Use VoiceOver to create a Keynote presentation on Mac
You can create a Keynote presentation on your Mac using VoiceOver, an advanced screen reader that lets you use your device without seeing the screen. Start with a theme—a set of predesigned slide layouts and elements—then add your own content. Each theme uses coordinated fonts, text styles, and colors for a unified look.
Note: VO represents the VoiceOver modifier.
Choose a theme
You can choose a theme with standard or wide slide sizes, or a custom theme—a theme you modified and saved to use again later. You choose a theme in the theme chooser.
Go to the Keynote app
on your Mac.Open a presentation, press VO-M to jump to the menu bar, navigate to File > New, then press Return.
The theme chooser opens.
To navigate to the theme chooser collection, press VO-Left Arrow or VO-Right Arrow, then press VO-Shift-Down Arrow to enter it.
To choose a wide or standard theme, press VO-Left Arrow or VO-Right Arrow until you hear “Standard (4:3)” or “Wide (16:9),” then press VO-Space to open the menu. Press VO-Up Arrow or VO-Down Arrow to hear the options, then press VO-Space to select the one you want.
To navigate through the theme options, press any of the arrow keys, then press Return to choose one.
For example, if you wanted to create a presentation to showcase photographs with a simple, black background, you might choose the Photo Essay theme.
Change the slide layout
You can quickly change the look of a slide by selecting a different slide layout. You do this in the Slide tab of the Format sidebar.
Go to the Keynote app
on your Mac.Open a presentation, then press VO-U to open the rotor.
Press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key until you hear “Window Spots,” then press the Down Arrow key until you hear “content navigator - Slide navigator table.”
To select the slide navigator, press Return, then press VO-Shift-Down Arrow to enter it.
Press the Up Arrow or Down Arrow key until you hear the slide you want to edit, then press VO-J twice to jump to the Slide tab of the Format sidebar.
Note: If you jump to a different sidebar instead, you can navigate to the Format sidebar using the toolbar. From your current location, press VO-Shift-Up Arrow, then press VO-Left Arrow to navigate to the toolbar. To enter the toolbar, press VO-Shift Down Arrow, then press VO-Right Arrow to navigate to the Format button. Press VO-Space to select it. To navigate to the Slide tab, press VO-J three times.
To hear the current slide layout, press VO-Down Arrow. To select the Slide Layout button, press VO-Space.
To navigate through the slide layout options, press VO-Right Arrow until you hear “Scroll Area,” then press VO-Shift-Down Arrow. Press VO-Right Arrow or VO-Left Arrow until you find the slide layout you want, then press VO-Space to choose it.
Add your own text
Slide layouts include placeholder text boxes with text for titles, subtitles, body text, and other text elements. You can replace any placeholder text with your own.
Go to the Keynote app
on your Mac.Open a presentation with placeholder text.
Press VO-U to open the rotor.
Press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key until you hear “Window Spots,” then press the Down Arrow key until you hear “content - Slide layout area.”
To select the slide layout area, press Return, then press VO-Shift-Down Arrow to enter it.
Press VO-Right Arrow or VO-Left Arrow until you hear the text you want to edit (for instance, Title or Body).
Type to add your own text.
If you want to edit another text box on the slide, press VO-Shift-Up Arrow, then press VO-Right Arrow or VO-Left Arrow to navigate to it.
Add your own media
You can replace the placeholder media on a slide to add your own images and video. You do this in the slide layout area.
Go to the Keynote app
on your Mac.Open a presentation with media placeholders.
Press VO-U to open the rotor.
Press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key until you hear “Window Spots,” then press the Down Arrow key until you hear “content - Slide layout area.”
To select the slide layout area, press Return, then press VO-Shift-Down Arrow to enter it.
Press VO-Right Arrow or VO-Left Arrow until you hear the name of the image you want to replace.
Press VO-Shift-M to open a shortcut menu, then press the Down Arrow key until you hear Replace Image. Press Return.
In the Photos menu, navigate to the image or video that you want to add, then press VO-Space to select it.
The image appears on the slide where the previous image used to be.
You can also insert your own shapes and other objects by choosing the Insert menu in the toolbar.
To add accessibility descriptions to your images, audio, and videos (which are read by VoiceOver and other assistive technology), see Add an image description, Add an audio description, or Add a video description.
Play a presentation
When you play a presentation on your Mac, VoiceOver speaks the text and images on the current slide. The presentation plays in full screen.
To learn how to play your presentation on a separate display, see Play a presentation on a separate display.
Go to the Keynote app
on your Mac.Open a presentation, then press VO-U to open the rotor.
Press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key until you hear “Window Spots,” then press the Down Arrow key until you hear “content navigator - Slide navigator table.”
To select the slide layout area, press Return, then press VO-Shift-Down Arrow to enter it.
Press the Up Arrow or Down Arrow key until you hear the slide you want to begin with, then press Option-Command-P to play the slideshow.
To navigate around the slide and hear images and text, press VO and any arrow key.
To advance through the presentation, do any of the following:
Go to the next slide or build: Press the Right Arrow key.
Go back a slide or reset the builds on the slide: Press the Left Arrow key.
Jump to a different slide: Press any number key to make the slide navigator appear, press Command-A to select the current slide number in the text field, then enter the slide number. Press Return.
To stop playing the presentation, press Esc.