Questions
How to use a Mac hands-free
A Mac can be run without hands, and most of what makes that possible is built in: Voice Control for speech, the head pointer for moving the pointer with your head, and switch support for clicks. Most people end up with a mix, because a voice tires, a head pointer needs a way to click, and one switch does little on its own. I make InputConfig, a free Mac app, and its part in a hands-free setup is narrow and specific: it turns any press your body can make, a foot on a pedal, a puff on a sip-and-puff switch, a chin on a button, into a click, a key, a command, or dictation. It does not track your head or your eyes.
Voice Control: the whole Mac by speech
Turn it on in System Settings, Accessibility, Voice Control. Then say what you want: "open Mail", "click Reply", "scroll down". "Show numbers" puts a number on everything clickable, and "show grid" reaches places with no label. Text is dictated in the same session. For many people it is the whole answer. Where it struggles: a noisy room, a voice that tires by the afternoon, and speech the recognizer has trouble with. That is where the other pieces come in.
Head pointer: point by turning your head
System Settings, Accessibility, Pointer Control, Head pointer. The built-in or a connected camera follows your head and moves the pointer. Apple lets you click with Mouse Keys, with switches, including facial expressions, or with Voice Control. This is the natural partner for InputConfig: the head points, and a pedal or switch mapped in InputConfig sends the click wherever the pointer is, plus a right click, Return, or dictation from the same switch.
Switches, pedals, and mouth joysticks
Anything the Mac sees as a button can drive InputConfig. Press Scan on a row, press the switch, and it is bound.
- 3.5 mm switches, sip-and-puff, head, chin, or foot switches, plug into the ports on the Xbox Adaptive Controller or the PlayStation Access Controller, which the Mac sees as game controllers.
- USB switch interfaces show up as a keyboard or a gamepad. Either works. A keyboard-type interface still types its key into the app in front, because InputConfig listens alongside macOS rather than taking keys away, so set it to F13 to F19 if its own software allows.
- A foot pedal: a sustain pedal on any MIDI keyboard is a switch to InputConfig. The built-in MIDI: Knob Deck preset already makes it a left click.
- A mouth or chin joystick that presents as a game controller moves the pointer the same way a thumbstick does, with deadzones and a slow first stretch of travel to tune it.
One switch, three jobs
Every row in InputConfig can do three things: a press, a hold, and a double press. A single foot switch becomes left click, right click on a hold, and Start Dictation on a double press. Holds and double-press windows are adjustable, long for a slow movement, short for a quick one. Turn on spoken feedback and each switch says what it just did, so you know without looking. The one to four switch guide has complete layouts to download.
InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.
Commands with no switch at all
A screen region is an area of the display that fires a command when the pointer enters it, whatever moves the pointer. With the head pointer, a strip along the top edge can open Mission Control, a corner can start dictation, another can lock the screen. Each one costs no switch and no word. How screen regions work.
What InputConfig does not do
- No head or eye tracking. Use the head pointer for the head. Eye-gaze control needs an eye tracker and its own software.
- No on-screen keyboard of its own. It works with the macOS Accessibility Keyboard, clicked by whatever moves the pointer.
- Nothing at the login window, because it starts after you log in. System Settings, Lock Screen, Accessibility Options makes Switch Control, the Accessibility Keyboard, VoiceOver, or Zoom available there.
- One click to set up: the Accessibility permission, which a helper or Voice Control can make. After a restart, a preset has to be switched on again, or set to auto-activate when your apps come to the front, as the no mouse or keyboard guide explains.
Questions
Is there a hands-free mouse for Mac?
Yes, built in: the head pointer in System Settings, Accessibility, Pointer Control moves the pointer through the camera. Hardware head mice and mouth joysticks that present as a mouse work with no app. InputConfig adds the clicks and commands from switches and pedals.
Can you control a Mac with your eyes?
Not with InputConfig. Eye-gaze control needs an eye tracker and its software. For the clicks, a switch mapped in InputConfig works alongside whatever moves the pointer.
How do people with quadriplegia use a Mac?
Usually with a combination: Voice Control, a head pointer or mouth joystick to point, and a sip-and-puff, head, or chin switch to click. The right mix depends on the person; an occupational therapist or assistive technology specialist can help find it. Our guide for OTs covers building a setup with InputConfig.
Can a foot pedal click on a Mac?
Yes. A MIDI sustain pedal through a MIDI keyboard, or a 3.5 mm foot switch in an adaptive controller, can be a left click in InputConfig, with a hold and a double press for two more actions.
Is InputConfig free?
Yes. Free on the Mac App Store, open source, no account, and nothing locked behind the optional tip jar. macOS 14 or later.
Related
Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.