove them, or perform simple calculations like calculating the sum if your column is numerical. If your screen reader exits forms mode or focus mode, or if the Column Actions menu expands without triggering these modes, check the bottom of the page to find the list of column actions.

Once you add more than ten fields, the table attempts to auto-scroll to show more columns. Screen reading software may have trouble keeping track of this auto-scrolling feature. No need to worry about that for now, but it's worth keeping in mind later on if you see your report table switching columns in a confusing manner.

Once you start grouping or taking the sum of a column, checkboxes will appear beneath the preview table displaying options to show grand total, row numbers, and other miscellaneous options.

A good rule of thumb is to save your report immediately. Then, you can simply periodically activate the Save button while you are making your edits.

The report builder is a complex page with many different elements and element types to work with. As we prepare to dive into building reports, screen reader users should familiarize themselves with this interface and be prepared to locate the various functions on this page.

Resources

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