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 Microsoft Teams with your keyboard and a screen reader with breakout rooms for meetings. We have tested it with JAWS and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You'll learn how to create and manage breakout rooms for your Microsoft Teams meetings, and how to use breakout rooms as a meeting participant.
Breakout rooms are separate virtual spaces you can use to bring some participants of large meetings together for separate conversations and brainstorming sessions. For more information on breakout rooms, refer to Use breakout rooms in Teams meetings.
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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Recent versions of JAWS no longer have the virtual PC cursor mode set as default for Microsoft Teams. For instructions on how to switch the virtual PC cursor mode on, go to Enable the JAWS virtual cursor.
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To quickly access the keyboard shortcuts list from within Microsoft Teams, press Ctrl+E, type the forward slash character followed by the word keys, and then press Enter.
In this topic
Create breakout rooms
As a meeting organizer, you can create new breakout rooms at the start of a scheduled meeting.
Note: Only meeting organizers can create and manage breakout rooms.
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In a meeting, press the Tab key until you hear: "Meeting controls region."
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Press the Left or Right arrow key until you hear "Breakout rooms, button," and press Enter. The Create breakout rooms dialog box opens.
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To select the number of breakout rooms to create, press Spacebar, then press the Down arrow key until you hear the number of rooms you want, and press Enter to confirm your selection.
Note: The default number of breakout rooms is 1 and the maximum is 50.
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Press the Tab key once to choose how to assign participants into breakout rooms. The default is Automatic, which splits the meeting participants evenly between the number of rooms you selected. If you want to manually assign participants to rooms, press the Down arrow key until you hear: "Manually." To learn how you assign the participants manually, refer to Manage breakout rooms.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Create rooms," and press Enter. The Create breakout rooms dialog box is closed and a list of the breakout rooms you created is opened in the Breakout rooms pane. The focus is on the Assign participants button.
Manage breakout rooms
If you have created one or more breakout rooms for your meeting, they are listed in the Breakout rooms pane. In this pane, you can assign people to the breakout rooms you have created, and open, close, rename, or delete rooms. While the rooms are open, you can also send an announcement to every room at once.
When you open the breakout rooms, the participants leave the main meeting and join their assigned rooms. Each room has its own chat.
When you close the breakout rooms, the participants return to the main meeting.
Assign participants to rooms
You can manually assign people to breakout rooms as you like.
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In a meeting, press the Tab key until you hear "Assign participants, button," and press Enter to open the participants list. The focus is on the Select all checkbox on the first row of the table.
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To select participants, use the Down and Up arrow keys to navigate the table, where each participant has their own row. You hear the name, current room, and status of each participant. When you find someone you want to select, press the Right arrow key once, and press Spacebar to select the checkbox.
Note: If you cannot navigate the table rows, change your screen reader's navigation mode and try again.
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After you have selected everyone you want, press Shift+Tab until you hear "Assign menu button," and press Enter. Then press the Down arrow key until you find the room you want to move the selected participants to, and press Enter.
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To finish the assignment, press the Tab key until you hear "Assign button," and press Enter.
Open and close rooms
After you have assigned participants to your liking, open the rooms to let each group start their discussion.
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To open all rooms with participants, press the Tab key until you hear "Open button," and press Enter. You hear: "Rooms are being started."
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To close all open rooms, press the Tab key until you hear "Close button," and press Enter. You hear: "Rooms are being closed."
Edit rooms
You can rename each room, and open, close, or delete them individually.
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In a meeting, press the Tab key until you hear "Tree view," followed by the name and details of the first room.
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Use the Down and Up arrow keys to navigate the list of rooms. When you find the room you want to edit, press Shift+F10 to open the More options menu.
Note: If you cannot navigate the list, change your screen reader's navigation mode and try again.
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Use the Down and Up arrow keys to find the option you want, and press Enter to select. You can open or close the room, rename it, or delete it. By default, the rooms are named Room 1, Room 2, and so on.
Note: If a confirmation dialog box opens after making your selection, press the Tab key until you hear the option you want, for example, "Delete room," and press Enter.
Make an announcement to all participants
While the breakout rooms are open, the meeting organizer can send an announcement that is displayed in every room chat.
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While breakout rooms are open, press the Tab key until you hear: "Room action buttons, toolbar." Then press the Left or Right arrow key until you hear "Make an announcement," and press Enter.
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Type your announcement, and press the Tab key until you hear: "Send button." Press Enter to send your announcement to all open rooms.
Use breakout rooms as a participant
When a breakout room you've been assigned to is opened, you receive a notification in Microsoft Teams, and you are moved to the room automatically after 10 seconds.
When a breakout room is closed, you receive another audible notification and are moved back to the main meeting after 10 seconds.
See also
Use a screen reader to schedule a meeting in Microsoft Teams
Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Teams
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Teams
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Office 365
Use Microsoft Teams on Mac with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, with breakout rooms for meetings. You'll learn how to create and manage breakout rooms for your Microsoft Teams meetings, and how to use breakout rooms as a meeting participant.
Breakout rooms are separate virtual spaces you can use to bring some participants of large meetings together for separate conversations and brainstorming sessions. For more information on breakout rooms, refer to Use breakout rooms in Teams meetings.
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 breakout rooms
As a meeting organizer, you can create new breakout rooms at the start of a scheduled meeting.
Note: Only meeting organizers can create and manage breakout rooms.
-
In a meeting, press the Tab key until you hear "Entering toolbar," followed by the currently selected button, and "Meeting controls region." Press the Left or Right arrow key until you hear "Breakout rooms, button," and press Return. The Create breakout rooms dialog box opens.
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To select the number of breakout rooms to create, press Control+Option+Spacebar, then press the Down arrow key until you hear the number of rooms you want, and press Return to confirm your selection.
