Text to speech for dyslexia on Mac

Short answerTurn on Speak Selection in System Settings and press Option-Esc on selected text for free built-in speech. For a word-by-word highlight, calmer voices and one shortcut in every app, Aloud is a native Mac app: select text and press Control-Option-S, or open a PDF in its reader. It costs $19 once per Mac—no subscription and no free trial.

Who this helps

Text to speech on a Mac is useful when you read more easily by ear, when your eyes are tired, when you have ADHD and long pages pull you off track, or when you are a student working through PDFs and articles. Pairing sound with a moving highlight keeps your place without re-reading the same line. For choosing between dedicated apps, see what to look for in a dyslexia reading app on Mac.

Free first: Speak Selection

1. Turn on Speak Selection. Open System Settings → Accessibility → Read & Speak (called Spoken Content on macOS 14 and 15) and switch on Speak selection.
2. Download a clearer voice. Choose System voice → Manage Voices and download an Enhanced or Premium voice in your language.
3. Read a selection. Highlight text in any app and press Option-Esc. Press it again to stop.
4. Set speed. Use the Speaking rate slider in the same settings.

In apps that support it, turn on word highlighting under Speak Selection options. For a deeper look at following along visually, see text to speech with word highlight on Mac.

Step-by-step: Aloud on your Mac

Aloud (ours) is built for listening every day. It is a one-time $19 purchase per Mac, macOS 14 or later, with no account and no subscription.

1. Install Aloud from aloudapp.app and open it from the menu bar icon.
2. Allow permissions when asked: Accessibility (read your selection and the paragraph under the pointer), Screen Recording (read text from a screenshot) and Automation (read the article in your front browser tab). Aloud never asks for Input Monitoring.
3. Optional: Kokoro voices. On a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 15 or later, open the menu bar icon → Settings (⌘,,) → Speech → Download (327 MB). After that, eight English neural voices run offline on your Mac: Heart, Bella, Nicole, Sarah, Michael, Fenrir, Emma and George. They sound more natural than compact Apple voices. Full walkthrough: Kokoro TTS on a Mac.
4. Read anything. Select text and press Control-Option-S. Aloud opens a reading window, highlights each word as it speaks, and lets you click a sentence to jump there. Change speed between 0.75× and 2× while you listen.

Default shortcuts

• Control-Option-S — read the current selection
• Control-Option-P — pause or resume
• Control-Option-R — open the reader window
• Control-Option-A — read the article in your front browser tab
• Control-Option-X — read the paragraph under the pointer

Course PDFs: drag a file into Aloud or use File → Open PDF or Image…. Headers, footers and page numbers are skipped automatically. See how to read a PDF aloud on Mac. Students juggling readings may also like text to speech for students.

Buy Aloud · $19   One-time purchase. No subscription, no free trial.

Tips for reading with dyslexia

• Listen and watch. Keep your eyes on the highlighted word instead of only listening. The highlight is there so you do not lose your place.
• Pick a voice you can follow. Try Kokoro or a Premium Apple voice; a voice you like makes long readings less tiring than the default compact voice.
• Adjust speed slowly. Start near normal speed, then nudge up in Aloud if you stay focused. If you miss words, slow down again.
• Work in sections. Stop at headings or every few paragraphs so you can summarise what you heard before continuing.
• Use the reader for long PDFs. Opening the whole file avoids fighting page breaks and repeated headers when you only need the body text.

These are everyday reading habits, not medical advice. If you need formal assessment or accommodations, ask your school, university or health provider what they offer.

Comparing Mac readers

If you are weighing subscription apps against a one-time Mac purchase, these pages spell out price and features: best text-to-speech apps for Mac, Aloud vs Speechify, Aloud vs NaturalReader, Aloud vs Voice Dream Reader and Aloud vs ElevenReader.