Use a screen reader to insert a picture or image in Word

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This article is for people with visual impairments who use a screen reader program with the Office products and is part of the Office Accessibility content set. For more general help, see Office Support home.

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Use Word with your keyboard and a screen reader to insert a picture or image. We have tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques. You can also add alt text to help make the picture more accessible.

Notes:

New Office 365 features are released gradually to Office 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft Office.

In this topic

Insert an image or picture from your computer
Insert an image from an online source
Add alt text to an image

Insert an image or picture from your computer

In your document, select the location where you want to insert an image.
Open the Insert Picture dialog box by pressing Alt+N, P.
Browse to the location of the picture on your computer, select the picture, and then press Enter. The original picture is embedded in your document.

Important: To be read correctly by a screen reader, the picture has to be inline with the text.
By default, Word inserts a picture inline with text. However, other versions such as Word Mobile or Word for Mac do not.

To make sure that the picture is inline with the document text, select the picture, then press Alt+JP to open the Picture Format ribbon.
Press PO, and then press Enter. This opens the Position button and then selects Inline with text.
Tips:
- If your picture has a large file size and makes your document too large, you can reduce the size of your document by linking to the picture instead of embedding it.
- In the Insert Picture dialog, tab to the Insert button, press the Down arrow key to access the dropdown menu, and then select Link to File.

Insert an image from an online source

You can insert a picture from a web location.

In your document, select the location where you want to insert an image.
To open the Insert Pictures and search for images online, press Alt+N, F to open the Bing Image Search dialog.
In the Search Bing dialog which is already selected, type a word or phrase that describes the picture you're looking for, and then press Enter.
Press Alt+Right arrow key or Alt+Left arrow key to move through the search results. (In Narrator, just press the arrow keys.) Word describes each image as it's selected
To insert a selected image, press Alt+Enter. (In Narrator, just press Enter.) Word downloads and inserts the image into your document.

Tip: For more sources of online images, from the Insert Pictures dialog box, sign in to browse your personal accounts such as OneDrive, Facebook, or Flickr.

Add alt text to an image

After you insert the picture in your document, you can add alt text to help make your document as accessible as possible.

In your document, select the picture that you want to add alt text to.
To open the Format tab of Picture tools, press Alt+JP, then press the Tab key until you reach the Format Object button. Press Enter to open the Format Picture pane. You'll hear "Shadow", the first option. Narrator does not say the name of the pane.

Note: If you don't hear "Shadow", keyboard navigation might have placed your focus in a different area. Press F6 until you hear "Shadow".
In the Format Picture pane (after you hear "Shadow"), press Shift+Tab to go to the tool options menu. You'll hear the name of one of these options read aloud:
- Effects
- Layout and properties
- Picture
- Fill and Line
To move to the Layout and Properties button, press the Right arrow until you hear the name of the button. Then press the Tab key to move to Text Box, the first option on the menu.
To move to the Alt Text option, press the Tab key again, then press Down arrow to move to the Title box.
Type the title of the Alt text for the image. Alt text should describe the action or intent of the image, not its appearance.
Press Down arrow again to move to the Description box, and type a description.
When you finish typing the title and description, press Esc to return to the body of the document.

In this topic

Insert an image or picture from your computer
Insert an image from an online source
Add alt text to an image

Insert an image or picture from your computer

In Word for Mac, place the cursor where you want to insert a picture.
To go to the menu bar, press Control+Option+M. You hear: "Menu bar Apple."
Press the Right arrow key until you hear: "Insert." Then press the Down arrow key until you hear: "Pictures, submenu." To expand the Pictures submenu, press Control+Option+Spacebar.
Press the Down arrow key until you hear: "Picture from File." To select, press Spacebar.
The Picture from File dialog opens. To browse to the location where the picture is saved, press the Tab key until you hear: "Sidebar table."

Note: To open the Sidebar, press the Tab key until you hear "Show Sidebar button" and then press Spacebar.

The focus moves to the list of favorite locations, such as All My Files or Documents. VoiceOver announces the locations as you move.
When on the correct location, press the Tab key. Then use the Up or Down arrow keys to browse to the subfolder or file you want. To enter a subfolder, press the Right arrow key.
When the correct file is selected, to insert the picture, press Enter or Control+Option+Spacebar. The picture is inserted in the document.

Insert an image from an online source

Searching for and inserting clip art or pictures from other online sources directly from Word for Mac isn't currently supported. However, you can still add an online picture to your document by searching for the picture online, saving a local copy, and then inserting the local copy in the document.

