Collaborate and comment with a screen reader

Important: Before following the steps below, make sure that you've turned on Docs screen reader support.

Share a file

Work with other people in real time 

 Turn off collaborator announcements

In documents, spreadsheets and presentations, you can turn off the screen reader announcements about other people entering, editing or leaving the file.

Find active collaborators

1. Open the File menu or any other menu.
2. Press Shift + Tab until you reach 'Collaborators'.
3. To navigate the list of active collaborators, use the arrow keys.
4. To jump to a collaborator's location in the file, on the collaborator's name in the list, press Enter.

Tips:

• If all collaborators are inactive, there's no list of collaborators.
• When the list is present, only active collaborators are listed.

Google Docs

To follow the edits of all your collaborators:

To follow the edits of a single collaborator:

To move through previous edits of a single collaborator or multiple collaborators, use the following keys:

Suggest edits in Google Docs

You can suggest changes to a document without changing the original text. If the owner approves your suggestions, they can:

• Add
• Delete
• Replace the original text

Suggest changes

1. Open the View menu.
2. Select Mode and then Suggesting.
   • If you don't find the 'Mode' menu or the 'Suggesting' option:
     • Press Shift + Tab until focus is moved to the 'Request edit access' button.
     • To ask the file owner to share the document with you as a commenter or editor, press Enter.
3. Edit the document.
   • Anything that you delete is crossed out and presented as 'deleted' by the screen reader.
   • Anything that you add shows in a different colour and is presented as 'inserted' by your screen reader.
   • To add an explanation for your suggestion, move to the suggested content and then navigate to the comment:
     • Open the Accessibility menu, select Comments and then Enter current comment.
       • Tip: The keyboard shortcut is in the menu for quick access.
     • Press Tab to move focus to the 'Reply' edit field.
       • Tip: You can also use the single-letter shortcut 'r'.
     • Enter your comment and press:
       • For Windows or ChromeOS: Ctrl + Enter.
       • For macOS: Command + Enter. 
     • To return focus to the document content, press Escape.
4. The owner of the file gets an email about your suggestions, and can decide whether to keep them.

Accept or reject suggestions

Navigate suggestions one by one

1. Open the Accessibility menu.
2. Select Comments and then Move to next suggestion.
   • In the menu, you can find the keyboard shortcuts for 'Move to next suggestion' and 'Move to previous suggestion'. The cursor is moved to the beginning of the suggestion.
3. To accept suggestions, open the 'Accessibility' menu.
4. Select Comments and then Accept suggestion.
   • You can also find 'Reject suggestion'.
   • Use the steps above to comment on the suggestion or the accept or reject decision.
5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 for each suggestion.

Preview, accept or reject all suggestions

1. Open the Tools menu.
2. Select Review suggested edits.
   • You can find keyboard shortcuts listed as part of the menu option.
3. In the dialogue that gets focus, tab to 'Preview suggestions'.
4. To preview your document with or without the suggested changes, press the down arrow to preview 'Accept all' or preview 'Reject all'.
5. Select Enter.
   • Focus returns to the document as if all suggestions were accepted or rejected.
6. To revert the preview, repeat steps 1 and 2 or use the shortcut to return focus to the dialogue.
7. To accept all suggestions, select Accept all or More accept options.
8. Press Enter.
   • You can also find 'Reject all'.
9. To make no changes, press Escape.

Tip: When a document includes many suggested edits, the extra screen reader announcements can make it harder to understand. Use the preview options to easily review the 'before' or 'after' versions of the content.

Use comments, action items and emoji reactions

You can collaborate with others on Google Docs, Sheets and Slides to:

• Add, edit, reply or delete comments
• Assign tasks and action items
• Add emoji reactions

Work with comments

You can comment in documents, spreadsheets, presentations and drawings. Comments aren’t available for forms.

Add a comment

 You can use comments to ask questions, make notes or highlight changes.

Open a comment in Docs or Slides

With focus on content that has a comment:

1. Open the Accessibility menu.
2. Select Comments and then Enter current comment.
3. Press Enter.
   • You can also find keyboard shortcuts in the menu for quick use.
4. Tab to comment elements like 'More options' and to each reply on a comment.
5. To quickly move to the reply field, press r.
6. To return focus to the content, press Escape.

