Submitted by David Woodbridge on
VO+keystroke = Control+Option+keystroke
Getting Started
Basics
Turn VoiceOver on or off: Command+F5
Stop speech: Ctrl
Repeat the last spoken phrase: VO+Z
Help
VoiceOver Quick Start tutorial: VO+Command+F8
Open the VoiceOver Help menu: VO+H
VoiceOver Commands Help menu: VO+HH
Start keyboard help: VO+K (Esc to exit keyboard help)
Configuration
Typing Echo (verbosity): VO+V
Open VoiceOver Utility: VO+F8
Cycle through speech attributes: VO+Command+Shift+LeftArrow (or RightArrow)
Change current speech attribute: VO+Command+Shift+UpArrow (or DownArrow)
Close a menu or rotor, stop an action, or exit a mode: Escape
Lock and unlock the VO (Control and Option) keys: VO+semicolon
Orientation Commands
Hear the application summary: VO+F1
Hear the window summary: VO+F2
Describe the item in the VoiceOver cursor: VO+F3
Describe the item that has the keyboard focus: VO+F4
Describe the item in the mouse pointer: VO+F5
Describe the selected item: VO+F6
Navigation Commands
General
Move VO cursor left, right, up or down: VO+Arrow keys
Move to start of list or document: VO+Shift+Home
Move to end of list or document: VO+Shift+End
Move to top/start of window, Dock, etc: VO+Command+Home
Move to bottom/end of window, Dock, etc: VO+Command+End
Directly Accessing Items
Move to the menu bar: VO+M (or Control-F2), VO+Shift+M opens context menu)
Move to the Dock: VO+D (or Control-F3)
Move to the desktop: VO+Shift+D
Open the Item Chooser (to go to item on the screen or in a window): VO+I
Jump to a linked item (for example, from a Mail message in the Inbox to its message text): VO+J
Hot Spots
Set or remove a hot spot: VO+Shift+[number key]
Open the Hot Spot Chooser (to browse and jump to hot spots): VO+[number key]+[number key] (i.e. VO same number key twice)
Jump to a hot spot: VO+[number key]
Hear a description of a hot spot: VO+Command+[number key]
Quick Nav
Toggle QuickNav on/off: LeftArrow+RightArrow
Move VoiceOver cursor: Cursor keys (equals VO+Arrow keys)
Perform action: Up+Down (equals VO+Spacebar)
Interact with item: Right/Down (equals VO+Shift+DownArrow)
Stop interacting with item: Left/Down (equals VO+Shift+UpArrow)
VoiceOver Cursor Visual Commands
Magnify item in VoiceOver cursor: VO+Shift+right bracket
Shrink item in cursor: VO+Shift+left bracket
Toggle VoiceOver focus rectangle (and other visuals): VO+F11
Display Caption panel (of where VO cursor is): VO+Command+F10
Finding
Find text: VO+F
Find next (after using VO+F): VO+G
Find previous: VO+Shift+G
Find the next misspelled word: VO+Command+E
Reading commands (TextEdit, Safari, etc)
Before you can use most of these commands, you must interact with text in a text area.
General
Read from VoiceOver cursor to end: VO+A
Read from beginning to cursor: VO+B
Speak text attributes: VO+T
Speak line number, word and character in VoiceOver cursor: VO+F3
Characters
Read character in VoiceOver cursor: VO+C
Read next character: VO+Shift+Right Arrow
Read previous character: VO+Shift+Left Arrow
Words
Read word in VoiceOver cursor: VO+W
Spell word: VO+WW
Spell word phonetically: VO+WWW
Read next word: VO+Right Arrow
Read previous word: VO+Left Arrow
Lines
Read line in VoiceOver cursor: VO+L
Read next line: VO+Down Arrow
Read previous line: VO+Up Arrow
Sentences
Read sentence in VoiceOver cursor: VO+S
Read next sentence: VO+Command+Page Down
Read previous sentence: VO+Command+Page Up
Paragraphs
Read paragraph in VoiceOver cursor: VO+P
Read next paragraph: VO+Shift+Page Down
Read previous paragraph: VO+Shift+Page Up
Tables
Read a row in a table: VO+R
Read a column in a table: VO+C+C
Read the column header in a table: VO+C
Toggle table interaction: VO+Command+equals
Interaction commands
General
Interact with an item: VO+Shift+DownArrow
Stop interacting with an item: VO+Shift+Up Arrow
Perform the default action for the item in the VoiceOver cursor (e.g. open active item): VO+Spacebar
Open application, documents or download folders on Dock: VO+Spacebar, down arrow, Enter
Quick Nav
Perform action: Up+Down (equals VO+Spacebar)
Interact with item: Right/Down (equals VO+Shift+DownArrow)
Stop interacting with item: Left/Down (equals VO+Shift+UpArrow)
Web commands (Safari)
Navigation - General
Move to next heading: VO+Command+H
Move to next heading of the same level: VO+Command+M
Move to next plain text: VO+Command+P
Move to next link: VO+Command+L
Move to next visited link: VO+Command+V
Move to next control: VO+Command+J
Move to next table: VO+Command+T
Move to the next column: VO+Command+Y
Move to the next frame: VO+Command+F
Move to the next auto web spot: VO+Command+N
To move to a previous item, use Shift with above commands.e.g. VO+Command+Shift+H to move to previous heading
Navigation - Web Spots
Set a web spot: VO+Command+Shift+right bracket
Remove a web spot: VO+Command+Shift+left bracket
Set the sweet spot: VO+Command+Shift+right bracket+ right bracket
Move to the next web spot: VO+Command+right bracket
Move to the previous web spot: VO+Command+left bracket
Navigation - Web Item Rotor
Open the Web Item rotor: VO+U
Navigate lists: Left and right arrow keys
Navigate items in selected list: Up and down arrow keys
In Headers List, list only headings of a particular level: type level number
Miscellaneous
Read a link address (URL): VO+Shift+U
Read webpage statistics: VO+Shift+I
4 Comments
#1 Laptop key equivalents
Submitted by Esther on
#2 Thank you, David
Submitted by Chris Coulter on
#3 Thanks David
Submitted by Ekaj on
#4 Very Well Organized By Task
Submitted by Jim Homme on
Hi David,
These shortcuts are organized so that you can look them up by the kinds of tasks you happen to be doing at the time and learn that way. Thank you for putting them together this way.