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.
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 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.
Chat is at the center of everything you do in Microsoft Teams. This feature allows you to communicate one-on-one with one or multiple participants. You can use text, emojis, stickers, and gifs to express yourself and share links and files. In Teams, there are three types of chats: One-on-one chats, to connect with people individually, group chats, to speak with a group of people.
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 you are working on multiple projects. Within each Team are "channels" to keep the discussions organized. For example, you work for a company with various clients. Each client project might be set up with its own Team. That team could then have a general channel for announcements and communication, 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.
Note: To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Open Microsoft Teams
Follow these instructions to open and sign in to Microsoft Teams:
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Press the Windows key and type Teams.
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You hear "Microsoft Team 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 desired option, 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, 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.
Send and receive private chats
Chats in Microsoft Teams are private conversations between specific people or groups. Follow these steps to learn how to start, read, and reply to chats:
Read chats
Follow these instructions to read chats:
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Press Ctrl+2 to open the Chat app.
Note: The key number ‘2' signifies the sequential position of the Chat app within the app bar. This position may vary depending on the individual setup.
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Press the Up or Down arrow key until you find the chat you want.
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Press the Spacebar or Ctrl+M to read the latest message(s) in the selected chat.
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Use the Up and Down arrow keys to move between the messages.
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Press the Esc or Ctrl+L key to return to the chat list.
Reply to chats
Follow these instructions to reply to chats:
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Press Ctrl+2 to open the Chat app.
Note: The key number ‘2' signifies the sequential position of the Chat app within the app bar. This position may vary depending on the individual setup.
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Use 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 or Ctrl+R to move the focus to the Type a message box and type your message.
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Press Enter again to send the message.
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Press Ctrl+M to navigate to the list of chat messages.
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Press the Esc or Ctrl+L key to return to the chats list.
Start a new chat
Follow these instructions to start a new chat:
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To start a new chat, press Ctrl+N.
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Type the name of the person you want to chat with in the To box. The suggestions will appear in the list as you start typing.
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Navigate through the suggestions using the Down and Up arrow keys.
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Select the contact by pressing Enter.
Note: To start a group chat, select the name of the required participants in the To box. Optionally, you can give the group a name in the Group name box.
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Press Tab to jump to the Type a message box.
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Type your message and press Enter again to send the message.
Start and reply to posts
You can post in Team channels and these posts are visible to everyone in that Team.
Read posts in a channel
Follow these instructions to read posts in a channel:
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Press Ctrl+2 to open the Chat app.
Note: The key ‘2' signifies the sequential position of the Chat app within the app bar. This position may vary depending on individual setup.
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Press the Tab key once and then use the Up or Down arrow key until you hear “Teams and channels, collapsed, selected.”
Note: If you do not see your teams, navigate to the Filter options toolbar and press Enter when you hear “Channels.”
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Press Enter to access the teams you've been added to. Use the Up or Down arrow key to navigate and press Enter on the desired team to expand or collapse a team's list of channels.
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Use the Up and Down arrow keys to navigate to the channel you want to follow.
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After you have reached the desired channel, press Enter to display and navigate to channel’s posts. The focus will move to the latest post in that channel.
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Use the Up and Down arrow keys to browse the channel's posts.
Reply to posts
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While reading a post, regardless of the number of replies, press Ctrl+R.
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Alternatively, press Enter on the post and then use the Down arrow key until you hear the "Reply in thread button." Press Enter.
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Type your reply and press Enter to add the reply to the selected post.
Note: If you want to start a new post instead of replying to an ongoing one, refer to Start a new post.
Start a new post
Follow these instructions to start a new post:
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Press Ctrl+2 to open the Chat app.
Note: The key number ‘2' signifies the sequential position of the Chat app within the app bar. This position may vary depending on individual setup.
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Press the Tab key once and then use the Up or Down arrow key until you hear “Teams and channels, collapsed, selected.”
Note: If you do not see your teams, navigate to the Filter options toolbar and press Enter when you hear “Channels.”
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Press Enter to access the teams you've been added to. Use the Up or Down arrow key to navigate and press Enter on the desired team to expand or collapse a team's list of channels.
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Use the Up and Down arrow keys to navigate the channel you want to follow.
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After you have reached the required channel, press Enter. The focus will move to the latest post in that channel.
