Accessibility on your Mac
Your Mac includes accessibility tools that make Apple features available and easy to use by anyone. To access these tools, open System Settings, then click Accessibility in the sidebar. Accessibility settings are grouped into five categories:
Vision: Zoom in on the screen, make the pointer bigger, apply color filters, and more.
Hearing: Show and customize captions on the screen, make and receive Real-Time Text (RTT) calls, get live captions of audio, and more.
Mobility: Control your Mac and apps using spoken commands, keys on your keyboard, an onscreen keyboard, facial expressions, or assistive devices.
Speech: Type what you want to say and have it spoken out loud. You can also create a personal voice.
General: Customize your keyboard shortcuts to quickly turn accessibility features on or off.
Accessibility features for vision
Adjust your view with Zoom. You can zoom in on part or all of the screen. If you have more than one monitor, you can keep one zoomed in tightly and another at its standard resolution. To change zoom settings, Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Zoom on the right.
Use VoiceOver, the built-in screen reader. VoiceOver describes aloud what appears on the screen and speaks the text in documents, webpages, and windows. Using VoiceOver, you control your Mac with the keyboard or trackpad gestures. You can also connect a refreshable braille display to your Mac to use with VoiceOver.
You can also use VoiceOver to:
Add alternative image descriptions that can be read by VoiceOver.
Add custom descriptions to your PDF signatures.
Choose different international braille tables.
Use Siri for VoiceOver. If you prefer the natural voice of Siri, you can choose to use Siri for VoiceOver or Spoken Content.
To turn on VoiceOver, do any of the following:
Press Command-F5. If VoiceOver is on already, pressing the keys turns it off.
Use Siri. Say something like: “Turn VoiceOver on” or “Turn VoiceOver off”.
If your Magic Keyboard has Touch ID, press and hold the Command key while you quickly press Touch ID three times.
Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Accessibility in the sidebar. Click VoiceOver on the right, then turn VoiceOver on or off.
To learn more about VoiceOver, including how to customize it to your needs, see the VoiceOver User Guide.
Zoom in on words with Hover Text. Press Command while hovering over text with the pointer, and a window with zoomed text appears on your screen.
Adjust your Mac display colors. You can adjust your Mac display colors using color filter options. To change these settings, choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Display on the right. Toggle this setting on or off to quickly differentiate a color using the Accessibility Options settings. You can access these settings by pressing Option-Command-F5; if you are using a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, press Touch ID quickly three times.
Visit the macOS User Guide to learn more about accessibility features for vision.
Accessibility features for hearing
Add captions in real time. With Live Captions (beta), you can get real-time captions for conversations, audio, and video. Visit the macOS User Guide to learn more about using Live Captions.
Important: Live Captions is currently in beta, and is not available in all languages, countries, or regions. The accuracy of Live Captions may vary and should not be relied upon in high-risk or emergency situations.
Mask unwanted noise. Mask unwanted environmental noise and minimize distractions with calming sounds like ocean or rain. To turn on background sounds, choose Apple menu > System Settings, click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Audio and turn on Background sounds. Choose from a variety of sounds, then drag the slider to increase or decrease the volume of the background sound.
Visit the macOS User Guide to learn more about features for hearing.
Accessibility features for mobility
Control your Mac with your voice. With Voice Control, you can perform a wide range of actions with your voice. All audio processing for Voice Control happens on your Mac, so your personal data is kept private. To turn on Voice Control, choose Apple Menu > System Settings, click Accessibility in the sidebar, then click Voice Control on the right.
Important: Mac mini doesn’t have a built-in microphone. To use Voice Control, you must connect an external microphone (sold separately).
Type with your voice: Say “Dictation mode” to dictate word by word. Any words you say that aren’t voice control commands are entered as text. You can also say “Spelling mode” to dictate character by character.
Quickly make corrections with rich text editing: You can replace one phrase with another, quickly position the pointer to make edits, and select text with precision. Try saying “Replace ‘John will be there soon’ with ‘John just arrived’.” When you correct words, word and emoji suggestions help you quickly select what you want.
Open and interact with apps: Use voice commands to open and interact with apps. You can click, scroll down, or select items. If you’re unsure which commands you can use, say “Show commands” to display the Commands window. You can also say “show numbers” to show a number label next to each clickable item, then say a number to click. If you need to interact with a part of the screen without a control, you can say “show grid” to superimpose a grid on your screen and do things like click, zoom, drag, and more.
You can dictate custom spellings letter by letter and add custom words to help Voice Control recognize the words you commonly use. Choose System Settings > Accessibility, select Voice Control, click Vocabulary, then add the words you want. To customize commands in the Voice Control settings page, click Commands, then select to keep default commands or add new ones. Not available in all languages.
Customize your pointer. Customize the outline and fill color of the mouse pointer so it’s easier to recognize when it moves or changes shape.
Improved keyboard access. An expanded set of keyboard shortcuts allows you to control everything on your Mac with a keyboard—no mouse or trackpad required.
Visit the macOS User Guide to learn more about features for mobility.
Accessibility features for speech
Have your Mac speak for you. With Live Speech, you can type what you want to say and have it spoken out loud during phone and FaceTime calls, as well as in-person conversations. Save commonly used phrases to chime in quickly during a conversation. You can choose a voice to use or record a Personal Voice. See Create a Personal Voice in the macOS User Guide.
Visit the macOS User Guide to learn more about accessibility features for speech.
Learn more. To configure these features and set up shortcuts for easy access, visit these Apple Resources: