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Technology giants such as Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft continue to develop assistive technologies and add accessibility features that make life easier for low vision patients, including upgrades to many applications they use every day. Some popular websites and smart phone now offer enhanced accessibility features, and new devices and features are coming onstream.




With Assistive Access on iPhone, users can choose between a more visual, grid-based layout for their home screen and apps, or a row-based layout for those who prefer text.


Apple’s new iOS17 operating system update has accessibility features that include Assistive Access, which distills apps and experiences to their essential features in phone and FaceTime, messages, camera, photos, and music, including large text, visual alternatives, and focused choices to lighten cognitive load. Live Speech lets users type what they want to say and have it be spoken out loud in phone calls, FaceTime calls, and for in-person conversations. Personal Voice enables users who are at risk of losing their voice to privately and securely create a voice that sounds like them on an iPhone, and use it with Live Speech on phone and FaceTime calls. For users who are blind or have low vision, Detection Mode in Magnifier offers Point and Speak, which identifies text users point toward and reads it out loud to help them interact with physical objects such as household appliances.

“At Apple, accessibility is a core value and part of everything we do. Our products have dozens of built-in features for blind and low vision users, and the Magnifier app is a perfect example of how we combine the power of hardware and software to create accessibility features that are available to users right out of the box,” said Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s senior director of global accessibility policy & initiatives.

Amazon offers accessibility innovations that include Alexa voice assistance, powered by generative AI, audio description, dialogue boost, a Reading Ruler in its Kindle reading app, Hub Locker accessibility features, Show and Tell on Echo Show devices that help identify grocery products and assist those who are blind or with low vision.

“Accessibility is integrated into the core of everything we do,” said Joanna Hansen, who leads accessibility for Amazon’s Worldwide Stores.

Google offers a number of products and services for people who are blind or have low vision. According to the company, users can customize their Android or Chrome OS device in the accessibility settings and apps.



by Google for users with visual impairment.


 
Some of the products and services offered include screen readers such as TalkBack, a pre-installed screen reader service provided by Google for users with visual impairments. It uses spoken feedback to describe the results of actions, such as opening an app and events, such as notifications. ChromeVox is a built-in screen reader that brings the speed, simplicity, and security of Chromebooks to visually-impaired users. BrailleBack is an add-on accessibility service that helps blind users use braille devices. It works together with the TalkBack app to give a combined braille and speech experience. Google Assistant extends to help across devices, like Google Home, phone, and more.

Users can also customize their displays with Magnification Gestures, an accessibility feature that temporarily magnifies what’s on the user’s screen or uses magnification mode to easily zoom and pan their screen. Large text increases the text size on your device. High contrast text is a new accessibility feature that contrasts the color of the text to its background and produces an effect that makes reading easier.




Microsoft Seeing AI app is a multipurpose tool that helps people who are blind or have low vision navigate their daily lives.


Microsoft’s latest assistive technology efforts include Seeing AI, a free app that helps users narrate the world around them. Designed with and for the blind and low vision community, this ongoing research project harnesses the power of AI to open up the visual world by describing nearby people, text and objects. The app is a multipurpose tool that is helping people who are blind or have low vision navigate their daily lives. Earlier this year, Microsoft introduced Indoor Navigation, which enables users to create routes through a building, and later follow that route, guided by spatial audio cues. Users can share the route with others, so they can navigate the route later on, using their own device.

“Microsoft has been on a journey for more than two decades to design technology that is both accessible and inclusive of people with disabilities. We strive to accelerate paradigm-shifting innovation, discoverability, and affordability to empower people across the global spectrum of disability, while maintaining durable product conformance,” said Jenny Lay-Flurrie, chief accessibility officer, Microsoft.



Microsoft continues its partnership with Be My Eyes, a smart phone app that connects blind and low vision people with volunteers who provide visual assistance.



Microsoft’s sight-related accessibility tools for Microsoft Windows and Microsoft 365 can support people who are blind or have low vision, and people with a vision disability, such as color blindness. Narrator is a Windows built-in screen reader that lets low vision or blind allows users use their PC without a mouse to complete common tasks. Voice access, which Microsoft released in February, enables speech navigation access with Microsoft apps throughout Windows 11.

Microsoft has also maintained a longstanding partnership with Be My Eyes, a smartphone app that connects blind and low-vision people with volunteers for visual assistance. This spring, Be My Eyes announced that Microsoft is among a select group participating in the beta test for Be My AI. Microsoft is testing the feature within its Disability Answer Desk, where users in the Be My Eyes app can get instant visual assistance with Microsoft’s products.