Vision

Woman with low vision wearing AirPods and walking with service dog

If you’re blind, have low vision or just prefer larger text, these features help you customize your display, control your devices or navigate your surroundings.

UpdatedVoiceOver

Hear what’s happening on your screen.

VoiceOver is an industry‑leading screen reader that tells you exactly what’s happening on your device. Auditory descriptions of elements help you easily navigate your screen through simple gestures on a touchscreen or trackpad or a Bluetooth keyboard. And with unique rotor gestures that function like a dial on touchscreens and trackpads, you can make content such as websites a breeze to browse. VoiceOver can also describe people, objects, text and graphs in greater detail than ever. It’s available in more than 60 languages and locales, and offers deep customization options for your needs. Select and modify your favourite built-in voice for speech feedback, and tailor its verbosity, speed and accompanying sound and haptic feedback to your own preferences.1

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomePod

Updated

VoiceOver is an industry‑leading screen reader that tells you exactly what’s happening on your device. Auditory descriptions of elements help you easily navigate your screen through simple gestures on a touchscreen or trackpad or a Bluetooth keyboard. And with unique rotor gestures that function like a dial on touchscreens and trackpads, you can make content such as websites a breeze to browse. VoiceOver can also describe people, objects, text and graphs in greater detail than ever. It’s available in more than 60 languages and locales, and offers deep customization options for your needs. Select and modify your favourite built-in voice for speech feedback, and tailor its verbosity, speed and accompanying sound and haptic feedback to your own preferences.1

Set up VoiceOver on:

Updates:

Improvements to Siri voice experience for VoiceOver. With the latest advancements in our speech synthesis technology, Siri voices sound smooth and expressive when you use VoiceOver, even at high speeds.

Per-voice settings for built-in voices. Adjust settings such as pitch range for each of your preferred built-in voices.

Improvements to the Xcode experience with VoiceOver on Mac. VoiceOver on Mac offers new commands, including options to display source code landmarks and jump to source code accessories such as breakpoints. You can also customize VoiceOver feedback while writing code.

Improvements to the Compass app experience with VoiceOver on Apple Watch. VoiceOver now offers sound, haptic and speech feedback when you’re using Backtrack in the Compass app on Apple Watch.

VoiceOver + braille

Customize your braille experience.

VoiceOver describes exactly what’s on your screen, even in braille. You can use a refreshable braille display connected via Bluetooth to your Apple device or enter braille directly on the touchscreen using Braille Screen Input. Braille is automatically converted to text in a caption panel on Mac so sighted people can follow along with VoiceOver descriptions. Refreshable braille displays and compatible Bluetooth-enabled braille keyboards can be used with Apple Watch.2 And with more than 70 refreshable braille displays compatible with iOS and iPadOS, and more than 100 with macOS, you can find the right braille experience for you.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV

VoiceOver describes exactly what’s on your screen, even in braille. You can use a refreshable braille display connected via Bluetooth to your Apple device or enter braille directly on the touchscreen using Braille Screen Input. Braille is automatically converted to text in a caption panel on Mac so sighted people can follow along with VoiceOver descriptions. Refreshable braille displays and compatible Bluetooth-enabled braille keyboards can be used with Apple Watch.2 And with more than 70 refreshable braille displays compatible with iOS and iPadOS, and more than 100 with macOS, you can find the right braille experience for you.

Set up VoiceOver + braille on:

UpdatedMagnifier

Use your camera to get a closer look.

Magnifier works like a digital magnifying glass — and does so much more. It uses the camera on your iPhone or iPad to increase the size of any physical object you point it at, like a menu or sign, so you can see all the details clearly on your screen. Use the flash to light the object, adjust filters to help you differentiate colours, or freeze a specific frame to get a static close-up. With Split View on iPad, you can use Magnifier to increase the size of a physical object on one side of your screen and take notes or write an email on the other.

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.3 Use People Detection to determine a person’s proximity to you, like while you’re standing in line. Door Detection can help you navigate to your destination 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 identifies text on physical objects you point to, such as buttons on household appliances or labels on files, and reads it out loud so you can perform everyday activities and tasks with more ease and independence.4

Available on:

iPhone, iPad

Updated

Magnifier works like a digital magnifying glass — and does so much more. It uses the camera on your iPhone or iPad to increase the size of any physical object you point it at, like a menu or sign, so you can see all the details clearly on your screen. Use the flash to light the object, adjust filters to help you differentiate colours, or freeze a specific frame to get a static close-up. With Split View on iPad, you can use Magnifier to increase the size of a physical object on one side of your screen and take notes or write an email on the other.

