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VoiceOver Commands with
Mac OS 10.11 El Capitan
Some important keys:
Starting from the lower-left corner of your keyboard, you successively find on the same row the following keys :
Control (= Ctrl), then Option (= Opt), then Command (= Cmd), then Space bar, then
Command (= Cmd), then Option (= Opt), then Control (= Ctrl).
On a Macbook, there is an additional Fn key on the lower-left corner of the keyboard so that you will successively find
Fn, then Ctrl, then Opt, then Cmd, then Space bar, then
Cmd, then Opt.
The Escape key is located at the upper-left corner of the keyboard.
The Shift key is at the lower-left, just above the Ctrl key (on
Macbook, above the Fn key).
The Home key is located below the F15 key and the End key is just below the Home key.
On a Macbook, Home is obtained by pressing Fn + Left arrow
and End is obtained by pressing Fn + Right arrow.
The Page Up key is located on the right of the Home key.
The Page Down key is located below the Page Up key. On a Macbook,
Page Up is obtained by pressing
Fn + Up arrow,
and Page Down
by pressing Fn + Down arrow.
To turn VoiceOver on or off:
Presse Cmd + F5 (on MacBook you can also press Fn + Cmd + F5).
Remark: when VoiceOver is on, most VoiceOver commands are entered by holding down the Control and Option keys together, along with one or more other keys.
This is why the Control and Option keys are sometimes called the "VoiceOver keys" (or "VO keys" for short).
To start keyboard help:
Press Ctrl + Opt + k, then press a key or a key combination to hear the name of the key or the corresponding VoiceOver command.
Press Escape to quit keyboard help.
To launch the Quick Start Tutorial (an excellent interactive guided tour of VoiceOver):
Press Ctrl + Opt + Cmd + F8 (on Macbook Fn + Ctrl + Opt + Cmd +
F8), then follow the instructions of the tutorial.
To pause or resume speech:
Press Ctrl.
To close a menu or rotor, cancel an action, or exit a mode:
Press the Escape key.
To go to the next item:
Press Ctrl + Opt + Right arrow.
To go to the previous item:
Press Ctrl + Opt + Left arrow.
To display the list of items on the screen:
Press Ctrl + Opt + i to open the Item Chooser.
Select an item in the list by moving with the Up and Down arrows
(you can also type the first letters of the item).
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar to go on the screen to the selected item.
To activate a command:
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar or press Return.
To go on the Dock:
Press Ctrl + Opt + d.
Select an item (application, file, folder, etc.) in the Dock by going to the item with the Left and Right arrows
(you can also type the first letters of the item).
To open the selected item Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar.
Press the Escape key to exit the Dock.
To insert an item
(application, file, folder, etc.) in the Dock:
Select the item in the Finder application (see Using Finder ), then
Press Ctrl + Cmd + Shift + t .
The item is then inserted at the end of the Dock.
To remove an item from the Dock:
Go on the Dock by pressing Ctrl + Opt + d, then
Go to the item by using the Left and Right arrows, then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Shift + m to open the Shortcut Menu, then
Move with the Down arrow until you hear "Options submenu", then
Press the Right arrow, you will then hear "Remove from Dock", then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar.
To spell the name of an item in the Dock:
Press Ctrl + Opt + w twice.
To move an item in the Dock to the left of the previous item :
Go on the Dock by pressing Ctrl + Opt + d, then
Go to the item by using the Left and Right arrows, then
Press Opt + Cmd + Left arrow.
To move an item in the Dock to the right of the next item :
Go on the Dock by pressing Ctrl + Opt + d, then
Go to the item by using the Left and Right arrows, then
Press Opt + Cmd + Right arrow.
To empty the trash:
Go on the Dock by pressing Ctrl + Opt + d, then
Go to the trash with the Left arrow,
then
Go to "Empty trash" with the Up arrow, then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar.
To hear the name of the active application and the number of open applications:
Press Ctrl + Opt + F1 (on Macbook Fn + Ctrl + Opt + F1).
To quickly switch from the active application to anyone of the other open applications:
Hold down Cmd, then
Press the Tab key repeatedly until you hear the name of the application you want, then
Release Cmd.
To hear the name of the active window:
Press Ctrl + Opt + F2 (on MacBook Fn + Ctrl + Opt + F2).
To quickly switch from the active window to anyone of the other open windows in the active application:
Hold down Cmd, then
Press the Accent key repeatedly until you hear the name of the window you want, then
Release Cmd.
To turn the sound on or off:
Press the second key from the Right on the upper row. Press simultaneously the Shift key to do it silently. On MacBook press F10 or Shift + F10.
To turn the sound up:
Press the third key from the Right on the upper row. Press simultaneously the Shift key to do it silently. On MacBook press F12 or Shift + F12.
To turn the sound down:
Press the fourth key from the Right on the upper row. Press simultaneously the Shift key to do it silently. On MacBook press F11 or Shift + F11.
To hear again the last phrase said by VoiceOver:
Press Ctrl + Opt + z.
To copy in the clipboard the last phrase said by VoiceOver:
Press Ctrl + Opt + Shift + c.
To read the contents of a table:
Interact with the table by pressing Ctrl + Opt + Shift + Down arrow, then
Move through the cells of the table by using Ctrl +
Opt + one of the arrows.
You can directly go to one of the cells of the current column by taping the first letters of the cell.
Press Ctrl + Opt + c
to know the name of the column.
Press Ctrl + Opt + r to
hear the contents of the row from the current cell.
