Screen Reader Basics: VoiceOver -- A11ycasts #07
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- Опубликовано: 3 янв 2025
- Learning a screen reader is an important skill for developers interested in improving the accessibility of their applications.
It might seem intimidating, but screen readers are pretty simple to pick up, and once you know how to use one, it can be a very
enlightening experience to try to operate a page.
In this episode we'll take a look at VoiceOver, the free screen reader built into the Mac.
VoiceOver: goo.gl/6PgFJ
Screen reader user survey: goo.gl/ayYi5C
Watch all A11ycasts episodes: goo.gl/06qEUW
Subscribe to the Chrome Developers RUclips channel for updates on new episodes of A11ycasts: goo.gl/LLLNvf
This tutorial is SOOO helpful! Thank you. For some reason, I was quite confused by the official Voice Over tutorial, but this one just summed up so much essential things in just 10 mins. Awesome.
I have been using a Mac since 2015, and in that same year the screen broke. Due to a few reasons that don’t matter for this comment, I’ve started to use an external display, a monitor. But, when installing an operating system update, I would not be able to see the setup guide with my monitor, so I stuck with VoiceOver. I used the official tutorial on the website using my phone each time, but I never quite understood. I got it to work by pure luck every time. Now I’m trying to do the same but found this video. It was a matter of seconds just to apply what I learned here and I think now I actually understand it. I might not have to look for a tutorial ever again. I’m so grateful. Also, I am studying software engineering and I want to specialize in accessibility features. So, learning more about what’s already built-in and what’s available is a giant leap forward for me. Thank you so much for this video!
Really excellent video. I don't know why I've found VO to be so counter-intuitive to learn. This helped enormously and I've subscribed and look forward to future videos.
A couple of notes:
- On the Mac, the VO keys are Control + Option (not alt) which is shown onscreen but not mentioned in the audio.
- One thing that I've really found useful that is not noted in the video is the VO lock command. Just type Control + Option + ; (semicolon). From that point on you can leave out the control + option part of all commands. For example: instead of control + option + right arrow to navigate through the document, it's just right arrow. U brings up rotor. Command + H goes to next heading. Only problem is you have to remember to do it each time you start VO.
Ah... very important addendum on VO lock: it disables the ability to type into form fields! I was having this problem and thought it was some kind of VO bug because it seemed intermittent. Solution is you have to remove VO lock (just type Command + Option + ; again) and then you can type.
Thank you for the Shortcuts suggestion very helpful. I am just learning voiceover on a Mac and I find that because of the neuropathy in my hands I am having a hard time doing the four key command strokes. This will certainly make it much easier for me to handle thank you once again.
@@InspiredInsights4U It's funny I made this comment so long ago that I forgot about doing it myself! Since then I've found an alternative that's simpler and doesn't require me to reset it each time I start VO. You can just change the default VO keys to a single key and I use caps lock. This might be helpful for you as it's one less key to have to hold down with the other commands.
Blind people have been asking Apple why Voiceover on the Mac is so clunky and unintuitive for the past 15 years. I love my Mac, but Windows screen readers mop the floor with Voiceover from a usability and fluency perspective. Re the clunky key commands thing: this won't be much use to macbook users, but if you have a numpad, the numpad commander takes a lot of this pain away, and turns all of this into intuitive single key presses similar to using a D pad on a game controller.
pro tip: if you use fred voice everything sounds like steven hawking is saying it
Thank you for ths wonderful tutorial! It was really helpful! 💜💜😊😊
I have a question, Voiceover is a default screen reader for Mac, before we rely on it do we need to check what application our actual user use? Also, what are the common screen reader people use?
Hi! I am visually impaired and voiceover is user-friendly on all applications on the Mac.
To answer your other question about screen readers, users who use the Mac use voiceover. As for Windows users, the most common screen reader for windows users is something called jaws. Other Windows users use a screen reader called window eyes. Windows also has a built-in screen reader called narrator, but it’s not as good as a third-party program such as jaws and window dies
And i personally Love the free NVDA screen reader for windows. It’s great, and doesn’t cost 1000 bucks.
Thanks for the helpful video. I have had zero success with the VO keys control and option. It does nothing for me. Any ideas? - I've tested it with two different keyboards - no dice. Thanks.
Awesome Intro. Very clear and easy to follow. Thank you!
Awesome tutorial ! Thank you, unfortunately i don't get the highlighted blocks for headings, contents , etc as i navigate through the page, how do i turn that on?
just curious speaking from the future in 2024, do you have a video on Narrator which is a build in screen reader in windows 10 and above.
For those who want to turn voiceover on and off if you have a MacBook with a Touch Bar, if you don’t have the function keys showing automatically on the Touch Bar, do command + fn + F5
Lol you kept saying control alt lol I do the same mistake is control option the voice over modifier key however, if you on a laptop you can make your voice over modifier key your caps lock so you don’t have to hold down control and options it’s easier.
