Post #1286856

2026-02-18 18:50 UTC

Just found out that Lenovo laptops have a very interesting accessibility feature. If Narrator is enabled, pressing FN+one of the function keys will actually announce what happened, i.e. Microphone muted, microphone unmuted, using your default SAPI 5 voice. The state of the FN lock feature will be announced as well. A real shame pretty much nobody will know this, since we don&#39;t actually use Narrator, and with NVDA or Jaws, the feature isn&#39;t triggered.

Replies (5)

@pitermach@dragonscave.space 2026-02-18 19:09

@NikJov@mastodon.social Huh. Wonder what they're checking for, like whether it's a case of looking whether narrator.exe is running or something else. The next logical steps would be either figuring out what process is doing this and how, then making an app to spoof it, or contacting Lenovo to have them check for other screen readers.

Open ##2489218
@cubic@vee.seedy.cc 2026-02-18 20:01

@NikJov@mastodon.social My Lenovo has a switch on the right side for turning on and off the camera. When you flick the switch with Narrator enabled, it says camera function enabled/disabled. NVDA doesn't do this.

Open ##2489225
@bmoore123@tweesecake.social 2026-02-19 02:01

@NikJov@mastodon.social hey, cool. I have to try this with my thnkpad and see if it works

Open ##2489227
@wiljames@tweesecake.social 2026-02-19 02:50

@NikJov@mastodon.social @austinnix@dragonscave.space When I set up computers for clients, I use Narrator. Works great! I have a Lenovo laptop I am working on for a client in my office. I'll have to try FN plus function keys to see if this works on this Lenovo laptop. Thanks for the tip!

Open ##2489228
@radio1975@dragonscave.space 2026-02-19 04:37

@austinnix@dragonscave.space @NikJov@mastodon.social I'm probably one of the few who actually uses Narrator. More people should try it.

Open ##2489231