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Making Your Computer Talk

This section tells you about the different ways you can make your computer talk in OS X.

Introduction
Mac OS X version 10.4 also known as 'Tiger' is the first version of the Mac OS to include a fully integrated screen reader. The screen reader is called VoiceOver and you can find more information about it on Apple's Website's VoiceOver accessibility section. Details of how to use it will be added to this section of the website soon.

Earlier versions of OS X, while not having inbuilt screen readers do offer some speech output options as explained below.

Note: Mac key convention: 'Ctrl' is used for 'Control', 'Apple' is used for 'Command' and 'Alt' is used for the 'Option' key.

Note: For keyboard access make sure 'Full keyboard access' is turned on - you can turn it on or off; by pressing 'Ctrl' + 'F1' at any time.

Instructions

1. Make sure you are in 'Finder' - press 'Apple' + 'Tab' if necessary to cycle through open applications until you return to 'Finder'.
2. Click on the 'Apple' menu or press 'Ctrl' + 'F2'.
3. Click on 'System Preferences...' as shown in Fig 1 or press the down arrow key to highlight it and then press 'Enter'.
   
   
   Fig 1
   
4. Click on the 'Speech' icon or press 'Tab' repeatedly (you might need to press 'Ctrl' + 'F7' first) to cycle through the icons until the 'Speech' icon is highlighted as shown in Fig 2 and then press the 'Spacebar'.
   
   
   Fig 2
   
   Setting the voice
   
5. Click on the 'Default Voice' tab or press 'Ctrl' + 'F7' (once or twice) to highlight one of the three tabs and then press the left or right arrow key to select the 'Default Voice' tab (highlighted in blue).
6. Under the 'Voice' heading click on a voice to select or press 'Tab' until the voice list is highlighted and use the up and down arrows to select a voice.
7. Next click the 'On' radio button next to 'Apple Speakable Items is:' (See Fig 3 ) or press 'Tab' to highlight the 'Off' button and then press the up arrow to turn 'On' 'Apple Speakable Items'.
8. To hear the selected voice click on the 'Play' button or press the 'Tab' key until the 'Play' button is highlighted and press the 'Spacebar'.
9. Click on the slider next to 'Rate' to speed up or slow down the voice or press the 'Tab' key until the blue pointer is highlighted in the 'Rate' gauge bar and use the left and right arrow keys to select your speed.
   
   
   Fig 3
   
   Setting up the Spoken user interface
   
10. Click on the 'Spoken User Interface' tab or press 'Ctrl' + 'F7' (once or twice) to highlight one of the three tabs and then press the left or right arrow key to select the 'Spoken User Interface' tab highlighted in blue in Fig 4.
    
    
    
    Fig 4
    
11. Click the checkbox next to 'Speak the alert text' to have your Mac speak the text in dialogue boxes or press the 'Tab' key until the 'Speak the alert text' checkbox is highlighted and press the 'Spacebar' to check it.
12. Click on a delay time on the slider named 'Wait before speaking:' or press the 'Tab' key until the blue pointer is highlighted in the 'Wait before speaking:' gauge bar and use the left and right arrow keys to select your speed. To have the computer speak the dialogue immediately select a value of '0' for a 5 second delay select '5'.
    
    You can also have the alert speech start with a phrase, to do this:
    
13. Click the checkbox next to 'Speak the phrase:' or press the 'Tab' key until the 'Speak the phrase:' checkbox is highlighted and press the 'Spacebar' to check it.
14. Click on the pop-up menu next to 'Speak the phrase:' or press the 'Tab' key until it is highlighted and then press the 'Spacebar' to see a list of available phrases and click on one to choose it or use the up and down arrows to select a phrase.
    
    Note: You can edit the list of phrases and add your own, to do so choose 'Edit phrase list' from the list in he pop-up menu next to 'Speak the phrase:'.
    
15. There are also additional options under 'Other spoken items that you might want to turn on' such as ' Text under the mouse' which will read any text under the mouse pointer to do so Click the checkbox next to 'Text under the mouse' to activate it or press the 'Tab' key until the 'Text under the mouse' checkbox is highlighted and press the 'Spacebar' to check it.
16. When you have finished with your selections click the close icon in the top left of the speech options box or press 'Apple' + 'W' on the keyboard to close the window.

Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help.

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