Screen reader content
This article is for people with visual impairments who use a screen reader program with the Office products and is part of the Office Accessibility content set. For more general help, see Microsoft Support home.
Use Excel with your keyboard and a screen reader to create descriptive column headers in a table. We have tested it with Narrator, JAWS, and NVDA, but it might work with other screen readers as long as they follow common accessibility standards and techniques.
When you create a table in an Excel worksheet, Excel automatically adds and displays table headers. Table headers either display their default names (you can change these directly in the worksheet), or you can specify that they display the header data that is in your worksheet. In a long table, table headers replace the worksheet column headings so that they stay visible when you move through the table data. Table headers should not be confused with worksheet column headings or the headers for printed pages.
Notes:
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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 Office.
Add column headers to a table
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Place focus anywhere in the table.
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Press Alt+J, O to add column headers.
See also
Use a screen reader to insert a table in an Excel worksheet
Keyboard shortcuts in Excel for Windows
Basic tasks using a screen reader with Excel
Set up your device to work with accessibility in Microsoft 365
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.
