Voiceover missing the minus

If you, like me, ended up here searching for the solution, here's what I've found after more research as the likely reason for this.

There is a difference between a hyphen and a minus sign. If your Voice Over is set to read only "some" punctuation, it will read out minus signs, but not hyphens.

Many keyboards will simply input a hyphen when you press the dash on it. If you get the correct symbol for a minus sign (unicode 2212) instead of a hyphen (002D or 2010), then "some punctuation" will read the minus sign properly.

This took me far longer to figure out than I care to admit so I hope it helps some other people out as well. Not necessarily the only reason for this to occur though.

Hello AndyPandy456,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. 

We understand that when using VoiceOver negative numbers are announced as positive numbers. We are happy to help.

What is the exact error message, if any, you receive? Many times restarting your device can resolve many concerns. Please use the steps here to restart your Mac: Shut down or restart your Mac - Apple Support

"Restart your Mac

• On your Mac, choose Apple menu  > Restart.
• If you don’t want app windows that are open to reopen when your Mac restarts, deselect “Reopen windows when logging back in.”"

We also recommend completing some isolating troubleshooting steps to help us isolate the cause further.

Here’s how to start in safe mode: How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

"Apple silicon

1. Shut down your Mac.
2. Turn on your Mac and continue to press and hold the power button until you see the startup options window.
3. Select your startup disk, then press and hold the Shift key while clicking “Continue in Safe Mode.”
4. Log in to your Mac. You might be asked to log in again.

Intel processor

1. Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.
2. Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac. 
3. You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window."

Here’s how to add a new user to test: Change Users & Groups settings on Mac - Apple Support

"Create a new user or group.

Click the New Account pop-up menu (you may be asked to enter your password), then choose a type of account.

• Administrator: An administrator can add and manage other users, install apps, and change settings. The new user you create when you first set up your Mac is an administrator. Your Mac can have multiple administrators. You can create new ones, and convert standard users to administrators. Don’t set up automatic login for an administrator. If you do, someone could simply restart your Mac and gain access with administrator privileges. To keep your Mac secure, don’t share administrator names and passwords.
• Standard: Standard users are set up by an administrator. Standard users can install apps and change their own settings, but can’t add other users or change other users’ settings.
• Sharing Only: Sharing-only users can access shared files remotely, but can’t log in to the computer or change settings. To give the user permission to access your shared files or screen, you may need to change options in File Sharing, Screen Sharing, or Remote Management settings. See Set up file sharing and Share the screen of another Mac.
• Group: Groups allow multiple users to have the same access privileges. You control a group’s access to your shared folders by setting access permissions in the File Sharing options in Sharing settings.

See Add a user or group."

Let us know if you have further questions.

Take care.

Hello AndyPandy456,

Thanks for the additional details. 

Just to confirm, which voice or language is currently being used on your Mac? Does the issue resolve itself if you change to another voice or language? If you’re unsure, let’s try a different one now following the steps found here: Change Siri voice or language - Apple Support

If it is resolved when changing the language, we recommend reaching out to Apple Support so they can look into this in more detail. You can do that here: Contact - Official Apple Support

Kindest regards. 

AndyPandy456,

With the behavior persisting we recommend reaching out for additional support in your region. You can review available options here: Get Support

Best regards.

It's pretty bad that something that worked well is now broken. This is an issue with anyone depending on the screenreader to give them accurate information. Android does it properly.

iOS running OS version 15.6.1 .

The negative amount is not announcing properly in iOS device. It announces only the amount " $58.60 cents"" Where as in Android , it announces as "minus $58.60 cents" properly. 

Speak Selection no longer speaks "minus" when reading from a Numbers cell (or Pages text). Rebooting, updating the OS, changing the voice, and changing the Numbers Cell's format still don't restore speaking "Minus". I have used the Speak Selection feature (activated with <Right Arrow>) to speak my Numbers entries to verify they match my check-register entries. The simple sequence of <Up Arrow>, <Right Arrow> steps up the Numbers column and speaks the cell's value—avoiding having to bobble-head between Numbers and Check-register to verify they match.