Keyboard accessibility

Available on all plans

Cloud and self-hosted deployments

Navigational keyboard shortcuts help you use Mattermost in a web browser or the desktop app without needing a mouse. Below is a list of supported accessibility shortcuts. Elements in focus have a colored outline, as shown here:

Keyboard shortcut	Description
Desktop App: F6 Browser: Ctrl F6	Move focus to the next section
Desktop App: Shift F6 Browser: Ctrl Shift F6	Move focus to the previous section
Tab	Move focus to the next element
Shift Tab	Move focus to the previous element
↑ or ↓	Move focus between messages in the post list or sections in the channel sidebar
Enter	Take action on the focused element

Region navigation

Mattermost has eight regions that can be focused for navigation. Use F6 in the desktop app, or use Ctrl F6 in a browser repeatedly to move focus and loop through the regions in this order:

1. Message list region

2. Message input region

3. Right-hand side message list region

4. Right-hand side message input region

5. Team menu region

6. Channel sidebar region

7. Channel header region

8. Search

Message navigation

When the message list region is focused, use the ↑ or ↓ arrow keys to navigate through messages and reply threads. Press Tab to navigate through message actions.

Message composition

Mattermost is compatible with most popular screen readers, such as Apple VoiceOver or JAWS for Windows. A custom readout is composed for each message by combining the message elements and reading them together in full sentences. Message elements will read in the following order:

1. Header: Author, timestamp, message type (i.e. parent post or reply)

2. Main Content: The message content typed by the author

3. Attachments: The number of attachments (if applicable)

4. Emoji Reactions: The number of unique emoji reactions (if applicable)

5. Saves/Pins: If a message is saved or pinned (if applicable)

For example, a message read by a screen reader may sound like the following:

Eric Sethna at 12:57pm Thursday June 13th wrote a reply "Thanks for the review", 3 attachments, 2 reactions, message is saved and pinned.

Channel sidebar navigation

When the channel sidebar region is focused, use the ↑ or ↓ arrow keys to focus individual sidebar sections, such as Favorites, public channels, private channels, and direct messages. Press Tab to navigate through channels or other buttons within a sidebar section.