A Deep Dive into VoiceOver Utility On Mac

for macOS Sequoia

Intro

This guide will attempt to document all of the options in VoiceOver Utility and what they do.

After the release of my guide for iOS VoiceOver settings, I figured I would create a similar guide for macOS.

The VoiceOver Modifier will be abbreviated as the VO key. The VO key/keys can be configured in the commands category, or in the general category if you are running macOS 14 or older.

By default, the VO key will be Control and Option. - If the guide mentions pressing VO+H, for instance, this would mean that you must hold both the control and option keys as you press the letter H.

VoiceOver Utility main interface

The following options will be available in all of the categories in VoiceOver Utility:

1. Search field
   • Type in the search field to search for options in VoiceOver Utility.
   • Start typing in the search field to display results. To navigate between the results, use VO+left and right, or VO+Up/Down arrows. Pressing VO+Space to activate the result seems not to work. Instead, press enter to be taken to the category where the option that you clicked is located.
   • In older versions of macOS, the search field is located inside of a toolbar.
2. VoiceOver Utility (Text element)
3. Utility Categories (Table)
   • Contains a list of the different categories in VoiceOver Utility.
4. Category specific options
   • Contains options/settings specific to the category that you are in.
5. Help
   • Opens a help topic in the VoiceOver user guide for the particular category you are in.

Menu Options

In the menus for VoiceOver utility, you can access additional options not found in any of the categories as described below (Standard macOS menus/options such as the Apple menu, the About dialog, and options in the Edit menu that are in all apps will not be mentioned).

Menu items that open a dialog or an additional screen will be noted with an ellipsis (…).

File

1. Import Preferences … (keyboard shortcut Command+Shift+I)
   • allows you to import a file containing VoiceOver preferences.
   • Keep in mind that importing preferences can't be undone unless you export your preferences first.
2. Export Preferences … (keyboard shortcut Command+Shift+E)
   • Allows you to save a ".VOPREFFS" file containing your VoiceOver settings.
   • In the Save As dialog, you can configure what preferences to export.
   • All: exports all settings that you have modified.
   • Basic: allows you to export basic preferences.
   • Braille Input Keys: Allows you to export custom commands for a braille display.
   • Hot Spots: allows you to export any saved hotspots.
   • Labels: allows you to save any custom labels you have made with VO+/.
   • Pronunciations: allows you to export custom pronunciations you have made.
   • Command Assignments: allows you to export custom commands you have configured.
   • List of custom activities: allows you to export any activities you have created.
3. Set Up Portable Preferences … (keyboard shortcut Command+Shift+V)
   • same as pressing the setup button in the general category. Allows you to select an external drive to be used for portable preferences.
4. Reset Basic VoiceOver Preferences … (no keyboard shortcut)
   • Allows you to reset basic preferences used by VoiceOver. According to Apple, Basic VoiceOver preferences include all General, Verbosity, Navigation, Web, Sound, and Visuals settings, Voice settings, and non-command-related settings for NumPad, Option key, trackpad gestures, and braille displays". These options cannot be undone unless you have previously exported preferences as described above.
5. Reset Custom VoiceOver Preferences (submenu)
   • Activities …: allows you to delete all activities you have made. "When you reset activities, they are deleted. This action can’t be undone".
   • Braille Display Input Keys …: allows you to reset commands for the primary braille display. "The input keys for the primary braille display will be reset to their default values. This action can’t be undone".
   • Command Set …: allows you to reset all custom commands you have made. "All keyboard shortcuts and trackpad gestures will be reset to their default values. This action can’t be undone".
   • Hot Spots …: allows you to reset hotspots. "When you reset hot spots, they are deleted. This action can’t be undone".
   • Labels …: allows you to delete all custom labels you have made. "When you reset labels, they are deleted. This action can’t be undone".
   • Pronunciations …: allows you to reset custom pronunciations you have made. "Pronunciations will be reset to their default values. This action can’t be undone".
6. Reset All VoiceOver Preferences …
   • Allows you to reset everything and start from scratch, as if you had just set up VoiceOver on a brand-new Mac. "Resetting will change basic and custom VoiceOver preferences. This action can’t be undone".

Edit

1. New Entry (Keyboard shortcut Command+N)
   • Allows you to create a new item in a list, such as a new activity in the activities list or a new pronunciation.
2. Memorize Braille Key; Press this key, and then input a command on your braille display to customize it.

View

The View option contains a list of all the utility categories. You can use Command+1 through 0 (grave accent `) for VoiceOver Recognition to move to the relevant category as it shows up in the list. For example, pressing Command+1 moves you to the general category. There is also an option to enter full screen (keyboard shortcut Function+f, or Command+Control+F).

