iOS 27 Accessibility Updates and New Features

Judy Dixon

iOS 27 was released in September 2026, bringing substantial accessibility improvements, particularly for people who are blind or have low vision.

The changes go well beyond Apple's headline announcements. They include improvements to VoiceOver, braille, image recognition, camera-based assistance, Voice Control, Accessibility Reader, and captioning.

Apple highlights five broad areas of improvement.

• VoiceOver: Richer AI-generated image descriptions and the ability to ask questions about images and screen elements
• Live Recognition: Ask questions about objects and scenes through the camera, including using the Action button
• Voice Control: Control elements by describing them naturally rather than knowing their exact names
• Accessibility Reader: Simplify content, generate summaries, and translate text
• Captions: Automatically generate synchronized subtitles for videos and translate existing captions

Several of the new features require an iPhone that supports Apple Intelligence, including iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, iPhone 16 models and later, iPhone Air, and iPhone Duo.

New VoiceOver features

Intelligent Image Descriptions

This is a major VoiceOver improvement in iOS 27. VoiceOver can now generate detailed descriptions of photographs, graphics, and other images directly within apps. You no longer need to save an image and open it in a separate image-description application.

You can use this feature with photographs in Photos, pictures received through Messages, images on websites, social media posts, and other visual content.

There are several distinct commands:

• Describe Image/Item: Hear an AI-generated description of the image currently selected.
• Ask About Image/Item: Ask a specific question without first requesting a description.
• Explore Image/Item: Read a description as text and ask follow-up questions.
• Describe Screen: Obtain a description of the entire screen.
• Ask About Screen: Ask a question about anything currently displayed.
• Explore Screen: Read the screen description as text and ask follow-up questions.
• Save Intelligent Image Description: In Photos, save a description for later use.

The ability to ask about the entire screen can be especially helpful when an application contains unlabeled controls.

These tasks are all accomplished through the rotor. You can turn it on or off by going to Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Rotor > Rotor Items and finding Image Recognition. You can select and/or reorder the six available commands under Rotor > Image Recognition Rotor. You can also assign individual image-recognition commands or a menu of the commands to VoiceOver gestures or keyboard shortcuts.

Image Recognition Keyboard Shortcut

VoiceOver Modifier + Shift + R opens the Image Recognition options menu on a Bluetooth keyboard.

New Text Navigation Options

Previously, swiping right or left with one finger generally moved VoiceOver focus from one element to the next. This could be inconvenient when an element contained several sentences or paragraphs.

iOS 27 introduces four choices for Text Navigation:

• Element
• Paragraph
• Sentence
• Line

These control how VoiceOver moves when you swipe left or right.

You can set this control in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Text Navigation.

New Text Exploration Options

You can now separately determine how much text VoiceOver reads when you move your finger around the screen.

The options are Paragraph, Sentence, and Line.

For example, selecting Sentence allows you to touch a large block of text and hear only the sentence under your finger.

You can set this in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Text Exploration.

Text Exploration and Text Navigation are independent settings, so you can use different options for each.

Edit Rotor in Text Fields

A new VoiceOver rotor setting controls whether the Edit rotor is selected automatically when entering a text field. You can turn this on or off in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Rotor > Use Edit Rotor in Text Fields.

More Control over VoiceOver Hints

VoiceOver now provides three hint settings:

• Always: Speak all available hints.
• App-Specific: Speak developer-provided custom hints.
• None: Do not speak hints.

You can also adjust the delay before hints are spoken, from 0.05 to 2 seconds. The default is 0.8 seconds.

You can adjust these options in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Verbosity > Hints.

For an experienced VoiceOver user, the App-Specific option may be especially useful because it reduces repetitive instructions while preserving specialized guidance.

Importing and Exporting Pronunciation Dictionaries

You can now share your customized VoiceOver pronunciation dictionary with another person or import one someone else has created.

Dictionaries are exported in CSV format, making them editable on a computer. You can find these options in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Speech > Pronunciations.

New VoiceOver Cursor Visibility Controls

The VoiceOver cursor is the visible outline around the currently selected screen element. You can now choose to show it normally, hide it in screenshots and recordings, or hide it entirely. You can find this option in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Cursor Visibility.

This can be helpful when sharing your screen or making demonstrations.

