This article is for people who use a screen reader program such as Windows Narrator, JAWS, or NVDA with Microsoft 365 products. This article is part of the Microsoft 365 screen reader support content set where you can find more accessibility information on our apps. For general help, visit Microsoft Support.
Use the Exchange admin center (EAC) with your keyboard and a screen reader to create a new distribution group for your Exchange organization. We have tested it with Narrator in Microsoft Edge and with JAWS in Chrome, but it might work with other screen readers and web browsers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
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New Microsoft 365 features are released gradually to Microsoft 365 subscribers, so your app might not have these features yet. To learn how you can get new features faster, join the Office Insider program.
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To learn more about screen readers, go to How screen readers work with Microsoft 365.
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If your organization has a group naming policy, it's applied only to groups created by users, not admins. For more information, refer to Create a distribution group naming policy and Override the distribution group naming policy.
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Exchange Online is included Microsoft 365 business and enterprise subscription plans; however, capabilities might differ by plan. If your EAC doesn't include a function described in this article, your plan might not include it. For more information about the Exchange Online capabilities in your subscription plan, go to What Microsoft 365 business product or license do I have? and Exchange Online service description.
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To complete the tasks covered in this topic, check that you've been assigned the Organization Management and Records Management admin role groups. For instructions on how to check your admin role, refer to Use a screen reader to identify your admin role in the Exchange admin center.
In this topic
Create a distribution group
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On the EAC dashboard, press the Tab key until you hear: “Left navigation hamburger, expanded.” If you hear "Collapsed" instead of "Expanded," press Spacebar to expand the menu before continuing.
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Press the Tab key once. You hear the item currently selected in the left navigation pane. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear "Recipients, expanded," and press Spacebar.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Groups," and press Enter. The list of available distribution groups opens to the right of the navigation pane.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Toolbar, tab," followed by the name of the tab currently in focus. With JAWS, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear: "Distribution list." With Narrator, press the Right or Left arrow key until you hear: "Distribution list." To select and open the tab, press Enter.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Command bar, Add a group button," and press Enter.
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The Choose a group type window opens. Press the Tab key until you hear: "Choose a group type, Distribution." To select this option, press Spacebar. Alternatively, to navigate to the Mail-enabled security or Dynamic distribution option, press the Down arrow key until you hear the option you want. The option in focus is selected automatically.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Next," and press Enter. The Set up the basics window opens. Press the Tab key until you hear "Name edit, new group," and then type the name for the group.
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To add an optional description for the distribution group, press the Tab key until you hear "Description, edit," and then type the description. Press the Tab key until you hear "Next," and press Enter.
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The Assign owners window opens. You can now select the people you want to manage the group and grant them the owner rights to the group. You must have at least one group owner. Press the Tab key until you hear "Command bar, Assign owners," and press Enter.
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To select the owners, do one of the following:
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To use search, press the Tab key until you hear "Search box," type the name or email address of the person you want to assign as an owner, and then press Enter. Press the Tab key until you hear "Enter table, Selected owners," press the Down arrow key until you hear the correct name, and press Spacebar to select.
To select additional owners, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Clear text," and press Enter. Type the name or the email address of the person, and press Enter. Press the Tab key until you hear "Enter table, Selected owners," press the Down arrow key until you hear the correct name, and press Spacebar.
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To browse the list of all users, press the Tab key until you hear "Enter table, Selected owners," press the Down arrow key until you hear the correct name, and press Spacebar to select. To select additional owners, press and hold the Ctrl key, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the name or email address of the person you want to assign as an owner, and press Spacebar to select.
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When you have selected the owners, press the Tab key until you hear "Add," followed by the number of selected owners, and press then Enter. The group owners have now been assigned. Press the Tab key until you hear "Next, button," and press Enter.
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The Add members window opens. You can now select the members you want to add to the distribution group. Press the Tab key until you hear "Add members, button," and press Enter.
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To select the members, do one of the following:
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To use search, press the Tab key until you hear "Search box," type the name or email address of the first person you want to add to the group, and press Enter. Press the Tab key until you hear "Enter table, Selected members," press the Down arrow key until you hear the correct name, and press Spacebar.
