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 Word with your keyboard and a screen reader to select and read images, shapes, and text boxes in Word documents. We have tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
Using the Selection pane in Word, you can display all the images, shapes, and text boxes within the document as a list. You can read the list with your screen reader, and select list items to read the alt texts or to edit them.
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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.
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Access text inside text boxes
When screen readers read the body text, they cannot find text boxes that float above the document’s text layer. To access text inside a text box, use the Selection pane.
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In the document, press Alt+H to open the Home tab.
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To open the Selection pane, type S, L, P. You hear: “Show All button.” The text boxes, images, and shapes appear in a list.
: If there are multiple pages in your document, the Selection pane lists only the items on the current page.
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Use the arrow keys to move up and down the list. Your screen reader announces the list items as you move.
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To select a text box, press Spacebar.
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To open the context menu, press Shift+F10. You hear: “Cut menu item.”
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Use the arrow keys to move to the Edit Text item, and press Enter. Press any key to place the cursor inside the text box.
In JAWS, you need to place the text box in line with the document text first. To set the text box in line with the text, move to Wrap Text, and use the Right or Left arrow key to go to In Line with Text, and press Enter. Press Esc to return to the body of the document.
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Your screen reader can now read the text inside the text box. To start reading in Narrator and NVDA, press the SR key+M. To return to the body of the document afterwards, press Esc twice.
To read the text box contents in JAWS, press Alt+Num Pad 5.
Access images using the Selection pane
Images that are not inline images might be inaccessible to screen readers. To access all images in a document, use the Selection pane.
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In the document, press Alt+H to open the Home tab.
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To open the Selection pane, type S, L, P. The images, shapes, and text boxes appear in a list.
: If there are multiple pages in your document, the Selection pane lists only the items on the current page.
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Use the arrow keys to move up and down the list. Your screen reader announces the list items as you move.
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To select an image, press Spacebar.
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To go back to the document body, press Esc. You hear the file name of the document.
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Your screen reader can now read the image alt text, if there is one. To start reading in Narrator and NVDA, press the SR key+Ctrl+R.
In JAWS, press Ctrl+Num Pad 5.
Access floating objects without using the Selection pane
You can quickly move the focus between floating objects without using the Selection pane.
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To move focus to the first floating object in the document, press Ctrl+Alt+5.
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Press the Tab key to cycle through the floating objects in the document.
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To return to the normal navigation, press Esc.
Access inline objects without using the Selection pane
You can work on the inline objects as you read a document, without using the Selection pane.
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Your screen reader announces the objects when it reads through a document. To stop on an object, press the Ctrl key.
: If you miss the right spot and need to go back or forward in the document one word at a time, press the Left or Right arrow key until you hear the screen reader announce the object you want.
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To select the object, press Shift+Right arrow key.
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You can now work on the object. For example, to open the context menu, press Shift+F10.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert a picture or image in Word
Use a screen reader to check spelling and grammar in Word
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Word for Mac with your keyboard and VoiceOver, the built-in macOS screen reader, to select and read images, shapes, and text boxes in Word documents.
Using the Selection Pane in Word, you can display all the images, shapes, and text boxes within the document as a list. You can read the list with VoiceOver, and select list items to read the alt texts or to edit them.
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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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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.
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We recommend you read and edit documents in Print Layout View. VoiceOver might not work reliably in other view modes.
In this topic
Access text inside text boxes
As text boxes float above the document’s text layer, VoiceOver cannot find them while reading the body text. To access text inside a text box, use the Selection Pane.
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In the document, press F6 until you hear the currently selected tab, followed by "Selected, tab," and then press the Right arrow key until you hear: "Layout, tab." Press Control+Option+Spacebar to open the Layout tab.
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To open the Selection Pane, press the Tab key until you hear "Selection pane, unchecked checkbox," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. VoiceOver announces: “Check, Selection pane, checkbox." The text boxes, images, and shapes appear on a list.
: If there are breaks (such as page and section breaks) in your document, the Selection Pane lists only the items up to the next break.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Table" and the first item on the list.
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Use the Up or Down arrow key to move up and down the list. VoiceOver announces the list items as you move. Text boxes are announced as "Text box," followed by the number of the text box. When on the item you want to access, press F6 until VoiceOver announces the item and "Edit text, contents selected," followed by the text box contents and then, "You are currently on a text area."
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To edit the text, press Control+Option+Shift+Down arrow key, and type the text you want.
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After editing the text, do one of the following:
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To move back to the Selection Pane, press F6 until you hear: "Selection pane, tab."
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To go back to the document body, press Esc.