VoiceOver Keyboard Commands without a Modifier

When using a Bluetooth keyboard, you can now assign certain VoiceOver commands to function keys without requiring the VoiceOver modifier. For example, you could assign F8 to open VoiceOver Settings and invoke it with F8 alone. You can find these options in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Commands > No Modifier Keys.

Additional Siri Voices for VoiceOver

Several older Siri voices have become available again. These include: US English: Aaron; Australian English: Catherine and Gordon; and British English: Martha and Arthur. These voices are available in standard and enhanced versions.

Live Recognition and Camera Improvements

Ask Questions about Your Surroundings

Live Recognition now uses Apple Intelligence to interpret what your camera sees and respond to questions. For example, you might point your camera toward a package and ask what product it contains, or toward a desk and ask what objects are on it. You can also ask follow-up questions and take additional photographs to obtain more information.

Launch Recognition using the Action Button

You can configure the Action button to launch a scene description or ask a question. You can configure this in Settings > Action Button > Accessibility. Choose the appropriate recognition action, such as Ask a Question.

Customize Live Recognition

Additional options include:

• Changing the default question, which is normally "What is this?"
• Choosing between dictation and typing.
• Using the volume buttons to take another picture.
• Assigning recognition functions to gestures or keyboard commands.
• Focusing recognition on a particular object that the system can track.

You can set these in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Live Recognition.

Braille Screen Input Improvements

New Method for Calibrating Dots

Now you can tap with all six fingers and hold to calibrate the dot positions.

Improved Predictive Text

Braille Screen Input now integrates more closely with the iOS predictive text system. You can swipe up or down with one finger to move through proposed words and corrections while typing.

Emoji Prediction

You can enter part of an emoji's name and use the prediction gestures to find the emoji you want. This makes entering emoji through Braille Screen Input more convenient.

Alternative Character Entry

You can now enter alternative characters without switching to another keyboard. Hold the braille dots for a character until you hear a sound, release them, and swipe up or down with one finger to choose the alternative character.

Better Auto-Correction Support

Braille Screen Input can now use the iPhone's Auto-Correction system more effectively, with gestures for selecting corrections or undoing an unwanted correction.

You can turn this on or off in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Braille > Braille Screen Input > Auto-Correction. The system Auto-Correction setting under Settings > General > Keyboard must also be enabled for this functionality.

Other Braille-related Improvements

Persistent Text-field Labels

When you enter a text field, its label can now remain visible on the braille display rather than disappearing. You can choose to display the complete label, an abbreviated label, or no label. Routing buttons can collapse or expand the label. You can find this option in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Braille > Text Field Labels.

Improved Cursor Routing

A new Snap to Print Text Cursor option helps align the braille cursor with the corresponding print text position, even when contracted braille is enabled. You can find this option in Settings > Accessibility > VoiceOver > Braille > Cursor Routing.

Additional File Formats in Braille Access

Braille Access can now open:

• BRF files, as before.
• Plain-text files.
• PDF documents.

PDF accessibility depends on the structure and quality of the original document. Headings and formatting may not be preserved.

Additional Braille Keyboard Commands

New assignable commands include launching the Ask function, generating an Intelligent Image Description, and ignoring trackpads.

Other Accessibility Features

Voice Control with Natural-language Descriptions

Voice Control can now identify controls using descriptions of their appearance or location, instead of requiring an exact accessibility label or numbered overlay. For example, a user could say "Tap the purple folder." This is particularly valuable for users with physical disabilities who operate their phones by voice. Initial support includes English in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

Accessibility Reader Enhancements

Accessibility Reader now offers additional AI-powered capabilities, including content cleanup, summaries, and translations. These can help people with dyslexia, cognitive disabilities, reading difficulties, and other disabilities work through complicated material. These improvements build on Accessibility Reader, which was introduced before iOS 27.

Automatically Generated Video Captions

iOS 27 introduces automatic synchronized subtitles for supported video playback, including videos without existing captions. Existing captions can also be translated into other languages.

This is distinct from the older Live Captions feature. Availability depends on the device, language, and playback environment.

Magnifier Improvements

Apple describes new AI-powered tools in Magnifier for understanding visual information and surroundings, including detailed image and scene descriptions and questions about what the camera sees. These improvements are particularly relevant for people with low vision.

Automatic image descriptions

You can control when traditional VoiceOver image descriptions are spoken, including how they interact with existing alternative text. This is separate from the new intelligent descriptions.