Apple Unveils New AI-Powered Accessibility Features

Ahead of Google’s annual developer conference on Tuesday, Apple announced several new accessibility updates powered by Apple Intelligence to features like VoiceOver, voice control, live recognition, and real-time caption generation for videos. The company also said that Vision Pro users will be able to control a compatible wheelchair with their eyes using this update.

The company said that Apple Intelligence’s image recognition feature in VoiceOver will understand the image better and describe it in greater detail. For instance, it can look at a bill and read out the details such as the amount and due date. Apple said that the updated feature can also better describe photographs and personal records.

Users can now use an iPhone to activate the Live Recognition feature, which uses a camera to identify content in the frame, and also ask follow-up questions to know more. Users with low vision can also assign Magnifier to the action button, which presents content on a high-contrast interface. Plus, they can use voice commands such as “zoom in” or “turn on flashlight” to access features.

The voice command update is not limited to the Magnifier app. Apple said that users can describe tasks in natural language to take action on what they see on the screen. For instance, in Apple Maps, they can say “tap the guide about best restaurants,” or in Files, they can say “tap the purple folder.”

The company is also updating Reader, which can now handle documents like scientific papers with multiple columns, images, and tables.

Users can get AI-powered summaries or read the text in the native language with custom fonts and colors retained. The company added that the updated reader can cater to different disabilities such as dyslexia and low vision.

What’s more, Apple is adding AI-generated subtitles for videos that don’t have pre-generated captions. This includes videos recorded on an iPhone or clips received from friends or family. These generated subtitles will work across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro, and users can control their appearance.

In addition, the company announced a new project where Vision Pro users can control their compatible wheelchairs with their eyes. Apple said that the feature can work under varying lighting conditions without recalibration. The feature will launch with Tolt and LUCI alternative drive systems in the U.S. with accessory support for both Bluetooth and wired connections.

Apple noted the name recognition feature, which notifies users with hearing disabilities when someone says their name, now supports 50 languages. Plus, the company will roll out large text support to tvOS. Apple also said that Made for iPhone hearing aids will handle handoff between different devices better.

The company said that these features will be available to users later this year. They are likely to be part of Apple’s upcoming iOS 27 release.