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To start a post, press the Tab key and then the Enter key on the Start a post button to open the post edit box.
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Type the subject of your post.
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Press the Tab key until you reach the edit box and type your message.
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Press Ctrl+Enter to post the message in the channel.
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Alternatively, use the Tab key to get to the Post button and press Enter to post the message.
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Press Esc to move out of a channel.
Notes:
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For screen reader users, the detail whether it is a new post or has new replies is announced to help you decide if you wish to know more details.
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If you want to reply to an ongoing post instead of starting a new one, refer to Reply to posts.
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Change your status
To change your status, you can either:
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Press Ctrl+E to go to the search box.
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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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Alternatively, press Ctrl+E, then press the Tab key until you hear "Your profile picture with status displayed as [your status].
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Press Enter to open the options and you will start on your status.
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Press Enter to open the dropdown list. Use the Down or Up arrow key to navigate the status options.
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Press Enter to select the desired status.
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Make and receive calls
Start a call
Follow these instructions to start a call:
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Press Ctrl+2 to go to the Chat app.
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Press Ctrl+N to start a new chat or use the Up or Down arrow key to select an existing chat from the list and press Enter.
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To start an audio call, press Alt+Shift+A.
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To start a video call, press Alt+Shift+V.
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Note: Alternatively, press Ctrl+E to go to the search box and type /call. Press Enter and type the name of the person you want to call. Use the Up or Down arrow key to select a result, and press Enter to start an audio call.
Tips:
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If your organization has calling enabled, you can also just type in phone numbers and press Enter to call.
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If you have the Calls app available in Microsoft Teams, you can also use its options to call a contact, browse your call history, and check your voicemail. To go to the Calls app, press Ctrl+4. The key number ‘4' signifies the sequential position of the Calls app within the app bar. This position may vary depending on individual setup.
Answer a call
Follow these instructions to answer a call:
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When a contact calls you, the Microsoft Teams notification window opens, and 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, use Ctrl+Shift+H.
Join a meeting
After you have received a meeting invitation, joining is simple.
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In Microsoft Teams, press Ctrl+3 to go to the Calendar app.
Note: The number ‘3' is the numeric position of the Calendar app on the app bar. This position may vary depending on individual setup.
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Press the Tab key 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.
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To join the meeting with the default audio and video settings, press Tab to select the Join now button, and then press Enter. You are connected to the meeting and the focus moves to the Mute mic button in the call controls toolbar.
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To mute your mic, press Ctrl+Shift+M to mute.
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To turn on or off your video, press Ctrl+Shift+O.
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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 Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader.
Note: 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
Follow these instructions to open and sign in to Microsoft Teams:
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On your phone, navigate to the home screen where the app is, flick right until you hear "Teams,"and then double-tap the screen to open.
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Flick right until you hear "Get started button," and then double tap the screen.
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The sign in screen will open. Flick right until you hear "Enter email or phone number edit box," double-tap the screen, and do one of the following:
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Flick right until you find the account you want to use from suggestions, and double-tap the screen.
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If you haven't signed in with your account before, flick left until you hear "Enter email or phone number edit box," and double-tap the screen. Type the email address of the account you want to sign in with. When done, flick right until you reach the Next 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 will open. Flick right to navigate to the Password field. Double-tap the screen and type your password.
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When done, flick right until you reach the Sign in button, and double-tap the screen.
Send and receive private chats
Chats in Microsoft Teams are private conversations between specific people or groups. Follow these steps to learn how to start, read, and reply to chats:
Start a chat
Follow these instructions to start a new chat:
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Flick right or left until you hear "Chat tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Flick right until you hear the "New conversation button," and then double-tap the screen. You hear "Enter name, chat, channel, email or tag edit box."
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type your search words in the edit box. The number of search results is announced as you type.
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Flick right until you reach the first search result. To move in the list, flick right or left until you hear the contact name you are looking for. 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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Flick right until you hear "Type a message," and then double-tap the screen.
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Type your message using the on-screen keyboard. To send the message, flick right until you hear the "Send message button," and then double-tap the screen.
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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
Follow these instructions to read and reply to chats:
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Flick right or left until you hear "Chat tab," and then double-tap the screen.
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Flick left until you find the chat you want to read, and then double-tap the screen.
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Flick right or left until TalkBack reads one of the messages in the chat, and then flick left or right to navigate to earlier or later messages.
