On that note, Narrator, Windows 10’s built-in screen reader, is likewise getting a couple of enhancements. To start, Microsoft says it has made the tool sound more natural by reducing the number of pauses it makes when reading a section of text. The company claims Narrator is also better at correctly pronouncing words thanks to the fact it will now process text one complete sentence at a time. If you depend on the audio cues Narrator gives to make the most of its functionality, Microsoft says it has created new sounds for the most common actions you’ll make while using the tool. At the same time, there are fewer total sounds. The idea here was to reduce the number of cues someone has to remember to use and master the feature. 

Additionally, there are a couple of enhancements to look forward to when using Narrator in conjunction with a web browser and Outlook. In both app types, Narrator will now, by default, automatically start reading from the top of the page. Microsoft made this tweak to give additional feedback that a webpage has successfully loaded. Another enhancement will see Narrator better able to handle links tied to phrases like “click here.” In those instances, you’ll be able to press your Narrator hotkey, ctrl, and d to get the tool to read the title of the inline link. Handily, that’s the same shortcut you can use to get an image description.  

If you depend on Windows 10’s accessibility features, you can look forward to trying out the enhancements Microsoft detailed today when the company starts rolling out the May 2020 update later this month.