Technology

Janet Ingber

On September 15, 2025, Apple released iOS 26. This article explores several of the apps that have received significant upgrades.

Phone

The new Phone app introduces a completely redesigned layout called Unified. If you prefer the older look, you can return to the Classic view. To switch between layouts, go to the top-right corner of the screen and select the “Filter” button. Two options will appear: “Classic” and “Unified.” Choose “Classic” to restore the previous layout.

Judy Dixon

iOS and iPadOS 26 were released on September 15, 2025. As with previous years, there are numerous updates in these new versions of Apple’s operating systems, and many of them are in the area of accessibility.

Recently, Google hosted its yearly Google Developers Conference, Google I/O, where countless updates to Google products were announced, with many now being available to the public. Gemini, Google’s suite of AI technologies, was a highlight of the show and dominated Google’s announcements regarding new innovations. For this article, I wanted to gather together the announced or updated technologies that have the potential to be most impactful in terms of accessibility. As mentioned, this article focuses on AI-related updates, as that was the focus of the main Google presentation.

In June, Apple hosted its annual virtual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), unveiling a wide range of updates and innovations. The keynote address highlighted the latest developments in Apple’s software ecosystem. Following the keynote, developers were invited to attend numerous sessions and collaborate directly with Apple engineers.

Both in the AccessWorld Spring issue as well as in recent AccessWorld podcast episodes, I have been raving about the capabilities of Gemini 2.5, specifically its ability to provide detailed descriptions of videos. For this blog post, I wanted to share detailed information on how this process works and what you may encounter when using it. At the time of writing, the most recent test version—and the one used for testing in this post—is Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview 06/05 (June 5th).

Janet Ingber

Editor’s Note:
As someone who is blind, I’ve been a longtime fan of Apple’s SE—now known as the “E” line—of iPhones. I personally find these models strike an ideal balance by delivering the power needed to support the latest iOS features, while omitting many of the high-end elements that tend to focus on visual use, especially the camera. Since I don’t rely heavily on the camera, I can skip those premium extras and still enjoy a fast, capable device—with better battery life and a significantly lower price.

Janet Ingber

This fall, Apple released its new operating system for the Mac. Staying true to its California-inspired naming convention, the system is called macOS 15.0, Sequoia. Since then, two updates have been released, with the latest version being macOS 15.2. An M1 chip or higher is required to utilize the new Apple AI features. For this article, an M1 Mac running macOS 15.2 Sequoia was used.

Here are some of the new features:

Janet Ingber

This fall, Apple released its latest operating system for the Apple Watch. Among its many features, WatchOS 11 introduces new health options, the ability to play content through the Watch speakers, and support for multiple VoiceOver voices. WatchOS 11 is compatible with Apple Watch Series 6 and newer. For this article, I tested WatchOS 11 on an Apple Watch Series 10.

Members of AFB’s Public Policy team joined leaders in the technology and workforce space to share how AI could affect workers with disabilities at the first AI Skilling Fair held by the AI Workforce and Skills Roundtable and House Taskforce on AI. AFB’s Senior Advisor of Public Policy & Research, Sarah Malaier, spoke during the briefing and shared her thoughts after the event.