I am testing the accessibility feature available in the Settings app called "Speak Screen". The help text in the Setting app states that swiping down with two fingers will cause the screen content to be spoken. However, I've been unable to get this feature to work. Every time I try the double finger swipe down, it behaves the same as the single finger swipe down gesture. Usually this manifests as making scroll views bounce.
I've tried toggling the feature on and off, turning off Reachability, and rebooting my phone, but I can't get the speak screen gesture to work. If I access the speak screen feature from the "Speech Controller" button, then the screens content is spoken, as expected, so I know the feature is enabled. It's just the gesture that doesn't work.
Is there something else I need to do to get this gesture to work? I don't want to tell my users to turn this feature on if I can't verify that the gesture will work with my app.
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RSS for tagExplore best practices for creating inclusive apps that cater to users with diverse abilities
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Hi Community,
I'm excited to share R Helper, a speech practice app I built with accessibility as the core focus from day one.
App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/speak-r-clearly/id6751442522
WHY I BUILT THIS
I personally struggled with R sound pronunciation growing up. It affected my confidence in school and job interviews. That experience taught me how important accessible practice tools are.
R Helper helps children and adults practice R sounds with full accessibility support.
ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES IMPLEMENTED
VoiceOver - complete navigation and feedback
Voice Control - hands-free operation
Dynamic Type - scales to large accessibility sizes
Reduce Motion - respects user preference
Dark Mode - user controllable
High Contrast compatibility
Differentiate Without Color
THE CHALLENGE
Most speech practice apps ignore accessibility. I wanted to change that and prove that specialized educational apps can be fully accessible.
KEY FEATURES
Works 100% offline, no internet needed
Zero data collection, privacy first
Generous free tier with all accessibility features included
10 story missions with gamification
7 languages supported including RTL for Arabic
LESSONS LEARNED
Accessibility is not hard when you prioritize it from the start. VoiceOver labels and hints make a huge difference. Testing with accessibility features enabled is essential. Standard SwiftUI components handle most accessibility automatically. Reducing motion significantly helps users with vestibular issues.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
Built with SwiftUI, targets iOS 17 and up. Universal app for iPhone and iPad. Fully offline using CoreData and local storage. No third party analytics, privacy focused.
QUESTIONS FOR THE COMMUNITY
What accessibility features do you find users request most? How do you test accessibility features efficiently?
WHATS NEXT
I'm currently working on expanding the word library, adding more story content, improving haptic feedback
Thanks for reading.
Nour
Topic:
Accessibility & Inclusion
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Education and Kids
Education
Machine Learning
Apple Intelligence
After IOS 26 beta 2 installation in my iphone 13, I can't do a screenshot using assistivetouch nor touch on back.
I downloaded the official camera sample code(https://developer.apple.com/tutorials/sample-apps/capturingphotos-camerapreview )it's a .swiftpm package and created a SwiftUI project. I copied the official sample code into this new project, build it, and ran it on an iPhone 13 for testing. I found that there were black empty areas on the top and bottom of the application interface, which means that the application interface cannot be previewed in full screen. I have tried many methods but cannot preview in full screen. How can I modify the code?
