Use Slack with a screen reader
Overview
You can use a screen reader to navigate conversations, read messages, and access information in your sidebar from the Slack desktop app and Slack in a web browser.
Tip: Slack offers keyboard shortcuts for many common actions you may need to take. To view all keyboard shortcuts, press ⌘+/ (Mac) or Ctrl+/ (Windows/Linux).
Slack behaves more like an application than a webpage. We recommend that:
- NVDA and JAWS users primarily navigate around in Focus / Forms mode instead of Browse mode
- All screen reader users use Slack’s desktop applications rather than using it in a web browser if possible.
The following are important concepts to understand when exploring Slack:
| Workspaces | A Slack workspace maps to an organization or a department—think of it as an office building that you need to be invited into. The Slack desktop and mobile apps allow you to log into multiple workspaces at once. |
| Channels | Channels are like large conference rooms or offices inside the office building, and can be created for any project, topic, or team. Channels can be public, meaning anyone in the workspace can read or join, or private. Channel names always start with a # (pound sign or hashtag). |
| Direct Messages | Direct messages (also known as DMs) are smaller conversations in Slack that happen outside of channels. DMs work well for one-off conversations that don’t require an entire channel of people to weigh in, like if you wanted to ask a coworker to reschedule a meeting. You can DM a single person, or several people at once. |
| Conversations | Channels and direct messages are structured similarly in Slack. We refer to them jointly as conversations. |
| Threads | Threads help you create organized discussions around specific messages within a conversation. |
| Mentions |
Mentions are a direct way to notify people of something that needs their attention in Slack. They start with an @ (at symbol). |
| Reactions | An emoji reaction can be attached to a message to replace the need for a follow-up message. You can add multiple emoji reactions to a message. |
Navigating Slack
Slack’s interface is a single window made up of several top-level sections. You can navigate between sections by pressing F6, and within each section using Tab. All toolbars in Slack are navigated with arrow keys.
Note: If you're using Slack in a browser, press Ctrl+F6 / Ctrl+Shift+F6 (Windows) or ⌘+F6 /⌘+Shift+F6 (Mac).
Top-level sections
The section names and roles are, in order:
|
The Workspaces tablist |
Allows you to switch between workspaces that you’re logged in to. If you are only logged into one workspace, this section will not be present. |
|
The Workspace Primary Actions toolbar |
Houses options for navigating through your browsing history, as well as search, help, and the user menu. |
|
The Workspace Secondary Actions toolbar |
Houses the workspace menu and the compose button. |
|
The Workspace Navigation group |
Allows you to navigate between your channels, direct messages, apps and other items in your sidebar. |
|
The primary view |
Where you interact with conversations and reply to messages. |
|
The secondary view (if you have it open) |
Opens when you interact with a thread, user profile, or in-product help. |
As you navigate with F6, initial focus is placed on the most useful place within the section, such as the message field within a conversation. When you navigate within a section, we remember your place and restore focus to it when you move back to it with F6.
Tip: Mac users with a touchbar can also use ⌘+Ctrl+← / → instead of F6.
Primary and secondary views
Slack always has a primary view, which contains conversations (like a channel, or an individual DM conversation) or pages (like the Direct Messages inbox, or Saved items).
The secondary view is opened when diving into something within the primary view, such as an individual thread within a channel, or a user profile.
The primary and secondary views are usually composed of the following components:
- One or more toolbars
- An interactive list (most often of messages, channels or members)
- A composer input
Navigate to a conversation
The easiest way to open a channel, direct message (DM), or navigation page (ex., Unreads, Threads, Mentions & reactions, and more) in Slack is by using Jump to a Conversation, which can be activated with a keyboard shortcut.
- Press ⌘+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux)
- Type the name of a channel, person, or page.
- Press Enter.
You can also browse your active conversations using the Workspace Navigation section.
- Press F6 to move focus to the Workspace Navigation tree.
- Press ↑ or ↓ to navigate to a channel, DM, or page.
- Press Enter to make a selection.
Tip: If the list of conversations in your workspace navigation list is long, you can use the Page Up, Page Down, End, and Home keys to navigate more quickly.
