Apple MacOS Accessibility Settings

MacOS System Preferences screen with Accessibility icon circled.  

MacOS Accessibility Settings

Apple computers - desktops and MacBooks - come loaded with high quality assistive technologies. However, the options available differ based on which version your computer is running. The quality can differ too. For those reasons, it's best to keep your Apple computer updated to the most recent operating system that can run on your machine. 

How to Open MacOS Accessibility Settings

  1. Open the System Preferences window by clicking the Gear icon in the Dock (it usually appears in the far left), or by clicking the Apple icon at the top left of the screen and selecting "System Preferences" from the list.
  2. Click the blue Accessibility icon - it looks like a man with his arms and legs outstretched in a circle.

The Accessibility settings are listed on the left, and are grouped into three categories: Vision, Hearing, and Motor. Please take some time to click on each one to learn what it does.

Demo of MacOS Accessibility Settings

Here's a video on accessibility settings in the Catalina version of the MacOS. 

(If the video won't play in Canvas, you can watch "10 New MacOS Catalina Features... on YouTube Links to an external site..")

Note: the most recent version as of right now (January 2021) is Big Sur; however, I haven't noticed any major changes in the accessibility features. If you want to learn more about accessibility in Big Sur - or in another version - go to the Apple "Use Accessibility Features..." web page Links to an external site.. You can choose a specific version by clicking the Select Version field at the top left of the screen and finding your version in the drop-down list.