New software features for cognitive, speech, and vision
accessibility are coming later this year
Apple® today previewed software features for cognitive, vision,
hearing, and mobility accessibility, along with innovative tools
for individuals who are nonspeaking or at risk of losing their
ability to speak. These updates draw on advances in hardware and
software, include on-device machine learning to ensure user
privacy, and expand on Apple’s long-standing commitment to making
products for everyone.
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Apple's new accessibility features,
including Assistive Access, Live Speech, and more, will arrive
later this year. (Photo: Business Wire)
Apple works in deep collaboration with community groups
representing a broad spectrum of users with disabilities to develop
accessibility features that make a real impact on people’s lives.
Coming later this year, users with cognitive disabilities can use
iPhone® and iPad® with greater ease and independence with Assistive
Access; nonspeaking individuals can type to speak during calls and
conversations with Live Speech; and those at risk of losing their
ability to speak can use Personal Voice to create a synthesized
voice that sounds like them for connecting with family and friends.
For users who are blind or have low vision, Detection Mode in
Magnifier offers Point and Speak, which identifies text users point
toward and reads it out loud to help them interact with physical
objects such as household appliances.
“At Apple, we’ve always believed that the best technology is
technology built for everyone,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Today,
we’re excited to share incredible new features that build on our
long history of making technology accessible, so that everyone has
the opportunity to create, communicate, and do what they love.”
“Accessibility is part of everything we do at Apple,” said Sarah
Herrlinger, Apple’s senior director of Global Accessibility Policy
and Initiatives. “These groundbreaking features were designed with
feedback from members of disability communities every step of the
way, to support a diverse set of users and help people connect in
new ways.”
Assistive Access Supports Users with Cognitive
Disabilities
Assistive Access uses innovations in design to distill apps and
experiences to their essential features in order to lighten
cognitive load. The feature reflects feedback from people with
cognitive disabilities and their trusted supporters — focusing on
the activities they enjoy — and that are foundational to iPhone and
iPad: connecting with loved ones, capturing and enjoying photos,
and listening to music.
Assistive Access includes a customized experience for Phone and
FaceTime®, which have been combined into a single Calls app, as
well as Messages, Camera, Photos, and Music. The feature offers a
distinct interface with high contrast buttons and large text
labels, as well as tools to help trusted supporters tailor the
experience for the individual they support. For example, for users
who prefer communicating visually, Messages includes an emoji-only
keyboard and the option to record a video message to share with
loved ones. Users and trusted supporters can also choose between a
more visual, grid-based layout for their Home Screen and apps, or a
row-based layout for users who prefer text.
“The intellectual and developmental disability community is
bursting with creativity, but technology often poses physical,
visual, or knowledge barriers for these individuals,” said Katy
Schmid, senior director of National Program Initiatives at The Arc
of the United States. “To have a feature that provides a
cognitively accessible experience on iPhone or iPad — that means
more open doors to education, employment, safety, and autonomy. It
means broadening worlds and expanding potential.”
Live Speech and Personal Voice Advance Speech
Accessibility
With Live Speech on iPhone, iPad, and Mac®, users can type what
they want to say to have it be spoken out loud during phone and
FaceTime calls as well as in-person conversations. Users can also
save commonly used phrases to chime in quickly during lively
conversation with family, friends, and colleagues. Live Speech has
been designed to support millions of people globally who are unable
to speak or who have lost their speech over time.
For users at risk of losing their ability to speak — such as
those with a recent diagnosis of ALS (amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis) or other conditions that can progressively impact
speaking ability — Personal Voice is a simple and secure way to
create a voice that sounds like them.
Users can create a Personal Voice by reading along with a
randomized set of text prompts to record 15 minutes of audio on
iPhone or iPad. This speech accessibility feature uses on-device
machine learning to keep users’ information private and secure, and
integrates seamlessly with Live Speech so users can speak with
their Personal Voice when connecting with loved ones.1
“At the end of the day, the most important thing is being able
to communicate with friends and family,” said Philip Green, board
member and ALS advocate at the Team Gleason nonprofit, who has
experienced significant changes to his voice since receiving his
ALS diagnosis in 2018. “If you can tell them you love them, in a
voice that sounds like you, it makes all the difference in the
world — and being able to create your synthetic voice on your
iPhone in just 15 minutes is extraordinary.”
Detection Mode in Magnifier Introduces Point and Speak for
Users Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision
Point and Speak in Magnifier makes it easier for users with
vision disabilities to interact with physical objects that have
several text labels. For example, while using a household appliance
— such as a microwave — Point and Speak combines input from the
Camera app, the LiDAR Scanner, and on-device machine learning to
announce the text on each button as users move their finger across
the keypad.2 Point and Speak is built into the Magnifier app on
iPhone and iPad, works great with VoiceOver, and can be used with
other Magnifier features such as People Detection, Door Detection,
and Image Descriptions to help users navigate their physical
environment.
