Apple revealed a new set of accessibility capabilities on Tuesday that would help individuals with impairments navigate new places and conversations more easily. The new features, which will be available later this year, combining software, hardware, and machine learning. It’s unusual to hear directly from Apple about new features in unreleased iOS releases. These types of announcements are normally saved for a special occasion, such as WWDC 2022. Apple, based in Cupertino, has announced new accessibility capabilities that will be available shortly, most likely with iOS 16. Door recognition and live subtitles for FaceTime, streaming multimedia, and even spoken chats are among Apple’s latest accessibility capabilities.
What’s new:
- Live subtitles for videos on iPhones, iPads, and Macs are a huge new feature. People who are deaf or hard of hearing will benefit from this feature. They may use Live Captions on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, making it easier for them to follow any audio content, such as during a phone call or while watching the video. Users can choose the text size, see Live Captions for all FaceTime call participants, and type responses that are spoken aloud. Later this year, English Live Captions will be available in beta for iPhone 11 and later versions, iPad models with the A12 Bionic and later variants, and Macs with Apple hardware. The live captions function simply allows viewers to watch a video with the sound turned off and read along with the text at the bottom of the screen. The capability is compatible with FaceTime calls, streaming services, and other video conferencing apps, according to Apple. If you’re an Android user, Google already has something comparable.
- Individuals who are blind or have low vision will be able to use their iPhone or iPad to detect a door when they arrive at a new location, determine how far away they are from it, and describe the door’s properties, such as how it can be opened and any nearby signs or symbols, using Door Detection. Along with People Detection and Image Descriptions, the functionality will be part of a new “Detection Mode” in Magnifier. Only iPhones and iPads with a LiDAR scanner will be able to use Door Detection. It will also indicate whether the door is open or closed, as well as whether it can be opened by pushing, pulling, turning a knob, or pulling a handle. Even signs and symbols around the door, such as room numbers or the accessible entrance logo, are read by the function.
- In the meantime, Apple has unveiled a new Apple Watch Mirroring feature. This feature, according to Apple, will allow people with disabilities to control Apple Watch using iPhone’s assistive features such as Voice Control and Switch Control, and use inputs such as voice commands, sound actions, head tracking, or external Made for iPhone switches instead of tapping the Apple Watch display. Apple Watch Mirroring makes use of a combination of hardware and software, including “advanced AirPlay features.”. AirPlay advancements will allow consumers to utilize their iPhones to access Apple Watch apps like Blood Oxygen, Heart Rate, Mindfulness, and more.
- Apple Watch users will be able to use a double-pinch motion to answer or end a phone call, dismiss a notification, snap a photo, play or pause media in the New playing apps, and start, pause, or continue a workout using Quick Actions. This year, all of these new accessibility features will be implemented.
- Apple will add 20 new languages and locations to voiceover, its screen reader for blind and poor vision customers, including Bengali, Bulgarian, Catalan, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. Users will also be able to choose from hundreds of new optimized voices across languages, as well as a new Text Checker tool to detect text formatting issues. There will also be sound and haptic feedback for Voiceover users in Apple Maps to find the starting point for walking directions, as well as adjustable response times for Siri, new themes and customization options in Apple Books, and sound and haptic feedback for unique home doorbells and appliances.
The announcement of new accessibility capabilities comes just days before Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2022), which will be held entirely online from June 6 to June 10. WWDC 2022 is an annual developer conference where Apple usually announces new versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS. Apple released iOS 15.5, the latest version of its iPhone operating system, earlier this week.
