“The accessibility problems of today are the mainstream breakthroughs of tomorrow.” –Eve Andersson, Director of Google AI.
For Apple, accessibility is one of its seven core values. They want everyone to be included and able to use their products. They “build powerful assistive features into their products to give people with physical limitations greater control over their lives.”
I wanted to provide a list of different accessibility features you might not have known about:
VoiceOver: VoiceOver tells you what is happening on your screen in real time. This is great because it allows you to navigate your device just by listening.
Invert Colors: Invert colors changes the display values on your phone to create more contrast. This feature has multiple vision settings for people with a range of vision needs. BONUS hack: if you turn this on, it helps save and or prolong your battery life.
Magnifier: You can use this tool to increase the size of anything you point it at. How it works is that, it uses the camera on your device to increase the size of the things you point at.
LED Flash-Phone ringer: This can be very alerting or very annoying. When you have an incoming FaceTime call, text message, email or notification you can set the flash from your camera to go off. Trust me, you will never miss a notification again if this feature is set on.
Type questions to Siri:You do not actually have to talk to Siri with this feature. You can type your question or command out.
Make larger buttons for easier tapping:This trick, allows you to manipulate the button’s shape to make it larger or more 3D like. For anyone with eye-hand coordination impairment, button shapes can help more accurate and efficient tapping. But it can also help if you have larger fingers!
Connecting hearing aids to your apple device:You can connect your hearing aids via Bluetooth capability. But what is really cool is, you can choose the “Live Listen” mode when connecting your hearing aids. This mode uses the iPhone’s mic to pick up on outside conversations and sounds, further bettering your hearing.