A screen reader that describes what’s on your screen, including in braille.
VoiceOver
For those who are blind or have low vision, VoiceOver is an industry?leading screen reader that tells you exactly what’s happening on your screen audibly, in braille, or both. Easily control and navigate your screen through simple gestures on a touchscreen, trackpad, or Bluetooth? keyboard. On Apple Vision Pro, you can control and navigate your device with a combination of gestures using one or both hands. VoiceOver can describe your surroundings in great detail. With Live Recognition, you’ll get descriptions of objects in the real world, such as people, doors, text, and furniture in indoor spaces.1 VoiceOver offers deep customization options, like modifying your favorite built-in voice for speech feedback and tailoring its verbosity, speed, and accompanying sound and haptic feedback to your?preferences.2
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS or macOS for feature availability.
You can also connect a Bluetooth wireless refreshable braille display and use it to control and navigate your Apple device. Read and type using contracted or uncontracted braille, or enter braille directly on the touchscreen using Braille?Screen?Input. VoiceOver supports many international braille tables. When communicating or working with sighted individuals, you can turn on the braille panel to display a language translation of the braille onscreen. Apple devices also support multiline text braille displays. With more than 70 refreshable braille displays compatible with iOS and iPadOS, and more than 100 with macOS, you can find the right braille experience for?you.
A digital magnifying glass that zooms in on, detects, and describes objects around you.
Magnifier
Magnifier works like a digital magnifying glass. It uses the camera on your iPhone or iPad to increase the size of any physical object you point it at, like a menu or sign, so you can see all the details clearly on your screen. Use the flashlight or LED flash to light the object, adjust filters to differentiate colors, or freeze a specific frame for a static close-up.
On Mac, the Magnifier app connects to an attached camera so you can zoom in on your surroundings, such as a screen or whiteboard. Magnifier works with Continuity?Camera on iPhone as well as attached USB cameras. It also works as a video magnifier or a desktop magnifier to read documents using Desk?View. With multiple live session windows, you can multitask by viewing a presentation with a webcam while simultaneously following along in a book using Desk View. With customized views, you can adjust brightness, contrast, color filters, and even perspective to make text and images easier to see. Views can also be captured, grouped, and saved to add later on.
For those who are blind or have low vision and want more information about their physical surroundings, Detection?Mode in Magnifier can scan surroundings and offer live descriptions of what is detected in the camera view using on-device machine learning. Magnifier recognizes text in the camera view with Text Detection, and you can even point your finger at text and have it spoken with Point and Speak.3 This can be helpful when you need to interact with an object that has text labels, such as a digital screen at self-checkout, dials, buttons, or keypads on household appliances.
Detection Mode on iPhone and iPad models with a LiDAR Scanner includes intelligent tools that detect people, doors, and furniture nearby and let you know using sounds and other feedback.4 On iPhone, use Detection Mode with the Action button to have your surroundings described to you.5
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS for Scenes in Detection Mode availability. See iOS and iPadOS for Text Detection availability.
With Reader Mode, Accessibility Reader integrates with Magnifier so you can seamlessly interact with text in the real world, such as in books or on dining?menus.2 Temporarily capture a frame that contains text and adjust the font, size, and color of the text to your liking. Get guidance on framing a document and adjusting the perspective before viewing it in Reader?Mode, with audible prompts to help make sure the full document is in camera view. Reader?Mode works with spoken content, so you can follow along with text as it’s read out?loud.
Have any text on your screen read aloud, including letters and words as you type.
Read & Speak settings
This collection of features is designed to enhance your reading or writing with audio. Hear your entire screen read aloud with Speak Screen or use Speak Selection to have a specific range of text read to you. Speech Controller lets you keep those controls onscreen so you can easily pause the speaking, adjust the rate, or navigate forward or back to the content you want to hear.
Speak Screen and Speak Selection are available in over 80 distinct voices and more than 60 languages and locales, with options to customize settings such as pitch range for your preferred built-in voices.2 Languages are automatically detected to switch seamlessly between voices, so your spoken content won’t feel impersonal. These features also work with Accessibility Reader, so you can view text in a format that’s comfortable for you and hear it read out loud at the same time.
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS or macOS for feature availability.
Activate Typing Feedback to hear what you type spoken out loud character by character, word by word, and with auto-corrections and auto-capitalizations as they appear. With Highlight Content, you can have words or sentences accentuated in a customized color and style as they’re read out loud.
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS or macOS for feature availability.
Take notes, open apps, and get real-time captions, all in braille.
Braille Access
Braille Access is an all-new experience that turns iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple?Vision?Pro into a full-featured braille notetaker that’s deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem. With a built-in app launcher, you can easily open any app by typing with a connected braille device. Quickly take notes in braille format and perform calculations using Nemeth Braille or UEB Math, two braille codes often used in classrooms for math and science. And an integrated form of Live Captions lets you transcribe conversations in real time directly on braille displays.6
You can also open Braille Ready Format (BRF) files directly from Braille Access, unlocking a wide range of books and files previously created on a braille note-taking device.
Invert colors, apply color filters, increase contrast, adjust text size, and?more.
Display settings & Text Size
Text Size helps make text more legible and visible with simple font adjustments. With Larger Text you can adjust the size using an accessibility slider, while Bold Text gives weight to the words on your screen. You can set up Per-App Settings to ensure that your preferred settings will be applied only to the apps you choose.
Invert display colors to make the background dark to help your text and content stand out. This can be useful in apps and websites that don’t support Dark Mode. Smart Invert reverses the colors on the display except for images, media, and some apps that use dark color styles, while Classic Invert reverses all colors on the display.