Each conversation in this tree has an associated context menu you can use to take actions, like changing notifications, muting, and more.
- Press F6 to move focus to the channel list.
- Press ↑ or ↓ to navigate to a channel or DM.
- Press Shift+M (Mac) with VoiceOver running or Shift+F10 (Windows/Linux) to open the context menu. Mac users who have enabled Full Keyboard Access can also use Tab+M.
- Press ↑ or ↓ to navigate between options, then press Enter to select an option.
Note: From the context menu, you can move conversations to the Starred section in the sidebar. If you’re on a paid Slack plan, you can also organize conversations in custom sections.
Participate in a conversation
Read a conversation
Mac
Windows/Linux
- Upon navigating to a conversation, your focus will land in the message composer. Press ↑ to move into the message list. Your focus will land on the most recent message in the conversation.
- To jump to the first unread message, press ⌘+J.
- Once inside the message list, press ↑ and ↓ to navigate between individual messages. A summary of a message will be read when it's in focus. If you're using VoiceOver, you can navigate within messages as well.
Tip: You can replay up to 10 messages in chronological order from oldest to newest. From any conversation, press ⌘+Option and any number 0 to 9 (pressing 0 will play the last 10 messages).
- Upon navigating to a conversation, your focus will land in the message composer. This will also toggle the virtual cursor off.
- Press ↑ to move into the message list. Your focus will land on the most recent message in the conversation.
- To jump to the first unread message, press Ctrl+J.
- Once inside the message list, press ↑ and ↓ to navigate between individual messages. A summary of a message will be read when it's in focus.
- To read message content using the virtual cursor, press Tab. Focus will move to the name of the person who sent the message.
- To resume reading or navigating between messages, press Shift+Tab until focus moves back to the message inside the list, which should exit browse mode. Then, press ↑ and ↓ again.
Tip: You can replay up to 10 messages in chronological order from oldest to newest. From any conversation, press Alt and any number 0 to 9 (pressing 0 will play the last 10 messages).
You can navigate between messages quickly using the following keys:
- Page Up and Page Down to move up and down.
- Home and End to move to the first or most recent message
- Shift+Page Up to move to the first message in the previous day.*
- Shift+Page Down to move to the first message in the next day.*
*These keys can’t be used to navigate between messages in your All unreads views.
Message actions
There are a number of useful actions you can take on messages within Slack, including adding emoji reactions, replying in a thread, and copying a link to a message.
- To access these, move focus to the message of your choice
- Press Tab+M (on Mac with full keyboard access enabled) or the Menu key (Windows) to open the Message Actions menu.
- You can also press Tab while focused on the message of your choice to access these and more message actions.
Respond to a conversation
- To write a message in a channel or DM on Mac, start typing. Slack will automatically move focus to the message field. On Windows or Linux, press F6 to move focus to the message field, then begin typing.
- (Optional) Press Tab to access the composer primary actions toolbar, from which you can add attachments, record video and audio clips, or insert custom emojis.
- Press Enter to send your message.
Tip: You can also take a number of actions in Slack by typing slash commands.
You can also send a message to any person or conversation directly using the Compose button:
- Press ⌘+N (Mac) or Ctrl+N (Windows/Linux).
- Focus will move to the To: field. Type the name of a channel or person to select a conversation for your message.
- Press Enter. The primary view will switch to the selected conversation and focus will move to the message field.
- Type your message, then press Enter to send it.
Start or reply to a thread
Threads are sidebar conversations within a channel or DM, and are useful for keeping conversations organized. Threads can only be one level deep, and always open in the secondary view.
- Within a conversation, navigate to the message you’d like to start or reply to a thread from.
- Press → or T to open the thread in the secondary view. The focus will move to the secondary view, landing on the same message. If there are any existing thread replies, press ↓ to read them in chronological order.
- To start or reply to a thread, press End. The focus will move to the message field in the secondary view.
Tip: Press ← to move focus back to the original message that thread replies have been added to.
