Text Channel Tips

Text channels allow you to read/send messages and everyone on the server that has access to that text channel will be able to read and or respond to you. This guide contains some useful tips for participating in text channels on discord with a screen reader.

Via Mac:

Make sure QuickNav is off for all of these things to work correctly. You can toggle quick nav on and off by pressing the left and right arrows at the same time. If on macOS Sonoma, you may need to disable single key quick nav with VO Q.

In order to read the messages in the channel, press up or down arrow key once you get to the list of messages and you can read through them with your arrow keys.

If you’re in the edit field, Shift Tab twice to get to the message list and use up and down arrows to read through as normal.

When you’re in the edit field, you can of course type your message and press enter to send it as you normally would in most other messaging applications. But when you want to reply to a message directly, or want to edit your message after you’ve sent it, there are a few ways to do that. Let’s discuss key commands first as it is the quickest way.

To reply directly to a message: Find the message you’d like to reply to, then press the letter “R”. You can then type your reply and press enter to send it.

To edit a message: Find the message you’d like to edit, then press the letter “E”. It will appear in the edit field for you to add to or correct as needed. Once you’re done, press enter to resend it. Or, if you’ve changed your mind, press escape to clear it.

You can also find the reply button by using VO right when focused on a message. If focused on a message you sent, an Edit button will also be there when you VO Right.

Alternatively, you can right click (or VO Shift M) on the message and find the reply and edit options in the menu that appears.

When you right click or use VO Shift M, use up and down arrows on their own to select edit or reply etc, then press return to activate that option.

Via Mobile:

To reply directly to a message: Make sure your screen reader is focused on the contents of the message you want to reply to, then double tap and hold and you will find a reply option there.

To edit a message: Make sure your screen reader is focused on the contents of a message you posted, then double tap and hold and you’ll find an edit option.

When you double tap and hold it brings up a context menu similar to what you get when you right click or use VO Shift M on MacOS. You can then swipe left/right to navigate to reply, edit etc, then double tap to activate that option..

Reply is also under action on the iOS rotor. When you swipe to a message you want to reply to you can swipe down to the reply option and double tap on it to also be placed in the edit field where you can type your message.

The other option you may find useful when swiping down is add reaction, where you can thumbs up or otherwise react to a message.

Hopefully this helps get you up and running with text channels and makes participating in conversations a little smoother.