This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Microsoft 365 screen reader support content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.
Use OneNote with your keyboard and a screen reader to share your notebooks and efficiently collaborate with your colleagues. We have tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll also learn how to make copies of specific notes, such as a single page or section from a notebook, and share them.
Notes:
-
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.
-
To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Save a notebook to OneDrive
If you want to share a notebook, make sure it is saved to OneDrive.
Save a new notebook to OneDrive
When creating a new notebook you want to share, save it directly to OneDrive.
-
Press Alt+F, N. With Narrator, you hear: “Pick a folder.” With JAWS, you hear: “New, backstage view.” With NVDA, you hear: "New grouping, new notebook."
-
To select the saving location, press Shift+Tab until you hear, with Narrator and JAWS: "Saving features, Recent tab." With NVDA, you hear: "Recent tab selected." Press the Down arrow key until you hear the OneDrive location you want.
-
Press the Tab key once. You hear "Pick a folder," followed by the currently selected OneDrive folder name.
-
To name the new notebook, press Enter. You hear: “Create a new notebook dialog, notebook name.” Type in the new notebook name.
-
To create the notebook, press Enter. A new dialog box opens, asking if you want to share the notebook with other people. Do one of the following:
-
If you want to share the notebook, press the Tab key until you hear "Invite people, button," and press Enter. You are taken to the Share window, where you can choose the people with whom you would like to share your notes. To learn more, refer to Share a notebook.
-
If you don't want to share the notebook, press the Tab key until you hear "Not now, button," and press Enter. The focus moves to your new blank notebook.
-
Move a notebook to OneDrive
If you have a notebook that you would like to share, but it’s not saved to OneDrive, you can move it.
-
Make sure the notebook you would like to move is opened.
-
To move the notebook to OneDrive, press Alt+F, Z. You hear: “Share.”
-
To select a OneDrive location, use the Up and Down arrow keys until you hear the location you want.
-
To move the notebook, press Enter. The notebook is saved to OneDrive. You hear the syncing progress. If syncing to OneDrive succeeds, with Narrator and NVDA, you hear “Microsoft OneNote dialog. OK button,” and with JAWS, you hear: “Your notebook is now syncing into the new location.” Press Enter.
You can now choose the people with whom you would like to share your notes. To learn more about sharing your notebook, refer to Share a notebook.
Get a notebook link
Instead of sending invitations, you can also send a link to your colleagues via email or instant message (IM).
-
Make sure the notebook you would like to share is opened.
-
To share the notebook, press Alt+F, Z. You hear: “Share.”
-
To get a link to share your notebook, press the Tab key until you hear "Copy, button," and press Enter.
-
Your screen reader announces when the link to your notebook has been created. Press the Tab key until you hear "Copy, button," and press Enter to copy the link to the clipboard. Press Esc to close the link creation dialog box.
-
Paste the link in an email or IM to the people you want to share it with.
Check the author, date, and time of an update
Any changes introduced by any of the authors of a shared notebook are automatically updated in OneDrive. When you edit your notes, you can check the author of an update and when the update was made.
-
In the editable text, use the Up or Down arrow key to browse your notes. Your screen reader reads the items for you as you browse.
-
To check who made a change to the currently selected item and when, press Shift+F10 or the Windows Menu key, and then Shift+Tab twice. You hear the name of the author, as well as the date and time of the update.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert content to notebooks in OneNote
Use a screen reader to organize notebooks, sections, and pages in OneNote
Basic tasks using a screen reader with OneNote
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use OneNote for Mac with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to share your notebooks and efficiently collaborate with your colleagues. You can also make copies of specific notes, such as a single page from a notebook, and share them.
Notes:
-
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.
-
This topic assumes that you are using the built-in macOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, go to VoiceOver Getting Started Guide.
In this topic
Get a notebook link
Instead of sending invitations from OneNote for Mac, you can also send a link to your colleagues via email or instant messaging.
-
Open the notebook you would like to share in OneNote for Mac.
-
Press F6 until you hear the currently selected tab, for example, "Home, selected, tab."
-
Press the Tab key until you hear "Share menu button," and press Control+Option+Spacebar. The Share dialog box opens.
-
Press the Tab key until you hear "Copy, button," and press Control+Option+Spacebar. The link is copied to the clipboard, and the Link copied dialog box opens, with the focus on the address of the created link.
-
If you want to change who the link you want to share works for, or whether the recipient can edit the shared notebook, press the Tab key until you hear "People in your organization with the link can edit," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. The Link settings dialog box opens. Then do the following:
-
To restrict the link to a particular user or users, press the Down or Up arrow key until you hear the option you want. If you select Specific people, you hear "Enter a name or email address for people to share with" and the focus is in the To field. Type in the names or email addresses you want.