Color Filters let you view the entire screen in grayscale, adjust colors for color vision deficiencies, or tint the screen a color. Use Reduce White Point to tone down the intensity of bright colors and make the display easier on your eyes. You can also use Reduce Bright Effects to minimize bright flashes when tapping on elements like?buttons.
Turn on Reduce Transparency to make transparent or blurred backgrounds appear opaque by giving them a solid color, improving contrast and readability. You can also use Increase Contrast to turn up the color contrast between an app’s foreground and background colors.
Set up Reduce Transparency and Increase Contrast on:
Some screen items rely on color to convey information. Use Differentiate Without Color to replace these with alternative ways to tell them apart, like shapes or text. To make it easier for users with color blindness or low vision to see whether a setting is on or off without relying on color alone, use On/Off Labels to add a vertical line to switches to indicate when they’re on and a circle to indicate when they’re off. You can also turn on Show Borders, Show Toolbar Button Shapes on Mac, or High Contrast Focus Style on Apple?TV to underline any text that performs an action when you tap it, so it’s easier to identify these elements onscreen.
Your iPhone controls brightness using a technique called pulse width modulation (PWM), which can make the display appear to flicker when dim for some individuals.7 Turn on Display Pulse Smoothing to create a smoother dimming experience at low brightness levels.
Helps passengers reduce motion sickness while using their device in a car.
Vehicle Motion Cues
When you want to use iPhone, iPad, or Mac while a passenger in a moving vehicle, Vehicle Motion Cues can help reduce motion sickness.8 Using sensors built into your device, dots appear on your screen and move with the motion of the vehicle to reduce sensory conflict — a common cause of motion sickness. These dots are designed to remain on the sides of your screen to avoid interfering with any content. Vehicle Motion Cues can be turned on manually in Control Center or automatically on iPhone when it senses vehicle motion. You can also customize the color, size, number, and pattern of the animated onscreen?dots.
Dim flashing lights, pause moving images, simplify onscreen motion, and more.
Motion settings
Turn on Reduce?Motion to decrease the movement of onscreen elements. Some screen actions, including launching and moving between apps, or the fluid morphing effects of Liquid?Glass, become visually simpler for those motion sensitivity or to lessen strain on the eyes. Apply the Reduce?Motion setting only to the apps you?want.
This feature can help those who want to avoid bright flashes of light watch video content more comfortably. Dim Flashing Lights automatically darkens the video display during these sequences.
If you’re sensitive to rapid movement, you have the option to automatically pause images with moving elements in apps like Messages and Safari, or videos in apps like the App?Store and?YouTube.
Stop the blinking of the vertical bar that appears at the insertion point where you’re typing. If you use a braille display with iPhone, the cursor indicator on the display also stops?blinking.
Zoom is a screen magnifier that lets you enlarge the content you see on your device. Choose Full Screen Zoom to magnify the entire screen, or Window Zoom to magnify only part of the screen with a resizable lens.10 Follow Focus tracks your selections, the text insertion point, and your typing. Smart Typing magnifies the text area and keeps the keyboard unmagnified while typing. With Zoom Filters, you can apply Inverted, Grayscale, Grayscale Inverted, or Low Light to the magnified?area.
Zoom also works with VoiceOver, so you can more clearly see and hear what’s happening on your screen. Split Screen Zoom on Mac lets you see content up close and at a distance simultaneously. And if you’re using Zoom on multiple displays with macOS, you can set a different zoom level for each?display.
If you have low vision, visionOS is more accessible than ever thanks to the advanced camera system on Apple?Vision?Pro. Zoom can magnify everything in your view — including your surroundings — using the main?camera.
Shows a close-up view of selected text as you read or type.
Hover settings
Hover Text makes it easier to view text on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac or while you’re watching Apple?TV content. If a paragraph, text box, caption, or footnote is too small to read, just hover over it with your pointer or Apple Pencil and press the activation key for a bigger, higher?resolution version of your selection.11 You can even choose the fonts and colors that work best for you. Hover Color on iPhone, iPad, or Mac helps those who are color-blind or have low vision decipher the color beneath their pointer by translating color pixels into simple-to-understand color names. With Hover Typing on iPhone, iPad, and Mac, you can see larger text when you’re typing in a text field — in your preferred font and text color,?too.
Create and easily navigate accessible documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
iWork
Pages, Numbers, and Keynote include several features that can help you create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations that are accessible for both you and your?audiences.
Add descriptions to images, audio, or video in Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. Line- and word-spacing tools enhance how you read, perceive, and edit documents. For VoiceOver users, the layout rotor helps you automatically align selected elements so that your documents look and sound exactly the way you like. Use VoiceOver Audio Graph support to more clearly communicate data or improve how you read and edit documents with line- and word-spacing tools. The text checker tool can help you discover common formatting issues such as extra spaces or mistakenly capitalized letters, which makes proofreading documents, spreadsheets, and presentations even easier. With Apple?Intelligence, you can transform how you communicate with Writing Tools that can proofread your text, rewrite different versions until the tone and wording are just right, and summarize selected text with a?tap.12
Built-in layout options in Pages help you organize and customize the look of your documents. You can also make Pages documents more scannable by adding headings that screen readers can easily identify and?navigate.
Audio Descriptions provide spoken narration of important visual content in movies and TV shows on many of your devices including iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple?TV. Just check for the AD icon under the movie title on the Apple?TV app or on the iTunes?Store.
Add, organize, and customize shortcuts for the tools and settings you use most.
