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.

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Use the Microsoft Shifts app in Microsoft Teams with your keyboard and a screen reader to quickly do all essential basic tasks, such as checking out your shifts, switching between different views, importing a schedule, and managing requests. 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: 

In this topic

Open the Shifts app

  1. To open the Shifts app in Microsoft Teams, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "App bar," then press the Down arrow key until you hear "More added apps," and then press Enter. The apps pop-up window opens, with the focus on the Search for apps search box.

  2. Type Shifts, and then press Enter.

  3. Press the Tab key until you hear "Shifts," and then press Enter. The Shifts app opens.

Check your shifts

  1. When you open the Shifts app, it lists your shifts for the current week.

    Note: If you’re a manager or admin, the app instead lists everyone’s shifts for the current week.

  2. To change the display to either the current day or month, press the Tab key until you hear "Schedule view options," press the Right arrow key until you hear "Calendar type," press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear "Day" or "Month," and then press Enter.

  3. To browse through your assigned shifts for the chosen time period, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab.

Manage requests

On the Requests tab of the Shifts app, you can make requests and answer requests others made to you. You can request time off, request to swap shifts with another user, and offer a given shift to a user.

  1. Press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Shifts header," then press the Right arrow key until you hear "Requests," and then press Enter.

  2. To add a new request, press the Tab key until you hear "Create a new request," and then press Enter.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To request time off, press the Tab key until you hear "Start date," press Enter, and then select the date using the date picker. Then press the Tab key until you hear "End date," press Enter, and then select the date using the date picker. Next, to select a reason for the time off, press the Tab key until you hear "Reason," press Enter to open the dropdown menu, and then press Enter to select it.

    • To request a shift swap, press the Right arrow key until you hear "Swap," and then press Enter. To select the shift that you want to swap, press the Tab key until you hear "Select your shift," and then press Enter. Select the date in question using the date picker, press the Tab key once, press the Down arrow key until you hear the shift that you want to swap, and then press Enter. Next, press the Tab key until you hear "Select a team member's shift," and then press Enter. Select the date in question using the date picker, then press the Tab key once, and then press the Down arrow key until you hear the shift you want, and then press Enter.

    • To offer your shift to someone else, press the Right arrow key until you hear "Offer," and then press Enter. To select the shift that you want to offer, press the Tab key until you hear "Select your shift," and then press Enter. Select the date in question using the date picker, press the Tab key once, press the Down arrow key until you hear the shift that you want to offer, and then press Enter. Next, press the Tab key until you hear "Select a team member," press Enter once, press the Down arrow key until you hear the person you want, and then press Enter.

  4. To add a note to your request, press the Tab key until you hear "Note," and then enter your note.

  5. To send your request, press the Tab key until you hear "Send request," and then press Enter.

  6. To browse requests pending your approval, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab to go through the requests sent to you. To approve or deny a given request, press the Tab key until you hear either "Accept" or "Deny," and then press Enter.

Import a schedule

You can import an existing schedule into Shifts by using a specially formatted Excel file.

  1. In the Shifts app, create a schedule for the team you want to import the data to. For more information, refer to Use a screen reader to create a schedule in Microsoft Shifts.

  2. Press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Shifts header," and then press the Right arrow key until you hear: "More options."

  3. Press Enter to open the dropdown menu, press the Down arrow until you hear "Import a schedule," and then press Enter. The Import a schedule pop-up window opens, with the focus on the "Download sample" link. Press Enter to download the sample file onto your device.

  4. Using Excel, open the sample file and arrange your existing schedule data in the provided format and save it as an Excel file.

  5. When you have formatted the schedule, return to the Import a schedule window, press the Tab key until you hear "Upload file," and then press Enter. The Open dialog box opens. Navigate to the file containing your existing schedule and select it, press the Tab key until you hear "Open," and then press Enter to import the schedule into Shifts.

See also

Use a screen reader to create a schedule in Microsoft Shifts

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365

Use the Microsoft Shifts app in Microsoft Teams for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to do the basic tasks, such as checking out your and your team members’ shifts, pinning the app to the navigation bar, and adjusting shifts with your team members.

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 the Shifts app

Use the Shifts mobile app to stay on top of your schedule anytime, anywhere.

