1. Overview
Every iPhone and iPad comes with a full set of assistive technology. A blind person can use VoiceOver, the built-in screen reader. A person with a tremor can use Voice Control or Switch Control. A person with low vision can make text much larger, zoom the screen or invert its colours. None of this needs extra software.
These features only work in your app if your app works with them. VoiceOver can only speak a button if the button has a name. Larger Text only helps if your text grows with the setting. So the first step is to know what people use, and how they use it.
This lesson tours the features in three groups. First come the features for seeing the screen differently. Next come the features for people who touch the screen less, or not at all. Last come the display and motion settings that every app should follow. The later lessons in this module show the code behind each one.
Unlock the rest of this lesson
You have read the free preview of How people use iPhone and iPad accessibility features in Module 5: iOS accessibility. The full lesson, its knowledge check and the module certificate come with a plan, bought here on the web.
Buy a plan here with a card and the rest of the course unlocks. You will sign in first, with Apple or Google, which is what the plan is attached to. No iPhone or Mac needed.
Free with no account: the first lesson, Why accessibility, and who it is for, the European Accessibility Act flashcards and the overview of every lesson.
Sources
- Apple, iPhone User Guide: Use VoiceOver gestures, Control VoiceOver using the rotor, Zoom in on the iPhone screen, Make text easier to read and Change display colors.
- Apple, iPhone User Guide: Use Voice Control, Intro to Switch Control, Control iPhone with an external keyboard and Customize onscreen motion.
- Apple Developer, Performing accessibility testing for your app, and the Human Interface Guidelines: Accessibility.
- App Store Connect Help, VoiceOver evaluation criteria, which recommends testing VoiceOver before Voice Control.
- ETSI, CEN and CENELEC, EN 301 549 V4.1.1 (2026-09), clauses 4, 5.1, 11.2.1.1, 11.2.5.3, 11.5.2 and 11.7, available from the ETSI standards server.
- W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, including Understanding 2.5.3 Label in Name, and the Group Note Guidance on Applying WCAG 2 to Non-Web Information and Communications Technologies (WCAG2ICT).
