New Accessibility Features for Apple iOS Devices!

Vision Forward's Tech Connect

Hello all and welcome to another great episode of Tech Connect, brought to you by the Vision Forward Association! This week our Assistive Technology Specialists: Cory and Luke, are bringing you all the brand new accessibility features announced for various Apple devices including the iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro, Watch OS and Mac Computer! Join us and learn everything you need to know about these exciting features!   0:00 Start 2:02 Nutritional Labels for how Accessible an App is for Blind and Low Vision Users  3:11 Magnifier App for Mac Computer  5:00 Accessibility Reader, live camera for the real world or from within specific apps 6:27 Vision Pro FINALLY has magnification options within your environment, object ID, 9:48 BRF Files and Braille Access. Connect a braille display for input and control! =) 12:22 WWDC Highlights, Phone App is now on iPad and iOS,   We at Vision Forward would be happy to answer any questions that you still have about these or other Apple products down in the comments!  Contact Vision Forward Association:  Call us: (414-615-0103)  Email us: infocus@vision-forward.org  Visit us online: https://www.vision-forward.org   Online Store: https://www.vision-forward.org/store   Vision Forward's Tech Connect continues to bring you the information you need to make the most out of your devices. Our experts know there are many factors to consider, so if you have any follow up questions please post them in the comments and we will help you find the assistive tech that's best for you.    Want more Tech Connect in your life? Try us Live! Be sure to join us for the upcoming YouTube Live! show on July 3rd at 11am CST.   Looking for the full playlist? https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdZ61dAGaL_k3I-_LcTPozan9upCqY8Yc   Catch-up with our most recent Tech Connect Livestreams!   Apple's WWDC with Carrie Morales from Carrie on Accessibility!  https://www.youtube.com/live/vR4vMPV0yYI  Odyssey By HumanWare with Rachel Ramos! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pnnkDtGWTY   Hable Easy with Freek van Welsenis!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIUdBKLg2mU   Sign up for free on our LMS and you'll get access to full webinars eligible for free on demand ACVREP credits! https://techconnect.vision-forward.org/login/index.php   Webinar Teaser: "Dictation And Screen Reader use in Windows 11" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad9_4pCvYYs   #assistivetechnology #lowvision #OpticalCharacterRecognition #apple #technology #blindness #blindtech #lowvision #vision #sightloss #blind #smartwatch #accessibility #tipsandtricks #blindtech #lowvision #iphone #applevisionpro #apple #magnifier #assistivetechnology #CCTV #free #audiodescription  #accesible #accessibility #magnifcation  #Blind #iphone #ios #bluetooth #mobility #eyesight #wearable #technology #maculardegeneration #lowvision #visuallyimpaired #glaucoma #legallyblind #blind #technology #assistivetechnology #sight #vision #funny #disability #scanner #ocr #howto #technews  #accessibility #accesible #AI  #eye

Transcript

00:00It's June 2025, that means Apple just had its WWDC conference, Worldwide Developer Conference.

00:08Let's find out, was it a Honeycrisp or a Crabapple?

00:20So, Apple just held WWDC 2025, but we're not going to be talking about that, Corey, because

00:25frankly, that wasn't very much exciting there from our perspectives, although we will be mentioning

00:30at least one feature that we did like. However, recently, as recently as May, in fact, Apple did

00:36release some news about new accessibility features, which are coming to some of their devices.

00:42Those devices being, Corey?

00:44iPhone.

00:45Correct.

00:45iPad.

00:46Correct.

00:47WatchOS.

00:48Very good.

00:49Vision.

00:49Pro.

00:50And the Mac.

00:51Exactly. All of their cool things, except for Apple TV, because Apple just don't care

00:55about Apple TV.

00:56I do.

00:57They just don't care.

00:58Well, you might do, but they don't.

01:00Anyway, so we're going to be talking about some of those great features and seeing what they can

01:05do. But Corey, as well as WWDC, standing for Worldwide Developer Conference, what does it

01:11stand for in the comic book world?

01:14It stands for...

01:15Yes.

01:16Wow.

01:19What?

01:20Don't...

01:22I don't know.

01:23This is all falling apart.

01:24It stands for Wonder Woman Detective Comics.

01:27That's a shame.

01:28I was just about to say, if people watching knew what it was, they could put it down.

01:31I actually didn't know that DC stood for Detective Comics.

01:34I never knew that.

01:35I think maybe Batman was their first character, and he is obviously supposed to be a detective,

01:40although he does scarily small amounts of detectoring.

01:43Yeah, he does.

01:44Yeah, but in any case, anyway, please put it down in the comments if you like Batman.

01:50And also, if you saw WWDC and you liked some of the new features, put that in the comments as

01:55well. But for the moment, let's go ahead and take a look at the first of the exciting new

02:00accessibility features.

02:03Okay, so we're going to start off this jamboree by looking at one of the smaller new features,

02:08but it's an important one, Corey. This is Accessibility Nutrition Labels. Why don't you

02:12tell us all about this tasty new feature?