  1. In Microsoft Teams, slide one finger around the lower-right corner of the screen until you hear "More tab," and then double-tap the screen.

  2. Swipe left or right until you hear "Shifts," and then double-tap the screen.

Pin the Shifts app

To access the Shifts app quickly, pin it to the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen in Microsoft Teams.

  1. In Microsoft Teams, slide one finger around the lower-right corner of the screen until you hear "More tab," and then double-tap the screen.

  2. Swipe right until you hear "Reorder," and then double-tap the screen. The Edit navigation menu opens. The apps that are shown in the navigation bar are listed at the top of the menu.

  3. Swipe right until you hear "Shifts, tab," double-tap and hold the screen until the screen vibrates, and then drag your finger towards the top of the screen until you hear where you want the Shifts app to appear in the navigation bar, for example, "Position two." 

    Note: The number of apps you can have in the navigation bar is limited, so when you move the Shifts app to the navigation bar, another app might move to the More category.

  4. Slide one finger around the upper-right corner of the screen until you hear "Save, button," and then double-tap the screen.

  5. The Shifts app is now pinned to the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. To open the Shifts app, slide one finger around the bottom of the screen until you hear "Shifts, tab," and then double-tap the screen.

Check your shifts

Keep track of all your upcoming shifts in a team schedule.

  1. Open the Shifts app in Microsoft Teams.

  2. Do one of the following:

    • To quickly check your next shift, slide one finger around the top of the screen until you hear "Today" or "Next shift," and then swipe right once more. You hear the date and time for the shift.

    • To check all your shifts, slide one finger around the top of the screen until you hear "Today" or "Next shift," swipe right until you hear "All your shifts," and then double-tap the screen. Swipe right and left to browse your shifts. You hear the date and time for the shifts.

  3. To open a shift, double-tap the screen. The Shift details window opens. Swipe right or left to hear more details, for example, notes for the day.

  4. To close the shift details, swipe down-then-left.

Check everyone's shifts

In addition to your own shifts, you can check out who’s got a shift on any given day.

  1. Open the Shifts app in Microsoft Teams.

  2. Swipe left until you hear the team you want, and then swipe right until you hear: "Team shifts." Double-tap the screen.

  3. Swipe right until you hear the day you’re interested in to check who has a shift. If the day has shifts for you, you hear: "Working shifts scheduled for you this day." Other team members’ shifts are not announced at this point. Double-tap the screen to select a day.

  4. Swipe right or left to browse the shifts. To open the Shift details window, swipe right or left until you hear "Button," followed by the shift color and the person who the shift is assigned to, and then double-tap the screen. Swipe right or left to browse the shift details.

  5. To close the shift details, swipe down-then-left.

Swap or offer a shift

If you have a conflict with one of your shifts, you can ask your colleagues to swap it with one of their shifts or you can offer the shift to them.

Swap a shift

  1. Navigate to the shift you want to swap as instructed in Check your shifts, and then double-tap the screen to open the Shift details window.

  2. Swipe right until you hear "Swap, button," and then double-tap the screen. The Swap shift window opens.

  3. To select the shift you want to swap for, swipe right until you hear "Select team member's shift," and then double-tap the screen. A weekly calendar opens and the shifts for the selected date are listed. To find another date in the calendar, swipe right or left. The days are announced as you move. To move to the next week, swipe right or left until you hear "Go to next week button," and then double-tap the screen. When you find the day containing the shift you want to take, double-tap the screen.

  4. The employees and shifts for the selected day are listed. To select the shift you would like to take, swipe right until you hear the details of the shift you want to take, followed by "Currently unselected," and then double-tap the screen to select. The focus moves back to the Swap shift window.

  5. If you want to add a reason why you need to swap the shift, swipe right until you hear "Reason optional," and then double-tap the screen. Use the on-screen keyboard to type the reason. To close the on-screen keyboard, swipe down-then-left.

  6. To send the request, swipe left until you hear "Send, button," and then double-tap the screen. The Request window opens, and you can swipe right and left to browse the details. To return to the Shift details window, swipe down-then-left.

