Windows 10: Adjust Narrator Context Reading Order for Buttons and Controls

How to: Adjust Narrator Context Reading Order for Buttons and Controls

How to Adjust Order Narrator Provides Details about Buttons and other Controls in Windows 10


Narrator is a screen-reading app built into Windows 10.

Narrator lets you use your PC without a display or mouse to complete common tasks if youre blind or have low vision. It reads and interacts with things on the screen, like text and buttons. Use Narrator to read and write email, browse the internet, and work with documents.

Specific commands let you navigate Windows, the web, and apps, as well as get info about the area of the PC you're in. Navigation is available using headings, links, landmarks, and more. You can read text (including punctuation) by page, paragraph, line, word, and character as well as determine characteristics like font and text color. Efficiently review tables with row and column navigation.

Narrator also has a navigation and reading mode called Scan Mode. Use it to get around Windows 10 using just the up and down arrows on your keyboard. You can also use a braille display to navigate your PC and read text.

You can choose if you want Narrator to read context about buttons and other controls either before or after the current item.

This tutorial will show you how to adjust the order when Narrator provides details about buttons and other controls for your account in Windows 10.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: Adjust Order Narrator Provides Details about Buttons and other Controls using Keyboard Shortcut
• Option Two: Adjust Order Narrator Provides Details about Buttons and other Controls in Settings
• Option Three: Adjust Order Narrator Provides Details about Buttons and other Controls using a REG file

OPTION ONE [/i] Adjust Order Narrator Provides Details about Buttons and other Controls using Keyboard Shortcut
1. While Narrator + Ctrl + forward slash (/)[/b] keys until you hear the order (before or after) you want.





OPTION TWO [/i] Adjust Order Narrator Provides Details about Buttons and other Controls in Settings
1. Open Settings, and click/tap on the Ease of Access icon.

*note You can also press the Win+Ctrl+N keys to directly open Narrator settings.

2. Click/tap on Narrator on the left side, and select Before controls (default) or After controls for the order you want in the Adjust when Narrator provides details about buttons and other controls drop menu on the right side under the Change what you hear when reading and interacting section. (see screenshot below)

3. You can now close Settings if you like.









OPTION THREE [/i] Adjust Order Narrator Provides Details about Buttons and other Controls using a REG file
*note The downloadable .reg files below will modify the DWORD value in the registry key below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Narrator\NoRoam

RenderContextBeforeElement DWORD

0 = After controls
1 = Before controls


1. Do step 2 (after) or step 3 (before) below for what you would like to do.


2. To Have Narrator Provide Details After Controls
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Narrator_provides_details_after_controls.reg

Download

3. To Have Narrator Provide Details Before Controls
*note This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Narrator_provides_details_before_controls.reg

Download
4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6. When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7. You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Turn On or Off Narrator in Windows 10
• How to Customize Narrator Voice in Windows 10
• How to Change Narrator Verbosity Level about Text and Controls in Windows 10
• How to Change how Capitalized Text is Read by Narrator in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Narrator Voice Emphasize Formatted Text in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Narrator Auto Read Advanced Info about Controls in Windows 10
• How to Change Level of Context Narrator Provides for Buttons and other Controls in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Narrator Character Phonetic Reading in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Narrator Intonation Pauses in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Narrator Interaction Hints for Buttons and other Controls in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Read Out Narrator Errors in Windows 10
• How to Turn On or Off Narrator Play Audio Cues in Windows 10

:)

 

Microsoft Narrator No Longer Opens

Hi Amanda,

Narrator is a light-duty screen reader utility included in Microsoft Windows. Narrator reads dialog boxes and window controls in a number of the more basic applications for Windows. In order for us to efficiently you, we just have few questions
for you:

• Were there any changes made to your computer prior to the issue?
• Are you referring to Cortana? If so, are you getting an error message/code when trying to launch it?
• When you say "states aloud that it is closing" what is the exact error that it says?
• What troubleshooting steps have you already performed?

Regards.

 

Are there any other voices for Narrator in the Ease of Access in Windows 10?

Hello Brenda,

I would suggest you to refer to the below steps to turn off narrator.

• 
  Type ease of access in the search bar and press enter
  
• 
  Click on Narrator and turn off
  

Reference:

Hear text read aloud with Narrator

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/getstarted-hear-text-read-aloud

Hope this information is helpful. Please write back to us if you need any further assistance, we'll be glad to assist you.

