Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Stream
Applies ToMicrosoft Stream

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 Stream with your keyboard and a screen reader to explore and navigate the different views and move between them. We have 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.

Notes: 

  • If you use Narrator with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you have to turn off scan mode in order to edit documents, spreadsheets, or presentations with Microsoft 365 for the web. For more information, refer to Turn off virtual or browse mode in screen readers in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.

  • 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.

  • When you use Microsoft Stream, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because Microsoft Stream 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 Microsoft Stream.

    If you use Chrome or Firefox as your web browser, we recommend that you use JAWS or NVDA as your screen reader.

In this topic

Navigate the main view

To navigate in Microsoft Stream and cycle through the main areas, press the Tab key (forward) and Shift+Tab (backward). The main areas are:

  • Title bar at the top of the screen containing the App launcher, Notifications, Settings, and Account manager buttons.

  • Menu bar containing the Home button, the Discover, My content, and Create drop-down menus, the Search field, and the Upload video, Invite others, and Send feedback buttons.

  • Main content area containing a rotating selection of highlighted content from your organization, Microsoft Stream notifications, the Trending videos tile and the Popular channels tile.

  • Status bar at the bottom of the main content area containing contact and content information links.

When you hear the item you want, press Enter to select it. To open drop-down menus, press Spacebar, and then press the Up and Down keys to navigate the contents of the menu.

Notes: 

  • You can also navigate between landmarks in the main view by pressing H (forward) and Shift+H (backward). The landmarks are:

  • When you hear the landmark you want, navigate under the heading by pressing the Tab key (forward) or Shift+Tab (backward).

  • Main content area containing a rotating selection of highlighted content from your organization.

  • My watchlist heading.

  • Trending videos heading.

  • Popular channels heading.

Navigate the Settings view

The Settings view lets you change Microsoft Stream settings such as language selection and email notifications.

  1. To access the Settings view, press the Tab key until you hear “Settings,” and press Enter.

  2. Press the Tab key until you hear “My settings,” and press Enter to open the settings view.

  3. To navigate between settings in the Settings view, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab. To select a setting, press Enter.

  4. To save changes to settings, press the Tab key until you hear “Apply button,” and press Enter.

  5. To return to the Microsoft Stream main view, press the Tab key until you hear “Link, Home,” and press Enter.

See also

Use a screen reader to play videos in Microsoft Stream

Use a screen reader to find content in Microsoft Stream

Keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft Stream

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Stream

Make your Stream videos accessible to people with disabilities

Use Microsoft Stream with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to explore and navigate the app main views and elements, and to move between views and functions.

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.

  • For the full experience, use Microsoft Stream on the web. In your browser, go to http://msit.microsoftstream.com/.

Navigate the main view

To navigate in Microsoft Stream and cycle through the main areas, swipe right (forward) or left (backward). The main areas are:

  • Tab specific tool bar at the top of the screen containing the name of the tab, and additional buttons depending on the selected tab.

  • Main content area containing the content of the currently selected tab.

  • Tab bar at the bottom of the screen containing the Discover, My content, and Settings tabs.

To select and open an item, double-tap the screen. To move the focus to the tab bar, tap the screen with four fingers near the bottom of the screen. You hear: "Settings, tab." To navigate to and open the tab you want, swipe left or right until you hear the name of the tab, and double-tap the screen. To move the focus to the tab specific tool bar, tap the screen with four fingers near the top of the screen. You hear the name of the selected tab, followed by "Heading."

The Discover tab contains a list of videos from your organization, arranged in an order chosen on the Sort pane. On the Discover tab, you can upload, search for, and sort videos.

On the My content tab, you can find videos organized into Watchlist, Offline, and My videos sub-tabs. When you bookmark videos by adding them to your watchlist, they appear on the Watchlist sub-tab. The Offline sub-tab contains videos that you've downloaded to be watched when you're not connected to the Internet. The My videos sub-tab contains videos that you've uploaded to Microsoft Stream. You can search for videos from each of the sub-tabs. On the My content tab, you can also upload your videos.

On the Settings tab, you can access the app help, settings for managing the Wi-Fi and data usage, and the app version information. You can also sign out of Microsoft Stream.

See also

Use a screen reader to find content in Microsoft Stream

Use a screen reader to play videos in Microsoft Stream

Use a screen reader to upload and manage your videos in Microsoft Stream

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Stream

Make your Stream videos accessible to people with disabilities

Use Microsoft Stream with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to explore and navigate the app main views and elements, and to move between views and functions.

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.

  • For the full experience, use Microsoft Stream on the web. In your browser, go to http://msit.microsoftstream.com/.

Navigate the main view

To navigate in Microsoft Stream and cycle through the main areas, swipe right (forward) or left (backward). The main areas are:

  • Tab specific tool bar at the top of the screen containing the name of the tab, and additional buttons depending on the selected tab.

  • Main content area containing the content of the currently selected tab.

  • Tab bar at the bottom of the screen containing the Discover, My content, and Settings tabs.

To select and open an item, double-tap the screen. To move the focus to the tab bar, swipe down-then-up. You hear: "Settings, tab." To navigate to and open the tab you want, swipe left or right until you hear the name of the tab, and double-tap the screen. To move the focus to the tab specific tool bar, swipe up-then-down. You hear the name of the selected tab, followed by "Heading."

The Discover tab contains a list of videos from your organization, arranged in an order chosen on the Sort pane. On the Discover tab, you can upload, search for, and sort videos.

On the My content tab, you can find videos organized into Watchlist, Offline, and My videos sub-tabs. When you bookmark videos by adding them to your watchlist, they appear on the Watchlist sub-tab. The Offline sub-tab contains videos that you've downloaded to be watched when you're not connected to the Internet. The My videos sub-tab contains videos that you've uploaded to Microsoft Stream. You can search for videos from each of the sub-tabs. On the My content tab, you can also upload your videos.

On the Settings tab, you can access the app help, settings for managing the Wi-Fi and data usage, and the app version information. You can also sign out of Microsoft Stream.

See also

Use a screen reader to find content in Microsoft Stream

Use a screen reader to play videos in Microsoft Stream

Use a screen reader to upload and manage your videos in Microsoft Stream

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Stream

Make your Stream videos accessible to people with disabilities

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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