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.
If your company or organization has just moved to Microsoft Teams, or plans to do so soon, you’re in the right place! Perhaps you’ve never used Microsoft Teams and are wondering how it handles the everyday communication and collaboration tasks you already know how to do with another app. We are here to guide you through with this quick start guide to get you navigating this feature-packed tool seamlessly.
Microsoft Teams is part of Microsoft 365 and has been designed to bring people, conversations, and content together in one convenient interface. Chat with people, make video and audio calls, and schedule and attend online meetings. You can coauthor and share files with popular Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, take meeting notes, and send follow-up messages to co-workers without ever leaving the Microsoft Teams app.
What exactly is a Team anyway? A Team is a group of co-workers that collaborate on a project together. You might end up on more than one if working on multiple projects. Within each Team are “channels” to keep the discussions organized. For example, you work for a company with multiple clients. Each client project might be set up with its own Team. That team could then have a general channel for announcements and communication, then separate channels for people who work on Product A and Product B, one channel for casual chatter, and so on. Microsoft Teams also stores files related to discussions so that they are easily accessible. If Bob shares a PowerPoint presentation on his team channel, it can be opened directly from that channel – no need to go hunting on a network drive or dig through your email. This powerful tool allows you to customize your workspace and set up a Team in a way that works best for you.
Read on for details and other resources to learn how to do some of the most important tasks in Teams with your computer or device.
Use Microsoft Teams with your keyboard and a screen reader. 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.
Notes:
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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.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Open Microsoft Teams
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Press the Windows logo key and type Microsoft Teams.
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You hear: "Microsoft Teams, Desktop app." To open the app, press Enter.
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Type your email, phone, or Skype name when your screen reader asks you to log in.
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Press the Tab key until you reach the Next button, and then press Enter.
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You're prompted to select the sign-in account and method you want to use. Press the Tab key until you find the option you want, and then press Enter.
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Depending on the sign-in method, follow the prompts as your screen reader announces them. For example, type your password or select your smart card certificate and type the PIN code, and then press Enter. If needed, press the Tab key until you reach the Sign in button, and then press Enter.
Change your status
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Press Ctrl+E to go to the Search field.
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Do one of the following:
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To set your status to available, type /available and press Enter.
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To set your status to away, type /away and press Enter.
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To set your status to busy, type /busy and press Enter.
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To set your status to do not disturb, type /dnd and press Enter.
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Send and receive private chats
Chats are only visible to the specific people in that chat.
Start a chat
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Press Ctrl+2 to open the Chat view.
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Press Ctrl+F6 until you hear: "Chat list."
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Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the name of the contact or group you want to chat with, followed by the last message in the chat.
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Press Enter to move the focus to the message compose box, type your message, and press Enter again. The message is sent.
Read chats
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Press Ctrl+2 to open the Chat view.
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Press Ctrl+F6 until you hear: "Chat list."
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Press the Up or Down arrow key until you find the chat you want.
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Press Enter to open the chat in the content pane. To browse the messages, press Shift+Tab to move the focus to the most recent message, and use the Up and Down arrow keys to move between the messages.
Reply to chats
To reply to a chat, locate the right contact as described in Start a chat, type your message in the message compose box, and press Enter.
Start and reply to conversations
Conversations happen in Team channels and are visible to everyone in that Team.
Start a conversation
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Press Ctrl+3 to open the Teams view. You hear: "Teams and channels list."
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Navigate to the channel you want to follow using the Up and Down arrow keys. To expand or collapse a team's list of channels, press Enter while the focus is on the team.
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After you have reached the right channel, press Enter. The focus moves to the message compose box.
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Type your message, and press Enter to send it to the channel.
Note: If you want to reply to an ongoing conversation instead of starting a new one, refer to Reply to conversations.
Read conversations
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Press Ctrl+3 to open the Teams view. You hear: "Teams and channels list."
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Navigate to the channel you want to follow using the Up and Down arrow keys. To expand or collapse a team's list of channels, press Enter while the focus is on the team.
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After you have reached the right channel, press Enter to open the chat in the content pane.
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To browse the messages with JAWS, press Shift+Tab to move the focus to the most recent message, and use the Up and Down arrow keys to move between the messages.
With NVDA, press Shift+Tab to move the focus to the most recent message. Then switch to focus mode by pressing the NVDA key+Spacebar, and use the Up and Down arrow keys to move between the messages.
