Apple accessibility

Apple Zoom is a powerful accessibility feature designed to assist you if you have a vision impairment. It can magnify content on your iPhone or iPad screens making text, images, and interface elements larger and more readable. With its customisable settings and ease of use, Zoom allows you to tailor your viewing experience, ensuring you can access and interact with content comfortably. Explore these options and adjust them to best meet your visual needs, enhancing your overall iOS experience. 

Using Apple VoiceOver with Braille is a powerful and inclusive accessibility feature that empowers you to interact with Apple devices more easily. This innovative technology combines two essential components: VoiceOver, a screen reader, and Braille displays, which provide tactile feedback through raised dots representing characters and symbols. This feature extends to Apple Watches as well. When integrated, these features create a seamless and versatile experience.

Split View is a feature available on certain iPad models that allows you to use two apps simultaneously, side by side. Before using Split View, ensure that your iPad supports this feature. Split View is available on iPad Pro models, iPad Air 2 and later, and iPad mini 4 and later. 

1. Begin by launching the first app you want to use in Split View. This app will occupy one side of the screen.
2. Then access the “Dock” by swiping up from the bottom of the screen (on older iPad models) or swipe down from the top-right corner (on iPad models without a physical Home button). The Dock will appear at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap and hold on the next app icon you want to open, and then drag it onto the screen.
4. Place it on either the left or right side of the screen, depending on your preference. You can now interact with both apps simultaneously.
5. To exit Split View and return to a single app view, simply swipe the divider all the way to one side or tap the app switcher icon (usually a square or three horizontal lines) in the centre of the divider bar. This will return you to your regular iPad interface.  

Apple introduced the Magnifying tool to the iPhone in 2018 with iOS 12. Now, using the same tool, you can use your iPhone to help you identify when people, doors and objects are near you while you move around. This is called ‘Detection Mode,’ and it allows you to use features like ‘People Detection,’ ‘Door Detection,’ and ‘Image Descriptions’ directly from within the Magnifier to get descriptions of your surroundings, including things like text and symbols around a door, how far away you’re standing, and even how to open it.

Detection mode is available on iPhones and iPads with LiDAR sensors and requires iOS 16 or iPadOS 16. You can enable Detection Mode within the Magnifier app settings by opening the app, tapping the gear icon, and enabling the plus icon next to Detection Mode. 

• For Door Detection: Open Magnifier, tap the Detection Mode icon, and select Door Detection. Approach a door for information.
• For People Detection: Open Magnifier, tap the Detection Mode icon, and select People Detection to get information about individuals and their distance. 

“Point and Speak” is a new feature in the Magnifier app on certain iPhones and iPads that use LiDAR technology introduced in September 2023 that can read text on your household objects aloud. This feature is great for identifying text on items in your surroundings, such as buttons on appliances like microwaves.

However, Point and Speak only recognises text, not symbols on appliances, and it can't identify objects by pointing at them and may not work well for tasks like reading text on food packaging or long passages.

You can use dictation in various apps like Messages, Notes, Mail, and more.

1. Open the app where you want to input text.
2. Tap on a text field to bring up the keyboard. This can be a text message, email body, or any other text input area.
3. On the keyboard, locate the microphone icon. It's usually found on the bottom row, near the space bar.
4. Tap on the microphone icon to enable dictation.

Keep in mind that dictation requires an active internet connection. Additionally, while dictation is generally accurate, it may not always perfectly transcribe complex or specialised terms, heavy accents, or very fast speech.  

"Speak Selection" allows your device to read selected text aloud.

1. Open the "Settings" app on your iPhone or iPad and scroll down and tap on "Accessibility."
2. Under the "Spoken Content" section, tap on "Speak Selection." Toggle the switch next to "Speak Selection" to turn it on.
3. You can also adjust the speaking rate by moving the slider to the left (slower) or right (faster).
4. You can now go to any app or document where you want the text to be read aloud. 

"Speak Screen" reads the contents of the screen aloud.

1. Tap on the "Settings" app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Scroll down and tap on "Accessibility," under the "Spoken Content" section
3. Tap on "Spoken Content."
4. Toggle the switch next to "Speak Screen" to turn it on.

This is also easy to customise - by adjusting the slider you can change the speed of the speaking rate. 

AssistiveTouch is a helpful accessibility feature on Apple devices, which provide an on-screen touch interface that allows you to perform various functions without physically pressing hardware buttons.

1. Open the "Settings" app on your iPhone or iPad and scroll down to "Accessibility.”
2. Select "AssistiveTouch" and a virtual button will appear on your screen.
3. Once you've enabled AssistiveTouch, tap the virtual button on your screen.
4. A menu will pop up, providing various options for customising the feature.  

Switch Control enables individuals with limited mobility to independently use their Apple devices.

1. Open the "Settings" app on your iPhone or iPad and scroll down and tap on "Accessibility."
2. Under the "Touch" section, tap on "Switch Control"
3. Now toggle the switch to enable Switch Control.
4. If you're using external switches, you'll need to pair them with your device by tapping "Add New Switch" to pair a new external switch in the Switch Control settings. 

Reachability, another feature on Apple's iPhones, makes it easier to use large-screen devices with one hand by temporarily shifting the screen's content downward.

1. To enable Reachability on iPhone 8 and earlier models, go to "Settings" and scroll down and tap on "Accessibility."
2. Under the "Touch" section, you'll find "Reachability." Tap on it.
3. Toggle the switch next to "Reachability" to turn it on. You'll see a small black bar at the bottom of the screen indicating that Reachability is active.
4. Reachability is disabled by default on iPhone X and later models, as they have different gestures for navigating the larger screens. Like with older models to enable it, go to "Settings." Scroll down and tap on "Accessibility." Under the "Touch" section, you'll find "Touch." Tap on it and you'll find "Reachability." Toggle the switch next to it to turn it on.  

Reachability is a useful feature for quickly accessing the top portions of your iPhone's screen when you're using it with one hand. It can be especially handy on larger-screen devices. 

To know more about the accessibility suite on your Android device watch our handy YouTube playlist which will give you a step by step tutorial on how you can use the accessibility features on your Android device. 

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