Windows from the Keyboard Tips, Create an Outlook Meeting Request, July 29, 2020

Hello. This is Gerry Chevalier from the GTT Edmonton Chapter. This weekly blog provides tips that I find useful as a keyboard user of Windows. The information is for Windows10 and Office 365, although many tips still apply to older versions. The tips do not require a screen reader unless specifically noted. Thus, the tips apply whether you are a keyboard user or low vision mouse user. Here is this week’s tip.
Outlook – Creating a Meeting Request
Outlook provides a special type of appointment called a meeting request. It allows you to send a meeting request to several people at the same time and each of them can accept your meeting request which will automatically create an appointment in their Outlook calendar. You will also be informed with an email from each person who accepts your meeting request. Follow these steps to use the keyboard to create a meeting request.
• From any Outlook view, press Control+Shift+Q to start a new meeting request. The meeting request window will open where you can enter your meeting details.
• Type the title of your meeting and press TAB. You will be placed in the “Required” field.
• Type the email addresses of the people you need to attend the meeting. Outlook will auto complete email addresses just as when you are filling in the “To” field of an email. Press TAB after entering all the required emails and you will be placed in the Optional field.
• Type the email addresses of the people who can optionally attend your meeting or just press TAB to leave this field blank.
• TAB through and enter the date and times your meeting will begin and end.
• There is a field to find a meeting room which you can ignore.
• Don’t forget to fill in the Location field because everyone needs to know where to meet, or which teleconference number to dial, or, if it is an online Zoom meeting, you could paste the link to the Zoom meeting room here.
• Then press Alt+S to save the meeting time in your Outlook calendar as well as send it to the Outlook outbox for emailing the request to your recipients.
• Each recipient will receive an email with your Meeting Request. To accept/decline your request they can press the Applications key on the request email in their inbox. A context menu will open allowing them to choose to accept or decline.
• As each person accepts or declines your meeting, you will receive an email notification in your own inbox. These emails are just for information and can be deleted.