iPad
Vision
Hearing
Physical & Motor Skills
Accessibility Solutions for iPhone and iPad.
You can find a variety of hardware and software products (sold separately) that adapt iPhone and iPad for specific needs. Learn more
Vision
iPad includes an amazing screen reader along with other innovative accessibility features that make it easier to use for those who are blind or have impaired vision.
VoiceOver
The same VoiceOver screen reader available on iPhone comes standard on iPad. It’s the world’s first gesture-based screen reader, and it allows you to enjoy the fun and simplicity of iPad even if you can’t see the screen.
With VoiceOver, you use simple gestures to physically interact with items on the screen. Instead of memorizing key commands or repeatedly pressing arrow keys to find what you’re looking for, just touch the screen to hear an item’s description, then gesture with a double-tap, drag, or flick to control iPad.
Because VoiceOver on iPad allows you to interact directly with objects, you can understand their location and context. When you touch the upper-left corner of the screen, you hear what’s in the upper-left corner of a web page. And as you drag your finger around the screen, you learn what’s nearby, providing an unprecedented sense of relationship and context.
VoiceOver on iPad also gives you information about your device — including battery level, network signal level, and time of day. It even lets you know when the display changes to landscape or portrait orientation and when the screen is locked or unlocked.
Adjustable speaking rate
The speaking rate in VoiceOver is adjustable so you can set it to a speed that best suits you. VoiceOver uses distinctive sound effects to alert you when an application opens, when the screen is updated, when a message dialog appears, and more. And when VoiceOver is talking, the volume of background sounds and music is automatically lowered, “ducking” under the voice, so you can clearly hear what VoiceOver is telling you.
It speaks your language
VoiceOver includes built-in voices that speak 36 languages:
Arabic
Chinese (Cantonese)
Chinese (China)
Chinese (Taiwan)
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English (Australia)
English (Britain)
English (Irish)
English (South African)
English (United States)
Finnish
Flemish (Belgian Dutch)
French (Canadian)
French (France)
German
Greek
Hindi
Hungarian
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese (Brazil)
Portuguese (Portugal)
Romanian
Russian
Slovak
Spanish (Mexico)
Spanish (Spain)
Swedish
Thai
Turkish
Getting started
VoiceOver is built right into iPad so there’s nothing extra to purchase or install. All you need is the latest version of iTunes and a Mac or PC. You can activate your iPad and enable VoiceOver without sighted assistance using Setup Assistant. Sighted users can also enable VoiceOver directly on iPad using the Accessibility menu in Settings.
How it works
With VoiceOver enabled, you’ll use a different but simple set of gestures to control iPad. For example, instead of tapping to ac