    Tip: To access all your requests, on the Shifts main page, swipe right or left until you hear "Requests," and then double-tap the screen. To check the pending requests, swipe right until you hear "In progress, tab," or to check the completed requests, swipe right until you hear "Completed, tab," and then double-tap the screen. To browse the list, swipe right or left. To hear the status of the request, double-tap the screen to open the request, and then swipe right until you hear "Team member response" or "Manager response," followed by the status.

Offer a shift

  1. Navigate to the shift you want to offer as instructed in Check your shifts, and then double-tap the screen to open the Shift details window.

  2. Swipe right until you hear "Offer, button," and then double-tap the screen. The Offer shift window opens.

  3. To select who you want to offer the shift to, swipe right until you hear "Select team members," and then double-tap the screen. Swipe right until you hear the team member you want, followed by "Currently unselected," and then double-tap the screen to select. You can add multiple team members.

  4. When you have selected the team members, slide one finger around the upper-right corner of the screen until you hear "Next, button," and then double-tap the screen.

  5. If you want to add a reason why you want to offer the shift, swipe right until you hear "Reason optional," and then double-tap the screen. Use the on-screen keyboard to type the reason. To close the on-screen keyboard, swipe down-then-left.

  6. To send the request, swipe left until you hear "Send, button," and then double-tap the screen. The Request window opens, and you can swipe right and left to browse the details. To return to the Shift details window, swipe down-then-left.

    Tip: To access all your requests, on the Shifts main page, swipe right or left until you hear "Requests," and then double-tap the screen. To check the pending requests, swipe right until you hear "In progress, tab," or to check the completed requests, swipe right until you hear "Completed, tab," and then double-tap the screen. To browse the list, swipe right or left. To hear the status of the request, double-tap the screen to open the request, and then swipe right until you hear "Team member response" or "Manager response," followed by the status.

Request time off

  1. On the Shifts main page, swipe right or left until you hear "Requests," and then double-tap the screen.

  2. Slide one finger around the lower-right corner until you hear "Create a new request," and then double-tap the screen.

  3. Swipe right until you hear "Request time off, button," and then double-tap the screen. The Time off window opens.

  4. To select the time off type you want to request, swipe right until you hear "Select type," and then double-tap the screen to open the list. Swipe right or left until you hear the type you want, for example, "Vacation," and then double-tap the screen to select.

  5. Do one of the following:

    • To request an all-day time off, swipe right until you hear "All day, toggle button, currently toggled off," and then double-tap the screen to select. To select the date, swipe right until you hear "Button, starts," and then double-tap the screen. A monthly calendar opens. Swipe right or left until you find the date you want, double-tap the screen to select, swipe right until you hear "Done," and then double-tap the screen. If you want to take multiple days off, swipe right until you hear "Button, ends," double-tap the screen, swipe right until you hear the end date for your time off request, and then double-tap the screen. Swipe right until you hear "Done," and then double-tap the screen.

    • If you want to request time off for specific hours, to set the start date and time, swipe right until you hear "Button, starts," and then double-tap the screen. A monthly calendar opens. Swipe right or left until you find the date you want, double-tap the screen to select, swipe right until you hear "Done," and then double-tap the screen. The clock picker opens, and the focus is on the hours. Swipe right until you hear the hours you want, and then double-tap the screen. Swipe left until you hear the current minutes, followed by "Double-tap to select minutes," and then double-tap the screen. Swipe right until you hear the minutes you want, and then double-tap the screen. To set the start time, swipe right until you hear "Ok, button," and then double-tap the screen. To set the end date and time, swipe right until you hear "Button, ends," double-tap the screen, and then set the date and time as instructed above.

  6. If you want to add a reason why you need time off, swipe right until you hear "Reason optional," and then double-tap the screen. Use the on-screen keyboard to type the reason. To close the on-screen keyboard, swipe down-then-left.

  7. To send the request to your managers, swipe left until you hear "Send, button," and then double-tap the screen. The Request window opens, and you can swipe right and left to browse the details. To return to the Shift details window, swipe down-then-left.

    Tip: To access all your requests, on the Shifts main page, swipe right or left until you hear "Requests," and then double-tap the screen. To check the pending requests, swipe right until you hear "In progress, tab," and then double-tap the screen, or to check the completed requests, swipe right until you hear "Completed, tab," and then double-tap the screen. To browse the list, swipe right or left. To hear the status of the request, double-tap the screen to open the request, and then swipe right until you hear "Manager response," followed by the status.

