Apple Intelligence Delivers Accessibility Updates for All iPhones, Macs and Vision Pro
Apple uses AI to enhance its accessibility features.
The company shared several updates on Tuesday designed to make its products more useful for people with various disabilities. Apple Intelligence, the tech giant’s suite of AI features, powers some of these new capabilities. The unveiling comes ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day on Thursday, which aims to strengthen access and digital inclusion.
Updates are coming to features like VoiceOver, Magnifier and video subtitles later this year. They come as more companies — from Google to Microsoft to Amazon — use AI to make their products and platforms accessible to more people. Most of Apple’s updates build on features it announced last year. They also come ahead of the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference, which is scheduled for June 8 and is expected to introduce more AI updates.
VoiceOver and Magnifier support more detailed descriptions
Apple’s VoiceOver and Magnifier features can describe on-screen information or real-world settings, and Apple Intelligence pushes each to be more useful.
VoiceOver is a screen reader that speaks out loud on your screen, and can help people who are blind or visually impaired use their device. Image Explorer in VoiceOver will now provide more detailed descriptions of what’s in things like photos, scanned bills and personal records.
And as part of the Live Recognition update, you can use your iPhone’s Action button to quickly gather more information about your surroundings. Just point the camera at what you want to learn more about and ask follow-up questions to get more details.
The monitor can share detailed information about what’s on your screen and answer follow-up questions.
Magnifier allows people with low vision to zoom in on an image, view high-contrast text and find things around them on an iPhone, iPad or Mac. Now, you can ask questions about what your camera sees. For example, you can point your phone at a recipe and ask how much food it produces or how long it will bake, and it will find and share that information using large, high-contrast text.
Voice Control supports natural language
Apple Intelligence will also support natural language using Voice Control, allowing you to navigate your iPhone or iPad with your voice. That means when you want to click on something, you no longer have to point to the location using the numbered on-screen grid. Instead, you can just say what you want to choose, such as the name of a specific file or the color of a folder. You can also tell your device where you want to zoom by saying what word or image you want to click on.
Voice Control with Apple Intelligence will be available in English in the US, Canada, UK and Australia.
Accessibility Reader can be customized
Apple first released Accessibility Reader last year for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro. It allows you to customize the text and adjust the font, color and spacing, making it easier for some people to read, such as those who are visually impaired or have difficulty writing.
Now, Accessibility Reader can work on complex things like scientific articles, which often format text in multiple columns between several images and tables. You can also remove titles and page numbers for a simpler interface and generate quick overviews before diving in. Also, you can translate the text to your appropriate language.
Subtitles are coming to additional videos
Closed captioning may be almost ubiquitous in TV shows and movies, but it is rare in other media such as personal videos. Now, generated subtitles automatically display the spoken audio transcript when captions or subtitles are not already available. That includes videos recorded on an iPhone, sent by friends and family or streamed online.
Speech recognition on the device creates subtitles secretly. They will appear in videos without captions on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Vision Pro. You can customize elements such as font and text background in the video playback menu or settings. Produced subtitles will be available in English in the US and Canada.
People will be able to control an electric wheelchair by looking at the Vision Pro.
Apple Vision Pro adds a new wheelchair control feature
A new eye-tracking feature in Vision Pro allows people to control their powered wheelchair — no joystick required. They can use eye sight to select controls and determine how and where their wheelchair moves. This can be especially helpful for people with limited mobility.
Eye tracking in Vision Pro doesn’t require regular calibration and can work in a variety of lighting conditions, according to Apple. The feature will work with Tolt Technologies and Luci’s unique driving systems in the US, with support for both Bluetooth and wired devices. Apple says it will work with developers to increase accessibility for more wheelchairs.
“Over the past decade, we’ve seen vision wheelchair systems evolve dramatically,” said Blair Casey, CEO of Team Gleason, in a statement. “Using the eye-tracking capabilities of Apple Vision Pro in this way is a huge step forward. Team Gleason is proud to support this initiative and is excited to see the benefits it can bring to people using electric wheelchairs.”
The Hikawa Grip and Stand for iPhone will be widely available.
Wide availability of Hikawa Grip and Stand for iPhone
Apple introduced the Hikawa Phone Grip and Stand late last year with the iPhone. It is a flexible, ergonomic device that was designed using input from people with a variety of disabilities, including dexterity, grip and hand control. Now, as part of a collaboration between Hikawa and PopSockets, the device is being sold globally for the first time, and in three new colors. It is available from today on the Apple website.
