Accessibility

5 Hidden Features That Will Enhance Your Productivity

Today's Apple devices include numerous accessibility features that make our days easier and more efficient. These features are specialized for disabled people and those without fine motor skills. However, many people who do not have disabilities also use these features to enhance their daily lives, and why not? Accessibility can be as easy as inverting a screen for better viewing, using your voice to have Siri find things on the web, and even using the built-in magnifier to read the thermostat across the room without leaving your couch and favorite cooking channel. Today's article will explore five accessibility features to enhance your life!

Voice Control

Voice Control is especially useful for those without fine motor control. You can open apps by name, navigate your phone, adjust the volume, use the dictation feature to write notes, and more, all without ever using Siri.

Sometimes teenage kids and even grandchildren, let's face it, use vocabulary from another world. One great feature is the ability to teach voice control new vocabulary or slang so that you can use these new words when you dictate messages. This feature is also great for multilingual households.

To activate Voice Control:

1. Open the Settings app, then navigate to Accessibility and tap to open it.

2. Under the Physical and Motor heading, navigate to the Voice Control icon and tap to open it. Note: the feature is off by default. Opening it will bring up the Voice Control menu. Toggle Voice Control on.

3. Voice Control should automatically start, but you can say “Go to sleep” to temporarily disable it and “Wake up” to turn it back on.

4. Now, to add new words for dictation, navigate to Vocabulary or say “tap Vocabulary” and select the plus icon to add an entry.

Face ID & Attention

Buying an iPhone or iPad that uses Face ID authentication is great for those of us who can't easily type a passcode or prefer to open our devices without inputting one. Instead, all you need is your face to gain access. By default, Face ID requires you to be looking at your device before allowing you to access it. However, you may wish to disable this requirement if certain motor impairments prohibit you from holding the device up to your face for an extended time. I also recommend activating the Haptic on Successful

Authentication option in order to receive an audible or vibration alert when you open your device, make an App Store purchase, or use Apple Pay. Using Face ID to gain access to your device isn't the only great purpose for this option, from Apple Pay to the App Store. One of Face ID's best uses is auto-filling passwords in Safari and third-party apps, such as banking and social networks. Yes, your life has just gotten a bit easier in the digital age.

To activate the Face ID & Attention feature:

1. First, you need to make sure you've set up Face ID by opening the Settings app, tapping Face ID & Passcode, and going through the setup process.

2. Open the Settings app and tap Accessibility.

3. Locate the Physical and Motor heading, then tap Face ID & Attention.

4. This menu has various options for using Face ID. Here, you can toggle off Require Attention for Face ID. Lastly, I suggest activating the Haptic on Successful Authentication option to alert you upon Face ID authentication.

Subtitles & Captioning

Activating this feature allows subtitles and captions for Deaf or neurodivergent users, and various styles are available. Other folks also benefit from this feature, such as those who are autistic or have anxiety and are uncomfortable with too much audio stimulation. It's also really great if you and a partner have different sleep schedules, so you don't wake someone up.

To enable subtitles and captions for video content:

1. Open the Settings app and tap Accessibility.

2. Under the Hearing heading, tap Subtitles & Captioning.

3. Locate the Closed Captions and SDH icon and toggle it on. Subtitles and closed captioning will now appear when available in movies, TV shows, podcasts, and more. Thirdparty apps may have their own closed caption settings that need to be enabled in the app.

4. To customize the appearance of your captions, open the Style menu icon and tap. The default selection is Transparent.

5. Navigate through the available options or even create your own style for viewing closed captioning.

Audio Descriptions

Audio descriptions are great for people who are blind. This feature describes images, graphic elements, and even people and items in pictures.

People with visual impairments used to be left out of action-packed movies or popular television shows, as physical information may make a difference in understanding a plot or giving meaningful entertainment. Sometimes a look on an actor's face or slight grin may be key in understanding a moment. Today, many movie theatres provide headphones that give audio description tracks for the movie lover. And now you can turn on the feature with your iPhone too, helping to fill in the gaps and make visual entertainment more enjoyable and fulfilling.

To activate Audio Descriptions:

1. Open the Settings app and tap Accessibility.

2. Locate the Vision heading, then tap Audio Descriptions. Note: the Audio Description menu will open, as shown in the screenshot above.

3. Locate the Audio Descriptions icon and toggle it on. It is off by default. Now audio descriptions will be spoken by voiceover when available.

The Magnifier

The Magnifier is a great feature for those with partial sight or even if your eyes are just tired. Does that print in your magazine seem to be getting smaller? Well, crank up your handy iDevice magnifier, enlarge that text, and read on until your heart's content.

When using the Magnifier accessibility feature, you can get a full understanding of a scene around you. For instance, let's say you're at the dining room table and the kids are in the living room, and you told them, “No more soda.” You can pick up your iDevice, activate your magnifier, and zoom in on that glass of soda!

To activate the Magnifier:

1. Open the Settings app and tap Accessibility.

2. Locate the Vision heading, then tap Magnifier. The Magnifier menu will open.

3. Toggle the Magnifier on, and a Magnifier icon will appear on your Home screen.

4. Tap the icon to open the viewfinder and use the slider to zoom in and out on your subject. Hit the big button in the middle of the window to capture a freeze frame. From there you'll have the option to save, edit, or delete the image.

Jason “Jay” Miller is the founder and owner of Paschall Access Solutions. A longtime access technology trainer, he’s worked with people with visual impairments for companies including Verizon and KPMG and trained federal employees for the CDC and more. He also has a podcast called Tech Watch 360, available on Apple Podcasts. Learn more at paschallsolution.com.