How Catalina’s Accessibility features can help
How to use
Sidecar +
Apple Pencil
SHOWN ON VIDEO during
Apple’s WWDC 2019 keynote,
the demo of macOS’ new Voice
Control system by quadriplegic user Ian
Mackay looked highly convincing. It’s one of
many new options found in the Accessibility
pane of System Preferences. Scroll down
to find it in the left pane, click Commands,
and you’ll see the extensive library of
instructions that can be interpreted by the
new Siri–powered Voice Control engine.
Enormous practical power is contained
in commands like Show Numbers, which,
rather than leaving you to tab laboriously
through on–screen features until you hit
the one you want, instantly attaches
numbered labels to them all, so you can
just call out a number. You can follow up
with Show Grid, which divides the screen
into numbered squares; you can then
pick one to enlarge and interact with.
Whether this is to overcome motor
challenges or just use a Mac hands–free,
it’s a very promising addition.
Voice Control isn’t the only Accessibility
innovation. Under Zoom, for example,
you’ll find extra options, including Enable
Hover Text. Whenever a chosen hot key is
pressed, this will pop up an enlargement
of any text the mouse cursor rolls over.
You can even customize the colors of the
enlarged text for maximum legibility.SIDECAR IS A remarkable
new feature that lets you use
any iPad with iOS 13 as a
second screen, connected wirelessly
with very little lag. It works over
Wi–Fi, so your Mac and iPad need to
be on the same Wi–Fi network.
Another requirement is that
you must be using two–factor
authentication on your Apple ID.
If you’ve been ignoring the nag
messages encouraging you to set this
up, now’s the time to do it: see bit.ly/
mf2fa for full details.
WINDOW TEAMING
To cut a long story short, it’s less
hassle than it might sound: it means
any device will need to be authorized
by receiving a code on one you already
own when you set it up or trust it in
a new way, but that’s only very
occasionally in practice. You can also
set up an extra phone number —
even a landline — to receive codes
in case you’re ever stuck.
Having set up 2FA, you’ll need to
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skipping this step on the iPad
resulted in unhelpful generic error
messages when the Mac tried to
connect. If everything’s ready,
selecting Window > Move to [device
name] in any compatible app shouldmove the current app window to the
iPad screen, where you can operate it
using the Pencil. (Only Pencil input is
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A virtual Touch Bar is displayed
along the bottom of the screen, and
keyboard input icons at the left,
regardless of whether you have a
Touch Bar on your Mac or a keyboard
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in System Preferences > Sidecar.The new Sidecar feature really ups the ante when it comes to productivity on your iPad.It’s now possible to control your Mac (and iOS
devices) using just your voice.maclife.com DEC 2019 29