Help

The Help menu allows you to search the menus for an option contained in the menus, such as reset. The help menu also gives you access to the VoiceOver user guide, as well as a list of VoiceOver commands. Clicking on one of these options will open the Tips application to the relevant section of the VoiceOver user guide.

General

The general tab allows you to control the login greeting for VoiceOver, set up VoiceOver portable preferences, and more.

1. Speak the following greeting after login:
   • Allows you to set a custom greeting for VoiceOver. This greeting will be spoken when VoiceOver first turns on after you log in. This could be useful for when you boot multiple versions of macOS. You can change the greeting to something different per volume so you know which volume you have booted into.
2. Display welcome dialog when VoiceOver starts
   • The Welcome Dialog allows you to access the VoiceOver tutorial quickly.
   • When in the welcome dialog, press V to launch VoiceOver and prevent the dialog from displaying again.
   • Press the space bar to launch the VoiceOver tutorial.
   • If you want to turn off VoiceOver, press the escape key. You can press the return key if you wish to start VoiceOver and have the welcome dialog appear again even if the option in VoiceOver utility is unchecked.
3. Set up Portable Preferences (same as in the file menu)
   • Allows you to set up portable preferences.
   • Portable Preferences allows you to sync your preferences from one computer to another. Preferences get saved to a flash drive or other storage device (can also be a dmg file which can be shared).
   • Clicking set up shows a list of drives that can be used. After you select a drive, a "VoiceOver" folder gets created on the drive. VoiceOver will sync preferences to this folder as soon as you make a change to your preferences on Mac.
   • Plugging this drive into a new computer will ask you if you wish to use the preferences.
   • It should be noted that once you unplug the drive from the new computer, the VoiceOver settings return to how they were before you plugged in the drive. Any changes you make to VoiceOver preferences while the drive is plugged in will get saved to the drive. When you plug the drive into your original computer, the new changes will be used on your computer.
4. Allow VoiceOver to be controlled with AppleScript
   • Allows AppleScripts to control VoiceOver and output text to VoiceOver. This is used for apps like VOCR, as well as built-in AppleScripts.
   • Scripts can't directly move the VoiceOver cursor, but a screenshot can be taken of whatever is in the VoiceOver cursor. Scripts can also tell VoiceOver to speak any message the script wants.

Verbosity

The Verbosity section allows you to control how VoiceOver speaks information. I will list an overview of what the tabs in this section allow you to control. I have previously made an in-depth guide for the verbosity section which explains every option in the Verbosity section.

Speech/Braille

These tabs allow you to control how VoiceOver outputs information, such as controlling if headings, buttons, etc., are spoken before or after the content of the item. See the linked guide above for more details.

Text

The Text tab allows you to control the amount of information that is spoken as you navigate over different types of elements and navigate through text. You can control how VoiceOver outputs the item in question, such as deleting text, typing echo, the way VoiceOver announces links, etc. See the linked guide above for more details.

Announcements

The Announcements tab allows you to control how and what VoiceOver announces items, such as progress indicators, static text changes, etc.

Hints

The Hints tab allows you to control what hints that VoiceOver announces.

See the linked guide above for more details.

Speech

The Speech tab allows you to control the voice used by VoiceOver, add voices to the voice rotor, as well as make custom pronunciations.

Voices (Tab)

Primary Voice (heading)

Shows you the primary voice used by VoiceOver. Press the Voice name to open a list of languages and voices (see below).

Additional Voices (heading)

Allows you to add voices to the rotor. Use VO+command+Shift+right and left arrow to find the Voice option, then use VO+Command+up/down to find the voice you want. 1. Additional Voices (Table) - This table contains additional voices that can be added to the voice rotor. 2. Add voice - Allows you to add a voice to the rotor which will appear in the table above. - Remove voice - Allows you to remove a voice from the table. - Navigate to a voice you want to remove in the table, and then stop interacting with the table and find the remove voice button. - There is no confirmation when you remove a voice. The voice is just removed as soon as you hit this button.

Detect Languages

Allows for VoiceOver to change the voice based on the language in text.

Mute Speech

Allows you to mute the VoiceOver speech.

Voice customization options

Depending on the voice you have selected, the customization options may vary.

General customizations

For all voices, the following options will be available to you: (The options in this screen only affect the voice you are currently editing and do not affect other voices.)

1. Voice -- Option to change the voice (only appears for the primary voice. Delete and re-add a voice from the rotor if you added the wrong voice).
2. RATE
   • allows you to adjust the rate for the current voice.
   • This adjusts the rate per voice.
3. PITCH
   • Allows you to adjust how high or low the voice talks for normal speech.
4. SPEECH VOLUME
   • adjusts how loud or quiet the voice is (does not adjust system volume).
5. Voice specific customization options
   • shows customization options per voice (see below).
6. Reset Voice Settings
   • resets all of your settings for the particular voice to the default.
   • This option does not warn you before resetting your options to default.

