Black bars appear in a Word 2002 document when a screen reader is active

When a screen reader (for example, Microsoft Narrator) is active, a Microsoft Word 2002 document may appear on the screen with black bars obscuring a part of the page.

This problem occurs if all the following conditions are true:

• The document has more than one page.
• The document contains an AutoShape that is behind the text.
• The zoom factor is set to 80% - 85 % or higher.

How to obtain the hotfix

This issue is fixed in the Word 2002 post-Service Pack 3 Hotfix Package that is dated March 1, 2004. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: After you install this hotfix, follow the steps that are listed in the "More Information" section of this article to set the IgnoreScreenReaders registry key and to activate the hotfix.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

Warning If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
To activate this hotfix, follow these steps:

1. Quit Word 2002.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
4. Locate, and then click to select the following registry key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Word\Options
5. After you select the key that is specified in step 4, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click DWORD Value.
6. Type AlternateDisplayMethodForScreenReaders, and then press ENTER.
7. Right-click AlternateDisplayMethodForScreenReaders, and then click Modify.
8. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
9. On the File menu, click Exit to quit Registry Editor.