Typebar
Download Buy $9

The macOS Accessibility Keyboard and when an overlay suits you better

· 6 min read

The Accessibility Keyboard is the on-screen keyboard built into macOS, made so you can type and control your Mac without a hardware keyboard. Turn it on in System Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard > Accessibility Keyboard. It is the right tool for typing with a mouse, a trackpad or your head. When you want viewers, or yourself, to see the keys you press on a real keyboard and what they do, a keyboard overlay suits you better.

How to turn on the Accessibility Keyboard

  1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings.
  2. Click Accessibility in the sidebar.
  3. Click Keyboard.
  4. Turn on Accessibility Keyboard.

A keyboard panel appears and floats above your windows. To put it away, turn the same switch off or click the close button on the panel.

Two quicker routes, once you know you will use it:

  • The Input menu. In System Settings > Keyboard, under Text Input, click Edit next to Input Sources and turn on Show Input menu in menu bar. The Input menu then has Show Keyboard Viewer, which opens the same keyboard.
  • The Accessibility Shortcut. Option-Command-F5 (⌥⌘F5), or three quick presses of Touch ID on Macs that have it, opens a panel for switching accessibility features on and off. Choose which features it lists in System Settings > Accessibility > Shortcut.

What it is built for

System Settings sums it up: the Accessibility Keyboard “lets you type and interact with macOS without using a hardware keyboard”. It exists for people who cannot use a physical keyboard, or cannot use one all the time, and it is good at that job:

  • Typing with any pointer. Click keys with a mouse or trackpad, or with Head pointer, which moves the pointer as you move your head and is set up in System Settings > Accessibility > Pointer Control.
  • Dwell. Hold the pointer still over a key and it clicks for you, with the timing and movement tolerance up to you. The dwell options sit with the Accessibility Keyboard’s own settings.
  • Modifiers that stay on. Click Shift or Command and it applies to the next key you click, so shortcuts need no held keys.
  • Help with typing. Options to capitalize sentences and to insert and remove spaces automatically.
  • Custom panels. Panel Editor, opened from the Accessibility Keyboard settings, builds panels of your own, with buttons that press a key or a combination, enter text, open an app, run a shortcut from the Shortcuts app, or run an AppleScript.
  • Finding characters. It took over from the old Keyboard Viewer, and holding Option shows the characters each key types. Find any character on your keyboard with the Keyboard Viewer has the details.

It costs nothing, works in every app, and comes with macOS. If you rely on it, nothing else replaces it. How to show an on-screen keyboard on a Mac compares it with the other built-in option.

What it is not built for

The Accessibility Keyboard is made for the person typing. That shows as soon as you try to use it for an audience.

  • It does not name shortcuts. Press Command-Shift-4 (⇧⌘4) and nothing on the panel tells a viewer that you just took a screenshot of a selection.
  • It does not relabel keys for the app you are in. It cannot show that Command-K inserts a link in one app and runs Clear to Start in Terminal, unless you build a panel for that app yourself.
  • It does not show clicks. In a recording, a right click or a Command-click looks like any other click.
  • It does not know you are recording. It does not appear by itself when you start a screen recording or share your screen, or hide when you stop.
  • It looks like a system panel. It has appearance and fade options, but it is a utility window with a toolbar, not a keyboard drawn to look like yours on camera.

None of this is a flaw. It is a typing tool, and showing an audience what you pressed is a different job.

When an overlay suits you better

A keyboard overlay starts from the other end: you type on your real keyboard, and the screen shows what you pressed. That is what recordings, live demos and learning shortcuts need. In Typebar, for example:

  • Every key you press on the hardware keyboard lights the matching key on an on-screen keyboard shaped like yours: MacBook, Magic Keyboard with or without a number pad, or tenkeyless, in ANSI, ISO or JIS, following your input source.
  • The pill names each shortcut with the name it has in the app’s own menus, so “⇧⌘4 Screenshot Selection” appears as you press it.
  • Clicks show as ripples where they land, and in the pill as Click, Right Click or ⌘ Click.
  • It can appear by itself when a screen recording or screen share starts, and hide when it stops.
  • Hold a modifier for a moment and the keys relabel with what they do in the app in front. Hold Option to see the characters each key types.
  • In password fields macOS marks as secure, and while password managers such as 1Password are in front, nothing typed shows.

Typebar also has Click to Type, for presenting with only a pointer: click keys on the board to type into the app in front, with modifiers that latch for the next key. It is made for presenting, not as an accessibility tool. If you need dwell or Head pointer, the Accessibility Keyboard is the one built for that. Presenting with only a mouse covers Click to Type.

Side by side

You want to Accessibility Keyboard Keyboard overlay (Typebar)
Type without a hardware keyboard, every day Built for it, with dwell and custom panels Not its purpose
Type a few keys while presenting with a pointer Works Click to Type (⌃⌥⌘T)
Show viewers the keys you press on your keyboard Not built for it Every press lights its key
Name each shortcut No Named from the app’s menus
Show clicks No Ripples, and in the pill
Appear only while recording or sharing No Optional
Cost Free, part of macOS One-time purchase

The short version: if you type with a pointer or your head, use the Accessibility Keyboard. If you record tutorials, demo software or teach shortcuts, use an overlay. If you only want to find where a character lives, either one does it with Option held.

Questions

Is the Accessibility Keyboard the same as the Keyboard Viewer?

In current macOS, Show Keyboard Viewer in the Input menu opens the Accessibility Keyboard, so for most purposes, yes.

Why does an overlay need a permission when the Accessibility Keyboard does not?

The Accessibility Keyboard is part of macOS. A third-party app has to ask before it can see which keys you press or type for you. Typebar asks for one permission, Accessibility, which you grant in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Accessibility.

How do I turn the Accessibility Keyboard off?

Turn off the same switch in System Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard, or click the close button on the panel.

Typebar is $9 once for up to five Macs, free for 24 hours with everything on, and runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or later.