Next to each of the sliders are an increase and decrease button. Pressing these buttons will modify the sliders by five.

Voice specific customization options

Each TTS (Text To Speech) engine has its own customization option, and will be listed below. These options can be found when editing a voice as described above.

MacinTalk (Alex, Fred, etc).

1. Pitch Range
   • Adjusts the inflection of the voice.
   • 0 is no inflection, where the voice sounds almost like a robot, with 200 being the max. The default is 100.
2. WPM Minimum
   • adjusts how slow the voice speaks when the rate is at 0%. This can go from 50 to 175 words per minute.
3. WPM Maximum
   • Adjusts the fastest the voice can speak. 500 is the default, but this can be adjusted up to 900 words per minute.

Vocalizer (includes Nicky, English U.S.).

1. Timbre
   • Adjusts the formants and slightly adjusts the pitch of the voice. The lower the number, the more the voice sounds deeper and bigger. When the number is above 100, the voice will sound more like a small child or chipmunk. 100 is the default.
2. Sentence Pause
   • adjusts how long VoiceOver should wait after speaking a sentence before going on to the next one.
   • This does not apply to reading back controls, such as "Search, button", or "VoiceOver, heading". This applies to reading full sentences, such as "Hello. The weather is nice today."

Eloquence

1. Rate Multiplier
   • Adjusts the speed that Eloquence speaks at a current rate. The default is 100, but this control can be adjusted from 50 to 200.
2. Head Size
   • similar to tamber for vocalizer voices, but does not adjust pitch.
   • Drag the slider down to make the head size smaller, and adjust it upwards to make the head size bigger.
3. Pitch Base
   • This is like the pitch slider. You can adjust the pitch base in hertz. The default is 65Hz, but the slider can go from 40 to 422Hz.
4. Pitch Range
   • Just like MacinTalk voices, it adjusts the inflection of the voice. The default is 30, but this value can go from 0 to 100.
5. Breathiness
   • It adds a breathiness to the voice. At 100, the voice is a whisper. The default is 0.
6. Roughness
   • It adds a roughness to the voice which makes it sound deeper without changing the pitch. The effect is hard to explain, so I would recommend you try it out yourself.
7. Higher Sample Rate
   • This adjusts the sample rate of Eloquence. This changes the way the voice sounds. Experiment with this to see which option you like better.
8. Phrase Prediction
   • Phrase Prediction attempts to add a pause, such as for a comma if none exists in the content that is being read.
9. Abbreviation Dictionary
   • It attempts to change the way the speech synthesizer pronounces abbreviations.
10. Community Dictionary
    • It attempts to fix the pronunciations of some words that the speech synthesizer gets wrong.

Siri (English US only)

For the English US Siri voices, you can change the speaking style of the voice. This is available for all 5 Siri voices.

1. Default
   • This is the default speaking style of the voice.
2. Even Inflection
   • This evens out the inflection of the voice, almost like reducing the pitch range with other voices.
3. Faster Pace
   • Uses basically the default inflection but makes the voice speak faster.
4. Even Inflection & Faster Pace
   • Allows you to use even inflection while making the voice speak faster.
5. Narration
   • This allows you to make the voice sound more like it is narrating something. This changes the speaking style more than the other presets.

For all other Siri voices, there are no customization options beyond the default ones available for all voices.

Pronunciation (Tab)

The Pronunciations tab allows you to add a pronunciation for a word or phrase. This might be useful, for example, if VoiceOver is not pronouncing a word or name correctly.

1. pronunciations (Table)
   • The pronunciations table allows you to see pronunciations you have added. The table contains the following options:
   • Text: the original text that you wish to change the pronunciation of.
   • Substitution: The way you want VoiceOver to pronounce the text.
   • Application: select the apps this pronunciation should apply to. Apps not in this list will use the default pronunciation of the word/phrase.
   • Ignore Case: Determines if the pronunciation of the word should be changed based on its case (upper case/lower case).
2. add pronunciation: allows you to add a new entry to the table for pronunciations. You can also use keyboard shortcut Command+n.
3. remove pronunciation
   • allows you to remove the currently focused pronunciation in the table.
   • There is no warning when a pronunciation is removed.

Navigation

The Navigation category allows you to adjust how VoiceOver behaves when opening a new window, adjusting grouping settings, and more.

