Screen readers - macOS

In this chapter we discuss VoiceOver, which is the screen reader built into the macOS operating system. Accessibility website of the Publications Office of the European Union: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/accessibility TRANSCRIPT (shorten) VoiceOver is the screen reader built into the macOS that offers voices in more than 40 languages. To start it, open the System Preferences and select Accessibility. In the left pane, select VoiceOver. You can start/stop VoiceOver ticking the VoiceOver checkbox. The access via the keyboard is faster: press the Command and F5 key to activate/deactivate it. Press the button Open VoiceOver utility to access the different configuration options: for example, the text to be spoken when VoiceOver starts or which key combination to use as the VoiceOver modifier key. Most keyboard commands consist of pressing the VoiceOver modifier key in combination with other keys. By default, the control and option keys are set as the VoiceOver modifier key. You may configure to use the caps lock key as an alternative. By default, VoiceOver speaks a high level of detail. By activating the Verbosity pane, you can change that. Every screen reader needs voices: these enable the software to pronounce words in the correct language. For an additional language: click the plus option, select the language you want to add and select the voice. The system uses compact voices (small in file size) and need no additional download. If you want to use a language more frequently, you might want to install a high-quality voice: in the voice pop-up, select Customise. The VoiceOver cursor indicates the current position in a document or application. Depending on your needs, you may fine-tune some options for web navigation with Safari in the Web pane. The Sound pane offers additional options: in case of multiple audio output devices, you can use a specific audio output device for VoiceOver. Using this, a VoiceOver user might hear the screen reader over the headphones, while other users hear a different sound signal over external speakers. While VoiceOver is running, it can show the VoiceOver cursor on screen, which is the default behaviour. Additionally, the spoken text can be made visible as text or Braille. We recommend you follow a training to learn some of the basic keyboard commands for using VoiceOver. VOICEOVER BASICS When you use VoiceOver, the cursor appears on-screen as a dark rectangular outline. The keyboard focus and mouse pointer work with the VoiceOver cursor in a variety of ways. Use VoiceOver Utility to hide the cursor, change its size and control how it moves. You can move it on the screen by pressing the VoiceOver key with the arrow keys. To pause/resume speech, press the control key. By default, you have to interact with a group of elements before you can navigate to its individual items. VoiceOver is an excellent tool to test a web page for accessibility. Where a web page is designed with accessibility in mind, it offers landmarks, headings, alternative descriptions for images and so on. Landmarks collect multiple items of a web page into a functional group, for example a banner area, a footer, a navigation block or the content. An alternative method for heading navigation is to press VoiceOver + Command key + H key to reach the next heading or the same key combination with the Shift key to reach the previous heading relative to our current VoiceOver cursor position. The VoiceOver screen reader can recognise the different languages and uses the correct voice for each list item. VoiceOver is a great tool for people with certain visual disabilities to browse web pages. Please note that most of the navigation options will work only if the author of the website has made the web pages accessible. READING A PDF Reading PDFs works best with Preview, the PDF viewer build into the macOS operating system. The cursor is positioned on top of the first page of the PDF. Using VoiceOver + Shift key + Down arrow we enter the page content. While navigating the document, that VoiceOver recognizes headings, images (reads the alternative text), links and tables (number of rows and columns). If we want to navigate to a specific position in the PDF, we can open the VoiceOver rotor by pressing VoiceOver + U key. An overlay appears, showing all headings, links, images and tables of this document. An alternative method for heading navigation is to press VoiceOver + Command key + H key to reach the next heading. The same key combination while holding the Shift key can be used to reach the previous heading. The VoiceOver screen reader can recognise the different languages and uses the correct voice for each list item. VoiceOver is a great tool for reading PDF pages for people with certain visual disabilities. Most of the navigation options will work only if the author of the document has made the PDF file accessible. There are many keyboard commands, which can be found in the documentation of Apple.