In short
Stop writing during the meeting and listen instead. Keep a transcript, with everyone's knowledge, and read it later at your own pace, or have macOS read it aloud with Speak selection or Accessibility Reader. Then write a few short lines: decisions, your actions, dates.
For many people with dyslexia, the hardest part of taking meeting notes is doing two things at once: listening and writing. The fix is to separate them. Listen fully during the meeting, keep a transcript (with everyone's knowledge), and read it afterwards at your own pace, or have your Mac read it aloud. Then turn it into a few short lines: decisions, your actions, dates. Check those lines against the transcript before relying on them.
This guide covers that workflow, the reading tools built into macOS, and how to make notes you will actually be able to use. Everyone's dyslexia is different; take the parts that help.
Take notes without writing during the meeting
- Tell the room you are keeping a transcript. "I'm recording so I can concentrate on the discussion" is enough; you do not need to give a reason beyond that.
- Listen and take part. Write nothing, or only a word or two when something matters to you, such as a task with your name on it.
- Mark moments, not sentences. If your tool lets you, note the time something important was said. You will find it later by time.
- After the meeting, read or listen to the transcript when you have time and energy for it, not straight away if that is hard.
- Write three short lists: decisions, your actions, dates. A line each.
- Check each line against the transcript or the recording.
- Keep the transcript with your notes, so you can go back to it.
Why separate listening from writing
Writing while listening splits attention between following the conversation, choosing what matters, and spelling it. For many people with dyslexia, spelling and writing speed take more effort than they do for others, so something has to give, and it is usually the listening.
A transcript removes the time pressure. The meeting's words are captured once, without you, and you can read them when you choose, as slowly as you like, as often as you need. The notes you then write can be short, because the transcript holds the detail.
Reading tools built into macOS
On macOS 26, the reading tools are in System Settings › Accessibility › Read & Speak.
Speak selection
Turn on Speak selection, then select any text, such as a paragraph of a transcript, and press the keyboard shortcut shown in the settings. Your Mac reads it aloud. The settings let you choose the System voice, the Speaking rate, and whether words and sentences are highlighted as they are read.
Accessibility Reader
Accessibility Reader shows text from any app in a full-screen view where you choose the font, size, line spacing, word spacing and colours, and can have it read aloud. Apple's guide gives the shortcut to open it, Command-Escape by default, and you can change it.
Other tools
- Speak item under the pointer reads whatever the pointer rests on.
- Live Captions turns speech into text on screen during a meeting, if reading along helps you follow. Live captions for meetings on a Mac compares it with the other options.
- Dictation lets you speak your notes instead of typing them. Press the dictation shortcut in any text field.
Making notes you can use
Long notes are hard to reread. Short structured ones are not.
| Section | What goes in it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Decisions | One line per decision | Launch price stays for Q1 |
| My actions | What you said you would do, and when | Send pricing page draft by Friday |
| Others' actions | Only the ones you depend on | Priya confirms annual price |
| Dates | Anything with a date | Review call 3 October |
| Questions | What you still need to ask | Who approves the page? |
Some tips:
- Use the same five headings every time. A fixed shape is easier to fill and to scan.
- Short lines, not paragraphs. A line is enough.
- Bullet points and white space. Dense text is harder to read for everyone.
- Colour or bold for your own actions in your own notes.
- A voice note to yourself straight after the meeting, if speaking is easier than writing. Dictation can turn it into text.
How to take meeting notes covers note-taking in general.
Summaries: helpful, but check them
An AI summary of a meeting can be much easier to read than a full transcript. It can also be wrong: it may give you a task you did not agree to, or leave out one you did. Read the summary first if that helps, then check your own actions and any dates against the transcript. Meeting transcript vs summary explains why the transcript is the thing to trust.
Finding the part you need
You rarely need to read a whole transcript. You need the five minutes where your project came up. Search for a word you remember, jump to the time you marked, or scan for your name. Finding a moment in a meeting recording covers the ways to get there quickly, including listening instead of reading.
At work
If you need more support, such as notes provided by someone else or extra time to respond after meetings, you can ask your employer. In many places, employers have duties to make changes for disabled staff, and dyslexia can be covered. Meeting transcripts as a workplace accommodation explains how such requests generally work.
With Notey
Notey records your microphone and what your Mac plays, and transcribes both on your Mac as the meeting happens, so you can listen instead of writing.
- Read at your own pace. The transcript stays on your Mac. Every line plays from its timestamp, so you can listen to any part instead of reading it, and ⌘K finds a meeting or a moment by what was said.
- Two lanes for the whole meeting. After a meeting, the overview shows your side above and theirs below; click anywhere to play from there.
- Short notes on request. With an account and a plan that includes AI notes, Notey writes a summary with action items, labelled AI-generated. It says so when nobody committed to anything. Check your own actions against the transcript.
- Export the summary as Markdown, or the transcript as plain text, into whatever you read best in, and select it there to have your Mac read it aloud.
Recording and transcribing need no account and no network. Tell the people in the meeting that you are recording.
Frequently asked questions
How do people with dyslexia take notes in meetings?
Many find it easier to listen fully in the meeting and make notes afterwards from a recording or transcript, rather than writing while listening. Short structured notes, voice notes and text-to-speech all help. What works differs from person to person.
Can my Mac read a transcript aloud to me?
Yes. In System Settings › Accessibility › Read & Speak, turn on Speak selection, then select text and press the keyboard shortcut. Accessibility Reader, in the same place, shows text in a clearer layout and can read it aloud.
Are AI summaries helpful for dyslexia?
A short summary can be easier to read than a long transcript. It can also contain mistakes, so check anything you will act on, such as a date or a task given to you, against the transcript.
Do I have to tell people I have dyslexia to record a meeting?
No. You do have to tell them the meeting is being recorded. "I'm keeping a transcript so I can concentrate on the discussion" is enough.