5 Useful Accessibility Tools For IOS Users

Apple has proved that developers can build useful accessibility tools right into their OS, which makes the lives of users much simpler and makes their devices easier to use. Apple offers some of the best accessibility tools for their users in the form of VoiceOver, screen magnification, and even larger/bold text. I’ll highlight five accessibility tools that I think are worth mentioning.

VoiceOver

VoiceOver is a built-in gesture-based accessibility tool that will read out loud everything on your iOS device’s screen, even if you can’t see it. With VoiceOver enabled, you can just touch the screen to hear what’s under your finger and use gestures to navigate through your device. VoiceOver works great in any of the book reading apps, like iBooks, Kindle, and Nook.

To enable VoiceOver, go to Settings > General > Accessibility > VoiceOver, and enable the VoiceOver option.

Zoom

Zoom is a built-in screen magnifier that works in any iOS app, from Mail and Safari to any application you download from the App Store. If you double-tap with three fingers, your screen automatically zooms, and you can adjust the magnification as needed.

To enable this feature, go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Zoom, and enable the Zoom option.

Larger Text/Bold Text

When you activate Larger Text, the text inside stock apps like Contacts, Mail, Messages, Notes, and even some third-party apps, is larger and easier-to-read. You can also choose to make the text bold across many of built-in apps, when you activate Bold Text.

To activate larger/bold text, go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Larger Text/Bold Text, and activate either or both.

Speak Selection

If you’re driving and you want to read your email or read an article from the web, what do you do? You could use Siri to read through your emails or get information from the web, but what if you wanted to read any text from the web, email, or a plethora of other applications? iOS has a built-in accessibility tool and is available for almost every application that deals with text, even third-party apps.

When you select text, you can have your iOS device read that highlighted text to you. To do this, highlight any text in any app that you’re in, tap Speak, and Speak Selection will read the selected text to you.

To enable the Speak Selection tool in iOS, go to Settings > General > Accessibility > Speak Selection, and enable the Speak Selection option.

AssistiveTouch

AssistiveTouch lets you adapt the screen of your iOS device to meet your specific needs. If you have difficulty activating certain gestures, you can make them accessible with just a tap of your finger. You can also create custom gestures. And if you have trouble with your home button, you can activate it with a tap, as well.

To enable AssistiveTouch on your iOS device, go to Settings > General > Accessibility > AssistiveTouch, and enable the AssistiveTouch option.

Do any of you guys use these tools to make using your iOS device easier? If so, leave your thoughts in the comments section down below.

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