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To reply to the chat, flick right until you hear "Type a message and then double-tap the screen.
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Type your message using the on-screen keyboard. To send the message, flick right until you hear the "Send message button," and then double-tap the screen.
Start and reply to posts
Posts happen in Team channels and are visible to everyone in that Team.
Start a post
Follow these instructions to start a post in a channel:
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Flick right or left until you hear: "Channels button," and double-tap the screen to select. To browse the channels, flick 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 to open the channel.
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Flick left until you hear "New conversation button," and double-tap the screen.
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Type your message using the on-screen keyboard. When done, flick right until you hear "Send message, button," and double-tap the screen.
Read and reply to posts
Follow these instructions to read posts in a channel:
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Flick right or left until you hear "Chat button." And double-tap the screen to select. To browse the channels, flick left. As you move, TalkBack announces the Chats and channels 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 to open the channel.
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To go to the latest post, flick right until you hear the message. To browse to older posts, flick left. TalkBack announces the posts as you move.
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To open the post, when on a message in the conversation, double-tap the screen. The Post tab opens.
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Flick right until TalkBack reads the first message in the conversation. To read the next messages, keep swiping right.
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To reply to a conversation, flick right past all messages until you hear "Reply edit box," and double-tap the screen.
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Use the on-screen keyboard to type your message. Flick right until you hear "Send message button," and double-tap the screen.
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To close the Post tab, flick down-then-left. The focus returns to the selected channel.
Make calls
Follow these instructions to make a call:
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Flick right or left until you hear "Search 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 as you type. To go to the results, flick right until you hear a contact's name, and keep flicking until you hear the name you want. To select the contact, double-tap the screen.
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Flick right until you hear "Audio call button," and double-tap the screen.A pop up window opens to select the Audio call or Video call button.
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Flick right until you hear "Audio call button," and double-tap the screen.
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To end the call, flick right until you hear "End 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 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 if they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
Note: To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
In this topic
Open Microsoft Teams
Follow these instructions to open and sign in to Microsoft Teams:
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Open your browser and browse to https://teams.microsoft.com.
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A sign-in page will open with a focus on the Email, phone, or Skype box.
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If there are no previously used account details, type your information in the edit box.
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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 will open. To move between the options, press the Tab key. To select, press Enter.
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To navigate to the password box, press Tab until you hear "Password," and type your password. When done, press Enter.
Note: Depending on the sign-in method, follow the prompts as your screen reader announces them.
Send and receive private chats
Chats in Microsoft Teams are private conversations between specific people or groups. Follow these steps to learn how to start, read, and reply to chats:
Read and reply to chats
Follow these instructions to read and reply to chats:
-
Press Ctrl+Shift+2 to open the Chat app.
Note: The key number ‘2' signifies the sequential position of the Chat app within the app bar. This position may vary depending on the individual setup.
-
Press the Up or Down arrow key until you find the chat you want.
-
Press Alt+Shift+M to read the latest message in the selected chat.
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Use the Up and Down arrow keys to move between the messages.
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To move the focus back to the Type a message box, press Ctrl+F6 or F6 until you hear: "Type a message."
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To reply to a chat, type your message in the box, and press Enter.
Start a new chat
Follow these instructions to start a new chat:
-
Press Ctrl+Shift+2 to open the Chat app.
Note: The key number ‘2' signifies the sequential position of the Chat app within the app bar. This position may vary depending on the individual setup.
-
Press Alt+N to open a new chat.
-
Type the name of the person you want to chat with in the To box. The suggestions will appear in the list as you start typing.
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Navigate through the suggestions using the Down and Up arrow keys. Select the contact by pressing Enter.
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Press Tab to jump to the Type a message box.
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Type your message and press Enter again to send the message.
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Press the Esc key or Alt+Shift+L to return to the chat list.
Start and reply to posts
You can post in Team channels and these posts are visible to everyone in that Team.
Read posts in a channel
Follow these instructions to read posts in a channel:
-
Press Ctrl+Shift+2 to open the Chat app.
Note: The key ‘2' signifies the sequential position of the Chat app within the app bar. This position may vary depending on individual setup.
-
Press the Tab key once and then use the Up or Down arrow key until you hear “Teams and channels, collapsed, selected.”
Note: If you do not see your teams, navigate to the Filter options toolbar and press Enter when you hear “Channels.”