Navigate and read threaded conversations
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When you read conversations, your screen reader announces the number of replies they have. If the conversation has at least one reply, you need to navigate into the threaded conversation to read the replies. To navigate threaded conversations with JAWS, make sure the virtual cursor mode is off. To switch it off, press Insert+Z. To open the threaded conversation, press Enter. You hear the first message in the thread.
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To move between messages in a threaded conversation, press the Up or Down arrow key. Your screen reader reads the messages as you move through them.
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To open a message for further actions, press Enter. To move the focus back to the threaded conversation, press Esc. To leave the threaded conversation, press Esc again.
Reply to conversations
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While reading a conversation, regardless of the number of replies, press Enter, press the Down arrow key until you hear "Reply, button," and press Enter.
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Type the reply and press Enter to add the reply to the selected conversation.
Note: If you want to start a new conversation instead of replying to an ongoing one, refer to Start a conversation.
Make and receive calls
Start a call
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Press Ctrl+E to go to the Search field.
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Type /call, press Enter, and type the name of the person you want to call. The search results are updated as you type.
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To navigate the list of results, press the Down or Up arrow key. When you hear the person you want to call, to start an audio call, press Enter. To start a video call, press Ctrl+Shift+U.
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To end the call, press the Tab key until you reach the Hang up button, and press Enter.
Tip: If you have the Calls view available in Microsoft Teams, you can use its options to directly call a contact, browse your call history, and check your voicemail. To go to the Calls view, press Ctrl+5.
Answer a call
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When a contact calls you, the Microsoft Teams notification window opens, you hear the ringing sound and the caller's name.
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Do one of the following:
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To answer an audio call, press Ctrl+Shift+S.
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To answer a video call, press Ctrl+Shift+A.
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To decline the call, press Ctrl+Shift+D.
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To end the call, press the Tab key until you hear "Hang up," and then press Enter.
Join a meeting
After you have received a meeting invitation, joining is simple.
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In Microsoft Teams, press Ctrl+4 to go to the Calendar view. The focus is in the calendar grid.
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Press the Tab key once to move the focus to the next meeting in your Calendar. If it's not the meeting you want to join, press the Tab key until you find the right one. Your screen reader announces its name and time. Press Enter to open the meeting details, and press Alt+Shift+J to join. The focus moves to the Join now button.
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To join the meeting with the default audio and video settings, press Spacebar. You are connected to the meeting and the focus moves to the Mute mic button in the call controls region.
See also
Use a screen reader to create and modify teams in Microsoft Teams
Use a screen reader to search for a conversation, person, or file in Microsoft Teams
Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Teams
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Microsoft Teams on Mac with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in Mac OS screen reader.
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
Open Microsoft Teams
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Press Command+Spacebar to open Spotlight. Type Microsoft Teams and press Return.
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A Sign in dialog opens. Type the email address of the account you want to sign in with and press Return.
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Your organization's sign-in page opens. The focus is in the Password field. Type your password and press Return.
Change your status
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In Microsoft Teams, press Command+E to go to the Search field.
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Do one of the following:
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To set your status to available, type /available and press Return.
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To set your status to away, type /away and press Return.
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To set your status to busy, type /busy and press Return.
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To set your status to do not disturb, type /dnd and press Return.
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Send and receive private chats
Chats are only visible to the specific people in that chat.
Start a chat
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Press Command+2 to open the Chat tab.
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Press Command+F6 until you hear: "Chat list."
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear the name and status of the contact you want to chat with, and press Return.
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Type your message in the message compose box, and press Return to send it.
Read chats
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Press Command+2 to open the Chat tab.
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Press Command+F6 until you hear: "Chat list."
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Press the Down arrow key until you find the recent chat you want to read, and press Return.
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To browse the messages, press Shift+Tab to move the focus to the most recent message and use the Up and Down arrow keys to move between the messages.
Reply to chats
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Press Command+2 to open the Chat tab.
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Press Command+F6 until you hear: "Chat list."
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Press the Down arrow key until you find the recent chat you want to reply to, and press Return.
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Type your message in the message compose box, and press Return.
Start and reply to conversations
Conversations happen in Team channels and are visible to everyone in that Team.
Start a conversation
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Press Command+3 to open the Teams tab. You hear: "Teams and channels list."
