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 the Exchange admin center (EAC) with your keyboard and a screen reader to create mail flow rules (also known as transport rules) to enable or disable Microsoft 365 Message Encryption. This lets you encrypt outgoing email messages and remove encryption from encrypted messages coming from inside your organization or from replies to encrypted messages sent from your organization.
We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge and with JAWS in Chrome, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
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.
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Your organization must have Set up new Message Encryption capabilities before you can complete these tasks.
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To check that your admin role allows you to define these rules, refer to Use a screen reader to identify your admin role in the Exchange admin center.
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Exchange Online is included in Microsoft 365 business and enterprise subscription plans; however, capabilities might differ by plan. If your EAC doesn't include a function described in this article, your plan might not include it. For more information about the Exchange Online capabilities in your subscription plan, go to What Microsoft 365 business product or license do I have? and Exchange Online service description.
In this topic
Create a mail flow rule to encrypt email messages
You can create different rules for email encryption based on who the sender or recipient is, their location, organization, or address, or the message's subject, body, or attachment content. This example is based on encrypting email for a specific recipient, but other rules can be created in similar fashion by making different choices starting from step 6.
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On the EAC dashboard, press the Tab key until you hear: “Left navigation hamburger, expanded.” If you hear "collapsed" instead of "expanded," press Spacebar to expand the menu before continuing.
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With Narrator, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear: "Mail flow, expanded." With JAWS, press the Down arrow key instead. If you hear "collapsed" instead of "expanded," press Spacebar to expand the menu before continuing.
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With Narrator, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear: "Transport rules." With JAWS, press the Down arrow key instead. Then press Enter. The Rules list view opens, listing rules in a table.
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To create a new rule, press the Tab key until you hear "New, button," and press Enter. Then press the Tab key until you hear "Create a new rule," and press Enter. The focus moves to the Name text box in the new rule pop-up window. You hear: "New rule, Name, Edit."
Note: With Narrator, if pressing Enter does nothing, press the SR key+Spacebar to switch the navigation mode and try again.
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Type the name of the new rule (for example, Encrypt email for email address).
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Press the Tab key. You hear: "Asterisk, Apply this rule if, select one." Press the Down arrow key until you hear: "The recipient is." Then press the Tab key. You hear: "Link, select people." Press Enter. The Select Members pop-up window opens and the focus moves to the Search button. Press Enter.
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Type your search term and press Enter. Press the Tab key until you hear the display name and email address of the first search result, followed by the number of results. Use the Down and Up arrow keys to browse the search results. When you find the person you want, press Enter.
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To add more people, press Shift+Tab until you hear "Clear search, button," and press Enter. Then repeat the previous step. To finish adding people, press the Tab key until you hear "OK, button," and press Spacebar. The focus moves back to the new rule pop-up window.
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Press the Tab key until you hear: "Link, more options." Press Enter. You hear: "Add condition, button."
Tip: When you select the More options link, more user interface (UI) elements are added to the page and more options are added to the combo boxes. To have access to the Modify the message security option that you need to select in the next step, you must select the More options link.
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Press the Tab key. You hear: "Asterisk, Do the following, select one." Press the Down arrow key until you hear: "Modify the message security." Press Enter. You hear: "Apply Office 365 Message Encryption and rights protection." Press Enter.
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You hear: "Select RMS template." Press Shift+Tab until you hear "Select RMS template, combo box," and press Enter to open the menu. Use the Down and Up arrow keys to find the right template, and press Enter to select. Press the Tab key until you hear "OK, button," and press Enter. The focus moves back to the new rule pop-up window.
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Press the Tab key until you hear: "Save button." Press Enter to save the new rule. The focus moves back to the Rules page. You hear: "New, button." The new rule is turned on by default.
Tip: To turn off a new rule, press the Tab key to reach the list of rules, use the Up and Down arrow keys to select a rule, and then press Spacebar. To hear the settings for the currently selected rule, press the Tab key. Your screen reader reads out the details for the rule.
Create a mail flow rule to decrypt email messages
You can create different rules for email decryption based on who the sender or recipient is, their location, organization, or address, or the message's subject, body, or attachment content. This example is based on decrypting all incoming messages for your organization, but other rules can be created in similar fashion by making different choices starting from step 6.
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On the EAC dashboard, press the Tab key until you hear: “Left navigation hamburger, expanded.” If you hear "collapsed" instead of "expanded," press Spacebar to expand the menu before continuing.
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With Narrator, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear: "Mail flow, expanded." With JAWS, press the Down arrow key instead. If you hear "collapsed" instead of "expanded," press Spacebar to expand the menu before continuing.
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With Narrator, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear: "Transport rules." With JAWS, press the Down arrow key instead. Then press Enter. The Rules list view opens, listing rules in a table.
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To create a new rule, press the Tab key until you hear "New, button," and press Enter. Then press the Tab key until you hear "Create a new rule," and press Enter. The focus moves to the Name text box in the new rule pop-up window. You hear: "New rule, Name, Edit."
Note: With Narrator, if pressing Enter does nothing, press the SR key+Spacebar to switch the navigation mode and try again.
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Type the name of the new rule (for example, Remove encryption for incoming mail).
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Press the Tab key. You hear: "Asterisk, Apply this rule if, select one." Press the Down arrow key until you hear: "The recipient is located." Then press the Tab key. You hear: "Link, select one." Press Enter. The select recipient location pop-up window opens.
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Use the Down and Up arrow keys to browse the list of location options until you hear: "Inside the organization." Press the Tab key. You hear: "OK, button." Press Spacebar. The focus moves back to the new rule pop-up window.
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Press the Tab key until you hear: "Link, more options." Press Enter. You hear: "Add condition, button."
Tip: When you select the More options link, more user interface (UI) elements are added to the page and more options are added to the combo boxes. To have access to the Modify the message security option that you need to select in the next step, you must select the More options link.
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Press the Tab key. You hear: "Asterisk, Do the following, select one." Press the Down arrow key until you hear: "Modify the message security." Press Enter. You hear: "Remove Office 365 Message Encryption applied by the organization." Press Enter.
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Press the Tab key until you hear: "Save button." Press Enter to save the new rule. The focus moves back to the Rules page. You hear: "New, button." The new rule is turned on by default.
Tip: To turn off a new rule, press the Tab key to reach the list of rules, use the Up and Down arrow keys to select a rule, and then press Spacebar. To hear the settings for the currently selected rule, press the Tab key. Your screen reader reads out the details for the rule.
See also
Use a screen reader to open the Exchange admin center
Use a screen reader to configure mail flow rules in the Exchange admin center
Permissions in Exchange Online
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.
