Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Microsoft Teams
Applies ToMicrosoft Teams

This article is for people with visual or cognitive impairments who use a screen reader program such as Microsoft's Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with the 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 home or Fixes or workarounds for recent office issues.

Microsoft Teams is a chat-based hub for colleagues to work together. Use Microsoft Teams with your keyboard and a screen reader to explore and navigate the app main views and elements, and to move between views and functions. We have tested it with JAWS and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.

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Notes: 

In this topic

Cycle through the main screen elements

Navigate to a view

Microsoft Teams contains the following main views: Teams, Activity, Chat, Calendar, and Files.

Teams view

When you first sign in to the Microsoft Teams app, you land in the Teams view. The team with the most recent activity in your teams list is selected, and the team's conversation in the General channel is displayed. You can browse your teams, select a team's channel, add new channels, and join or leave a team. You can also access, modify, and contribute to the content of a team channel. For example, you can write a message or upload a file to share with your team.

To go to the Teams view after login, press Ctrl+3. The screen reader announces: "Teams and channels list." The focus is in the Favorites section in the list pane.

Tip: To quickly go to a specific channel or team, press Ctrl+E to move to the search field at the top of the screen. Type /goto, press Enter, and start typing the name of the channel or team. The list of search results is updated as you type. Press the Down arrow key to browse the list until you hear the result you want, and then press Enter. The requested team or channel opens in the Teams view.

Activity view

The Activity view contains activity feeds that contain a summary of everything that's happened in the team channels you follow or a summary of your recent activity.

To go to the Activity view, press Ctrl+1. The screen reader announces: "Feed is selected." The focus is on the listing option menu in the list pane.

Chat view

The Chat view lists your recent messages. You can browse the messages list, and open a message to write a reply, read a whole conversation, start a call, or share a file in a chat. You can also check a contact's details and start a private chat.

To go to the Chat view, press Ctrl+2. The screen reader announces: "Chat list." The focus is in the list of recent chats in the list pane.

Calendar view

The Calendar view lists your upcoming meetings. You can browse upcoming meetings, join an online meeting, or schedule a meeting.

To go to the Calendar view, press Ctrl+4. The screen reader announces: "Calendar grid." The focus is on the Today section in the list pane.

Calls view

In the Calls view, you can call your contacts directly from Microsoft Teams. You can also browse your call history and check your voice mail.

Note: The Calls feature is available in certain regions only.

To go to the Calls view, press Ctrl+5. You hear: "Calls list."

Files view

In the Files view, you can browse and open your personal files from OneDrive or your team's shared files in the native app, or edit them in Microsoft Teams. You can also download a file to your local device.

To go to the Files view, do one of the following:

  • If you have the Calls feature, press Ctrl+6.

  • If you don't have the Calls feature, press Ctrl+5.

The screen reader announces the details of the first file in the recent files list. The focus is on the first file in the content pane.

Navigate inside a view

Each view contains a main content area in the center of the screen. This area has been divided into a list pane and a content pane. The contents of each pane depend on the selected view.

When you select a view, the focus moves to either the list pane or content pane as described in Navigate to a view. To navigate between the list and content panes, press the Tab key, Shift+Tab, or Ctrl+F6.

List pane

The list pane is on the left side of the main content area. You can browse and select items and display them in detail in the content pane on the right. For example, in the Chat view, select a chat in the list pane, and the entire chat is displayed in the content pane. Depending on the selected view, you can also schedule a meeting or join a team.

  • To enter a list, press the Tab key or the Down arrow key until you hear the first item in the list.

  • To browse the items in a list pane, press the Up or Down arrow key. The screen reader announces the item details or buttons as you move.

  • To select an item in a list and display its details in the content pane, press Enter.

Content pane

The content pane is on the right side of the main content area. You can access the content of the item selected in the list pane. Depending on the selected view, you can also add channels and tabs, start a call, and type a message. The content pane also contains a tabs row on the top of the pane to organize the team assets, for example, to posts, shared files, or organizational info.

To navigate in the content pane:

Enable the JAWS virtual cursor

Recent versions of JAWS no longer have the virtual PC cursor mode set as default for Microsoft Teams. For more information on the JAWS virtual cursor, go to Use Microsoft Teams with the JAWS virtual cursor.

  1. With JAWS running, open Microsoft Teams.

  2. Press the SR key+6 to open the JAWS Settings Center window. The focus changes to the Search box in that window.

  3. In the Search box, type use virtual PC.

  4. Press the Tab key once to move the focus to the list of search results. You hear "Use virtual PC cursor," followed by the current setting of the virtual PC cursor option. If the current setting is "Unchecked," press Spacebar to select the Use virtual PC cursor check box.

  5. Press the Tab key until you hear "OK button," and press Enter.

Customize the app bar

You can add your favorite apps to the app bar and use them inside Microsoft Teams. This way you can quickly work with, for example, OneNote without leaving Microsoft Teams and your conversations there. You can also unpin any of the default Microsoft Teams views from the app bar.

Add an app to the app bar

  1. Press Ctrl+F6 until you hear "App bar," press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear "More added apps," and press Enter to open the menu. The focus moves to the search field.

  2. Start typing the name of the app you want to add, for example, OneNote. When you stop typing, you hear "Apps list updated," followed by the number of search results and the name of the currently selected app.

  3. Press the Up or Down arrow key to browse the search results. When you find the right app, press Enter to finish adding it to the app bar. You can now open the app within Microsoft Teams using the app bar.

Tip: If you later want to remove the app from the app bar, navigate to the app in the app bar and press Shift+F10. Then press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear "Uninstall," and press Enter. When the confirmation dialog box opens, press Enter again.

Unpin a default view from the app bar

If you find you seldom use some of the Microsoft Teams default views, such as Files, you can unpin them from the app bar. The views are not deleted permanently, and you can pin them back whenever you want.

  1. Press Ctrl+F6 until you hear "App bar," and press the Up or Down arrow key until you find the view you want to unpin.

  2. Press Shift+F10 to open the menu. You hear: "Unpin." Press Enter.

Tip: If you later want to return the view to the app bar, first add the view as instructed in Add an app to the app bar. Then navigate to the app in the app bar, and press Shift+F10. You hear: "Pin." Press Enter.

See also

Use a screen reader to chat in Microsoft Teams

Use a screen reader to search for a conversation, person, or file in Microsoft Teams

Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Teams

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Teams

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Video: Get started with Microsoft Teams

What's new in Microsoft 365: Release notes for Current Channel

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.

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