SharePoint products and technologies include
features that make the software easier for more people to use, including people
who have low vision, limited dexterity, or other disabilities. For example,
SharePoint has keyboard shortcuts and access keys that let you do many things
without a mouse. And, for people who use assistive technologies such as screen
readers, SharePoint offers More Accessible Mode, a special feature that can
create a different version of software elements, such as customized forms, if a
screen reader can’t handle the original element.
In addition to the accessibility features
described in this article, all the products that interact with SharePoint also
offer accessibility features and utilities. These products include Internet
Explorer, Office Web Apps, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, and Lync. To
find out more, visit Accessibility in Microsoft Products. If you use SharePoint
in a browser other than Internet Explorer, check the product documentation of
that browser for additional information.
Note The information in this topic applies only
to users who license Microsoft products in the United States. If you obtained
this product outside the United States, your package contains a subsidiary
information card listing Microsoft support services telephone numbers and
addresses. Contact your subsidiary to find out whether the type of products and
services described here are available in your area.
To
make SharePoint work better with accessibility tools such as screen readers,
SharePoint has an option called More Accessible Mode. This can be helpful when
the screen reader finds an element on the screen, such a special form, that it
can’t understand.
From
the start, the SharePoint team designed most user interface (UI) elements, such
as forms, links, and buttons, to work well with accessibility tools. However,
sometimes people customize a SharePoint site, and add a control or other
element that doesn’t work well with accessibility tools. More Accessible Mode
can help with this situation, and display the custom feature as an equivalent
one in standard HTML that the tool can use. This option can’t create a
different version for every possible custom element, but it can help in many
situations.
Turn
on More Accessible Mode
To
turn on More Accessible Mode, press the TAB key immediately after you put focus
on the page in a browser. Press the TAB key until you reach the Turn on more
accessible mode link, and then press ENTER. Sometimes you have to press the TAB
key more than once, if active focus is not on the beginning of the page.
Turn
off More Accessible Mode
To
turn off More Accessible Mode, press the TAB key immediately after you put
focus on the page in the browser. Press the TAB key until you reach the Turn on
more accessible mode link, and then press the TAB key several more times until
you reach the Turn off more accessible mode link.
About
More Accessible Mode
More
Accessible Mode changes the way that the page displays for you, not for other
users of the site. Because More Accessible Mode applies only to the local
computer, not to any other computer, no one other than you knows that you
enabled this option. More Accessible Mode remains on until you turn it off, or
until you close the browser. More Accessible Mode is especially helpful with
the following items:
Menus
Instead of displaying a drop-down menu of options, a new browser window
opens that contains all of the menu items as hyperlinks. For example, the first
menu that the TAB key reaches on a SharePoint site is the Site Actions menu. If
you turned on More Accessible Mode, a new window appears that shows the list of
options in the Site Actions menu that you have permissions to use. Each option
appears as a link, which is easier for assistive technologies to interpret.
Optimized fields Some fields are difficult for assistive
technologies to interpret. When More Accessible Mode is enabled, these fields
are replaced with fields that are optimized for assistive technologies. For
example, some lists support enhanced text fields that enable users to add
formatted text, images, tables, and hyperlinks. However, some assistive
technologies can’t read enhanced text fields because of the way these fields
display in a browser. When you turn on More Accessible Mode, SharePoint
replaces these fields with standard plain text that assistive technologies can
read.
In
addition to enhanced text fields, several other types of fields are replaced
with alternate fields in More Accessible Mode.
ShowList
of fields and alternate fields in More Accessible Mode
Note
More Accessible Mode does not limit functionality, but instead enables
alternate rendering methods for page elements so that they are compatible with
assistive technologies.
To
make Help pages on Office.com easier to navigate by keyboard, access keys have
been created that let you put the focus on specific parts of a page. After
pressing the access key, you press ENTER to select the desired element. For
example, from anywhere on the Office.com site, you can press ALT+1 and then
ENTER to go to the Office.com home page.
These
access keys are designed to work with Microsoft Internet Explorer (versions
5.x, 6.x, 7.x, 8.x and 9). Access keys may not function if you are using other
Web browsers or earlier versions of Internet Explorer.
Using
access keys
This
list tells you how to use common access keys.
To
move the focus to the Accessibility link in the page footer, press ALT+0
(zero). Then press ENTER to open the link.
To move the focus to the Home tab on the
Ribbon, press ALT+1.
From the Home tab, press the TAB key to
move the focus to the other tabs on the Ribbon.
To move the focus to the Search box, press
ALT+3. Type your search term, and then press ENTER.
To move the focus through a page of results
(for example, search results), press ALT+/ (forward slash).
On a page with a Previous arrow (to move to
the previous page), move the focus to the arrow by pressing ALT+, (comma).
On a page with a Next arrow (to move to the
next page), move the focus to the arrow by pressing ALT+. (period).
Top
of Page Top of Page
Tab
order and navigation
The
tab order is the order in which you move the focus from one UI element to
another by pressing the TAB key. Page and navigation elements on a site, such
as the ribbon, follow a logical tab order.
The
first three options in tab order are the following links:
Turn on more accessible mode – Enables More
Accessible Mode in SharePoint
Skip Ribbon Commands – Skips active focus
past the ribbon commands, and moves the focus directly to the navigation links
Skip to main content – Skips both the
ribbon commands and the navigation links, and moves the focus directly to the
main content area of the page.
