Change VoiceOver Activities settings in VoiceOver Utility on Mac

Use the Activities category in VoiceOver Utility to set up groups of settings, known as activities, for specific uses, apps or websites. For example, you might create two activities, one for online shopping and another for reading articles, and set a different voice and speaking rate for each.

To open VoiceOver Utility, press Command-F5 to turn VoiceOver on, then press VO-Fn-F8.

Open VoiceOver Utility for me

Note: VO represents the VoiceOver modifier that you press with additional keys to enter VoiceOver commands. By default, you can press Control and Option together or just press Caps Lock.

Option

Description

Activities

Activities that you set up. To display or change the settings for an activity, select it in the list.

Settings to apply for this activity

Select the tickbox for the settings (such as Verbosity or Voices) you want to include in the activity.

Set

Customise a setting’s options.

Contexts

In supported apps, automatically use the activity based on where the VoiceOver cursor is focused in an app. Click the Contexts pop-up menu and select any of the following:

  • Word Processing: For writing and editing documents, like in Pages.

  • Narrative: For reading long-form content, like Books.

  • Messaging: For conversations, like in Messages.

  • Social Media: For browsing feeds and posts on social platforms.

  • Spreadsheet: For working with data and tables, like in Numbers.

  • File System: For navigating files and folders, like in Finder.

  • Source Code: For programming, like in the Xcode app.

  • Console: For command-line interfaces, like in Terminal.

Apps and Websites

Choose apps and websites to associate with an activity. The activity is automatically used whenever you open the apps or websites.

Add button

Create a new activity.

Remove button

Delete an activity from the list.

Configure Activity button 

Click the Configure Activity button, then choose a command:

  • Duplicate Activity: Create a duplicate of the currently selected activity. This command is a fast way to create an activity that differs only slightly from an existing activity (for example, only the voice differs).

  • Reset Activity to My Current VoiceOver Settings: Change the selected activity to have the same settings you specified throughout VoiceOver Utility. This command is useful if you don’t like how you customised an activity and want to start again with settings that match all of your current VoiceOver settings.

  • Reset Activity to VoiceOver Default Settings: Change the selected activity to the default VoiceOver settings.

Download this guide in Braille Ready Format: BRF (English)

Morty Proxy This is a proxified and sanitized view of the page, visit original site.
Helpful?
Character limit: 250
Maximum character limit is 250.
Thanks for your feedback.
Morty Proxy This is a proxified and sanitized view of the page, visit original site.