How to Use Voice Control. When you enable Voice Control, a microphone overlay will appear on your screen. To use Voice Control, start by saying “Show me what I can say.” You will see a list of commands that you can use to do random things on your Mac device. Here are a few ways you can use Voice Control in macOS Catalina: Basic navigation. Apr 27, 2020 One of the popular features that macOS Catalina has is voice control which allows users to achieve tasks on their computers without having to use the traditional input methods. This feature is priceless for those who do not have the power to control their.
- Apps That Use Voice Control On Mac Download
- Mac Voice Recorder App
- Apps That Use Voice Control On Macbook
- Apps That Use Voice Control On Mac Laptop
Voice Control, a new feature coming to the macOS in the fall of 2019, will allow you to control your device with spoken words. Improved versions for iOS and iPadOS will be released around the same time. While it’s true that Siri can, to a limited extent, be used to control your device, Voice Control is designed to work with your Mac and all of its installed apps, even those from third parties that may not yet have Voice Control-savvy versions.
Voice Control is indeed different than Siri, but it’s built on the Siri voice recognition engine, with a number of improvements to ensure accurate dictation. Voice Control understands context and can differentiate between text you’re dictating as part of a message and the command to send the message. In an example supplied by Apple, a user working in the Messages app says, “Happy Birthday tap send” and Voice Control dutifully fills in a Happy Birthday message and sends it along.
Contextual cues allow the Voice Controls dictation feature to respond to edits without you having to jump through hoops. Phrases can be replaced by name. As an example, “Replace I’m on my way with I’ll be there soon.” Need to remove the last thing you said from the dictation? Just say, delete that, and the last text will be removed.
Voice Control replaces the older Dictation and Enhanced Dictation features that allowed you to dictate text and have basic voice control of your Mac. The new Voice Control provides a more robust dictation and control system that you may want to try out.
Using Voice Control: The Basics
Voice Control is part of the Accessibility preference pane, and is part of the Motor group, which also contains configuration options for the Keyboard, Pointer Control, and Switch Control. You can find out more about the Mac’s Accessibility features in the Rocket Yard guide:
macOS 101: Getting Started with the Mac’s Accessibility Features
Turn On Voice Control: Voice Control is disabled in the default install of macOS Catalina. If you wish to make use of Voice Control’s dictation feature, or its ability to interact with your Mac, you’ll need to turn the service on:
Launch System Preferences by tapping or clicking the System Preferences icon in the Dock, or selecting System Preferences from the Apple menu.
In the System Preferences window that opens, select the Accessibility preference pane.
Select the Voice Control item in the sidebar; you may need to scroll down to find it.
Place a check mark in the Enable Voice Control box.
A dialog box may open, asking for your permission to have Dictation unlock Accessibility preferences. Provide an administrator username and password, and then click the Unlock button.
If this is the first time you’ve enabled Voice Control, you may see an update to Voice Control being downloaded from the Apple servers. This can take a few minutes.
Selecting a Language: Voice Control will use the language you selected when you first configured your Mac. If that is the correct one for your use, there’s nothing else you need to do. If you have a need to use a different language for dictation and control, you can make the change in the Voice Control preference pane:
Use the Language dropdown menu to select a language. If you don’t see the language you wish to use listed in the menu, select Add Language or Customize from the dropdown menu. The option you see depends on whether you’ve ever downloaded additional languages before. No matter which wording is used, the results of the choice will be the same.
In the list of languages displayed, place a checkmark next to any of the languages you’ll need to use, and then click the OK button.
The selected languages will be downloaded.
Once the download is complete, return to the Language menu, where you’ll see the languages you added in the list. Make your selection for the language to use for dictation and control of your Mac.
Microphone Selection: Voice Control will normally use your Mac’s built-in microphone. If you prefer to use a different source, such as a USB or Bluetooth headset, you can do so by making a change in the Voice Control preference pane:
Use the Microphone dropdown menu to select the source for your voice. If you don’t see your preferred device listed, make sure it’s connected to your Mac and powered on. You may need to close the Voice Control preference pane, and then reopen the pane before the audio source is listed.
