This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Windows tools or features and Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Accessibility help & learning content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.
Use Microsoft Stream with your keyboard and a screen reader to follow, create, and manage channels. We have tested it with Narrator, NVDA, and JAWS, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
Notes:
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
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When you use Microsoft Stream, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser and Narrator as your screen reader.
If you use Chrome or Firefox as your web browser, we recommend that you use JAWS or NVDA as your screen reader.
In this topic
Follow a channel
To easily return to a channel you access often, add it to your Followed channels list. When you are signed in to Microsoft Stream, your followed channels also appear on the Home page.
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In Microsoft Stream, browse to and open the channel you want to follow.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Follow this channel," and press Enter.
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To access the list of followed channels, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "My content," and press Enter. Press the Tab key until you reach Followed channels, and press Enter. The Followed channels tab opens.
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Use the Tab key to browse the followed channels list, and press Enter when you hear the name of the channel you want to open.
Note: To unfollow the channel, browse to and open the channel you want to unfollow. Press the Tab key until you hear "Unfollow this channel," and press Enter.
Create a channel
You can create channels to organize content in Microsoft Stream. Before you create the channel, decide whether it's a companywide channel that anyone in your organization can add and remove videos from, or if it's a group channel that only group contributors can edit.
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In Microsoft Stream, press the Tab key until you hear "Create," and press Enter. The Create menu opens.
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Press the Tab key until you reach the Channel option, and press Enter. The Create channel dialog box opens and the focus is in the Channel name field.
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Type a name for your channel.
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Channel names have a maximum length of 30 characters.
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If you are creating a companywide channel, the channel name must be unique across the organization. If you are creating a group channel, the channel name must be unique within the group.
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To enter a description for the channel, press the Tab key. You hear: "Channel description." Type the channel description.
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To define whether the channel is a group or a companywide channel, press the Tab key. You hear: "Channel access." Press the Tab key again. With Narrator, press R until you hear the channel type you want, and press Enter to select. With NVDA and JAWS, press Enter, and then use the Up and Down arrow keys to select the channel type you want.
Note: You can't change the channel type after the channel is created.
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If you are creating a companywide channel, skip this step.
If you are creating a group channel, press the Tab key. You hear: "Search for your groups." To select the group the channel belongs in, start typing the group name. The search results update as you type. Press the Tab key repeatedly to browse to the group you want, and then press Enter.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Custom channel image," and then press the Tab key again. To upload a channel image to represent the channel, press Enter. The Windows Open file dialog box opens. Navigate to the image you want to upload from your computer, and press Alt+O to upload it.
Note: The channel image is cropped to a square shape if it is not a square already.
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To create the channel, press the Tab key until you hear "Create," and press Enter. The channel is created and its channel page opens.
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To add videos to the channel, refer to Use a screen reader to add videos to a group or channel in Microsoft Stream.
Manage channel information
Channel owners and group contributors can update the name, description, and image for a channel.
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In Microsoft Stream, press the Tab key until you hear "My content," and press Enter. The My content menu opens.
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Press the Tab key until you reach the Channels option, and press Enter. The Channels tab opens.
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To open the channel you want to edit, press the Tab key until you hear the name of the channel, and press Enter.
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To open the Edit channel dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear "More actions," and press Enter. You hear: "Edit." Press Enter again.
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Use the Tab key to move between the fields in the Edit channel dialog box. Make changes to the channel name, description, and image as needed.
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To save your changes, press the Tab key until you hear "Save," and press Enter. The Edit channel dialog box closes.
Change the default video sort order
Channel owners and group contributors can set the default sort order for videos in the channel, for example by publication date or by title.
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In Microsoft Stream, press the Tab key until you hear "My content," and press Enter. The My content menu opens.
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Press the Tab key until you reach the Channels option, and press Enter. The Channels tab opens.
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To open the channel you want to edit, press the Tab key until you hear the name of the channel, and press Enter.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Edit default order," and press Enter.
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To move to the sort options list, press Shift+Tab. You hear "Sort by," followed by the current sort order.
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To select a different default sort order, press Enter, and then use the Up and Down arrow keys to browse the list. When you hear the sort order you want, press Enter.
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To save the new default sort order, press the Tab key. You hear: "Done." Press Enter.
Delete a channel
When you no longer need a channel, you can delete it. The videos are not deleted.
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In Microsoft Stream, press the Tab key until you hear "My content," and press Enter. The My content menu opens.
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Press the Tab key until you reach the Channels option, and press Enter. The Channels tab opens.
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To open the channel you want to edit, press the Tab key until you hear the name of the channel, and press Enter.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "More actions," and press Enter.
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To delete the channel, press the Tab key until you hear "Delete," and press Enter.
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To confirm deleting the channel, press the Tab key until you hear "Delete the channel," and then press Enter.
See also
Use a screen reader to find content in Microsoft Stream
Use a screen reader to work with groups in Microsoft Stream
Keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft Stream
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Stream
Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Microsoft Stream
Technical support for customers with disabilities
Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.
If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.
