Apple Accessibility

Make yours.

The best technology works for everyone. That’s why our products and services are inclusive by design, with built-in accessibility features to help you connect, create and do what you love — in the ways that work best for you.

Speech Innovations that speak volumes.

Personal Voice

Recreate your own voice, so it’s never lost.

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.1 Read through a series of randomly chosen text prompts to record 15 minutes of audio that can be used to generate a voice that sounds like you.2 This feature uses on-device machine learning to keep your information private and secure. And Personal Voice seamlessly integrates with Live Speech, so you can type what you want to say and have your iPhone, iPad, or Mac speak it aloud in your Personal Voice.

Recreate your own voice, so it’s never lost.

Set up Personal Voice on:

Live Speech

Turn typing into talking.

With Live Speech on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, just type what you want to say, and your device will speak it out loud. If you are unable to speak, have a speech disability, or prefer to communicate through text, you can use Live Speech to stay connected during Phone and FaceTime calls as well as in-person conversations. Save commonly used phrases to easily respond during daily interactions or while having lively conversations with friends and loved ones.

Turn typing into talking.

Set up Live Speech on:

Siri Pause Time

Speak at
your own
speed.

Siri can help you with the things you do every day — and can be customized to work with your own way of speaking or communicating.3 With Siri Pause Time, you can adjust the amount of time Siri waits before responding to your questions or requests, so you can speak comfortably before Siri interjects. Siri responds to type, too. Set reminders, cue shortcuts, and more, all through your keyboard.

Speak at
your own
speed.

Set up Siri on:

Watch Apple Support videos on YouTube:

How to use Type to Siri on your iPhone and iPad instead of speaking

All speech features

Vision Bigger, bolder and clearer for you.

Magnifier + Point and Speak

Point to hear your way around.

Reheat

Magnifier works like a digital magnifying glass, using the camera on your iPhone or iPad to increase the size of anything you point it at — from a prescription bottle to a candlelit menu. For those who are blind or have low vision and want more information about their physical surroundings, Detection Mode in Magnifier combines input from the camera, LiDAR Scanner and on-device machine learning to offer intelligent tools like People Detection, Door Detection, Image Descriptions, Text Detection and Point and Speak.4

If you’re standing in line, you can use People Detection to determine a person’s proximity to you. Door Detection can help you navigate by identifying doors, text and the presence of symbols — such as a restroom symbol, a no smoking symbol or an accessible-entrance symbol — within a few feet of you. Image Descriptions and Text Detection let you hear more about people, objects, landscapes and text in your camera’s field of view. And Point and Speak makes it easier to interact with physical objects that have text, like household appliances, keypads or labels on files. As you point and move your finger over or under different buttons or elements, your iPhone or iPad reads the text out loud, so you can perform everyday activities and tasks with more ease and independence.5

Point to hear your way around.

Set up Magnifier on:

Watch Apple Support videos on YouTube:

How to use Detection Mode in Magnifier on iPhone or iPad with LiDAR

Display Settings

A collection of settings supported across product platforms helps you customize your onscreen display according to your personal preferences. Make text easier to read with Bold Text or Larger Text. You can also invert colours, increase contrast, reduce transparency or apply colour filters to adapt your screen in ways that best support your vision preferences. These settings can be applied on an app-by-app basis in iOS and iPadOS. And in macOS, you can even customize the fill and outline colour of your pointer to make it easier to spot onscreen.

Make quite
the display.

Set up Display Settings on:

Watch Apple Support videos on YouTube:

VoiceOver

Put moments into words.

VoiceOver describing a photo and showing speech output. 'A person with wavy black hair laughing.'

VoiceOver is an industry-leading screen reader that describes exactly what’s happening on your device. Navigate while receiving audible descriptions or braille output of onscreen content when using compatible braille devices with your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV or HomePod.6 You can explore details about the people, text, table data and other objects within images.7 VoiceOver can also describe a person’s position in relation to objects in images, so you can relive memories in greater detail. Customize settings such as pitch range for your preferred built-in voices. Siri voices work better with VoiceOver, too. With the latest advancements in our speech synthesis technology, Siri speech is smooth and expressive, even at high speeds.

Put moments into words.

Set up VoiceOver on:

Watch Apple Support videos on YouTube:

All vision features

Hearing Tuned to your needs.

Live Captions

Caption real life in real time.

Illustration showcasing microphone in Live Captions
Beta

Captions can benefit everyone — people who are deaf or hard of hearing, those wanting to follow along in loud environments, and those who want to enhance their understanding and recollection of a conversation. Live Captions offer real-time transcriptions of speech, audio and video content.8 Turn on Live Captions during Phone or FaceTime calls or with any media content in your apps or browser. Or use them to stay connected during in-person conversations. You can customize the look of your captions to suit your needs and preferences.9 Captions are generated on your device, so your conversations remain private and secure.

Caption real life in real time.

Set up Live Captions on:

Watch Apple Support videos on YouTube:

How to use Live Captions in FaceTime on iPhone and iPad

Made for iPhone hearing devices

Match your levels to your location.

Ear emoji with hearing aid

Apple has worked with top manufacturers to create hearing aids, cochlear implants and sound processors designed specifically for Apple devices.10 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. Support for bidirectional hearing aids allows those who are deaf or hard of hearing to have hands-free Phone and FaceTime conversations. And you can easily keep track of your notifications by having Siri announce them through your Made for iPhone hearing device.

