- Series: Simple accessibility hints
- Simple: Enlarging Text
- Simple: Bigger Mouse Pointer
- Simple: Alert Sounds You Can See
- Simple: The Computer Tells You The Time
- Simple: Show Icons in open/save dialag box
- Simple: Zoom in to see screen details more easily
- Simple: Word Completion
- Make iTunes Easier To See and Use
- Simple Keyboard Shortcuts To Save You Time
It’s easy for anybody to loose track of time when they’re using a computer, and if you have a neurological or attention problem then you may get even more lost than most. Here’s how to get your computer to regularly announce the time:
Open System Preferences – it’s the fourth item in the Apple menu (the shape) in the very top left corner of the screen as shown here:
In the “System” section, usually about the fourth line of icons in System Preferences, there is an icon labeled “Date & Time” which looks like a clock face with a small calendar in front of it. Click on this Date & Time icon.
The Date & Time pane has sections labeled “Date & Time”, “Time Zone”, and “Clock”. Click on the “Clock” section and you’ll see the options for the date and time display in the menu bar, and the other one “Announce the time” as this image shows:
You need to select the checkbox for “Announce the time” as in the image, then select the frequency of announcements in the selection box. If you like, select the “Customize voice…” button to select which voice the time announcement uses, and the speed and volume of the announcements.
- Ricky Buchanan
Dan Horovatin January 5, 2008 at 6:11 am
Can you suggest how I can prevent this time announcement from turning off? Over the past couple of weeks I have had to reopen the preferences, observe that nothing appears to have been changed, close the preferences and the announcements begin again. I have now tried clicking the lock to see if that will prevent the turning off.
Ricky Buchanan January 14, 2008 at 9:54 am
It shouldn’t turn itself off – did the padlocking work? If not, you’ll have to figure out which plist file is the right one and delete that probably – I suggest you ask on the Apple Discussion forums about it. I don’t know offhand, and it’s not really an accessibility problem. Best of luck.