Being able to use a computer is a crucial skill for getting the most out of your education and being successful in the workplace. As a blind or partially sighted student, knowing what accessibility features are available and how to use them can be a game-changer.
If you want to use a ChromeBook at school, college or university but aren’t sure how accessible they are, don’t worry! ChromeBooks have an extensive range of built-in accessibility features which are similar to those on Microsoft Windows and Apple. Whether you have some sight or none at all, you might be surprised at what they can do.
A good place to start when using a new device is to explore its built-in accessibility features. The accessibility features of your ChromeBook can be found in the Settings menu. You can get there in a few ways:
Keep reading for all of the current accessibility options and how to toggle them.
Top tip: learn the keyboard shortcuts and make life easier!
You can turn on/off many of the accessibility features just using the keyboard. So, it’s well worth learning the shortcuts. Search/browse all the keyboard shortcuts on your ChromeBook by pressing Ctrl + Search + S, or check out this handy list of ChromeBook keyboard shortcuts here!
ChromeBooks have a powerful built-in screen reader called ChromeVox. This allows you to take full control of a ChromeBook using only the keyboard, with all on-screen content spoken aloud to you.
It couldn’t be much easier to get started! You can quickly activate ChromeVox at any time, including on the log-on screen or set-up screen when switching on for the first time using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + Z.
Top tip: get to know your modifier key
As with most screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA and Voiceover, ChromeVox has a modifier key, used to specifically control the screen reader itself. This is known as the Search key on ChromeBooks, and is found next to the letter A, in the same position as the Caps-Lock key on Windows and Apple devices. Other than this key having a different name, you will find many familiar or very similar shortcuts on a Chromebook if you have already used a screen reader on a Windows PC or Mac. You can customise which key can act as the modifier key in the keyboard settings (in the Device section of the Settings app). In fact, the keyboard can be customised in any way you’d like, which can be a handy tool.
Here are some commonly used keyboard shortcuts to get you started.
Top tip: give sticky mode a try
Sticky mode allows you to use many of the navigation shortcuts above without having to hold down the Search key. This could be particularly useful when web-browsing. Quickly press the Search key twice to toggle sticky mode on and off.
Some ChromeVox commands involve more than one shortcut. This is known as a layered command. These usually involve pressing Search with a letter, followed by another letter. Most ChromeVox settings and customisations are accessed via this method. Check these out below:
Top tip: don’t panic, we’re not expecting you to have memorised all these shortcuts yet!
If you’re just getting to grips with ChromeVox, there’s a handy feature called Learn mode, which allows you to try out the keyboard shortcuts without having to worry about pressing the wrong thing.
In Learn mode, ChromeVox will tell you what keys you are pressing and what they do as you hit them. It is a good way to learn and practice without it affecting anything else on your ChromeBook. Start Learn mode by pressing Search + O, then K. To exit, just hit the Esc key twice.
Many ChromeBooks offer touchscreen access as well as a built-in keyboard. If you’ve used an Apple or Android smartphone or tablet with a screen reader, using the touchscreen to access your ChromeBook while running ChromeVox will be very familiar. You can explore the screen with one finger, double tap to activate, swipe right/left for the next/previous item etc. Use Learn mode to also try out touchscreen gestures.
ChromeVox supports a wide selection of wired and Bluetooth braille displays, which are typically detected automatically when you plug them in. This allows you to have the spoken content from ChromeVox displayed as braille output.
Top tip: Gemini’s got your back
If you get stuck, or have a question, remember Google has its own AI platform called Gemini. Your ChromeBook will have Gemini on the launcher, and we have found Gemini to be very knowledgeable about ChromeBooks, accessibility features and keyboard shortcuts. So don’t be afraid to put it through its paces to find the answers you need. Learn more about how AI can supercharge your studies here.
If you like to use the screen on your computer, but struggle with seeing what is happening, there are some really handy features on ChromeBooks which can help.
A good starting point for making things bigger on the screen is to use the Scaling feature. This makes everything on screen larger, text, icons, buttons, etc.
Scaling can be really helpful. But using too much might make things look fuzzy or blurred, so find the right level. This can be especially important if you also want to use magnification at the same time. The scaling feature can be found in the Device section of the settings menu under Displays. Or you can type ‘display’ or ‘scaling’ into the Launcher search box.
You can adjust scaling using:
Top tip: full-screen and maximisation can be your friend
Make the most of the screen space of your ChromeBook by using the Maximise feature. Maximising expands the window to take up the full screen rather than just a portion of it. This can make a big difference to how easy it is to see what is going on and gives you more room to work with. Use the keyboard shortcut Alt + ‘=’ to maximise the window. Or ChromeBooks have a handy ‘Full screen’ key which makes the current window go into full-screen mode. The key is usually found on the top row of buttons or F4 on a Windows layout keyboard.
Another useful feature for making things bigger on your ChromeBook’s screen is to use zooming. The zooming feature allows you to make the content of a web-browser window larger. This only affects the content in the browser window, the surrounding interface (menus, buttons, etc) remain the same size.
