The Narrator Touchscreen Reader for Windows Phone

Narrator is a touchscreen reader that enables users with visual impairments to access and control a Windows 8.1 Phone. Narrator uses text-to-speech to automatically speak dialogue boxes and error messages as they appear on your screen. It will also speak pertinent screen elements, such as new text, icons, and field names and data as they appear or become important to your computing session.

At the time of this guide's publication, Narrator for Windows Phone had several limitations:

  • Only available in the United States.
  • Still considered beta software.
  • Only works with Windows 8.1 native applications, such as the e-mail, calendar, and messaging apps. Others, such as the many third-party apps you can obtain from the Windows Store, are not yet useable with Narrator.
  • Does not work concurrently with the Ease of Access Screen Magnifier.

Starting Narrator

Users who are blind or have very low vision will likely require sighted help to turn on Narrator.

  1. Invoke the Settings menu on the phone's main home screen.
  2. Search for and then activate the Ease of Access icon.
  3. Turn on Narrator by activating its icon.

While you are in the Ease of Access Center, be sure to also activate the Narrator Quick Launch control. This will allow you to quickly toggle narrator off and back on using touch controls. Here's how to activate the Quick Launch control:

  1. Locate and hold the phone's physical Volume Up button.
  2. While continuing to hold the Volume Up button, locate and press a finger to the Start button, which is a virtual button located near the bottom center of the touchscreen.
  3. If Narrator is currently running, this will switch it off. If Narrator is off, this will toggle it back on.

The Ease of Access Center includes several other controls of interest to Narrator users:

  • The Narrator Voice: Narrator allows users to choose between two extremely high-quality US English speaking voices, one male and one female. No additional voices can be installed.
  • Touch Typing: This setting toggles the phone's onscreen keyboard between standard typing and touch typing.
  • Read Hints for Controls and Buttons: This option offers helpful context-sensitive assistance as you go.
  • Speed: You can slow down or speed up the default voice you have selected.
  • Speech for Phone Accessibility: With this option enabled, Narrator will speak the name or number of incoming calls.
  • Learn More About Narrator: This option auto-starts the Internet Explorer browser and loads a webpage that describes Narrator and lists the various touch gestures.

You can also obtain this information directly from Microsoft.

Using Narrator Touch Gestures to Operate and Navigate a Windows 8.1 Phone

Swiping one finger left or right across the touchscreen advances one element to the left or right and causes Narrator to speak the new position. With Narrator you can change what is meant by a screen element. The default screen element setting is Items. This means that each one-finger swipe will advance you by icons, controls, or bits of text. You can change this default at any time with a simple one-finger swipe up or down, which will scroll you through a list of options. These options will vary depending on your location and whether you're running an app or not.

On the main Home screen your element options are limited to either Items or Containers. If you are reading the Narrator Help page in the Web browser, the options include: Containers, Items, Paragraphs, Lines, Words, Characters, Tables, Links, and Headings. Choose Links, for example, and now your one-finger swipes left and right will move you forward and backward through the webpage by links, which is a much faster way to navigate.

Here are some other useful Narrator touch gestures:

  • Two-finger single tap: Touch the screen with two fingers at any time to silence Narrator instantly.
  • One-finger double tap: This gesture activates the item, starts a program, or invokes a control.
  • Two-finger slide up, down, left or right: This scrolls the window in the opposite direction of the slide. For example, slide two fingers up in order to slide down the screen. Narrator will announce you new position in a percentage, e.g., "Scrolled to 50 percent."
  • Three-finger swipe up: This prompts Narrator to begin reading from the top of the screen.
  • Three-finger swipe down: Start reading explorable text.

Changing Screen Magnification Via Pinch-In and Pinch-Out Gestures

As is the case with Apple iOS and Google Android, you can change the size of various Windows Phone images and text content by performing pinching gestures.

  1. On any text, map, image, or photograph, place two fingers on the screen next to each other, as though you were trying to pinch the glass.
  2. As you slowly slide your fingers apart, the portion of the screen beneath your fingers will enlarge.
  3. Stop spreading your fingers when you reach the desired magnification.
  4. When you are done, reposition your two fingers on the glass, this time fairly far apart, and pinch them together until the screen has returned to normal size.

These pinch gestures can improve the readability of a lot of Windows Phone screen content, but they may not be enough—and there are times when they won't work at all (at least in standard mode).

The Windows Phone 8.1 Ease of Access Center: Options for Users with Low Vision

Of immediate interest to users with visual impairments is the Windows Phone Ease of Access Center. This set of accessibility features and controls comes built-in to all Windows Phones running Windows Phone 8.1 or later. Older Windows phones do not include all features.

The Ease of Access Center can be reached via the Settings icon, located near the very bottom of most Windows Phones Home screens.

Users with visual impairments will likely need sighted help to enable this setting.

The Ease of Access Center includes several special features to improve accessibility for users with low vision, including controls for those who can benefit from screen enlargement and those who rely on voice feedback and guidance.

Allow Zooming on All Web Content

When enabled, this feature overrides any default settings and allows you to pinch to zoom in or out on any app or website content using the pinching gestures described above.

Text Size

Use this option to enlarge the text size in several built-in apps, including Phone, Mail, Messaging, Lock Screen, and People. Adjust the text size and you can view sample text immediately.

High Contrast

This control changes the colors for some phone apps and features, and hides some of their background images to improve readability.

Screen Magnifier

Windows Phone Screen Magnifier lets you use gestures to enlarge any screen you're viewing.

  • Two-finger double-tap: Toggles Screen Magnifier on and off.

With Screen Magnifier toggled on:

  • Two-finger single tap and hold: Leave your fingers on the screen after tapping. You can now slide your fingers in any direction to pan around the entire screen, even the parts that are not currently visible because you are zoomed in.
  • Two-finger double tap and hold: This is almost but not quite the same gesture as above. In the pan gesture, you used two fingers to single tap and then hold the screen. In this gesture you will tap once, then quickly tap a second time and hold. Now, with your fingers still on the screen, if you slide them up you will increase the magnification level. Slide them down to decrease magnification. If you reach the edge of the screen before you reach your desired zoom level, simply continue to scroll by sliding one finger up or down in the same direction.

You will probably find yourself using a mix of low-vision accessibility features, and the ones you use may vary, depending on the way various screen content is formatted, ambient lighting, and the daily ebbs and flows of your visual acuity.