The Wayback Machine - https://webcf.waybackmachine.org/web/20201205025955/https://www.apple.com/accessibility/

Accessibility

Built‑in features that work the way you do. Make them yours, and make something wonderful.

Go big or go bold.

Magnifier

Read the fine print.

iPhone using Magnifier to enlarge restaurant menu

It works like a digital magnifying glass, using the camera on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to increase the size of anything you point it at — from a prescription bottle to a candlelit menu. And now with the power of the new LiDAR Scanner, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, 12.9‑inch iPad Pro (4th generation), and 11‑inch iPad Pro (2nd generation) can determine a person’s proximity to you. People Detection uses technology that measures how long it takes light to reflect back from objects, helping you do things like stand in line at a safe distance, better navigate a noisy area, or find an empty seat with ease.

Read the fine print.

Set up Magnifier on:

Larger Text

Set the text just right.

A single setting lets you make text larger and easier to read across apps in iOS — including Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Messages, Music, Notes, Settings, and even some third-party apps.

Set the text juuust right.

Set up Larger Text on:

Zoom

Enlarged text by using zoom feature

Enlarge an area of your screen on the fly. And in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, you can get a picture-in-picture view, allowing you to see the zoomed area in a separate window while keeping the rest of the screen at its native size.

Larger and larger

All it takes is a tap.

Switch Control

Switch the way you move.

Switch Control navigating Apple Maps

Navigate what’s on your screen with as little as a tap. Use a variety of adaptive devices, like a switch, a joystick, a keyboard space bar, or even a single tap on the trackpad, to navigate sequentially through onscreen items and perform specific actions.

Switch the way you move.

Set up Switch Control on:

Back Tap

Tap-tap here.

Cue
magic
here.

A double or triple tap on the back of your iPhone can be set to trigger all kinds of actions, like opening Control Center, taking a screenshot, or cueing a favorite app. A great way to replace standard Home Screen gestures when they become tricky.1

Set up Back Tap on:

iPhone

AssistiveTouch

Adapt standard gestures like pinch, rotate, or swipe to make them more comfortable for you. Or make other actions, like changing volume, accessible with just a touch from the AssistiveTouch menu.

Set up AssistiveTouch on:

Hear. There. Everywhere.

Headphone Accommodations

Make a sound decision.

Customize your audio experience with AirPods Pro

Customize your audio experience to your individual hearing needs. With your iPhone or iPad, you can amplify soft sounds or adjust certain frequencies to make media and phone calls sound more crisp and clear through your headphones.2

Make a sound decision.

Set up Headphone Accommodations on:

Made for iPhone hearing aids

Match your levels to your location.

Adjust hearing levels with iPhone Hearing aids

Apple has worked with top manufacturers to create hearing aids and sound processors designed specifically for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Apply your audiologist’s presets without having to rely on additional remotes, or adjust your own levels as you move from quiet environments to louder ones.

Match your levels to your location.

Set up Made for iPhone hearing aids on:

Live Listen

Front‑row sound.

All the way
from the back.

Use your Made for iPhone hearing aids or AirPods to help you hear more clearly.3 For quiet conversations, move your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch closer to the people who are speaking, and the built-in microphone amplifies what they’re saying.

Set up Live Listen on:

Create your own
center of attention.

Safari Reader

Be captivated by content, not clutter.

Reduce the visual clutter and strip away ads, buttons, and navigation bars so you can just focus on the content you want. You can choose to use Safari Reader automatically on websites where it’s available.

Be captivated by content, not clutter.

Set up Safari Reader on:

Spoken Content

Turn assigned reading into easy listening.

If you learn or comprehend better when you can hear what you’re reading or writing, features like Speak Screen, Speak Selection, Typing Feedback, and Predictive Text can help by adding an auditory component to text.4

Turn assigned reading into easy listening.

Set up Spoken Content on:

Screens that speak volumes.

VoiceOver

Puts moments into words.

VoiceOver describing an image on iPhone and showing speech output. 'Two people smiling and posing for a photo.'

This screen reader describes exactly what’s happening on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, or iPod touch, so you can navigate just by listening. And with on‑device intelligence in iOS, VoiceOver can describe images in full sentences and read aloud text in an image. In the Photos app, it can even describe the facial expressions of people in pictures.5

Puts moments into words.

Audio Descriptions

Descriptions that really make a scene.

Watch movies with detailed audio descriptions of everything happening in the scene — from a character’s expression to the mood of the shot. Audio Descriptions are available for all Apple TV+ original content.

Watch See on the Apple TV app

Descriptions that really make a scene.

Set up Audio Descriptions on:

Speak Selection

Speak bubble

This feature speaks for itself.

Choose a specific range of text that you want to hear, and have your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or iPod touch read it to you in over 40 languages and dialects.

This feature speaks for itself.

Set up Speak Selection on:

Say anything. Do everything.

Voice Control

Let your voice call the shots.

Voice Control example commands.

Simple vocal commands let you quickly open and interact with built-in apps using iOS, iPadOS, and macOS.6 And you can navigate other apps through numbered labels alongside clickable items or by superimposing a grid to precisely select, zoom, and drag.

Let your voice call the shots.

Set up Voice Control on:

Dictation

Move up two lines.Select sentence.CAPITALIZE THAT.

Write and edit text using natural voice commands to make texting, emailing, or drafting your memoir much more efficient.

Move up two lines.Select sentence.CAPITALIZE THAT.

Siri + Shortcuts

There’s a shortcut
for that. Ask Siri.

Siri can do multiple things at once. Just say the word. Choose from a library of useful shortcuts or create your own multiaction commands.7

There’s a shortcut
for that. Ask Siri.

Must-know is now can’t‑miss.

Sound Recognition

Look down for a heads‑up.

Sound Recognition alert for a Fire Alarm on iPhone.

Receive a visible and vibrating notification when your iPhone or iPad detects a particular type of sound or alert — such as fire alarms or doorbells.

Look down for a heads‑up.

Set up Sound Recognition on:

Sensory Alerts

Get an alert for incoming phone and FaceTime calls, new texts, email messages, and calendar events through vibration on iPhone or a quick LED light flash on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. If you’re on a Mac, it can flash the screen when an app needs your attention.

Notifications. In a flash. Or a vibe.

Set up Sensory Alerts on:

FaceTime + Sign Language Prominence

Your conversation, front and center.

Sign language detection in a Group FaceTime call.

If you use sign language, FaceTime is an ideal way to communicate. The high-quality video and fast frame rate help you catch every gesture or expression — and when you join a Group FaceTime call, it will detect your signing to automatically make you prominent.8

Your conversation, front and center.

Set up FaceTime on:

Accessibility starts here.

Get more out of your features.

Learn tips, tricks, and how-tos for accessibility features straight from Apple Support on YouTube.

Watch now

Accessibility Support

Learn more

Accessibility Accessories

Shop

Developer Guides

Learn more

More from Apple on accessibility.