Microsoft Excel course

Excel Lesson 9

Data Validation, Consistent Entry, and Review

First-time setup and success checks

Lesson goal in plain language: Create a reliable data-entry sheet with controlled choices and check it for common accessibility problems.

Prepare before step 1

  1. Open the correct application, website, or device screen and wait for its name to be announced.
  2. Open Excel manual and review the matching procedure if any command or term is unfamiliar.
  3. Use only fictional, public, disposable, or instructor-provided practice information. Make a copy before changing an important file.
  4. Read all numbered instructions once before performing them so you know the intended final result.

Commands used or referenced

Enter, Alt+Q,, Alt+Down, Ctrl+F, Ctrl+End., Insert+Spacebar,, Alt+Q

For a plus-sign command, hold the modifier key, press and release the final key, then release the modifier. For a sequence, press and release each key in order. Stop after every command and listen for the result.

Work and verify

  1. Perform one numbered instruction and stop. Identify the active window, focused control, selected item, cell, slide, message, field, or device area before continuing.
  2. Compare the result with the lesson goal. A sound alone is not enough; verify the name, state, value, location, permission, or content.
  3. If the result is wrong, press Escape once to leave an unexpected menu, identify focus again, and use Undo only when the change is safely reversible.
  4. Save or synchronize at natural stopping points. Use the required filename Excel-Lesson-9.xlsx.
  5. Complete the “Before submitting” checklist from top to bottom. Correct missing items before marking the lesson complete.
  6. Close and reopen the practice item, or return to it from the product’s main screen, to prove you can locate and verify the result independently.

Success standard: Explain what each major command did, show the finished result, and recover from one harmless focus or navigation error without another person naming the next key.

Goal

Create a reliable data-entry sheet with controlled choices and check it for common accessibility problems.

Skills practiced

Step-by-step instructions

  1. Create a blank workbook with the headers Request ID, Request Type, Priority, Assigned To, and Status.
  2. Enter five fictional requests.
  3. In a separate area, list the allowed Status values: New, In Progress, Waiting, and Closed.
  4. Select the Status entry cells.
  5. Press Alt+Q, type Data Validation, and choose the command.
  6. Choose List and set the source to the cells containing the allowed Status values.
  7. Use Alt+Down Arrow in a validated Status cell to open its choices, then select a value.
  8. Apply a similar list to Priority using Low, Medium, and High.
  9. Add an Instructions worksheet explaining what each column contains and which values are allowed.
  10. Use Ctrl+F to search for blank required fields and review the used range with Ctrl+End.
  11. Run Check Accessibility and correct merged cells, unclear sheet names, or missing object descriptions.
  12. Save the workbook as Excel-Lesson-9.xlsx.

JAWS help: Press Insert+Spacebar, then J, to search JAWS commands when you forget a keystroke. Ribbon KeyTips can differ slightly by Microsoft 365 update, so Alt+Q search is included where useful.

Your assignment

Create a small service-request tracker with validated Status and Priority choices plus an Instructions worksheet.

Save the finished assignment as Excel-Lesson-9.xlsx.

Before submitting