Microsoft Teams Accessibility Settings

Summary

This guide helps you troubleshoot and resolve: Microsoft Teams Accessibility Settings. Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

Common Causes

Microsoft Teams includes a range of built-in accessibility features designed to support inclusive communication for Brisbane-based small business and home office users. Whether you need live captions during meetings, high contrast themes for improved visibility, adjusted font sizes, or screen reader compatibility, these settings help ensure every team member can participate fully. This guide walks you through the most common accessibility configurations in Microsoft Teams.

Quick Fix Steps

1. Open Microsoft Teams and select your profile picture in the top-right corner.
2. Choose Settings, then select Accessibility from the left-hand menu.
3. Enable Live captions for meetings by selecting Turn on live captions from the meeting controls.
4. Adjust your theme under Settings > General > Theme.
5. Test your configuration with a screen reader before joining critical meetings.

Detailed Instructions

Enabling Live Captions in Meetings

1. Start or join a Microsoft Teams meeting.
2. In the meeting control bar, select More actions (the three dots).
3. Choose Language and speech, then select Turn on live captions.
4. Captions will appear at the bottom of the meeting window. Select Turn off live captions when finished.

Configuring High Contrast Themes

1. Select your profile picture in the top-right corner of Teams.
2. Choose Settings.
3. Select General from the left sidebar.
4. Under Theme, choose High contrast or your preferred colour scheme.
5. The change applies immediately across the Teams interface.

Adjusting Font Size and Display

1. Open Settings from your profile menu.
2. Select Accessibility.
3. Adjust display settings as available in your version of Teams.
4. For system-wide adjustments, use Ctrl and + or Ctrl and - to zoom in and out within the Teams desktop app.

Enabling Screen Reader Compatibility

1. Ensure your screen reader software is running before opening Teams.
2. In Teams, go to Settings > Accessibility.
3. Review accessibility options to ensure compatibility with your screen reader.
4. Use Ctrl + E to open search and navigate using your screen reader's standard commands.
5. Test navigation in a Teams channel or chat to confirm announcements are read correctly.

Troubleshooting

Live Captions Not Appearing

• Confirm the meeting organiser has not disabled captions for the session.
• Check your internet connection; captions require cloud processing.
• Restart the Teams app and rejoin the meeting.
• Ensure you are using the latest version of Microsoft Teams.

Theme or Font Changes Not Applying

• Sign out of Teams and sign back in to refresh your profile settings.
• Clear the Teams cache by closing the app, navigating to %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams, and deleting the contents of the folder.
• Restart Teams and reapply your accessibility preferences.

Screen Reader Not Announcing Teams Content

• Verify your screen reader is updated to the latest version.
• Check accessibility settings in Teams Settings > Accessibility.
• Try using the Teams web app in Microsoft Edge or Google Chrome if the desktop app continues to have issues.
• Ensure your operating system accessibility settings are not conflicting with Teams.

If you host with us, you don't need to do this yourself — just Open a Ticket and our Brisbane team will get it sorted. If you continue to experience issues with Microsoft Teams accessibility settings, Open a Ticket and our Brisbane support team will assist you.

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