See also

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

Use the Microsoft Shifts app in Microsoft Teams on the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to quickly do all essential basic tasks, such as checking out your shifts, switching between different views, importing a schedule, and managing requests. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge and JAWS and NVDA in Chrome, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.

Notes: 

In this topic

Open the Shifts app

  1. To open the Shifts app in Microsoft Teams on the web, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "App bar," then press the Down arrow key until you hear "More added apps," and then press Enter. The apps pop-up window opens, with the focus on the Search for apps search box.

  2. Type Shifts, and then press Enter.

  3. Press the Tab key until you hear "Shifts," and then press Enter. The Shifts app opens.

Check your shifts

  1. When you open the Shifts app, it lists your shifts for the current week.

    Note: If you’re a manager or admin, the app instead lists everyone’s shifts for the current week.

  2. To change the display to either the current day or month, press the Tab key until you hear "Schedule view options," press the Right arrow key until you hear "Calendar type," press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear "Day" or "Month," and then press Enter.

  3. To browse through your assigned shifts for the chosen time period, press the Tab key and Shift+Tab.

Manage requests

On the Requests tab of the Shifts app, you can make requests and answer requests others made to you. You can request time off, request to swap shifts with another user, and offer a given shift to a user.

  1. Press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Shifts header," then press the Right arrow key until you hear "Requests," and then press Enter.

  2. To add a new request, press the Tab key until you hear "Create a new request," and then press Enter.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To request time off, press the Tab key until you hear "Start date," press Enter, and then select the date using the date picker. Then press the Tab key until you hear "End date," press Enter, and then select the date using the date picker. Next, to select a reason for the time off, press the Tab key until you hear "Reason," press Enter to open the dropdown menu, and then press Enter to select it.

    • To request a shift swap, press the Right arrow key until you hear "Swap," and then press Enter. To select the shift that you want to swap, press the Tab key until you hear "Select your shift," and then press Enter. Select the date in question using the date picker, press the Tab key once, press the Down arrow key until you hear the shift that you want to swap, and then press Enter. Next, press the Tab key until you hear "Select a team member's shift," and then press Enter. Select the date in question using the date picker, then press the Tab key once, and then press the Down arrow key until you hear the shift you want, and then press Enter.

    • To offer your shift to someone else, press the Right arrow key until you hear "Offer," and then press Enter. To select the shift that you want to offer, press the Tab key until you hear "Select your shift," and then press Enter. Select the date in question using the date picker, press the Tab key once, press the Down arrow key until you hear the shift that you want to offer, and then press Enter. Next, press the Tab key until you hear "Select a team member," press Enter once and then press the Down arrow key until you hear the person you want, and then press Enter.

  4. To add a note to your request, press the Tab key until you hear "Note," and then enter your note.

  5. To send your request, press the Tab key until you hear "Send request," and then press Enter.

  6. To browse requests pending your approval, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab to go through requests sent to you. To approve or deny a given request, press the Tab key until you hear either "Accept" or "Deny," and then press Enter.

Import a schedule

You can import an existing schedule into Shifts by using a specially formatted Excel file.

  1. In the Shifts app, create a schedule for the team you want to import the data to. For more information, refer to Use a screen reader to create a schedule in Microsoft Shifts.

  2. Press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Shifts header," and then press the Right arrow key until you hear: "More options."

  3. Press Enter to open the dropdown menu, press the Down arrow until you hear "Import a schedule," and then press Enter. The Import a schedule pop-up window opens, with the focus on the "Download sample" link. Press Enter to download the sample file onto your device.

  4. Using Excel, open the sample file and arrange your existing schedule data in the provided format and save it as an Excel file.

  5. When you have formatted the schedule, return to the Import a schedule window, press the Tab key until you hear "Upload file," and then press Enter. The Open dialog box opens. Navigate to the file containing your existing schedule and select it, press the Tab key until you hear "Open," and then press Enter to import the schedule into Shifts.

See also

Use a screen reader to create a schedule in Microsoft Shifts

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.

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