Quickly Toggle?Settings
Control Center gives you instant access to the things you do the most. It has groups of controls, which you can access fluidly with a single, continuous swipe down on the Home Screen. This includes categories for accessibility, hearing, mobility, and vision. You can change which hearing features appear in Control Center when you tap the Hearing icon — just go to the Accessibility menu under Settings and select Hearing Control Center to add or remove the features you prefer. You can add more controls from the Controls gallery, which shows all your options in one place, including new controls from your favorite apps.
With the Accessibility Shortcut, you can easily add, organize, and customize your favorite accessibility features in Control Center or System Settings. Just triple-click the side button, Digital Crown, or power button to quickly access the features you use most.
Meet the easiest shortcut ever. Back Tap lets you double?tap or triple?tap the back of your iPhone to perform actions like taking a screenshot, turning on an accessibility feature, or running a shortcut. Choose from more than 20 different actions or create your own automated shortcuts in the Shortcuts app to simplify your everyday tasks.13
On iPhone, you can choose which function you want the Action button to perform when you press it. Because the button is easily accessible, it’s useful for things you do often. And it’s easy to change the Action button to perform a different function. You can choose from several actions, like turning on the flashlight, activating a Focus mode, or running your favorite shortcut. You can also use the Action button to quickly access Magnifier or another favorite accessibility feature.
You can customize certain Accessibility settings app by app on iPhone and iPad. Just select the apps you want to customize from the Per-App Settings menu and choose the settings you want to update. You can adjust display settings like contrast and transparency, or make text in your apps appear larger or bolder. You’ll see the changes applied next time you open the app.
Apps can offer shortcuts for things you do frequently. You can use Siri to initiate these shortcuts with just your voice. While some apps have Siri Shortcuts set up automatically, you can also create your own using the Shortcuts app.
Automate complex tasks with just a tap or by asking Siri.
Shortcuts app
A shortcut is a quick way to get one or more tasks done with your apps using just a tap or by asking Siri. Shortcuts can automate a variety of things, like getting directions to the next event on your calendar or moving text from one app to another. You can use the Shortcuts app to add ready-made or custom shortcuts to your devices. It lets you combine multiple steps across multiple apps to create powerful task automations. Siri can also suggest simple, useful shortcuts based on your app usage. Once you create a shortcut, just activate Siri, then say the shortcut’s name to run it.
The Shortcuts app Gallery features Shortcuts for Accessibility — a curated collection of ready-to-use tools that support a wide range of needs. Shortcuts for features like VoiceOver and AssistiveTouch let you quickly toggle them on and off. If you have short-term memory loss, you can use Remember This to log what happens throughout the day. The Hold That Thought shortcut prompts you to capture and recall information in a note so interruptions don’t derail your flow. Or run the In Case of Emergency shortcut to send your location to your chosen emergency contacts, share a message with custom instructions, and display a message of your choice onscreen for first responders to see. With intelligent actions in Shortcuts, you can summarize text, create images, or tap directly into Apple Intelligence models to provide responses that feed into your?shortcut.
The Accessibility Assistant shortcut can help you find built-in accessibility features that work for you. Answer a series of questions about your needs, and the Accessibility Assistant will create a Notes document with a list of recommended accessibility features and relevant Apple Support links. You can share your custom note with a family member or friend.
This feature offers a new way for you to quickly and temporarily share your accessibility settings with another iPhone or iPad. It can be helpful when borrowing a friend’s device or using a public kiosk in a setting like a café. Easily share settings for features that support visual accommodations, like Increase Contrast or Reduce Motion. Or share Touch Accommodations to support your unique taps and touches on another?device.
Customize text to read and focus at your comfort level.
Accessibility Reader
Accessibility Reader is a new systemwide reading experience designed to make text easier to read for people with a wide range of disabilities, from dyslexia to low vision. Accessibility?Reader gives you new ways to customize long-form text and focus on content you want to read, with extensive options for font, color, and spacing, as well as built-in audio controls to read text out loud as you follow along. Accessibility?Reader can be launched from any app and is built into the Magnifier app for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, so you can seamlessly interact with text in the real world, such as books or on dining menus.
AirPods Pro feature a clinical-grade Hearing Aid capability.
Hearing Health
AirPods?Pro offer an end-to-end hearing health experience, giving you access to a Hearing Test, a clinical-grade Hearing Aid feature, and active Hearing Protection.14
Take a scientifically validated Hearing Test in the comfort of your home in about five minutes by pairing AirPods?Pro with an iPhone or iPad.14 You’ll receive easy-to-understand results and insights into your hearing. The clinical-grade Hearing Aid feature can help those with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss.14 It makes adjustments that improve the clarity of voices and sounds around you. You can customize settings — including amplification, balance, and tone — to your needs. AirPods?Pro also provide active Hearing Protection across listening modes to help prevent exposure to loud environmental?noise.15
Get real-time captions of live conversations and audio from apps.
Live Captions
If you are Deaf or hard of hearing or prefer reading text to help you understand and communicate more clearly, Live Captions can help. Live Captions offer real-time, on-device-generated transcriptions of conversations so you can follow along securely on your device.6 You can turn on Live Captions in your Phone calls, FaceTime calls, or any web content you’re browsing. They can even capture and caption live, in-person speech through the microphone in your device. You can customize the Live Captions window, adjusting the size, placement, fonts, and colors to suit your needs.16 Live Captions also work with Apple?Vision?Pro, so you can follow along with spoken dialogue in live conversations on FaceTime as well as audio from apps systemwide. During Live Listen sessions, you can view Live Captions on a paired Apple?Watch or on a nearby iPhone or iPad signed into the same Apple?Account.
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS, macOS, or watchOS for Live Captions availability.
