This article is for people 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.
Use Visio with your keyboard and a screen reader to navigate the views and explore the elements on the screen. We have tested it with Narrator and JAWS, 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
Navigate the main view
To navigate in the Visio view and to cycle through the main screen elements, press F6 or Shift+F6. The main screen elements are, in order:
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The ribbon tabs, with the focus on the currently selected tab, such as the Home tab
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The main content area with the active diagram when using JAWS
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The Shapes pane which lists all available shape categories and the shapes of the selected category
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The status bar
Tip: To navigate to the active diagram using Narrator, press F6 until you reach the Shapes pane, and then press the Tab key.
Navigate inside a screen element
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To navigate within a screen element, press the Tab key (forward) or Shift+Tab (backward).
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To navigate inside the Shapes pane using Narrator, press the SR key+Right or Left arrow key.
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To select an item, press Enter.
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To browse within menus or lists, press the arrow keys, and then, to make a selection, press Enter.
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To exit a menu or mode, press Esc.
Navigate the Quick Access toolbar
The Quick Access toolbar at the top left of the screen contains, for example, the Save button.
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To navigate to the Quick Access toolbar, press Alt+H. You hear: "Home tab."
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Press the Up arrow key. The focus moves to the Quick Access toolbar.
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To move on the toolbar, press the Left and Right arrow keys.
Navigate to the App controls
The App controls at the top right of the screen include, for example, the Minimize and Close buttons.
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To navigate to the App controls, press Alt+H. You hear: "Home tab." Then press the Up arrow key. The focus moves to the Quick Access toolbar.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Ribbon display options," and then press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear the button you want.
Switch between views
In addition to the main view, Visio has the following commonly used views:
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The File menu, which contains options such as New, Open, andSave.
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To open the File menu, press Alt+F. You hear: "File, info."
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To navigate the File menu, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the menu item you want, and then press Enter to open the tab with further options.
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To navigate inside the further options tab, press Tab or Shift+Tab until you hear the option you want.
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To exit the File menu and return to the main view, press Esc.
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The Options window, which contains Visio settings, such as personalization, ease of access, proofreading, and language preferences.
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To open the Options window, press Alt+F, T. You hear: "Visio options window." The focus is on the option categories pane.
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To navigate the option categories, press the Down arrow key until you hear the name of the category you want.
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To move the focus to the options of the selected category, press the Tab key.
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To navigate the options, press the Up and Down arrow keys until you hear the option you want and then press Enter to select it.
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To exit the Options window and return to the main view, press the Tab key until you hear "OK," and press Enter. To return to the main view without making changes, press Esc.
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Special considerations for Visio
To make the content easier to read and select, you can increase contrast or invert colors on your computer using the high contrast settings of Windows. To start using a high contrast theme quickly, press left Alt+left Shift+Print Screen, then press Enter to activate the high contrast theme.
Windows offers you several high contrast themes. To find the one that works best for you:
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Press the Windows logo key, then type "high contrast" in the search box. The search results are updated as you type.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Change high contrast theme," and then press Enter. The High contrast settings window opens.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "High contrast theme," followed by the currently selected theme.
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Use the Down and Up arrow keys to browse the high contrast themes until you find one that works for you.
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Press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear "Apply button," and then press Enter to activate the selected theme.
Use Tell Me
To find an option or perform an action quickly, use the Search text field. To learn more about the Search feature, go to Find what you need with Microsoft Search.
Note: Depending on the Microsoft 365 version of you are using, the Search text field at the top of the app window might be called Tell Me instead. Both offer a largely similar experience, but some options and search results can vary.
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Select the item or place in your document, presentation, or spreadsheet where you want to perform an action. For example, in an Excel spreadsheet, select a range of cells.
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To go to the Search text field, press Alt+Q.
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Type the search words for the action that you want to perform. For example, if you want to add a bulleted list, type bullets.
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Press the Down arrow key to browse through the search results.
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When you've found the result that you want, press Enter to select it and to perform the action.
See also
Use a screen reader to create a Visio diagram
Use a screen reader to read Visio diagrams
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Make your Visio diagram accessible to people with disabilities
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.