I can’t screenshot using assistive touch after i install ios 26 beta 2
Hi everyone,
I've encountered a rare and strange crash in my app that I can't consistently reproduce. The crash seems to occur deep within Apple's internal frameworks, and I can't pinpoint which line of my own code is causing it. Here's the crash stack trace:
#44 AXSpeech
SIGSEGV
SEGV_ACCERR
0 CoreFoundation ___CFCheckCFInfoPACSignature + 4
1 CoreFoundation _CFRunLoopSourceSignal + 28
2 Foundation _performQueueDequeue + 492
3 Foundation ___NSThreadPerformPerform + 88
4 CoreFoundation ___CFRUNLOOP_IS_CALLING_OUT_TO_A_SOURCE0_PERFORM_FUNCTION__ + 28
5 CoreFoundation ___CFRunLoopDoSource0 + 176
6 CoreFoundation ___CFRunLoopDoSources0 + 340
7 CoreFoundation ___CFRunLoopRun + 828
8 CoreFoundation _CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 608
9 Foundation -[NSRunLoop(NSRunLoop) runMode:beforeDate:] + 212
10 TextToSpeech _TTSCFAttributedStringCreateStringByBracketingAttributeWithString + 776
11 Foundation ___NSThread__start__ + 732
12 libsystem_pthread.dylib __pthread_start + 136
Sometimes, instead of line 10 referencing _TTSCFAttributedStringCreateStringByBracketingAttributeWithString, it shows:
10 TextToSpeech LogWarning(char const*, ...) + 7288
Has anyone experienced a similar issue or know what might be triggering this crash? Any guidance on how to investigate or resolve this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Hello everyone,
I am currently evaluating my app's accessibility features to accurately display the "Accessibility" information on the App Store. I have encountered two specific issues regarding Voice Control testing and would appreciate any guidance.
Voice Command for "Stop Recording" According to the evaluation criteria, if an app supports audio recording or dictation, users must be able to start and stop recording using only their voice.
Behavior: I can successfully trigger the recording using the command "Start Recording". However, I cannot find a command to stop it. Commands like "Stop Recording" or "Stop" are not recognized by the system.
Question: Is there a specific standard voice command intended for stopping a recording?
Item Number Overlays on Non-Interactive Web Elements (WKWebView) I noticed an inconsistency between native views and web content regarding Voice Control item numbering.
Behavior: When testing web content within the app (WKWebView) or in Safari, Voice Control displays item number overlays on non-interactive text elements (such as standard or tags). In native views, static labels do not receive item numbers.
Question: Is this expected behavior for web content? Since these elements are not interactive, I am unsure if this should be considered a bug (fail) or an acceptable exception for the accessibility evaluation.
Has anyone experienced similar issues or know the correct criteria for these cases?
Thank you.
Hi! I have noticed a few glitches as well as some overall unfortunate cons with the assistive access mode.
Alarms, timers, stopwatch, etc. do not sound or alert. However, I have an infant monitor app and I do get that sound alert so I know it is possible.. do I need to download a separate alarm app for it to work?
Cannot make FaceTime calls with favorite contacts.
Find My iPhone cannot jump to the maps app.
Camera cannot zoom in or out.
Photos cannot be deleted, edited, or shared in a shared album in the photos app.
Photos/videos cannot be sent in messages.
Spotify cannot be accessed from the lock screen.
Apps do not stay open if you lock the phone screen or leave it on too long without touching the screen (auto locks).
There is no flashlight option. I downloaded an app to have this feature but without being touched the screen will lock which shuts off the flashlight feature in the app until I unlock the phone again.
On iOS, there is accessibilityLanguage.
We have an electron app developed for Mac. We would like to restore the user data previously saved in downloads once user installs the app from store and first launch. But MAS has restrictions with ""com.apple.security.files.downloads.read-write". We have enabled the user access in Entitlement files and request user permission before access What options can be user to auto restore the data from downlodas?
Topic:
Accessibility & Inclusion
SubTopic:
General
Hey all — hoping someone here has dealt with this before.
I’m testing an iOS app via TestFlight, and when I originally got access, I didn’t have an iPhone. So I signed in with my Apple ID on my girlfriend’s iPhone and used TestFlight there. Everything worked fine.
Now I finally have my own iPhone (iPhone 16), downloaded TestFlight, signed in with the same Apple ID, and had the developer resend the invite. But when I tap "Open in TestFlight" from the invite email, I get this error:
“Couldn’t load app because your Apple account has already been associated to this app.”
The dev tried removing me as a tester and re-adding me, I’ve deleted TestFlight from both phones, rebooted, reinstalled, waited in between — still no luck. Even tried opening the invite link in Safari instead of Mail.
