Text to Speech Functionality

Step 1: Find accessibility features

1. At the bottom right, select the time. Or press Alt + Shift + s.
2. Select Settings.
3. At the bottom, select Advanced.
4. In the "Accessibility" section, select Manage accessibility features.
     • Optional: To have quick access to accessibility features, turn on Always show accessibility features system menu.

Step 2: Turn on a feature

Choose the accessibility features you'd like to use:
• Text-to-speech: Turn on the screen reader or Select-to-speak.
• Display: Turn on high contrast mode or screen magnifier, or the change screen resolution or text size.
• Keyboard: Turn on sticky keys, on-screen keyboard, keyboard focus highlighting, keyboard repeat rate, or word prediction. Learn how to type with your voice.
• Mouse and touchpad: Turn on automatic clicking, tap dragging, cursor highlighting, or change the cursor's size.
• Audio: Play all sounds together through all speakers or play sound on startup.
Type text with your voice
You can speak to enter text in most places where you usually type. You can even add common punctuation marks by saying "comma," "period," "question mark," "exclamation mark," or "exclamation point."
1. At the bottom right, select the time. Or press Alt + Shift + s.
2. Select Settings.
3. At the bottom, select Advanced.
4. In the "Accessibility" section, select Manage accessibility features.
5. Under "Keyboard and text input," turn on Enable dictation (speak to type).
6. Tap or select where you want to type.
7. Select Speak, or press Search + d.
8. Say what you want to type.
Hear text read aloud
You can hear full pages read aloud with Chromebook’s built-in screen reader or hear parts of a page, including specific words, read aloud with Select-to-speak.
Listen to all text
To have pages read aloud to you, turn on your Chromebook’s built-in screen reader:
1. At the bottom right, select the time. Or press Alt + Shift + s.
2. Select Settings.
3. At the bottom, select Advanced.
4. In the "Accessibility" section, select Manage accessibility features.
5. Under "Text-to-Speech," turn on Enable ChromeVox (spoken feedback).
Note: You can turn Chromevox on or off from any page by pressing Ctrl + Alt + z. Learn more about how to use the built-in screen reader.
Listen to part of a page
To select specific text on a page to be read to you, turn on Select-to-speak.

Step 1: Turn on Select-to-speak

1. At the bottom right, select the time. Or press Alt + Shift + s.
2. Select Settings.
3. At the bottom, select Advanced.
4. In the "Accessibility" section, select Manage accessibility features.
5. Under "Text-to-Speech," turn on Enable select-to-speak.

Step 2: Select and hear the text

1. To select what text you’d like to hear:
     • Press and hold the Search key and click a line of text.
     • Press and hold the Search key and drag the pointer over an area of the screen.
     • Highlight the text and press the Search key + s.
     • At the bottom right, near the time, select Select-to-speak. Then select a line of text or drag the pointer over an area of the screen.
     • On a touchscreen: At the bottom right, near the time, tap Select-to-speak. Then tap a line of text or drag your finger over an area of the screen.
2. Your Chromebook will read the section aloud and each word will be highlighted.
3. To stop Select-to-speak while it’s reading, press Ctrl or the Search key. You can also select Stop.

Additional resources