Janet Ingber
When Apple Fitness+ became available in January 2021, I wrote an AccessWorld article about it. Unfortunately, at that time, if a trainer gave instructions only visually, someone who could not see the video could not follow what the trainer was demonstrating. The app offered a wide variety of classes but the trainers did not give clear descriptions on how to do each movement or exercise.
In March 2022, Apple added “Audio Hints” to their Fitness+ Workouts. This new feature is designed specifically to make workouts accessible to people who are blind or low vision. VoiceOver speaks hints and descriptions that are not spoken by the trainers. However, VoiceOver does not explain all descriptions. If you have VoiceOver in your rotor, you can change the VoiceOver volume. You also can change the volume doing a two-finger quadruple tap. This will open VoiceOver settings. Volume control is there. When doing workouts, try raising VoiceOver’s volume and slowing down the speaking rate. Fitness+ is available on many devices. Here is a link from Apple Support regarding which ones are compatible.
You do not need to have an Apple Watch to use Audio Hints. Audio Hints are given in your chosen VoiceOver voice and come through your device’s speaker. However, it is beneficial to have the watch since you can get more information about your workout. Providing your weight and height will make Apple Watch more accurate with calories burned. Enter your weight and height in the Health App. On your iPhone, go to My Watch>Health>Health Details. For this article, I used an iPhone 13 mini with iOS 16.2 and an Apple Watch series 6 with watchOS 9.2.
Subscribing to Apple Fitness+
Start by opening the Fitness app on your device. If this is your first time opening the app, there will be general information about fitness and setting goals. Eventually you will come to the main Fitness screen. At the bottom of the screen are three tabs: Summary, Fitness+, and Sharing. Select the Fitness+ tab.
On the next screen is a brief description of Apple Fitness+. There is a Continue button on the bottom of the screen. Below it is information about Apple’s use of data. Next is a Continue button.
On the following screens, there is information about the workouts. There are also buttons to Start Working Out. Apple Fitness+ costs $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year. Select the option you want. Apple Pay can be used to make the purchase.
The Home Screen
Once your purchase is complete, a new screen will load. There is a vertical scroll bar on the right edge of the screen. The first control is a More button. When you select it, a list of options is shown. They include Copy and Share. This same control will be at the top of some other screens as well.
The first part of the screen has the list of workout categories. They are KickBoxing, Meditation, HIIT, Yoga, Core, Strength, Pilates, Dance, Cycling, Treadmill, Rowing, and Mindful Cooldown.
Selecting any of the options above will load an information screen containing a brief description of the benefits of participating in the exercises from that category. Below the description is a More button. If VoiceOver is active, there is no need to use it.
Some of the categories include a short “Get Started” video. Flick right, on the screen, until you hear “Get Started.” VoiceOver says it is a button, but there is no button option in the rotor.
The Meditation category has a video describing nine themes of meditation and how they are organized into three categories: Renew, Connect, and Grow. The video explains the benefits of meditation.
The Get Started video for cycling explains how to set up your bike. Instructions are very clear. The Treadmill Get Started video discusses safety, adjusting your treadmill and body position.
The Rowing Get Started video talks about adjusting your feet before rowing. Then the instructor explains the order of rowing. He then talks about power during your workout.
When you select one of the categories, a new screen will load. It is the same basic screen for any of the category choices. The Dismiss button is in the upper left corner of the screen. Next is the workout category name followed by a Filter button. Since form controls are not in the rotor, just flick right. Using Headings navigation, you can quickly get through the filter options. When you find the heading you want, flick right to review options. Headings include Trainer, Time, Music, and Equipment. Make your selections and select the Done button in the upper right corner.
There are some variations in Filter categories. For example, the Yoga filter has Flow Style and the Strength category has Body Focus.
Further down the screen is a Sort button. Just below it is a list of your Filter choices. You can easily remove any option. The Sort button gives options for how your workouts are listed. They are by trainer, by time and/or by music. When you are choosing how to list, select the Dismiss Context Menu button. Below the categories list is a button that plays a video called “This Week, What’s new in 60 seconds.” It gives information about some of the new workouts.
Next is an extensive list of workout offerings. You can read them by flicking right, navigating by heading, or using the vertical scroll bar on the right. I found that when I navigated by headings, as long as I read the heading and swiped right to find out what was available, everything worked well. However, if I wanted to go back to previous headings, VoiceOver did not read those headings. All I heard was “Explore Image” and “Activate.” If you encounter this issue, swipe left or right and then go to the previous or next heading. Information changes regularly, so it is worth revisiting the main screen.
