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

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 Microsoft Support home.

Use Mail for Windows 10 with your keyboard and a screen reader to add images into your email messages. We have tested it with Narrator, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.

Notes: 

• New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 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 a picture from your device

• Add alternative text to an image

Insert a picture from your device

Spice up your emails and add a picture to your email message body from the local storage on your device.

Note: To learn how to add images as attachments, go to Open or add attachments.

1. In the email message, place the focus where you want to insert the picture.

2. Press Alt to move the focus to the ribbon tabs row. You hear the currently selected ribbon tab.

3. Press the Left or Right arrow key until you hear: "Selected, Insert tab item."

4. To move to the ribbon, press the Down arrow key once. You hear the first option on the ribbon, for example, "Files, button."

5. Press the Right arrow key until you hear "Pictures," and then press Enter. The Windows Open dialog opens.

6. Use the Tab key and the arrow keys to navigate to the image you want, and then press Enter to insert it.

   Tips: To insert an image from the Pictures folder on your PC:

   1. Press the Tab key until you hear: "Tree view."

   2. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear "This PC," and then press Enter.

   3. Press the Tab key once. You hear: "Folders."

   4. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear "Pictures," and press Enter.

   5. Press the arrow keys until you hear the file you want, and then press Enter to insert it.

Add alternative text to an image

Make your email more accessible and add alternative text to the images in your email.

1. In an email, to select the image to which you want to add alternative text, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear "Image, selected."

2. Press Alt to move the focus to the ribbon tabs row. You hear: "Selected, Picture tab item."

3. To move to the ribbon, press the Down arrow key once. You hear the first option on the ribbon, for example, "Rotate, button."

4. Press the Right arrow key until you hear "Alt Text," and then press Enter. The Alt Text dialog opens. The focus is on the Title text field.

5. Type the alternative text title.

6. Press the Tab key once. You hear: "Description, editing." Type the alternative text description.

7. Once you're done, press Esc to exit the dialog. The focus returns to the Alt Text button on the ribbon.

See also

Basic tasks using a screen reader with Mail

Use a screen reader to save an image or attachment from an email in Mail

Keyboard shortcuts in Mail

Set up your device to work with accessibility in Office 365

Use a screen reader to explore and navigate Mail

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.