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.3 Use People Detection to determine a person’s proximity to you, like while you’re standing in line. Door Detection can help you navigate to your destination 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 identifies text on physical objects you point to, such as buttons on household appliances or labels on files, and reads it out loud so you can perform everyday activities and tasks with more ease and independence.4

Set up Magnifier on:

Updates:

Point and Speak. If you are blind or have low vision, Point and Speak can make it easier for you to interact with physical objects that have text, like household appliances, keypads or labelled files.4 Point and move your finger over or under different buttons or elements, and your iPhone or iPad reads the text out loud to help you perform actions or make selections. Point and Speak integrates seamlessly with VoiceOver.

Text Detection. This feature in Detection Mode identifies and reads out all text that is visible in your camera’s field of view. Text Detection integrates seamlessly with VoiceOver.

Spoken Content

Go from written word to spoken word.

Spoken Content includes a collection of features that enable your devices to read text out loud. Speak Screen reads the content of your entire screen aloud to you, while Speak Selection lets you select and hear a specific range of text. These features can even highlight words, sentences or both in a customized colour and style as they’re spoken. You can also control the pace of the reading more precisely during speech playback with Speech Controller. Or activate Typing Feedback to hear every letter you type. Spoken Content is available in more than 60 languages and locales, and your preferred built-in voices can be adjusted for settings such as pitch range.1 Languages are automatically detected and switch seamlessly between voices, so your spoken content won’t feel impersonal at all.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

Spoken Content

Spoken Content includes a collection of features that enable your devices to read text out loud. Speak Screen reads the content of your entire screen aloud to you, while Speak Selection lets you select and hear a specific range of text. These features can even highlight words, sentences or both in a customized colour and style as they’re spoken. You can also control the pace of the reading more precisely during speech playback with Speech Controller. Or activate Typing Feedback to hear every letter you type. Spoken Content is available in more than 60 languages and locales, and your preferred built-in voices can be adjusted for settings such as pitch range.1 Languages are automatically detected and switch seamlessly between voices, so your spoken content won’t feel impersonal at all.

Set up Spoken Content on:

UpdatedDisplay Settings & Text Size

Find the right view for you.

Change your display to work the way you do, and apply these settings on an app-by-app basis. You can customize colour settings using colour filters or by inverting colours, as well as adjust transparency levels and contrast for your personal preferences. Even your pointer can be personalized — increase its size in macOS so it’s easier to find and use, or customize the colour of your pointer to make it easier to spot onscreen.

Text Size helps make text more legible and visible with simple font adjustments. Larger Text lets you adjust the size using an accessibility slider, while Bold Text gives weight to the words on your screen.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV

Updated

Change your display to work the way you do, and apply these settings on an app-by-app basis. You can customize colour settings using colour filters or by inverting colours, as well as adjust transparency levels and contrast for your personal preferences. Even your pointer can be personalized — increase its size in macOS so it’s easier to find and use, or customize the colour of your pointer to make it easier to spot onscreen.

Text Size helps make text more legible and visible with simple font adjustments. Larger Text lets you adjust the size using an accessibility slider, while Bold Text gives weight to the words on your screen.

Set up Display Settings & Text Size on:

Update:

Text Size customization on Mac. Customize your font size across Mac apps, including the Finder, Messages, Mail, Calendar and Notes, in one place within System Settings. You have the option to set a single preferred text size or to customize by app.

NewDim Flashing Lights

Darken videos for your viewing comfort.

This feature can help those who want to avoid bright flashes of light watch video content more comfortably. Dim Flashing Lights automatically darkens the video display during these sequences.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV

New

This feature can help those who want to avoid bright flashes of light watch video content more comfortably. Dim Flashing Lights automatically darkens the video display during these sequences.

Set up Dim Flashing Lights on:

NewPause Animated Images

Put a stop to moving images.

Automatically pause images with moving elements in apps like Messages and Safari. If you’re sensitive to rapid movement, you can easily turn on this feature to stop motion in animated images, like moving images you encounter while browsing online, or GIFs in group chats.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

New

Automatically pause images with moving elements in apps like Messages and Safari. If you’re sensitive to rapid movement, you can easily turn on this feature to stop motion in animated images, like moving images you encounter while browsing online, or GIFs in group chats.

Set up Pause Animated Images on:

Reduce Motion

Simplify onscreen movements.

When you turn on Reduce Motion, you can decrease the movement of onscreen elements. Some screen actions, such as moving between apps or launching apps, become visually simpler for motion sensitivity or to lessen strain on the eyes. Apply the Reduce Motion setting for only the apps you want.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV

When you turn on Reduce Motion, you can decrease the movement of onscreen elements. Some screen actions, such as moving between apps or launching apps, become visually simpler for motion sensitivity or to lessen strain on the eyes. Apply the Reduce Motion setting for only the apps you want.

