Use a screen reader to attend a PowerPoint Live session in Microsoft Teams
Applies ToPowerPoint for Microsoft 365 PowerPoint for Microsoft 365 for Mac PowerPoint for the web Microsoft Teams

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 PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams with your keyboard and a screen reader to attend and engage in a meeting. 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 learn how to check what’s ahead or refer to the previous slides in a presentation. You'll also learn how to switch to a high contrast view and send live emoji reactions to the presenter.

Notes: 

In this topic

Learn the PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams layout

PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams is an entirely new remote presenting and meeting experience. You can enjoy the rich presenting capabilities of PowerPoint and the smooth collaboration features of Microsoft Teams. 

You can also benefit from the enhanced privacy and use assistive technologies without having to ask the presenter to do anything about it.

In a Microsoft Teams meeting, the main content area in the center of the screen shows the currently presented slide. Below the slide, you can find the PowerPoint Live toolbar containing the following buttons:

  • The slide navigation buttons on the left for moving forwards or backwards in the presentation

  • The Sync to Presenter button to return to the slide the presenter is currently showing. This button is available when you've navigated away from the presenter's current slide.

  • The button for switching from Slide Show View to Grid View

  • The More actions button for displaying additional options

To get to know the Microsoft Teams layout in general, refer to Learning the layout of Microsoft Teams with a screen reader.

Open and close PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams 

The only thing you need to do to open PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams is to join a Microsoft Teams meeting where the presenter is using PowerPoint Live. Then the PowerPoint Live controls will be available in your Microsoft Teams meeting view automatically. Also, when you leave the meeting, the PowerPoint Live presentation closes when Microsoft Teams closes.

To learn how to join or leave a Microsoft Teams meeting, refer to Use a screen reader to join a meeting in Microsoft Teams.

Change to high contrast view

  1. In the Microsoft Teams meeting where the presenter is using PowerPoint Live, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "More actions," and press Enter.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear "View slides in high contrast," and press Enter.

Read slide contents

The screen readers automatically announce the slide number and title when you're navigating through the slides. To hear the full slide content, follow these steps: 

  1. In the Microsoft Teams meeting where the presenter is using PowerPoint Live, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear the slide heading, followed by "Current slide pane," and the number of the current slide. The focus is now on the slide content in the presentation.

  2. With Narrator, switch the scan mode on. With JAWS and NVDA, switch to the virtual browser.

  3. To read the contents of the slide, press the Down arrow key repeatedly. Your screen reader announces the content and formatting on the slide.

Move to previous or next slide

You can skip ahead to upcoming slides or revisit previous slides without having to ask the presenter to navigate to the slides for you. You can browse the slides at your own pace, and it won't affect the presentation at all.

  1. In the Microsoft Teams meeting where the presenter is using PowerPoint Live, do one or more of the following:

    • To move to the next slide in the presentation, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Navigate forward," and press Enter.

    • To move to the previous slide, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Navigate back," and press Enter.

    • To move to the slide the presenter is currently presenting, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Live, sync to presenter," and press Enter.

React with emojis

  1. In the Microsoft Teams meeting, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear: "Meeting controls."

  2. Press the Left, Right, Up, or Down arrow key until you hear "React or raise your hand," and press Enter.

  3. Press the Left, Right, Up, or Down arrow key until you hear the emoji you want to react with.

  4. To send your reaction, press Enter.

See also

Use a screen reader to share and co-present with PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams

Take advantage of the accessibility features in Microsoft Teams for a better meeting or live event experience

Accessibility tools for Microsoft Teams

Use a screen reader to join a meeting in Microsoft Teams

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Teams

Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Teams

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Microsoft Teams

Use PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to attend and engage in a meeting.

You'll learn how to check what’s ahead or refer to the previous slides in a presentation. You'll also learn how to switch to a high contrast view and send live emoji reactions to the presenter.

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

Learn the PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams layout

PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams is an entirely new remote presenting and meeting experience. You can enjoy the rich presenting capabilities of PowerPoint and the smooth collaboration features of Microsoft Teams. 

You can also benefit from the enhanced privacy and use assistive technologies without having to ask the presenter to do anything about it.

In a Microsoft Teams meeting, the main content area in the center of the screen shows the currently presented slide. Below the slide, you can find the PowerPoint Live toolbar containing the following buttons:

  • The slide navigation buttons on the left for moving forwards or backwards in the presentation

  • The Sync to Presenter button to return to the slide the presenter is currently showing. This button is available when you've navigated away from the presenter's current slide.

  • The button for switching from the focus view to the grid view

  • The More actions button for displaying additional options

To get to know the Microsoft Teams layout in general, refer to Learning the layout of Microsoft Teams with a screen reader.

Open and close PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams 

The only thing you need to do to open PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams is to join a Microsoft Teams meeting where the presenter is using PowerPoint Live. Then the PowerPoint Live controls will be available in your Microsoft Teams meeting view automatically. Also, when you leave the meeting, the PowerPoint Live presentation closes when Microsoft Teams closes.

To learn how to join or leave a Microsoft Teams meeting, refer to Use a screen reader to join a meeting in Microsoft Teams.

