Discord with a screen reader

The Discord settings and shortcuts that matter most when you use a screen reader. This covers the Windows desktop app; on a Mac, use Command in place of Control and Option in place of Alt. Discord changes its shortcuts from time to time, so press Control and slash in Discord to check the current list.

Settings worth changing

All of these are in User Settings, which opens with the cog button next to your name.

• Accessibility: turn on Reduced Motion, and turn off automatically playing GIFs and animated emoji, which some screen readers otherwise announce repeatedly. Set the text-to-speech speed here if you use Discord's own speech.
• Accessibility, role colours: choose to show role colours as a dot beside names, or not at all, so names read cleanly.
• Notifications: turn off text-to-speech notifications if your screen reader already reads new messages, or you will hear them twice. Switch off sounds you do not need.
• Text and Images: turn off link previews and embeds if long previews slow you down.
• Each server: open the server menu with the server name and choose Notification Settings to set it to mentions only, and mute busy channels by opening a channel's context menu.

Browse mode and focus mode

• Discord works best in focus mode (NVDA forms mode, JAWS forms mode), where its own shortcuts and arrow keys work.
• Switch to browse mode only to read a message closely, such as character by character, or to copy part of it.
• F6 moves between Discord's main regions: servers, channels, messages and members.
• Typing any letter while you are in the message list moves you to the message box.

Getting around

• Control and K: quick switcher. Type part of a server, channel or person's name, arrow to it and press Enter. This is the fastest way to go anywhere.
• Alt and Up or Down: previous or next channel in the server.
• Control, Alt and Up or Down: previous or next server.
• Control and B, or Alt and Right: back to the text channel you were in before.
• Alt and Left: go to the voice channel you are connected to.
• Control and U: show or hide the member list.

Unread messages and mentions

• Alt, Shift and Up or Down: previous or next channel with unread messages.
• Control, Alt, Shift and Up or Down: previous or next channel where you were mentioned.
• Shift and Page Up: jump to the oldest unread message in the channel. If it does not land correctly, search for the word "new", which marks where unread messages begin.
• Escape: mark the channel as read. Shift and Escape: mark the whole server as read.
• Control and I: open your inbox of mentions from every server.
• Control and P: show the channel's pinned messages.

Messages

• In the message list, Up and Down move between messages, and Page Up and Page Down scroll further back or forward.
• With a message focused, the message actions are on its context menu: Shift and F10, or the Applications key. That is where you reply, react, copy text, pin and mark as unread.
• Up arrow in an empty message box edits your last message.
• Shift and Enter starts a new line without sending.
• Control and E: emoji picker. Control, Shift and U: upload a file.

Voice

• Control, Shift and M: mute or unmute your microphone.
• Control, Shift and D: deafen or undeafen.
• Control and Enter: answer a call. Escape: decline it.
• There is no shortcut to leave a voice channel; find the Disconnect button with your screen reader's button search.
• For raiding, set a push-to-talk key or a global mute key in User Settings, Keybinds, so it works while World of Warcraft has focus.

Reporting problems

Discord collects accessibility feedback at dis.gd/a11y. Specific reports, such as a button with no label, are the ones that get fixed.