Explore best practices for creating inclusive apps for users of Apple accessibility features and users from diverse backgrounds.

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accessibilityElements excludes the unlisted subviews – How to Fix?
I have a parent view containing 10 subviews. To control the VoiceOver navigation order, I set only a few elements in accessibilityElements. However, the remaining elements are not being focused or are completely inaccessible. Is this the expected behavior? If I only specify a subset of elements in accessibilityElements, does it exclude the rest? What’s the best way to ensure all elements remain accessible while customising the order?
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190
Apr ’25
VoiceOver incorrect focus on modal alert
When my macOS Cocoa app displays a modal alert with beginSheetModal(for:completionHandler:), VoiceOver sometimes seems to focus on an "illegal" upper level, where any attempts at navigation will give the unhelpful response "Alert, dialog", until you "drill down" with VO + shift + down or switch apps. After that, things will work as expected. Is this a known bug? Does it happen to anybody else, or am I doing something wrong?
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Apr ’25
Exploring VoiceOver Accessibility for UITableView
I’m currently exploring VoiceOver accessibility in iOS and looking for the best way to reduce the number of swipes required to navigate a UITableView. I’ve come across a couple of potential solutions but am unsure which is preferred. Solution 1: Grouping Subviews in Each Cell Combine all subviews inside a UITableViewCell into a single accessibility element. Provide a concise and meaningful accessibilityLabel. Use custom actions (UIAccessibilityCustomAction) or accessibilityActivationPoint to handle interactions on specific elements within the cell. Solution 2: Using UIAccessibilityContainerDataTableCell & UIAccessibilityContainerDataTable Implement UIAccessibilityContainerDataTable for structured table navigation. Make each cell conform to UIAccessibilityContainerDataTableCell, defining its row and column positions. However, I’m finding this approach a bit complex, and I need guidance on properly implementing these protocols. Additionally, in my case, VoiceOver is not navigating to Section 2—I’m not sure why. Questions: Which of these approaches is generally preferred for better VoiceOver navigation? How do I properly implement UIAccessibilityContainerDataTable so that all sections and rows are navigable? Any best practices or alternative recommendations? Would really appreciate any insights or guidance!
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711
Mar ’25
macOS (Tahoe) Beta 26.0 — Overheating & Rapid Battery Drain on MacBook Pro M3
Hi everyone, After installing the macOS beta (Tahoe 26.0) on my MacBook Pro M3, I’ve noticed two issues: Significant increase in system temperature The laptop feels hot even with light usage like Safari and Figma Rapid battery drain Battery is dropping unusually fast compared to macOS Sonoma. I’ve tried, Restarting the device. I’m aware this is a beta, but just wondering. Is anyone else experiencing this? Is this a known issue? Would love to hear if others are facing similar problems or if it might be something specific to my setup. Thanks in advance!
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Jun ’25
Solo Developer User Feedback Avenues
I have a couple follow up questions after the "Accessibility technologies group lab". I know it was briefly mentioned that user feedback is an excellent way to grow inclusivity in the design an app and utilizing these forums were one for example. Is inviting folks here on the forum via test flight a reasonable approach to this for a solo developer? Are there other strategies, avenues, or examples to promote user feedback?
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Jun ’25
SwiftUI List Accessibility VoiceOver
I have been working on a feature, where I have a List in SwiftUI with previous and next data loading, user can scroll up and down to load previous/next page data. Recently, I faced one accessibility issue while testing voice-over, when user lands on the listing screen and swipe across the screen from navigation and when focus comes on list it should highlight the first item visible. But when user swipes back: Should it load the previous data and announce the previous item or it should go back to the navigation items? If it loads the previous item, what if the user wants to go to the navigation to switch to other actions and vice-versa? Did anyone come across this kind of issue? What can be the standard expected behavior in this case if list has both previous and next page scroll? I different tried gestures https://support.apple.com/en-in/guide/iphone/iph3e2e2281/ios, but it isn't working
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Apr ’25
VoiceOver Text Recognition Announcing Hidden Labels
I have a UIImageView as the background of a custom UIView subclass. The image itself does not contain any text. On top of this image view, I have added two UILabels. To improve accessibility, I converted the entire view into a single accessibility element and set a proper accessibilityLabel. Additionally, I disabled accessibility for the UIImageView and the labels by setting isAccessibilityElement = false. However, when VoiceOver's Accessibility Recognition's Text Recognition feature is enabled, VoiceOver still detects and announces the text inside the UILabels at the end after reading my custom accessibility properties. This text should not be announced. It seems that VoiceOver treats the UILabel content as part of the UIImageView. Additionally, when using the Explore Image rotor action, the entire subview is recognized as a single image. Is this the expected behavior? If so, is there a way to disable VoiceOver’s text recognition for this view while keeping custom accessibility intact? class BackgroundLabelView: UIView { private let backgroundImageView = UIImageView() private let backgroundImageView2 = UIImageView() private let titleLabel = UILabel() private let subtitleLabel = UILabel() override init(frame: CGRect) { super.init(frame: frame) setupView() } required init?