Use a screen reader to add members to a team in Microsoft Teams

Applies To
Microsoft Teams

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 Teams with your keyboard and a screen reader to add new members to a team, request to join a private team, and manage membership requests. 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.

If you're a team owner, you can add someone from your organization to a team. If you're not a team owner, you can submit a request, and the team owner will accept or deny it. If you want to add someone who's not a part of your organization, refer to Use a screen reader to set up and use guest access in Microsoft Teams.

Note

  • 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.
  • Recent versions of JAWS no longer have the virtual PC cursor mode set as default for Microsoft Teams. For instructions on how to switch the virtual PC cursor mode on, go to Enable the JAWS virtual cursor.
  • To quickly access the keyboard shortcuts list from within Microsoft Teams, press Ctrl+E, type the forward slash character followed by the word keys, and then press Enter.

In this topic

Add members to a team

You need to be a team owner to add new members to a team. A team can have up to 5000 people.

Focus navigation

  1. Navigate to the team to which you want to add a new member.
  2. Once on the team, press Spacebar to open the context menu.
  3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Add member," and press Enter. The Add members dialog box opens. The focus is in the text field for new members.
  4. Start typing the name of the contact or group you want to add. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the name of the contact or group, and press Enter. Repeat this step for all members you want to add.
  5. Once you've added the contacts or groups you want, press the Tab key until you hear "Add members," and press Enter. The new members have been added to the team.
  6. To exit the dialog box, press the Tab key until you hear "Close," and press Enter.

Virtual navigation

Note

In NVDA this is called the browse mode. In JAWS it is called the virtual cursor mode.

  1. Navigate to the team to which you want to add a new member.
  2. Once on the team, press Spacebar to open the context menu.
  3. Press I until you hear "Add member," and press Enter. The Add members dialog box opens. The focus is in the text field for new members.
  4. Start typing the name of the contact or group you want to add. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the name of the contact or group, and press Enter. Repeat this step for all members you want to add.
  5. Once you've added the contacts or groups you want, press the Tab key until you hear "Add members," and press Enter. The new members have been added to the team.
  6. To exit the dialog box, press B until you hear "Close," and press Enter.

Request to join a private team

If you want to join a private team, you need to request to join the team, and wait for the team owner's approval to access the team and its channels. You can immediately join a public team.

Tip

To request to join a private team in the list of suggested teams, press Ctrl+E. Type /join, use the Down arrow key to find the team you want, and then press Enter.

Focus navigation

  1. To go to the Teams view, press Ctrl+3.
  2. Press the Tab key until you reach the Join or create a team button and press Enter.
  3. The Join a team pane opens, with focus on the Enter code field. To join a team using a code, type the code and press Enter. To join one of the teams listed on the Join a team pane, press Esc, press the Right or Left arrow keys until you hear the name of the team you want to join and press Enter.
  4. The team owner receives a notification of your request, and once it's approved, you can access the team assets.

Virtual navigation

Note

In NVDA this is called the browse mode. In JAWS it is called the virtual cursor mode.

  1. To go to the Teams view, press Ctrl+3.
  2. Press B until you reach the Join or create a team button and press Enter.
  3. The Join a team pane opens, with focus on the Enter code field. To join a team using a code, type the code and press Enter. To join one of the teams listed on the Join a team pane, press Esc, press the Right or Left arrow keys until you hear the name of the team you want to join and press Enter.
  4. The team owner receives a notification of your request, and once it's approved, you can access the team assets.

Request to add a member

If you're already a member of a team, you can request someone to be added to that team. The team owners will receive an alert that they have a pending request and they need to accept it to add the person to the team.

Focus navigation

  1. Navigate to the team to which you want to submit a membership request on someone else's behalf.
  2. Once on the team, press Spacebar to open the context menu.
  3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Add member," and press Enter. The Add members dialog box opens. The focus is in the text field for new members.
  4. Start typing the name of the contact for whom you want to submit the membership request. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the name of the contact, and press Enter. To add other contacts, repeat this step.
  5. Once you've done, press the Tab key until you hear "Send request," and press Enter.

Virtual navigation

Note

In NVDA this is called the browse mode. In JAWS it is called the virtual cursor mode.

  1. Navigate to the team to which you want to submit a membership request on someone else's behalf.
  2. Once on the team, press Spacebar to open the context menu.
  3. Press I until you hear "Add member," and press Enter. The Add members dialog box opens. The focus is in the text field for new members.
  4. Start typing the name of the contact for whom you want to submit the membership request. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the name of the contact, and press Enter. To add other contacts, repeat this step.
  5. Once you've done, press the SR key+Spacebar, press B until you hear "Send request," and then press Enter.

Accept or deny a membership request

People can submit requests to join your team. As a team owner, you can accept or deny the requests.

Focus navigation

  1. Navigate to the team whose membership requests you want to manage.

  2. Once on the team, press Spacebar to open the context menu.

  3. Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Manage team," and press Enter.

  4. Press the Right arrow key until you hear "Pending requests," and press Enter. The list of pending requests is displayed.

  5. Press the Tab key until you hear: "Name, column header."

  6. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the name of the person who's requested membership.

  7. Do one of the following:

    • To accept the request, press the Right arrow key until you hear "Accept," and press Enter.
    • To deny the request, press the Right arrow key until you hear "Deny," and press Enter.

Virtual navigation

Note

In NVDA this is called the browse mode. In JAWS it is called the virtual cursor mode.

  1. Navigate to the team whose membership requests you want to manage.

  2. Once on the team, press Spacebar to open the context menu.

  3. Press I until you hear "Manage team," and press Enter.

  4. Press the Right arrow key until you hear "Pending requests," and press Enter. The list of pending requests is displayed.

  5. Press B until you hear: "Name, column header."

  6. Press the Down arrow key until you hear the name of the person who's requested membership.

  7. Do one of the following:

    • To accept the request, press B until you hear "Accept," and press Enter.
    • To deny the request, press B until you hear "Deny," and press Enter.

See also

Use a screen reader to set up and use guest access in Microsoft Teams

Use a screen reader to create or follow a channel in Microsoft Teams

Keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Teams

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Microsoft Teams

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate 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.