Is there any way to get Apple to fully reset the association with the old device so I can use TestFlight on my new iPhone? Or do I really need to make a new Apple ID just to get around this?
Any help would be huge — thanks!
I have a TabView with a sample tabItem as follows:
.tabItem {
Label ("Import", systemImage:"doc.on.doc")
.accessibilityLabel("Import Text")
}
But accessibility settings for large display size on does not seem to work, nor do dynamic font sizes:
.tabItem {
Label ("Import", systemImage:"doc.on.doc")
.font(.largeTitle)
.accessibilityLabel("Import Text")
}
The tabItems appear as a fixed size. The tab contents scale well, so this does not look pleasant at all.
Is this a known bug in SwiftUI?
Topic:
Accessibility & Inclusion
SubTopic:
General
A Summary of the WWDC25 Group Lab - Accessibility
At WWDC25 we launched a new type of Lab event for the developer community - Group Labs. A Group Lab is a panel Q&A designed for a large audience of developers. Group Labs are a unique opportunity for the community to submit questions directly to a panel of Apple engineers and designers. Here are the highlights from the WWDC25 Group Lab for Accessibility.
Accessibility Nutrition Labels are a really big step forward for the experience people have on the App Store to find apps that will work for them. How should developers get started with Accessibility Nutrition Labels?
A good starting point is to review the Accessibility Nutrition Label evaluation criteria on App Store Connect Help. It's a concise document, roughly 10 pages, and you can approach it section by section after the introduction. Even with prior experience using accessibility features like VoiceOver, the criteria offer valuable insights that might not be immediately apparent. For those newer to accessibility, a good entry point might be one of the visual feature labels, such as Dark Interface, which is a popular and frequently used feature.
Which accessibility features can I indicate support for in Accessibility Nutrition Labels?
The accessibility features covered include support for assistive technologies like VoiceOver and Voice Control, media enhancements such as captions and audio descriptions, and display accommodations. These display accommodations cover options like larger text, dark interface, differentiating without color alone, sufficient contrast, and reduced motion.
With the new Accessibility Nutrition Labels, will app store reviewers validate what we select?
The Accessibility Nutrition Label can be edited at any time without requiring a new app submission. However, if an app inaccurately claims feature support, App Review may contact the developer and request an update to the label or the app.
Are there any updates to tools for analyzing the accessibility of our apps?
Although there aren't new updates this year, continued support for Accessibility Audits is available through Xcode's built-in Accessibility Inspector. XCTest also supports accessibility audits, enabling developers to test app accessibility with every build. These audits analyze aspects like contrast, dynamic type, text clipping, element labels, and more within each view. For a deeper dive, the "Perform accessibility audits for your app" session from WWDC 2023 is a valuable resource.
What are accessibility features you wish more people integrated?
Accessibility features encompassing user input labels optimized for voice control, keyboard navigation and shortcuts, and dynamic type support could be more used to benefit users.
What were some of the biggest accessibility challenges your team encountered while developing Liquid Glass?
Apple is known for its innovation and strives to deliver a high-quality experience for everyone. Accessibility is considered a core component of visual design from the outset. For example, the Liquid Glass design inherently supports reduced transparency and increased contrast. As design continues to evolve, user feedback submitted through Feedback Assistant is invaluable.
How does Liquid Glass respond to contrast? Especially for text and low contrast environments.
Content legibility is a crucial aspect of the Liquid Glass design. It inherently supports accessibility features like reduced transparency and increased contrast. Your feedback during the beta period and beyond is essential to ensuring Liquid Glass provides a great experience within your apps.
What are some Apple apps that stand out for their accessibility?