Use the keyboard shortcut:
Top tip: your keyboard isn’t your only option for zooming
As well as keyboard shortcuts, you can zoom by holding down the Ctrl key and scrolling up or down with two fingers on the trackpad or Ctrl plus the scroll wheel on an external mouse. If you have a touchscreen device, you can also use a two finger spread/pinch to zoom in and out. Take care with how much you zoom in! Too much zoom can limit how much is displayed on screen and mess up the formatting and layout of the content. If you find yourself needing to zoom in more, there are other options to try such as magnification, so keep reading…
If you want to make things bigger on your computer, but you need a better option than scaling or zooming, then give your ChromeBook’s magnification features a go. They allow you to magnify/zoom-in similarly to apps like Zoomtext, SuperNova, or Magnifier on Windows. There are two different types of magnification available for you to use, featured below.
This is where your whole screen becomes a magnifying glass which is zoomed in on the portion of the screen where your mouse is. As you move the mouse, the magnifier follows. You can adjust how zoomed in you are. The more you zoom in the bigger things get, but you will see a smaller portion of the whole screen.
Full-screen magnification can take a little getting used to at first. But once you’ve found the right zoom level and have learnt how it works, it can make using your computer a lot easier! Try starting with low levels of zoom and gradually increase it until you find the right level.
To turn Full-screen magnification On/Off you can:
To increase/decrease the magnification level you have a few options:
To pan the magnifier/mouse around the screen you can:
You can find other useful options for customising full-screen magnification in the Accessibility settings menu.
The docked magnifier feature creates a magnified section at the top of the screen that follows the mouse pointer, allowing you to see a magnified view of a specific area without magnifying the entire screen.
To turn docked magnification on/off, press Ctrl + Search + D on your keyboard or enable the feature in the Display and magnification settings menu.
Top tip: use magnification with ChromeVox
Many people find using a combination of magnification and screen reader at the same time really useful, i.e., using magnifier and NVDA together on Windows. The good news is, you can do this on ChromeBook as well. Happily, the magnification features above work well with ChromeVox
By default, most content on your computer’s screen is displayed as dark text on a light background. If this isn’t your preferred combination, high contrast mode is here for you. This feature inverts the colours, so light text appears over a dark background. This simple switch in colours can make using a computer way easier and more comfortable. To see if it works for you, toggle High Contrast Mode On/Off with Ctrl + Search + H, or go to the Display and magnification section of the Accessibility settings menu.
Top tip: workaround for clash with ChromeVox
At the time of writing, the above shortcut to toggle high contrast or colour inversion will not work if you’re also running ChromeVox. However, the setting can be accessed within the accessibility settings. Or you can use Search + Shift + Escape to bypass ChromeVox with the next keypress. So, once you have pressed Search + Shift + Escape, you can then press Search + Ctrl + H to toggle colour inversion. This process works for getting around other ChromeVox keyboard shortcut clashes.
In the Display and magnification section of your accessibility settings, you’ll find a range of other colour options to suit different preferences and eye conditions. These include various colour filters such as grayscale, protanomaly, deuteranomaly, tritanomaly and many more. These can be powerful tools, whether you know your preferred filters or not. You might be surprised how much difference they make!
Sometimes, it’s the simplest things that make a huge difference. If you struggle to see your mouse pointer, your ChromeBook has a range of options to make the mouse easier to see. You can adjust the size of the mouse pointer and change its colour from a list of colour options. There is also a feature which highlights the mouse when it is moving, which could be handy for keeping track of where it is on the screen. Go to the Cursor and touchpad section in the Accessibility settings menu to explore the different options.
Reader mode is a handy tool for getting rid of unwanted clutter on a webpage. This could be unhelpful graphics, leaving you with the text and relevant images. This is particularly useful if you’re only interested in the textual information on a page. Reader mode is highly customisable down to font sizes, colours, contrast and how much it filters out. So it can be useful for screen reader users, and if you have low vision. You can open and close the reader mode sidebar on any webpage using Ctrl + Shift + R.
Top tip: stack up your favourite accessibility features
Find your perfect ChromeBook setup by stacking/combining all of your favourite accessibility features together! For example, use scaling/zooming to make everything a bit bigger, magnification to add a bit of extra zoom-in ability, colour inversion/filters to make the contrast better, change the size/colour of the mouse and add in some ChromeVox. Or layer features like ChromeVox with braille support for a Jaws-like experience. Try out as many of the accessibility features as you can and see which combinations work best for you!
Hopefully, we’ve given you a good idea of the accessibility features available for blind and partially sighted ChromeBook users, but there are plenty of other features designed to support you if you have other motor or sensory needs. These include dictation, switch access, on-screen keyboard, automatic mouse-clicks, live captions and more. It never hurts to have a good look around your accessibility settings on any new device. You can find out more about other accessibility features on Chromebook devices here.
Top Tip: Check Accessibility Features Have Not Been Switched Off
Your school/college/university may restrict what settings you can change on your ChromeBook; this can sometimes include the Accessibility features. If you are unable to access the features you want, please speak to the IT team at your school, college or uni.
Are you a ChromeBook user? Have you tried it after reading this? Are you now tempted to give a ChromeBook a go? We’d love to hear your stories and experiences whether positive or negative, drop us a line on our socials.
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