 

Narrator 10 wont read text to me.

Hi,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft community.

We understand your situation and will assist you to resolve your issue.

We would like to know if your sound card is working and are your sound related drivers up to date?

Please refer the following steps for troubleshooting:

How to start the Narrator in windows 10:

• 
  The quickest way of getting into the Settings in
  Windows 10 is from everyone’s favorite, Start Menu. When you make a click on
  Start Menu, you will notice Settings listed there. Click on it and your Settings window will be opened.
  
• 
  As you have entered the
  Settings, you see many options listed. Find out Ease of Access and click on it.
  
• 
  The Ease of Access will again list you many options under it. And by default
  Narrator is selected at the lists on the top.
  
• 
  You will notice quite few interesting things on the right pane of the
  Narrator. Well, if your Narrator is turned off, all the related settings are greyed out except the first one because that option allows you to use the slider and
  switch on the Narrator.
  
• 
  Once you turn on the Narrator, you will be able to use the available settings. The
  Narrator settings on Settings are carried out in three sections:
  Voice, Sounds you hear andCursor and keys. So, to learn these available settings, we request you to turn on the
  Narrator by using its slider.
  

How to configure Narrator in windows 10:

Now, we will see how to do the modifications of
Narrator from PC Settings. All the sections of the
Narrator settings are mentioned below in details.

1.Voice:

The Voice section of the
Narrator settings will definitely become your favorite. The
Voice section provides you three settings to do:
Choose a voice, Speed, and Pitch.

a. Choose a voice: Click the drop-down menu and you will see two voice options to choose from. Firstly, David is chosen by default which is the standard male American voice, and
Zira is a female voice that speaks standard American English.

b. Speed:
Control the speed of the narration using the speed slider.

c. Pitch:
Its slider also allows you to control the pitch of the sound.

2.Sounds you hear:

Let’s you modify the sound produced by the
Narrator.

a. Read hints for controls and buttons:
You must be clear with its name. You will hear the hints for the controls and buttons, like
ToolTips.

b.Characters you Type: If you don’t have enough speed, it is suggested to turn this setting off. It will read out the characters that you type on your document.

c.Words you type:
This option also relies on your typing speed. Turn it off if you are too fast in typing.

d.Lower the volume of other app when Narrator is running:
While using Narrator, if you get disturb by another sound from any of your running apps, use this option. This will lower the sound of that running app so that you can hear the sound of
the Narrator properly.

e.Play audio cues:
When some actions are being performed, Narrator uses its own set of sounds. It is recommended to use this option and see how you are benefitted from it.

3.Cursors and keys:

Narrator has its own cursor, a sort of the blue box which figures what narrator is reading. Here we deal with the cursor and keyboard options:

a.Highlight the cursor:
Switch it off and hide the Narrator cursor or if you like the cursor, keep this option on.

b.Have INSERTION POINT FOLLOW POINTER:
When you switch from one point to another, Narrator will follow you.

c.Activate keys on touch keyboard when I lift my finger off the keyboard:
This option serves for the touchscreen users. When you take off your fingers from the keys,
Narrator will speak out. It will not read out when you slide through all the keys.

Also,
if you have any sound issues, we would suggest you to refer the link below to fix sound issues.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/fix-sound-problems#v1h=tab01

The above are some of the standard troubleshooting procedures for Narrator 10. Please let us know if it works or you need any further assistance.

 

Narrator

Hi,

Thank you for providing the information.

Based on the description, it appears that you are facing issues in getting the Read option in Adobe Reader to speak loud.

• Which version of Adobe Reader is installed on your computer?

I would suggest you to refer and follow the steps under page 43 from the link which may help you in
enabling the read loud options and check if it helps.

http://www.adobe.com/enterprise/accessibility/reader/pdfs/reader7_accessibility.pdf

Enable the Read out Loud option and turn on Narrator and check if it helps.

Keep us posted to help you better.

 

Are there any other voices for Narrator in the Ease of Access in Windows 10?

Hi Melody,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community.

I suggest you to follow the below steps and check if it helps.

• 
  Type narrator in the search bar and press enter.
  
• 
  Click on voices
  
• 
  And select find other voices that work with Narrator.
  

Let us know if you need further assistance with Windows related issues. We will be happy to help.