Apple’s approach to accessibility is well-respected and, for Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which is today, Thursday, May 21, it has announced new accessibility features and updates. These give clues as to how Apple will improve Apple Intelligence with iOS 27, due in September, including major upgrades, the benefits of which will be felt across the Apple ecosystem.
Apple Intelligence, the company said in a Newsroom post, is coming to VoiceOver, Magnifier, Voice Control and Accessibility Reader. And the iPhone will be able to generate subtitles — on-device, offering greater privacy — in uncaptioned video content.
Voice Control
Voice Control lets users navigate the iPhone or iPad completely by voice. A new flexible input is promised, with natural language controls. That means that instead of having to remember specific labels, people can say what comes more easily to them. For instance, if using Apple Maps, the instruction to “tap the guide about best restaurants,” will work. This will work to navigate other apps with visual layouts.
It also means that if there are elements which aren’t labeled for accessibility will be more easily usable.
AI-Generated Subtitles For Video
Subtitles are useful to those who are deaf or hard of hearing, but they are frequently unavailable for spoken words in personal videos such as content from friends or family.
The generated subtitles will use on-device speech recognition and will appear automatically, with users able to customize how they look in Settings.
At first, these captions will be limited to English, for users in the U.S. and Canada.
VoiceOver And Magnifier
These capabilities are designed for users who are blind or have low vision, describing somebody’s surroundings, for instance. VoiceOver will feature Image Explorer with Apple Intelligence, offering detailed descriptions of images including photographs, scanned bills and personal records.
The upgrade will mean that using Action Button on the iPhone can provide a detailed summary of what’s in the camera viewfinder.
Magnifier will bring description to a high-contrast visual interface. This will also work with the Action Button for users to ask questions. It will also respond to spoken requests such as “zoom in,” for instance.
Release Date
Apple has said that these new features will arrive “later this year,” but it’s highly likely this means iOS 27, which will be unveiled at the World Wide Developers Conference in June and go on general release in September 2026.