 Find the next comment

When your focus is on the content, you can move to the next part of your content that has a comment:

1. Open the Accessibility menu.
2. Select Comments and then Move to next comment.
3. Press Enter.
   • You can also find keyboard shortcuts in the menu for future use.
4. To move towards the beginning of your content, select Move to previous comment.

Tips:

• Suggested edits can be navigated and entered like comments.
• In Sheets, this navigation puts focus on the comment, not the content.

Move between comments

Read all comments

Edit or delete a comment that you created

Send a comment to a specific person

To make your comment visible to someone, you can add them to the comment. They'll receive an email notification with your comment.

1. Add or edit a comment as described above.
2. Anywhere in your comment, enter @ (at sign) and their name or email address.
3. When the correct person is suggested, press Enter.
4. To submit the comment and notify the person, press:
   • For Windows or ChromeOS: Ctrl + Enter
   • For macOS: Command + Enter

Tips:

• If someone has set their status to 'Out of office' and you have permission to view their calendar, you get a notification in the comment as you add them.
• If you add someone who doesn't have permission to view the file, you're asked to share the file.

Reply to or resolve comments

If you have permission to edit or comment on a document, you can reply to comments. When a discussion is finished, you can resolve a comment and close it.

Tip: You can also reply to or close comments directly from your email. Learn how to work with comments in Gmail.

Manage your comment notifications

1. Press Alt + Slash.
   • On Mac: Press Option + Slash.
2. Enter 'Notification'.
3. Press the down arrow to 'Notification settings'.
4. Press Enter.
5. In the 'Comments' section, select a radio button when you want to receive notifications:
   • All: Whenever comments are made.
   • Only yours: Whenever others reply to your comments or comments that you're added to.
   • None: Never receive emails about comments for that file.
6. Optional: Tab to 'Edits' section and choose a radio button:
   • Added or removed content: When anyone adds or removes content.
   • None: No edit notifications.
7. Tab to 'OK'.
8. Press Enter.

Reply to comments in Docs or Slides

1. Move focus to the content with a comment.
2. Open the Accessibility menu
3. Select Comments and then Enter current comment.
4. Press r or tab to 'Reply' edit field.
5. Enter your reply.
6. To save, press:
   • For Windows or ChromeOS: Ctrl + Enter
   • For macOS: Command + Enter

Reply to comments in Sheets

In Sheets, focus goes to the comment when you navigate to it:

1. Open the Accessibility menu.
2. Select Comments and then Move to next comment or Move to previous comment.
3. Repeat through the menu or shortcut until you get to the comment that you want.
4. To move to the reply field, press r.
5. To save, press:
   • For Windows or ChromeOS: Ctrl + Enter
   • For macOS: Command + Enter

Tip: If someone has set their status to 'Out of office' and you have permission to view their calendar, you will get a notification in the comment as you reply to them.

Filter comments

You can filter comments in Google Docs and Sheets.

1. Open the Accessibility menu.
2. Select Comments and then Open comment history.
3. Press Enter.
   • Initial focus is on 'Change filter settings…' with the default 'All' selected.
4. Press the down arrow to select any of the following:
   • All
   • For you
   • Open
   • Resolved
     • All comments in that category appear in the window.
5. Use 'Tab' to navigate to all comments, replies and other options.

Resolve a comment

1. Move the cursor to the content with a comment.
2. Open the 'Accessibility' menu.
3. Select Comments and then Enter current comment.
4. Press e.
   • Or tab to the 'Mark as resolved and hide discussion'.
5. Press Enter.

Tip: Suggested edits are presented as comments. To accept the proposed change, press e, or tab to the renamed 'Accept suggestion'.

Reopen a comment

1. Open the Accessibility menu.
2. Select Comments and then Open comment history.
3. Press Enter.
4. Tab to 'Change settings in this panel to filter by comment type' menu.
5. Press the down arrow to 'Resolved'.
6. Press Enter.
7. Tab to the comment that you want to reopen, then tab to 'More options…'.
8. To open the menu, press Space and then the down arrow to 'Reopen'.
9. To reopen the comment and return focus to the content, press Enter.
10. To return focus to the content, press Escape.