Apps like Keynote in the iWork suite offer groundbreaking VoiceOver features to enhance creative productivity for all users. Assistive Access makes core apps such as Messages, Photos, Camera, Phone, and Music more accessible. Podcasts provides transcripts to broaden its reach, and frameworks like SwiftUI ensure that apps built with the latest UI frameworks have excellent built-in accessibility.
i would like to ask what are the new touchpad shortcuts in the latest os for ipad using a trackpad. The three fingers swipe to the right and left seemed to be removed. Thank you
Hello,
I had submitted a question to clarify which components have accessibility APIs that trigger haptics for VoiceOver users https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/773182.
The question stems from perhaps a more direct question about specific components: do tablists and disclosures natively intend to include haptics or screen reader hint or other state or properties to indicate to screen reader users where the component begins or ends?
In some web experiences there are screen reader hint text stating "end of..." or "entering" as a way to define the boundaries of these inline dialogs.
I had asked about haptics in the prior thread because I do not recall natively implemented version of this except in some haptic cues but have not experienced them consistently so I am not sure if that is an intended native Swift implementation or perhaps something custom.
Topic:
Accessibility & Inclusion
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
iOS
Accessibility
Sound and Haptics
Core Haptics
I am building a language learning app for a Unlisted Primary Language. Any suggestions or heads ups? My plan is to select english and go with it.
Its unfortunate that I have to list a language learning app incorrectly and a tag for that language probably does not exist across the apple system.
Amogst the two languages my app would have lets say 10% and 90%.
I am launching an app for a unlisted Primary Language. I consider whatever is inside the app as the primary and that wont be English. The secondary language
Hello everyone,
Our community dues payment app only facilitates real-world maintenance-dues payments directly to property managers’ bank accounts. However, during testing it was likely flagged by the AI-driven review system for a metadata criterion and rejected under Guideline 3.1.1 (“Paid digital content must use IAP”).
Meanwhile, hundreds of similar apps remain live on the App Store using the exact same model:
The app is completely free
No digital content or subscriptions are sold
Dues payments are made via bank transfer or credit card directly to the manager
Has anyone else encountered this? How did you overcome the metadata check in the AI-driven review process?
Thanks!
Topic:
Accessibility & Inclusion
SubTopic:
General
Hello
I tried implementing the ASAM for macOS as per apple guidelines with configuration profile mentioned here but didn't had any success.
Then Apple suggested to use requestGuidedAccessSession in macOS but that is only supported in macOS Catalyst but that also didn't work with valid config profiles too.
Did anyone get success with ASAM mode without assessment entitltlement?
Topic:
Accessibility & Inclusion
SubTopic:
General
I'm reposting here my FB17602742, submitted yesterday:
The strong wording of this message comes from years of Apple ignoring the needs of users who can't tolerate UI animations and convulsions.
At this point, it's clear that Apple is either intentionally harming users like me or simply doesn't care about meeting even the most basic accessibility standards on macOS.
Yes, many UI animations and convulsions can, fortunately, be disabled - but not through straightforward UI controls. Instead, users are forced to look for obscure Terminal commands found scattered across the Internet.
The "Reduce motion" checkbox in System Settings is simply a fake control that doesn't do anything - instead of actually disabling all UI animations and convulsions.
What's worse, two of the most offensive UI animations cannot be disabled at all. Apple has consistently dismissed requests to let users disable the following UI animations:
Scroll bar rollover highlight effect (introduced on macOS 10.7.3). Every time the cursor passes over a scroll bar, it gets highlighted. This draws the user's attention to random scroll bars for no reason - just because the cursor happened to pass over them. It results in HUNDREDS of unnecessary, annoying events of distraction daily!
Expand/collapse animation of NSOutlineView (e.g., when opening/closing folders in the list view in the Finder, or any other app using outline views). This animation is extremely distracting, irritating, and time-wasting.
Global Accessibility Awareness Day is approaching.
Dear Apple,
Please adhere to the most basic accessibility standards. Stop the needless suffering of countless users like me. Let us disable the two aforementioned UI convulsions.
Thank you for your attention to the issue.