Use your device’s microphone to amplify conversations and get captions of what you?hear.
Live Listen
Live Listen helps you have conversations in loud places by picking up audio from people who are speaking from a distance, such as in a lecture hall or across a dining table. Just turn on the feature and place your device near the people who are speaking. Audio is picked up by the device’s microphone and sent to your AirPods, Beats headphones, or Made for iPhone hearing devices, so you can hear what’s being said more?clearly.17
Live Listen on Apple?Watch works with a new set of features, including real-time Live Captions.6 When a Live Listen session is active on iPhone, you can view Live Captions of the conversation that iPhone picks up on a paired Apple?Watch — or on a nearby iPhone or iPad signed into the same Apple?Account — while listening along to the audio. Live?Listen can be controlled from across the room with Apple?Watch, so you don’t have to get up and interrupt a meeting or class to start or stop a session. Apple?Watch, iPhone, or iPad can serve as a remote control to jump back a few seconds to capture something you may have missed or to stop Live?Listen?sessions.
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS, macOS, or watchOS for Live?Captions?availability.
Hearing aids and more, made specifically for your Apple devices.
Made for iPhone hearing devices
Apple has worked with top manufacturers to create hearing aids, cochlear implants, and sound processors designed specifically for Apple devices. These advanced hearing devices provide outstanding sound quality, offer many helpful features, and are as easy to set up and use as any other Bluetooth?device. Instantly apply your audiologist’s environmental presets as you go outdoors or enter noisy locations, like restaurants, without having to rely on additional remotes. When using Made for iPhone hearing devices, you can also have Siri announce notifications from your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple?Vision?Pro.
Experience music on iPhone with vibrations synchronized to the rhythm of a song.
Music Haptics
Music Haptics is a way for those who are Deaf or hard of hearing to experience music. It syncs the iPhone Taptic?Engine — which creates your device’s vibrations — with the rhythm of songs so you can enjoy music with taps, textures, and refined haptics.18 Customize Music?Haptics to experience haptics for vocals and accompaniment or for vocals only. You can also adjust the overall intensity of the taps, textures, and vibrations. Music Haptics works with millions of songs across Apple?Music, Apple?Music?Classical, Shazam, and compatible third-party apps when your iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi or?cellular.
Customize the audio preferences on your devices to fit your needs.
Audio settings
Conversation Boost helps you stay connected in noisy environments, enhances your overall audio experience, and makes it easier for you to use AirPods?Pro across devices. Computational audio and beamforming microphones focus AirPods?Pro on the voice of the person directly in front of you — helping you distinguish their speech from background?noise.
Whether you’re listening to music, watching a movie, or talking to a loved one, Headphone Accommodations lets you customize your audio to best suit your hearing needs. Amplify soft sounds and adjust certain frequencies based on your preferences. You can go through a series of listening tests that help you set up as many as nine unique profiles. Or import your audiogram from your audiologist into the Health app on iPhone and use it to customize your?audio.
Stereo recordings usually have distinct left- and right-channel audio tracks. Mono Audio can help streamline the differences by playing both audio channels in both ears. You can adjust the balance for greater volume in either ear, so you won’t miss a single note of a concerto or a beat of your favorite?song.
Listens for specific sounds and notifies you when they are detected.
Sound & Name?Recognition
Sound Recognition listens for certain sounds and uses on?device intelligence to notify you when they are detected. This feature recognizes 15 different sounds — or you can train your device to listen for your name, as well as electronic sounds that are unique to your environment, like the beeping of appliances in your kitchen, specific types of alarms, or doorbells.19 On HomePod, Sound Recognition can also detect the sound of a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm. Sound Recognition supports CarPlay, too. Your iPhone will listen for and detect sirens and horns and even the sound of a crying baby. You’ll receive a notification — onscreen in your car if you’re using CarPlay — when a particular sound is?detected.20
Stay connected easily on calls with Live?Captions, sign language recognition, and Live?Speech.
FaceTime
FaceTime is a great way to stay connected to family and friends, especially if you prefer to communicate without speaking or if you rely on facial expressions, gestures, or sign language. With high-quality video and a fast frame rate, FaceTime ensures that you never miss a moment. With Sign Language Prominence for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple?TV, FaceTime detects when you’re using sign language in Group FaceTime calls and automatically highlights your tile to make you prominent in the conversation.21 You can also use simple hand gestures to add a reaction that fills the camera frame with 3D augmented reality effects like hearts or?confetti.22
Staying connected is even easier with Live Captions in FaceTime, which can caption speech in one-on-one and Group FaceTime calls with speaker attribution, so you can easily track who is speaking during group calls.6 And on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple?Vision?Pro, Live Speech integrates seamlessly with FaceTime — just type your responses and your device speaks them out loud to others on the call. Or quickly chime in with your favorite saved phrases during animated?conversations. You can choose from dozens of system voices or use a Personal?Voice that you?create.23
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS, macOS, or watchOS for Live?Captions?availability.
Get your notifications through sound, vibrations, a flashing light, or all three.
Sensory Alerts
Your device can alert you in a way you’ll notice. Choose visual or vibrating alerts for incoming Phone and FaceTime calls, new text messages, new and sent mail, and calendar events. With iPhone and iPad, you can set your screen, the LED light, or both to flash for incoming calls. Or have your iPhone display a photo of the caller. If you’re on your Mac, have it flash its screen when an app needs your attention. You can also turn on haptics to play when Face?ID successfully unlocks, authorizes Apple?Pay, or verifies a?purchase.