-
To change the link to a view link, press the Tab key until you hear "Allow editing, checked checkbox," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. You hear: "Unchecked, allow editing."
-
When you are done with the link settings, press the Tab key until you hear "Apply button," and press Control+Option+Spacebar. The link is copied to the clipboard.
-
-
To close the Link copied dialog box, press Esc.
You can now copy the link to an email or instant message you are sending to your collaborators.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert content to notebooks in OneNote
Use a screen reader to organize notebooks, sections, and pages in OneNote
Basic tasks using a screen reader with OneNote
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use OneNote for iOS with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to share your notebooks and efficiently collaborate with your colleagues.
Notes:
-
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.
-
This topic assumes that you are using the built-in iOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, visit Apple accessibility.
-
This topic assumes that you have added an email account to your device.
In this topic
Email a page
If you only want to show a single page in your notebook to others, you can send it as a PDF attachment by email.
-
Open the notebook page you would like to send by email.
-
Swipe right until you hear "Page actions button," and then double-tap the screen.
-
Swipe right until you hear "Email page button," and then double-tap the screen.
-
Swipe right until you hear "To, text field," and then double-tap the screen.
-
Type in the email address of the recipient. If OneNote can access your contacts, you can also select a contact from the dropdown list that appears as you type an address.
The subject field is automatically filled with the title of the page.
-
Tap the lower half of the screen with four fingers. You hear: "Return." Double-tap the screen.
-
Tap the upper half of the screen with four fingers. You hear: "Cancel button."
-
Swipe right until you hear "Send button," and then double-tap the screen.
The email is sent, the menu closes, and you are returned to the page view.
Get a notebook link
Instead of sending invitations directly from OneNote for iOS, you can also send a link to your colleagues via email or instant messaging.
-
Make sure the notebook you would like to share is opened in the Sections view.
-
Swipe right until you hear "Share menu, button," and then double-tap the screen.
-
Swipe right until you hear "Copy link to notebook, button," and then double-tap the screen.
-
If you want to share a view-only link to your notebook, swipe right until you hear: "View only."
-
If you want to share a view and edit link to your notebook, swipe right until you hear: "View and edit."
-
-
Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Retrieving link for sharing."
The dialog box closes and you are returned to the Sections view.
The link is now copied to the clipboard, and you can paste it to an email or instant message you're sending to your co-author.
Hide author information
By default, OneNote for iOS displays other authors' initials alongside the text area, and VoiceOver reads them out in the reading mode.
-
In the notebooks list view of OneNote for iOS, swipe left until you hear: "Settings, button." Double-tap the screen.
Tip: If you are not in the notebooks list view, tap the upper half of the screen with four fingers. VoiceOver announces where you are returning, followed by "Back button." Double-tap the screen to go back one level. The focus stays on the Back button, so you can simply keep double-tapping until you hear: "Settings button."
-
Swipe right until you hear "Edit and view, button," and then double-tap the screen.
-
Swipe right until you hear: "Hide authors, switch button, off." Double-tap to turn the setting on.
-
Swipe left until you hear "Back button," and then double-tap the screen. You hear: "Close button." Double-tap the screen to return to the top level view.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert content to notebooks in OneNote
Use a screen reader to organize notebooks, sections, and pages in OneNote
Basic tasks using a screen reader with OneNote
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use OneNote for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to share your notebooks (via OneDrive) and pages to efficiently collaborate with your colleagues.
Notes:
-
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.
-
This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.
-
Make sure you turn on TalkBack before launching OneNote for Android.
In this topic
Email a page
If you only want to show a single page in your notebook to others, send it in an Outlook for Android email.
-
In OneNote, open the notebook page you want to send by email.
-
Swipe left until you hear "More options button," and then double-tap the screen.
-
Swipe right until you hear "Share page," and then double-tap the screen. The Share as dialog box opens.
-
Do one of the following:
-
To share the page as a PDF attachment in an email, swipe right until you hear "PDF," and then double-tap the screen.
-
To share the page as plain text in the message body, swipe right until you hear "Plain text," and then double-tap the screen.
-
-
Swipe right until you hear "Outlook," and then double-tap the screen. A New message opens in Outlook for Android. Swipe right until you hear: "Edit box, To field, enter recipient's email address, edit box." Double-tap the screen.
-
Type in the email address of the recipient using the on-screen keyboard. When done, drag your finger on your keyboard until you hear "Done," and then lift it (and double-tap the screen if needed). To close the keyboard, swipe down-then-left.
Note: The subject field is automatically filled with the title of the page.
-
To send the email message, swipe left until you hear "Send button," and then double-tap the screen.
Note: To learn more about how to compose and send an email in Outlook for Android, refer to the "Create and send email" section in Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook.
