Don't disable accessibility options during Setup Assistant

Posted on by Matthew Warren

macOS Big Sur includes a new screen during Setup Assistant: Accessbility. It prompts users to explore the accessibility features of macOS to adapt their computer to their vision, motor, hearing, and cognitive needs.

You might want to disable or skip this setup screen. Don't.

The first time you boot a Mac, it runs through a process known as Setup Assistant. This lets your users configure some basic options before they begin using the computer. With each new macOS release, Apple adds additional screens to Setup Assistant. Some are of dubious utility.

Most popular MDMs allow you, as an administrator, to instruct Macs to skip certain screens during Setup Assistant. In a corporate environment, your users may not need to set up Apple Pay, or agree to the Terms and Conditions – so it makes sense to simply skip these screens and streamline their first boot.

If you support more humans than only yourself, how those humans interact with their computer is not your decision.

Even those who would not traditionally consider themselves in need of accessibility features can still benefit. Putting these options front and center allows everyone the opportunity to explore settings that might just make their Mac a bit easier to use.

Kudos to Apple for making accessibility a default aspect of the macOS setup process.


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