This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Windows tools or features and Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Accessibility help & learning content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.
Note: Outlook for Mac information on this topic is available here.
Use Outlook with your keyboard and a screen reader to read and respond to meeting requests. You'll learn how to send quick responses straight from the Outlook Inbox message list, or open the request for more options, such as proposing a new meeting time.
Note: To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
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Open, read, and reply to a meeting request
As meeting requests arrive to your Outlook Inbox, you can quickly accept, accept tentatively, or decline the meeting. To access all reply options, such as proposing a new meeting time, open the meeting request.
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In Outlook Inbox, use the Up and Down keys to navigate the Inbox items. When on the meeting request, press Enter to open it.
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Press the Tab key until you hear “RSVP button,” and then press Enter. To reply to the request, do one of the following:
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To accept the meeting, press Up or Down arrow key until you hear “Accept menu item,” and then Enter.
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To accept tentatively, press Up or Down arrow key until you hear “Tentative menu item,” and then Enter.
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To decline, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear “Decline menu item,” and then Enter.
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The selected action is carried out, the meeting invitation is deleted, and if accepted, the meeting is added to your Calendar.
Propose a new meeting time
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With the meeting request open in Outlook, press the Tab key until you hear “More options button,” and then Enter.
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Press the Tab key until you hear “Propose new time menu item,” and then press Enter.
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To accept tentatively and propose a new time, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear “Tentative and propose new time menu item,” and then Enter.
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To decline and propose a new time, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear “Decline and propose new time menu item,” and then Enter. The Meeting Calendar window opens.
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To set the date and time you want to propose, press the Tab key until the screen reader announces the relevant field, such as "Meeting start date" or "Meeting start time," and type the new date or time.
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When done, press the Tab key until you hear "Done button," and then press Enter. This opens a new email message.
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The current meeting time and the new time you are proposing are shown below the message subject field.
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Type any additional response, when ready to send the new proposed time, press Alt+S.
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Check who's invited to a meeting
Once you've accepted a meeting request, you can check who else has been invited.
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In Outlook, press Ctrl+2 to go to Calendar.
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The focus is on today. To move between the events, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab. When on the meeting you want, press Enter to open it.
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To hear the names of the invitees, press the Tab key until you hear "All attendees," and then press the Down arrow key.
See also
Use a screen reader to schedule appointments or meetings in Outlook
Use a screen reader to set up your email account in Outlook
Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook
Basic tasks using a screen reader with the calendar in Outlook
Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Outlook Calendar
Use Outlook for iOS with VoiceOver, the built-in iOS screen reader, to read and respond to meeting requests directly from Calendar. You'll also learn about the Play My Emails feature.
Note: 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 and respond to meeting requests
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In the Outlook app, flick right or left to move focus to the inbox items.
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To open the meeting details, double-tap the screen when on the request. The meeting details open in a new window.
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To browse the meeting details, flick right or left. VoiceOver announces the details as you move, including the proposed meeting date and time, location, and names and email addresses of the attendees.
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To respond to the invitation, flick right or left until you hear "RSVP button," and then double-tap the screen. A list of response options opens.
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Flick right or left until you hear the option you want (Accept, Tentative, or Decline), and then double-tap the screen.
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To change your response, flick right or left until you hear "Edit RSVP button," and then double-tap the screen. Flick to the new option, and then double-tap the screen.
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To go back to Calendar, flick left until you hear "Back button," and then double-tap the screen.
Use Play My Emails to listen and respond to meeting requests
You can use Play My Emails (PME) on Outlook to listen and respond to email messages, such as meeting requests.
To learn how to set up Play My Emails, refer to the section "Set up the Play My Emails (PME) feature" in Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook. To learn more about the options available in Play My Emails, refer to Accessibility features in Play My Emails, or Video: Play My Emails.
See also
Use a screen reader to schedule appointments or meetings in Outlook
Use a screen reader to set up your email account in Outlook
Basic tasks using a screen reader with the calendar in Outlook
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Outlook Calendar
Use Outlook for Android with TalkBack, the built-in Android screen reader, to read and respond to meeting requests directly from Calendar.
Note: This topic assumes that you are using the built-in Android screen reader, TalkBack. To learn more about using TalkBack, go to Android accessibility.
Read and respond to meeting requests
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In the Outlook app, flick right or left to move focus to the inbox items.
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To open the meeting details, double-tap the screen when on the request. The meeting details open in a new window.
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To browse the meeting details, flick right or left. TalkBack announces the details as you move, including the proposed meeting date and time, location, and names and email addresses of the attendees.
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To respond to the invitation, in the event details, flick right or left until you hear "RSVP button," and then double-tap the screen. A list of response options opens.
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Flick right or left until you hear the option you want (Accept, Tentative, or Decline), and then double-tap the screen.
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To change your response, flick right or left until you hear "Edit RSVP button," and then double-tap the screen. Flick to the new option, and then double-tap the screen.
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To go back to Calendar, flick left until you hear "Back button," and then double-tap the screen.
See also
Use a screen reader to schedule appointments or meetings in Outlook
Use a screen reader to set up your email account in Outlook
Basic tasks using a screen reader with email in Outlook
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Outlook Calendar
Use Outlook on the web with your keyboard and a screen reader to read and respond to meeting requests in Mail.
Notes:
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
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This topic assumes that the Reading pane is off.
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When you use Outlook on the web, we recommend that you use Microsoft Edge as your web browser. Because Outlook on 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 Outlook on the web.
Read and respond to meeting requests
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In the Mail main view, press Ctrl+F6 until you hear "Message list."
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Press the Tab key until you hear the first message in the list.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear the meeting request you want, and then press Enter. The meeting request opens.
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To read the details and options from the beginning of the message, press the SR key+R. Your screen reader announces the details and options as you move, including the proposed meeting date and time, location, and names of the attendees.
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If you want to add a message to your response, press the Tab key until you hear "Add a message to," followed by the name of the request sender. Type your message.
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To respond to the invitation, do one of the following:
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To accept, press the Tab key until you hear "Accept button," and then press Enter.
To decline, press the Tab key until you hear "Decline button," and then press Enter to select.
If you are unsure if you can attend, press the Tab key until you hear "Tentative button," and then press Enter to select.
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See also
Use a screen reader to schedule appointments or meetings in Outlook
Use a screen reader to set up your email account in Outlook
Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook
Basic tasks using a screen reader with the calendar in Outlook
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.
