How do I turn voiceover on or off?

Press Command + F5 to turn VoiceOver on or off. On MacBooks with a Touch Bar, press the Touch ID button three times quickly. You can also go to System Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver and click the toggle. When VoiceOver starts, a welcome message plays and a black caption panel appears at the bottom of the screen showing what VoiceOver is saying.

How do I go through voiceover training?

The first time you turn on VoiceOver, a dialog asks if you want to start VoiceOver Training. Click Open VoiceOver Training (or press Return). The interactive tutorial teaches you the most important commands in a guided, hands-on way. You can access the training again anytime from System Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Open VoiceOver Training.

How do I learn the vo keys?

The VoiceOver keys are Control + Option held together — abbreviated as VO. Nearly every VoiceOver command starts with VO plus another key. VO + Right Arrow moves to the next item. VO + Left Arrow moves to the previous item. VO + Space activates (clicks) the current item. VO + A reads everything from the current position to the end.

How do I navigate a web page?

Open Safari and a web page. Press VO + A to start reading the page from the top. Press Control to stop. Press Tab to jump between links and buttons. Press VO + Right Arrow to move through items one at a time. Press VO + Space to click a link or button that VoiceOver is describing.

How do I adjust the voice and speed?

Go to System Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Open VoiceOver Utility. In the Speech section, you can choose a different voice from the dropdown, and use a slider to adjust how fast VoiceOver speaks. Changes take effect right away. You can also press VO + Command + Shift + Right Arrow to increase speech rate on the fly.

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VoiceOver is a screen reader built into every Mac. It reads aloud everything on your screen — text in documents and web pages, names of buttons and menus, descriptions of images, and status updates about what is happening on the computer.

A screen reader is a program that turns visual content into spoken words. VoiceOver is particularly helpful for people who are blind or have low vision, but it is also useful for anyone who prefers to listen rather than read on screen, or who wants to verify what they are clicking.

VoiceOver is more advanced than a basic text-to-speech feature. It describes the entire interface: what type of element something is (a button, a link, a text field), its state (checked or unchecked, expanded or collapsed), and where it sits in the layout.

You control VoiceOver with a combination of the Control and Option keys (held together) plus other keys. This combination is called the "VoiceOver keys" or VO keys. For example, VO + Right Arrow moves to the next item and reads it aloud.

Like any screen reader, VoiceOver has a learning curve. Apple provides a built-in interactive tutorial called VoiceOver Training that walks you through the basics when you first turn it on — it is worth doing. The tutorial is also available anytime from the VoiceOver settings.

VoiceOver also works on iPhone and iPad. The same feature name, similar gestures and commands, and the same goal: describing everything on screen so you can use the device without depending on your vision.

Mac VoiceOver: The Built-In Screen Reader That Describes Everything on Your Screen

Turn VoiceOver on or off

Go through VoiceOver Training

Learn the VO keys

Navigate a web page

Adjust the voice and speed

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