The Screen Reader Distraction
Google Docs contains a robust suite of accessibility features designed to help visually impaired users navigate and edit documents. One of these features is the “Typing Echo,” which is designed to work in tandem with screen reading software (like ChromeVox or NVDA). When enabled, this feature verbally announces every single character or word out loud as you type it. If you accidentally toggle this setting on via a keyboard shortcut without realizing it, having your computer suddenly start speaking every letter you type is incredibly distracting and confusing.
Disabling Accessibility Feedback
To silence the typing echo, you must navigate into the dedicated Accessibility settings within Google Docs and disable the screen reader support entirely (assuming you do not actually require it for your workflow).
Open your Google Docs document. Look at the very top menu bar. If you see a menu item labelled Accessibility (usually located between “Extensions” and “Help”), this confirms the feature is active. Click on Accessibility, and then select Settings from the dropdown menu. A dialogue box will appear. You will likely see checkboxes for “Turn on screen reader support” and sub-options like “Hear characters you type.” To completely disable the echo, click to uncheck the box for Turn on screen reader support. Click OK. The Accessibility menu will disappear from your top bar, the connection to the screen reader will be severed, and Google Docs will return to silent, standard text entry.