1. Initial position of VoiceOver cursor:
   • Allows you to adjust whether VoiceOver jumps you to the first item in a window, or to the keyboard-focused item.
2. Grouping behavior:
   • Adjusts how VoiceOver handles groups.
   • If you are a new user to macOS, I would not recommend changing this setting from anything but standard. It appears really buggy with other settings as described below. As a Mac user for over 10 years, I have always used the standard option.
   • Standard: Items are grouped. You will have to interact with groups to see the items inside. This is the default macOS setting.
   • Bookend groups: allows you to move through all groups without having to navigate into the group to see its items. VoiceOver will announce when you have reached the beginning or end of the group. It should be noted that in my testing, this appears very buggy.
   • Announce groups: Unsure how this behaves. Seams even more buggy than bookend groups. For example, when navigating in Finder, the VO cursor moved into the toolbar. When I tried to navigate left, the cursor was stuck in the toolbar. You could not stop interacting with the toolbar. When I navigated through the toolbar and passed all of its items, the toolbar seemed to disappear. When I navigated back to the left, the toolbar vanished.
   • Ignore groups: seems the same as announce groups, including the bugs mentioned above.
3. Synchronize keyboard focus and VoiceOver cursor
   • Determines whether the keyboard-focused item moves based on the VoiceOver cursor.
   • By default, you can toggle this behavior with the keyboard shortcut VO+Shift+F3.
   • This might be useful if you want to look at options in a table without the keyboard focusing on them. For example, if you turn off cursor tracking and then navigate to different emails in the Mail app, they will not get marked as read as soon as you navigate over them if cursor tracking is off.
4. Mouse pointer:
   • Determines what happens when moving the mouse.
   • Ignores VoiceOver cursor: when moving either the VoiceOver curser or the mouse, the cursers will not move based on what the other is doing.
   • Follows VoiceOver cursor: the mouse pointer will move based on the VoiceOver curser's movement.
   • Moves VoiceOver cursor: makes the VoiceOver curser move based on where the mouse pointer is.
5. Allow cursor wrapping
   • If this is enabled, navigating past the first item in a window will move you to the last item. This also means that navigating past the last item will move you to the first item in the window.
6. Skip redundant labels
   • skips items that have redundant text next to the item. An example of this can be found next to the popup menus in this category, as well as any other popup menu in VoiceOver utility.
   • With this unchecked, you will see what the popup menu adjusts as a text item before the popup menu. The same thing will be read after the current option in the popup menu is read.
   • When checked, VoiceOver will skip over and not navigate past the redundant text information next to each popup menu and directly navigate you to the popup menu.
   • This setting also works in other applications and on other types of items.
7. Automatically interact when using tab key
   • Determines if VoiceOver will interact with content when pressing tab and shift+tab.
8. Enable fast searching:
   • Determines if fast searching is enabled.
   • Fast searching behaves like first letter navigation, as well as quick keys when navigating on web pages.
   • When this is checked, one of the command keys will act like a modifier. Hold down the chosen command key, and press a letter to move to the next item that starts with that letter. Hold Shift+Command while pressing a letter to move to the previous item.
9. You can choose the command key that you want to use for fast searching with the popup menu. When fast searching is enabled, the other command key will behave normally.

Web

The web category will control how VoiceOver navigates on web pages, as well as options to include in the web rotor and more.

Navigation (Tab)

1. Navigate webpages by: Allows you to choose how VoiceOver navigates content in web pages.
   • DOM order (Document Object Model): This is the default. This is recommended. VoiceOver moves through items sequentially.
   • Grouping items: This groups items and allows you to navigate by group. This means that you will have to interact with the groups.
2. When navigating web tables: determines how VoiceOver navigates items in web tables. These options do not affect tables in other apps.
   • Group items within: determines if you have to interact with tables to see the contents like in other apps, or if you will automatically navigate in and out of tables based on where the VoiceOver cursor is.
   • Speak column and row numbers: determines if VoiceOver speaks the columns and row numbers as you navigate across tables, such as "Row 3, column 1".
3. Navigate Images: Determines when VoiceOver will navigate to images.
   • Never: VO will not navigate to any image.
   • With Descriptions: VO will only navigate to images that have alt text.
   • Always: VO will navigate to any image it sees.
4. Enable Live Regions
   • Determines if live regions are enabled. Live regions can announce content to the screen reader such as advertisements. If you find that VoiceOver interrupts itself to speak announcements such as "Loading Add", or "Add will end in 5s, Add will end in 4s, etc", try disabling live regions.
5. Always allow keyboard commands to navigate websites
   • Determines if using commands such as arrows will send the command to the website or navigate text. If this is checked, pressing arrows can do things specific to websites, such as left and right arrows to scrub in a YouTube video, or up/down to adjust volume.

General

1. When loading a new webpage: Determines what happens while web pages are loading.
   • Speak webpage summary: speaks how many items are on a web page, such as links, headings, etc. You can also press Vo+Shift+I for the same information.
   • Automatically speak the webpage: Starts reading all of the content on the web page from top to bottom.
2. While a webpage loads: Allows you to determine what happens while a web page loads.
   • Speak Progress: VoiceOver will announce the progress of the web page, such as "20% loaded". These announcements may be frequently spoken depending on the speed of which a web page loads.
   • Play Tone: Plays a tone while the web page loads. This behaves like iOS.
   • Do Nothing: does not make any sound while the web page loads.

