How to Make the most of accessibility features
1 Adjust display zoom
Want content bigger on your iPhone Plus? In Settings > Display & Brightness, scroll down to View and tap it. In the Display Zoom page, you can preview Standard and Zoomed modes. Select Zoomed, tap Set and confirm to restart.
2 Increase text size
You can alternatively adjust text alone. In Text Size (or Settings > General > Accessibility > Larger Text), drag the slider. In apps that support Dynamic Type, such as Mail and Facebook, text will grow accordingly (or shrink, if you wish).
3 Make text bolder
The option below Text Size is Bold Text (also found in General > Accessibility > Larger Text). This emboldens text throughout iOS, including app names and button labels. Unlike Text Size, applying it requires your iPhone to be restarted.
4 Use Smart Invert
You could invert screen colours before iOS 11 in General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations. However, the new Smart Invert option reverses interface colours but not media. Alas, while it works in Photos, it doesn’t for images in Safari.
5 Auto- brightness
The Auto-Brightness switch used to be in Display & Brightness. Apple now thinks you should leave it on, so it has hidden this setting. If you ‘think different’, you’ll now find it in General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations.
6 Turn on speech
Few people use the text-to-speech feature in macOS, but it’s great for reading back what you’ve written. We suspect even fewer realise iOS is capable of the same. Go to General > Accessibility > Speech, and turn on Speak Selection to get started.
7 Read out a selection
Use the Speaking Rate slider to preview how fast the voice will talk. Then switch to another app, select some text, and tap Speak. Note how the current sentence is underlined, and words are highlighted as they are spoken.
8 Increase contrast
If you have trouble dealing with the semi-transparent interface elements peppered throughout iOS 11, you can actually make them look more solid. In General > Accessibility > Increase Contrast, switch on Reduce Transparency.
9 Reduce motion
Had your fill of iOS 11’s dizzying animations, such as zooming when you open a folder, and the app switcher? Most can be stilled by turning on Reduce Motion in General > Accessibility. Auto-playing effects in Messages are toggled separately.
10 Type to Siri
If you want to use Siri somewhere you have to be quiet, turn on Type to Siri in General > Accessibility > Siri. When Siri is activated, you now type in your query. Note, however, that this entirely overrides voice input functionality.
11 Fine- tune 3D Touch
If your iPhone has a 3D Touch screen, go to General > Accessibility > 3D Touch. Here, you can disable the feature entirely if you regularly trigger it by accident, or you can adjust its sensitivity so that it requires a firmer press before activation.
12 Turn on mono audio
Listening out for someone? Want to use just one earbud, keeping the other ear free, without missing half your stereo track? Use General > Accessibility > Mono Audio to mix the left and right sounds into a mono signal that’s sent to both channels.