We’ve all been there, slogging through a long document or webpage trying to concentrate, but our eyes are getting tired and strained. Wouldn't it be nice to give your eyes a break and have someone else read the text to you for a bit? Well, with a built-in text-to-speech feature on a Mac computer you can. [I have a MacStudio and am running Sonoma OS but it’s a feature on other devices and earlier operating systems.

Apple includes a very useful accessibility feature that allows you to select text and have it read out loud with wonderfully natural sounding voices. This can come in handy for proofreading documents, long articles or e-books, adding in an auditory element to reinforce reading comprehension. Here's how to use the text to speak feature:

1. First, go into system settings under the Apple in the upper left corner of your screen and go to Accessibility>Spoken Content.  That’s where you set it up.
2. Highlight the text you want read aloud by dragging your mouse/cursor to select it - it can be a paragraph, page or multiple pages.  I tested it in paragraph by paragraph manner because I was proofreading an article.
3. Once your desired text is highlighted go to the Edit menu and select Speech>Start Speaking or you can use the keyboard shortcut Option + Esc.  Which is what I did.
4. To customize the voice or set other options, go to System Settings> Accessibility>spoken content.

That's all there is to it. With just a couple of clicks or keystrokes your Mac seamlessly converts text into speech. I find this tool especially useful when reviewing my own writing, to catch any awkward phrasing or spots that don't flow well.   And it's great for long online articles or e-books that you want to be hands-free with so give your eyes a break and let your Mac read to you! This accessibility feature is a productivity hack that everyone can benefit from.

Nefertiti's Tomb in Egypt, 2023