Voiceover Mac Commands

The following list of VOICEOVER ON MAC commands or keyboard shortcuts help anyone working in the area of digital accessibility as a reference document. This document also helps developers to check for screen reader conflicts while implementing access keys. These VOICEOVER ON MAC keyboard commands should work on all Mac based browsers. See the Maxability recommended screen reader Vs browser combination for accessibility.

This document is not an exhaustive list of VOICEOVER ON MAC keyboard commands. You may want to read the help document supplied with the software for complete information.
VOICEOVER ON MAC is an inbuilt screen reader by Apple. If you have not explored it, now it’s the time. Below are some voiceover on Mac commands for you to begin the journey.

Basic VOICEOVER MAC Commands

Action	Key command
Turn on VOICEOVER ON MAC	Command + F5
Turn off VOICEOVER ON MAC	Command + F5 (F5 twice)
Voiceover keys or VO keys	Control + Option (From now referred as VO keys)
Open VOICEOVER ON MAC settings (Voiceover utility) menu	VO + F8
Stop VOICEOVER ON MAC from speaking	Control
Pause or resume VOICEOVER ON MAC from speaking	Control
Voiceover help	VO + H
Customizing voiceover on Mac rate, voice and volume	VO + Command + Right arrow, once you hear the setting you want to change use VO + Command + up arrow to increase, VO + command + down arrow to decrease
Lock and release VO command	Control + Option + semicolon (😉
Turn on and off quick keys	Press both left and right arrow keys together
Close a menu or rotor, stop an action, or exit a mode	Escape
Screen curten on/ off	VO+ Shift + F11
Turn on / off rotor	VO + U

VOICEOVER ON MAC commands for web

Action	Key Command
Read title of the page	VO + Shift + I (Title and summary)
Go to top of the page	VO + Command + Home
Go to bottom of the page	VO + Command + End
Read from current position to end of the page	VO + A
Read next line	Down arrow
Read previous line	Up arrow
Go to next actionable control	Tab
Go to previous actionable control	Shift + Tab
Interact with a control	VO + Shift + Down arrow
Exit interacting with a control	VO + Shift + Up arrow
Go to next heading	VO + Command + H
Go to previous heading	Shift + VO + Command + H
Go to specific level of heading	VO + Command + (heading level in number)
Go to next table	Vo + Command + T
Go to previous table	Shift + VO + Command + T
Navigate between the cells in a table	directional keys (up, down, left, right arrow)
Read current column header	VO + C
Select or deselect checkbox	VO + Space key

Few other VoiceOver keyboard commands

Adding shift with the command executes the previous occurrence of the UI control. For example, command VO + Command + F  navigates to the next form control on the page, shift + VO + Command F navigates to previous form control on the page.

Action	Keyboard Command
Next Image	VO + Command + G
Next link	VO + Command + L
Next visited link	VO + Command + V
Next Frame	VO + Command + M
Next Form control	VO + Command + J
Next list	VO + Command + X