Use a screen reader to insert a picture or image in Word
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This article is for people with visual or cognitive impairments who use a screen reader program such as Microsoft's Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with the 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 home or Fixes or workarounds for recent office issues.

Use Word with your keyboard and a screen reader to insert a picture or image from your computer or an online source. We've 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 also learn how to add alt texts to the pictures to make them more accessible.

Decorative icon. Need instructions on how to insert pictures to a Word document, but not using a screen reader? See Insert pictures.

Notes: 

In this topic

Insert an image or picture from your computer

  1. In your Word document, place the insertion point where you want to insert an image.

  2. Press Alt+N, P, D. The Insert Picture dialog box opens. The focus is on the File name text field.

  3. Use the Tab key and the arrow keys to navigate to the location of the picture on your computer. When you hear the name of the picture, followed by "Selected," press Enter. The original picture is embedded into your document.

    Tip: If your picture has a large file size, it can make your document too large. To reduce the size of your document, you can link to the picture instead of embedding it. In the Insert Picture dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear with Narrator and NVDA: "Insert, split button." With JAWS, you hear: "Leaving menus, Insert button." Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Link to file," and then press Enter.

Insert an image from an online source

If you don’t have the perfect picture on your computer, you can search for and insert a picture from a web location straight from Word.

  1. In your Word document, place the insertion point where you want to insert an image.

  2. Press Alt+N, P, O. The Bing image search dialog box opens. The focus is on the search text field.

  3. Type your search words to describe the picture you're looking for, and then press Enter. The search results are listed, and the focus is on the first matching image.

    Tip: To browse for more images from your OneDrive, press the Tab key until you hear "OneDrive," and press Enter.

  4. Use the arrow keys to browse the search results. Your screen reader describes each image as you move through the search results.

  5. To select an image, press Spacebar.

  6. To insert the selected image, press the Tab key until you hear "Insert," and press Enter. Word downloads and inserts the image into your document.

Place a picture in line with text 

To be read correctly by a screen reader, the picture has to be in line with the text. By default, Word inserts a picture in line with text, but you can check it to make sure that the screen readers can read the pictures.

  1. In your Word document, move the focus to the picture you want. When the focus is on the picture, you hear the file name or number of the picture, followed by "Image."

  2. Press Shift+Right arrow key once to select the picture. Then press Shift+F10. The context menu opens.

  3. Press the Up arrow key until you hear "Wrap text," and then press the Right arrow key once. You hear: "In line with text." Press Enter. If you don't hear "In line with text," press the Up arrow key until you reach the In line with text button, and press Enter.

Add alt text to an image

Add alt text to the images to make your document accessible to all audiences. For more information on alt text, refer to Everything you need to know to write effective alt text.

  1. In your Word document, move the focus to the picture that you want to add alt text to. When the focus is on the image, you hear the page you're on, the file name or the number of the image, followed by "Image." Press Shift+Right arrow key once to select the image.

  2. Press Shift+F10 to open the context menu.

  3. Press the Up arrow key until you hear "Edit alt text," and press Enter.

  4. The Alt Text pane opens, and the focus is on the alt text field. Type alt text for the image.

  5. When you're ready, press Esc to return to the body of the document.

See also

Use a screen reader to insert a hyperlink in Word

Use a screen reader to align text and paragraphs in Word

Keyboard shortcuts in Word

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Word

What's new in Microsoft 365: Release notes for Current Channel

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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