Set up Reduce Motion on:

UpdatedZoom

Enlarge your screen to your liking.

Zoom is a screen magnifier that lets you enlarge the content you see on your device. Choose full‑screen magnification or picture‑in‑picture view, which shows the magnified area in a separate window while the rest of your screen stays the same.5 Zoom also works with VoiceOver, so you can more clearly see and hear what’s happening on your screen. Split-screen zoom on Mac lets you see content up close and at a distance simultaneously. And if you’re using zoom on multiple displays with macOS, you can set a different zoom level for each display.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV

Updated

Zoom is a screen magnifier that lets you enlarge the content you see on your device. Choose full‑screen magnification or picture‑in‑picture view, which shows the magnified area in a separate window while the rest of your screen stays the same.5 Zoom also works with VoiceOver, so you can more clearly see and hear what’s happening on your screen. Split-screen zoom on Mac lets you see content up close and at a distance simultaneously. And if you’re using zoom on multiple displays with macOS, you can set a different zoom level for each display.

Set up Zoom on:

Update:

Multi-monitor zoom. When using zoom across multiple displays with macOS, you can use multi-monitor zoom and set a different zoom level for each display.

Hover Text

Get a quick size boost of what you’re reading.

Hover Text makes it easier to view text on your iPad or Mac or while you’re watching Apple TV content. If a paragraph, text box, caption or footnote is too small to read, just hover over it with your pointer or Apple Pencil, and press the activation key for a bigger, high‑resolution version of your selection. You can even choose the fonts and colours that work best for you.

Available on:

iPad, Mac, Apple TV

Hover Text

Hover Text makes it easier to view text on your iPad or Mac or while you’re watching Apple TV content. If a paragraph, text box, caption or footnote is too small to read, just hover over it with your pointer or Apple Pencil, and press the activation key for a bigger, high‑resolution version of your selection. You can even choose the fonts and colours that work best for you.

Set up Hover Text on:

iWork

Create a workflow that works for you.

Pages, Numbers and Keynote include several features that can help you create documents, spreadsheets and presentations that are accessible for both you and your audiences. Add descriptions to images, audio or video. Or make Pages documents more scannable by adding headings that screen readers can easily identify and navigate. A layout rotor for VoiceOver helps you automatically align selected elements so that your documents look and sound exactly the way you like. VoiceOver Audio Graph support can make information in charts and graphs more accessible by representing data points with ascending or descending pitches, helping you understand rising and falling trends. Line- and word-spacing tools improve how you read and edit documents. And the text checker tool can help you discover common formatting issues such as extra spaces or mistakenly capitalized letters, which makes proofreading documents, spreadsheets and presentations even easier.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac

Pages, Numbers and Keynote include several features that can help you create documents, spreadsheets and presentations that are accessible for both you and your audiences. Add descriptions to images, audio or video. Or make Pages documents more scannable by adding headings that screen readers can easily identify and navigate. A layout rotor for VoiceOver helps you automatically align selected elements so that your documents look and sound exactly the way you like. VoiceOver Audio Graph support can make information in charts and graphs more accessible by representing data points with ascending or descending pitches, helping you understand rising and falling trends. Line- and word-spacing tools improve how you read and edit documents. And the text checker tool can help you discover common formatting issues such as extra spaces or mistakenly capitalized letters, which makes proofreading documents, spreadsheets and presentations even easier.

Set up iWork on:

Audio Descriptions

Hear the whole scene.

Watch movies with detailed audio descriptions of every scene on your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV. Just check for the AD icon under the movie title on the Apple TV app or on the iTunes Store.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Windows PC, Smart TV

Watch movies with detailed audio descriptions of every scene on your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV. Just check for the AD icon under the movie title on the Apple TV app or on the iTunes Store.

Set up Audio Descriptions on:

Accessibility Shortcut

Keep your apps close and your settings closer.

Easily add, organize and customize shortcuts for the tools and settings you use the most in Control Center or System Settings. The Accessibility Shortcut, which offers the option to triple-click the side button, Digital Crown or power button, lets you quickly access frequently used accessibility features on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and Apple TV. Add Magnifier, Color Filters, Live Captions, Live Speech and more so they’re handy throughout the day.

In Control Center, the Hearing control helps you adjust hearing accessibility features quickly and easily. Manage your Made for iPhone hearing devices, modify Headphone Accommodations or turn on Background Sounds as you go through your day, without leaving the app you’re using.

