Custom Pronunciations

by M.J. Phoenix

Editor’s Note: This guide pertains primarily to Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Users of older versions of Mac OS X may also find it useful, but some of the terms or steps described herein may be slightly different. Key commands prefixed with "VO" refer to the VoiceOver keys, which are Control-Option.

Ever wanted to change how VoiceOver says something? Well you can. Here’s how.

Hit VO-F8 to open the VoiceOver utility. arrow down through the categories list until you get to speech. VO-right and on pronunciation hit VO-Space to select it.

Now to the right of the pronunciation button is a table. Mac automatically edits the way some symbols are spoken but to add your own do the following.

You should be in the first column where you type your word. So for example, the phrase lol should read laughing out loud. So type lol in the first column and then VO-right.
You need to hit VO-Space here to enter your new word, otherwise it just types your word in the first column. So where it says substitution, hit VO-Space to ensure you’re about to edit the word in the write column, it should make a pop sound to allow you to know its in the right place, type laughing out loud.

To add another word repeat the process.

You can change a word for certain applications, so if you want Lol to only work in your IM client then you can select that from the applications menu within the table.

To delete an entry

Simply highlight it in the table by putting your voice over cursor on it, stop interacting with the table and VO-right to delete and vo-space to carry out the action.

To edit an entry.

• Interact with the table.
• Find the entry with your VO keys you want to edit.
• Ensure you VO-space on the entry you want to edit whether that be the word or the substitution before you attempt to edit it.