Voice Control
enables you
to select and
‘click’ on things40 | MACFORMAT | DECEMBER 2019 macformat.com @macformatAPPLE SKILLS Mac software
Voice control on Mac
Voice Control now allows you to operate your Mac hands-free
IT WILL TAKE
10 minutesYOU WILL LEARN
You will learn how
to control your Mac
with your voiceYOU’LL NEED
macOS CatalinaVoice Control first appeared
in Apple’s mobile operating
system back in 2009, and it
was brilliant. And now it’s on
the Mac, and it’s just as brilliant here. It’s
designed to help people with motor-skill issues
and it’s also very convenient for anyone who
wants to ask their Mac to do things.
Voice Control enables you to select and
‘click’ on things easily. Say “show numbers”to number on-screen elements such as web
links, interface buttons or menu items. You
can then click on them by saying “click” and
the number of the item you want to click.
If there isn’t a number, you can still use
Voice Control to click on something. Say
“Show grid” or “Show window grid” and it
will divide the screen into rectangles, each
one with its own number; say “Click” and the
number to click on an area or “zoom” and the
number to zoom in on it. That latter option
then divides the zoomed area into numbered
rectangles, and you can repeat the process.
You can’t use Voice Control and have
Dictation enabled at the same time, but
that doesn’t mean you can’t dictate. Simply
navigate using Voice Control to something
editable such as the body of an email message
or a Pages document and start talking. Voice
Control then moves into dictation mode, and
you can use commands to edit as you go,
such as “Delete that”, “Move down two
sentences” or “use percent sign”.
Carrie MarshallYou can still use the Dictation facility but you can’t
run Voice Control and Dictation simultaneously.