How do I turn off voice Accessibility?
What is Voice Accessibility?
Voice accessibility features allow users to control devices hands-free using voice commands. As the name suggests, these features aim to make technology more accessible for people who may have difficulty using touchscreens or keyboards. According to Technology.Gov.Capital, voice recognition technology has advanced significantly in recent years, enabling integration of robust voice control capabilities on many platforms [1].
On mobile operating systems like iOS and Android, voice accessibility provides an alternative method to navigate devices and launch apps. For example, users can say “open settings” to launch the settings app hands-free. On desktop platforms like Windows and Mac, voice commands can be used to dictate text, launch programs, click buttons, and more. The capabilities vary across platforms, but generally allow hands-free control for most common tasks.
Voice accessibility aims to provide greater independence and accessibility for blind users, those with motor impairments, or anyone who prefers voice control. With accurate speech recognition and robust voice command options, these features help minimize the need for physical interaction with devices.
Why You Might Want to Turn Off Voice Accessibility
There are a few key reasons why you may want to turn off voice accessibility features on your device:
Privacy concerns – Voice accessibility features like TalkBack on Android require the device to listen and record your voice commands. If you are concerned about privacy, you may wish to disable these features.
Accidental activations – Voice accessibility can sometimes be activated accidentally, resulting in your device randomly speaking menu options or reading text aloud. This can be distracting and annoying. Turning off voice accessibility prevents this from happening.
You may also wish to disable voice accessibility to improve device performance, save battery life, or simply because you don’t need the feature enabled.
How to Turn Off Voice Accessibility on iOS
To turn off VoiceAccessibility on an iPhone or iPad running iOS, simply open the Settings app and navigate to Accessibility settings. Tap on “Voice Control” and you will see a toggle switch for turning Voice Control on or off. To disable Voice Accessibility, just tap on this switch to turn it to the off position.
Specifically, follow these steps to turn off Voice Accessibility on iOS:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
- Scroll down and tap on “Accessibility”.
- On the Accessibility screen, tap on “Voice Control”.
- Tap on the switch next to “Voice Control” to turn it off.
With Voice Control toggled off, your iOS device will no longer respond to voice commands or have screen reading enabled. You can always return to the Voice Control settings and turn it back on if you want to re-enable Voice Accessibility features.
How to Turn Off Voice Accessibility on Android
Turning off Voice Accessibility on an Android device is simple. Just follow these steps:
1. Open the Settings app on your Android phone or tablet.
2. Tap “Accessibility” in the Settings menu.
3. Select “Voice Access” from the Accessibility options.
4. Toggle the switch next to “Voice Access” off to disable the feature.
Once you toggle Voice Accessibility off, you will no longer be able to use voice commands to control your Android device hands-free. The microphone icon will disappear from your navigation bar as well.
If you want to turn Voice Accessibility back on later, just return to the Voice Access setting and toggle it on again. You can also customize Voice Accessibility under the “Settings” menu to control things like speech rate, confirmation options, and more.
For more information, check out Google’s support article on changing Voice Access settings: https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6151843?hl=en
How to Turn Off Voice Accessibility on Windows
To turn off voice accessibility features like Narrator on Windows 10 or 11, you’ll need to access the Ease of Access settings.
First, open the Ease of Access Center by going to Start > Settings > Ease of Access. Alternatively, you can press Windows + U to launch the Ease of Access Center.
Next, click on “Speech” in the left sidebar. This will open speech and narration settings.
Under “Speech recognition,” toggle the “Speech recognition” switch to the off position. This will turn off automatic speech recognition features.
You can also turn off the Narrator specifically by toggling “Turn on Narrator” to off. The Narrator reads text aloud on Windows.
With speech recognition disabled, Windows will no longer listen and respond to voice commands. To re-enable voice accessibility features, simply toggle the switches back on again.
For more details, refer to Microsoft’s guide on controlling Narrator settings.
How to Turn Off Voice Accessibility on Mac
To turn off VoiceOver on a Mac, the main screen reader accessibility feature, follow these steps:
1. Open System Preferences by going to the Apple menu in the top left and selecting System Preferences.
2. In System Preferences, click on the Accessibility icon.
3. In the Accessibility preferences pane, click on the Speech section on the left side.
4. In the Speech section, uncheck the box next to “Dictation” to disable the Dictation feature.
5. You can also toggle VoiceOver on or off using the keyboard shortcut Command + F5. Press it once to turn VoiceOver on, again to turn it off.
