diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 758dc4f..87d960f 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -308,6 +308,14 @@ dependencies = [
  "crossbeam-utils",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "cosmic-dbus-a11y"
+version = "0.1.0"
+source = "git+https://github.com/pop-os/dbus-settings-bindings#62100129240d164e39fff16bda34faad520936de"
+dependencies = [
+ "zbus",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "cosmic-notifications-util"
 version = "0.1.0"
@@ -323,6 +331,7 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "async-signals",
  "color-eyre",
+ "cosmic-dbus-a11y",
  "cosmic-notifications-util",
  "futures-util",
  "itertools",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index c0c7a68..250dafd 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ publish = false
 async-signals = "0.4"
 color-eyre = "0.6"
 futures-util = "0.3"
+cosmic-dbus-a11y = { git = "https://github.com/pop-os/dbus-settings-bindings" }
+
 launch-pad = { git = "https://github.com/pop-os/launch-pad" }
 itertools = "0.12"
 #launch-pad = { git = "https://github.com/pop-os/launch-pad", branch = "remove-sync-bounds" }
diff --git a/Justfile b/Justfile
index 051f889..3f3d5be 100644
--- a/Justfile
+++ b/Justfile
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ vendor_args := if vendor == '1' { '--frozen --offline' } else { '' }
 debug_args := if debug == '1' { '' } else { '--release' }
 cargo_args := vendor_args + ' ' + debug_args
 xdp_cosmic := '/usr/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal-cosmic'
+orca := '/usr/bin/orca'
 
 bindir := prefix + '/bin'
 systemddir := prefix + '/lib/systemd/user'
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ applicationdir := prefix + '/share/applications'
 all: _extract_vendor build
 
 build:
-        XDP_COSMIC={{xdp_cosmic}} cargo build {{cargo_args}}
+        XDP_COSMIC={{xdp_cosmic}} ORCA={{orca}} cargo build {{cargo_args}}
 
 # Installs files into the system
 install:
diff --git a/src/a11y.rs b/src/a11y.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c30191
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/a11y.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+use futures_util::StreamExt;
+use launch_pad::ProcessManager;
+use tokio::sync::mpsc;
+use tracing::Instrument;
+
+const ORCA: Option<&'static str> = option_env!("ORCA");
+
+pub async fn start_a11y(
+	env_vars: Vec<(String, String)>,
+	pman: ProcessManager,
+) -> color_eyre::Result<()> {
+	let (tx, mut rx) = mpsc::unbounded_channel();
+	let mut process_key = None;
+	let conn = zbus::Connection::session().await?;
+	let proxy = cosmic_dbus_a11y::StatusProxy::new(&conn).await?;
+
+	tokio::spawn(async move {
+		let mut watch_changes = proxy.receive_screen_reader_enabled_changed().await;
+		let mut enabled = false;
+		if let Ok(status) = proxy.screen_reader_enabled().await {
+			_ = tx.send(status);
+
+			enabled = status;
+		}
+		while let Some(change) = watch_changes.next().await {
+			let Ok(new_enabled) = change.get().await else {
+				tokio::time::sleep(tokio::time::Duration::from_secs(10)).await;
+				continue;
+			};
+			if enabled != new_enabled {
+				_ = tx.send(new_enabled);
+				enabled = new_enabled;
+			}
+		}
+	});
+
+	while let Some(enabled) = rx.recv().await {
+		let stdout_span = info_span!(parent: None, "screen-reader");
+		let stderr_span = stdout_span.clone();
+		if enabled && process_key.is_none() {
+			// spawn orca
+			match pman
+				.start(
+					launch_pad::process::Process::new()
+						.with_executable(ORCA.unwrap_or("/usr/bin/orca"))
+						.with_env(env_vars.clone())
+						.with_on_stdout(move |_, _, line| {
+							let stdout_span = stdout_span.clone();
+							async move {
+								info!("{}", line);
+							}
+							.instrument(stdout_span)
+						})
+						.with_on_stderr(move |_, _, line| {
+							let stderr_span = stderr_span.clone();
+							async move {
+								warn!("{}", line);
+							}
+							.instrument(stderr_span)
+						}),
+				)
+				.await
+			{
+				Ok(key) => {
+					process_key = Some(key);
+				}
+				Err(err) => {
+					tracing::error!("Failed to start screen reader {err:?}");
+				}
+			}
+		} else if !enabled && process_key.is_some() {
+			// kill orca
+			info!("Stopping screen reader");
+			if let Err(err) = pman.stop_process(process_key.take().unwrap()).await {
+				tracing::error!("Failed to stop screen reader. {err:?}")
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	Ok(())
+}
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 19e0877..8da576e 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate tracing;
 
+mod a11y;
 mod comp;
 mod notifications;
 mod process;
@@ -194,6 +195,9 @@ async fn start(
 		systemd::stop_systemd_target();
 	}
 
+	// start a11y if configured
+	tokio::spawn(a11y::start_a11y(env_vars.clone(), process_manager.clone()));
+
 	let (panel_notifications_fd, daemon_notifications_fd) =
 		notifications::create_socket().expect("Failed to create notification socket");