Apple Watch lets you adjust the strength of the taps and vibrations that it uses for alerts and notifications. You can even add an extra haptic tap that pre-announces your other haptic alerts. Turn on Crown?Haptics to get haptic feedback when you turn the Digital?Crown to scroll. The Taptic?Time feature gives those who are blind or have low vision another way to tell time without anyone else hearing?it.
Background?Sounds are ambient sounds that can help minimize distractions and increase your sense of focus and calm, which can help users with tinnitus. Choose from balanced, bright, and dark noise and ocean, rain, and other soundscapes to continuously play in the background and avoid interruptions from environmental noise. These sounds can also mix into or duck under other audio and system sounds that are playing through your?device.
You can also personalize Background Sounds with equalizer settings. Adjust the pitch of any given sound to increase your comfort. Or minimize distractions around sounds, like the chatter of a noisy train terminal. Additional settings give you the option to set a timer for your selected sound, or you can control Background?Sounds with personal automation in the Shortcuts?app.24
Text to communicate during a phone call, right from your Apple device.
Real‑Time Text?(RTT)
Use your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple?Watch to make and receive RTT calls.25 Standard texting involves composing an entire message and tapping Send, but RTT provides instant transmission of a message as it is being composed. Live?Captions can be used with RTT to automatically display captions during Phone calls. RTT integrates with Live Translation so you can get captions for translated calls in the Phone app.26 It also works with Call Screening, which automatically answers unknown callers without interrupting you. Once the caller shares their name and reason for calling, your phone rings and you can decide if you want to pick up.27 RTT can also be used with a TTY (teletypewriter) device. Transcripts for RTT calls are saved in your call?history.28
Synced text transcriptions of a video’s speech and nonverbal communication.
Closed Captions
Closed captions are a text transcription displayed onscreen in sync with a video’s dialogue and action. In addition to transcribing speech in a scene, they capture nonverbal communication, music, and sound effects. Supported in apps like the Apple?TV app, closed captions are available in more than 40 languages for movies, TV shows, videos, and podcasts — just look for the CC icon. Customize captions with different styles and fonts, including styles that are larger and outlined for better?legibility.
Gives written transcripts of podcasts, intercom messages, voice memos, and voicemail or audio?messages.
Transcriptions
Transcripts offer full-text versions of whatever you’re listening to, making everything more accessible and immersive than ever. Get a full transcript of your favorite podcast on Apple?Podcasts right on your iPhone or?iPad.
Speech in your audio recordings can be transcribed to text in Voice Memos.29 You can view the transcription while you’re recording or?afterward.
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS or macOS for feature availability.
The Notes app enables you to record audio and have the spoken words transcribed to text. You can search the transcript, add the text to the note, or copy the text to other?documents.
In the Phone app, you can read transcripts of voicemail, record a phone call when you’re talking to one other person, and view the transcript of the call in the Notes?app.30
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS for feature availability.
Tracks sound levels around you and alerts you if they could affect your hearing.
Noise app
With the Noise app, you can have notifications alert you when your Apple?Watch identifies sound levels in your environment that could affect your hearing. Apple?Watch periodically measures the sound levels throughout the day while you’re wearing your watch. This uses the microphone but does not record or save any sounds. If the average sound level over three minutes reaches or exceeds a chosen decibel threshold, your Apple?Watch can notify?you.
When you configure the Noise app on Apple?Watch and connect compatible headphones, Control?Center notifies you if the sounds playing through the headphones reach unsafe levels.31 And all your information is stored in the Health app on iPhone for easy access to your data whenever you need?it.
Streamline a series of tasks and ask Siri to do them for you by voice or by?text.
Siri
Use voice or text to have Siri help you complete the tasks you do every day — or just answer questions you’re curious about.32 Ask or use Type to Siri to find definitions, set reminders, turn features on or off, and more. If you need to streamline a series of actions or tasks, you can use Siri to run custom shortcuts through the Shortcuts app. Run your shortcut by saying “Hey Siri” or “Siri” and then the name of the shortcut you created.33 Made for iPhone hearing devices can use Siri to announce notifications for iPhone and iPad. And if you’re using Safari Reader and want to hear text read out loud, just say “Siri, read this” when you’re browsing a Reader-compatible site. If you have a speech disability, Siri can listen for atypical speech. You can also customize the speed at which Siri speaks to suit your needs and?preferences.
Communicating with Siri is even more natural thanks to richer language understanding from Apple?Intelligence. If you change your mind mid-sentence, Siri can follow right along. For example, you might say “Siri, set an alarm — wait no, sorry, I meant a timer for 5 minutes — actually, let’s make that 10.” Siri Pause Time lets you adjust the amount of time Siri waits before responding, so you can speak comfortably at your own pace without worrying about being interrupted. And once you activate Siri, you can make multiple requests back to back without needing to say “Siri”?repeatedly.34
With Apple?Intelligence, Siri can assist you in ways that are unique to you and can help reduce your cognitive load.12 Deeper product knowledge across thousands of topics enables Siri to give you step-by-step directions on how to do something on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Siri also maintains context so you can refer to something you mentioned in a previous request. For example, if you created a Calendar event, you can ask “What will the weather be like?there?”
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS or macOS for feature availability.
If you are unable to speak, have a speech disability, or prefer to communicate without your voice, you can use Live Speech to type what you want to say and have your device speak it out loud.35 Live Speech can help you generate real-time responses to stay connected during Phone and FaceTime calls as well as in-person conversations. You can also save commonly used phrases to help you easily respond during daily interactions and conversations. For example, you can create a Coffee Shop category to group phrases you frequently use, such as “I’d like to order a tea” or “May I have cream and sugar with that?” Live Speech even allows the audio from apps to be audible in voice and video calls, which can be helpful if you use apps that assist with speaking and communication. You can choose from dozens of system voices or use a Personal?Voice that you?create.23
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS, macOS, or watchOS for feature?availability.