Note: The default number of breakout rooms is 1 and the maximum is 50.
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Press the Tab key once to choose how to assign participants into breakout rooms. The default is Automatic, which splits the meeting participants evenly between the number rooms selected in the previous step. If you want to manually assign participants to rooms, press the Down arrow key until you hear: "Manually." To learn how you assign the participants manually, refer to Manage breakout rooms.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Create rooms, button," and press Return. The Create breakout rooms dialog box is closed and a list of breakout rooms you've created is opened in the Breakout rooms pane. The focus is on the Assign participants button.
Manage breakout rooms
If you have created one or more breakout rooms for your meeting, they are listed in the Breakout rooms pane. In this pane, you can assign people to the breakout rooms you have created, and open, close, rename, or delete rooms. While the rooms are open, you can also send an announcement to every room at once.
When you open the breakout rooms, the participants leave the main meeting and join their assigned rooms. Each room has its own chat.
When you close the breakout rooms, the participants return to the main meeting.
Assign participants to rooms
You can manually assign people to breakout rooms as you like.
-
In a meeting, press the Tab key until you hear "Assign participants, button," and press Return to open the participants list. The focus is on the Select all checkbox on the first row of the table.
-
To select participants, use the Down and Up arrow keys to navigate the table, where each participant has their own row. When you find someone you want to select, press Spacebar to select the checkbox.
-
After you have selected everyone you want, press Shift+Tab until you hear "Assign, button," and press Control+Option+Spacebar. Then press the Down arrow key until you find the room you want to move the selected participants to, and press Return.
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To finish the assignment, press the Tab key until you hear "Assign button," and press Return. A confirmation dialog box opens. Press the Tab key until you hear "Move button," and press Return.
Open and close rooms
After you have assigned participants to your liking, open the rooms to let each group start their discussion.
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To open all rooms with participants, press the Tab key until you hear "Open button, open rooms," and press Return. You hear: "Rooms are being started."
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To close all open rooms, press the Tab key until you hear "Close button, close rooms," and press Return. You hear: "Rooms are being closed."
Edit rooms
You can rename each room, and open, close, or delete them individually.
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In a meeting, press the Tab key until you hear "Entering table," followed by the name and details of the first room.
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Press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow key to enter the table, then press Control+Option+Right or Left arrow key to navigate the list of rooms. When you find the room you want to edit, press Control+Option+Shift+M to open the More options menu.
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Press Control+Option+Right or Left arrow key to find the option you want, and press Return to select. You can open or close the room, rename it, or delete it. By default, the rooms are named Room 1, Room 2, and so on.
Note: If a confirmation dialog box opens after making your selection, press the Tab key until you hear the option you want, for example, "Delete room," and press Return.
Make an announcement to all participants
While the breakout rooms are open, the meeting organizer can send an announcement that is displayed in every room chat.
-
While breakout rooms are open, press the Tab key until you hear: "Entering room action buttons toolbar." Then press the Left or Right arrow key until you hear "Make an announcement," and press Return.
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Type your announcement, and press the Tab key until you hear: "Send button." Press Return to send your announcement to all open rooms.
Use breakout rooms as a participant
When a breakout room you've been assigned to is opened, you are given a notification in Microsoft Teams, and you are moved to the room automatically after 10 seconds.
When a breakout room is closed, you receive another audible notification and are moved back to the main meeting after 10 seconds.
See also
Use a screen reader to schedule a meeting in Microsoft Teams
Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Teams
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Teams
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Office 365
Use Microsoft Teams for iOS with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, with breakout rooms for meetings. You'll learn how to use breakout rooms as a meeting participant.
Breakout rooms are separate virtual spaces you can use to bring some participants of large meetings together for separate conversations and brainstorming sessions.
Only meeting organizers on the desktop versions of Microsoft Teams (Windows and macOS) can create and manage breakout rooms. For more information on breakout rooms on the desktop versions, refer to Use breakout rooms in Teams meetings.
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 iOS screen reader, VoiceOver. To learn more about using VoiceOver, visit Apple accessibility.
Use breakout rooms as a participant
When you are in a meeting and a breakout room you've been assigned to is opened, you are given a notification in Microsoft Teams. If the meeting organizer has selected the Automatically move people to rooms option, you are moved to the room automatically after 10 seconds. If the option is not selected, your screen reader prompts you to select Join, and you are only moved to the room after confirming the selection. Each room has its own chat.
When the breakout room is closed, you receive another audible notification and are moved back to the main meeting after 10 seconds.
See also
Use a screen reader to join a meeting in Microsoft Teams
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Teams
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Office 365
Use Microsoft Teams for Android with Talkback, the built-in Android screen reader, with breakout rooms for meetings. You'll learn how to use breakout rooms as a meeting participant.
Breakout rooms are separate virtual spaces you can use to bring some participants of large meetings together for separate conversations and brainstorming sessions.
Only meeting organizers on the desktop versions of Microsoft Teams (Windows and macOS) can create and manage breakout rooms. For more information on breakout rooms, refer to Use breakout rooms in Teams meetings.
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 Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.
Use breakout rooms as a participant
When you are in a meeting and a breakout room you've been assigned to is opened, you are given a notification in Microsoft Teams. If the meeting organizer has selected the Automatically move people to rooms option, you are moved to the room automatically after 10 seconds. If the option is not selected, your screen reader prompts you to select Join, and you are only moved to the room after confirming the selection. Each room has its own chat.
When the breakout room is closed, you receive another audible notification and are moved back to the main meeting after 10 seconds.
See also
Use a screen reader to join a meeting in Microsoft Teams
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Teams
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Office 365
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.