Using a web browser, go to www.bing.com. The focus moves to the Bing Search box.
In the Search box, enter a keyword for the type of image you're looking for and then press Enter.
To filter the search results to images only, in your Bing search results, press Option+Tab to navigate to the Images tab. To select, press Enter.

Note: In the License filter, you can filter search results to All Creative Commons only (learn more here) or you can choose to see all images. If you choose All, your search results will expand to show all Bing images. You're responsible for respecting the rights of others' property, including copyright. To better understand the licensing options, refer to Filter images by license type. To select a license option, use the Up or Down arrow keys and then press Enter to select.
Press Option+Tab, to navigate to the image results. You hear: "Link, search."
To open the full-sized image, press Enter.
To download the image, press Option+Tab until you hear "Link" followed by the file name and extension. To select, press Enter. Then press Command+S.
The Export as dialog opens. The cursor is placed in the file name field. To choose the save location, press the Tab key to navigate to Where pop up button, and then use the arrow keys to select a location. To save, press Command+S.

Tip: Save the images in your Documents to make them easier to insert in a Word document.
In Word for Mac, place the cursor where you want to insert a picture. Then, using Insert menu in the menu bar, insert the picture you've just saved. To learn more about how to insert an image saved locally, refer to Insert an image or picture from your computer.

Add alt text to an image

After you insert the picture in your document, you can add alt text to help make your document as accessible as possible.

In your document, select the picture that you want to add alt text to. To select a picture in Word, place the cursor before the image, hold down Shift and then press the Right arrow key. You hear: "Image, layout item."
To open the Format Picture pane, press Shift+Command+1. You hear: "Format picture, task pane."
To open the Layout & Properties tab, press the Tab key until you hear a tab name and "You are currently on a tab, inside of a scroll area." Then press the Right or Left arrow keys until you hear: "Layout and properties, selected tab." To select the tab, press Spacebar.
To go to the Alt Text option, press the Tab key until you hear: "Alt text, collapsed." To expand the Alt Text option, press Spacebar.
To go to the Title field, press the Tab key. You hear: "Title." Type the alt text title for the image. Alt text should describe the action or intent of the image, not its appearance.
To go to the Description field, press the Tab key. You hear: "Edit text." Then type a description.
When you finish typing the title and description, to move the focus back to the image in the document, press F6 until you hear the picture title and "layout item."

In this topic

Insert an image or picture from your phone
Insert a picture from the camera
Add alt text to an image

Insert an image or picture from your phone

While editing your document, navigate to the location where you want to insert an image.
If needed, to close the keyboard and go to the ribbon, swipe right until you hear "Show ribbon, button," and then double-tap the screen. The Home tab opens, and you hear: "Home tab."
To open the Insert tab, double-tap the screen, swipe right until you hear "Insert tab," and double-tap the screen. You hear: "Insert tab."
Swipe right until you hear "Insert pictures button," and then double-tap the screen. The Photos app opens.
Swipe right until you hear the location containing the image you want to insert, and then double-tap the screen to select.
To browse the images in a location, swipe right or left. As you move, VoiceOver announces the images. VoiceOver announces the images by the image types, orientations, dates.
When on the photo you want, double-tap the screen to insert the image.

The image is inserted, the focus returns to your document with the image selected, and the Picture tab opens.

Insert a picture from the camera

You can insert a picture from the device camera.

While editing your document, navigate to the location where you want to insert an image.
If needed, to close the keyboard and go to the ribbon, swipe right until you hear "Show ribbon, button," and then double-tap the screen. The Home tab opens, and you hear: "Home tab."
To open the Insert tab, double-tap the screen, swipe right until you hear "Insert tab," and double-tap the screen. You hear: "Insert tab."
Swipe right until you hear "Insert picture from camera, button," and then double-tap the screen. Camera opens.

Note: You may get a popup dialog saying: "Word would like to access the camera." If you do, swipe right until you hear "OK, button," and double-tap the screen.
Swipe right until you hear: "Take picture, button," point the camera in the right direction, and double-tap the screen.
Swipe right or left until you hear "Use photo, button," and then double-tap the screen to insert the photo. The focus returns to your document with the image selected, and the Picture tab opens.

Add alt text to an image

After you insert the picture in your document, you can add alt text to help make your document as accessible as possible.