If you are at risk of voice loss or have a condition that can progressively impact your voice, Personal Voice can help. It’s a simple and secure way to create a voice that sounds like you.23 Read through a series of 10 randomized phrases to record audio that can be used to generate a voice that sounds similar to your own.36 Using advances in on-device machine learning and artificial intelligence, Personal Voice is faster, easier, and more powerful, so you can create a smoother, more natural-sounding voice in less than a minute. If you have difficulty pronouncing or reading full sentences, you can even create your Personal Voice using short, three-word?phrases.
Personal Voice is created on your device to keep your information private and secure. You can also save an encrypted copy of your voice to iCloud to use on your other devices. Personal Voice seamlessly integrates with Live Speech, so you can type what you want to say and have your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple?Watch, or Apple?Vision?Pro speak it aloud in the voice you created. It also works with third-party apps that you allow, such as augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)?apps.
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS or macOS for feature?availability.
Complete tasks by speaking words or custom phrases.
Vocal Shortcuts
Use Vocal Shortcuts to teach your device to perform an action when you speak a word or another sound of your choosing. If you have moderate to severe atypical speech, you can use unique pronunciations and utterances to activate shortcuts and complete complex tasks. Use a custom phrase to run automations at home like turning off the lights and locking your all your doors at once. Up to 50 commands can be saved on your device. Vocal Shortcuts uses on-device machine learning to recognize your speech patterns. This occurs entirely and securely on your device and isn’t shared with?Apple.
Use adaptive switch hardware, game controllers, or simple mouth sounds to control?devices.
Switch Control
Switch Control makes it easy and efficient to control your device with a variety of adaptive switch hardware, wireless game controllers, or even simple sounds like a click, a pop, or an “ee.” Use item, point, and manual scanning to navigate sequentially through onscreen keyboards, menus, and the Dock. Create your own custom panels and keyboards systemwide or app by app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple?TV. Switch?Control works with QuickPath when typing on iPhone and Apple?Vision?Pro. Alternative pointer actions let you use keyboard shortcuts, assistive switches, or facial expressions to perform mouse actions such as left, right, or double click or other custom actions to suit your needs. With Use Other Devices for Switch?Control, you can use a single device to remotely control any other Apple devices you have synced with your Apple Account on the same Wi-Fi network. That way you can control your Mac or Apple?TV directly from your iPhone or iPad without having to set up your switches on each new device.37 You can also create and switch between different user profiles or settings for time-specific needs. Change settings based on your location, time of day, energy levels, and?more.
With Apple?Watch mirroring, you can use assistive features like Switch?Control to fully control your Apple?Watch from your iPhone.38 And gaming is even easier with Switch?Control — the same switch or sound actions you use to navigate and control your iPhone and iPad can be turned into a game?controller.39
Navigate your device using just your voice. Commands like click, swipe, and tap help you easily interact with your favorite apps. You can precisely select, drag, and zoom by showing numbers alongside clickable items or by superimposing a grid on the screen. Voice?Control also offers a more efficient way to write and edit. With Voice?Control spelling mode, you can dictate names, addresses, and even custom spellings letter by letter.40 It’s a seamless way to make corrections, format changes, and transition between text dictation and?commands.41 If you create and save custom vocabulary for Voice?Control, it will autopopulate across all your devices. And if you are new to Voice?Control on iPhone, iPad, or Mac, the feature includes an onboarding experience with education support to help you learn the ins and outs quickly and easily. Voice?Control is compatible with CarPlay, so you can control the built-in car display with voice commands, too. For software developers with limited mobility, you can use Swift mode to dictate code in?Xcode.
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS or macOS for feature availability.
Navigate and control your device with head movements.
Head Tracking
There are many ways to navigate and control your devices without using your hands or fingers. Head Tracking uses the camera on your device to follow the movement of your head to control a pointer on your screen, and it tracks your facial movements to perform actions.42 Use Dwell Control to navigate through different apps and interact with controls by keeping your head fixed on them for a selected amount of time. You can also perform actions with specific facial gestures like raising your eyebrows, opening your mouth, or smiling. Head?Tracking integrates with AssistiveTouch so you can access additional functions such as physical buttons and swipes. You can even customize how the Head?Tracking pointer responds to your head’s movement so you can “snap to items” on the screen, making it easier for you to quickly make?selections.
Pointer Control on Mac lets you use different methods, like head movements, to control your pointer and mouse or trackpad button. You can set options to specify the way the pointer moves, how fast it moves, which switches to use for head pointer actions, and which camera to use.
If you have reduced mobility or need to interact with your device without using your hands, you can navigate iPhone and iPad with just your eyes. Use the front-facing camera to set up and calibrate Eye Tracking in seconds, with Face Guidance to help you with optimal positioning. And thanks to on-device machine learning, all data used to set up and control this feature is kept securely on your device and isn’t shared with Apple. Eye Tracking works with iOS and iPadOS apps and doesn’t require additional hardware or?accessories.43
To help you navigate through different apps, you can use Dwell Control, which enables you to interact with controls by keeping your eyes on them for a selected amount of time. And Eye Tracking lets you access additional functions such as physical buttons, swipes or even type using only your eyes. For faster keyboard typing, you can use a shorter keyboard dwell time or even “slide to type” with QuickPath on iPhone and Apple Vision Pro. Eye Tracking integrates with Switch Control on iPhone and iPad, so you have the option to use a switch or dwell to make selections. iPad also supports third-party eye?trackers.
