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How to Make Your Mac Read Webpages Aloud

Enable Speak Selection in macOS to hear selected webpage text with Option-Esc. Safari Reader can simplify eligible articles, while VoiceOver adds screen-reader navigation.
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To have your Mac read webpage text aloud, turn on Speak selection in Apple menu > System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak. Select text on the page and press Option-Esc, Apple’s documented default shortcut. Use Safari Reader to simplify eligible articles first, or VoiceOver when you need a screen reader that also navigates the page and Mac interface.

Use Speak Selection for webpage text

Speak Selection is the built-in macOS option for hearing text you choose. Apple describes it as a way to have your Mac speak selected text whenever you press a keyboard shortcut.

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  1. Open the Apple menu and choose System Settings.
  2. Go to Accessibility > Read & Speak.
  3. Turn on Speak selection.
  4. On a webpage, select the text you want read aloud.
  5. Press Option-Esc to start speaking, unless the shortcut has been changed in settings.

If you have not selected text, macOS may speak available text items in the current window. If there are no available items, pressing the shortcut can produce a sound instead of speech. The exact labels and available voices can vary by macOS version, region, and language; follow the labels on your Mac. Apple’s current instructions are in Have your Mac speak text that’s on the screen.

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Control the speech while it plays

Read & Speak settings let you configure an on-screen controller and spoken-text highlighting. When the controller is enabled, it can pause or resume speech, stop it, change the speaking rate, and skip forward or backward by a sentence. These controls are useful when you want to listen to one section without restarting from the beginning.

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For options such as the controller and highlighting, open System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak. Apple explains the available options in Change Read & Speak settings for accessibility on Mac.

Use Safari Reader for a less cluttered article

Safari Reader presents some recognized articles in a simplified view, which can make the text easier to focus on before using Speak Selection. It does not provide the speech itself: select the article text and use the Speak Selection shortcut after opening Reader.

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  1. In Safari, open the webpage you want to read.
  2. If Safari offers Reader for that page, open the Page menu and choose Show Reader.
  3. Select the text and press Option-Esc.

Reader is available only for pages Safari recognizes as articles, so its control may not appear on every site. See Apple’s guide, Hide distractions when reading articles in Safari on Mac.

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Choose VoiceOver for screen-reader navigation

VoiceOver is a screen reader, not just a way to speak a selected passage. It reads information and helps you navigate the Mac interface and webpages. Its default modifier is Control-Option; Caps Lock can be configured as the modifier instead. VoiceOver can read text in chunks, and its web settings include an option to start reading a webpage from the beginning.

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Use VoiceOver if you need spoken feedback while moving through page content and controls. For a quick listen to a selected passage, Speak Selection is the more direct choice. Apple’s instructions are in Use VoiceOver to read text on Mac and Change VoiceOver Web settings.

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If your Mac does not speak

  • Confirm Speak selection is enabled in System Settings > Accessibility > Read & Speak.
  • Check that your Mac is not muted and that the output volume is audible.
  • Make sure text is selected, or that the current window contains text items macOS can speak.
  • If you are using VoiceOver commands, confirm VoiceOver is active.

Apple’s troubleshooting steps are in If you can’t hear your Mac speak.

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