(coder: NSCoder) { super.init(coder: coder) setupView() configureAceesibility() } private func configureAceesibility() { backgroundImageView.isAccessibilityElement = false backgroundImageView2.isAccessibilityElement = false titleLabel.isAccessibilityElement = false subtitleLabel.isAccessibilityElement = false isAccessibilityElement = true accessibilityTraits = .button } func configure(backgroundImage: UIImage?, title: String, subtitle: String) { backgroundImageView.image = backgroundImage titleLabel.text = title subtitleLabel.text = subtitle accessibilityLabel = "Holiday Offer ," + title + "," + subtitle } private func setupView() { backgroundImageView2.contentMode = .scaleAspectFill backgroundImageView2.clipsToBounds = true backgroundImageView2.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false backgroundImageView2.image = UIImage(resource: .bannerfestival) addSubview(backgroundImageView2) backgroundImageView.contentMode = .scaleAspectFit backgroundImageView.clipsToBounds = true backgroundImageView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false addSubview(backgroundImageView) titleLabel.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 18, weight: .bold) titleLabel.textColor = .white titleLabel.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false titleLabel.numberOfLines = 0 addSubview(titleLabel) subtitleLabel.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 14, weight: .regular) subtitleLabel.textColor = .white.withAlphaComponent(0.8) subtitleLabel.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false subtitleLabel.numberOfLines = 0 addSubview(subtitleLabel) NSLayoutConstraint.activate([ backgroundImageView2.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor), backgroundImageView2.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: trailingAnchor), backgroundImageView2.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 200), backgroundImageView.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: centerYAnchor), backgroundImageView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: topAnchor), backgroundImageView.leadingAnchor.constraint(greaterThanOrEqualTo: leadingAnchor), backgroundImageView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: trailingAnchor), backgroundImageView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bottomAnchor), titleLabel.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor, constant: 16), titleLabel.trailingAnchor.constraint(lessThanOrEqualTo: centerXAnchor), titleLabel.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: centerYAnchor, constant: -4), subtitleLabel.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor, constant: 16), subtitleLabel.trailingAnchor.constraint(lessThanOrEqualTo: centerXAnchor), subtitleLabel.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: centerYAnchor, constant: 4) ]) } override func layoutSubviews() { super.layoutSubviews() backgroundImageView.layer.cornerRadius = layer.cornerRadius } }
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Apr ’25
Custom tab bar in SwiftUI
I made a (very simple) custom tab bar in SwiftUI. It's simply an HStack containing two buttons. These buttons control the selection of a paged TabView. This works well, but in VoiceOver they don't behave like the bottom tab bar or e.g. a segmented picker. Specifically, VoiceOver does not say something like "tab one of two" when the first button is focused. According to my research, in UIKit this can be accomplished by giving the container view the accessibility trait tabBar, hiding it as an accessibility element and give it the accessibility container type semanticGroup. In SwiftUI, there is also the trait isTabBar, but that does not seem to have any impact for VoiceOver. I don't see an equivalent of semanticGroup in SwiftUI. I tried accessibilityElement(children: .contain) but that also does not seem to have any impact. So, is there any way in SwiftUI to make a button behave like a tab-button in VoiceOver? And how is SwiftUI's isTabBar accessibility trait supposed to be used?
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Aug ’25
To say I'm extremely hurt is an understatement! 😔
Voice Control Disabling System Services After Reboot I recently learned from Apple Accessibility Support that the issue I’m experiencing with Voice Control is now affecting multiple users. When I first reported the problem, I appeared to be the first case—what you might call “patient zero.” I have provided extensive feedback and system logs, but now that the issue is more widespread, I have been told that I will not be informed of the cause or notified directly when a fix is found. Instead, updates will be released as solutions are identified, and support staff will not necessarily know the details of the underlying problem. To summarize my experience: after enabling Voice Control and rebooting my MacBook Pro (14.2-inch, M4 chip), critical Apple system services—including FaceTime, Apple Music, and News—stop functioning. Dictation remains available, but it is not as accurate or effective for my needs as Voice Control. I rely on these accessibility features daily due to my disability and cerebral palsy, and this issue has persisted for over five months. I have always valued contributing to the developer program and supporting Apple’s efforts to improve accessibility. However, I find it discouraging that there is no clear communication about the status of this issue or its resolution. My theory is that there may be a hardware interaction—perhaps between the neural engine and the new Wi-Fi chip—rather than a purely software problem. I understand that some information may not be immediately available, but I believe that users who rely on accessibility features should be kept informed about major issues and their progress toward resolution. I appreciate the dedication of the accessibility and development teams, and I want to continue supporting Apple’s mission of inclusion. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Donald Spencer Kirby Dayton, Ohio
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Jun ’25
RTT call option and confirmation dialog missing when dialing emergency numbers
Hello, In our app we provide a button that initiates a phone call using tel://. For normal numbers, tapping the button presents the standard iOS confirmation sheet with Call and Cancel. If RTT is enabled on the device, the sheet instead shows three options: Call, Cancel, and RTT Call. However, when dialing a national emergency number, this confirmation dialog does not appear at all — the call is placed immediately, without giving the user the choice between voice or RTT. Is this the expected system behavior for emergency numbers on iOS? 