While editing your document, to select a picture, drag your finger around the writing area until VoiceOver announces the image, and then double-tap the screen. You hear "Selected, image," followed by the image layout. The Picture tab opens.
To open the Alt Text menu from the Picture tab, swipe right until you hear "Alt Text button," and then double-tap the screen.
To add alt text, swipe right until you hear "Tile, text field," double-tap the screen, and type title of the alt text for the image using the on-screen keyboard. Alt text should describe the action or intent of the image, not its appearance.

Note: To go to the keyboard, swipe right until you hear a keyboard element. You can also find the keyboard by exploring the items on the screen. To explore, place a finger on the screen and drag it around. VoiceOver announces the items as you land on them. To select an item, lift your finger and double-tap the screen.
To add a description to the image, swipe right until you hear "Description, text field," double-tap the screen, and then type the description using the on-screen keyboard.
After typing the title and description, swipe left until you hear "Done button," and then double-tap the screen. The Alt Text menu closes and the focus moves back to the document.

In this topic

Insert an image or picture from your phone
Insert a picture from the camera
Add alt text to an image

Insert an image or picture from your phone

While editing your document, navigate to the location where you want to insert an image.
If needed, to close the keyboard and go to the ribbon, swipe right until you hear "Not checked, More options, switch," and then double-tap the screen. The Home tab opens, and you hear: "Tab menu, Home selected."
To open the Insert tab, double-tap the screen, swipe right until you hear "Insert tab," and double-tap the screen.
Swipe right until you hear "Pictures menu," and then double-tap the screen. The Pictures menu opens.
Swipe right until you hear "Photos button," and then double-tap the screen. The Open frommenu opens, with the focus on the currently selected image storage location.
Do one of the following:
- To navigate through the pictures in the currently selected image storage location, swipe right until you hear the image you want. TalkBack reads the name and date of each image as you move.
- To navigate to another storage location, for example, Downloads or Images, swipe left until you hear "Show routes button," and then double-tap the screen. Swipe right until you hear the location you want, and then double-tap the screen. Swipe left or right until you hear the image you want.
TalkBack announces the images by their filenames, sizes, and dates.
When on the photo you want, to insert the selected image, double-tap the screen. You hear: "Word, processed image."
Swipe right until you hear "Save image button," and then double-tap the screen.

The image is inserted, the focus returns to your document with the image selected, and the Picture tab opens.

Insert a picture from the camera

While editing your document, navigate to the location where you want to insert an image.
If needed, to close the keyboard and go to the ribbon, swipe right until you hear "Not checked, More options, switch," and then double-tap the screen. The Home tab opens, and you hear: "Tab menu, Home selected."
To open the Insert tab, double-tap the screen, swipe right until you hear "Insert tab," and double-tap the screen.
Swipe right until you hear "Pictures menu," and then double-tap the screen. The Pictures menu opens.
Swipe right until you hear "Camera button," and then double-tap the screen. The Camera app opens.

Note: You may get a popup dialog saying: "Allow Word to take pictures and record video." If you do, swipe right until you hear "Allow button," and double-tap the screen.
To take a picture, swipe right until you hear "Shutter," point the camera in the right direction, and then double-tap the screen.
The focus moves to the Done button. To use the photo in your document, double-tap the screen. You hear: "Word, processed image."
Swipe right until you hear "Save image button," and then double-tap the screen.
The image is inserted, the focus returns to your document with the image selected, and the Picture tab opens.

Add alt text to an image

After you insert the picture in your document, you can add alt text to help make your document as accessible as possible.

After you have inserted an image, to open the Alt Text menu from the Picture tab, swipe right until you hear "Alt Text menu," and then double-tap the screen.
Swipe right until you hear "Edit box, for title," and type the title of the alt text for the image using the on-screen keyboard. Alt text should describe the action or intent of the image, not its appearance.

Note: You can find the keyboard by exploring the items on the screen. To explore, place a finger on the screen and drag it around. TalkBack announces the items as you land on them. To select an item, when on the item, lift your finger. Depending on your device settings, you may need to double-tap the screen to insert the character.
To add a description to the image, swipe right until you hear "Edit box, for description," double-tap the screen, and then type the description using the on-screen keyboard.
After typing the title and description, swipe left until you hear "Back button," and then double-tap the screen. The Alt Text menu closes and the focus moves back to the document.

