Better screen reader experience, Audio feedback for 60+ Word keyboard shortcuts, received 2025 11 26

[Colin Howard]

Greetings,

Keeping this for future reference.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoft365insiderblog/better-screen-reader-experience-audio-feedback-for-60-word-keyboard-shortcuts/4471928

by Renata Drucker

Hi, Insiders! I'm Renata Drucker, and I'm a Product Manager on the Word
team. I'm excited to introduce significant updates to the Microsoft Word for
Windows experience that improve accessibility for screen reader users. Now,
you can receive audio feedback for more than 60 common keyboard shortcuts!

Better screen reader experience: Audio feedback for 60+ Word keyboard
shortcuts
Visual feedback is immediate and intuitive for sighted users - for example,
bolding a word instantly changes its appearance. However, for those who are
blind and have low vision, confirmation must be delivered thoughtfully
through audio feedback to make the experience seamless, reduce confusion,
and enhance overall usability. With audio feedback, when an action such as
deleting an email is performed, the system announces the next item,
signaling that the action was successful and that they've moved on to
another action.

Keyboard shortcuts in particular present challenges for screen reader users.
For instance, when bolding a word using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + B, it
may not be obvious whether bold is on or off. To address this, Word began
offering verbal confirmations for common shortcuts last year. Building on
that foundation, we've since expanded support to 60+ additional scenarios,
ensuring you receive clear aural feedback about the outcome of your actions.

Using these shortcuts can streamline formatting, navigation, and editing
tasks, making Word more accessible for everyone. They also provide a myriad
of benefits for anyone looking to save time and boost productivity,
including:

Efficiency and speed: You can execute steps fast and with fewer mouse
clicks.
Reduced reliance on menus: You can skip navigating through toolbars or
dropdowns, which speeds up repetitive tasks.
Work smarter, not harder: Shortcuts let you complete one task quickly and
move on to the next, freeing mental bandwidth.
Accuracy and focus: Shortcuts provide fewer distractions and improve
precision by preventing mis-clicks.
Reduced strain: Less mouse movement means less wrist fatigue, which is
especially valuable for heavy computer users.
You can learn more about keyboard shortcuts by reading Keyboard shortcuts in
Word.

How it works
Open Word for Windows with a screen reader and use one of the following
keyboard shortcuts. Notice that these are now supported with verbal
confirmation:
Action
Shortcut

1.5 space
Ctrl + 5

Align left
Ctrl + L

Align right
Ctrl + R

All caps/normal caps
Ctrl + Shift + A

All lowercase/first character uppercase/all uppercase
Shift + F3

Bullet
Ctrl + Alt + L

Bulleted list
Ctrl + Shift + L

Centered on/off
Ctrl + E

Codes on/off
Alt + F9

Collapse heading
Alt + Shift + Num-

Copy format/error copying
Ctrl + Alt + C

Distribute on/off
Ctrl + Shift + J

Double space
Ctrl + 2

Double underline on/off
Ctrl + Shift + D

Expand heading
Alt + Shift + Num+

Resize font
Ctrl + Shift + < (to decrease font)

Ctrl + ] (to increase font one point)

Ctrl + Shift + > (to increase font)

Ctrl + [ (to decrease font one point)

Go back
Shift + F5

Ctrl + Alt + Z

Hang indent (in/cm)
Ctrl + T

Heading 1
Alt + Ctrl + 1

Heading 2
Alt + Ctrl + 2

Heading 3
Alt + Ctrl + 3

Change heading
Alt + Shift + right arrow (make heading style level lower)

Alt + Shift + left arrow (make heading style level higher)

Indent (in/cm)
Ctrl + M

Join paragraphs
Ctrl + Alt + Enter

Justify on/off
Ctrl + J

Move down
Alt + Shift + down arrow

Move up
Alt + Shift + up arrow

Next object
Alt + down arrow

Normal
Ctrl + Alt + N

Outline
Ctrl + Alt + O

Page
Ctrl + Alt + P

Page break
Ctrl + Enter

Paste format/error pasting
Ctrl + Alt + V

Previous object
Alt + up arrow

Redo/nothing to redo
Alt + Shift + Backspace

Reset paragraph style
Ctrl + Q

Reset text style
Ctrl + Space

Ctrl + Shift + Z

Restored
Alt + F5

Saved
Ctrl + S

Select all
Ctrl + A

Show all on/off
Ctrl + Shift + *

Show first line only on/off when in outline view
Alt + Shift + L

Single space
Ctrl + 1

Small caps on/off
Ctrl + Shift + K

Spike (deletes the selection and adds it to the special AutoText entry)
Ctrl + F3

Split on/off
Ctrl + Alt + S

Subscript on/off
Ctrl + Shift + _

Superscript on/off
Ctrl + Shift + +

Symbol/nothing selected (applies the symbol font to the selection)
Ctrl + Shift + Q

Underline words not spaces on/off
Ctrl + Shift + W

Unhang indent (in/cm)
Ctrl + Shift + T

Unicode <character>/hex <hexcode>
Alt + X

Unindent (in/cm)
Ctrl + Shift + M

Zoom 100
Ctrl + 0

Zoom in/out
Ctrl + =

Ctrl + -


Availability
This update is available to Word for Windows users running Version 2510
(Build 19328.20000) or later.

Feedback
We're excited for screen reader users to work with more confidence when
formatting a document! If you have suggestions or encounter scenarios where
confirmation could be improved, please let us know by selecting Help >
Feedback in Word - your input helps us continue to enhance accessibility for
all.

Learn about the Microsoft 365 Insider program and sign up for the Microsoft
365 Insider newsletter to get the latest information about Insider features
in your inbox once a month!

David Goldfield,

Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist

http://www.DavidGoldfield.com

Director of Marketing,

Blazie Technologies

http://www.BlazieTech.com

JAWS Certified, 2022

NVDA Certified Expert

Subscribe to the Tech-VI announcement list to receive blindness technology
news, events and information.

Email: tech-vi+...@groups.io

http://www.DavidGoldfield.com

Colin Howard, Southern England.

[mj.ba...@gmail.com]

Thanks for this, Colin.

I've saved most of the list of shortcuts, some of which I obviously already knew and some of which I would never need to use. If it's really going to be a shortcut, it needs to be memorised. Otherwise, if you need to look it up somewhere, it's not a shortcut at all.

I looked into Microsoft Insider 365, but it all seemed a bit somplicated and I abandoned it.

Best wishes

Mike

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