Web Rotor (Tab)

The web rotor tab allows you to add and remove items from the web rotor. The web rotor can be accessed with standard rotor commands. Alternatively, the web rotor can be accessed by pressing Vo+U. Use the item order table to check and uncheck items that you want to appear in the list. Use command+Up/Down to rearrange items.

Sound

The sound category allows you to control whether VoiceOver sound affects should be muted, as well as whether audio ducking is enabled, and more.

1. Mute sound effects
   • Allows you to choose whether sounds are muted or unmuted. You can also assign a command to this as well.
2. Enable audio ducking
   • Audio ducking will decrease the volume of any other audio on your Mac, including alert sounds and notification sounds while VoiceOver is speaking. Once VoiceOver stops speaking, the audio will fade to its original volume.
3. Enable positional audio
   • Positional audio positions VoiceOver sound effects based on the position of the objects on screen in a 3D space.
   • This works like the popular Audio Themes NVDA add-on, as well as the new Unspoken NVDA add-on.
   • Positional audio is on by default.
4. Output Device:
   • Allows you to adjust where VoiceOver sends its audio.
   • If you select an audio device and you can't hear VoiceOver, VoiceOver will revert to the previous output device in 30 seconds. Alternatively, the revert button is the default option in the dialog. Pressing return will switch the audio back to the previous audio device, even if focus is on the confirm button.

Bonus Tip

If you can't hear VoiceOver, and VoiceOver Utility is not open, you can quickly change your audio device by doing the following:

1. Open VoiceOver Utility with VO+f8
2. Press Command+6 to jump to the Sound category.
3. Just to be safe, press VO+Shift+Up arrow a few times to make sure that you are not interacting with anything.
4. Press VO+Function+right arrow (VO+End), and press VO+Left once to get to the sound device popup menu.
5. Activate the pop-up menu, and start typing in the name of the device you want VoiceOver to come out of.
6. Press enter, and VoiceOver will ask you to confirm your new selection. If you still cannot hear VoiceOver, press enter again to revert the change, and then perform the steps above to navigate to the menu and try again. Pressing Escape in the dialog to confirm the new selection does not work.

Visuals

The visual category allows you to adjust the way VoiceOver visuals look, such as whether to show the VoiceOver curser on screen, as well as the size of the on-screen curser, and more.

Cursor

1. Show VoiceOver cursor
   • Determines if the VoiceOver curser appears on screen.
   • The VoiceOver curser is a rectangle which outlines the currently focused item on screen.
2. VoiceOver Cursor Magnification:
   • Adjust how big the VoiceOver curser is on screen. This can be adjusted up to 14x magnification.
3. When reading text, move VoiceOver cursor by: Adjusts how the on-screen cursor moves when reading text
   • Sentence: Moves the curser over different sentences as you navigate.
   • Word: moves the VoiceOver curser by words as you read text.

Panels and Menus

1. Show caption panel
   • Determines if the caption panel is displayed.
   • The caption panel shows announcements spoken by VoiceOver on screen.
2. Show Braille Panel: The braille panel shows what would be displayed on a braille display on screen as simulated braille dots.
   • Off: does not show the braille panel.
   • On: always displays the braille panel.
   • Automatic: displays the braille panel when a braille display is connected.
3. Font Size for Panels and Menus:
   • Allows you to adjust how big the panels and menus appear on screen. This can be adjusted from 9pt font all the way up to a large 200pt font. The default is 22pt.

Touch

1. Background Transparency:
   • Allows you to adjust the background transparency while using the trackpad commands.

Commands

The commands category allows you to view and add custom commands, as well as adjust the VoiceOver modifier, and more.