In this topic

Insert an image or picture from your phone
Insert a picture from the camera

Insert an image or picture from your phone

In your document, navigate to the location where you want to insert an image.
Swipe up or down with one finger until you hear: "Items."
Swipe right until you hear "More options button," and double-tap the screen.
Swipe left with one finger until you hear: "Tab Selector, Home button, collapsed." Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Popup, Home, <number of available tabs and the place of the current tab on the menu list>, selected." The main menu is now expanded.
In the menu, swipe right with one finger until you hear: "Insert, <number of available tabs and the place of the current tab on the menu list>." Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Insert button, collapsed." The Insert tab options are now available.
Swipe right until you hear "Pictures button, collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.
Swipe right or left until you hear "Photos button," and then double-tap the screen. The Photos window opens.
Swipe right until you hear the name of the file you want to insert, and double-tap the screen.
Swipe right until you hear: "Insert app bar button." Double-tap the screen to insert the photo into your document.

Note: To be read correctly by a screen reader, the picture has to be inline with the text. By default, Word Mobile does not insert a picture inline with the text. To make sure that the picture is inline with the document text, swipe right until you hear "Wrap text button, collapsed," and then double-tap the screen. The Wrap Text options are now available. Swipe right until you hear "Off, Inline with text button," and then double-tap the screen.

Insert a picture from the camera

You can insert a picture from the device camera.

In your document, navigate to the location where you want to insert a picture.
Swipe up or down with one finger until you hear: "Items."
Swipe right until you hear "More options button," and double-tap the screen.
Swipe left until you hear: "Tab Selector, Home button, collapsed." Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Popup, Home, <number of available tabs and the place of the current tab on the menu list>, selected." The main menu is now expanded.
In the menu, swipe right with one finger until you hear: "Insert, <number of available tabs and the place of the current tab on the menu list>." Double-tap the screen. You hear: "Insert button, collapsed." The Insert tab options are now available.
Swipe right until you hear "Pictures button, collapsed," and then double-tap the screen.
Swipe right until you hear "Camera button," and then double-tap the screen. The Camera window opens.
Swipe right until you hear "Take photo button," point the camera in the direction you want, and then double-tap the screen to take the picture.
Swipe right until you hear "Accept button," and then double-tap the screen to insert the captured picture into your document.

In this topic

Insert a picture from your computer

Follow these steps to insert a picture that's on your computer into your document.

Place the insertion point where you want the picture to appear in your document.
To move the focus to the ribbon, press Ctrl+F6 until you hear a tab name.
To move to the Insert tab, press the Tab key, and then press Enter.
To move to the Picture button, press the Tab key, and then press Enter. The Choose File to Upload dialog opens with the focus in the File name box.

Note: Typically when you insert a picture, Word Online looks on your computer for the most common image formats (.bmp, .gif, .jpg, .svg, .tiff, .dds, .wdp, .emf, .ico, .png, and .wmf). But, you can search across all file formats. To do that, in the Choose File to Upload dialog, press the Tab key to move to the Image Files box, and then select All Files (*.*).
Do one of the following:
- Type the name of a picture to use, and then press Enter.
- Browse for a picture in another folder by pressing Shift+Tab until you hear a folder name, and then pressing Enter. To browse folders, use the Tab key and the arrow keys. To go up a level, press Ctrl+Backspace. To go to the first picture in a folder, press the Tab key. When you hear the name of the picture you want, press Enter.

Insert a picture from the web

If you don't have the perfect picture on your computer, you can search the web.

Note: When using photos, images, or clip art, you're responsible for respecting copyright. For images, the license filter in Bing can help.

Place the insertion point where you want to insert the image in your document.
To move the focus to the ribbon, press Ctrl+F6 until you hear a tab name.
To move to the Insert tab, press the Tab key, and then press Enter.
To move to the Online Pictures button, press the Tab key, and then press Enter. The Insert Pictures dialog opens. You hear "Search Bing" and the focus is in the Bing Image Search box.
Type a word or phrase that describes the type of image you want, and then press Enter. The search results are described.
To insert the one you want to use, press Enter. (Or, to select the image, press Spacebar, and then, to move to the Insert button, press the Tab key and then press Enter.)

Add alt text to an image

Select the image that you want to add alt text to.
Press Ctrl+F6 until you hear the name of a ribbon tab, press the Tab key until you reach the Format tab, then press Enter.
To move to the Alt-Text button, press the Tab key, and then press Enter. The Alternative Text dialog opens with the focus in the Title box. (In Narrator, you hear "Image selected.")
Tab to the Description box and type the text you want.
Tab to the OK button and then press Spacebar.

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Thursday, February 7, 2019