Microsoft Teams accessibility for users who are visually impaired: how to identify the active speaker during meetings?

Question

Microsoft Teams accessibility for users who are visually impaired: how to identify the active speaker during meetings?

Lisa M 0

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice on behalf of a Microsoft Teams user, who is visually impaired.

One of the challenges they experience in Teams meetings is that Teams does not appear to announce who is currently speaking.

Zoom has a feature that identifies the active speaker, making it much easier for users who are visually impaired to follow conversations and know who is contributing.

I'd be grateful if anyone could advise:

Is there a built-in Teams feature that announces the active speaker to screen reader users?

Are there any workarounds that help identify who is speaking during a meeting?

Is this a known accessibility issue and, if so, is there any information on whether Microsoft is considering improvements in this area?

Thanks

0 comments

1 answer

Your answer

Answer 1

Hello Lisa M

From the information currently available, Microsoft Teams does not appear to have a built-in feature that automatically announces the active speaker's name to screen reader users.

While Teams does not currently provide a built-in feature that announces the active speaker's name through a screen reader, the following workarounds may help:

Enable live captions or transcription. Captions include speaker attribution, so users can identify who is speaking by reading the speaker's name alongside the captioned text. This may be helpful for users who use screen readers together with caption output.
Use meeting transcripts. After the meeting, transcripts can help users review the conversation and identify which participant made each comment, as speaker names are associated with transcript entries.

I hope this helps. However, I would like to clarify that these options can provide additional context, but they do not offer the same real-time active-speaker announcement experience that is available on some other meeting platforms.

For your reference:

Use live captions in Microsoft Teams meetings | Microsoft Support

Start, stop, and download live transcripts in Microsoft Teams meetings | Microsoft Support

Accessibility guide for Microsoft Teams Admins - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn

As this functionality is important for accessibility, I would recommend submitting feedback through the Microsoft Feedback Portal -Ideas · Community. Feedback from users helps Microsoft Production team evaluate and prioritize future improvements that can make Teams easier and more inclusive for people with different accessibility needs.

User's image

Thank you for your patience and kindness in this matter.

Stay safe and happy!