AssistiveTouch for iOS and iPadOS enables you to adapt your touchscreen to ?t your physical needs. If certain gestures, like pinch or two-finger tap, don’t work for you, swap them with custom gestures that you use often (such as touch and hold or two-finger rotation) or create new ones with different degrees of rotation. You can also use AssistiveTouch to replace pressing buttons. You can customize the layout of the AssistiveTouch menu or connect to a trackpad, eye-tracking device, game controller, wired mouse, and more to control an onscreen pointer for navigation. And with Virtual Trackpad on iPad, you can control your device using a small region of the screen as a resizable?trackpad.
AssistiveTouch for Apple?Watch helps those with upper-body limb differences use hand gestures such as clench, double clench, tap, and double tap to control apps and experiences across Apple?Watch.44 With the Motion Pointer, you can control your Apple?Watch by tilting the watch up and down and side to side. Adjust Motion Pointer settings for sensitivity, activation time, movement tolerance, and hot?edges.
On Apple Vision Pro, you can assign gestures, such as single tap, double tap, or long press, that run custom actions when you interact with the AssistiveTouch menu button. You can also customize the layout of the AssistiveTouch menu and connect assistive pointer devices via Bluetooth, Lightning, USB, or?USB‑C.
Merge subtle movement with skillful multitasking through Quick?Actions for Apple?Watch. You can do even more with your Apple?Watch without ever touching the display. Double?tap with your hand to easily answer a phone call, snap a photo, pause your music, resume your daily workout, and much more. You can also mute incoming calls, silence timers, and dismiss notifications just by rotating your wrist away from you.45 You can find and enable Quick?Actions in Accessibility settings on your Apple?Watch.46
Adjust how the screen responds to your touch with Touch?Accommodations. Control how long you touch before it’s recognized or whether repeat touches are ignored. With Tap Assistance, if you accidentally perform a swipe gesture, your device can determine whether your initial touch location or your final touch is read as your intended tap location. Enable Final Touch Location to put your ?nger down anywhere on the screen and move to the point where you want to tap before the timer is finished. When you use iPhone with one hand in portrait orientation, you can use Reachability to lower the top half of the screen so it’s within easy reach of your?thumb.
You can adjust accessibility settings for the side button on an iPhone with Face ID. Choose the speed required to double-click or triple-click the button. Or use AssistiveTouch or Switch Control to confirm payments with Face ID instead of double-clicking the side button. You can also modify accessibility settings for Camera?Control on iPhone. Change the pressure required to lightly press the Camera?Control or the speed required to lightly double-press it. Or adjust the gesture you use to access controls like Zoom or?Depth.
Makes typing easier with keyboard adjustments to fit your needs.
Hardware keyboard support
If you use Magic Keyboard or another physical keyboard with your devices, you can adjust the sensitivity of keys and make it easier to press combinations of keys. Turn on Full Keyboard Access on Mac to navigate and control your Mac with only the keyboard. You can also change the appearance of the cursor — make the Full Keyboard Access cursor wider, or choose a color and increase contrast so it’s easier to spot on the?screen.
With Key Repeat, you can set how long you must press and hold a key before it starts repeating and how fast it repeats once it starts. Or you can prevent the key from repeating at all. Slow?Keys lets you adjust the amount of time between when a key is pressed and when it is activated, so your device processes only the keystrokes you mean to make. Sticky?Keys enables you to enter key combinations sequentially rather than simultaneously. Or use Mouse?Keys to control your pointer with a numeric?keypad on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. You can also create custom shortcuts for commonly used words or phrases, and your iPhone, iPad, and Mac will type them for?you.
The customizable, onscreen Accessibility?Keyboard lets you navigate and type in macOS without using a physical keyboard. With Panel Editor, you can add custom panels to the Accessibility Keyboard panel collection to help streamline common tasks and actions for different apps on your Mac. You can also use the panels on another Mac, or share them with other Switch?Control or Accessibility Keyboard users. Accessibility Keyboard even supports improved typing with auto-capitalization and better word suggestions, as well as head?tracking hardware so you can move the pointer and select or drag onscreen items. And it has Dwell support, so all of macOS can be used without ever needing to click a mouse or trackpad?button.
Activities and workouts designed with wheelchair users in mind.
Fitness apps
Reach your exercise goals with the Activity app on Apple?Watch, designed with wheelchair users in mind. Instead of a Stand goal, the Roll goal in the Time to Roll option encourages you to move every hour. And sensors in Apple?Watch take into account different pushing techniques for varying speeds and terrain — even transition movements — giving you the most accurate snapshot of your daily?activity.
The Workout app on Apple?Watch helps you work out your way. Accurately measure your movement with specific exercise routines and set time, distance, or calorie goals based on the type of exercise you do. For wheelchair users, there are two Wheelchair Workouts: Outdoor Wheelchair Walk Pace and Outdoor Wheelchair Run Pace. Just choose a workout and Apple?Watch turns on the appropriate?sensors.
Tailor your device and in-app experiences to lighten your cognitive load.
Assistive Access
Assistive Access makes it easy for people with cognitive disabilities to tailor their iPhone and iPad to lighten their cognitive load and suit their specific needs and preferences. Designed with feedback from individuals with cognitive disabilities and their trusted supporters, Assistive Access offers a distinctive interface with high-contrast buttons, large text labels, and visual alternatives to text. It also has tools to help individuals and their supporters adjust the experience in specific?apps.