Catching up on activity
Slack offers a few ways to quickly review all new messages of a certain kind. Reviewing all of these is the easiest way to make sure you’re totally caught up on all the new activity that’s relevant to you within a workspace.
These views can be reached in 3 ways: through a dedicated keyboard shortcut, by typing the name of the view in the Quick Switcher, or from the top of the workspace navigation list (some may be hidden within the More menu).
Direct Messages
The Direct Messages view lets you browse all of your individual and group conversations that happen outside of channels.
- Press ⌘+Shift+K (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+K (Windows / Linux) to open Direct Messages. Focus will move to a text input, which you can use to jump to any conversation.
- Press Tab to move focus into the Direct Messages inbox list, then ↓ to navigate through the list of conversations. The most recent message within each conversation will be read out when a conversation is in focus.
- Press Enter to open the conversation in the primary view (or secondary view if the latest message was in a thread). Focus will move to the latest message.
Mentions and reactions
The Mentions & reactions view lets you catch up on all reactions to your messages, mentions of you, and uses of any keywords you are monitoring.
- Press ⌘+Shift+M (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+M (Windows / Linux) to open Mentions & reactions. Focus will move to the first message in the group.
- Press ↓ to navigate between messages in the group. A summary will be read when a message is in focus, including the relevant activity.
- Press Enter when a message is in focus to open the conversation it’s in. Focus will move to the message.
- Press Shift+Tab from the list to navigate to the Filter button, where you can customize the view.
Threads
The Threads view lets you catch up on all the threads you have participated in, across both direct messages and channels.
- Press ⌘+Shift+T (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+T (Windows / Linux) to open Threads. Focus will move to the header for the first thread with new activity.
- Press ↓ to navigate between messages in the thread. A summary will be read when a message is in focus.
- At the end of each thread in this view, ↓ will move your focus into a message composer. You can use this to reply to that thread directly.
- Press ↓ on an empty message composer to navigate to the next thread header in the list.
- Press Tab, then Enter on a thread header to navigate to the conversation it’s in. Focus will move to the root message for the thread within that conversation.
Unreads
The Unreads view lets you catch up on all the channel messages you missed while you were away, grouped by conversations. It does not include direct messages or messages that are in a thread, which can be reviewed in the other views above.
Mac
Windows/Linux
- Press ⌘+Shift+A to open Unreads. Focus will move to the header for the first group of unread messages.
- Press ↓ to navigate between messages in the group. A summary will be read when a message is in focus. If you’d like, you can navigate within messages using VoiceOver navigation.
- If you’re navigating within a message using VoiceOver, press F6 to resume navigating between messages using ↑ and ↓.
- To mark an entire group of messages as read, press Esc. The messages will be collapsed, and focus will move to the header for the next group.
- Press Ctrl+Shift+A to open Unreads. Focus will move to the header for the first group of unread messages (this will also toggle the virtual cursor off).
- Press ↓ to navigate between messages in the group. A summary will be read when a message is in focus.
- To read message content using the virtual cursor, press Tab. Focus will move to the name of the person who sent the message.
- To resume navigating between messages using ↑ and ↓, press F6. Focus will move back to the message list.
- To mark an entire group of messages as read, press Esc. The messages will be collapsed, and focus will move to the header for the next group.
Tip: To collapse a group of messages without marking them as read, press ← when focus is on the group header.
Manage screen reader preferences
To customize your screen reader experience, you can adjust a few preferences:
- Select a message format to determine the order that information is announced
- Choose your ARIA application role usage
- Choose to announce incoming messages while inside a conversation
Here's how:
- Press ⌘+Comma (Mac) or Ctrl+Comma (Windows/Linux) to open your preferences.
- Press ↓ to navigate to Accessibility then press Enter.
- Press Tab to navigate to the Screen reader preferences section.
- Press Enter to select your preferences.
Note: To choose whether sounds are played when you send or receive messages while inside a conversation, navigate to the Notifications section of your preferences.
Overview
You can use a screen reader to navigate conversations, read messages, and access information in your sidebar from the Slack desktop app and Slack in a web browser.
