Posted on 10-18-2016 01:03 PM
I've got a pretty interesting one here. Let's see what the hivemind can come up with:
One of our middle school APs asked me to disable Text-to-Speech on a particular student's Mac because he loves to type stuff on the computer, then have the computer read it aloud. It is very disruptive, yada yada yada.
We first tried disabling the option-s key, but the kids (of course) figured that one out, and turned it back on. So they called me in. I disabled the function, then applied a Configuration Policy to block the Dictation & Speech preference panel.
The student then figures out that, in Chrome, he can type in a Google Doc (he is constantly journaling to a Google Doc because: Autistic.) Anyway - he figured out that, in Chrome, under the Edit Menu, he can select Start Speaking and he gets his kicks.
I decided to look for a way to block it in Chrome, but it's in Safari as well! So, I'm thinking this may be an OS-level function (we are on 10.11.6 here). Has anyone else tackled this function before? What are some solutions the geniuses in this forum have come up with?
Thanks!
Posted on 01-30-2017 07:52 AM
For posterity: I ended up physically disconnecting the speakers in the student's laptop. He can use a headset, if he needs to hear the computer.