Microsoft referred to Windows 11 as the most inclusive version of Windows when it first debuted earlier this year. The Redmond behemoth revised the accessibility options page as part of this endeavour, and high contrast themes were also included. And now, Microsoft has debuted a brand-new function it calls Voice Access in the most recent Windows 11 Insider preview build. It makes it possible for users to log into their Windows 11 computers solely using their voice. If you think it would be useful, we’ll show you how to activate Voice Access in Windows 11 and use it to increase accessibility.
Enable and Use Voice Access in Windows 11 (2022)
What is Voice Access in Windows 11?
A new accessibility feature in Windows 11 called voice access makes it simpler to operate your Windows 11 computer voice-only. Voice Access, which was created with people with mobility difficulties in mind, employs in-device speech recognition to understand speech even when there isn’t a working internet connection. Among other approved operations, Voice Access allows you to enter text, open programmes, and navigate the user interface.
With the release of Windows 11 Insider preview build 22518 in the Dev channel, Microsoft has begun bringing out Voice Access. The functionality might be added to the OS’s stable version in the feature update in the next year. Voice Access currently only supports English (United States), although support for additional languages should come later.
Make sure your display language is set to English if you’re having trouble seeing the function. From Settings -> Time & language -> Language & region -> Windows display language, you can change it to English. If so, proceed with the instructions below to activate Voice Access on your Windows PC.
How to Set up Voice Access in Windows 11
1. Launch the Settings application by pressing Win+I on a Windows 11 keyboard, then select the Accessibility option from the left sidebar.
2. To access the Voice Access settings screen, click Speecht under Interaction settings.
3. Turn on the Voice accesstoggle so you may operate and type on your Windows 11 computer with just your voice. When you turn on your computer, Windows will automatically begin listening for voice instructions if you select the option to allow Start voice access after you sign in.
4. As was already indicated, Voice access is presently only available in English (United States). To get started, download the offline language pack. To download and install the language pack for Voice access, select the Download option from the top bar. The voice data on your device will be locally processed by this speech model. It’s noteworthy that Microsoft claims that voice data is not shared with the cloud.
How to Use Windows 11 Voice Access Feature
1. Windows 11 will immediately display the voice access interactive guide to assist you become familiar with the functionality once you have downloaded the voice access speech model. You should first pick the microphone you intend to use with voice access from the guide.
2. Click Start guide after selecting the microphone to begin the voice access interactive guide. If you are already familiar with the feature, you can choose to skip the demo by selecting Skip guide.
3. Now, try out how you can access menus and settings, move the mouse pointer, dictate text, and edit it by following the on-screen directions. The majority of the process includes saying “click” (the supported commands are listed in full in the next section).
For instance, the command show numbers can be used to display a number overlay over each clickable point in a running window. Then, you can say click number> while replacing number> with the number that represents the action you want to take.
Below is a video demonstration of Windows’ Voice Access feature.
List of Voice Access Commands in Windows 11
A webpage link including all supported voice commands has been published by Microsoft. Below, you can see a list of all the instructions and operations you may carry out on your Windows 11 computer using this accessibility feature:
Manage Voice & Microphone Access
Interact with Apps
Interact with Controls
Access and Use Overlays
Control Mouse and Keyboard
Dictate Text
Select Text
Edit Text
Navigate Text
Dictate Punctuation Marks
Dictate Symbols
Try Voice Access to Control Windows 11 PC with Voice
For Windows users, voice access is a promising accessibility tool that already performs as planned. Prior to its wider stable release, Microsoft should work on integrating compatibility for other languages. Try out the functionality if you are using the most recent Insider build, and then let us know in the comments below whether or not you find it useful. If you haven’t yet switched from Windows 10 to Windows 11, use our comparison of Windows 11 Home and Windows 11 Pro to choose which version of Windows is the most appropriate for your requirements.