Additional Features
- Deaf or hard-of-hearing users can pair Made for iPhone
hearing devices directly to Mac and customize them for their
hearing comfort.3
- Voice Control adds phonetic suggestions for text editing
so users who type with their voice can choose the right word out of
several that might sound alike, like “do,” “due,” and “dew.”4
Additionally, with Voice Control Guide, users can learn tips
and tricks about using voice commands as an alternative to touch
and typing across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
- Users with physical and motor disabilities who use Switch
Control can turn any switch into a virtual game controller to
play their favorite games on iPhone and iPad.
- For users with low vision, Text Size is now easier to
adjust across Mac apps such as Finder, Messages, Mail, Calendar,
and Notes.
- Users who are sensitive to rapid animations can automatically
pause images with moving elements, such as GIFs, in Messages
and Safari®.
- For VoiceOver users, Siri® voices sound natural and
expressive even at high rates of speech feedback; users can also
customize the rate at which Siri speaks to them, with options
ranging from 0.8x to 2x.
Celebrating Global Accessibility Awareness Day Around the
World
To celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day, this week Apple
is introducing new features, curated collections, and more:
- SignTime will launch in Germany, Italy, Spain, and South
Korea on May 18 to connect Apple Store® and Apple Support customers
with on-demand sign language interpreters. The service is already
available for customers in the U.S., Canada, U.K., France,
Australia, and Japan.5
- Select Apple Store locations around the world are
offering informative sessions throughout the week to help customers
discover accessibility features, and Apple Carnegie Library will
feature a Today at Apple® session with sign language performer and
interpreter Justina Miles. And with group reservations — available
year-round — Apple Store locations are a place where community
groups can learn about accessibility features together.
- Shortcuts adds Remember This, which helps users with
cognitive disabilities create a visual diary in Notes for easy
reference and reflection.
- This week, Apple Podcasts® will offer a collection of
shows about the impact of accessible technology; the Apple
TV® app is featuring movies and series curated by notable
storytellers from the disability community; Apple Books®
will spotlight Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability
Rights Activist, the memoir by disability rights pioneer Judith
Heumann; and Apple Music® will feature cross-genre American
Sign Language (ASL) music videos.
- This week in Apple Fitness+℠, trainer Jamie-Ray
Hartshorne incorporates ASL while highlighting features available
to users that are part of an ongoing effort to make fitness more
accessible to all. Features include Audio Hints, which provide
additional short descriptive verbal cues to support users who are
blind or low vision, and Time to Walk and Time to Run episodes
become “Time to Walk or Push” and “Time to Run or Push” for
wheelchair users. Additionally, Fitness+ trainers incorporate ASL
into every workout and meditation, all videos include closed
captioning in six languages, and trainers demonstrate modifications
in workouts so users at different levels can join in.
- The App Store® will spotlight three disability community
leaders — Aloysius Gan, Jordyn Zimmerman, and Bradley Heaven — each
of whom will share their experiences as nonspeaking individuals and
the transformative effects of augmentative and alternative
communication (AAC) apps in their lives.
1 Personal Voice can be created using iPhone, iPad, and Mac with
Apple silicon, and will be available in English. 2 Point and Speak
will be available on iPhone and iPad devices with the LiDAR Scanner
in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese,
Cantonese, Korean, Japanese, and Ukrainian. 3 Users will be able to
pair Made for iPhone hearing devices with select Mac devices with
M1 chip, and all Mac devices with M2 chip. 4 Voice Control phonetic
suggestions will be available in English, Spanish, French, and
German. 5 SignTime sessions are available in the U.S. and Canada
using American Sign Language (ASL), in the U.K. using British Sign
Language (BSL), in France using French Sign Language (LSF), in
Japan using Japanese Sign Language (JSL), and in Australia using
Australian Sign Language (Auslan). On May 18, SignTime will be
available in Germany using German Sign Language (DGS), in Italy
using Italian Sign Language (LIS), in Spain using Spanish Sign
Language (LSE), and in South Korea using Korean Sign Language
(KSL).
Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction
of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in
innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV.
Apple’s five software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and
tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and
empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store,
Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000
employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and
to leaving the world better than we found it.
NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple Newsroom
(www.apple.com/newsroom), or email Apple’s Media Helpline at
media.help@apple.com.
© 2023 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo,
iPhone, iPad, FaceTime, Mac, Safari, Siri, Apple Store, Today at
Apple, Apple Podcasts, Apple TV, Apple Books, Apple Fitness+, and
App Store are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names
may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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Press Contacts:
Will Butler Apple willbutler@apple.com
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