Apple products are intuitive and easy to use. And to help you do more in more
ways, a variety of award-winning assistive technologies come standard. So every
device not only has accessible features — but accessible principles — built
right in.
Accessible to the core. Our accessibility features work the same way across
Apple products and apps. And since they come standard, these technologies
transform Apple devices into affordable assistive devices.
Intuitive by design, iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch also come with assistive
features that allow people with disabilities to experience the fun and function
of iOS. With these innovative technologies built right in, iOS devices become
powerful and affordable
assistive devices.
If you are blind or have low vision, you can use VoiceOver, an advanced screen
reader, to get the most from your iOS device. And Siri and Dictation help you
type, launch apps, and read your calendar.
VoiceOver
VoiceOver is a revolutionary screen reader that lets you know what’s happening
on your Multi-Touch screen — and helps you navigate it — even if you can’t see
it. Touch the screen to hear what’s under your finger, then use gestures to
control your device. VoiceOver works with the apps that come with your iPhone,
iPad, or iPod touch.
VoiceOver is a gesture-based screen reader that lets you enjoy the fun and
simplicity of iOS even if you can’t see the screen. With VoiceOver enabled,
just triple-click the Home button to access it wherever you are in iOS. Hear a
description of everything happening on your screen, from battery level to who’s
calling to which app your finger’s on. You can adjust the speaking rate and
pitch to suit you.
Navigation
With VoiceOver, you’ll use a simple set of gestures to control your iOS device.
For example, touch or drag your finger around the screen and VoiceOver tells
you what’s there. Tap a button to hear a description; double-tap to activate.
Swipe up or down to adjust a slider. Flick left and right to move from one app
to the next. When you interact with an element on the screen, a black rectangle
appears around it, so sighted users can follow along. When you prefer privacy,
you can activate a screen curtain to turn off the display so no one can see it,
even as you’re controlling it.
Text Input
Whether you’re composing an email or jotting a note, VoiceOver echoes each
character on the keyboard as you touch it, and again when you enter it. Have
VoiceOver speak each completed word. A flick up or down moves the cursor so you
can edit precisely. To help you type more quickly and accurately, iOS supports
multiple character input methods — including handwriting — and corrects
misspelled words. Enable Speak Auto-text and you hear a sound effect and the
suggested word spoken. Keep typing to ignore it, or tap the space bar to have
your iOS device type it for you. Pair up an Apple Bluetooth keyboard, and
VoiceOver talks you through inputting text in the same way.
Braille keyboard
VoiceOver includes a systemwide Braille keyboard that supports Braille chords
in 6 and 8 dot braille, enabling direct braille entry without the need for a
third party physical braille keyboard. Available in the rotor, you can use it
to type text, unlock your device, launch apps, and find content in Apps like
Music.
The Rotor
VoiceOver features a virtual control called the rotor. Turning the rotor — by
rotating two fingers on the screen as if you were turning an actual dial —
changes the way VoiceOver moves through a web page or document based on the
setting you choose. When you’re on a web page, turn the rotor to hear settings
like “headings,” “links,” and “images.” Then flick to choose how you navigate
the page — for example, you can skip from one heading to the next. Move through
documents with similar ease. The rotor has settings like “word” or “character”
that let you choose how to navigate your text, which comes in handy for
checking spelling and grammar. You can customize the rotor elements from a
variety of options, including language.
The Alex Voice
Apple’s industry-leading synthesized American English male voice, Alex, is now
available on iOS. Alex uses advanced technologies to understand the broader
context of content and deliver speech that is so natural-sounding he pauses in
helpful places to stop and take a breath, all while still being optimized to
work at incredibly fast speaking rates.
Apps
Because VoiceOver is integrated in iOS, it works with all the built-in apps,
including Safari, Mail, App Store, iTunes, Music, Calendar, Reminders, and
Notes. You can also create custom labels for buttons in any app — including
third-party apps. So it’s even easier to get to your news, word games, or
anything else you love on your iOS device. And Apple is working with the iOS
developer community to make even more apps compatible with VoiceOver.
Braille Displays
iOS devices are fully compatible with many refreshable braille displays. You
can connect a Bluetooth wireless braille display to read VoiceOver output,
including contracted and uncontracted braille and equations using Nemeth Code.
And braille displays with input keys can be used to control your iOS device
when VoiceOver is turned on.
International Voices
VoiceOver includes built-in voices that speak over 30 languages: English
(U.S.), English (UK), English (Australia), English (Ireland), English (South
Africa), Spanish (Mexico), Spanish (Spain), French (France), French (Canada),
German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin (Mainland China), Mandarin
(Taiwan), Cantonese (Hong Kong), Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Flemish
(Belgium), Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Norwegian, Polish,
Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Swedish, Thai, and
Turkish.
Speak Screen
If you have a hard time reading the text on your iOS device, use Speak Screen
to read your email, iMessages, web pages, and books to you. Turn on Speak
Screen and swipe down from the top with two fingers, or just tell Siri to Speak
Screen and have all the content of the page read back to you. You can adjust
the voice’s dialect and speaking rate, and have words highlighted as they’re
being read.
Siri
Siri, Apple’s intelligent assistant, helps you do the things you do every day.1
All you have to do is ask. Say something like “Tell Jay I’m running late” or
“Remind me to make reservations for Saturday.” Siri can send messages, place
phone calls, schedule meetings, and even turn on and off VoiceOver, Guided
Access and Invert Colors. And because Siri is integrated with VoiceOver, you
can ask where the nearest sushi restaurant is and hear the answer read out loud.
Dictation
Dictation lets you talk where you would type. Tap the microphone button on the
keyboard, say what you want to write, and your iOS device converts your words
(and numbers and characters) into text. So it’s easy to type an email, note, or
URL — without typing at all.
Zoom
Zoom is a built-in magnifier that works wherever you are in iOS, from Mail and
Safari to the Home and Lock screens. And it works with all apps from the App
Store. Turn Zoom on for full screen or picture in picture mode, allowing you to
see the zoomed area in a separate window while keeping the rest of the screen
at its native size. You can adjust the magnification between 100 and 1,500
percent and access multiple filter options in either mode. While you’re zoomed
in, you can still use all of the familiar gestures to navigate your device. And
Zoom works with VoiceOver, so you can better see — and hear — what’s happening
on your screen.
Font Adjustments
When you activate Larger Dynamic Type, the text inside a range of apps
including Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Messages, Music, Notes and Settings, and
even some third party apps, is converted to a larger, easier‑to‑read size. And
you can choose bold text to make the text heavier across a range of built‑in
applications.
Invert Colors and Grayscale
If a higher contrast or a lack of color helps you better see what’s on your
display, iOS lets you invert the colors or enable grayscale onscreen. Once you
set your filter, the settings apply systemwide, even to video, so you get the
same view no matter what you’re seeing.
