Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word

Use Word with your keyboard and a screen reader to add or change text in a document. We've 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 also learn how to change the font, apply formatting styles, and use built-in heading styles to improve the accessibility and usability of your document.

In this topic

• Add text to a document
• Find and replace text
• Select text
• Use headings
• Apply bold, italic, and underline formatting
• Change the font and font size
• Use theme fonts

Add text to a document

1. Open the Word document you want to add text to. The focus is on the editing area in the document body.
2. Press the arrow keys until you hear the place where you want to add text and start typing.
3. When you are finished, press Ctrl+S to save your changes. For info on additional saving options, refer to Use a screen reader to save a document in Word.

Find and replace text

1. While editing a Word document, press Ctrl+H. You hear: "Find and replace." The focus is on the Find what text field.

2. Type the word or phrase you want to find and replace.

3. Press the Tab key. You hear: "Replace with." Type the word or phrase with which to replace the original one.

4. Do one of the following:

   • To find and replace matching words or phrases one by one, press Alt+R. The first instance is replaced in the document body. Repeat for all instances you want to replace. If you want to skip replacing an instance, press Alt+F to move to the next one.
   • To replace all matching words or phrases in the text, press Alt+A. You hear an alert indicating the number of replacements. To close the alert window, press Enter.

Select text

You can quickly select all text in your document, or just a particular piece of the text.

• To select all text, press Ctrl+A.
• To select a piece of text, move to the text you want to select, and then press and hold down Shift. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor until the text is selected.

Use headings

Headings are very important for the document accessibility, navigation, and usability. To make sure that your headings work correctly for accessibility, use the built-in heading styles when you create headings. This way your screen reader and Word exchange the right information for smooth navigation.

You can also use the headings as link targets to create hyperlinks within the current document. For instructions, refer to the section "Link to a location within a document" in Use a screen reader to insert a hyperlink in Word.

1. In your document, select the text you want to turn into a heading.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To apply Heading 1 style, press Ctrl+Alt+1.
   • To apply Heading 2 style, press Ctrl+Alt+2.
   • To apply Heading 3 style, press Ctrl+Alt+3.
   • To browse for more heading styles, press Alt+H, L. Press the arrow keys until you hear the style you want, and then press Enter to apply it to your document.

Apply bold, italic, and underline formatting

Using character formatting can improve the readability of your document.

1. In your document, select the text you want to format.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To apply bold formatting, press Ctrl+B.
   • To apply italic formatting, press Ctrl+I.
   • To apply underlined formatting, press Ctrl+U.

Change the font and font size

To make your document accessible for all users, switch the font to a more readable one, or make the text bigger or smaller.

Change to a different font

1. In your document, select the text you want to format.

2. Press Alt+H, F, F. You hear: "Font," followed by the current font.

3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the font you want, and then press Enter.

   Tip

   To jump directly to a font you have already decided to use, start typing the name of the font. For example, type ti to find Times New Roman.

Change font size

1. In your document, select the text you want to resize.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To make the text 1 point larger, press Ctrl+Right bracket (]).
   • To make the text 1 point smaller, press Ctrl+Left bracket ([).
   • To make the text incrementally larger according to the sizes in the Increase Font Size button, press Ctrl+Shift+Greater than sign (>).
   • To make the text incrementally smaller according to the sizes in the Decrease Font Size button, press Ctrl+Shift+Less than sign (<).
   • To select a particular size, press Alt+H, F, S. You hear the current font size. Type the font size you want, and then press Enter.

Change several font properties at once

You can browse font properties and effects and change several at once in the Font dialog box.

1. In your document, select the text you want to format.

2. To open the Font dialog box, press Alt+H, F, N.

3. Do one or more of the following:

   • To go to and change the font properties:

     • Font, press Alt+F, and then press the Down arrow key until you hear the font you want.
     • Font style, press Alt+Y, and then press the Down arrow key until you hear the font style you want.
     • Font size, press Alt+S, and then press the Down arrow key until you hear the font size you want.
     • Font color, press Alt+C, press the arrow keys until you hear the font color you want, and then press Enter.
     • Underline style, press Alt+U, press the Down arrow key until you hear the underline style you want, and then press Enter.
     • Underline color, press Alt+I, press the arrow keys until you hear the underline color you want, and then press Enter.

   • To go to and select the font effects:

     • Strikethrough, press Alt+K.
     • Double strikethrough, press Alt+L.
     • Superscript, press Alt+P.
     • Subscript, press Alt+B.
     • Small caps, press Alt+M.
     • All caps, press Alt+A.
     • Hidden, press Alt+H.
     • Set As Default, press Alt+D, and then press Enter.
     • Text Effects, press Alt+E, and then press Enter.
     • Advanced tab, press Alt+V.
     • Font tab, press Alt+N.

4. To apply the changes, press the Tab key until you hear "OK," and then press Enter.

Use theme fonts

Theme fonts change the fonts in your entire document. They use a pair of fonts that are designed to work well together. The first font is used for headings and the second for the body text.

1. In your document, press Alt+G, T, F.
2. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the font you want, and then press Enter.