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Access images using the Selection pane
Images that are not inline images might be inaccessible to VoiceOver. To access all images in a document, use the Selection Pane.
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In the document, press F6 until you hear the currently selected tab, followed by "Selected, tab," and then press the Right arrow key until you hear: "Layout, tab." Press Control+Option+Spacebar to open the Layout tab.
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To open the Selection Pane, press the Tab key until you hear "Selection pane, unchecked checkbox," and then press Control+Option+Spacebar. VoiceOver announces: “Check, Selection pane, checkbox." The text boxes, images, and shapes appear on a list.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Table" and the first item on the list.
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Use the Up or Down arrow key to move up and down the list. VoiceOver announces the list items as you move. Images are announced as: "Picture," followed by the number of the image. When on the item you want to access, press F6 until VoiceOver reads the alt text of the item, followed by "Image."
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To open the context menu, and access the options to format the picture, or add or change alt text, press Control+Option+Shift+M. To go back to the document body, press Esc.
Access inline images without using the Selection pane
If you want to work on inline images as you read a document, you don’t need to open the Selection Pane.
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VoiceOver announces the images when you move the cursor through the document. VoiceOver announces the alt text of each inline image, followed by "Image, in line with text, layout item."
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To select the image, press Shift+Right arrow key.
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You can now work on the image. For example, to open the context menu, press Control+Option+Shift+M.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert a picture or image in Word
Use a screen reader to check spelling and grammar in Word
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Word for iOS with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to navigate to and read text boxes and images in Word documents on your phone.
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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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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
Read text inside text boxes
As text boxes float above the document's text layer, VoiceOver skips them while reading the page text, but you can navigate to them separately.
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Open the Word document on your phone. Swipe right until you reach the document body text. VoiceOver starts reading the text.
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When VoiceOver has reached the end of the page, swipe right until VoiceOver announces the first text box and reads the contents.
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To move to the next text box on the page, swipe right.
When you enter the page footer, all text boxes on the page have been read. To move to the next page, swipe right.
Access images within text
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Open the Word document on your phone. Swipe right until you reach the document body text. VoiceOver starts reading the text.
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When VoiceOver has reached the end of the page, swipe right. VoiceOver reads the alt text of the first image on the page. If the image has no alt text, you hear: "Image."
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To move to the next image on the page, swipe right.
When you enter the page footer, you've navigated through all the images on the page. To move to the next page, swipe right.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Word for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to navigate to and read text boxes and images in Word documents on your phone.
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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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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
Read text inside text boxes
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Open the Word document on your phone. Swipe right until TalkBack starts to read the document text one paragraph at a time.
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To move to the next paragraph, swipe right. When you hear "Rectangle, text box," you've reached a text box within the document. TalkBack reads the text box contents. When done, swipe right to continue reading the document or to move to the next text box.
Access images within text
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Open the Word document on your phone. Swipe right until TalkBack starts to read the document text one paragraph at a time.
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To move to the next paragraph, swipe right. When you reach an image, TalkBack reads the image alt text, followed by "Image." If the image has no alt text, you hear just "Image." When done, swipe right to continue reading the document or to move to the next image.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert and change text in Word
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Word
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use Word for the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to select and read images in Word documents. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge and JAWS and NVDA in Chrome, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
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If you use Narrator with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, you have to turn off scan mode in order to edit documents, spreadsheets, or presentations with Microsoft 365 for the web. For more information, refer to Turn off virtual or browse mode in screen readers in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.
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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.
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When you use Word for the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because Word for the web runs in your web browser, the keyboard shortcuts are different from those in the desktop program. For example, you’ll use Ctrl+F6 instead of F6 for jumping in and out of the commands. Also, common shortcuts like F1 (Help) and Ctrl+O (Open) apply to the web browser – not Word for the web.
Access inline images
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After opening a document in Word for the web, press the SR key+Ctrl+R to start the continuous reading mode. Your screen reader announces all images when it reads through the document. To stop on an image, press the Ctrl key.
: If you miss the right spot and need to go back or forward in the document a word at a time, press the Left or Right arrow key until you hear your screen reader announce the image you want.
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To select the image, press Enter.
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You can now work on the image. For example, to access the picture tools, press Alt+Windows logo key, and then press the Tab key until you hear “Picture tools, non-selected, Format tab item,” and press Enter to open the Format tab.
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You can adjust image settings such as its size, style, and alt text. Press the Tab key until you hear the name of the setting you want, and then press Enter.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert a picture or an image in Word
Use a screen reader to check spelling and grammar in Word
Technical support for customers with disabilities
Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.
If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.
