The best Chromebooks and ChromeOS tablets are designed for everybody to use, regardless of your technical know-how. That includes those with disabilities. Screen readers are common tools for the visually impaired, and luckily, ChromeOS has one, called ChromeVox.
Like Narrator on the best Windows laptops, ChromeVox will narrate things on the screen on your Chromebook. Here's how to get started.
How to use a screen reader on Chromebooks
To use the ChromeVox all you have to do is press Ctrl + Alt + Z on your keyboard, which will turn the feature on or off. If you're on a ChromeOS tablet, you can simply press the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons for five seconds. You'll hear a noise indicating it's been turned on, followed by a voice. An orange rectangle will appear on the screen. Once you've done that, here are some starter tips.
- To read a page: Hit Search + K or Launcher button + K on your keyboard. Depending on your Chromebook model, you'll see either the circular launcher button or a traditional search button on the keyboard.
- To choose text with your cursor to be read: Hit the Search button + O + O or Launcher + O + O and then select Turn on Speak text under the mouse.
-
To change the speed or pitch of the language: Hit the Search button + O + O or Launcher + O + O then select the option from the chart below.
Button combination
Task achieved
Search + Shift + [ or Launcher + Shift + [
Slow down
Search + [ or Launcher + [
Speed up
Ctrl
Stop speaking
Search + ] or Launcher + ]
Higher frequency
Search + Shift + ] or Launcher + Shift + ]
Lower frequency
- To change the voice or language: Hit the Search button + O + O or Launcher + O + O and then in the voices section choose your desired option. Confirm with Ctrl + W.
That's all you need to do use the ChromeVox screen reader on ChromeOS. All you have to do is trigger the feature, and then it's smooth sailing from there. At any time, you can learn more keyboard combinations and other shortcuts for ChromeVox by pressing the Search + M or Launcher + M buttons on your keyboard to open the context menu. You also can open the search tutorial, too by pressing Search + O or Launcher + O to learn more about these features. A full tutorial can be opened at any time by clicking the ChromeVox logo in the top left of the screen.
HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook
- Operating System
- ChromeOS
- CPU
- 12th-Gen Intel Core i5 -1235U (12 threads, 3.67GHz) processor
- GPU
- Iris Xe
- Storage
- 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery
- 4-cells (2S2P), 51.3 Wh Li-ion polymer
- Display (Size, Resolution)
- 14ā 16:10 display, LCD (2560X1600), 87.6% screen to body ratio, 1,200 nits
The HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook was designed with Google, so it's the closest thing we'll see to a new Pixel-branded Chromebook. It has a 1,200-nit, 2560 x 1600 display, an RGB keyboard, and an Intel Core i5.