Apple Previews New Accessibility Features Coming Later This Year: Accessibility Nutrition Labels, Magnifier for Mac, Braille Access Mode, and More

Ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) Apple is offering a preview of accessibility features coming to its platforms later this year; including Accessibility Nutrition labels for App Store apps, Magnifier for Mac, Braille Access, and more.

Accessibility Nutrition Labels

• Similar to the Privacy Nutrition Labels for App Store apps that Apple introduced in 2020, developers will soon be able to submit Accessibility Nutrition Labels to let users know what accessibility features are supported by, or have been tested in, their apps. According to Apple, Accessibility Nutrition Labels will be voluntary at the outset, in order to give developers ample opportunity to prepare and evaluate their apps; with a requirement for developers to share this information coming in the future.

Vision accessibility features

• Magnifier for Mac will allow you to use your iPhone’s camera, or another camera attached to your Mac, to zoom in on your surroundings, like a screen or whiteboard. Multiple simultaneous sessions will allow you to, for example, participate in a presentation using your Mac’s built-in camera, while at the same time read a document using Desk View with the camera on your iPhone.
• Braille Access seeks to emulate the experience of using a Braille note taker on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS by providing a custom interface for common functions of dedicated braille note takers. With Braille Access, you will be able to take notes, perform calculations using Nemeth code, and open Braille Ready Format (BRF) files directly. Additionally, an integrated form of Live Captions will allow you to transcribe conversations in real time on braille displays.
• visionOS is getting several enhancements that could improve its accessibility potential, including Live Recognition, Zoom, and a new “Trusted apps” API that will allow apps like Be My Eyes to use the Apple Vision Pro’s main camera to facilitate live person-to-person visual assistance and interpretation.
• Accessibility Reader is a new reading mode designed to improve the legibility of text, with the ability to customize fonts, colors, and spacing, useful for those who have low vision, in addition to those with reading disabilities like dyslexia. This can be used system-wide on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and visionOS, and integrates with the Magnifier app, allowing you to take advantage of its benefits to read text in your physical environment.
• CarPlay will support Large Text.

Hearing accessibility features

• Live Captions is coming to watchOS, allowing you to view captions on your Apple Watch when Live Listen is on. In addition, you will be able to turn Live Listen on and off from your Apple Watch, eliminating the need to interact with your iPhone to perform this task.
• Live Captions will work with Live Listen, allowing you to read speech your iPhone’s microphone picked up when Live Listen is on.
• The EQ of Background Sounds will be able to be customized, which may be helpful in improving focus or relaxation, particularly for those with tinnitus. In addition, Background sounds are gaining new Shortcuts actions, as well as the ability to specify how long they should play.
• Music Haptics on iPhone is gaining new customization options for conveying different parts of songs, as well as the intensity of taps, textures, and vibrations.
• Sound Recognition is gaining the ability to recognize when your name is being called.
• With CarPlay, those who are deaf or hard of hearing will be able to use Sound Recognition to detect the sound of a crying baby, in addition to other sounds outside of the car.
• Live Captions adds support for English (India, Australia, UK, Singapore), Mandarin Chinese (Mainland China), Cantonese (Mainland China, Hong Kong), Spanish (Latin America, Spain), French (France, Canada), Japanese, German (Germany), and Korean.

Other updates

• Personal Voice will be faster and more natural sounding, with voice creation taking less than one minute, and only requiring 10 recorded phrases, as opposed to the 150 that are currently required. In addition, voices will be able to be created in Spanish (Mexico).
• macOS will support Vehicle Motion Cues, which can help reduce motion sickness when using your Mac in a moving vehicle. In addition, the onscreen dots that appear when using your iPhone, iPad, or Mac with this feature turned on will be able to be customized.
• Eye Tracking on iOS and iPadOS will integrate with Switch and Dwell Control for faster selections and typing, in addition to improved keyboard support on visionOS.
• Head Tracking will allow you to control your iPhone or iPad with head movements.
• iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS will add a new protocol to support Switch Control for brain computer interfaces (BCIs).
• The TV app will support Assistive Access with a simplified media player. In addition, developers will be able to use a new API to create custom app interfaces for Assistive Access tailored for those with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
• Voice Control will have a new programming mode in Xcode for those with limited mobility.
• Similar to Portable Preferences on macOS, you will be able to temporarily share your iPhone or iPad’s accessibility settings to another device, useful if you, for example, are borrowing the device or using a device in a kiosk.

Feature Availability

According to Apple, these new accessibility features will be available later this year. At the time of publication, we do not have any further information about how these features will be implemented or any other possible upcoming changes for blind, DeafBlind, or low vision users.

What do you think of the accessibility features Apple announced for Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2025? Let us know in the comments!