Why Mac Apps Sometimes Ask for Accessibility Features
If you are using a Mac and any software that controls your keyboard, including text expanders, you’ve probably come across a dialog asking you to give your app access to “accessibility features.” How-To Geek explains what this means.
Accessibility settings are blocked by Apple for security reasons because apps that help with advanced features, such as text-to-speech apps or key enrollment apps, operate in full control of certain system-level services or other apps. Traditionally, a Mac application is a single container that cannot access system-level controls. Accessible apps get a little more control over system access and can take full control of other apps. How-To Geek explains it this way:
This name is used in part because several accessibility applications need access to these features in order to function. For example: Apps that allow people to control their Mac using only voice commands require assistive technology access to take control of other apps. This permission is required by text-to-speech applications in order to read text in other applications. Apps that send text to Braille readers require this permission to work.
Some applications without assistive technology require access to the same permissions in order to function. For example, a text expander can read text in any application , which Apple (and you) usually doesn’t want, so it needs special access. Everyone’s favorite multitouch and mouse customization tool, BetterTouchTool, requires access because it controls a range of system functions.
For its part, any app that doesn’t support assistive technology essentially uses this as a workaround, but that doesn’t mean it’s doing something nefarious. The How-To Geek got a ton of additional information on how to check your Mac to make sure nothing strange is accessing this option, and in more detail.
Why do some Mac applications need to “control this computer with assistive technology?” | How-To Geek