Tip: The comment history takes a while to display when there are many comments. To reduce this delay, you can select 'Resolved'.

Use action items

Use comments to assign tasks or action items with your work or school account. Suggested action items may appear based on the content in your file.

Assign an action item in a comment

1. Select the content to comment on.
2. To add a comment, open the Insert menu.
3. Select Comment.
   • The menu includes the shortcut for future use.
4. Enter your comment.
5. Anywhere in your comment, enter @ (at sign) or + (plus) and the name or email address of the person who you want to assign it to.
6. Tab to 'Assign to [name]'.
7. To toggle the tick box, press Space.
8. To save the comment and assign, press:
   • For Windows or ChromeOS: Ctrl + Enter
   • For macOS: Command + Enter.
   • The person who you assigned the action item to will receive an email.

Tip: If someone has set their status to 'Out of office' and you have permission to view their calendar, you get a notification in the comment as you assign it to them.

Reassign an action item

1. Move focus to content that includes a comment that's assigned.
2. Open the Accessibility menu.
3. To move focus to the comment, select Comments and then Enter current comment.
4. Tab to 'Reply' edit field.
5. Enter your comment.
6. Anywhere in your comment, enter @ (at sign) or + (plus) and the name or email address of the person who you want to reassign it to.
7. Tab to 'Reassign to [name]'.
8. To toggle the tick box, press Space.
9. To save the comment and reassign, press:
   • For Windows or ChromeOS: Ctrl + Enter
   • For macOS: Command + Enter
   • The person who you reassigned the action item to will receive an email.

Mark an action item as done

1. Move focus to content that includes a comment.
2. To move focus to the comment, press:
   • For Windows or ChromeOS: Ctrl + Alt + e, then c
   • For macOS: Ctrl + Command + e, then c
3. Tab to 'Mark as done and hide discussion'.
4. Press Enter.

Tip: With focus on the comment, you can use the 'e' keyboard shortcut instead of tabbing to the button to resolve the action item.

Find the action items in a document

Action items are a specific kind of comment. You can enter and navigate them just like comments. As described earlier, a comment or suggestion becomes an action item when assigned to an email address. To find action items assigned to you:

1. To open the 'Find' dialogue, press:
   • For Windows or ChromeOS: Ctrl + f
   • For macOS: Command + f
2. Enter your email address.
3. To navigate to the first occurrence, press Enter.
4. To focus on the content, press Escape.
5. Enter the comment:
   • Open the Accessibility menu.
   • Select Comments and then Enter current comment.
     • You can also use the menu shortcut.
6. The comment announcement should also include 'Assignee You'.
7. When the action item is reassigned to someone else, the 'assignee…' announcement includes the email address of the other person instead of 'You'.

Tips:

• The comment announcement also includes 'Author name', where 'name' is the person who assigned the action item.
• You can find action items assigned to others when you search for their email address instead of your own.

Use emoji reactions in Google Docs

If you have comment or edit access to a Google Doc, you can add emoji reactions to content that you highlight.

Add emoji reactions

1. Select the text that you want to react to.
2. Open the Insert menu.
3. Select Emoji reaction.
   • Tip: 'Emoji' is also in the menu and will insert an emoji into the content.
4. Enter a reaction that you want to represent, like 'smile' or 'frown'.
5. Tab to find a matching emoji.
6. To add the reaction, press Enter.
7. To cancel, press Escape.

If a collaborator already added an emoji reaction, you can add multiple emoji to the same selected text. Navigate emoji reactions the same way in which you navigate comments.

Archive, increment or remove emoji reactions

1. Move your cursor to the content with an emoji reaction.
2. Open the Accessibility menu.
3. To move focus to the reaction, select Comments and then Enter current comment.
4. Perform any of the following:
   • To remove, tab to your reaction and press Enter.
     • Tip: If you remove your reaction, it doesn't remove other collaborators' reactions.
   • To increment, tab to another reaction and press Enter.
   • To expand, tab to 'More actions…' and press Enter.
   • To resolve like other comments, tab to 'Resolve' and press Enter.

Use keyboard shortcuts to navigate and reply to comments

When focus is moved to a comment, you can use keyboard shortcuts to:

• Navigate between comments
• Reply to comments
• Hide or resolve comments