See also

Use a screen reader to insert a picture or image in Word

Use a screen reader to create bulleted or numbered lists with Word

Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

Use Word for the web with a screen reader and your keyboard to add or change text in a document. 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 also learn how to change the font, apply formatting styles, and use headings to improve your text flow.

In this topic

• Add text to a document
• Find and replace text
• Select text
• Use headings
• Apply bold, italic, and underline formatting
• Change the font and font size
• Use theme fonts

Add text to a document

1. Open the Word for the web document you want to add text to. When the document opens, the focus is on the editing area in the document body.
2. Press the arrow keys until you hear the place where you want to add text and start typing. Changes are saved automatically.

Find and replace text

1. While you're editing a Word for the web document, press Ctrl+F. The Search pane opens. The focus is on the search text field.
   In older JAWS versions, to find and replace text, press Ctrl+H.

2. Press Shift+Tab until you hear "More actions menu," and press Enter. Press the Up arrow key once. You hear: "Replace." Press Enter to select. The focus returns to the search text field.

3. Type the word or phrase you want to replace. The search results list is updated as you type.

4. Press the Tab key until you hear "Replace with," and then type the word or phrase with which you want to replace the original wording.

5. To browse the list of search results, press the Tab key until you hear "Previous result" or "Next result" and press Enter. The screen reader announces the instances as you move in the list.

6. Do one of the following:

   • To replace search results one at a time, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Replace," and then press Enter. Navigate to the next instance and repeat this step if needed.
   • To replace all instances, press the Tab key until you hear "Replace all," and press Enter.

Select text

You can quickly select all text in your document, or just a particular piece of the text.

• To select all text, press Ctrl+A.
• To select a piece of text, move to the text you want to select, and then press and hold down Shift. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor until the text is selected.

Use headings

Headings are very important for the document accessibility, navigation, and usability. To make sure that your headings work correctly for accessibility, use the built-in heading styles when you create headings. This way your screen reader and Word exchange the right information for smooth navigation.

1. In your document, select the text you want to turn into a heading.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To apply Heading 1 style, press Ctrl+Alt+1.
   • To apply Heading 2 style, press Ctrl+Alt+2.
   • To apply Heading 3 style, press Ctrl+Alt+3.
   • To browse for more heading styles, press Alt+Windows logo key, and then H and L. Press the Tab key until you hear the style you want, and then press Enter to select.

Apply bold, italic, and underline formatting

The use of character formatting can improve the readability of your document.

1. In your document, select the text you want to format.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To apply bold formatting, press Ctrl+B.
   • To apply italic formatting, press Ctrl+I.
   • To apply underlined formatting, press Ctrl+U.

Change the font and font size

To make your document accessible for all users, switch the font to a more readable one, or make the text bigger or smaller.

Change to a different font

1. In your document, select the text you want to format.

2. Press Alt+Windows logo key, and then H, F, and F. You hear: "Font name."

3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the font you want, and then press Enter.

   Tip

   To jump directly to a font you have already decided to use, start typing the name of the font. For example, type ti to find Times New Roman.

Change font size

1. In your document, select the text you want to resize.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To make the text 1 point larger, press Ctrl+Right bracket (]).
   • To make the text 1 point smaller, press Ctrl+Left bracket ([).
   • To make the text incrementally larger according to the sizes in the Increase Font Size button, press Ctrl+Shift+Greater than sign (>).
   • To make the text incrementally smaller according to the sizes in the Decrease Font Size button, press Ctrl+Shift+Less than sign (<).
   • To select a particular font size, press Alt+Windows logo key+H, F, and S. You hear: "Font size." Type the font size you want, and then press Enter.

Change several font properties

You can browse font properties and change them using the options in the Font group on the Home tab.

1. In your document, select the text you want to format.

2. To go to the Home tab, press Alt+Windows logo key+H.

3. Do one or more of the following:

   • To go to and change:

     • Font, press F and then F, and then press the Down arrow key until you hear the font you want, and press Enter.
     • Font style, press F and then Y. Press the Tab key, and then use the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the font style you want, and press Enter.
     • Font size, press F and then S, and then press the Down arrow key until you hear the font size you want, and press Enter.
     • Font Color, press F and then C. Press the Tab key until you hear the font color you want, and then press Enter.
     • Text Highlight Color, press I. Press the Tab key until you hear the highlight color you want, and then press Enter.

   • To go to and select:

     • Strikethrough, press 4.
     • Superscript, press 6.
     • Subscript, press 5.

Use theme fonts

Theme fonts change the fonts in your entire document. They use a pair of fonts that are designed to work well together. The first font is used for headings and the second for the body text.

1. In your document, press Alt+Windows logo key+H, F, and F. You hear: "Font name."

2. Press Alt+Down arrow key to expand the Font menu.

3. Press the Up arrow key until you hear the name of a font, followed by either "Headings" or "Body," and then press Enter to select.

   Tip

   Not all fonts are theme fonts. The theme fonts are usually located at the top of the menu.

See also

Use a screen reader to insert a picture or image in Word

Use a screen reader to check spelling and grammar in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word