# Getting started with macOS VoiceOver

DevFeed: [Getting started with macOS VoiceOver](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/getting-started-with-macos-voiceover-9390.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://a11yproject.com/posts/getting-started-with-voiceover/>)

Author: Mat Marquis

Published: 2013-01-14T00:00:00Z

Content type: tutorial

Language: en

Sources: [The A11Y Project](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/the-a11y-project.md>)

Topics: [Accessibility](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/accessibility.md>), [macOS](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/macos.md>), [aria](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/aria.md>), [Document Object Model (DOM)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/dom.md>), [Web](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/web.md>), [User interface design](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ui-design.md>)

Tags: [accessibility](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/accessibility.md>), [apple](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/apple.md>), [aria](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/aria.md>), [getting-started](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/getting-started.md>), [macos](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/macos.md>), [spaces](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/spaces.md>), [speed](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/speed.md>), [voice](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/voice.md>), [web](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web.md>)

## AI overview

This tutorial introduces macOS VoiceOver, covering how to enable it, use VO keyboard commands, adjust voice and speaking speed, and navigate web content through grouping or DOM order. It also explains the Web Item Rotor for jumping among links, headings, form controls, tables, web spaces, and ARIA landmarks.

## Source excerpt

VoiceOver is the assistive software built into macOS. It provides a richer set of keyboard shortcuts for navigating a website and reads sections of the page aloud based on the current focus. It's a great way to test the accessibility of a project because it's always readily at-hand: you can toggle VoiceOver on/off by: Toggling it to "on" under "Universal Access" in your system preferences. Pressing Command + F5 Turning on VoiceOver enables a number of navigational key commands, all of which are performed by pressing Control and Option. This is usually abbreviated to "VO" in Apple's documentation (so VO + F1 means Control + Option + F1). To start out, try turning on VoiceOver with Command + F5, then use VO + F8 to open VoiceOver's preferences window--here you can adjust things like the voice used, speaking speed, and under "web": your navigation method. Navigation modes There are two modes you can use when navigating with VoiceOver: by "grouping items" or by "DOM order." These two methods allow you to interact with a page's content in slightly different ways. Grouping items Grouping items will flag that you are currently focused on a list, and you can begin interacting with the items by pressing the down arrow to "drill down" into those items. This mode attempts to group related content based on how the page is being rendered, and navigating by group will allow you to use the arrow keys to move in any direction. We'll be focusing on this mode. DOM Order DOM Order will flag that you are entering a list of items, and drill down into those items automatically. This mode is based entirely on the page's underlying markup. Navigating by DOM order allows you to shift focus between DOM elements with the left and right arrow keys. The up and down arrow keys are based on the last used navigation method in the "Web Item Rotor." Reading text Here are some basic interaction and navigation commands for VoiceOver. Command Description VO + Shift + Down arrow Interact with an item VO