Voice Control Icon on Desktop: With Voice Control enabled, you’ll see a new icon on your desktop, located in the bottom right corner, just above the trashcan. The icon lets you wake up Voice Control or put it to sleep. The icon displays a microphone, the currently selected language, and either the text Wake Up or Sleep. Clicking the text will toggle Voice Control on or off (Wake Up, Sleep).
Hint: The language list in the Voice Control icon is actually a dropdown menu. You can use it to quickly change from one language to another to use with Voice Control.
Alert Sound: You can have Voice Control issue a sound whenever it recognizes a command you speak. This can be very helpful when you first start using Voice Control.
In the Voice Control preference pane, place a checkmark in the “Play sound when command is recognized” box.
Voice Control Commands
Voice Control comes equipped with a large number of commands it knows how to respond to. These commands, supplied by Apple, are the building blocks for working with Voice Control, for both dictation and control of your Mac.
You can enable or disable any of the commands as well as add new custom commands to meet your specific needs.
Enable or Disable Commands: The list of commands is available from the Voice Control preference pane by selecting the Commands button.
The commands are listed in a pane that opens. Commands are shown for a specific language. Use the Show Commands option for a dropdown menu to switch the display of commands from one language to another.
Each command in the list is preceded by a checkbox. Placing a checkmark in the checkbox enables Voice Control to respond to the command. Removing the checkmark causes Voice Control to ignore the command.
Command Alternatives: Commands can have multiple aliases that perform the same function. As an example, select the command Open Siri and you will see that Open Siri, Show Siri, Launch Siri, and Switch to Siri are all aliases for the same function: to start the Siri app.
Adding Commands: In the course of using Voice Control, you may find the need to add a command that isn’t yet present in the service. You can also add a command to change the phrasing used; for instance, perhaps you prefer to say Activate Siri instead of Open Siri. You can add a custom command to reflect that choice.
In the Voice Control preference pane, click or tap the Commands button.
Click or tap the plus (+) button below the list of commands.
Enter the command phrase in the “When I say:” box.
Use the “While using:” dropdown menu to assign the command to be active only for a certain app or for all apps.
Finally, use the “Perform:” dropdown menu to select an action that will be performed when the command is recognized. You can choose from:
- Open Finder Items
- Open URL
- Paste Text
- Paste Data
- Press Keyboard Shortcut
- Select Menu
- Run Workflow
Although the list of items seems limited, you can actually do quite a lot, and I expect more options will be added as the Voice Control app is further developed.
Click the Done button when complete. The new command will be added to the list.
Adding Custom Vocabulary: If Voice Control doesn’t recognize a word or phrase you routinely use, you can add the phrase to ensure it’s always entered correctly in your dictation.
In the Voice Control preference pane, click or tap the Vocabulary button.
A list of custom phrases or words that have been added will be displayed.
Click or tap the plus (+) button at the bottom of the list.
A sheet will drop down. Enter the new word or phrase, then click the Save button.
When you’re done adding new words and phrases, click or tap the Save button.
Use Your Voice to Control Your Mac
We’ve covered most of the basic features of Voice Control but haven’t delved into actually controlling your Mac. In most cases, you can use user interface element names as part of a command. As an example, to press an OK button in a dialog box you would simply say “Click OK.”
But sometimes you may not know a UI element’s name, or there may be multiple elements with the same or very similar names. Voice Control has a number of ways to help you out:
Numbers: Say “Show Numbers” and a number will appear next to all clickable items on the front most app, including buttons, menus, and checkboxes. If it’s clickable, it will have a number. Once the numbers are displayed, you can click the interface item just by saying its number.
Numbers are a handy way to access menus and the items a menu contains. They are also an easy way to manipulate checkboxes and radio buttons.
When you’re not able to use an element’s name just say “Show Numbers.” If you decide you don’t need your screen cluttered up with numbers say “Hide Numbers.”