Tip: Slack offers keyboard shortcuts for many common actions you may need to take. To view all keyboard shortcuts, press ⌘+/ (Mac) or Ctrl+/ (Windows/Linux).
Slack behaves more like an application than a webpage. We recommend that:
- NVDA and JAWS users primarily navigate around in Focus/Forms mode instead of Browse mode.
- All screen reader users use Slack’s desktop application rather than a web browser if possible.
When exploring Slack, there are a few important concepts to understand:
| Workspaces | A Slack workspace maps to an organization or a department—think of it as an office building that you need to be invited into. The Slack desktop and mobile apps allow you to log into multiple workspaces at once. |
| Channels | Channels are like large conference rooms or offices inside the office building, and can be created for any project, topic, or team. Channels can be public, meaning anyone in the workspace can read or join, or private. Channel names always start with a # (pound sign or hashtag). |
| Direct Messages | Direct messages (also known as DMs) are smaller conversations in Slack that happen outside of channels. DMs work well for one-off conversations that don’t require an entire channel of people to weigh in, like if you wanted to ask a coworker to reschedule a meeting. You can DM a single person, or several people at once. |
| Conversations | Channels and direct messages are structured similarly in Slack. We refer to them jointly as conversations. |
| Threads | Threads help you create organized discussions around specific messages within a conversation. |
| Mentions | Mentions are a direct way to notify people of something that needs their attention in Slack. They start with an @ (at symbol). |
| Reactions | An emoji reaction can be attached to a message to replace the need for a follow-up message. You can add multiple emoji reactions to a message. |
Navigating Slack
Slack’s interface is anchored around a main window, made up of several top-level sections. You can navigate between these sections by pressing F6, and within each section using Tab and the arrow keys. All toolbars in Slack are navigated with the arrow keys.
It’s possible to open separate windows in Slack for specific tasks, such as reading and replying to a conversation or thread, participating in a huddle, and viewing and editing a canvas.
Tip: Mac users can also use ⌘+Ctrl+← / → instead of F6.
Note: If you're using Slack in a browser, press Ctrl+F6 / Ctrl+Shift+F6 (Windows) or ⌘+F6 /⌘+Shift+F6 (Mac).
Top-level sections
The section names and roles of the main window of Slack are listed here in the order they’re read by the screen reader:
| History and Search toolbar | Home to the options for navigating through your browsing history, search, and help. |
| Tablist | Allows you to switch between modes of working in Slack (see the Tablist section below for more). |
|
The Workspaces tablist |
Allows you to switch between workspaces that you’re logged in to. The workspace tablist can be hidden or revealed using the ⌘+Shift+S (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+S (Windows) shortcuts. |
| Navigation area | Each tab has a navigation area that you can browse through to open specific conversations, messages or files in the primary view. |
| The primary view | Every tab in Slack has a primary view, where you interact with conversations and reply to messages. In some tabs, you’ll see an empty state in your primary view |
|
The secondary view (if you have it open) |
Secondary views are opened when diving into something in the primary view, such as an individual thread within a channel, or a user profile. |
| Control strip | Home to the user menu and the compose/create new button. When you’re invited to a huddle, you’ll also see the alert banner and huddle mini player here. |
Tablist items
Each page in your tablist will have a slightly different layout, but generally, you can expect to use the Navigation area to open up a conversation in the primary view. Each tab’s unique navigation experience is described further down this page.
| Home |
Ctrl + 1 (Mac) Ctrl+Shift+1 (Windows) |
Browse, organize, and interact with all channels you’re a member of. You can also review all unread messages using the Unreads page. |
| DMs |
Ctrl+2 (Mac) Ctrl+Shift+2 (Windows) |
Review your list of your active direct message conversations. |
|
Activity |
Ctrl+3 (Mac) Ctrl+Shift+3 (Windows) |
A filterable, chronological feed that includes mentions, replies to threads you’ve participated in, reactions to your messages, invitations to channels, and app notifications. |
|
Later |
Ctrl+4 (Mac) Ctrl+Shift+4 (Windows) |
A place to organize and respond to work you’ve set aside for later. Set reminders and mark tasks as complete. |
| More |
Ctrl+0 (Mac) Ctrl+Shift+0 (Windows) |
A menu for additional browsers in Slack. When the Slack window is resized to be very short or your zoom level is higher than 100%, More acts as an overflow menu for any tabs that no longer visually fit on screen. |
You’ll always find the following browsers in More, even if Slack is in full screen:
- Huddles
- Canvases
- Automations
- Files
- Channels
- People
Navigation tour
To understand how all of this works together, we’ll take you through a brief tour of two tabs: Home and Activity. These tabs represent the different navigation experiences you'll find in the Slack app on desktop.
