Hear what’s on your screen.
Describee is a free Mac app that gives blind and low-vision users
AI-powered descriptions of images, screenshots, and on-screen content —
spoken through VoiceOver, anywhere on macOS.
What it does
Press ⌥⇧D anywhere — or click the eye icon in the
menu bar — to capture and describe whatever you want.
Describe the whole screen
Take a screenshot of your main display and hear what’s on it.
Describe what’s in focus
Capture and describe the UI element your VoiceOver cursor is on.
Describe a Finder file
Highlight an image in Finder, trigger Describee, hear it described.
Describe any image file
Pick any image from disk and get a clear, concise description.
Right-click in Safari, Mail, Preview
“Describe with Describee” appears in the standard Services menu of any image.
Save accessible images
Edit the description and save the image to your Desktop with the alt text embedded — so it travels with the file when you share it.
How to use Describee
Four steps. No mouse required.
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Press ⌥⇧D
The Describee menu drops down from the menu bar at the top of the screen.
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Pick what to describe
Whole screen, what’s in focus, a Finder selection, or a file from disk. Use number keys 1 through 4 to jump straight to one.
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Listen to the description
VoiceOver speaks the description out loud. The chat window also keeps a written copy you can navigate with arrow keys.
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Ask follow-up questions
Type a question — “what does the chart on the left say?” — and get an answer about the same image. Save the image with the description embedded as alt text if you want to share it.
Get Describee
Free download. You’ll need a free Google Gemini API key to run it (a few clicks).
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Download Describee
Download install_describee.dmg
Open the disk image and drag Describee into your Applications folder.
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Get a free Gemini API key
Visit aistudio.google.com/app/apikey,
sign in with a Google account, click “Create API key,” and copy the key. The free tier is generous and personal. -
Open Describee and paste your key
Launch Describee. The welcome window has a field for your API key — paste it in and click “Save Key.” That’s it.
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Approve the app on first launch (one-time)
The first time you open Describee, macOS may say “Apple cannot check it for malicious software” and refuse to open it. To approve it: open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway next to the Describee message. Confirm with your password. After that, Describee opens normally.
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Approve Screen Recording
The first time you describe something, macOS will ask you to grant Describee Screen Recording permission (so it can capture the screen). Approve it in System Settings → Privacy & Security, then quit and relaunch Describee. Once.
Privacy
- Images you describe are sent only to the AI provider you choose (Google Gemini by default).
- Your API key is stored in the macOS Keychain on your Mac. It is never sent anywhere except directly to the AI provider you chose.
- Describee has no telemetry, no analytics, no servers of its own.
Frequently asked questions
Why do I need an API key?
Describee uses an AI vision model to describe images. The model itself is run by Google
(or, optionally, OpenAI or Anthropic). Each user provides their own API key so that
the cost — usually nothing, on the free tier — goes through their own account rather than mine.
Does this work without VoiceOver?
Yes. The chat window is fully usable with sight too. But the design priority is VoiceOver
and keyboard-only operation, because that’s where the gap was.
What macOS versions are supported?
macOS 13 (Ventura) and later, on Apple Silicon Macs (M1, M2, M3, M4, and newer). Intel Macs are not supported by this build.
Can I use OpenAI or Anthropic instead of Gemini?
Yes. Open Describee’s Settings, switch the provider, paste the corresponding API key.
Same flow either way.
What does “Save Image to Desktop with Alt Text” do?
It saves the captured image as a PNG on your Desktop with the description
embedded as alt-text metadata. When you share the file in Mail, Messages,
a website, or anywhere that respects accessibility metadata, the description
travels with it — so the people you send it to also get an accessible image.
I’m getting a security warning when I open the app.
Describee is signed but isn’t notarized through Apple’s paid Developer Program yet, so macOS Sequoia (15) and later will refuse to open it on the first launch and say “Apple cannot check it for malicious software.”
To approve it: open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click the Open Anyway button next to the Describee message. (On older macOS versions, right-click the app in Applications, choose Open, and confirm.) After this one-time approval, macOS remembers and lets Describee launch normally.
The Option-Shift-D shortcut doesn’t open Describee.
macOS lets only one app at a time own a global keyboard shortcut. If another app (Alfred, Raycast, Magnet, Karabiner, etc.) already uses Option-Shift-D, Describee can’t claim it and will tell you on launch. You can still open Describee by clicking the eye icon in the menu bar at the top of the screen. To get the shortcut working, free Option-Shift-D in the other app and relaunch Describee.
Tony Gebhard 