Use accessibility features

Accessibility comes standard in a Mac. Whether you have difficulties with vision, hearing, or physical mobility, OS X includes a variety of features to help you work in alternative ways—and make your Mac even easier to use.

Use the built-in screen reader called VoiceOver

OS X includes VoiceOver, a built-in screen reader that describes aloud what appears on your 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 use with VoiceOver.

  • To turn on VoiceOver, press Command-F5.

  • To customize VoiceOver using VoiceOver Utility, press Control-Option-F8 (when VoiceOver is on).

    Open VoiceOver Utility for me

  • To learn how to use VoiceOver, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Accessibility, click VoiceOver, then click Open VoiceOver Training.

    Open the VoiceOver pane for me

For help with VoiceOver, choose Help > VoiceOver Help while VoiceOver Utility is open.

Zoom content on the screen

If items on the screen are too small, you can zoom in to make content larger and easier to see.

  • To set zoom options, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Accessibility, then click Zoom.

    Open the Zoom pane for me

Use your keyboard in different ways

If you have trouble using the keyboard, you can turn on Sticky Keys and Slow Keys, to make it easier to press keys.

Move the pointer using the keyboard

If you have trouble using a mouse, you can turn on Mouse Keys, then use the keyboard or numeric keypad to move the mouse pointer and press the mouse button.

Use dictation commands and text to speech

Change how your keyboard, mouse, and trackpad work

OS X provides various ways to customize how your keyboard, mouse, and trackpad work. For example, you can adjust the speed at which the pointer moves across the screen when you move your finger across the trackpad.

Control your Mac with adaptive switches

  • With Switch Control, you can use one or more adaptive accessories to enter text, interact with items on the screen, and control your Mac. Switch Control scans a panel or user interface until a switch is used to select an item or perform an action.

    Use Switch Control

To easily check which accessibility features are on, select the option at the bottom of Accessibility preferences to show the accessibility status in the menu bar.

To quickly turn on common accessibility features without opening System Preferences, press Option-Command-F5. To hear the names of the options spoken in turn, press Tab. To set more accessibility options, click Preferences.

In some apps, you can have your Mac speak text by choosing Edit > Speech > Start Speaking. This functionality might not be available for all languages.