Assistive Access includes customized experiences for Phone and FaceTime (which have been combined into a single Calls app), Messages, Camera, Photos, Music, Magnifier, and the Apple?TV app for iPhone and iPad. For those who prefer communicating visually, Messages includes an emoji-only keyboard and the option to record a video message. Choose a more visual, grid-based layout for your Home Screen and apps, or a row-based layout if you prefer text. Assistive Access also supports third-party apps, including augmentative and alternative communication (AAC)?apps.
Dictation enables you to talk where you would type — and it’s available in more than 60 languages and locales. If you have strong verbal skills but your spelling or typing could use an assist, just go to any text field and tap the microphone button on the onscreen keyboard to start dictating. Or simply look at the microphone button in a search field and start speaking to dictate text on Apple Vision Pro. And you can activate Dictation through Keyboard settings on your Mac to turn your speech into text. Fluidly switch between voice and touch so you can continue to interact with your onscreen keyboard to move the cursor or insert QuickType suggestions.47 Punctuation like commas, periods, and question marks are automatically added to your text as you speak.48 You can even insert emoji into messages using just your voice.49
Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages. See iOS and iPadOS, macOS, or watchOS for feature availability.
Supports effective written communication and improves reading comprehension, memory and recollection, and more.
Apple Intelligence
There are many ways Apple Intelligence can help enhance your communication, reading comprehension, memory and recollection, and more. All while protecting your?privacy.
Communicate across languages with Live Translation. You can have texts automatically translated in Messages,50 display live translated captions in FaceTime, and get spoken translations for calls in the Phone?app.26 Visual intelligence builds on Apple?Intelligence so you can search, take action on, or ask questions about what you’re looking at, whether you’re out and about, or simply using your iPhone. Access visual intelligence for your surroundings using Camera Control or the Action button, and for on-screen content by pressing the same buttons you use to take a?screenshot.
Apple?Intelligence also enhances how you express yourself. Genmoji and Image?Playground help you create images to express yourself visually, like in conversations with family and friends. And Writing Tools help you proofread your text, rewrite different versions until the tone and wording are just right, and summarize text with a tap. Writing Tools are available nearly everywhere you write, including third-party?apps.12
With notification summaries, you can quickly catch up on updates across your apps. Priority notifications appear at the top of the stack on your Lock Screen, letting you know what to pay attention to at a glance. Apple?Intelligence can also help you get through your inbox faster. Priority messages in Mail elevate time-sensitive messages to the top of your inbox, and you can tap to see a summary to get the gist of a lengthy email exchange. Brief summaries appear in the email preview and in the conversation list in Messages, so you know the key information before you even open the thread. You can quickly respond in Mail and Messages with Smart Reply, which offers response options based on your?conversation.
Apple?Intelligence also enables more powerful shortcuts to accelerate your workflows. Summarize text, create images, or tap directly into Apple?Intelligence models to provide responses that feed into your?shortcut. In the Notes and Phone apps, you can even capture audio recordings and transcripts and then get a summary of your transcripts for easy reference?later.
Navigate the internet without ads, extra buttons, or navigation bars.
Safari Reader
Sometimes navigating the web can be sensory overload. Safari?Reader shows a web page article in one page, formatted for easy reading and presented without navigation or other distractions. Adjust the font, font size, and background color to personalize your viewing experience. You can also have text read aloud while you are using Safari?Reader. For compatible sites in Safari that offer Reader view, simply tap Listen to Page in the Page Settings menu or say “Siri, read this.” You can also get the gist of an article with a high-level summary and table of?contents.51
If you’re a parent, teacher, caregiver, or just need support focusing, Guided Access can help by temporarily restricting your device to a single app and allowing you to control which app features are available. You can set a time limit and customize which features, hardware buttons, and areas of the screen are available. You can even restrict access to the keyboard, disable touch input on certain areas of the screen on iPhone or iPad, and disable all areas of view on Apple?Vision?Pro where an accidental gesture might cause a?distraction.
Customize the notifications and calls you receive at specific times.
Focus
With Focus, it’s even easier to home in on what’s most important to you. Activate different Focus areas like Do?Not?Disturb, Work, or Sleep to silence device notifications that may disturb or distract you in the moment. Reduce Interruptions understands the content of your notifications and shows you the ones that might need immediate attention, like a text about picking up your child from daycare later today.52 A streamlined setup for Focus enables you to select the apps or people you want to receive notifications from by either allowing or silencing?them.
You can connect your Lock Screen to your Focus of choice so the look and feel of your iPhone matches how you want to use it at that time — simply swipe to the corresponding Lock?Screen to activate a Focus. And Focus filters help you set boundaries in Apple apps like Calendar and Messages, as well as third-party apps, by hiding distracting content. Choose a set of Tab?Groups to show up in Safari while in the Work?Focus, or hide your work calendar altogether when you’re using the Personal?Focus. You can even set a Focus area to turn on at a certain time or location or when you’re using a specific?app.
Select any combination of accessibility categories, needs, and devices to help refine your results.
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Vision
These features can help you navigate your surroundings, control your devices, or customize your display if you’re blind, have low vision, or just prefer larger?text.
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Hearing
These features can help you stay connected, enhance the sounds you hear, and support your hearing health if you’re Deaf, hard of hearing, or experiencing hearing?loss.
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Speech
These features can help you share your voice or communicate by text if you have a speech disability such as atypical speech, are nonspeaking, or prefer to connect without?speaking.
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Mobility
These features can help you adapt how you interact with and control your devices if you have trouble with dexterity, limb differences, or reduced?mobility.
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Cognitive
These features can help you learn, focus, and stay connected if you need support with comprehension, attention, or?communication.
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Explore our accessibility resources.
Support Videos
Learn tips and how-tos from Apple Support on?YouTube.
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