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Navigate to the channel you want to follow using the Up and Down arrow keys. To expand or collapse a team's list of channels, press Return while the focus is on the team.
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After you have reached the right channel, press Return. The focus moves to the channel's message compose box.
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Type your message. To send the message, press Return.
Read and reply to conversations
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Press Command+3 to open the Teams tab. You hear: "Teams and channels list."
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Navigate to the channel you want to follow using the Up and Down arrow keys. To expand or collapse a team's list of channels, press Return while the focus is on the team.
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After you have reached the right channel, press Return. The focus moves to the channel's message compose box.
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Press Shift+Tab to move the focus to the most recent messages. You can use the Up and Down arrow keys to browse the conversations.
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VoiceOver announces how many replies each conversation has. Press Return to open the conversation. You hear the first message in the thread. To move between messages in the conversation, press the Up or Down arrow key. To reply to the conversation, press the Down arrow key to move past all messages until you hear "Reply, button," and press Return. Type your reply and press Return to send it.
Note: If the conversation has more than a couple of messages, all of them are not shown by default. To expand the conversation so show all messages, open the conversation, press the Down arrow key until VoiceOver announces the number of replies and their senders, and press Return.
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To close the reply edit field, press Esc and to move the focus back to the channel, press Esc again.
Make and receive calls
Start a call
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In Microsoft Teams, press Command+E to go to the Search field.
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Type /call, press Return, and type the name of the person you want to call. The search results are updated as you type.
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To navigate the list of results, press the Down or Up arrow key. When you hear the person you want to call, to start an audio call, press Return. To start a video call, press Command+Shift+U.
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To end the call, press the Tab key until you reach the Hang up button, and press Control+Option+Spacebar.
Answer a call
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When a contact calls you, the Microsoft Teams notification window opens, and you hear the caller's name.
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Do one of the following:
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To answer an audio call, press Command+Shift+S.
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To answer a video call, press Command+Shift+A.
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To decline the call, press Command+Shift+D.
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To end the call, press the Tab key until you reach the Hang up button, and press Control+Option+Spacebar.
Join a meeting
After you have received a meeting invitation, joining is simple.
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In Microsoft Teams, press Command+4 to go to the Calendar tab. The focus is on the calendar grid.
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Press the Tab key once to move the focus to the next meeting in your calendar. If it's not the meeting you want to join, press the Tab key until you find the right one. Your screen reader announces its name and time. Press Return to open the meeting details and press Option+Shift+J to join. The focus moves to the Join now button.
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To join the meeting with the default audio and video settings, press Return. You are connected to the meeting and the focus moves to the Mute mic button in the call controls region.
See also
Use a screen reader to create and modify teams in Microsoft Teams
Use a screen reader to search for a conversation, person, or file in Microsoft Teams
Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Teams
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Microsoft Teams for iOS with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader.
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.
In this topic
Open Microsoft Teams
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On your phone, navigate to the home screen where the Microsoft Teams app is, swipe right until you hear "Teams," and double-tap the screen to open the app.
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The sign-in screen opens. Do one of the following:
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Swipe right until you find the account you want to use, and double-tap the screen.
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If you haven't signed in with your account before, swipe right until you hear "Sign in with another account," and double-tap the screen. Use the on-screen keyboard to type the email address of the account you want to sign in with. When done, swipe right until you reach the Sign in button, and double-tap the screen.
Note: If the email address field already contains a previously used address, delete it first.
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Your organization's sign-in page opens with the focus on the password field. Double-tap the screen, and use the on-screen keyboard to type your password. When done, swipe right until you hear "Sign in," and double-tap the screen.
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If the app asks for your permission to use the microphone for calls, swipe right until you hear "OK, button," and double-tap the screen.
Change your status
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Tap with 4 fingers near the top of the screen. You hear: "More menu, button." Double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Your current presence status is," followed by the current status. Double-tap the screen, swipe right until you find the status you want to use, and then double-tap the screen to confirm.
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To close the More menu, swipe left until you hear "Close the More menu," and double-tap the screen.
Send and receive private chats
Chats are only visible to the specific people in that chat.
Start a chat
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Tap with 4 fingers near the bottom of the screen, swipe left until you hear "Chat, tab," and double-tap the screen.
