Hear text read aloud with Narrator (Windows 8)

Hear text read aloud with Narrator

Note

• For the source of this information, and to view a great video overview of using Narrator for Windows 8, please click here.

Starting Narrator

There are different ways to start Narrator. These are the three shortcuts many people prefer:

• On a keyboard, press the Windows logo key +Enter.
• On a tablet, press the Windows logo button  and Volume Up button together.
• On the sign-in screen, press the Windows logo key +U or click the Ease of access  button in the lower-left corner and choose Narrator.

Note

• If you want to quickly exit Narrator, press Caps Lock+Esc.

Another way to get to Narrator is to use search:

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then clickSearch.)

2. Enter Narrator in the search box, tap or click Apps, and then tap or click Narrator.

Notes

• If you want to get started right away, after you open Narrator, press the Caps Lock key+F1. This keyboard combination will show you all of the Narrator commands.

• If you want to use Caps Lock to capitalize letters while you're using Narrator, press the Caps Lock key twice in quick succession.

New touch gestures

Windows 8 and Windows RT have new actions and new locations for common commands. Here are a few important gestures to get you started.

Use this touch gesture	To do this
Swipe in from the right edge with one finger	Open the charms (Search, Share, Start, Devices, Settings)
Swipe in from the left edge with one finger	Switch apps, snap them to the side, and close them
Swipe in from the top or bottom edge with one finger	Show app commands like Save, Edit, and Delete

Note

• The press and hold gesture isn't supported in Narrator.

New keyboard shortcuts

Windows 8 and Windows RT have new keyboard shortcuts too. Here are a few helpful ones. To find the rest, go to Keyboard shortcuts.

Use this keyboard shortcut	To do this
Windows logo key‌ +C	Open the charms (Search, Share, Start, Devices, Settings)
Windows logo key‌ +Z	Show app commands like Save, Edit, and Delete
Windows logo key‌ +period	Snap apps to the side
Windows logo key‌ +Tab or Alt+Tab	Switch apps

Narrator settings

Here are some of the main settings you might want to use:

General

• Lock the Narrator key so you don’t have to press it for each command (Caps Lock). When you choose this option, you won’t have to use the Caps Lock key with the Narrator keys. For example, instead of pressing Caps Lock key+F1, you can simply press F1.

  Note

  • On a 106 keyboard, Ctrl+Alt+Z won't lock the Narrator key.

• Start Narrator minimized. This option keeps the Narrator window out of your way.

• Echo keyboard keystrokes while typing. You can choose whether or not Narrator reads each key you type.

• Read out voiced Narrator errors. Choose this option if you want Narrator to read the actual error in addition to playing an error tone.

• Enable visual highlighting of Narrator cursor. This option lets you show or hide the box that highlights where Narrator is on your screen.

• Play audio cues. This option lets you turn on or off the extra sounds that Narrator plays when you do certain actions.

• Read hints for common items. This option controls whether Narrator will read hints about how to interact with common items such as buttons, links, list items, and sliders.

• Lower the volume of other apps when Narrator is running. This option makes other apps quieter so it's easier to hear Narrator.

• Retain notifications to be read for. This drop-down menu lets you control how long notifications will be retained for being read by Narrator.

• Control whether Narrator starts automatically. This link takes you to the Ease of Access Center where you can choose to have Narrator on automatically.

Navigation

• Read and interact with the screen using the mouse. This option controls whether Narrator mouse mode is on. When mouse mode is on, Narrator will read what’s currently under your mouse cursor.

• Activate keys on the touch keyboard when you lift your finger. If touch mode is on, you can turn on this setting so you can type faster using the touch keyboard. With this setting, you can drag to find the item you're looking for and lift your finger to press the key.

• Enable the Narrator cursor to follow the keyboard focus. This adds a blue box to your screen that moves with the keyboard focus, so that if you tab through items the Narrator cursor will follow.

Voice

• Select the speed, volume, or pitch of the voice. You can customize the voice with these three sliders.

• Select a different voice for Narrator. With this drop-down menu you can select different types of voices in Narrator, if they are available in your language.

Commands

• Click this option to see a list of existing shortcut keys for Narrator. You can always change these shortcuts if you like. The most important keyboard shortcut to know is Caps Lock+F1. Pressing this keyboard combination will show all Narrator commands. For reference, the following table lists the commands too.