6. Additionally, you can open VoiceOver Utility by pressing VO-Fn-F8 when VoiceOver is enabled. Then click Speech > Voices and select “Mute Speech” to disable VoiceOver speech and audio.
7. Once Dictation is disabled and VoiceOver speech is muted or turned off completely using the keyboard shortcut, the main voice accessibility features on Mac will be disabled.
For more information, see this guide on turning VoiceOver on and off.
Controlling Which Apps Can Use Voice Accessibility
You may want voice control enabled, but only for certain apps rather than having it available system-wide. Fortunately, there are ways to limit voice control to specific apps on some devices.
On iOS, you can go into Settings > Accessibility > Voice Control and toggle on “Recognize Commands” while toggling off “Recognize Requests.” This will restrict voice control to only recognize commands and not dictation. Some examples of Voice Control commands on iOS include “go home,” “tap [app name],” and “scroll down.” With Requests disabled, you cannot use dictation features.
There are also third party apps like Launch Center Pro that let you create custom Siri shortcuts to open or control certain apps using your voice. So you can set up voice commands that will only work within selected apps.https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253539692
On Android, apps like Tasker and MacroDroid can customize voice control settings and tie voice commands to certain apps. You may also be able to use Google Assistant routines to restrict commands to specific apps.
While options are more limited on Windows and Mac, you may be able to leverage third-party apps or services for custom voice command shortcuts.
Using Voice Commands to Toggle Voice Accessibility
Many devices allow you to disable voice features by voice command. On Android devices, you can say “Hey Google, turn off Voice Access” to disable Google’s Voice Accessibility feature (1). On iPhones and iPads, saying “Hey Siri, turn off VoiceOver” will disable Apple’s screen reader. Windows 10 also lets you say “Hey Cortana, turn off Narrator” to toggle the Narrator screen reader (2).
These voice commands provide a hands-free way to quickly enable or disable accessibility features as needed. However, they only work if you have the phone’s voice assistant enabled like Google Assistant, Siri or Cortana. The specific phrasing of the commands may vary slightly by device model and software version.
(1) https://support.google.com/accessibility/android/answer/6151854?hl=en
Troubleshooting Voice Accessibility
If voice accessibility features like Voice Control or Voice Access are not responding properly to your commands, there are some troubleshooting steps you can take:
First, make sure your device is connected to the internet over Wi-Fi or cellular data. Voice recognition requires an internet connection to function properly. Check that the Wi-Fi is turned on and connected or that cellular data is enabled.
Next, close and re-open the voice accessibility app or service. This will restart the voice recognition engine and reconnect the internet. Try your voice commands again to see if they are now working properly.
You may also want to check the microphone settings and make sure the app or service has permission to use the microphone. Go into your phone’s app settings or privacy settings and double check that microphone access is enabled for the voice app.
Finally, you can try powering your device off completely and turning it back on. This reboot can clear any glitches and ensure all systems are working correctly. Once the device is powered back on, open the voice accessibility app and test your voice commands again.
If you’ve tried all these basic troubleshooting tips and voice commands are still not working properly, you may need to reach out to customer support for that specific app or service for additional help.
Alternatives to Voice Accessibility
While voice accessibility features can be useful for some, there are other accessibility options to consider as alternatives. Two popular alternatives that provide a hands-free experience are:
Switch Control
Switch control allows you to navigate your device using an adaptive switch or switches instead of touch. According to Apple’s support guide on iOS devices, the device will scan through items on screen and you can activate a switch when it lands on what you want to interact with.
AssistiveTouch
AssistiveTouch is another accessibility feature that helps you avoid difficult gestures by providing alternatives. As explained in this article from W3C, you can configure gestures and customize different actions using one finger, a stylus, or other adaptive devices.
Both switch control and AssistiveTouch can allow for a hands-free experience without needing voice commands. They may serve as useful alternatives for those wanting more control and customization over device interactions.