How to make Safari read a web page aloud on Mac

Short answerOpen the page, turn on Reader (the Reader button in the address bar, or View → Show Reader), press Command-A to select the article, then choose Edit → Speech → Start Speaking or press Option-Esc if Speak Selection is on. Recent Safari versions may also offer a Listen to Page option. Aloud reads the article in the front Safari, Chrome, Edge or Brave tab with one shortcut, Control-Option-A.

The free built-in fix

1. Open Reader. Click the Reader button in the address bar, or choose View → Show Reader. This strips menus and ads.
2. Select the article. Click in the article and press Command-A.
3. Start speaking. Choose Edit → Speech → Start Speaking, or press Option-Esc with Speak Selection turned on.
4. Stop. Choose Edit → Speech → Stop Speaking, or press Option-Esc again.

Listen to Page

Some recent Safari versions add a Listen to Page command (look in the page menu in the address bar). Availability depends on your macOS and Safari version and the page, so the Edit → Speech method above is the dependable one.

The better fix: Aloud

If the built-in tools keep getting in your way, Aloud (ours, $19 once per Mac, macOS 14 or later) is made for this:

• Control-Option-A reads the article in the front tab of Safari, Chrome, Edge or Brave, without selecting anything.
• A reading window with a word highlight and click-to-seek, so you can jump to any sentence.
• Speed from 0.75x to 2x, changed mid-sentence, and resume from the last sentence.
• Natural voices: your Mac's Enhanced and Premium voices, the on-device Kokoro neural voice (Apple silicon, macOS 15+), or ElevenLabs/Cartesia with your own API key.
• Private by default: with Apple or Kokoro voices nothing leaves your Mac; no account, no analytics in the app.

Buy Aloud, $19 once   Launch offer: code LAUNCH25 takes 25% off until Oct 31. 3-day free trial, no card or account.