Match your levels to your location.

Set up Made for iPhone hearing devices on:

Sound Recognition

Look down for a heads‑up.

Sound Recognition alert for a Fire Alarm on iPhone.

This feature uses on‑device intelligence to notify you when it detects one of 15 different types of sounds, including alarms, appliance buzzers, door knocks, car horns or even the sound of a crying baby. For electronic sounds, you can train your iPhone or iPad to listen for and notify you of sounds that are unique to your environment, such as your doorbell. When your device detects these sounds or alerts, you’ll receive a visible and vibrating notification.11

Look down for a heads‑up.

Set up Sound Recognition on:

Watch Apple Support videos on YouTube:

How to use Sound Recognition on your iPhone or iPad

All hearing features

Mobility Works with every move you make.

AssistiveTouch + Apple Watch

Pinch.
Pinch.
Chat.

AssistiveTouch for Apple Watch lets people with upper-body limb differences use their Apple Watch without ever having to touch the display or controls. Using built-in motion sensors and on-device learning, Apple Watch detects subtle differences in muscle movements and tendon activity, letting you control the display through hand gestures like a pinch or a clench. Answer incoming calls, control an onscreen motion pointer and access Notification Center, Control Center and more.12 You can also use AssistiveTouch for Apple Watch to run shortcuts with Siri to complete tasks or modify VoiceOver and Switch Control settings on your iPhone.

AssistiveTouch for iOS and iPadOS helps you adapt standard gestures — like pinch, rotate or swipe — to make them more comfortable for you. You can make other actions, like changing volume, accessible from the AssistiveTouch menu.

Pinch.
Pinch.
Chat.

Set up AssistiveTouch on:

Watch Apple Support videos on YouTube:

Back Tap

Tap-tap here.

Back Tap shown with sideview of iPhone.

Cue
magic
here.

A double or triple tap on the back of your iPhone can be set to perform all kinds of actions, like opening Control Center, taking a screenshot or cueing a favourite app. Back Tap can even be used to turn on a wide range of accessibility features and run shortcuts with Siri, making it a great way to replace standard Home Screen gestures that are tricky.13

Set up Back Tap on:

iPhone

Watch Apple Support videos on YouTube:

How to use Back Tap on iPhone

Voice Control

Let your voice call the shots.

Voice Control command sequence for taking a photo, Open Camera, Tap take picture.

Simple vocal commands let you quickly open and interact with apps using iOS, iPadOS and macOS. You can also navigate through numbered labels alongside clickable items or by superimposing a grid to precisely select, zoom and drag. Use Voice Control spelling mode to easily dictate names, addresses and custom spellings letter by letter.14 And if you are new to Voice Control, the feature includes an onboarding experience with education support to help you learn the ins and outs with ease.

Let your voice call the shots.

Set up Voice Control on:

Watch Apple Support videos on YouTube:

All mobility features

Cognitive Go through your day in a more focused way.

Background Sounds

Make your own calm.

Background Sounds can minimize everyday sounds that might be distracting, discomforting or overwhelming. Balanced, bright or dark noise, and ocean, rain or stream sounds, continuously play in the background to help you focus, relax or rest. These sounds can also mix into or duck under other audio and system sounds as you use your device.

Make your own calm.

Set up Background Sounds on:

Watch Apple Support videos on YouTube:

How to use Background Sounds on iPhone

Spoken Content

Speak bubble

This feature speaks for itself.

Spoken Content

If you prefer to hear what you’re reading or writing, features like Speak Screen, Speak Selection and Typing Feedback can help by adding an auditory component to text.6 As text is read aloud, Highlight Content highlights words, sentences or both in the style and colour you select, making it easier for you to follow along. You can even customize the sound of your Spoken Content to your liking by adjusting settings such as pitch range for your preferred built-in voices.

This feature speaks for itself.

Set up Spoken Content on:

Watch Apple Support videos on YouTube:

Assistive Access

Customize your apps. To work for you.

Simplified iPhone home screen showing Music, Calls, Messages, Photos, and Camera apps.

Assistive Access makes it easy for people with cognitive disabilities to tailor iPhone and iPad to reduce cognitive load and suit their specific needs. Designed with feedback from individuals with cognitive disabilities and their trusted supporters, this feature helps people focus on the activities they enjoy most and that are foundational to iPhone and iPad — connecting with friends and family, taking and sharing photos, and listening to music.

Assistive Access offers a distinctive interface with high-contrast buttons and large text labels, as well as tools to help individuals and trusted supporters focus the experience in specific apps — Phone and FaceTime (which have been combined into a single Calls app), Messages, Camera, Photos and Music. You can also choose a more visual, grid-based layout for your Home Screen and apps, or a row-based layout if you prefer text.

Customize your apps. To work for you.

Set up Assistive Access on:

All cognitive features

Go deeper with additional resources.

Support Videos

Learn tips, tricks, and how-tos on YouTube

Accessibility Support

Get even more out
of your features

Developer Guides

Discover tools to design for accessibility

Features
that make
a difference.

The Relay

Apple products are designed
for every athlete. And every body.

Watch the film
Two athletes racing each other on a track, one is running and the other is in a racing wheelchair.

More from Apple on accessibility.

Our values lead the way.