1. VoiceOver modifier: Allows you to change the VoiceOver modifier. This is what is called the "VO", or "VoiceOver" key.
   • Control+Option
   • Caps Lock (double press Caps Lock to use its original function.)
   • Control + Option or Caps Lock
2. Also control VoiceOver with: Allows you to select other ways to control VoiceOver, previously known as Commanders.
   • NumPad: Allows you to use a numpad to control VoiceOver. This is the same as the NumPad Commander in older versions of macOS.
   • Option Key: Allows you to hold the option key while you press an additional letter, number, or special symbol. This was known as the "Keyboard Commander" in older versions of macOS.
   • You can choose which option key to use from the pop-up menu.
   • Trackpad: allows you to use the VoiceOver gestures like on iOS on your Mac's trackpad. This might be helpful if you have used an iPhone or iPad, and are new to controlling VoiceOver with a keyboard. This can be quickly turned on or off by holding the VO key and rotating two fingers like the rotor on iOS. Rotate clockwise to turn the trackpad commander on. Rotate counterclockwise to turn trackpad commands off.
   • Trackpad Options…: allows you to adjust additional options for the trackpad.
   • Automatically select items in lists and tables: Determines if touching items in lists and tables selects them.
   • Pause speech when not touching the trackpad: Pauses speech as soon as you lift your finger from the trackpad.
   • Scroll gesture moves content instead of scroll bar: I'm not sure how this changes scrolling. This seems to affect the direction that scrolling moves content. When this is checked, scrolling behaves like on iOS, where swiping up with three fingers moves more content from the bottom into view. If this is unchecked, scrolling will be inverted compared to iOS. I would recommend having this checked if you are used to scrolling on iOS.
   • Edit User Command Set…: allows you to edit the commands for the trackpad. This brings up the edit commands window, and filters by trackpad commands.
   • Ignore trackpad when VoiceOver is on: makes the trackpad immune from accidental taps and swipes. When this is on, the trackpad will accept no input.
3. Quick Nav: Allows you to adjust options for quicknav.
   • Arrow-key Quick Nav: allows you to move the VoiceOver cursor without having to hold down the VoiceOver modifier. This can be toggled on or off by pressing both the right and left arrow keys at once.
   • Single-key Quick Nav: allows you to move to different elements by pressing a single letter, such as H for headings, L for links, etc.
   • Always allow typing in text fields: allows you to type in text fields even if single key quicknav is on. If this is off and you try to type in a text field, single key quicknav might activate and try to move the cursor to a different element.
4. Left and right arrow keys: Determines what pressing the right and left arrow keys at once do.
   • Do Nothing: does not perform anything. This also seems to reduce the wait time when pressing the left and right arrows before an action occurs. If you are using an application that uses the arrow keys, disabling this will reduce the latency between pressing an arrow and the action occurring.
   • Toggles arrow-key Quick Nav: toggles on or off the use of the arrow keys to move the VoiceOver cursor, same as VO+Shift+Q. This is the default, and has always been the default ever since QuickNav was introduced.
   • Toggles single-key Quick Nav: toggles on and off single-key QuickNav, the same as VO+Q.
   • Toggles all Quick Nav: toggles both single-key and arrow-key QuickNav at once.
5. When toggling Quick Nav: Allows you to adjust how VoiceOver announces the state of quick nav changes.
   • Speak: speaks the status of quick nav changes.
   • Play Tone: plays a tone when quick nav is enabled or disabled. You can find the sounds for this in the VoiceOver help menu under Sounds.
6. Command set
   • Allows you to quickly switch between the built-in and the user command set.
7. Edit…: Allows you to edit commands.
   • Search field: search for the command you want to change.
   • Filter commands: Allows you to filter commands.
   • Everything: shows all commands
   • VoiceOver keys: commands that use the VO key.
   • Option keys: shows all commands that require you to hold the Option key. These would previously be in the Keyboard Commander section in older macOS versions.
   • Quick Nav keys: shows all inputs used for quick nav.
   • NumPad keys: shows all keys that use the numpad, previously known as the Numpad Commander.
   • Trackpad gestures: Shows gestures you can assign to track pad commands. This is the same as pressing the edit commands button in the trackpad options as described above.
   • Commands with an assigned input: shows commands that have an input assigned to them.
   • Commands with no assigned input: shows commands that don't have any assigned input.
   • User-modified input assignments: shows any commands you have modified.
   • Locked input assignments that can’t be changed: shows commands that cannot be changed, such as VO+Space to activate an item.
   • Inputs with multiple assigned commands: shows commands that have conflicting inputs.
   • Inputs with multiple assigned commands in the same category: This appears to be the same, except that I only seem to see categories in the general category.
   • Column View, shows the commands list in column view. This is easier to navigate and is recommended.
   • Table View: shows the commands list in table view. This is harder to navigate.
   • Command Assignments: shows the list of commands based on the filtering and view options described above.
   • If Column view is selected, you can navigate to different columns with left and right arrows. To select options in that column, use the up and down arrow keys. Additional columns will show options for the option selected in the previous column. For example, if you select the general category, you will only see commands in the general category. If you press right arrow to the inputs column, you will only see inputs for the selected command.
   • If Table view is selected, there is no sorting based on category. You will see a list of all commands. You can navigate by rows to see options like the category, inputs or command. Multiple categories will be shown in the same table.

Braille

The Braille category allows you to manage braille displays, and configure how braille is displayed.

Translation

1. Input and Output:
   • Allows you to select a braille table based on ones you have added to the rotor (see below).
2. Match Input and Output Tables
   • Allows you to use the same braille table for both the input and output tables.
3. Translate after: Allows you to adjust when translation happens.
   • ✓ typing whitespace: Translates text after entering a wide space.
   • a delay: translates after a delay. The delay is fixed and there appears to be no option to change it.
4. Equations use Nemeth Code
   • Determines if Nemeth code is used when displaying equations.
5. Braille Translations
   • Shows a list of braille translation tables you have added.
6. Add/Remove buttons
   • allows you to add and remove braille translation tables in the list.