The email is sent, Outlook closes, and the focus returns to the More options button in the OneNote page view.
Get a notebook link
If you have the OneDrive app on your phone, instead of sending invitations to share the notebook, you can also send a link to your colleagues via email or instant messaging.
Note: If you are using a work or school account, the steps may be slightly different.
-
In OneDrive, to browse files and folders, swipe right or left. To open a folder, double-tap the screen. OneNote files are announced as "Notebook," followed by the notebook name.
-
When you hear the name of the notebook you want to share, swipe right. You hear the file name, followed by "Commands button." To open the menu, double-tap the screen.
-
Swipe right until you hear "Share," and then double-tap the screen. The Share menu opens.
-
Do one of the following:
-
To generate a view and edit link, in the Share menu, swipe right until you hear "Copy link," and then double-tap the screen. You hear: "Link copied."
-
To generate a view only link, swipe right until you hear "Copy, button," and then swipe left once. Double-tap the screen to open the menu, and swipe right until you hear: "Ticked, allow editing." To toggle the setting, double-tap the screen. Then swipe right until you hear "Apply," and double-tap the screen. You hear: "Link copied."
-
-
The Share menu closes and the link is now copied to the clipboard. Paste it to an email or instant message you're sending to your co-author.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert content to notebooks in OneNote
Use a screen reader to organize notebooks, sections, and pages in OneNote
Basic tasks using a screen reader with OneNote
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use OneNote for Windows 10 with your keyboard and a screen reader to share your notebooks and efficiently collaborate with your colleagues. We have tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll also learn how to make copies of specific notes, and share them.
Notes:
-
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.
-
To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Send a copy by email
With OneNote for Windows 10, you can easily email a copy of your notes by email.
-
Make sure the page you want to share is active in the editing mode.
-
To send a copy of the page, press Alt+H. You hear: “Home tab.” Then press the Tab key until you hear “Share button,” and press Spacebar to select. The Share dialog box opens. You hear: “Enter a name or email address for people to share with.”
-
Press the Tab key until you hear "Send copy of page, button," and press Enter. A pop-up window opens and you hear "You are sharing," followed by the title of the page you are sharing.
-
Press the Tab key until you hear "Share to apps, Mail," and press Enter to select.
Note: You might be asked to select the account you want to use. Use the Tab key to browse the options, and press Enter to select.
-
The Mail for Windows 10 app opens, with the focus in the To field, where you can type the emails of the people to whom you would like to send the copy. For instructions on how to send an email message using a screen reader, go to Basic tasks using a screen reader with Mail.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert content to notebooks in OneNote
Use a screen reader to organize notebooks, sections, and pages in OneNote
Basic tasks using a screen reader with OneNote
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use OneNote for the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to share your notebooks and efficiently collaborate with your colleagues. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge and JAWS and NVDA in Chrome, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
Notes:
-
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.
-
To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
-
When you use OneNote for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because OneNote for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you’ll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not OneNote for the web.
In this topic
Get a notebook link
Instead of sending invitations from OneNote for the web, you can also send a link to your colleagues via email or instant messaging.
-
Open the notebook you would like to share in OneNote for the web.
-
Press Ctrl+F6 until you hear, with Narrator and JAWS, "Ribbon tabs," followed by the name of the currently selected tab. With NVDA, you hear "Ribbon tool bar, tab control," followed by the name of the currently selected tab.
-
Press Z and then S. You hear: "Share." Press Enter. The Share dialog box opens and the focus is on the To field.
-
Press the Tab key until you hear: "Link settings, People in your organization with the link can edit."
Note: If you have previously shared the file and changed the sharing setting, you might hear the previous setting you selected instead, for example, "Share dialog, Link settings, People with existing access."
-
If you want to change who the link you want to share works for, or whether the recipient can edit the shared notebook, press Enter. The Link settings dialog box opens. Do one or more of the following:
-
To restrict the link to a particular user or users, press the Tab key until you hear "Link settings, who would you like this link to work for?" Press the Down or Up arrow key until you hear the option you want. With JAWS, press Spacebar to confirm the selection.
-
To change the link to a view link, press the Tab key until you hear "Other settings, Allow editing, checkbox checked," and then press Spacebar. With Narrator, you hear: "Unchecked." With JAWS and NVDA, you hear: "Not checked."
-
-
To confirm the selections in the Link settings dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear "Apply button," and press Enter. The Link copied window opens, with the focus on the address of the created link.
-
To copy the link to your clipboard, press Ctrl+C. The link can now be pasted in an email or instant message you are sending to your collaborators.
-
After copying the link, press Esc twice to return to the notebook.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert content to notebooks in OneNote
Use a screen reader to organize notebooks, sections, and pages in OneNote
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.
