Use a screen reader to share a document in Word
Applies ToWord for Microsoft 365 Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac Word for the web Word 2024 Word 2024 for Mac Word 2021 Word 2021 for Mac Word 2019 Word 2016 Word for iPhone Word for Android phones

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 Word with your keyboard and a screen reader to share your documents. 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. When you share your files from OneDrive or SharePoint, you can invite people to view or edit the document or send the file as an email attachment, straight from your document.

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.

  • To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.

  • This topic assumes that you have logged in to your Microsoft account and OneDrive is thus available.

In this topic

Share a document via OneDrive or SharePoint

Sign in to your Microsoft account in Word and save your documents to OneDrive or SharePoint, so you can share them with others. For instructions on how to sign in, go to the "Sign in to your Microsoft account" section in Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word. For instructions on how to save your document to an online location, go to Use a screen reader to save a document in Word.

By saving your documents to OneDrive or SharePoint, you can also control who edits your file, make sure everyone sees the latest changes straight away, and access your documents on any of your devices. You can easily upload both older and newer documents to OneDrive or SharePoint.

  1. Open the document you want to share.

  2. To open the Share pane, press Alt+Z, S. You hear: "People to share with, editable combo box."

    Note: If you haven't saved your document to OneDrive or SharePoint, you're prompted to do so now.

  3. Type the email address or name of the person you want to share the document with, and then press Enter. Repeat for other contacts you want to share the document with.

  4. To add an optional message, press the Tab key. You hear: "Enter your optional message here, editing." Type a message to the recipients.

  5. To define who the sharing link works for, press Shift+Tab until you hear the current option, for example, "Only people in your organization with the link can view and edit." Then press Enter. You hear: "Link settings page." Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the access group option you want.

  6. By default, the people you share the document with can edit it. If you want them to be able to only view the document, press the Tab key until you hear "Other settings, checked, Allow editing, checkbox," and then press Spacebar.

  7. To save the access settings and exit the Link Settings page, press the Tab key until you hear "Apply, button," and then press Enter. You hear: "Send link, page."

  8. To share your document, press the Tab key until you hear “Send button,” and then press Enter.

Share a copy of your document by email

With Word, you can easily email a copy of your document to share with others. You can send the copy in the original format or as a PDF. Word converts your document to a PDF automatically, and attaches your file to your default email app, for example, Outlook.

If you want to save your document as a PDF, for instructions, go to Use a screen reader to save a document in Word.

  1. Open the document you want to share.

  2. To open the Share pane, press Alt+Z, S. You hear: "People to share with, editable combo box."

  3. Press the Tab key until you hear "Send a copy, button collapsed," and then press Enter.

  4. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the file type option you want, for example, "PDF, menu item," and then press Enter.

  5. Word opens a new email message by using your default email client, with a PDF or Word copy of your document already attached. The focus is on the To field. Type the email address.

  6. To type a message, press the Tab key until you hear "Message," followed by the document name, and "Message, editing." Type your message.

  7. To send the message, press Alt+S.

Work together in a shared document

Word offers you two kinds of co-authoring: regular and real-time co-authoring. Both let multiple people collaborate and work together on documents. There is one key difference between them:

  • Regular co-authoring is when you and others simultaneously work on a document without locking each other out. Paragraphs that someone else is working on are locked. When you save, you can see the changes that others have made since the last time you saved.

  • Real-time co-authoring is where two or more people type at the same time and automatically see everyone’s text changes as they happen. If you co-author with someone who's using a version that supports only regular co-authoring, you’ll see that they’re in the document, but you won’t see their changes until they save the document.

When you use Word to work with a shared document, you don’t need to change anything about the way you work. Your co-authors can just follow the link you sent, and your document will open in their version of Word or on Word for the web. If they’re also using Word or Word for the web and have agreed to automatically share changes, their work is shown as it happens, and you can use your screen reader to read the modified text without waiting until the others save the document.

Screen reader announcements

When you are using a screen reader while collaborating on a document in Word, you hear announcements when certain events happen:

  • When you hear “Unsynchronized change,” it means that one author is editing a paragraph (with regular co-authoring), but has not saved the changes yet. The area is locked for the co-author.

  • When you hear “Editing locked change,” it means that another author has locked this area, typically a paragraph, and you can’t edit it.

  • When you hear “External change,” it means that one author has just saved the document and the co-author has added new content to it. In regular co-authoring, the area is highlighted in green for a sighted person.

  • When you hear “Conflicting change,” it means that one author has a paragraph that conflicts with a change that the co-author has made. This area is highlighted in red for a sighted person.

  • When you hear “Author,” it means that one author is currently located in that paragraph (with real-time co-authoring). This helps the co-author to avoid creating a conflict by editing the same area.

Tip: When you start working on a document with someone else, a dialog box appears asking what kind of a co-authoring experience you want. Press F6 to navigate to the dialog box.

See also

Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word

Use a screen reader to insert a picture or image 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

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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