Use a screen reader to work with the board view in Project
Applies ToProject for the web

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 Project for the web with your keyboard and screen reader to work with project tasks in a board format. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll also learn how to organize tasks into buckets and view them as columns of various groupings.

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 Project for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because Project 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 Project for the web.

In this topic

Open the board view

  1. In Project for the web, open the project you want to view.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear: "Grid tab, item."

  3. To open the board view, press I until you hear "Board tab, item," and then press Enter. The board view opens and the focus is on the first column of the board.

Tip: When you open a project, it displays with the view that you last used for it.

Create a bucket

You can use buckets to organize project tasks into groupings.

  1. To create a bucket, in the board view, press the Tab key until you hear "Add bucket," and then press Enter.

  2. Type a name for the bucket, and then press Enter. The bucket is created.

Manage buckets

You can rename, move, or delete the buckets in your project.

Note: To manage buckets, the tasks must be grouped by bucket in the board view. For instructions, refer to Change the task grouping.

  1. In the board view, press the Tab key until you hear "Bucket," followed by the name of the bucket you want to edit.

  2. Press I until you hear "More options," and then press Enter. You hear: "Rename."

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To rename the bucket, press Enter. Modify the bucket name as needed, and then press Enter to save.

    • To delete the bucket, press the Tab key until you hear "Delete," and then press Enter. To confirm deleting the bucket, press the Tab key until you hear "Delete," and then press Enter.

      Note: When a bucket is deleted, all tasks within the bucket are deleted, too.

    • To move the bucket one column to the left, press the Tab key until you hear "Move left," and then press Enter.

Create a task

  1. To create a task, in the board view, press the Tab key until you hear the name of the board column you want to create the task in.

  2. Press I until you hear "Add task," and then press Enter.

  3. Type the task name.

  4. To optionally define a finish date, the bucket for the task, or assign the task to a resource, press I until you hear the field you want to modify, and then press Enter. Use the Tab key or the arrow keys to navigate to the value you want, and then press Enter to select it.

  5. To create the task, press the Tab key until you hear "Add task," and then press Enter. You hear "Added task," followed by the name of the task.

  6. To define more task details, refer to Manage tasks in the board view.

Tip: To quickly create a series of tasks in a column, after typing the name of the first task, press Enter. The focus returns to the task name field, so you can continue adding tasks to the same column.

Manage tasks in the board view

You can access and update task details directly from the board view.

  1. In the board view, press the Tab key until you hear the name of the board column that contains the task you want to edit.

  2. To open the task, press I until you hear the name of the task you want, and then press Enter. The task details pane opens.

  3. Use the Tab key to move between the task details fields and make the changes you want to them. The changes are automatically saved. For information on the various fields, go to Use a screen reader to view and edit task details.

  4. To close the task details pane, press Esc.

Delete a task

  1. In the board view, press the Tab key until you hear the name of the board column that contains the task you want to delete.

  2. To navigate to the task you want, press I until you hear the name of the task.

  3. Press I until you hear "More options," and then press Enter.

  4. To delete the task, press the Tab key until you hear "Delete item," and then press Enter.

Change the task grouping

You can change how the board view groups tasks into columns. By default, the board view groups tasks by buckets. When you open the board view for a project, it displays with the grouping you last used for it.

  1. In the board view, press the Tab key until you hear "Group by," followed by the current grouping option, and press Enter.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear the grouping option you want, and then press Enter to select.

See also

Use a screen reader to work with the grid view in Project

Use a screen reader to work with the timeline view in Project

Use a screen reader to view and edit task details in Project

Keyboard shortcuts for Project

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Project

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Project

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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