Use a screen reader with Classroom on your computer (for students)

Students who are visually impaired can use a screen reader on their computers and mobile devices to use Classroom. This article focuses on computer screen readers, although mobile screen readers are also supported.

This article has sections on recommended browsers for screen readers, navigating around Classroom, completing common student tasks in Classroom, and related resources. 

To jump to a specific task below, click an option:

• Join a class
• Join a class video meeting
• Check for upcoming work
• Complete an assignment or question
• Communicate with your teacher or class
• Check your grades
• Take a quiz in locked mode

Recommended browsers and screen readers

Depending on your device, we recommend the following screen readers and browsers:

• ChromeVox on ChromeOS devices
• NVDA or JAWS with Firefox or Chrome Browser on Windows devices
• VoiceOver with Chrome Browser on Mac devices

Navigate around Classroom

When you open Classroom, you’re on the Classroom homepage, also known as the Classes page. The Classes page has 3 main areas:

• Main navigation area—Find your classes, calendar and settings for Classroom notifications. You can also open the main navigation area from within a class and return to the Classes page.
• Banner—Find general settings and controls, including the Google bar for switching to other apps and user accounts.
• A list of your classes—Find all classes you’ve joined and classes a teacher has invited you to join. Each class has a class card with buttons and links on it. After you join a class, the class card includes a Your worklink, a class Folderlink, and a menu button with options to move the class card or unenroll from the class. 

Within each class, there are 3 main areas:

• The Stream page—Post messages to the class and find announcements from the teacher.
  Note: Student permissions to post on the Stream page depend on teacher settings. 
• The Classwork page—Find work assigned by your teacher, such as assignments, questions, and quiz assignments, and view the work you’ve submitted. 
• The People page—Find your teachers for the class and a list of your classmates. Depending on how your school set up Classroom, you might be able to email your teacher and classmates from the People page. 

Complete student tasks in Classroom with a screen reader

Join a class

You can join a class in 2 ways: by entering a class code your teacher shared, or by accepting a teacher’s invitation to a class from the Classroom homepage. 

To join with a class code from your teacher:

1. Go to classroom.google.com  and click Sign In.

   Sign in with your Google Account. For example,  you@yourschool.edu or you@gmail.com .  Learn more .

2. Make sure to sign in with the account you use for school. If you’re already signed in and need to switch accounts, on the Classespage, in the banner, navigate to the Google accountbutton and press Enter. Then select or add your account.
3. On the Classespage, in the Classroom banner, navigate to the Join classbutton and press Enterto open the Class codetext box.
4. In the Class codetext box, enter your class code and press Enter.
   You are now in the class, on the Streampage tab.

To accept a teacher’s invitation to a class without the need to enter a code:

1. Go to classroom.google.com  and click Sign In.

   Sign in with your Google Account. For example,  you@yourschool.edu or you@gmail.com .  Learn more .

2. Make sure to sign in with the account you use for school. If you’re already signed in and need to switch accounts, on the Classespage, in the banner, navigate to the Google accountbutton and press Enter, then select or add your account.
3. You are now on the Classespage, with all the classes you have joined or are invited to join. 
4. Navigate to the Join classbutton for the class you want to join, and press Enter.
   You are now in the class, on the Streampage tab.

For more instructions, go to  Join a class .

Join a class video meeting

If your teacher turned on Meet for your class, you can join a video meeting directly from Classroom. You can join a video meeting in different ways. After you click a meeting link in Classroom, Google Meet opens in a new browser tab.

1. Go to classroom.google.com  and click Sign In.

   Sign in with your Google Account. For example,  you@yourschool.edu or you@gmail.com .  Learn more .