Layout

1. Show multiple items: Displays multiple items on the braille display.
2. Use dots 7 and 8 to indicate VoiceOver cursor
   • Displays whatever the VoiceOver cursor is focused on by showing dots 7 and 8 under all of the text.
3. Use word wrap
   • Determines if word wrap is enabled or disabled.
4. Turn pages when panning
   • Determines whether pressing panning buttons will turn pages.
5. Display text style
   • Displays information like bold or italic information.
6. Show alert messages for duration:
   • Displays system alert messages on the braille display for a set duration adjustable from 1 to 6 seconds.
7. Ignore Chord Duration:
   • I'm unsure of what this does. This can be adjusted from 0.0 to 1.0 seconds.
8. Auto Advance Duration: -Determines how slow or fast text audio advances. This can be adjusted from 0.50 to 20 seconds.

Status

This tab controls what status cells are displayed. I am unfamiliar with what status cells exactly are and how they work.

1. Show general display status
2. Show extended general display status
3. Show text style
4. Show extended text style
5. Show status on the:
   • Allows you to adjust whether status cells are displayed on the left or right.

Displays

1. braille displays (Table)
   • Shows a list of available displays.
2. add: allows you to add a Bluetooth display.
3. remove: allows you to remove the selected braille display.
4. Allow input from:
   • Allows you to select which displays can send input. This is useful if you have multiple braille displays connected to your Mac, and you only want one to send input.

Activities

The activities tab allows you to create and manage activities. Activities allow you to change settings and have them apply to certain situations. This feature is similar to NVDA's Configuration Profiles feature.

1. Activities (Table)
   • Shows a list of all activities that exist.
2. add activity
   • Allows you to add an activity.
3. remove activity
   • Allows you to remove the currently focused activity.
4. Configure activity
   • allows you to duplicate the activity, or reset it back to your current VoiceOver settings, or the VoiceOver default settings.

When editing activities, you can configure the same settings found in previous utility categories. Check a checkbox to edit settings.

I will list options that have not previously been found in this guide.

Automatically switch to this activity for:

Allows you to adjust when the activity should be switched to automatically.

1. Contexts:: select a context to trigger this activity. You can select multiple.
   • Word Processing
   • Narrative
   • Messaging
   • Social Media
   • Spreadsheet
   • File System
   • Source Code
   • Console
   • Deselect All: allows you to remove all at once.

Apps and Websites:

• You can select which apps and websites the activity should be applied for.

You can add any app or website you want.

VoiceOver Recognition

The VoiceOver recognition category allows you to turn on image descriptions and download additional languages.

1. Image Descriptions
   • Allows you to turn on/off image descriptions.
   • A download is required before you can use the feature.
2. Download Additional Languages…: allows you to download additional languages to be used when describing images.

Conclusion

This is a list of every option and setting in VoiceOver Utility on Mac. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

additional Information

I will provide a list of languages as well as the voices each language has. All voices here are also available on iOS.

Note: all Eloquence voices have the same name in every language except for a few. I will only list Eloquence voices when the names aren't the default ones listed below:

• Eddy
• Flo
• Grandma
• Grandpa
• Reed
• Rocko
• Sandy
• Shelley

---

English

ENGLISH (UNITED STATES)

Personal voices are listed at the top of the voices list.

1. Agnes
2. Alex
3. Allison
4. Ava
5. Bruce
6. Eloquence
7. Evan
8. Fred
9. Joelle
10. Junior
11. Kathy
12. Nathan
13. Nicky
14. Noelle
15. Ralph
16. Samantha
17. Siri (Voices 1-5)
18. Susan
19. Tom
20. Vicki
21. Victoria
22. Zoe

ENGLISH (AUSTRALIA)

1. Karen
2. Lee
3. Matilda
4. Siri (4 voices)

ENGLISH (INDIA)

1. Isha
2. Rishi
3. Sangeeta
4. Siri (2 voices)
5. Veena

ENGLISH (IRELAND)

1. Moira
2. Siri (2 voices)

ENGLISH (SCOTLAND, UNITED KINGDOM)

1. Fiona

ENGLISH (SOUTH AFRICA)

1. Siri (2 voices)
2. Tessa

ENGLISH (UNITED KINGDOM)

1. Daniel
2. Eloquence
3. Jamie
4. Kate
5. Oliver
6. Serena
7. Siri (4 voices)
8. Stephanie

NOVELTY (English United States accent)