And if so, how does RTT get applied in the emergency-call flow — is it managed entirely by the OS rather than exposed as a user-facing option? Thanks in advance for clarifying.
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Sep ’25
accessibilityActivationPoint Not Working When Set Directly on UITableViewCell
I’m trying to set the accessibilityActivationPoint directly on a UITableViewCell so that VoiceOver activate on a specific button inside the cell. However, this approach doesn’t seem to work. Instead, when I override the accessibilityActivationPoint property inside the UITableViewCell subclass and return the desired point, it works as expected. Why doesn’t setting accessibilityActivationPoint directly on the cell work, but overriding it inside the cell does? Is there a recommended approach for handling this scenario? The following approach works, override var accessibilityActivationPoint: CGPoint { get { return convert(toggleSwitch.center, to: nil) } set{ super.accessibilityActivationPoint = newValue } } but setting accessibility point directly not works private func configureAccessibility() { isAccessibilityElement = true accessibilityLabel = titleLabel.text accessibilityTraits = .toggleButton accessibilityActivationPoint = self.convert(toggleSwitch.center, to: self) accessibilityValue = toggleSwitch.accessibilityValue }
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Apr ’25
Best Way to Navigate to the Top Element Using VoiceOver
I’m currently focused on an element at the bottom of the screen. What is the proper way to quickly navigate to the top element? By default, there’s a four-finger single tap to move to the first element, but should I use the Rotor action instead to focus on the element I need? For example, in the Contacts app while adding a new contact, if I enter a value in a field at the bottom, there’s no quick way to directly save the contact. I have to manually navigate all the way to the top to tap the Done button, which feels a bit inconvenient. Is there a better way to handle this using VoiceOver?
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Mar ’25
System clock ancs notification is not sent on iPhone >= 14
I'm working on a ble connected device that use ancs and system clock to receive alarm notification events for earing impaired people. It used to work until iPhone 13 with latest iOS 18.x. Starting with iPhone 14 onward (iOS 18.x), system clock alarm notification is not sent anymore. Is There any reason for this to happening?. Is anyone aware of this behaviour? Any suggestion would be really appreciated. Cheers
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Jun ’25
Discussion on Location Services and Green light (Will someone deaf or blind ever know when their location was last on?)
Haptic or Sound queue to allow for the accessibility of the blind (sound) and deaf population (haptic) for even knowing when location services and the camera were last used? Also, the grey notification rather than the purple notification for location services should appear for the full 24 hours after an application has used the app, if the correct description is within the "copy" of Settings The green light lets them know that the application has changed to the camera and fade out orange light both could even have subtle simply click sounds, like a shutter, big haptic, softer sound, but editable in Settings, of course
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May ’25
Programmatically force VoiceOver to read parentheses for math expressions
How can I force VoiceOver to read parentheses for math expressions like this: Text("(2+3)×4") // VoiceOver: Two plus three, times four I’m looking for a way to have VoiceOver announce parentheses (e.g. “left paren”, “right paren”) without relying on NumberFormatter.Style.spellOut or .speechAlwaysIncludesPunctuation(), as both have drawbacks. Using .spellOut breaks braille output and Rotor › Characters menu by turning numbers and symbols into words. And .speechAlwaysIncludesPunctuation() makes VoiceOver overly verbose—for example, it reads “21” as “twenty hyphen one.” Is there a better way to selectively announce specific punctuation like parentheses while keeping numbers and symbols intact for braille and Rotor use?
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Jul ’25
Hi,I applied for the COMMUNICATION capability failed, what should I do next?
Hi,I applied for the COMMUNICATION capability, but have a message that I already have the driving task app entitlement. After that ,I have applied one more time ,there is no reply anymore. I do not have the com.apple.developer.carplay-communication capability, that means I can not apply this capability? What should i do next to get this capatibility? Thanks
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1.1k
Jul ’25
IOS18 Crash
At present, in iOS, if using the in-house app, there may be crashes in the new iOS 18.3 and later versions, but it works normally on other phones and the certificate is not problematic. A total of 3 machines were found, and there was no pattern between the machines and the system, with different models and versions. We tested it on a machine that crashes, but the app downloaded from the store doesn't. If the same app is packaged and installed directly in the development tool, it will crash. Is this related to compatibility with the new version of IOS? Is there a solution? Do others also have relevant situations?
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Jun ’25