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Swipe left until you hear "New chat, button," and then double-tap the screen. The New Chat window opens and the focus is on the To field.
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To search for a contact, use the on-screen keyboard to type the name of the contact.
Tip: If the contact you seek has a common name, type it out until you get to the part that separates it from the rest. For example, if you type John, you might get dozens of results, so try typing his full name before browsing the results.
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The search results are listed above the on-screen keyboard as you type. To go to the results, swipe left until you hear a contact's name, and keep swiping until you find the result you want. To select the contact, double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Type a new message," and then double-tap the screen.
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Type your message using the on-screen keyboard. To send the message, swipe left past the first key of the on-screen keyboard until you hear "Send, button," and then double-tap the screen.
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To close the keyboard and return to the Chat view, tap with 4 fingers near the top of the screen. You hear: "Chat, back button." Double-tap the screen.
Read and reply to chats
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Tap with 4 fingers near the bottom of the screen, swipe left until you hear "Chat, tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe left until you find the chat you want to read, and then double-tap the screen to open it.
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Swipe right until VoiceOver reads one of the messages in the chat, and then swipe left or right to navigate to earlier or later messages.
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To reply to the chat, swipe right until you hear "Type a new message," and then double-tap the screen.
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Type your message using the on-screen keyboard. To send the message, swipe left past the first key of the on-screen keyboard until you hear "Send, button," and then double-tap the screen.
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To close the keyboard and return to the Chat view, tap with 4 fingers near the top of the screen. You hear: "Chat, back button." Double-tap the screen.
Start and reply to conversations
Conversations happen in Team channels and are visible to everyone in that Team.
Start a conversation
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Tap with 4 fingers near the bottom of the screen, swipe left until you hear "Teams, tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe left until you find the team you want. If the team is in a collapsed view, double-tap the screen to expand it so that you can browse its channels.
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Swipe left or right until you find the right channel, and double-tap the screen to open the channel. The focus is on the Posts tab.
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Tap with 4 fingers near the bottom of the screen. You hear: "New post." Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Type a new message."
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Type the message using your on-screen keyboard.
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To send the message, swipe left past the first key of the on-screen keyboard until you hear "Send, button," and then double-tap the screen.
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To close the keyboard and return to the Teams view, tap with 4 fingers near the top of the screen. You hear: "Back button." Double-tap the screen, and then tap with four 4 fingers near the top of the screen. You hear: "Back button." Double-tap the screen.
Read and reply to conversations
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Tap with 4 fingers near the bottom of the screen, swipe left until you hear "Teams, tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe left or right until you find the team and channel you want, and double-tap the screen to open the channel. If the team is in a collapsed view, double-tap the screen to expand it so that you can browse its channels.
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To go to the channel's conversations, swipe right until you hear a message. To browse to other conversations, swipe right or left. VoiceOver announces the conversations as you move.
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If the conversation has more than a couple of messages, all of them are not shown in the channel view. To open the conversation, when VoiceOver announces the number of replies and their senders, double-tap the screen. The Conversation view opens.
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Swipe right until VoiceOver reads the first message in the conversation. To read the follow-up messages, keep swiping right.
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To reply to a conversation, swipe right past all messages until you hear "Reply, text field," and double-tap the screen. Use the on-screen keyboard to type your message. To send the message, swipe left past the first key of the on-screen keyboard until you hear "Send, button," and double-tap the screen.
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To close the keyboard and return to the Teams view, tap with 4 fingers near the top of the screen. You hear: "Back button." Double-tap the screen.
Make and receive calls
Start a call
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Tap with 4 fingers near the top of the screen, swipe right until you hear "Search, button," and double-tap the screen.
Note: If you hear "Teams would like to access your contacts," swipe right until you hear "OK, button," and double-tap the screen.
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To search for a contact, use the on-screen keyboard to type the name of the contact.
Tip: If the contact you seek has a common name, type it out until you get to the part that separates it from the rest. For example, if you type John, you might get dozens of results, so try typing his full name before browsing the results.
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The search results are listed above the on-screen keyboard as you type. To go to the results, slide your finger around the screen until you hear a contact's name, and swipe right or left until you hear the name you want. To select the contact, double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Call, button," and double-tap the screen.
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To end the call, swipe right until you hear "Hang up call, button," and double-tap the screen. You hear: "Back button." Double-tap the screen.