1. Albert
2. Bad News
3. Bahh
4. Bells
5. Boing
6. Bubbles
7. Cellos
8. Good News
9. Jester
10. Organ
11. Superstar
12. Trinoids
13. Whisper
14. Wobble
15. Zarvox

Arabic

ARABIC (SAUDI ARABIA)

1. Siri (1 voice)

ARABIC (WORLD)

1. Laila
2. Majed
3. Mariam
4. Siri (one voice)
5. Tarik

Bangla

1. Piya

Basque

1. Miren

Bhojpuri

1. Jaya

Bulgarian

1. Daria

Cantonese

1. Aasing
2. Sinji
3. Siri (2 voices)

Catalan

CATALAN (SPAIN)

1. Jordi
2. Montse

CATALAN (VALENCIAN, SPAIN)

1. Pau

Croatian

1. Lana

Czech

1. Iveta
2. Zuzana

Danish

1. Magnus
2. Sara
3. Siri (2 voices)

Dutch

DUTCH (BELGIUM)

1. Ellen

DUTCH (NETHERLANDS)

1. Claire
2. Siri (2 voices)
3. Xander

Finnish

1. Eloquence
2. Onni
3. Satu
4. Siri (2 voices)

French

FRENCH (BELGIUM)

1. Aude

FRENCH (CANADA)

1. Amélie
2. Chantal
3. Eloquence
4. Nicolas
5. Siri (2 voices)

FRENCH (FRANCE)

1. Audrey
2. Aurélie
3. Eloquence
   • Jacques (same as Reed)
4. Siri (4 voices)
5. Thomas

Galician

1. Carmela

German

1. Anna
2. Eloquence
3. Markus
4. Petra
5. Siri (4 voices)
6. Viktor
7. Yannick

Greek

1. Melina
2. Nikos

Hebrew

1. Carmit
2. Siri (2 voices)

Hindi

1. Kiyara
2. Lekha
3. Neel
4. Siri (1 voice)

Hungarian

1. Tünde

Indonesian

1. Damayanti

Italian

1. Alice
2. Eloquence
3. Emma
4. Federica
5. Luca
6. Paola
7. Siri (4 voices)

Japanese

1. Eloquence
2. Hattori
3. Kyoko
4. O-ren
5. Otoya
6. Siri (2 voices)

Kannada (India)

1. Soumya

Kazakh

1. Aru

Korean

1. Eloquence
2. Jian
3. Minsu
4. Siri (2 voices)
5. Sora
6. Suhyun
7. Yuna

Lithuanian

1. Ona

Malay

1. Amira
2. Siri (2 voices)

Mandarin

MANDARIN (CHINA MAINLAND)

1. Binbin
2. Bobo
3. Eloquence
4. Han
5. Lanlan
6. Li-mu
7. Lili
8. Lilian
9. Lisheng
10. Lisheng
11. Shasha
12. Siri (4 voices)
13. Taotao
14. Tiantian
15. Tingting
16. Yu-shu

MANDARIN (LIAONING, CHINA MAINLAND)

1. Dongmei

MANDARIN (SHAANXI, CHINA MAINLAND)

1. Haohao

MANDARIN (SICHUAN, CHINA MAINLAND)

1. Panpan

MANDARIN (TAIWAN)

1. Eloquence
2. Meijia
3. Siri (2 voices)

Marathi

1. Ananya

Norwegian Bokmål

1. Henrik
2. Nora
3. Siri (2 voices)

Persian

1. Dariush

Polish

1. Ewa
2. Krzysztof
3. Zosia

PORTUGUESE (BRAZIL)

1. Eloquence
2. Felipe
3. Fernanda
4. Luciana
5. Siri (2 voices)

PORTUGUESE (PORTUGAL)

1. Catarina
2. Joana
3. Joaquim

Romanian

1. Ioana

Russian

1. Katya
2. Milena
3. Siri (2 voices)
4. Yuri

Shanghainese

1. Nannan

Slovak

1. Laura

Slovenian

1. Tina

Spanish

SPANISH (ARGENTINA)

1. Diego
2. Isabela

SPANISH (CHILE)

1. Francisca

SPANISH (COLOMBIA)

1. Carlos
2. Jimena
3. Soledad

SPANISH (MEXICO)

1. Angélica
2. Eloquence
3. Juan
4. Paulina
5. Siri (2 voices)

SPANISH (SPAIN)

1. Eloquence
2. Jorge
3. Marisol
4. Mónica
5. Siri (2 voices)

Swedish

1. Alva
2. Klara
3. Oskar
4. Siri (2 voices)

Tamil

1. Vani

Telugu

1. Geeta

Thai

1. Kanya
2. Narisa
3. Siri (2 voices)

Turkish

1. Cem
2. Siri (2 voices)
3. Yelda

Ukrainian

1. Lesya

Vietnamese

1. Linh