Accessibility Features Chromebooks

Chromebook Accessibility options can be found in the settings menu. A guide on how to get there and how to create a shortcut to it can be found in the adjacent video.

ChromeVox: A built in screen reader for Chromebooks, which enables people with visual impairments to use the Chrome operating system. ChromeVox speaks the content of the page, plays audio indicators for page load progress and objects on the page, and provides a way to navigate all web content from the keyboard. Once activated you can turn ChromeVox on or off from any page by pressing Ctrl + Alt + z. 

Select to Speak: Hear parts of a page, including specific words, read aloud with Select to Speak. Once the option is activated - Highlight the text you to hear and press the Search key + s. 

High Contrast Mode: Inverts the screen colours to make icons and buttons stand out from backgrounds, make text easier to read and to reduce screen glare. 

Enable full-screen magnifier: Once enabled use CTRL + Search key + m to toggle the full screen magnifier.

Enable docked magnifier: Uses the top 3rd of the screen as the magnifier and displays the section of the screen around the pointer in the lower portion.

Display device settings: Contains Night Light option to reduce glare and make it easier to read the screen in a low light environment.

Sticky Keys: Allow you to preform keyboard shortcuts by pressing keys sequentially rather than pressing them all at the same time.

On-screen keyboard: Allows you to use the touch screen as a keyboard rather than the actual keyboard. This is useful when the Chromebook is in tablet mode.

Dictation: Requires an internet connection to process speech. Press Search key + d and speak.

Switch Access: An alternate input method for your Chromebook. When you use Switch Access, it scans the items on your screen until you use a switch to make a selection. Switches can be used with the built-in keyboard, or an external device that you connect through Bluetooth or USB. 

Important: If you want to use an external device for your switches, make sure it’s connected to your Chromebook before you set up Switch Access. 

Here you will find options to change the cursor's size or colour. 

Automatically click when cursor stops: Allows users to use the mouse or touch pad without having to click or tap to interact with icons, objects or text.

Highlight the mouse cursor when moving: Causes a red ring to appear around the cursor as it moves about the screen.

Turn on navigation buttons in tablet mode: Add "back" and "home" buttons to the screen in tablet mode.

Here you will find options to convert the audio output from stereo to mono and to set the Chromebook to play a sound on start up.

Captions: (Requires a small download) Will display live captions for any audio or video file or stream played on the Chromebook.

Google's Education portal contains a page exploring the accessibility features on the Chromebook which has links to YouTube video tutorials created by Google:

https://edu.google.com/intl/ALL_uk/why-google/accessibility/chromebooks-accessibility/