This article is for people with visual or cognitive impairments 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 Outlook with your keyboard and a screen reader to create and add a Microsoft Forms poll to an email message. We have tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers and browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll also learn how to check the poll results straight from your email.
Notes:
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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.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Create a poll
You can create a new poll straight from an Outlook email message.
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Sign in to your Microsoft Forms account as instructed in the section Open and sign in to Microsoft Forms in Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Forms.
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In the Outlook email message you're composing, press Alt+N, P, and then 1. The Poll pane opens.
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Press Spacebar. You hear: "Microsoft Forms, input your question." Type the poll question.
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To add the first answer option, press the Tab key once. You hear: "Please enter a name for this option, edit, option 1." Type the option text. To add the second answer option, press the Tab key until you hear "Please enter a name for this option, edit, option 2," and type the option.
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To add additional answer options, press the Tab key until you hear "Add option," press Enter, and type the option. Repeat this step for all additional answer options you want to add.
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If you want to allow the responders to select multiple answers, press the Tab key until you reach the Multiple answers button, and press Spacebar.
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When your poll is ready, press the Tab key until you hear "Next, button," and press Enter. The preview of the poll is displayed.
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To insert the poll into your email message, press the Tab key until you hear "Add to email," and press Enter. For the respondents within your organization the poll will be shown in the body of the email. The respondents outside your organization will get a link that directs them to vote in a browser.
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You can now add the respondents' email addresses, any additional message you have for them, and send the email.
The poll question is automatically added as the subject of your message. Your email address is added to the Cc field.
You will receive a copy of the email. Keep this email if you want to use Outlook to check the responses.
Check the responses
You can check the responses directly from Outlook. Alternatively, you can review the responses in Microsoft Forms. For instructions, go to Use a screen reader to check and share your form or quiz results in Microsoft Forms.
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Go to and open the copy of the email that you received after sending the email with the poll.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "View results," and press Spacebar.
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To read the results from the top of the message with Narrator, press the SR key+R. With JAWS and NVDA, press the SR key+Down arrow key.
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To refresh the results, press the Tab key until you reach the Refresh button, and press Spacebar.
See also
Use a screen reader to format your email text in Mail
Use a screen reader to check and share your form or quiz results in Microsoft Forms
Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Forms
Use Outlook for Mac with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to create and add a Microsoft Forms poll to an email message. You'll also learn how to check the poll results straight from your email.
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
Create a poll
You can create a new poll straight from an Outlook email message.
-
Sign in to your Microsoft Forms account as instructed in the "Open and sign in to Microsoft Forms" section in Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Forms.
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In the Outlook email message you're composing, press Shift+Tab until you hear "More items button," and press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Poll," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. The Poll pane opens. The focus is in the Input your question field.
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Type the poll question.
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To add the first answer option, press the Tab key once. You hear: "Option. Please enter a name for this option." Type the option text. To add the second answer option, press the Tab key until you hear "Option. Please enter a name for this option," and type the option.
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To add additional answer options, press the Tab key until you hear "Add option," press Control+Option+Spacebar, and type the option. Repeat this step for all additional answer options you want to add.
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If you want to allow the responders to select multiple answers, press the Tab key until you reach the Multiple answers button, and press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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When your poll is ready, press the Tab key until you hear "Next button," and press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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The preview of the poll opens. To navigate the preview, press Control+Option+Left or Right arrow key.
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To insert the poll to your email message, press the Tab key until you hear "Add to email," and press Control+Option+Spacebar. For the respondents within your organization the poll will be shown in the body of the email. The respondents outside your organization will get a link that directs them to vote in a browser.
-
You can now add the respondents' email addresses, any additional message you have for them, and send the email.
The poll question is automatically added as the subject of your message. Your email address is added to the Cc field.
You will receive a copy of the email. Keep this email if you want to use Outlook to check the responses.
Check the responses
You can check the responses directly from Outlook. Alternatively, you can review the responses in Microsoft Forms. For instructions, go to Use a screen reader to check and share your form or quiz results in Microsoft Forms.
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Go to and open the copy of the email that you received after sending the email with the poll.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "View results," and press Control+Option+Spacebar.
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To read the results from the top of the message, press Control+Option+A.
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To refresh the results, press the Tab key until you reach the Refresh button, and press Control+Option+Spacebar.
See also
Use a screen reader to format text in your email in Outlook
Use a screen reader to check and share your form or quiz results in Microsoft Forms
Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Forms
Use Outlook on the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to create and add a Microsoft Forms poll to an email message. 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 add questions and options to the poll, and how to review the responses.
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.
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This topic assumes that the Reading pane is off.
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When you use Outlook on the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because Outlook on 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 Outlook on the web.
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We're currently updating Outlook.office.com (Outlook on the Web). Some people are already using the new Outlook, and for others the classic version will be the default experience until we complete the update. For more information, go to Get help with the new Outlook on the web. Since the instructions in this topic apply to the new experience, we recommend that you switch from the classic experience to the new Outlook. To switch to the new Outlook, press Ctrl+F6 until you hear "Command, Try the new Outlook," and then press Enter. If you hear "Command toolbar" instead of "Command, Try the new Outlook," you're already using the new Outlook.
In this topic
Create a poll
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In the Outlook on the web email message you want to add the poll to, press the Tab key until you hear "Discard button," press the Right or Down arrow key until you hear "More compose actions," and press Enter.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Poll," and press Enter. The Poll pane opens.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Input your question," and then type the poll question.
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To add the first answer option, press the Tab key once. You hear: "Option. Please enter a name for this option, edit, option one." Type the option text. To add the second answer option, press the Tab key until you hear "Option. Please enter a name for this option, edit, option two," and type the option.
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To add additional answer options, press the Tab key until you hear "Add option," press Enter, and type the option. Repeat this step for all additional answer options you want to add.
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If you want to allow the poll participants to select more than one option, press the Tab key until you hear "Multiple answers," and press Spacebar.
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When your poll is ready, press the Tab key until you hear "Next, button," and press Enter. The preview of the poll is displayed.
-
To insert the poll into your email message, press the Tab key until you hear "Add to email," and press Enter. For the respondents within your organization the poll will be shown in the body of the email. The respondents outside your organization will get a link that directs them to vote in a browser.
-
You can now add the respondents' email addresses, any additional message you have for them, and send the email.
The poll question is automatically added as the subject of your message. Your email address is added to the Cc field.
You will receive a copy of the email. Keep this email if you want to use Outlook to check the responses.
Check the responses
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In your Outlook on the web inbox, navigate to the email message containing the poll, and press Enter to open it.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "View results," and press Enter.
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To read the results. press the Down arrow key.
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To refresh the results, press the Tab key until you reach the Refresh button, and press Enter.
See also
Use a screen reader to format your email text in Mail
Use a screen reader to check and share your form or quiz results in Microsoft Forms
Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook
Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Forms
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.
