Google docs on M1 mac with big sur

By Simon, 29 November, 2020

Forum
macOS and Mac Apps

I am having a strange problem with google docs and sheets on a M1 MacBook using safari and chrome.

When creating a new doc or sheet VoiceOver works fantastic. In fact the speed under chrome is very impressive.

However, if I open an existing document I cannot interact with the doc or sheet. The cursor is moving around as confirmed by a sighted user. But I am unable to interact and have it read aloud.

But pop a new tab in the same session and create a new document. Everything works fine.

Can anyone with an intel or M1 MacBook replicate this?

Hoping its just something I have setup wrong. But the fact it works awesome with new documents is confusing me.

Options

Comments

By PaulMartz on Sunday, December 6, 2020 - 02:37

I just switched over to Big Sur and tried this for the first time. However, I'm on a 2018 Mac Mini and using Safari instead of Chrome. I was able to interact with existing Google Docs without any issues.

By Michael Hansen on Sunday, December 6, 2020 - 02:37

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Hi Simon,

First, I have very limited experience with Google Docs on any platform, and what experience I do have is on Windows. So the below suggestion may be totally irrelevant. If so, please just read on by...

When I used Google Docs to view a spreadsheet on Windows under Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, I was prompted to enable Screen Reader Mode by pressing Control-Alt-Z. If signed in, this setting usually saved each time I went to the spreadsheet. I'm guessing you've already done this? If not, some quick Googling suggests that Screen Reader Support can be enabled in the Tools Menu under Accessibility Settings from within a document, among other ways. More info here: https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6282736?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en