-
Press Enter to access the teams you've been added to. Use the Up or Down arrow key to navigate and press Enter on the desired team to expand or collapse a team's list of channels.
-
Use the Up and Down arrow keys to navigate to the channel you want to follow.
-
After you have reached the desired channel, press Enter to display and navigate to channel’s posts. The focus will move to the latest post in that channel.
-
Use the Up and Down arrow keys to browse the channel's posts.
Reply to posts
follow these instructions to reply to posts in a channel:
-
While reading a post, regardless of the number of replies, press Ctrl+R.
-
Alternatively, press Enter and then use the Down arrow key until you hear the "Reply in thread button." Press Enter.
-
-
Type your reply and press Enter to add the reply to the selected post.
Start a new post
Follow these instructions to start a new post:
-
Press Ctrl+Shift+2 to open the Chat app.
Note: The key ‘2' signifies the sequential position of the Chat app within the app bar. This position may vary depending on individual setup.
-
Press the Tab key once and then use the Up or Down arrow key until you hear “Teams and channels, collapsed, selected.”
-
If you do not see your teams, navigate to the Filter options toolbar and press Enter when you hear “Channels.”
-
Press Enter to access the teams you've been added to. Use the Up or Down arrow key to navigate and press Enter on the desired team to expand or collapse a team's list of channels.
-
Use the Up and Downarrow keys to navigate the channel you want to follow.
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After you have reached the required channel, press Enter. The focus will move to the latest post in that channel.
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To start a post, press the Tab key and then the Enter key on the Start a post button to open the post edit box. Type the subject of your post.
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Press the Tab key until you reach the edit box and type your message. Then, press Ctrl+Enter to post the message in the channel.
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Press Esc to move out of a channel.
Change your status
To change your status, you can either:
-
Press Ctrl+Shift+E to go to the search box.
-
Do one of the following:
-
To set your status to available, type "/available" and press Enter.
-
To set your status to away, type "/away" and press Enter.
-
To set your status to busy, type "/busy" and press Enter.
-
To set your status to do not disturb, type "/dnd" and press Enter.
-
Alternatively, press Ctrl+Shift+E, then press the Tab key until you hear "Your profile picture with status displayed as [your status].
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Press Enter to open the options, and you will start on your status.
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Press Enter to open the dropdown list. Use the Down or Up arrow key to navigate the status options.
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Press Enter to select the desired status.
-
Make and receive calls
Start a call
Follow these instructions to start a call:
-
Press Ctrl+Shift+2 to go to the Chat app.
-
Press Alt+N to start a new chat or use the Up or Down arrow key to select an existing chat from the list and press Enter.
-
To start an audio call, press Alt+Shift+A.
-
To start a video call, press Alt+Shift+V.
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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 Ctrl+Shift+H.
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Alternatively, press the Tab key until you hear "Leave button," then press Enter.
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Tips:
-
You can also press Ctrl+E to go to the search box and type /call. Press Enter and type the name of the person you want to call. Use the Up or Down arrow key to select a result, and press Enter to start an audio call.
-
If your organization has calling enabled, you can just type in phone numbers and press Enter to call.
-
If you have the Calls app available in Microsoft Teams, you can also use its options to call a contact, browse your call history, and check your voicemail. To go to the Calls app, press Ctrl+Shift+4. The key number ‘4' signifies the sequential position of the Calls app within the app bar. This position may vary depending on individual setup.
Answer a call
To know that someone is calling you, ensure 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 will open, 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.
-
To answer a video call, press Ctrl+Shift+A.
-
To decline the call, press Ctrl+Shift+D.
-
-
To end the call, press Ctrl+Shift+H.
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Alternatively, press the Tab key until you hear "Hang up," then press Enter.
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Join a meeting
Follow these instructions to join a meeting:
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In Microsoft Teams, press Ctrl+Shift+3 to go to the Calendar app.
Note: The key number ‘3' is the numeric position of the Calendar app on the app bar. This position may vary depending on individual setup.
-
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.
-
To join the meeting with the default audio and video settings, press the Spacebar. You are connected to the meeting and the focus moves to the Mute mic button in the call controls toolbar.
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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 mute your mic, use Windows+Alt+K, or Ctrl+Shift+M to mute.
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To turn on or off your video, press Ctrl+Shift+O.
-
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.
