Use a screen reader to add and format text in PowerPoint

Use PowerPoint with your keyboard and a screen reader to add text and apply formatting to a presentation. Formatting the text in your PowerPoint presentation makes it easier to read. 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. You'll learn how to create bulleted or numbered lists to structure your presentations better or to add hyperlinks to other sources of information.

In this topic

• Add text to a slide
• Add bullets or numbers to text
• Add a hyperlink
• Change the color of text
• Change the color of hyperlink text
• Highlight your text

Add text to a slide

You can add content to a slide while in the Normal view.

1. To go to the Normal view, press Alt+W, and then L. You hear "Slide pane," followed by the slide number. With JAWS, you hear: “Slide area.” With NVDA, you hear: “Slide view.”

2. To select the slide in which you want to add text, press F6 until you are in the slide thumbnail pane. You hear "Thumbnails," followed by the slide number.

3. To browse through the slides, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the number and the title of the slide. If the slides are located within sections, use the Up or Down arrow key to navigate the sections, and then press the Right arrow key to expand the section.

4. To move the focus to a slide editing area, press F6. With Narrator, you hear "Slide pane,” followed by the slide number. With JAWS, you hear: “Slide area.” With NVDA, you hear: “Slide view.”

5. Press the Tab key to move to a text placeholder. With Narrator, the placeholders are called text boxes, so you hear, for example: “Title text box.” With JAWS, you hear: “Title placeholder.” With NVDA, you hear: “Center Title placeholder, shape.”

6. To replace the placeholder with your text, press Enter to go to editing mode and select all the text, then start typing.

7. To move the insertion point to the next title or body text placeholder, press Ctrl+Enter.

   Note

   You can also press the SR key+Right or Left arrow key to navigate the placeholders, and press the SR key+Enter to place the text insertion point at the end of the selected text box.

   Note

   If there aren't any more text placeholders, in most cases, pressing Ctrl+Enter inserts a new slide with the same slide layout as the original slide and places the focus on the new slide's first placeholder. However, if the original slide has the "Title Slide" layout, the newly created slide will have "Title and Content" layout.

   Note

   If you want to edit text that you’ve already added in a text field, press the Tab key to move to the text field, and then press F2 to select all text and start editing. To stop editing and move the focus back to the text box, press F2 again.

   Note

   To learn how to apply character formatting using your keyboard, such as bold, underline, italics, subscript, or superscript, go to "Format text" section in Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations.

Add bullets or numbers to text

You can create bulleted or numbered lists using keyboard shortcuts. You can turn existing lines of text into a list, change the bullet style, or make nested lists.

Add bullets or numbering to text

1. In a text placeholder, select the text to which you want to add bullets or numbering.

   Tip

   To learn more how to select text in PowerPoint using your keyboard, go to "Select text" section in Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations.

2. Choose what you want to do:

   • To add bullets, press Alt+H, and then U. Use the arrow keys to browse through the bullet styles. You hear the bullet style description while browsing. To insert the style, press Enter.
   • To add numbering, press Alt+H, and then N. Use the arrow keys to browse through the numbering styles. You hear the numbering style description while browsing. To insert the style, press Enter.

3. To create additional list items, place the insertion point at the end of a list item, and press Enter.

4. To stop creating the list, place the insertion point at the end of the last list item, and press Enter, and then press Backspace.

Create a bulleted list as you type

1. At the start of a new line, type * (asterisk) and then press Spacebar or the Tab key.
2. Type any text that you want. A filled round bullet list item is automatically created after you press Enter.
3. To create a new list item, press Enter.
4. To stop creating the list, press Enter, and then Backspace.

Create a numbered list as you type

1. At the start of a new line, type 1. (the number 1 followed by a period) and then press Spacebar or the Tab key.
2. Type the text you want. A numbered list item is automatically created after you press Enter.
3. To create a new list item, press Enter.
4. To stop creating the list, press Enter, and then Backspace.

Indent items within a list

1. Select the list items that you want to indent.

2. Choose what you want to do:

   • To increase the indent, press Alt+H, and then A and I.
   • To decrease the indent, press Alt+H, and then A and O.

Add a hyperlink

You can add hyperlinks that open a web page, a different part of the presentation, or another file. You can also add a mailto link that opens a new email to a specific email address automatically.

Link to a web page

1. Place the insertion point where you want to add the link in your presentation.
2. To add a link to a web page, press Ctrl+K.
3. Press the Tab key until you hear: “Address.” Type in the web page address.
4. To add text that shows as the link text instead of the address, press the Tab key until you hear: “Text to display.” Type in the text.
5. To add the link, press Enter.

Link to an existing file

1. Place the insertion point where you want to add the link in your presentation.
2. To add a link to a file, press Ctrl+K.
3. Press the Tab key until you hear: “Browse for file, button.” To select, press Enter.
4. To browse the file, press the Tab key until you hear a folder name, for example, “This PC.” Press the Up or Down arrow key to browse the folders, and then press the Right arrow key to browse the sub-folders. You hear the folder names as you browse.
5. When you find the right folder, press Enter. You hear the name of a file in the folder.
6. Press the Tab key and the Up or Down arrow key to browse the files until you hear the name of the file you want, and press Enter to make a selection.
7. To add the link, press Enter.

