iPhone and Apple Watch get new accessibility features including door detection, Apple Watch mirroring and more for people with disabilities

Each year, Apple unveils a host of new features for its iPhone, Apple Watch, and other platforms that are designed to make life easier for users with disabilities. This year, the Cupertino-based firm also introduced several new accessibility features to help people with hearing aids, vision aids, or other physical disabilities perform activities with little effort. Apple says these new features are the result of a combination of hardware, software, and machine learning. This combination is expected to improve navigation, health, communications and more. All of these features mentioned below will arrive later this year as part of software updates. Let’s check them out.

Door detection for the blind or visually impaired

This new navigation feature will help users find the door when they arrive at their destination. It will also tell them how far they are from the door and describe the attributes of the door. This means that it will tell the user if the door is open or closed, or it can be opened by pressing, turning the handle or pulling the handle. It will also read the signs around the door, such as the room number or the entrance symbol. Door Detection technology uses LiDAR, camera and iPhone machine learning. It will also appear on the iPad. You can find it in the new discovery mode in the Magnifier app. This function can also be used simultaneously with People Detection and Image Description.

Apple Door Detection Accessibility Feature

Physical and motion accessibility for Apple Watch

Apple will also make its watches more accessible by allowing people with physical and movement disabilities to use them remotely through their iPhones. A feature called Apple Watch Mirroring will allow users to control their Apple Watch using the iPhone’s voice control and Switch Control features. This will allow them to use voice commands, sound actions, head tracking, or Made for iPhone external switches to use the Apple Watch display. This feature uses both hardware and software along with AirPlay.

Apple Watch accessibility feature

In addition, Apple Watch also has new quick actions that let users use the double-squeeze gesture to answer or end phone calls, dismiss notifications, take photos, play or pause media, and start, pause, or resume workout. All of these features use Apple Watch’s AssistiveTouch technology.

Live subtitles for iPhone, iPad and Mac

For the deaf who use a hearing aid, Apple Live Captions makes it easy for users to follow calls, video conferences, or any other audio content by reading the texts on the screen. It also works with people who sit next to them and talk. Users can also customize the font size. Live Captions in FaceTime can automatically transcribe dialogue, making life easier for the community. Users can also type text and speak it out loud in real time to respond.

Live subtitle accessibility feature

VoiceOver supports new languages

VoiceOver is an existing Apple feature that is used for screen reading by blind and visually impaired users. However, this year the feature will support several more languages, including Bengali, Bulgarian, Catalan, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. The firm adds that they will also be present for the Speak Selection and Speak Screen accessibility features.

More features coming later this year

Buddy Controller: This allows users to ask a doctor or friend to help them play a game as this feature combines two game controllers into one.

Siri Pause Time: This feature allows people with speech impairments to set how long Siri should wait before responding to a request.

Spelling Voice Control Mode: This allows users to dictate their own spellings letter by letter.

Sound Recognition: This feature can recognize sounds specific to the human environment, such as unique home alarms, doorbells, or electrical appliances.

The Apple Books app will also offer new themes and several customization options, including making text bold and adjusting line, character, and word spacing.