2. Make sure to sign in with your school account .
3. On the Classespage, navigate to the class and then press Enter.
   You are now in the class, on the Streampage.
4. In the class, choose from the following page tab menu options:
   • On the Streampage, navigate to the Meetlink and press Enter.
     Tip: The link is the option after your Accountbutton and before the About sectionbutton.
   • On the Classworkpage, navigate to the Meetlink and press Enter.
     Tip: The Meet link is after the Your worklink.
   • On the Streampage or the Classworkpage, in a post your teacher shared for the class video meeting, navigate to the video meeting link and press  Enter.
5. In Meet, navigate to the Join nowbutton and press Enter.
   Note: If you have trouble joining the meeting, make sure you’re signed in to Meet with your Classroom account. If you’re already signed in to Meet and need to switch accounts, navigate to the Switch accountlink, press Enter, then select or add your account. Students can’t join video meetings until the teacher starts them.

To leave the meeting, navigate to the Leave callbutton and press Enter.

For more instructions, go to Join a video meeting for education .

Check your upcoming work

You can check for upcoming work on the Your workpage. Upcoming work is marked Assigned. Missing work is marked Missing.

1. Go to classroom.google.com  and click Sign In.

   Sign in with your Google Account. For example,  you@yourschool.edu or you@gmail.com .  Learn more .

2. Make sure to sign in with the account you use for school.
3. On the Classespage, on the class card, navigate to the Your worklink and press Enter. 
   You are now in the class, on the Your workpage.
4. (Optional) To filter your work, navigate to the Filter work itemsmenu and select Assigned, Returned with Grade, or Missing. 
5. (Optional) For details about an assignment or question, navigate to the item and press Enter. 
   To go to an assignment or question, on an expanded item, click the View detailsbutton

• On the Classworkpage, navigate to the View your worklink and press Enter. 
• On the Streampage, navigate to the View all worklink and press Enter.   

For more instructions, go to See your work for a class .

Complete an assignment or question

You can open an assignment or question on the Classwork page. By default, the items are listed in a collapsed view. If you filter classwork by topic, the items for the topic are listed in an expanded view. 

For information on quiz assignments, go to Turn in a quiz assignment .

Open an assignment or question

1. Go to classroom.google.com  and click Sign In.

   Sign in with your Google Account. For example,  you@yourschool.edu or you@gmail.com .  Learn more .

2. Make sure to sign in with the account you use for school.
3. On the Classespage, navigate to the class and press Enter.
   You are now in the class, on the Streampage tab. 
4. In the class tab menu, navigate to Classworkand press Enter.
   You are now on the Classworkpage.
5. (Optional) To filter your classwork by topic, navigate to the All topicstab item, and click a listed topic to select it. Only items for the selected topic now show on the Classworkpage. 
   Tip: To return to the full view of the Classworkpage, click the All topicstab item.
6. Navigate to an assignment or question, and then choose an option:
   • To open an assignment or question from an expanded view, on the assignment or question, press Enter. You're now in the assignment or question details.
   • To open an assignment or question from a collapsed view, on the assignment, select  Enter View instructions.

Turn in an assignment

1. In the assignment details, note any instructions your teacher added.
   If you’re not sure how to open the assignment details, go to Open an assignment or question , above.
2. (Optional) If your teacher included an attachment with your name on it, such as a worksheet, that’s your personal copy to work on. Follow these steps:
   1. Navigate to the attachment with your name on it and press Enterto open it. Your personal copy of the attachment opens in a new tab. 
      Note: The attachment also has a Removebutton. If you click Remove, be sure to click Make a copy to get another copy to work on. 
   2. Complete your personal copy of the work 
   3. In your copy of the work, navigate to the Turn inbutton and press Enter, or navigate back to the assignment details and click Turn in.
3. (Optional) To add attachments to the assignment, in the assignment details, navigate to the Add or Createmenu item and press Enter. Then attach or create your files and click Turn in.
   For more instructions on adding attachments, go to Turn in an assignment .
4. (Optional) If you don’t need to attach any work, in the assignment details, navigate to the Mark as donebutton and press Enter. 

For more instructions, go to Turn in an assignment .