Change to high contrast view

  1. Press Control+Option+Right arrow key or the Tab key until you hear "More actions button," and press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  2. Press Control+Option+Right arrow key until you hear "View slides in high contrast," and press Control+Option+Spacebar.

Read slide contents

VoiceOver automatically announces the slide number and title when you're navigating through the slides. To hear the full slide content, follow these steps:

  1. Press the Tab key until you hear: "Current slide pane, presentation." The focus is now on the slide content in the presentation.

  2. Press Control+Option+Right arrow key to navigate through and listen to the slide content. You hear "End of current slide, pane" when you've reached the end of the slide.

Move to previous or next slide

You can skip ahead to upcoming slides or revisit previous slides without having to ask the presenter to navigate to the slides for you. You can browse the slides at your own pace, and it won't affect the presentation at all. 

  1. In the Microsoft Teams meeting where the presenter is using PowerPoint Live, do one or more of the following:

    • To move to the next slide in the presentation, press Control+Option+Right arrow key or the Tab key until you hear "Navigate forward," and press Control+Option+Spacebar.

    • To move to the previous slide, press the Tab key until you hear "Navigate back," and press Control+Option+Spacebar.

    • To move to the slide the presenter is currently presenting, press the Tab key until you hear "Live, sync to presenter," and press Control+Option+Spacebar.

React with emojis

  1. In the Microsoft Teams meeting, press Shift+Tab until you hear: "Entering toolbar."

  2. Press Control+Option+Right or Left arrow key until you hear "React or raise your hand," and press Control+Option+Spacebar.

  3. Press the Control+Option+Right arrow key until you hear the emoji you want to react with.

  4. To send your reaction, press Control+Option+Spacebar.

See also

Use a screen reader to share and co-present with PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams

Take advantage of the accessibility features in Microsoft Teams for a better meeting or live event experience

Accessibility tools for Microsoft Teams

Use a screen reader to join a meeting in Microsoft Teams

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Teams

Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Teams

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Microsoft Teams

Use PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams with your keyboard and a screen reader to attend and engage in a meeting. 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.

You'll learn how to check what’s ahead or refer to the previous slides in a presentation. You'll also learn how to switch to a high contrast view and send live emoji reactions to the presenter.

Notes: 

In this topic

Learn the PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams layout

PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams is an entirely new remote presenting and meeting experience. You can enjoy the rich presenting capabilities of PowerPoint and the smooth collaboration features of Microsoft Teams. 

You can also benefit from the enhanced privacy and use assistive technologies without having to ask the presenter to do anything about it.

In a Microsoft Teams meeting, the main content area in the center of the screen shows the currently presented slide. Below the slide, you can find the PowerPoint Live toolbar containing the following buttons:

  • The slide navigation buttons on the left for moving forwards or backwards in the presentation

  • The Sync to Presenter button to return to the slide the presenter is currently showing. This button is available when you've navigated away from the presenter's current slide.

  • The button for switching from the focus view to the grid view

  • The More actions button for displaying additional options

To get to know the Microsoft Teams layout in general, refer to Learning the layout of Microsoft Teams with a screen reader.

Open and close PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams 

The only thing you need to do to open PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams is to join a Microsoft Teams meeting where the presenter is using PowerPoint Live. Then the PowerPoint Live controls will be available in your Microsoft Teams meeting view automatically. Also, when you leave the meeting, the PowerPoint Live presentation closes when Microsoft Teams closes.

To learn how to join or leave a Microsoft Teams meeting, refer to Use a screen reader to join a meeting in Microsoft Teams.

Change to high contrast view

  1. In the Microsoft Teams meeting where the presenter is using PowerPoint Live, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "More actions," and press Enter.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear "View slides in high contrast," and press Enter.

Read slide contents 

The screen readers automatically announce the slide number and title when you're navigating through the slides. To hear the full slide content, follow these steps:

  1. In the Microsoft Teams meeting where the presenter is using PowerPoint Live, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Current slide pane, group," followed by the number of the current slide. The focus is now on the slide content in the presentation.

  2. With Narrator, switch the scan mode on. With JAWS and NVDA, switch to the virtual browser.

  3. To read the contents of the slide, press the Down arrow key repeatedly. Your screen reader announces the content and formatting on the slide.

Move to previous or next slide

You can skip ahead to upcoming slides or revisit previous slides without having to ask the presenter to navigate to the slides for you. You can browse the slides at your own pace, and it won't affect the presentation at all.

  1. In the Microsoft Teams meeting where the presenter is using PowerPoint Live, do one or more of the following:

    • To move to the next slide in the presentation, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Navigate forward," and press Enter.

    • To move to the previous slide, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Navigate back," and press Enter.

    • To move to the slide the presenter is currently presenting, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Live, sync to presenter," and press Enter.

React with emojis

  1. In the Microsoft Teams meeting, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear: "Meeting controls."

  2. Press the Left, Right, Up, or Down arrow key until you hear "React or raise your hand," and press Enter.

  3. Press the Left, Right, Up, or Down arrow key until you hear the emoji you want to react with.

  4. To send your reaction, press Enter.

See also

Use a screen reader to share and co-present with PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams

Accessibility tools for Microsoft Teams

Use a screen reader to join a meeting in Microsoft Teams

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Teams

Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Teams

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Microsoft Teams

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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