  Use this keyboard shortcut	To do this
  Ctrl	Stop reading
  Caps Lock+Esc	Exit Narrator
  Caps Lock+Space	Do primary action
  Caps Lock+Right arrow	Move to next time
  Caps Lock+Left Arrow	Move to previous item
  Caps Lock+Up arrow	Change view
  Caps Lock+Down arrow	Change view
  Caps Lock+F1	Show commands list
  Caps Lock+F2	Show commands for current item
  Caps Lock+F3	Jump to next cell in row
  Caps Lock+Shift+F3	Jump to previous cell in row
  Caps Lock+F4	Jump to next cell in column
  Caps Lock+Shift+F4	Jump to previous cell in column
  Caps Lock+F5	Read which row and column Narrator is in
  Caps Lock+F6	Jump to table cell
  Caps Lock+F7	Read current column
  Caps Lock+F8	Read current row
  Caps Lock+F9	Read current column header
  Caps Lock+F10	Read current row header
  Caps Lock+F11	Toggle touch mode on/off
  Caps Lock+F12	Toggle keystroke announcements
  Caps Lock+Z	Lock Narrator Key
  Caps Lock+X	Pass keys to app
  Caps Lock+V	Repeat last phrase
  Caps Lock+Page Up	Increase voice volume
  Caps Lock+Page Down	Decrease voice volume
  Caps Lock+Plus	Increase voice speed
  Caps Lock+Minus	Decrease voice speed
  Caps Lock+D	Read item
  Caps Lock+F	Read item advanced
  Caps Lock+S	Read item spelled out
  Caps Lock+W	Read Window
  Caps Lock+R	Read all items in containing area
  Caps Lock+Q	Move to last item in containing area
  Caps Lock+G	Move Narrator cursor to system cursor
  Caps Lock+T	Move Narrator cursor to pointer
  Caps Lock+Tilde	Set focus to item
  Caps Lock+Backspace	Go back one item
  Caps Lock+Insert	Jump to linked item
  Caps Lock+M	Start reading
  Caps Lock+Close bracket	Read text from start to cursor
  Caps Lock+O	Read text attributes
  Caps Lock+H	Read document
  Caps Lock+U	Read next page
  Caps Lock+Ctrl+U	Read current page
  Caps Lock+Shift+U	Read previous page
  Caps Lock+I	Read next paragraph
  Caps Lock+Ctrl+I	Read current paragraph
  Caps Lock+Shift+I	Read previous paragraph
  Caps Lock+O	Read next line
  Caps Lock+Ctrl+O	Read current line
  Caps Lock+Shift+O	Read previous line
  Caps Lock+P	Read next word
  Caps Lock+Ctrl+P	Read current word
  Caps Lock+Shift+P	Read previous word
  Caps Lock+Open bracket	Read next character
  Caps Lock+Ctrl+Open bracket	Read current character
  Caps Lock+Shift+Open bracket	Read previous character
  Caps Lock+J	Jump to next heading
  Caps Lock+Shift+J	Jump to previous heading
  Caps Lock+K	Jump to next table
  Caps Lock+Shift+K	Jump to previous table
  Caps Lock+L	Jump to next link
  Caps Lock+Shift+L	Jump to previous link
  Caps Lock+Y	Move to beginning of text
  Caps Lock+B	Move to end of text
  Caps Lock+N	Rewind while reading a document
  Caps Lock+Comma	Fast-forward while reading a document
  Caps Lock+C	Read current date/time

If you have a new PC that supports four or more contact points, you can use touch commands to control your PC.

Use this touch command	To do this
Tap once with two fingers	Stop Narrator from reading
Tap three times with four fingers	Show all Narrator commands (including ones not in this list)
Double-tap or hold with one finger and tap anywhere with a second	Activate primary action
Triple-tap or hold with one finger and double-tap with a second	Activate secondary action
Hold with one finger and tap with two others	Start dragging or extra key options
Tap with three fingers	Show/hide Narrator settings window
Tap with four fingers	Show commands for current item
Tap or drag a single finger	Read what's under your finger
Double-tap with four fingers	Toggle search mode
Triple-tap with four fingers	Show Narrator commands list
Flick left/right with one finger	Move to next or previous item
Flick up/down with one finger	Change move increment
Swipe left/right/up/down with two fingers	Scroll
Swipe left/right with three fingers	Tab forward and backward
Swipe down with three fingers	Start reading explorable text
Swipe up with three fingers	Read current window