To add additional members, press the Tab key or Shift+Tab until you hear "Clear text," and press Enter. Type the name or the email address of the person, and press Enter. Press the Tab key until you hear "Enter table, Selected members," press the Down arrow key until you hear the correct name, and press Spacebar.
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To browse the list of all users, press the Tab key until you hear "Enter table, Selected members," press the Down arrow key until you hear the correct name, and press Spacebar. To add additional members, press and hold the Ctrl key, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the name or email address of the person, and press Spacebar to select.
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When you have selected the members, press the Tab key until you hear "Add," followed by the number of selected members, and press then Enter. The members are added to the distribution group. Press the Tab key until you hear "Next, button," and press Enter.
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The Edit settings window opens. You can now define the email address for the group and settings for joining or leaving the group.
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To define the mandatory group email address, press the Tab key until you hear "Group email address," followed by the domain name. Type the username part of the email address. To change the default domain name, press the Tab key once, press Alt+Down arrow key, press the Up or Down arrow key until you find the domain name you want, and then press Enter.
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To allow people from outside of your organization to send email to the distribution group, press the Tab key until you hear "Allow people from outside my organization to send email to this distribution group," and then press Spacebar.
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To define how others can join the group, press the Tab key until you hear "Joining the group," and then press the Down arrow key until you hear the option you want.
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To define how members can leave the group, press the Tab key until you hear "Leaving the group," and then press the Down arrow key until you hear the option you want.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Next, button," and press Enter. You can now review the group details. To navigate the details window, with JAWS, use the Up and Down arrow keys. With Narrator, use the SR key+Right and Left arrow keys. To edit a piece of detail if necessary, with JAWS, press the Down arrow key until you hear "Edit," and press Enter. With Narrator, press the SR key+Right arrow key until you hear "Edit," and press Enter.
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When you've reviewed the group details, you are ready to create the group. Press the Tab key until you hear "Create group," and press Enter. To return to the list of available groups, press the Tab key until you hear "Close, button," and press Enter.
Verify that you've successfully created a distribution group
: After the group has been created, it can take up to an hour for the group to appear in the groups list.
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On the EAC dashboard, press the Tab key until you hear: “Left navigation hamburger, expanded.” If you hear "Collapsed" instead of "Expanded," press Spacebar to expand the menu before continuing.
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Press the Tab key once. You hear the item currently selected in the left navigation pane. Press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear "Recipients, expanded," and press Spacebar.
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Press the Down arrow key until you hear "Groups," and press Enter. The list of available distribution groups opens to the right of the navigation pane.
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Press the Tab key until you hear "Toolbar, tab," followed by the name of the tab currently in focus. With JAWS, press the Up or Down arrow key until you hear the tab you want, for example, "Distribution list." With Narrator, press the Right or Left arrow key to navigate to the right tab. To select and open the tab, press Enter.
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To find the group you created, do one of the following:
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To search for the group, press the Tab key until you hear: "Command bar, Add a group." With JAWS, press the Down arrow key until you hear "Search," followed by the selected tab name, for example, "Distribution list." With Narrator, press the Right arrow key until you hear "Search," followed by the selected tab name, for example, "Distribution list." Type the name of the group, and press Enter. Press the Tab key until you hear the name of the group.
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To browse the list of available groups, press the Tab key until you hear "Groups list," press the Down or Up arrow key until you hear the name of the group.
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See also
Use a screen reader to identify your admin role in the Exchange admin center
Keyboard shortcuts in the Exchange admin center
Use a screen reader to add or remove distribution group members in the Exchange admin center
Use a screen reader to add a new mail contact in the Exchange admin center
Use a screen reader to edit the mailbox display name in the Exchange admin center
Technical support for customers with disabilities
Microsoft wants to provide the best possible experience for all our customers. If you have a disability or questions related to accessibility, please contact the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk for technical assistance. The Disability Answer Desk support team is trained in using many popular assistive technologies and can offer assistance in English, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. Please go to the Microsoft Disability Answer Desk site to find out the contact details for your region.
If you are a government, commercial, or enterprise user, please contact the enterprise Disability Answer Desk.
