MAKING THE MAC MORE ACCESSIBLE
Voice Control is only the tip of the iceberg on the
Mac, with Hover Text on macOS another tool that
was previewed at the WWDC event. Herrlinger
said that the feature was “a subset of the existing
Zoom functionality,” designed to allow users to
place a mouse pointer over a selection of text
to get a bubble with enlarged text. Working
system-wide, rather than only in Apple-designed
apps, Hover Text can be used in places such as
the menu bar to increase the size of the text.
What’s even more interesting is that Hover Text
is customizable, so users can choose their own
fonts and colors to make their own Bubbles
based on their needs. Text can be enlarged up
to size 128pt, and users can experiment with
different permutations, like yellow backgrounds
with blue text, to find a happy medium that
offers readability and access.
According to Apple, Hover Text serves as an
alternative to Dynamic Type found on iOS, as it
offers the same end goal without enlarging the
text automatically. Users can press the Control
key when hovering over the text with their
cursor, and a window with zoomed text appears
alongside the standard interface, helping them
stay contextually aware. For those who prefer, it’s
possible to see the same screen up close and at
a distance simultaneously with a second display,
keeping one monitor zoomed in and another at
standard resolution.
And there are tons of smaller accessibility
features coming to macOS Catalina, too, such as
VoiceOver support in Xcode (VoiceOver will now
read warnings, line numbers, and breakpoints,
so developers can code new software and
applications), punctuation in iCloud, new