Chrome’s accessibility options live under More > Settings > Accessibility (Live Caption, image descriptions, caret browsing, focus highlight) and Settings > Appearance (font size and page zoom). Screen readers and high contrast come from your computer or phone, and Chrome works with them. This page covers screen reader support, high contrast mode, text scaling and more across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. For a longer walkthrough, see our Chrome accessibility features guide.
Screen Reader Support
ChromeVox Screen Reader
ChromeVox is the screen reader built into Chromebooks. Press Ctrl + Alt + Z on any page to turn it on or off. On Windows, Mac and Linux, use the screen reader for that system instead.
Using Screen Readers on Different Platforms
- Windows: Use built-in Narrator or third-party options like NVDA or JAWS.
- macOS: Turn VoiceOver on or off by pressing Command + F5.
- Linux: Use the Orca screen reader on GNOME desktops.
- Android/iOS: Turn on TalkBack (Android) or VoiceOver (iOS) in your device’s settings.
High Contrast Mode
Chrome has no high contrast switch of its own. Use one of these:
- Windows: Select Start > Settings > Accessibility > Contrast themes, pick a theme and select Apply. Google says Chrome’s colors automatically follow these settings on Windows.
- Mac: Choose Apple menu > System Settings > Accessibility > Display, then turn on Increase contrast or Invert colors.
- Any computer: Add Google’s High Contrast extension from the Chrome Web Store, which can flip black and white or remove colors, site by site.
Text Scaling
Adjust text size for better readability using Chrome’s built-in features.
- Go to Settings > Appearance.
- Next to Font size, choose the text size you want from the dropdown menu.
- To make everything bigger, not just text, change Page zoom in the same section. For more font options, select Customize fonts.
Keyboard Navigation
Improve navigation using keyboard shortcuts in Chrome.
- Tab: Navigate through clickable items.
- Shift + Tab: Move focus backwards.
- Spacebar: Scroll down the page.
- Shift + Spacebar: Scroll up the page.
- F7: Turn caret browsing on or off, to move through text with the arrow keys.
- On Windows/Linux, use Ctrl + L or on macOS, Cmd + L to focus on the address bar.
Accessibility Extensions
Enhance Chrome’s accessibility with extensions. You can see the ones you have installed at chrome://extensions.
- Read Aloud: Text-to-speech extension for reading webpages aloud.
- Grammarly: Assists with grammar and spelling, useful for dyslexic users.
- Color Enhancer: Google’s extension that adjusts webpage colors to assist users with color vision deficiencies.
Google’s own help page on using Chrome with accessibility extensions explains how to set up Color Enhancer, High Contrast and the others Google makes.