Mac accessibility features for hands and mobility, and how to write with each one

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A Mac has about ten built-in features for people who cannot use a keyboard or mouse the usual way: Voice Control, Switch Control, head pointer, the Accessibility Keyboard with Dwell, Mouse Keys, Full Keyboard Access, Sticky Keys, Slow Keys, Vocal Shortcuts and Dictation. They are all free and all in System Settings, Accessibility. Most of them move the pointer or press buttons well. Writing is where they get slow, because typing one letter at a time with a switch or a head pointer is hard work.

I make YapToText, a free dictation app for the Mac, and InputConfig, a free app that turns any button, switch or controller into keys and clicks. I built both because my own hands do not work well. This page maps Apple's features, then shows where the two apps fit in. Apple's steps are from its Mac User Guide, read October 9, 2026.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreThis app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.

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On this page: 8 sections
  1. Every feature, what it replaces, where it lives
  2. Moving is solved, writing is the slow part
  3. Where YapToText fits
  4. Where InputConfig fits
  5. The bridge: any control starts YapToText
  6. Pick your starting point
  7. The short version
  8. Questions

Every feature, what it replaces, where it lives

From Apple's Mac User Guide, read October 9, 2026. Settings names are as macOS shows them under System Settings.

FeatureWhat it replacesWhere to turn it onGuide
Voice ControlMouse and keyboard, by voiceAccessibility, Voice ControlVoice Control commands
Switch ControlEverything, from one or more switchesAccessibility, Switch ControlSwitch Control guide
Head pointerThe mouse, moved by your headAccessibility, Pointer ControlHead pointer guide
Accessibility Keyboard and DwellThe keyboard, and clicks by resting the pointerAccessibility, KeyboardAccessibility Keyboard guide
Mouse KeysThe mouse, from keysAccessibility, Pointer ControlMac without a mouse
Full Keyboard AccessThe mouse, by tabbing through controlsAccessibility, KeyboardMac without a mouse
Sticky Keys and Slow KeysHolding several keys, and accidental pressesAccessibility, KeyboardOne-handed typing
Vocal ShortcutsA button, replaced by a sound you can makeAccessibility, Vocal ShortcutsApple's guide
DictationTyping, by voiceKeyboard, DictationMac dictation shortcut

Moving is solved, writing is the slow part

Each feature above is good at one job. Switch Control scans the screen until you press. Head pointer follows your face. Dwell clicks when the pointer rests. Apple's guides also show the cost: with Switch Control, you type by scanning a keyboard panel, opening a group of keys and selecting one key, with word suggestions to save time. That works for a password or a short reply. For an email or a school paper, it is a lot of presses.

The fix is to split the work. Let the accessibility feature do the pointing, and let your voice do the writing. One press starts a dictation, you talk, one press ends it, and a paragraph lands where the cursor is.

Where YapToText fits

  • One key runs it. Right Command by default, tap to start and tap to stop, or hold to talk. Any single key can be the trigger, including an F-key or a number pad key.
  • A button in the menu bar. Click the capybara in the menu bar and the panel's first button reads Start Dictation. It does the same job as the key, so Voice Control, Switch Control, head pointer and Dwell can all reach it.
  • It stops on its own if you want. Auto-stop after silence, in the Recording card of the Dictation page, ends a dictation after 0.5 to 5 seconds of quiet.
  • It speaks its state. VoiceOver hears Listening, Transcribing, Cleaning up, errors and completion, even when no app window is focused.
  • Fixes without a keyboard. Say scratch that or replace X with Y as your next dictation, or select text and tap the Quick Edit key, Right Option, to say the change.
  • It runs on your Mac. Free on the Mac App Store, for Apple silicon Macs on macOS 14 or later, with no account.

It is built to work alongside VoiceOver and Voice Control. The test pass with VoiceOver, Voice Control, pedals and switches has not been run, so I describe how it works, not a tested result.

Where InputConfig fits

InputConfig reads controls that macOS does not treat as a keyboard, and turns them into keys, clicks, scrolling, typed text and Mac functions. It is free on the Mac App Store, open source, and has no account. What it can read, from its own pages:

  • Adaptive controllers. The PlayStation Access Controller and the Xbox Adaptive Controller, with switches plugged into their ports as buttons.
  • Any controller. DualSense, Xbox, Switch, 8BitDo and other game controllers, joysticks and arcade sticks.
  • MIDI. Keys, pads, knobs, and a sustain pedal as an on and off switch.
  • The Mac itself. Keyboard keys, mouse buttons, the trackpad's force click, and Tap the Mac, a knock on a MacBook's palm rest. Tap the Mac was tested on M4 MacBooks and did not work on an M1 Pro in InputConfig's testing.
  • Screen regions. An area of the display that fires while the pointer is inside it, so a head pointer or a joystick mouse can press a button by moving into a corner.