02:14Yeah, it's a little misleading at first when you hear nutrition labels, but basically what Apple is

02:19doing is in the App Store, they're adding nutrition labels that are going to talk about the

02:25accessibility of that app. So rather than the way you kind of do it now, where you go and look for an

02:31app, you buy it, keep your fingers crossed that it's accessible. Now you'll be able to access the

02:36nutrition labels and discover what the accessibility of the app is. So I think it makes sense. I'll be

02:43excited to see it in practice. How are they going to vet it? Who's going to vet it?

02:48Well, we did speculate on this, whether it's going to be Apple, but probably not because

02:52that would be too much work. So we assume it's going to be the onus will be on the developers

02:56to self-report the accessibility, which may or may not be accurate.

03:00Be curious. Well, we will wait and see.

03:02All right. Well, that's been heated up in the microwave,

03:06but now let's go ahead and check out the next feature.

03:11All right. Up next is the magnifier app for the Mac.

03:16Yes, not the iPhone.

03:18No. So this is the Macnifier. We are taking the magnifier app, which had been built into the iPhone

03:25and been available for a while. And we're putting it onto the Mac with some nifty ways

03:29to connect and use cameras. Corey, what kind of nifty things do we have here?

03:34Well, we have USB cameras. Correct.

03:37And we have camera continuity. Do you know what camera continuity is? Actually,

03:41I think that's what it's called. I'm pretty sure that's what it's called.

03:42I'm going to assume that you're talking about connecting the iPhone to your Mac and using your iPhone

03:46as a camera. That is 100% continuity.

03:50Well, so we can actually use multiple cameras at the same time. So if you want to use one for

03:58close-up and one for distance, you could do so. Let's say you've got a USB document camera for

04:02close-up and then you're using your iPhone camera for the distance and you can have those open at

04:07the same time. So pretty cool feature, especially considering that usually these types of cameras

04:12for people with vision impairments that can connect to your computer are quite expensive. So this is going

04:17to be, especially if you already own these devices, a very inexpensive way of magnifying things. Great

04:22for students, I would assume. Yeah. And you'll have the ability to adjust each live session independently.

04:28So as you said, you could use multiple views at once, which will be able to change the color,

04:32contrast, brightness, magnification level, other things you would expect to be able to do.

04:38But it is kind of nice to be able to do them for each independent session. Again,

04:43you would expect that. But we've also seen Apple and other companies sometimes do things you don't

04:50expect. Yeah. I think they've hit this one out the park. So get on it. Out of Apple Park?

05:00So the next feature is accessibility reader. And this is pretty similar to the kind of reader view

05:05that you get in Safari or the immersive reader in Windows. By the way, if you haven't seen our Windows

05:10accessibility videos, check them out. But basically what it's going to do is going to take text and

05:15put it into a customized window, which will allow you to do things like change the background color.

05:20I assume change the color of the text, change text spacing, change text font and size, and also have

05:26text read aloud to you. Now, the cool thing about this, it sounds like you can do it from within apps.

05:32So you can kind of launch this accessibility reader from another app and then read the text from the app in

05:38this customized view. But it also sounds like you can do it live, Corby, using the camera.

05:43Yeah. So, I mean, like you said, that accessibility, that reader has been available, but I don't think

05:48you could have done it from specific apps before. So that would be kind of interesting to see.

05:54But then, yeah, the examples they give are maybe reading a book or a menu, being able to take content

06:00in the real world and then have the same control, putting it in nice computer font spacing,

06:05color font option, all that kind of good stuff. Yeah.

06:08Not for just web pages or articles, but for live content as well.

06:12Sounds like a very nice feature to have. So definitely check that out if you haven't already.

06:16And with that being said, we're going to move on to our next feature. And this one is a good one.

06:20This is an update to Vision OS and for the Vision Pro. Let's do it.

06:27The Vision Pro has been out for, how long has it been out? For a year and a half or so?

06:32Yeah, it seems like a year and a half. Give or take. One of the features that everybody was sort

06:36of keeping their fingers crossed for and really hoping at day of launch was the ability to use

06:41the Vision Pro as kind of a standard wearable video magnifier. So basically the ability to magnify

06:48or zoom your surroundings using the external cameras. But that's not what happened.

06:54We never ended up getting a Vision Pro, even though Corey promised. I did make you a promise

07:01and I did not keep my promise. And for that, I'm sorry. And to you, fine viewers, I'm sorry to you.

07:10We did, however, talk to Sam Seabee from The Blind Life and Cary Morales from Carry On Accessibility.

07:16You can check out that video here. And they had the Apple Vision Pro. Now, I think both of them,

07:21Corey, from what I remember, got it only to return it. So they got it for the purposes of making

07:26videos. However, at the time, there wasn't necessarily a lot from an accessibility point

07:32of view that made it worthwhile having. But now, Corey, what can we do?

07:37Yeah, now we have the long awaited feature, people. We're hoping for the ability to magnify

07:42or zoom in your environment. So be really curious to see what that's going to be like in practice.

07:49Is it just magnifying? Can we change color contrast? How similar to a kind of tradition? Well,

07:57I don't even want to say traditional wearable video magnifier, but how similar will it be to what we

08:02know as a video wearable magnifier? And then for voiceover users, we also get object detection. So

08:10things we've seen already in the magnifier app on the iPhone will come to Vision OS, Vision Pro.