Apple Fitness+ has individual workouts and Collections. According to Apple, Collections are “Curated from the library to help you go for a goal.” For example, on one day, Collections included Pilates for More Than Your Core, 30-Day Core Challenge, and 6 Weeks to Restart Your Fitness. The Pilates workout had 6 episodes, the 30-Day Core Challenge had 28 episodes and the 6 Weeks to Restart Your Fitness had 21 episodes. Categories for this workout were Strength, HIIT, Core, and Yoga.
Further down on the Home screen is an Artist Spotlight heading. In this section, a particular artist is played throughout the workout. Examples include Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Billie Eilish, and Jennifer Lopez. The list is extensive. Selecting the artist’s name will bring up a list of workouts associated with the artist.
Next is a list of additional workouts and programs. They can be navigated by headings. At the bottom of the screen is My Library. This is where your saved workouts are located.
Apple Fitness+ will make suggestions for you based on your workouts. For example, since I did a core workout, the app listed some other core workouts to try.
The Workout Home Screen
No matter how you choose a workout, the same basic information is on its home screen. The first item is a “More” button. Selecting it brings up options including Share and Add to My Library. Next is the type of activity and the trainer’s name. Next is a button to learn more about the trainer. Also on this screen are other controls that are also on the main home screen. Get back to the Home screen with the Back button in the upper left corner.
Next on the Home screen is a button to add the workout to your Workouts list. The added workouts can be found in your library, which is on the main Fitness+ page. Next is the time length, type of music, episode number, and date. Accessibility information is the next item. However, this was not on all workouts. More accessibility information is at the bottom of the screen.
The “Let’s Go” and Preview buttons are the next items on the screen. Below these buttons is a description of the workout. Some of the exercises for the workout may be listed. I found that there were also times when no exercises were listed or only a few exercises were listed.
Below is a “More” button. VoiceOver reads the entire description although not all of it is immediately visible on the screen.
Next is an Apple Music heading. Below the header is a “Listen to Music” button. If you are an Apple Music subscriber, selecting this button opens the Music app and you can add the playlist to your Apple Music Library. Below the button is the list of songs for that workout.
The next part of the screen is a list of related workouts. This is followed by the list of available languages. Next is the Accessibility heading. It describes what the accessibility features do. For example, for VoiceOver the description is “Audio Hints are spoken descriptions of workout moves that a trainer only demonstrates visually.”
Doing the Workout
Once you have selected a workout by activating the Let’s Go button, turn your phone so the charge port is to the right. The following controls will be on the screen: Close, Volume, Mute, Play, AirPlay, and Metrics. VoiceOver users do not need to use the Metrics button. Metrics are automatically on the screen once the workout begins. At the same time as the screen loads, your Apple Watch will automatically bring up the workout screen. The workout can be started on your device or watch.
When your workout is over, the screen will display: Done, Share, Mindful Cooldown, Add to my Workouts, Total Time, Average heart rate, Active kilocalories, Total kilocalories, and Activity ring information. During the workout, tap your iPhone or iPad to check progress. Each time the trainer mentioned heart rate, VoiceOver gave me my heart rate information.
If you have a supported Apple Watch, there are additional workouts. Open the Workout app on your watch. At the top of the list of workouts is a new choice, Fitness+ Audio Workouts. These workouts are designed for running or walking while using your watch and AirPods or other Bluetooth device. The Mindfulness app on your watch includes Fitness+ Audio Meditations.
My Experience with the current Apple Fitness+
Fitness+ has many, many workouts. The trainers are enthusiastic and welcoming. They did not always clearly describe an exercise and VoiceOver did not always provide information. The app includes modifications for different levels of exercise, but descriptions were not always given and VoiceOver would sometimes speak the modification when the exercise was almost over. Some of the classes, such as Dance and Kickboxing, move very quickly and there are times when I missed something important. It is not possible to go back for a few seconds to hear what was said. I understand this might change the “flow” of the routine but I think it would be useful. If a sighted person didn’t catch what the trainer said, he or she could just look at their iPhone or iPad.
Another option would be to have VoiceOver describe exercises in more detail. This would be very helpful, especially in the first round of the exercise. Another option would be to list all the moves in the class. This would allow someone who is blind or low vision to get information in advance about the moves they didn’t know, before they do the workout. Another option is for Apple to create a master file describing how to do all the exercises. Someone could either download it or it could be available directly in the app.
Conclusion
Although accessibility for Apple Fitness+ has definitely improved, it is not totally accessible for someone who is blind or visually impaired. My recommendation is if you want to try it, subscribe for one month to start. If I were sighted, I would definitely use this app.