It also puts Mac features on a button: Start Dictation, Zoom, Speak Selection, Mission Control, and an emergency stop on Control Option Command period. InputConfig's accessibility list has all of it.

The bridge: any control starts YapToText

YapToText starts and stops from one key, Right Command by default, tapped once to start and once to stop. InputConfig can send that key from a control that is not a key at all: a switch, a controller button, a MIDI pedal, a knock on a MacBook, or the pointer entering a corner of the screen. Put the two together and that control becomes the dictation key.

  • You: In InputConfig, add a row, press Scan and press the control you want. Give the row a Keyboard Key output and choose Right Command.
  • InputConfig: Presses Right Command each time the control fires, on its own, with no other key held.
  • Check: Click into a text field and press the control. YapToText's panel should say Listening. Press it again and the words land at your cursor.

If you would rather keep Right Command for shortcuts, move YapToText to a key nothing else uses. On the Dictation page, Keys card, click the key field and press F18 (or any spare key), then give the InputConfig row a Keyboard Key output of F18 instead. F13 to F19 are the keys InputConfig's own guides suggest, because nothing on a Mac uses them. Tap to start and stop is the mode to pair with a switch: one press starts, the next press stops. Turn on Auto-stop after silence on the Dictation page, Recording card, and the second press is not needed either.

Two cautions. InputConfig's built-in Modifier Holds preset gives a held Right Command to Spotlight and a held Right Option to Apple's Dictation, and those are YapToText's dictation and Quick Edit keys, so do not run that preset alongside YapToText's defaults. And while the Mac is locked, InputConfig sends no keys, only the pointer, clicks and scrolling. This handoff is how both apps are built: InputConfig posts a lone modifier the way a real key does, and YapToText counts a press with no other key as a tap. I have not tested it end to end on every control, so try it once on yours before you rely on it, and if it does nothing, open an issue on GitHub.

Pick your starting point

The short version

  • Pointing. Voice Control, Switch Control, head pointer, Dwell or Mouse Keys, all free in System Settings, Accessibility.
  • Writing. Dictation, started by one key or the Start Dictation button in YapToText's menu bar panel.
  • Any control as the key. InputConfig sends Right Command from a switch, a controller, a pedal, a knock or a screen corner.
  • What is tested. Apple's steps are Apple's. The handoff between my two apps follows from their code and has not been tested end to end.

If a step here is wrong on your Mac, or your setup needs something I have not covered, open an issue on GitHub. Every one gets read.

Download YapToText on the Mac App StoreThis app is completely free. You don't have to make an account. There are no subscriptions, no difficult downloads, and nothing is locked. Made for Apple silicon Macs. Source on GitHub.

About the author. Ryleigh Newman is a developer whose hands make typing difficult and who dictates every day with YapToText, the app this site describes. Facts about other apps come from their own sites, with the date they were read. More about the project.

Sources

Questions

What accessibility features does a Mac have for motor disabilities?

Voice Control, Switch Control, head pointer, the Accessibility Keyboard with Dwell, Mouse Keys, Full Keyboard Access, Sticky Keys, Slow Keys and Vocal Shortcuts, all in System Settings, Accessibility, plus Dictation.

Where are the accessibility settings on a Mac?

Apple menu, System Settings, then Accessibility in the sidebar. Pointer Control holds Mouse Keys and head pointer. Keyboard holds Full Keyboard Access, Sticky Keys, Slow Keys and the Accessibility Keyboard.

How can I type on a Mac if I cannot use a keyboard?

Use dictation for most writing and the Accessibility Keyboard for passwords and short fixes. A switch, a head pointer or Voice Control can start a dictation.

Can a switch or a game controller start dictation on a Mac?

Yes, with InputConfig, which is free. It can press Apple's dictation key, or press the single key that starts YapToText.

Are YapToText and InputConfig free?

Yes. Both are free on the Mac App Store, with no account and no subscription.