You can disable certain features of Read&Write with a plist config file. Network admins can push out a plist file called RWSettings.plist to the /Users/Shared/Read&Write folder. The plist keys and file details are documented below.
As a system admin, if you need to make sure the Accessibility and Automation Mac security prompts don't show for end users, you should push out a mobileconfig file via MDM to set these security options for your users. We have this documented in our Pre-Configuring Mac For Read&Write Use In A Site Environment article.
Disable AI Voices
To disable any AI voices (Polly and ElevenLabs) used in Read&Write. Available from v7.7.
Use the key "DisableAIVoices" with value "YES"
Offline Features Only
To disable any features which use an internet connection. Available from v7.7.
Please note: login and licensing requires an internet connection, if you set this flag, you need to have already licensed Read&Write on the Mac and have a valid Read&Write.license file stored (default location is /Users/Shared/Read&Write).
Use the key "OfflineFeaturesOnly" with value "YES"
Offline Check it
To bypass the Online Checkit feature and use offline only.
Use the key "CheckitOffline" with value "YES"
Custom License File Location
To set a custom license file location, for example on a network location, instead of the default /Users/Shared location. Available from v7.7.
Use the key "OfflineLicenseNetworkLocation" with string value set to the path of the location. Read&Write will add on "/Read&Write/Read&Write.license" to this path.
Enable / Disable Toolbar Buttons
To disable certain toolbar buttons, add their name to a "FeaturesEnabled" dictionary will the value "NO".
A template file which turns off all features can be downloaded here: RWSettings.plist
An exam template file which will remove all the features normally not allowed during exams can be downloaded here: RWSettings.plist. The only tools enabled in this template are: Rewind, Play, Pause, Stop, Forward, Screenshot Reader, PDF Reader, Screen Masking, Talk&Type and Settings.
Command line example
To create the plist file use the Terminal application and the following commands (edit as needed - this example disables everything):
defaults write /Users/Shared/Read\&Write/RWSettings.plist DisableAIVoices -bool YES defaults write /Users/Shared/Read\&Write/RWSettings.plist OfflineFeaturesOnly -bool YES defaults write /Users/Shared/Read\&Write/RWSettings.plist CheckitOffline -bool YES defaults write /Users/Shared/Read\&Write/RWSettings.plist OfflineLicenseNetworkLocation -string "/Users/Shared" defaults write /Users/Shared/Read\&Write/RWSettings.plist FeaturesEnabled -dict \ "Check It" -bool NO \ "Prediction" -bool NO \ "Dictionary" -bool NO \ "Picture Dictionary" -bool NO \ "Verb Checker" -bool NO \ "Play" -bool NO \ "Pause" -bool NO \ "Stop" -bool NO \ "Screenshot Reader" -bool NO \ "Audio Maker" -bool NO \ "Scan" -bool NO \ "Research Folder" -bool NO \ "Translator" -bool NO \ "Screen Masking" -bool NO \ "PDF Reader" -bool NO \ "Highlight Yellow" -bool NO \ "Highlight Green" -bool NO \ "Erase Highlights" -bool NO \ "Collect Highlights" -bool NO \ "Vocabulary List" -bool NO \ "Highlight Blue" -bool NO \ "Highlight Pink" -bool NO \ "Daisy Reader" -bool NO \ "Web Search" -bool NO \ "Calculator" -bool NO \ "Forward" -bool NO \ "Rewind" -bool NO \ "Spell Check" -bool NO \ "Similar Word Checker" -bool NO \ "Summaries" -bool NO \ "Refine" -bool NO \ "Voice Note" -bool NO \ "Talk&Type" -bool NO \ "Dictation" -bool NO \ "Hover Speech" -bool NO \ "Settings" -bool NO
Make sure all users of the Mac can read the file by running the following command:
sudo chmod 644 /Users/Shared/Read\&Write/RWSettings.plist