8 cool new iOS 27 accessibility features you can look forward to in the fall

What’s more interesting about Apple’s accessibility features is that everyone can benefit from them, including Vehicle Motion Cues, which help reduce motion sickness when a person uses a device in a vehicle. For example, this feature will be extended to visionOS 27, as many Apple Vision Pro users use the headset on planes, trains, and other moving vehicles.

Despite rumors about upcoming iOS 27 features, this is the first batch of officially announced features, and here’s how they could improve your iPhone experience once iOS 27 is available to everyone.

VoiceOver and Magnifier are accessibility features for people who are blind or visually impaired. What they have in common is that they can describe what’s on the iPhone screen so users can quickly navigate apps, respond to messages, or get a description of a photo. Now, Apple is expanding this functionality with Apple Intelligence. While it’s unclear how much the company might rely on the new models in partnership with Google, the company says VoiceOver is getting Image Explorer, which gives better descriptions of photos, invoices, personal records, and visual content in general.

Live recognition works similarly to visual intelligence for blind and partially sighted people, as you can press the action button to ask a question about what your camera is pointing at. In addition to a detailed response, Apple says users can ask follow-up questions to understand better what’s going on.

Magnifier, which aims to help visually impaired people navigate their iPhone, adds Apple Intelligence to this high-contrast interface to make it easier for users to understand what’s on the screen. Apple says users can use the action button or make voice requests to get more details about a bill, item, or image, and to control the iPhone.

In the same way that Apple CarPlay users can control the infotainment system with voice commands, including very specific commands such as “Open the second app in the first row”, “Zoom” for Apple Maps directions, and even control music playback, voice control will become more natural with Apple Intelligence’s updated natural language. It’s something the company has rolled out over the past few years across its apps, including Apple Music, App Store, Apple TV, and other search areas. Still, now it’s expanding system-wide to make it easier for more people to enjoy their iPhone.

Basically, iPhone and iPad users will be able to control their devices without touching the screen. Starting with the “Say what you see” command, Apple Intelligence will guide users through their own devices and help them get what they want, whether that’s finding a document in the Files app, getting a guide to area restaurants with Apple Maps, or accessing parts of an app that aren’t very accessible.

This way, Apple Intelligence can describe the page, give you information about which buttons it can press, and you can decide what you want to do. This feature joins a handful of other accessibility features, including the ability to control the iPhone with eye gestures. While these features may seem like a great idea for everyone to try, they are especially useful for users with disabilities or restricted movement.

Apple is also improving its Accessibility Reader feature by equipping it with more inclusive AI. While users can already ask Siri to read a document, enlarge it, or even use Apple Intelligence to summarize an article, iOS 27 will make it easier for iPhone users to read more complex documents.

Apple says users will benefit most from reading scientific articles, multi-column text, images, and tables. These documents are complex, which could make it difficult for the current Reader to provide good continuity for the user. Now, Apple says iOS 27 and Apple Intelligence will be better able to handle this.

Another very cool upgrade for Accessibility Reader is that Apple Intelligence can translate documents to make them readable in your native language, but also retain the formatting, font, and colors of the original file, meaning you can comfortably read an article, story, science paper, and more, just as the author intended. In this way, Apple ensures that users can enjoy more file types and documents themselves.

Over the years, Apple has added several interesting features related to video and subtitles. With iOS and tvOS, if you don’t understand what was said in an Apple TV show (or on other supported streamers), you can ask “What did they say?” and Siri will rewind a few seconds and automatically add subtitles to help you better understand what’s on the screen. The company has also made it easier to customize the subtitle font and color. However, this upcoming iOS 27 accessibility feature could be even more interesting, as Apple says it will now automatically generate captions for videos.

However, the company isn’t specifically talking about adding an auto-generated subtitle to your Netflix show. In fact, it will create auto-generated captions for home videos, images that family members and friends share, and even spoken audio. With this, Apple wants to make it easier for deaf or hard-of-hearing users to have the same experience sharing and understanding content as anyone else.

Apple indicates that this feature will initially be available in English in the United States and Canada. While the company hasn’t said when it might expand this feature to other countries, it does say that everything is processed on-device, meaning an auto-generated caption will never send your home videos or family-shared memories to a server because everything will be handled by your iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro.

The sixth exciting accessibility feature coming to iOS 27 is an improvement to name recognition. While this feature is already available and can give several clues that someone has called you by flashing your iPhone’s flashlight, receiving a notification, etc., it can now be enjoyed by people in over 50 languages ​​around the world, helping to make people who are deaf or hard of hearing more aware when someone is calling them.

Additionally, following the introduction of Live Translation for FaceTime calls, which can automatically transcribe or generate what someone says from one language to another, Apple is now launching a new API that allows developers to add a human interpreter to an ongoing FaceTime video call for people who use sign language. This way, if you, a friend, family member, or even a business is having difficulty communicating, apps can now offer the option to add a human interpreter to the mix.

Last but not least, Apple is expanding support for traditional game controllers with iOS, iPadOS, and macOS to more inclusive options, like the Sony Access Controller. With this accessory, you can make the controller more accessible by modifying the built-in buttons, adding external buttons, or upgrading specialized switches to a layout that meets their needs. Apple says users can even combine two controllers, making the experience truly inclusive for any gamer.