"Read and Speak" Accessibility Sonoma OS 26.0.1 malfunctions

Question

"Read and Speak" Accessibility Sonoma OS 26.0.1 malfunctions

I'm visually impaired and depend on "Read and Speak" for MAC, iPhone, and iPad. I don't use Voiceover. After the OS 26 update, Read and Speak began to malfunction. It will begin reading a text, and then stop mid-sentence, and begin again from the top. I use Zoom to trigger TTS and Highlight Text to begin reading. The malfunction occurs with both. I've sent a complaint to Apple. There is no response from them, but I know this problem is common in the blind community. I've tried everything I can think of to make TTS work again. I even turned off "Apple Intelligence" but it didn't help. If anyone has a FIX for this issue, I'd be grateful to hear it.

Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023)

Posted on Oct 22, 2025 11:13 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Oct 22, 2025 11:33 PM in response to carolinaharley

I need to add that I found two clumsy workarounds. I can copy and paste shorter text into a TextEdit App and then the "Read and Speak" function usually works. The second option, especially for long news articles, etc. is to open Safari's Reader, and then open "Accessibility Reader". That doesn't always work. Sometimes I'll get a long list of nonsense words before the text begins. So finding the beginning of the text is difficult on the slider bar.

Reply

Answer 2

Alancito

Level 7

29,928 points

Oct 22, 2025 11:41 PM in response to carolinaharley

carolina ~ In case you're unaware of this:

How to contact Apple for help with accessibility features

õ¿õ¬

Reply