There's 1 little hitch. On the mac, it's not called alt, it's called option, but your on the same page.
Is it enough? But a third party screen reader, might have more features. Most of them are too expensive. What‘s your opinion?
Thank you for explaining how to use VoiceOver and the good thing about screen reader.
Very good information 👍👍👍🇵🇰
Great video. Wondering how to fix a VO problem on my iPad/iPhone- a bit over a month ago, VO would not read out words in some native apps but would in in others. Same problem in 3rd party apps- reads out in some, but not in others(RUclips is a good example- does fine here.). I have updated the IOS on all my IOS devices, checked all toggles in Accessibility for VO, but with out luck! Help! I rely on VO telling ,me what I just typed so I can hear spelling mistakes instead of waiting to try to correct things later. Any thoughts??
I have been a user of voiceover on my phone and iPad for couple years now and I do see the same kind of problems that it doesn’t always read out loud. You hover over button and it doesn’t give you information like you said even in RUclips and stuff one of the things that helped me is having Screen recognition in the rotor so when it’s not reading sometimes I’ll take and switch to screen recognition on and then it read those buttons that weren’t previously been announced. Not sure if this will help you or not but it’s helped me.
Are there tutorials then tell about using voice control for dictation and voiceover for reading what you dictated in the same document
This Video Is Siiiick I Loved it
amazing presentation!
i teach a disabled man w Cerebral Palsy and has iphone 7+ the Voice over was great until got to passcode and it was too much double clicking. the speaking of content was great. is there a way of just letting phone read out things with a single touch to passcode? thank you
Is ALT and option the same thing cos u say ALT but it shows option on the screen. In a Mac keyboard, it is actually option key that is ALT (2 names for the same keyboard key)
Older MACs used to have an ALT Key. The same key is now called "option".
My Mac does not have any "F" keys. What do I use?
i'd like to do this kind of accessibility debugging but i work on a windows desktop. i have a couple macs and used to use them all the time, but i don't prefer to use them generally anymore, and really only use them when i have to work with keynote. do you know how i can get that kind of visual overlay you get from voiceover? i've tried NVDA and its voice log is alright but it requires you to move your mouse around and it's just not the same kind of view as in voiceover. thanks!
i guess the thing i'm referring to is the 'rotor'
amazing series :)
Thanks for the awesome video. I am totally blind, and I have a Mac and an iPod. I just got the Mac not too long ago, and I love the voice over. Could you let me know how I am able to upload videos on RUclips using my Mac if there is a way to do that? Thanks a lot
hi
how are you doing
there are two problem in the newest google chrome
first i have so many folders inside my bookmark when you go to bookmark manager then to any folder then the folder must have special link like the all old version of google chrome but in the newest google chrome version the feature removed can you return it pls because i want to use always the newest version of google chrome
second problem is when you go to bookmark manager there is button its name page down on the keyboard this means i will go down to explore pages but now does not work well pls fix the issues so important
if my questions not in the right place to ask tell me where i can ask thanks a lot
علي قزاز this is for people who make websites. report this on crbug.com
thank you very much my bro
Thanks Rob, if I get my website working well with the ChromeBook voice over is that likely to work with the windows and a mac computer?
Getting it to work correctly with ChromeVox (the screen reader on ChromeOS) will get you a good chunk of the way there, but remember all screen readers work pretty differently, so you definitely need always need to test across platforms
Great thanks !!! So it's a bit testing in IE/safari/... is this a way to test "across platforms" for chromeOS, I can run Linux under crouton. but VM's are very slow.
What's the difference between VO+Arrow and Tab key?
linux?
There is an screen reader in Ubuntu, called Orca but I think it is better to use NVDA under a virtual machine
What is Shortcut for landmarks??
I use Ubuntu machine, it would be great to see screen readers for Ubuntu
There is an screen reader in Ubuntu, called Orca but I think it is better to use NVDA under a virtual machine
How do I select and click on a label?
Sweet! Amazing and helpful, not just for developer. Thank you, thank Google. :)
Just a point for the video editor, the transition every 10 seconds quickly becomes annoying would be better if the camera and screen recording would be visible at the same time
Fantasic Rob the video looks so recent.
Why not have an "aria-pronounce" tag where you can just pronounce each word, but the actual word would appear on screen while using a screen reader?
Shouldn't we be doing mobile first?
Now its helpful for me to debug voiceover issues :)
How about some stickers for my comp?
Very nice tutorial..
Is it possible to use the MAC OS Speech feature to create voice over for youtube video and later monetize it?
"Alt" is called "Option" on Mac. Keyboards no longer even say Alt.
Every keyboards I have has 'alt' keys.
México
Take care of the year and Video ой saver пой совет пользовались фо
no i hate it
Why does everyone have voice over speaking so fast to sound like a Delek, even on many accessibility training modules they do the same thing, why play something so fast making as its hard to understand what's being said.