08:16So we'll get some of those objects identification. And then...

08:19Corey, just before you go on, I've got to ask you, with the new feature with voiceover and the object

08:24identification, is that the tipping point? Are you now 100% in on Vision Pro?

08:29No. No, I'll use my phone. I'm not going to buy a device and put it on just for that kind of stuff.

08:37There are less expensive, easier ways to do it. Not to mention as well, these AI devices,

08:42which are out now and give you much more capabilities in that regard.

08:46There is. And in the next feature here, maybe would push me over, but even then,

08:51I don't think it's going to though. As Apple's now giving some third-party apps like Be My Eyes

08:57and Aira the ability to access the cameras for visual interpreting services. Even that, I love the

09:03the hands-free part of it, but I don't like walking around my environment in an enclosed kind of VR

09:11style. I mean, it is more AR, but I'm not a fan of being in those enclosed glasses like that. So

09:19I still think there are probably better options. But for those that have the Vision Pro or want it,

09:25I'm super happy they're adding these features because I think it's what we all wanted from day

09:29one. And so I'm glad to see them finally coming. For sure. From a low vision perspective, we are

09:33almost there. We've got the Zoom coming. And so all we need now, Corey, is a lighter weight,

09:39cheaper headset. Yeah. And maybe Apple Intelligence baked in as well, and we will have the ultimate

09:45in low vision wearables. Well, if you have an iPhone and you have a Braille display, good news,

09:53because now you have a fully fledged Braille note-taker with the new Braille access abilities

09:58that Apple have added in their accessibility suite. Human wear might disagree with you on the old full

10:04featured note-taker. Well, if so, they can put it down in the comments. Yes. Hello, Mr. Human wear.

10:10Please put it down in the comments. What are your thoughts on the new Braille access? Corey,

10:13how does this work? Why is it that if we have an iPhone now and we have a Braille note-taker,

10:17we can combine it into a more, it's like a Transformer. It's like, you know- It is more

10:21than meets the eye. Is it Voltron? Is that how they all put those together? What?

10:27Isn't Voltron a whole separate thing than Transformers? Jonathan, any ideas? Yeah,

10:31I think Voltron is separate. You have used the Transformer Voltron back and forth,

10:36but we've also, we still have downloaded media of like the little intro sequence where they all

10:40form with the giant robot. So feel free to reference either of them. Okay. Well, that was all on camera,

10:45everybody. That was a little behind the scenes of how we shoot a video. So with the new Braille

10:52access, yes, you've been able to connect a Braille display to your iPhone or iOS device before.

10:58You've been able to control your device and do text input and read it and all that good stuff.

11:03But I think basically what they've done now is they're making it a little bit more simple. They're

11:08including a built-in app launcher, similar to what you'd see from a traditional Braille note-taker where

11:14you can use Braille chords or letters, whatever, to launch a specific app. You are going to have

11:20the ability to create notes very quickly, which you can kind of do already with the note app.

11:26Yeah, but I have a feeling this is going to be a more streamlined, more simple way,

11:31including Nemeth for math. And then last, you'll be able to read BRF files right from the Braille

11:37access platform as well, too. I think that was available, but within a third-party app or whatever.

11:44So now it's all going to be sort of built, just mushed together into one single Braille

11:52platform. Yes. So basically, if you have a Braille display on an iPhone, at this point,

11:57you may as well just tape your iPhone to your Braille display because that will create the ultimate

12:02device. Yes. And that's how Transformers work, too. Duct tape. It's all about duct tape. Exactly.

12:09As so much in life is. With that being said, let's go into our final section, Corey, just taking a look

12:14at some of those things announced at WWDC and what they might mean for accessibility. Yes, we should.

12:23So we focused a lot on accessibility features because to me, I think that's probably the most relevant.

12:29I mean, it's kind of what we do on this channel every two weeks. Every two weeks. You got it.

12:34But there were some things announced more mainstream through WWDC, and we wanted to highlight some of

12:40those quickly. Yeah. Wonder Woman is getting really good with accessibility. Wow. Sorry. So the one

12:47that I wanted to highlight, my favorite, was the phone app being introduced to macOS and to iPad as

12:54well. Although, I guess, was it already on iPad, the phone? No. No, it wasn't, was it? Okay. You could do

12:58FaceTime, though, but now you actually have the phone app and you can make calls, apparently, and

13:03receive calls from your iPad or from your Mac. Now, the making calls, I assume it's only between,

13:09you know, iDevices, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm not sure it's been specified. Anyway, the point is,

13:14if you struggle with your smaller phone screen, now you can use your Mac as your phone or use your iPad as

13:20your phone, which will then give you a much larger phone to interact with. And Corey, for those keen viewers of

13:26the channel, they will know that we released a video just two weeks ago about a CCTV called the

13:32Mirror Pad, which allows you to, you know, use its larger 17.3-inch screen as a screen for your

13:40Android device. You can check out that video right here. But now you can do a similar thing using

13:44your Mac as well, so pretty cool.

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