Link to a slide in the presentation

1. Place the insertion point where you want to add the link.
2. To add a link to a slide in the presentation, press Ctrl+K.
3. Press Ctrl+Tab until you hear: “Select a place in this document.”
4. To select the slide to which you want to link, press the Down arrow key until you hear the name of the slide.
5. To add the link, press Enter.

Link to an email address

1. Place the insertion point where you want to add the link in your presentation.
2. To add an email address, press Ctrl+K.
3. Press Ctrl+Tab until you hear: “Email address. Editing text.”
4. Type the email address.
5. To add text that shows in the link text instead of the address you’ve typed, press the Tab key until you hear: “Text to display.” Then type the text.
6. To add the link, press Enter.

Change the color of text

You can change the color of specific parts of text in your presentation.

1. Select the text that you want to color.
2. To change the color, press Alt+H, and then F and C. You hear: "Theme colors."
3. Use the arrow keys to navigate the color and shade options, and then press Enter to select a color.

Change the color of hyperlink text

The color of hyperlink text can be changed across your entire presentation by applying changes to the Slide Master.

1. To open the Slide Master, press Alt+W, then M.
2. To change the Slide Master color scheme, press Alt+M, then T, C, and C.
3. Press the Up arrow key until you hear: “Hyperlink.” Press Enter to select.
4. Use the arrow keys to navigate the color and shade options, and then press Enter to select a color.
5. To save the changes, press Alt+S.
6. To leave the Slide Master view and return to Normal view, press Alt+W, and then L.

Highlight your text

You can highlight important parts of your presentation. Highlighted parts will catch the attention of your audience.

Highlight text

1. Select the text you want to highlight.
2. To open the highlight color menu, press Alt+H, T, and then C.
3. Use the arrow keys to navigate the color options, and then press Enter to select a color.

Highlight text using text effects

1. Select the text you want to highlight.
2. To open the text effect menu, press Alt+J, then D, T, and X.
3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear “Glow,” and press Enter.
4. To select the color and highlight variant, press the Tab key until you hear the option you want, and then press Enter.

See also

Use a screen reader to work with slides in PowerPoint

Use a screen reader to share and co-author presentations in PowerPoint

Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations

Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations

Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader

Use a screen reader to create a presentation from a template in PowerPoint

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate PowerPoint

Use PowerPoint for the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to add text and hyperlinks to your presentation. 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.

In this topic

• Add text to a slide
• Add bullets or numbers to text
• Add a hyperlink
• Change the color of text
• Highlight your text

Add text to a slide

1. In Editing View in PowerPoint for the web, press Ctrl+F6 repeatedly until you hear the number of the current slide. The focus is in the thumbnail pane.
2. To browse through the slides, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the number of the slide you want to edit.
3. Press Ctrl+F6 until you hear: "Slide panel."
4. To move the focus to the first placeholder, press the Tab key. You hear the placeholder.
5. To replace the placeholder with your text, press Enter and start typing. When done, press F2. You hear: "Slide panel."
6. To move to the next placeholder, press the Tab key. You hear the placeholder. To start adding text, press Enter and type. When finished, press F2.

Add bullets or numbers to text

1. In the text placeholder, select the text to which you want to add bullets or numbering.
2. Press Alt+Windows logo key+H. You hear: "Home tab, item."
3. Choose what you want to do:

• To add bullets, press the Tab key until you hear: "Bulleted Library." To insert the style, press Enter.
• To add numbering, press the Tab key until you hear: "Numbering Library." To insert the style, press Enter.

Add a hyperlink

1. On a slide, select the piece of text to which you want to add a link, and press Ctrl+K. You hear: "Link, Address, editing."
2. Type or paste the link address and press Enter.
   The dialog box is closed, and the link is added to your slide.

Change the color of text

1. Select the text that you want to color.
2. Press Alt+Windows logo key+H. You hear: "Home tab, item."
3. Press the Tab key until you hear: "Font colors, split button." Then press Spacebar until you hear: "Theme colors."
4. Use the arrow keys to navigate the color and shade options, and then press Enter to select a color.

Highlight your text

1. Select the text that you want to highlight.
2. Press Alt+Windows logo key+H. You hear: "Home tab, item."
3. Press the Tab key until you hear: "Highlight, split button." Then press Spacebar until you hear: "Highlight colors."
4. Use the arrow keys to navigate the color and shade options, and then press Enter to select a color.

See also

Use a screen reader to work with slides in PowerPoint

Use a screen reader to insert and edit pictures and tables in PowerPoint

Use keyboard shortcuts to create PowerPoint presentations

Use keyboard shortcuts to deliver PowerPoint presentations

Basic tasks to create a presentation in PowerPoint with a screen reader

Use a screen reader to create a presentation from a template in PowerPoint

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate PowerPoint