Narrator is a text-to-speech utility for users who are blind or have impaired vision. Narrator reads what is displayed on your screen: the contents of the active window, menu options, or the text you have typed.
Narrator is designed to work with Notepad, Wordpad, Control Panel programs, Internet Explorer, the Windows desktop, and Windows setup. Narrator may not read words aloud correctly in other programs.
Narrator has several options that allow you to customize the way screen elements are read.
- You can have new windows, menus, or shortcut menus read aloud when they are displayed.
- You can have typed characters read aloud.
- You can have the mouse pointer follow the active item on the screen.
- You can adjust the speed, volume, or pitch of the voice.
The accessibility tools that ship with Windows are intended to provide a minimum functionality level for users with special needs. Most users with disabilities will need utility programs with more advanced functionality for daily use.
- To open Narrator, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to Accessibility, and then click Narrator.
- To open Narrator using the keyboard, press CTRL+ESC, press R, type narrator, and then press ENTER.
- Narrator is not available for all languages and is only supported on the English version of Windows XP.
- An easy way to start Narrator is to press the Windows logo key (
) + U. Narrator is set to start by default when Utility Manager starts. However, Narrator may not start if your computer does not have text-to-speech program capability.
- Utility Manager enables users to check an Accessibility program's status and start or stop an Accessibility program. Users with administrator-level access can designate to have the program start when Utility Manager starts. Users can also start Accessibility programs before logging on to the computer by pressing the Windows logo key () + U at the Welcome to Windows dialog box that appears when Windows starts.
Windows comes with a basic screen reader called Narrator that reads text on the screen aloud and describes some events (such as an error message appearing) that happen while you're using the computer.
To open Narrator:
- Click on the Start button, then All Programs, then Accessories, then Ease of Access, then click on Narrator.
To choose the text Narrator always reads
Under Main Narrator Settings box, do one or more of the following:
To hear what you type
Select the Echo User's Keystrokes checkbox.
To hear background events, such as notifications
Select the Announce System Messages checkbox.
To hear an announcement when the screen scrolls
Select the Announce Scroll Notifications checkbox.
To start Narrator Minimized
Select the Start Narrator Minimized checkbox.
The next time you start Narrator, it will appear as an icon on the taskbar instead of being open on your screen.
Notes:
- To restore the Narrator dialog box to its full size, click Narrator in the taskbar.