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To close the search view, tap with 4 fingers near the top of the screen, swipe right until you hear "Cancel, button," and double-tap the screen.
Tip: If you have the Calls view available in Microsoft Teams, you can use its options to directly call a contact, browse your call history, and check your voicemail. To go to the Calls view, tap with 4 fingers near the bottom of the screen. You hear: "More, tab." Double-tap the screen, swipe left until you hear "Calls, button," and double-tap the screen. If you cannot find the Calls button in the More menu, the Calls view is not available.
Answer a call
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When a contact calls you, you hear a ringing sound. Do one of the following:
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To answer the call, swipe right or left until you hear "Accept," and double-tap the screen.
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To decline the call, swipe right or left until you hear "Decline," and double-tap the screen.
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To end the call, swipe right or left until you hear "Hang up call, button," and double-tap the screen.
See also
Use a screen reader to search for a conversation, person, or file in Microsoft Teams
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Microsoft Teams for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader.
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.
In this topic
Open Microsoft Teams
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On your phone, navigate to the home screen where the app is, swipe right until TalkBack announces the app, and double-tap the screen to open.
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The sign-in screen opens. Swipe right until you hear "Sign in, button," double-tap the screen, and do one of the following:
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Swipe right until you find the account you want to use, and double-tap the screen.
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If you haven't signed in with your account before, swipe left until you hear "Sign in with another account," and double-tap the screen. Use the on-screen keyboard to type the email address of the account you want to sign in with. When done, swipe right until you reach the Sign in button, and double-tap the screen.
Note: If the email address field already contains a previously used address, delete it first.
-
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Your organization’s sign-in page opens. Swipe right to navigate to the Password field. Double-tap the screen and use the on-screen keyboard to type your password. When done, swipe right until you reach the Sign in button, and double-tap the screen.
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The Welcome to Microsoft Teams page opens. To hear the page contents, swipe right. To move to the next page, swipe left with two fingers. When you reach the last page, swipe right until you hear “Got it, button,” and double-tap the screen.
Change your status
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Swipe left or right until you hear "Navigation, button," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Current status is," followed by the current status. Double-tap the screen, swipe right or left until you find the status you want to use, and double-tap the screen to confirm.
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To close the menu, swipe down-then-left.
Send and receive private chats
Chats are only visible to the specific people in that chat.
Start a chat
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Swipe right or left until you hear "Chat tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "New chat button," and then double-tap the screen. You hear: "Edit box, To, Search for contacts here." The on-screen keyboard opens in the bottom half of the screen. To go to the keyboard, place a finger on the screen and drag it around until you hear a keyboard element.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type your search words in the To field. The number of search results is announced as you type. Swipe right until you reach the first search result. To move in the list, swipe right or left until you hear the contact name you seek. To select the contact, double-tap the screen.
Tip: If the contact you seek has a common name, type it out until you get to the part that separates it from the rest. For example, if you type John, you might get dozens of results, so try typing his full name before browsing the results.
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Swipe right until you hear "Type a new message," and then double-tap the screen.
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Type your message using the on-screen keyboard. To send the message, swipe right until you hear "Send message button," and then double-tap the screen. The focus returns to the Type a new message box.
When the person replies to your message, you hear "Message received, showing items," followed by the number of the current item and its position in the list of items.
Read and reply to chats
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Swipe right or left until you hear "Chat tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe left until you find the chat you want to read, and then double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right or left until TalkBack reads one of the messages in the chat, and then swipe left or right to navigate to earlier or later messages.
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To reply to the chat, swipe right until you hear "Type a message here," and then double-tap the screen. The on-screen keyboard opens in the bottom half of the screen. To go to the keyboard, place a finger on the screen and drag it around until you hear a keyboard element.
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Type your message using the on-screen keyboard. To send the message, swipe right until you hear "Send message button," and then double-tap the screen. The focus returns to the Type a message here box.
Start and reply to conversations
Conversations happen in Team channels and are visible to everyone in that Team.
Start a conversation
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Swipe right or left until you hear: "Teams tab." Double-tap the screen to select. The Teams view opens. To browse the channels, swipe left. As you move, TalkBack announces the channel names.
Tip: If your Team has lots of channels, all of them may not fit on the screen at the same time. To scroll the list, swipe up or down with two fingers.
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When on the channel you want, double-tap the screen. The channel opens.