Home
When you open Slack, the Home tab is open by default.
- To navigate to Home or any other tab, press F6.
- Select Home from the tablist, then press Enter.
The Home tab is where you'll interact with the majority of messages in Slack, and you can do so by selecting channels or in the Threads, Unreads and Drafts & sent pages.
The Navigation area for the Home tab consists of a list of all the channels you’re a member of, which can be organized into sections.
- Use the ↑ or ↓ arrow keys to navigate through the list of channels and sections to hear their names, and information such as whether the channel or section has any unread messages.
- Use the ← or → arrow keys when your focus is on a section header to expand or collapse the section.
With your focus on a specific channel or conversation, you can use the context menu to access more information or actions to do with that channel.
- To open the context menu for a channel, right click the channel name in the sidebar.
- With your focus on a channel, press Enter to open the channel in the primary view and interact with the messages there.
- When you open a channel in the primary view, your focus will be placed in the message composer of that channel, where you can send a message or use the ↑ or ↓ arrow keys to read through the conversation.
For more on navigating a conversation, see the Participate in a conversation section.
Activity
The Activity tab organizes the mentions, thread replies, reactions and notifications that you can reply to.
- To navigate to Activity or any other tab, press F6.
- Select Activity from the tablist, then press Enter to open the tab.
When you open the Activity tab, your focus will land in the Navigation area, which is a filterable list of your notifications in reverse chronological order.
- Use the ↑ or ↓ arrow keys to navigate the list.
- Press Shift + Tab to move to the controls to filter items in the list by activity type or to only show unread notifications.
- When any item is in focus, open the context menu to access actions such as opening the conversation in a new window, or saving it to the Later tab.
- Press Enter to open the in focus item in the primary view, while keeping the navigation area open so that you can easily address the next item in the Activity tab.
Useful keyboard navigation
- In any tab, use Option+↑/↓ (Mac) & Alt+↑/↓ (Windows) to open the previous or next item in the navigation area.
- In the Home, DMs, or Activity tabs, press Option+Shift+↑/↓ (Mac) & Alt+Shift+↑/↓ (Windows) to open the previous or next unread item in the navigation area.
Switch between workspaces
You can jump to the workspace menu by pressing ⌘+Shift+S (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+S (Windows), then use ↑ or ↓ to navigate to the workspace of your choice. You can also navigate to the workspace switcher menu using F6 navigation.
Jump to any conversation, tab or page
The easiest way to open a channel, direct message (DM), tab (ex., Home, DMs, etc) or page (ex., Unreads, Threads, Drafts & sent) is with a keyboard shortcut.
- Press ⌘+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux)
- Type the name of a channel, person, or page.
- Press Enter.
This shortcut can be used from any tab in Slack. Channels will always open in Home, and direct message conversations will open in either the Home or the DMs tab.
Tip: You can use the Alt/Option+↓, Alt/Option+↑, shortcuts to navigate to the previous or next conversation in your sidebar.
Participate in a conversation
Read a conversation
Mac
Windows/Linux
- Upon navigating to a conversation, your focus will land in the message composer. Press ↑ to move into the message list. Your focus will land on the most recent message in the conversation.
- To jump to the first unread message, press ⌘+J.
- Once inside the message list, press ↑ and ↓ to navigate between individual messages. A summary of a message will be read when it's in focus. If you're using VoiceOver, you can navigate within messages as well.
Tip: You can replay up to 10 messages in chronological order from oldest to newest. From any conversation, press ⌘+Option and any number 0 to 9 (pressing 0 will play the last 10 messages).
