Apple's accessibility features: How they help bridge the digital divide for disabled users

Apple Accessibility Features

Apple has long been focusing on accessibility, equipping its devices with features like VoiceOver, Magnifier, and Eye Tracking to make technology inclusive for all. To understand the real-world impact of these tools, three accessibility advocates—Dhanya Ravi, Aman Verma, and Stallone Peris—shared their experiences, highlighting how these features have changed their daily lives and professional work.

Dhanya Ravi, a disability evangelist and India’s Locomotor Disability Ambassador, has been a strong advocate for technology that simplifies lives. She emphasised the significance of regional language support in accessibility tools. “More regional languages would greatly assist people in accessing the tools more effectively,” she told Moneycontrol.

Dhanya has a 80% disability due to a rare genetic condition called Osteogenesis Imperfecta and uses features like Hover Text and Magnifier to help her become more efficient and productive through the day. Apple does work with EnAble India to empower people with disabilities

Dhanya also praised Apple Intelligence, Apple’s AI-based feature set, for its potential to streamline workflows and reduce reliance on third-party apps. She noted how features like Voice Control have made her tasks stress-free, enabling her to work more efficiently.

For Dhanya, Eye Tracking has been a game-changer in handling digital communication. “I use eye tracking to check unread WhatsApp messages, allowing me to read messages quickly and manage my time better,” she explained.

Aman Verma, an accessibility consultant and lead at Enable India Solutions, emphasised the role of assistive tools like VoiceOver and Magnifier in his professional and personal life as someone with low vision.

Verma encouraged newcomers to accessibility tools to explore features at their own pace. “There’s a learning curve with every new operating system or device. Spend time understanding what’s useful for you. Sometimes, features not specifically designed for accessibility can make life easier,” he advised.

While appreciative of the current features, Aman sees AI integration as the next big leap in accessibility. “As the world changes with AI, I’d like to see Apple integrate it more deeply to help navigate digital devices easily,” he shared.

He also spoke about how Vehicle Motion Cues have made Bengaluru’s infamous traffic more bearable by reducing motion-induced nausea during commutes. “Having the tendency to scroll through social media/finish up on my binge watching sessions I would feel nauseated at times but the motion cues seem to have reduced that feeling by a great extent,” he told Moneycontrol.

While Magnifier remains his go-to tool, Aman noted that motion cues have become an increasingly valuable feature.

Stallone Peris, an accessibility tester at EnAble India, relies heavily on VoiceOver for his work. This screen-reading feature allows him to test apps and provide accessibility feedback effectively. “VoiceOver’s screen recognition feature is incredibly helpful. It lets me visualise inaccessible screens partially and document my observations,” explained Peris, who suffers from vision impairment.

Stallone Peris

For Peris, VoiceOver’s optimisation on iOS makes it particularly efficient. “It’s very fast, with no lag. It’s as smooth as how sighted people scroll on iOS. Features like direct touch also help me type quickly, boosting my productivity,” he said.

Looking ahead, Peris is intrigued by Apple’s Vehicle Motion Cues and envisions additional AI-driven advancements. “A feature that alerts users when they’re near objects or vehicles would be invaluable. Similarly, live voice translation during calls could bridge communication gaps for people with visual disabilities,” he suggested.

Aman highlighted the possibilities of contextual Siri integration within apps, while Peris pointed to advancements in optical character recognition (OCR) and image description as areas where AI could make a significant impact. “For instance if I’m speaking to a friend who can only speak Tamil, a language I cannot understand, AI will translate what they are saying and provide the translation to me in a recorded voice, live, during the call. Since I cannot read captions while on a call, this will be helpful in the future. I think AI can make these uses possible and I’m excited to use Apple Intelligence,” said Peris.

Peris and Verma stressed the importance of community support in mastering accessibility tools. “There are many online groups, especially for Apple’s VoiceOver users, where you can learn and share experiences,” Peris said.