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Swipe left until you hear: "New conversation, button." Double-tap the screen.
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Double-tap the screen to open the on-screen keyboard in the bottom half of the screen. To go to the keyboard, place a finger on the screen and drag it around until you hear a keyboard element.
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Type your message using the on-screen keyboard. When done, swipe down-then-left to close the keyboard, swipe right until you hear "Send message, button," and double-tap the screen.
Read and reply to conversations
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Swipe right or left until you hear: "Teams tab." Double-tap the screen to select. The Teams view opens. To browse the channels, swipe left. As you move, TalkBack announces the channel names.
Tip: If your Team has lots of channels, all of them may not fit on the screen at the same time. To scroll the list, swipe up or down with two fingers.
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When on the channel you want, double-tap the screen. The channel opens.
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To go to the latest threaded conversation, swipe right until you hear a message. To browse to older conversations, swipe left. TalkBack announces the conversations as you move.
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To open the conversation, when on a message in the conversation, double-tap the screen. The Post view opens.
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Swipe right until TalkBack reads the first message in the conversation. To read the follow-up messages, keep swiping right.
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To reply to a conversation, swipe right past all messages until you hear "Reply, edit box," and double-tap the screen. The on-screen keyboard opens in the bottom half of the screen. To go to the keyboard, place a finger on the screen and drag it around until you hear a keyboard element.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type your message. To send the message, swipe down-then-left to close the keyboard, swipe right until you hear "Send message, button," and double-tap the screen.
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To close the Post view, swipe down-then-left. The focus returns to the selected channel.
Make calls
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Swipe right or left until you hear "Search," and double-tap the screen.
-
To search for a contact, use the on-screen keyboard to type the name of the contact.
Tip: If the contact you seek has a common name, type it out until you get to the part that separates it from the rest. For example, if you type John, you might get dozens of results, so try typing his full name before browsing the results.
-
The search results are listed as you type. To go to the results, swipe right until you hear a contact's name, and keep swiping until you hear the name you want. To select the contact, double-tap the screen.
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Swipe right until you hear "Make an audio call, button," and double-tap the screen.
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To end the call, swipe right until you hear "Hang up," and double-tap the screen.
See also
Use a screen reader to search for a conversation, person, or file in Microsoft Teams
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Microsoft Teams on the web with your keyboard and a screen reader. 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:
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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.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Open Microsoft Teams
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On your computer, open your browser and browse to https://teams.microsoft.com.
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A sign-in page opens, with the focus on the Email, phone or Skype field. If there is no previously used account details, enter your information in the field. If there are several accounts to choose from, press the Tab key to browse the options. To select, press Enter.
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Your organization's sign-in page opens. To move between the options, press the Tab key. To select, press Enter.
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To navigate to the password field, press Shift+Tab until you hear "Password," and type your password. When done, press Enter.
Change your status
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Press Ctrl+E to go to the Search field.
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Do one of the following:
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To set your status to available, type /available and press Enter.
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To set your status to away, type /away and press Enter.
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To set your status to busy, type /busy and press Enter.
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To set your status to do not disturb, type /dnd and press Enter.
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Send and receive private chats
Chats are only visible to the specific people in that chat.
Start a chat
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Press Ctrl+Shift+2 to open the Chat view.
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Press Ctrl+F6 until you hear: "Chat list."
If you are using Narrator, press the SR key+Spacebar until you hear "Scan off" before you continue.
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Press the Up and Down arrow keys to find the contact or group you want to chat with, followed by the last message in the chat.
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Press Enter. You hear: "Type a new message." The focus is now in the message compose box.
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Type your message and press Enter to send it.
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When the person replies to your message, you hear "Message from," followed by the person's name and the text in the message.
Read and reply to chats
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Press Ctrl+Shift+2 to open the Chat view.
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Press Ctrl+F6 until you hear: "Chat list."
If you are using Narrator, press the SR key+Spacebar until you hear "Scan off" before you continue.
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Press the Up or Down arrow key until you find the chat you want.
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Press Enter to open the chat in the content pane. To browse the messages, press Shift+Tab to move the focus to the most recent message, and use the Up and Down arrow keys to move between the messages.
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To move the focus back to the message compose box, press Ctrl+F6 until you hear: "Type a new message." To reply to a chat, just type your message in the message compose box, and press Enter.
