Appendix I: History of Narrator Updates

Enhance Windows applications with Narrator extensions

Narrator makes the use of applications such as Outlook and Excel more efficient by utilizing Narrator Extensions. For more information on Narrator extensions, refer to Chapter 7: Customizing Narrator. Please refer to Appendix E: Narrator with Outlook and Appendix F: Narrator with Excel for additional information on Narrator's support for Outlook and Excel with extensions.

Additional Narrator Natural Voices Added

With more natural voices, Narrator users can enjoy tasks like browsing the web, reading, authoring mail, and more. Natural Narrator voices use modern, on-device, text-to-speech which once downloaded are supported without an internet connection. Narrator provides natural voices in multiple languages and more are added over time so you should check to see if your preferred language is on the list. For More information of language list, refer to Appendix A: Supported languages and voices.

Install natural voices

Narrator will announce that more natural voices are available when you open Narrator. To add the new voice:

1. Select Install now on the announcement window to go to the Narrator settings.

2. Select Add button under the Add natural voices section.

3. Select the voice you want to install. You can install all voices, but you must install them separately. The voices for your current display language will be shown by default.

4. If you wish to see what other languages are supported, then Tab to Choose a language link and invoke it. You can select any language from the list. After selecting the language invoke the Next button to see the voices available for the selected language.

5. To hear a preview of the voice, select Preview . Only the U. S. English voices can be previewed.

6. Select Install to start the download of the selected voice.

Improvements to Braille

In Previous release, we have added support for more braille displays along with improved interaction between Narrator and third-party screen readers when used with your braille display. To learn more about release, read our blog or go to February 28, 2023—KB5022913 (OS Build 22621.1344) Preview. Refer to Chapter 8: Using Narrator with braille for the full description of the new braille features and Appendix C: Supported braille displays for the list of supported braille displays.

New and changed keyboard commands

Web improvements

A collection of improvements have been made to web browsing with Microsoft Edge and Narrator. These include:

• You will have a more consistent navigation experience with the Narrator. This includes improvements in heading navigation, a more consistent scan mode navigation experience where scan mode is less likely to loop between items, and a more consistent hyperlink reading experience when navigating forward and backward.

• When you encounter a dialog box on the web, Narrator will help you stay focused within the dialog box and prevent navigation to the content that’s behind it.

• Typing in edit fields, such as the address bar, is now easier because Narrator scan mode will now turn off faster. Specifically, if you press Ctrl + L key to jump to the address bar, you should be able to start typing immediately because scan mode will turn off sooner. This improvement will also help when filling in form fields such as typing your name and address in different edit boxes.

• Deleting text in edit fields is now easier. The narrator will now read the character that the cursor position is at after a character has been deleted. In other words, if the cursor is on the “h” of “hello” and you press delete, Narrator will speak “e.” In addition, if you need to cut a large set of text with Ctrl + X , Narrator will confirm that the text has been cut. You will notice this in Edge and in all apps where you can edit, such as Notepad, Outlook, Microsoft Word, and others.

• When backspacing, Narrator will now more consistently announce when you’re deleting characters with Backspace.

Additional support for web standards has been added. These include:

• You can have Narrator read the current item (e.g., current page, current time etc.).

• Web form fields such as radio buttons and edit fields that are marked as being mandatory will be announced as required when being used.

• When you need to sort a table on the web, Narrator will announce the sort order you’ve selected (e.g., ascending, descending).

• Improvements have been made to the way lists are read. This includes the proper reading of list levels and accurate list indices. Narrator will also announce the state of a checkbox that is contained inside of a list.

• Improved navigating using links.

• Using the Tab key to move through links on a webpage and pressing Enter will always take you to the link destination.

• It is now also easier to know when an item is selected in a tree view control.

New or notable commands