Press Ctrl + Opt + c twice to hear the contents of the column from the current cell.
Press Ctrl + Opt + Shift + Home (on
Macbook Fn + Ctrl + Opt + Shift + Left arrow)
to go to the top left cell.
Press Ctrl + Opt + Shift + End
(on Macbook Fn + Ctrl + Opt +
Shift + Right arrow) to go to the bottom right cell.
Press Ctrl + Opt + Shift + Up arrow to stop interacting with the table.
To go to the Menus bar:
Press Ctrl + Opt + m.
Use the arrows to navigate in the menus and submenus.
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar to activate a command.
Press Escape to quit the Menu bar.
To move inside a dialog box:
Press Ctrl + Opt + Right arrow and Ctrl + Opt + Left arrow.
To click a button:
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar.
To select (or deselect) a radio button or a checkbox:
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar.
To expand or collapse the contents of a disclosure triangle:
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar.
To display the Menu Extras
(accessibility, time machine, bluetooth, Wifi, system sound volume, battery, clock, user, spotlight, notification center):
Press Ctrl + Opt + m twice, then
Move into the menus by using Ctrl + Opt + Right Arrow, then
Open the selected menu by pressing Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar, then
Move with the arrows.
Remark: there may be additional menu extras associated with applications installed on your computer.
To use Spotlight (very useful to quickly find any item in your computer):
Press Ctrl + Opt + m twice to open the Menu Extras, then
Move with Ctrl + Opt + Right Arrow until hering "Spotlight", then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Spacebar, then
Type your request, then
Spotlight almost instantly displays a list of results corresponding to the request, then
Select the item by moving through the list of results by using the Down and Up arrows, then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar to open the selected item.
Spotlight may also be used as a dictionary.
To turn Quick Nav on or off:
Press simultaneously the Left and Right arrows.
Quick Nav allow you to navigate in the Web pages and applications by using the arrows without having to press Ctrl + Opt.
Warning:
if you frequently use the Left and Right arrows beware not to turn on Quick Nav inadvertently.
To describe the item under the mouse cursor:
Press Ctrl + Opt + F5 (on Macbook Fn + Ctrl + Opt + F5).
To describe the item in the VoiceOver cursor:
Press Ctrl + Opt + F3 (on Macbook Fn + Ctrl + Opt + F3).
To center the mouse under the VoiceOver cursor:
Press Ctrl + Opt + Cmd + F5 (on Macbook Fn + Ctrl + Opt + Cmd + F5).
To perform a mouse click at the present mouse location:
Press Ctrl + Opt + Shift + Spacebar.
To change VoiceOver settings:
Press Ctrl + Opt + F8 ( on Macbook Fn + Ctrl + Opt + F8) to open
VoiceOver Utility.
To quickly change verbosity settings (typing echo, text attributes, numbers, capitals, when status changes, speech verbosity level, punctuation):
Press Ctrl + Opt + v to open the Verbosity rotor, then
Select settings by using arrows, then
press Escape when you are done.
To quickly change speech settings (rate, pitch, volume, intonation, voice):
Press Ctrl + Opt + Cmd + Right arrow to open the Speech rotor, then
Select settings by using Ctrl + Opt + Cmd + Up and Down arrows.
This command allows you for example to change voice very quickly.
To hide screen:
Press Ctrl + Opt + Shift + F11 (on MacBook Fn +
Ctrl + Opt + Shift + F11).
Press again Ctrl + Opt + Shift + F11
(on MacBook Fn +
Ctrl + Opt + Shift + F11)
to make it reappear.
To turn the computer off:
Go to the AppleMenu by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
Go to "Shut Down..." with the Down arrow, then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar, then
Press Return.
Other method: hold down the on/off button of your computer during a few seconds.
To turn on VoiceOver for the login window:
Go to the Apple Menu with Ctrl + Opt + m, then
Go to "System Preferences" with the Down arrow, then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar, then
Go to "Accounts" by using the Tab key, then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar, then
Go to "Click the lock to make changes" by using Ctrl + Opt + Right arrow, then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar, then
Type the administrator password in the securized field, then
Press Return, then
Press several times Ctrl + Opt + Right arrow until hearing "Use VoiceOver in the login window checkbox", then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar to select checkbox if it is not selected, then
Press several times Ctrl + Opt + Right arrow until hearing "Click the lock to prevent further changes", then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar.
To open the VoiceOver Help Menu (Online Help, Commands Help, Keyboard Help, Sounds Help, Quick Start Tutorial, Getting Started Guide):
Press Ctrl + Opt + h, then
Move with the arrows, then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar to activate the selected command.
Remark: One navigates in VoiceOver Online Help as in Web pages (see Using Safari).
To find out the Mac OS version on you computer:
Go to the Apple menu by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
Go to "About this Mac" with the Down arrow, then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar, then
Move with Ctrl + Opt + Left arrow and Ctrl + Opt + Right arrow until hearing the OS version.
Mac OS Version used: 10.11.5
To find out the VoiceOver version on you computer:
Press Ctrl + Opt + F8 ( on Macbook Fn + Ctrl + Opt + F8) to open
VoiceOver Utility, then
Go to the Menu bar by pressing Ctrl + Opt + m, then
Go to "About VoiceOver Utility" with the Down arrow, then
Press Ctrl + Opt + Space bar, then
Move with Ctrl + Opt + Left arrow and Ctrl + Opt + Right arrow until hearing the VOiceOver version.
VoiceOver Version used: Version 7.0 (426.42)
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Last Update: May 17, 2016