Turn in a question

1. In the question details, note any instructions your teacher added.
   If you’re not sure how to open the question details, go to Open an assignment or question , above.
2. (Optional) To answer a short-answer question, in the question details, navigate to the Type your answertext box, enter your answer, and then click the Turn inbutton.
3. (Optional) To answer a multiple-choice question, in the question details, navigate to the radio button for your answer, press Enter, then click the Turn inbutton.
   Tip: Make sure you hear that your option is selected.

For more instructions, go to Answer a question .

Communicate with your teacher or class

You can send private comments to your teacher from an assignment or question. And, if your school allows email in Classroom, you can email your teacher or classmates from the People page.

1. Go to classroom.google.com  and click Sign In.

   Sign in with your Google Account. For example,  you@yourschool.edu or you@gmail.com .  Learn more .

2. Make sure to sign in with the account you use for school.
3. On your Classespage, navigate to a class and press Enter.
   You are in the class, on the Streampage.
4. (Optional) To email your teacher, navigate to the Peoplepage tab and press Enter. 
   You are now on the Peoplepage.
   1. Navigate to the link for your teacher’s email and press Enter. A new browser tab opens for your email, with your teacher’s email address added. 
      Note: If you don’t have email links on the Peoplepage, your class doesn’t allow email.
   2. In the Subjecttext box, enter a subject for your email.
   3. In the Message bodytext box, enter your message.
   4. Navigate to the Sendbutton and press Enter. 
      The message sends and the Gmail tab closes.
      Note: You can’t get emails in Classroom. To read your emails, if your school allows them, click the Google Appsbutton in the Classroom banner and select Gmail.
5. (Optional) To send your teacher a private comment:
   1. Navigate to the assignment or question you want to ask about, and open the assignment or question details.
      If you’re not sure how to open an assignment or question, go to Open an assignment or question , above.
   2. In the assignment or question details, navigate to the Add private commenttext box.
   3. Enter your comment, then navigate to the Postbutton and press Enter.

Check your grades

You can check your grades for returned work on the Your workpage. You might also be able to check your overall grade in the class, if your teacher shares it.

1. Go to classroom.google.com  and click Sign In.

   Sign in with your Google Account. For example,  you@yourschool.edu or you@gmail.com .  Learn more .

2. Make sure to sign in with the account you use for school.
3. On the Classespage, on a class card, navigate to the Open your worklink for the class and press Enter.
   You are now in the class, on the Your workpage.
4. (Optional) To check your overall grade, on the Your workpage, navigate to the button for your overall grade.
   Tip: If your teacher shares your overall grade, you hear it after Google Accountand before the Filter work itemsmenu.
5. To check grades on your returned work, navigate to the Filter work itemsmenu and select Returned with Grade. 
   The Your workpage is now filtered to only list returned work. 
6. Navigate to an item in the list. You hear the item title and your grade.
   Tip: To go to the assignment or question details, expand the item and then click View details.

Take a quiz in locked mode

• ChromeVox (text-to-speech)
• High contrast mode
• Fullscreen magnifier
• Docked magnifier

Enable accessibility for practice sets in Google Classroom

1. Go to classroom.google.com .
2. Click the class Classwork.
3. Open the practice set you want to use.
4. To move through the page, press and hold Search , then press Right arrow .
5. Stop at the “Enable accessibility” button. At the top left, you'll find a blank cursor in a rectangle.
6. Activate the "Enable accessibility" button.

Related resources

Chrome extensions

Check out the following recommended Chrome extensions from our partners.

• Snap&Read —A text reader (TTS) that simplifies vocabulary, translates text, reads inaccessible text (OCR), and captures and cites sources. 
• Co:Writer —A dictation tool with word prediction that is grammar smart and inventive spelling aware.
• EquatIO —A tool for creating math expressions by typing, writing, or speaking.
• Read&Write for Google Chrome —A personalized support tool to make documents, web pages and common file types in Google Drive (including: Google Docs, PDF & ePub) more accessible.

Videos and articles

• YouTube playlist of Accessibility tips for Google Workspace
• Distance learning accessibility guide for guardians

• Format posts