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV

Easily add, organize and customize shortcuts for the tools and settings you use the most in Control Center or System Settings. The Accessibility Shortcut, which offers the option to triple-click the side button, Digital Crown or power button, lets you quickly access frequently used accessibility features on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and Apple TV. Add Magnifier, Color Filters, Live Captions, Live Speech and more so they’re handy throughout the day.

In Control Center, the Hearing control helps you adjust hearing accessibility features quickly and easily. Manage your Made for iPhone hearing devices, modify Headphone Accommodations or turn on Background Sounds as you go through your day, without leaving the app you’re using.

Set up Accessibility Shortcut on:

Dictation

Everything you say goes.

Dictation lets you type by speaking — and it works in more than 60 languages. To turn your speech into text, just tap the microphone button on the onscreen keyboard in any text field, or activate Dictation through System Settings on your Mac. While dictating, you can move fluidly between voice and touch, so you can type with your keyboard, move your cursor, and add QuickType suggestions, all without needing to stop Dictation.6 Dictation automatically punctuates your text with periods, commas, and question marks as you speak.7 And you can easily insert emoji into messages using only your voice.8

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV

Dictation lets you type by speaking — and it works in more than 60 languages. To turn your speech into text, just tap the microphone button on the onscreen keyboard in any text field, or activate Dictation through System Settings on your Mac. While dictating, you can move fluidly between voice and touch, so you can type with your keyboard, move your cursor, and add QuickType suggestions, all without needing to stop Dictation.6 Dictation automatically punctuates your text with periods, commas, and question marks as you speak.7 And you can easily insert emoji into messages using only your voice.8

Set up Dictation on:

Dark Mode

Make everything easier on the eyes.

Dark Mode transforms every element on your screen into a dark colour scheme to make reading easier. Toolbars and menus recede into the background as your content takes centre screen. Light text against darker backdrops in apps like Mail, Safari and Calendar makes text easier to read in low light.9

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV

Dark Mode transforms every element on your screen into a dark colour scheme to make reading easier. Toolbars and menus recede into the background as your content takes centre screen. Light text against darker backdrops in apps like Mail, Safari and Calendar makes text easier to read in low light.9

Set up Dark Mode on:

UpdatedSiri

Find what you’re looking for without looking at all.

Siri can help you complete the tasks you do every day. You can ask it to find files, set reminders, turn your accessibility features on or off, and so much more. If you need to streamline a series of actions or tasks, you can use Siri to run shortcuts through the Shortcuts app. Create a custom shortcut and run it by saying “Hey Siri,” or just “Siri,” then the name of the shortcut you created.10

If you’re using Safari Reader and want to hear the text read out loud, just say “Siri, read this” when you’re browsing a Reader-compatible site. It’s perfect for getting through your reading list on the go. Siri can help you multitask, too — once you activate Siri, you can make multiple requests back to back without needing to say “Siri” repeatedly.11 No matter the Apple product, your favourite assistant is always ready to assist.12

Available on:

iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, HomePod, AirPods

Updated

Siri can help you complete the tasks you do every day. You can ask it to find files, set reminders, turn your accessibility features on or off, and so much more. If you need to streamline a series of actions or tasks, you can use Siri to run shortcuts through the Shortcuts app. Create a custom shortcut and run it by saying “Hey Siri,” or just “Siri,” then the name of the shortcut you created.10

If you’re using Safari Reader and want to hear the text read out loud, just say “Siri, read this” when you’re browsing a Reader-compatible site. It’s perfect for getting through your reading list on the go. Siri can help you multitask, too — once you activate Siri, you can make multiple requests back to back without needing to say “Siri” repeatedly.11 No matter the Apple product, your favourite assistant is always ready to assist.12

Set up Siri on:

Updates:

Customize Siri speed. Customize Siri to speak at a slower or faster rate, depending on your needs and preferences.

Siri activation. Siri now works when you just say “Siri” as well as “Hey Siri.”10

Back-to-back requests. Once you activate Siri, you can make multiple requests back to back without needing to say “Siri” again.11

Siri in Safari Reader. You can have text read aloud in Reader-compatible sites in Safari by saying “Siri, read this.”

Go deeper with videos from Apple.

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

Watch now

Additional Resources

Hadley

Explore instructional tutorials on using vision accessibility features for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Apple Watch.

Learn more

AppleVis.com

Join a community of blind and low‑vision users of Apple products.

Learn more

Braille User Guides

Download the Unified English Braille version of Apple product user guides or order an embossed copy.

Learn more

Make yours. showing Speak Selection feature.

Discover more about Apple accessibility features.

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