- Upon navigating to a conversation, your focus will land in the message composer. This will also toggle the virtual cursor off.
- Press ↑ to move into the message list. Your focus will land on the most recent message in the conversation.
- To jump to the first unread message, press Ctrl+J.
- Once inside the message list, press ↑ and ↓ to navigate between individual messages. A summary of a message will be read when it's in focus.
- To read message content using the virtual cursor, press Tab. Focus will move to the name of the person who sent the message.
- To resume reading or navigating between messages, press Shift+Tab until focus moves back to the message inside the list, which should exit browse mode. Then, press ↑ and ↓ again.
Tip: You can replay up to 10 messages in chronological order from oldest to newest. From any conversation, press Alt and any number 0 to 9 (pressing 0 will play the last 10 messages).
You can navigate between messages quickly using the following keys:
- Page Up and Page Down to move up and down.
- Home and End to move to the first or most recent message.
- Shift+Page Up to move to the first message in the previous day.*
- Shift+Page Down to move to the first message in the next day.*
*These keys can’t be used to navigate between messages in the Unreads page.
Message actions
There are a number of useful actions you can take on messages within Slack, including adding emoji reactions, replying in a thread, and copying a link to a message.
- To access these, move focus to the message of your choice.
- Press Tab+M (on Mac with full keyboard access enabled) or the Menu key (Windows) to open the Message Actions menu.
- You can also press Tab while focused on the message of your choice to access these and more message actions.
Respond to a conversation
- To write a message in a channel or DM on Mac, start typing. Slack will automatically move focus to the message field. On Windows or Linux, press F6 to move focus to the message field, then begin typing.
- (Optional) Press Tab to access the composer primary actions toolbar, from which you can add attachments, record video and audio clips, or insert custom emojis.
- Press Enter to send your message.
Tip: You can also take a number of actions in Slack by typing slash commands.
You can also send a message to any person or conversation directly using the Create new button:
- Press ⌘+N (Mac) or Ctrl+N (Windows/Linux).
- Focus will move to the To: field. Type the name of a channel or person to select a conversation for your message.
- Press Enter. The primary view will switch to the selected conversation and focus will move to the message field.
- Type your message, then press Enter to send it.
Start or reply to a thread
Threads are sidebar conversations within a channel or DM, and are useful for keeping conversations organized. Threads can only be one level deep, and always open in the secondary view.
- Within a conversation, navigate to the message you’d like to start or reply to a thread from.
- Press → or T to open the thread in the secondary view. The focus will move to the secondary view, landing on the same message. If there are any existing thread replies, press ↓ to read them in chronological order.
- To start or reply to a thread, press End. The focus will move to the message field in the secondary view.
Tip: Press ← to move focus back to the original message that thread replies have been added to.
Preferences
Manage screen reader preferences
To customize your screen reader experience, you can adjust a few preferences:
- Select a message format to determine the order that information is announced
- Choose to announce incoming messages while inside a conversation
Here's how:
- Press ⌘ + Comma (Mac) or Ctrl+ Comma (Windows/Linux) to open your preferences.
- Press ↓ to navigate to Accessibility then press Enter.
- Press Tab to navigate to the Screen reader preferences section.
- Press Enter to select your preferences.
Manage Mark as Read preferences
Slack offers three options in Preferences for reading messages and marking them as read:
-
Start me where I left off, and mark the channel read (default)
Read messages chronologically from oldest to newest. The initial point of focus will be the first unread message in a conversation. If all messages are read, the focus will move to the last message you focused on in the conversation. Press ↓ to read the next message. -
Start me at the newest message, and mark the channel read
Read messages in reverse chronological order. The initial point of focus will be the most recent message in the channel. -
Start me at the newest message, but leave unseen messages unread
Read messages in reverse chronological order. The initial point of focus will be the most recent message in the conversation, but the conversation will remain marked as unread until you’ve read every message.
Note: To choose whether sounds are played when you send or receive messages while inside a conversation, navigate to the Notifications section of your preferences.