Grids: Say “Show Grids” and a numbered grid will be overlaid on the screen. You can use the grid to select an area of the screen to work in. You can create a more detailed grid within a selected grid by saying the grid number. In this way you can zero in on items to select, drag, move, or copy them, or perform other actions on them.
Security
Earlier versions of Dictation made use of cloud-based computing to recognize speech and translate the spoken word to text. You could limit the use of off-site computing by using enhanced dictation options, which downloaded additional software to your Mac to perform dictation processing locally.
With macOS Catalina, Voice Control performs all of the audio processing used to interpret your voice, perform dictation, and recognize commands on your Mac, and is not sent anywhere else. This helps to ensure your personal data remains private.
Note: There is another Dictation app included with the Mac, which you can access from the Keyboard preference pane. This version of Dictation still sends your voice data to Apple to be processed. If you enable Voice Control, the Keyboard Dictation app is disabled and Voice Control performs all dictation locally.
In Control
Voice Control brings new Accessibility capabilities to the Mac, improving on the ability for anyone to be able to use a Mac. Voice Control also offers a more reliable dictation system with easier editing capabilities. If you currently use Dictation on your Mac, you may want to give Voice Control a tryout, just for its dictation capabilities.
Let us know how you’re using the new Voice Control in macOS Catalina.
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Every Mac is built with assistive technologies to support people who are blind or have low vision. The VoiceOver screen reader describes exactly what’s happening on your screen. Hover Text lets you instantly magnify a selection of text. And Display Accommodations support color blindness and other vision needs.
Hover TextGet a quick size boost of what you’re reading.
Hover Text makes it easier to view text on your display. If a paragraph, caption, or headline is too small to read, just hover over it with your cursor and press Command. You’ll get a dedicated window with a large, high-resolution version of your selection. You can even choose the fonts and colors that work best for you.
VoiceOverHear what’s happening on your screen.
VoiceOver does more than tell you what’s happening on your Mac. It helps you make things happen. It gives you auditory descriptions of each onscreen element and provides helpful hints along the way — whether you prefer using gestures, a keyboard, or a braille display. And it supports more than 35 languages, including multiple voice options.
VoiceOverIntegrated throughout macOS and every built-in app.
VoiceOver is unique because it’s not a standalone screen reader. It’s deeply integrated in macOS and all the built-in apps on Mac. And as developers update their apps to take advantage of the accessibility interfaces provided by Apple, their apps can start working with VoiceOver right away.
VoiceOverImproved PDF, web, and messages navigation.
We’ve refined VoiceOver to make it easier to navigate PDFs, websites, and messages. In Safari, improved conformance with HTML5 accessibility standards allows for more consistent navigation of websites. VoiceOver is now better at reading aloud tagged PDFs and email messages. If you start reading a website in a different language, VoiceOver can switch to the voice for that language automatically.¹ And you can add custom commands and workflows to your MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.
Audio DescriptionsHear the details in every scene.
Watch movies with detailed audio descriptions of every scene on your Mac. Movies with audio descriptions are displayed with the AD icon in the iTunes Store.
VoiceOverNavigate VoiceOver with simple gestures.
You can control VoiceOver using many of the same gestures you use with iOS. Touch the trackpad to hear a description of the item under your finger, drag to hear items continuously, and flick to move to the next item. Enable the VoiceOver Trackpad Commander, and the trackpad surface will represent the current window or document, so you can navigate quickly to any corner or edge with a tap.
VoiceOverA virtual controller with customizable commands.
VoiceOver features a virtual control called the rotor. Turning the rotor — by rotating two fingers on the trackpad as if you were turning an actual dial — lets you access an array of fully customizable commands. Use it to browse web pages more efficiently and intuitively. The rotor lists common elements like “headings,” “links,” and “images,” and lets you navigate directly to the element of your choosing.
Apps That Use Voice Control On Mac Download
VoiceOverPlug-and-play support for braille displays.
