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To hear webpage text on a Mac, turn on Speak selection in Apple menu > System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak, select the text, then press Option-Esc (Apple’s documented default shortcut). For a full screen reader that also speaks and navigates the interface, use VoiceOver instead.
Use Speak selection for webpage text
Speak selection is macOS’s built-in way to have selected text spoken aloud. Apple describes it as speaking text selected on the screen when you press a keyboard shortcut. The default shortcut in Apple’s current guide is Option-Esc; if you have changed it, use the shortcut shown in Read & Speak settings.
- Enable the feature: Open Apple menu > System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak, then turn on Speak selection.
- Select the webpage text: In your browser, highlight the passage you want to hear. You can select a paragraph or a larger block of page text.
- Start speech: Press Option-Esc, unless you assigned a different shortcut.
If nothing is selected, macOS may speak available text items in the current window. If there are no text items available, Apple says the shortcut produces a sound.
Pause, adjust, or stop speech
Read & Speak settings include options for an on-screen controller and spoken-text highlighting. When the controller is available, use it to pause or resume, stop, change the speaking rate, or skip forward or backward by a sentence. The controller and highlighting are optional settings rather than separate reading modes.
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Make supported Safari articles easier to read
Safari’s Reader view can remove much of a supported article page’s surrounding presentation, making the text easier to focus on before using Speak selection. It does not provide the speech itself: select text in Reader and use the Speak selection shortcut.
- In Safari, open the article and look for the Page menu.
- Choose Show Reader if the option is available.
- Select the text you want read aloud and press your Speak selection shortcut.
Reader is available only when Safari recognizes a page as an article, so the option may not appear on every webpage.
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Use VoiceOver for screen-reader navigation
Choose VoiceOver when you want spoken information and navigation across macOS, not just speech for selected webpage text. VoiceOver can read text in chunks and includes web settings for starting a webpage from the beginning. Its default modifier is Control-Option; Caps Lock can be configured as the modifier.
Apple’s instructions for reading text with VoiceOver are in Use VoiceOver to read text on Mac. To change how it handles webpages, see Change VoiceOver Web settings.
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Which Mac read-aloud option should you use?
| Option | Best for | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Speak selection | Hearing a passage or other selected text | Speaks selected screen text with a keyboard shortcut; may speak available text items in the current window when nothing is selected. |
| Safari Reader | Reducing distractions on a supported article page | Changes how an eligible article is presented. Pair it with Speak selection for speech. |
| VoiceOver | Spoken feedback and navigation across the Mac and webpages | Functions as a screen reader, with commands for reading text and web-specific settings. |
Troubleshoot when the Mac does not speak
- Check Speak selection: Confirm it is enabled at Apple menu > System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak, and verify the shortcut shown there.
- Check sound output: Make sure the Mac is not muted and the output volume is raised. Apple’s guide, If you can’t hear your Mac speak, covers sound troubleshooting.
- Check what you selected: Try selecting a short, visible passage in the webpage. With no selection, speech depends on whether macOS can find available text items in the current window.
- Check the reading mode: If you intended to use VoiceOver, confirm it is active and use VoiceOver commands. Speak selection and VoiceOver are separate features.
Find the setting on your macOS version
The cited Apple Mac guide uses the path System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak. Setting names, shortcut defaults, voices, and language availability can vary by macOS version, region, and language. Follow the labels on your installed system; Apple does not establish one minimum macOS version that applies to all the features described here. For additional options, see Apple’s Read & Speak settings guide.
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- A VIBRANT 13-INCH DISPLAY* — The gorgeous Liquid Retina display on MacBook Neo supports 1 billion colors, so photos and videos pop and text is crisp for easy reading.
Apple guides
- Have your Mac speak text that’s on the screen
- Hide distractions when reading articles in Safari on Mac
- Use VoiceOver to read text on Mac
- Change VoiceOver Web settings
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