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Office Accessibility
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams
Use a screen reader to moderate a Q&A in a Microsoft Teams live event

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.

WindowsmacOS

Use your keyboard and a screen reader to moderate a Q&A in a Microsoft Teams live event. 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 publish a question and answer for everyone to read, respond privately to the person who asked a question, and make an announcement to everyone in the event. You'll also learn how to mute all participants.

Only producers and presenters can moderate Q&As in a live event.

Notes: 

In this topic

Answer a question privately

The moderators can respond privately to questions that haven't been published. Only the person who's asked the question will receive the reply.

  1. While in a Microsoft Teams live event, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Show Q and A," and press Enter. The Q&A pane opens showing all new questions.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear the question you want to answer privately.

  3. Press the Tab key once. You hear: "Private reply." Press Enter.

  4. Type your reply, and press Enter to send it.

Note: In NVDA this is called the browse mode. In JAWS it is called the virtual cursor mode.

  1. While in a Microsoft Teams live event, press B or Shift+B until you hear "Show Q and A," and press Enter. The Q&A pane opens showing all new questions.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear the question you want to answer privately.

  3. Press the Tab key once. You hear: "Private reply." Press Enter.

  4. Type your reply, and press Enter to send it.

Publish a question

As a moderator, you can make a question public so everyone can read it. All replies you write to a public question will be published automatically.

  1. In the Q&A pane in a Microsoft Teams live event, press the Tab key until you hear "New," followed by the number of new questions, and press Enter.

  2. Press the Tab key until you reach the question you want to publish.

  3. Press Shift+Tab until you hear "Publish," and press Enter.

  4. To reply to the published question, press Shift+Tab until you hear "Published," followed by the number of published questions, and press Enter.

    Press the Tab key until you hear the question you want to reply to and press the Tab key once more. You hear: "Reply." Press Enter, type your response, and press Enter to send it.

Make an announcement during the event

You can send a public announcement during a live event.

  1. While in a Microsoft Teams live event, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Show Q and A," and press Enter. The Q&A pane opens showing all new questions.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear "Make an announcement," and press Enter.

  3. Type your announcement, and press Enter to send it.

Note: In NVDA this is called the browse mode. In JAWS it is called the virtual cursor mode.

  1. While in a Microsoft Teams live event, press B or Shift+B until you hear "Show Q and A," and press Enter. The Q&A pane opens showing all new questions.

  2. Press B until you hear "Make an announcement," and press Enter.

  3. Type your announcement, and press Enter to send it.

Mute all participants

To make sure there's no background noise or echo, you can mute all participants at once.

While in a Microsoft Teams live event, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Mute all," and press Enter. You hear: "Everybody has been muted."

Note: In NVDA this is called the browse mode. In JAWS it is called the virtual cursor mode.

While in a Microsoft Teams live event, press the B or Shift+B until you hear "Mute all," and press Enter. You hear: "Everybody has been muted."

See also

Use a screen reader to plan and schedule a live event in Microsoft Teams

Use a screen reader to join 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 Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Microsoft Teams

Learning the layout of Microsoft Teams with a screen reader

Use your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to moderate a Q&A in a Microsoft Teams live event. You'll learn how to publish a question and answer for everyone to read, respond privately to the person who asked a question, and make an announcement to everyone in the event. You'll also learn how to mute all participants.

Only producers and presenters can moderate Q&As in a live event.

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

Answer a question privately

The moderators can respond privately to questions that haven't been published. Only the person who's asked the question will receive the reply.

  1. While in a Microsoft Teams live event, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Show Q and A," and press Return. The Q&A pane opens showing all new questions.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear the question you want to answer privately.

  3. Press the Tab key once. You hear: "Private reply." Press Return.

  4. Type your reply, and press Return to send it.

Publish a question

As a moderator, you can make a question public so everyone can read it. All replies you write to a public question will be published automatically.

  1. In the Q&A pane in a Microsoft Teams live event, press the Tab key until you hear "New," followed by the number of new questions, and press Return.

  2. Press the Tab key until you reach the question you want to publish.

  3. Press Shift+Tab until you hear "Publish," and press Return.

  4. To reply to the published question, press Shift+Tab until you hear "Published," followed by the number of published questions, and press Return.

    Press the Tab key until you hear the question you want to reply to and press the Tab key once more. You hear: "Reply." Press Return, type your response, and press Return to send it.

Make an announcement during the event

  1. While in a Microsoft Teams live event, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Show Q and A," and press Return. The Q&A pane opens showing all new questions.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear "Make an announcement," and press Return.

  3. Type your announcement, and press Return to send it.

Mute all participants

While in a Microsoft Teams live event, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Mute all," and press Return. You hear: "Everybody has been muted."

See also

Use a screen reader to plan and schedule a live event in Microsoft Teams

Use a screen reader to join 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 Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Microsoft Teams

Learning the layout of Microsoft Teams with a screen reader

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.

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