Start and reply to conversations
Conversations happen in Team channels and are visible to everyone in that Team.
Start a conversation
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Press Ctrl+Shift+3 to open the Teams view. You hear: "Teams and channels list."
If you are using Narrator, press the SR key+Spacebar until you hear "Scan off" before you continue.
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Navigate to the channel you want to follow using the Down and Up arrow keys. To expand or collapse a team's list of channels, press Enter while the focus is on the team.
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After you've reached the right channel, press Enter. The focus moves to the message compose box.
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Type your message, and press Enter to send it to the channel.
Read conversations
When a new message arrives, your screen reader reads the text and message details. You can also browse for messages on a channel's Posts tab.
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Press Ctrl+Shift+3 to open the Teams view.
If you are using Narrator, press the SR key+Spacebar until you hear "Scan off" before you continue.
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Navigate to the channel you want to follow using the Up and Down arrow keys. To expand or collapse a team's list of channels, press Enter while the focus is on the team.
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After you have reached the right channel, press Enter. The focus moves to the message compose box.
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Press Shift+Tab to move to the latest message in the conversation.
If you are using Narrator, press the SR key+Spacebar until you hear "Scan off" before you continue.
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To browse the messages, press the Up and Down arrow keys.
Navigate and read threaded conversations
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When you read conversations, your screen reader announces the number of replies they have. If the conversation has at least one reply, you need to navigate into the threaded conversation to read the replies. To navigate threaded conversations with JAWS, make sure the virtual cursor mode is off. To switch it off, press Insert+Z. To open the threaded conversation, press Enter. You hear the first message in the thread.
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To move between messages in a threaded conversation, press the Up or Down arrow key. Your screen reader reads the messages as you move through them.
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To open a message for further actions, press Enter. To move the focus back to the threaded conversation, press Esc, and to leave the threaded conversation, press Esc again.
Reply to conversations
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While reading a conversation, regardless of the number of replies, press Enter, press the Down arrow key until you hear "Reply, button," and press Enter.
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Type the reply and press Enter to add the reply to the selected conversation.
Make and receive calls
Start a call
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Press Ctrl+E to go to the Search field.
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Type /call, press Enter, and type the name of the person you want to call. The search results are updated as you type.
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If you are using Narrator, press the SR key+Spacebar until you hear "Scan off" before you continue.
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To navigate the list of results, press the Down or Up arrow key. When you hear the person you want to call, to start an audio call, press Enter. To start a video call, press Ctrl+Shift+U.
If you get a popup (in Chrome) asking for permission to use your microphone, press the Tab key until you reach the Allow button and press Enter.
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To end the call, press the Tab key until you hear "Hang up," and then press Enter.
Tip: If you have the Calls view available in your region, you can use its options to directly call a contact, browse your call history, and check your voice mail. To go to the Calls view, press Ctrl+Shift+5.
Answer a call
To know that someone is calling you, make sure you have the Sound notifications turned on in the Microsoft Teams Settings. To learn more on how to change your notification settings, refer to the section "Customize the notification settings" in Use a screen reader to check recent activity in Microsoft Teams.
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When a contact calls you, the Microsoft Teams notification window opens, you hear the ringing sound, and “Microsoft Teams, Notifications windows."
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Do one of the following:
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To answer an audio call, press Ctrl+Shift+S.
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To answer a video call, press Ctrl+Shift+A.
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To decline the call, press Ctrl+Shift+D.
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To end the call, press the Tab key until you hear "Hang up," and then press Enter.
Join a meeting
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In Microsoft Teams, press Ctrl+Shift+4 to go to the Calendar view. The focus is in the calendar grid.
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Press the Tab key once to move the focus to the next meeting in your Calendar. If it's not the meeting you want to join, press the Tab key until you find the right one. Your screen reader announces its name and time. Press Enter to open the meeting details, and press Alt+Shift+J to join. The focus moves to the Join now button.
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To join the meeting with the default audio and video settings, press Spacebar. You are connected to the meeting and the focus moves to the call controls toolbar.
If you get a popup (in Chrome) asking for permission to use your microphone, press the Tab key until you reach the Allow button and press Enter.
See also
Use a screen reader to create and modify teams in Microsoft Teams
Use a screen reader to search for a conversation, person, or file in Microsoft Teams
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.