VoiceOver is the first screen reader to provide plug-and-play support for refreshable braille displays. Plug in or sync one of over 100 compatible displays, supporting more than 80 international tables, and the VoiceOver description is presented to you in braille. You can edit seamlessly in Grade 2 Braille, viewing your edits in the context of the actual line of text. Optimized for fast braille typists, VoiceOver makes working in braille easy and efficient. Converting between braille and text happens automatically so you see only Grade 2 Braille. And for sighted users who sit alongside you, there’s an onscreen braille panel that displays both braille and plain-text versions of the descriptions spoken by VoiceOver.
Dark ModeWorking hard gets easier on the eyes.
Dark Mode transforms the desktop and built-in apps with a dark color scheme that helps you focus on your work.2 The fine points of your content take center screen as toolbars and menus recede into the background. Light text against darker backdrops in Mail, Safari Reader, Calendar, and more makes everything easier to read in low lighting conditions. And the Accessibility preferences for increased contrast and reduced transparency work with Dark Mode enabled.
DictationYou say it. Mac types it.
Dictation lets you talk where you would type — and it works in over 40 languages. So you can reply to an email, search the web, or write a report using just your voice. Navigate to any text field, activate Dictation, then say what you want to write. macOS also comes with more than 50 editing and formatting commands. So you can turn on Dictation and tell your Mac to bold a paragraph, delete a sentence, or replace a word. You can also use Automator workflows to create your own Dictation commands.
SiriStreamline the things you do every day.
Siri helps you do more with your desktop.³ Ask Siri to send messages, track down files, create reminders, search the web, and even turn on and off VoiceOver and Invert Colors, without interrupting what you’re doing on the keyboard. And because Siri is integrated with VoiceOver, you can ask it to find a file and hear the answer read out loud. If you prefer to communicate by typing, you can easily set Siri to “Type to Siri” mode.
ZoomMake your screen up to 20 times bigger.
Zoom is a powerful built-in magnifier that lets you enlarge your screen up to 20 times, so you can better see what’s on the display. You can zoom using full screen or picture-in-picture, allowing you to see the zoomed area in a separate window while keeping the rest of the screen at its native size. A shortcut key lets you pan the screen without moving the pointer while zoomed in. macOS can also flash the screen for notifications offscreen or speak text under your pointer. The hardware acceleration engine lets you boost the size of anything on your screen — text on a web page, family photos, or a place on a map.
Zoom DisplaySee content up close and at a distance simultaneously.
Now with macOS Catalina, if you have two displays, you can keep one zoomed in close while the other stays at a standard resolution. So you can tackle everyday work or give a presentation more efficiently.
Cursor SizeMagnify your cursor so it’s easier to use.
macOS lets you magnify your cursor so it’s easier to see where you are and follow along as you move around your Mac. Set the cursor size once and it stays magnified even when its shape changes. And when you swipe back and forth on your trackpad or quickly shake your mouse, the pointer grows so it’s easier to locate.
Contrast and Color OptionsInvert colors or enable color filters.
macOS lets you invert colors, enable grayscale, or choose from a range of color filters to support different forms of color blindness or other color vision deficiencies. You can select a common preset or fine-tune the color tint and hue to customize a display setting that works for you.
Reduce MotionDecrease the movement of onscreen elements.
If you’re affected by the motion of screen elements, you can turn on Reduce Motion to decrease movement in areas like Spaces, Notification Center, and the Dock.
Music, Podcasts, Books and TVNavigate and play with VoiceOver.
The Apple Music, Apple Podcasts, Apple Books, and Apple TV apps are compatible with VoiceOver, so you can navigate and play all your content even if you can’t see the screen. Browse the apps as VoiceOver reads out headers, links, and other elements on the page.
Resources
Support
User Guides
Download Unified English Braille version of macOS VoiceOver User Guide
Or order an embossed copy of macOS VoiceOver User Guide
Or order an embossed copy of macOS VoiceOver User Guide
Mac Voice Recorder App
External Resources
Hadley Institute for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Explore instructional videos with tips on using vision accessibility features in macOS.
Learn more about the Hadley Institute instructional videos at their websiteApps That Use Voice Control On Macbook
Join a community of blind and low-vision users of Apple products.
Learn more about AppleVis.com at their websiteGet information on the use of Apple products by those who are blind or low vision.