Other Accessibility Feature Improvements

Apple has also announced enhancements to several existing accessibility features:

1. Background Sounds will offer new EQ adjustments, the option to stop playing automatically after a set time, and new Shortcuts automation actions.
2. Personal Voice is getting better thanks to advances in on-device machine learning, so you’ll end up creating an even more natural voice with even less investment in training. Apple says it will now take less than a minute and can be done using only 10 recorded phases. It’s also adding support for Spanish (Mexico).
3. Vehicle Motion Cues is expanding to Mac, helping you avoid motion sickness when you’re using your MacBook on a road trip. Apple is also adding new ways to customize the animated on-screen dots on the iPhone and iPad.
4. Eye Tracking on the iPhone and iPad will offer the option to use a switch or dwell to make selections. Additionally, a new keyboard swell timer and Switch Control improvements will make typing and navigation easier and more natural.
5. Head Tracking will expand Eye Tracking to let users more easily control iPhone and iPad with head movements.
6. Assistive Access will offer a simplified media player in a new custom Apple TV app, and developers can now use the Assistive Access API to create tailored experiences for users with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
7. Music Haptics will become more customizable, allowing users to adjust its overall sensitivity and choose whether they want haptics for the entire song or just the vocals.
8. Sound Recognition will gain the ability to recognize a user’s name so folks who are deaf or hard of hearing can be alerted when their name is being called.
9. Voice Control is expanding to Xcode to support software developers with limited mobility.
10. CarPlay Accessibility improvements include Large Text for those with low vision and updates to sound recognition to alert drivers or passengers to the sound of a crying baby in addition to car horns and sirens (which were added in iOS 18 last year).
11. Live Captions will be available in more languages, including English (India, Australia, UK, Singapore), Mandarin Chinese (Mainland China), Cantonese (Mainland China, Hong Kong), Spanish (Latin America, Spain), French (France, Canada), Japanese, German (Germany), and Korean.
12. Accessibility settings can be quickly shared between devices so you can transfer your custom setup when borrowing a friend’s device or using a public kiosk.
    

Apple is also laying the groundwork for controlling an iPhone, iPad, or Vision Pro with the power of your mind:

For users with severe mobility disabilities, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS will add a new protocol to support Switch Control for Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs), an emerging technology that allows users to control their device without physical movement.

As usual, today’s announcement also kicks off a series of initiatives to celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day, with dedicated tables in Apple Retail stores to spotlight accessibility features and featured content in Apple Music, Apple Fitness+, Apple TV+, Apple Books, Apple Podcasts, Apple News, and the App Store.